Parental Representations and Support-Seeking Behaviors Related to Dependency and Self-Criticism

Cognitive and interpersonal models of depression were integrated by examining the links between parental representations and the interpersonal behaviors of individuals at risk for depression. Study 1 assessed the quantity and type of social support associated with Dependency and Self-Criticism. Study 2 examined the parental representations related to these personality styles, in an effort to document cognitive variables that might contribute to interpersonal behaviors. Self-critics were found to be more dysphoric over a 21-day, self-monitoring period, made fewer requests for social support, and showed lower perceptions of support. Peers did not report providing less support to self-critics, but found them less expressive and did not know them as well. Study 2 found pervasive, negative parental representations associated with Self-Criticism providing a cognitive underpinning to social distancing. Dependent participants reported higher levels of support, which was corroborated by the peer reports. Study 2 found Dependency to be related to favorable representation of parents for friendly and submissive, but not hostile, situations. The impact of cognitive representations for interpersonal functioning is highlighted, and reciprocal processes between the two are discussed.     

The Gods Are Watching: An Experimental Study of Religion and Traditional Belief in Burkina Faso

Traditional beliefs play an important role in many Sub‐Saharan African village societies. These beliefs imply immediate punishment for any breach of the moral code, and the possibility to influence an individual's life by the use of magic. We analyze the economic impact of traditional beliefs on behavior by conducting an experiment with microentrepreneurs in the environs of Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso). The salience of traditional beliefs is randomly varied through semistructured interviews. We find that priming traditional beliefs substantially increases prosocial behavior in the Trust Game. This effect is independent of age, gender, religious affiliation, or wealth.     

Motivated information processing, social tuning, and group creativity

The extent to which groups are creative has wide implications for their overall performance, including the quality of their problem solutions, judgments, and decisions. To further understanding of group creativity, we integrate the motivated information processing in groups model (De Dreu, Nijstad, & Van Knippenberg, 2008) with work on epistemic social tuning (Lunn, Sinclair, Whitchurch, & Glenn, 2007). Three propositions were advanced: (a) Groups produce more ideas when members have high rather than low epistemic motivation, especially when members also have a prosocial rather than pro-self motivation; (b) these ideas are more original, appropriate, or feasible when a group norm favors originality, appropriateness, or feasibility; and (c) originality is valued more in individualistic cultures (e.g., the Netherlands), whereas appropriateness is valued more in collectivist cultures (e.g., Korea). Four studies involving 3-person groups generating ideas supported these propositions: Epistemic motivation (mild vs. intense time pressure; presence vs. absence of process accountability) stimulated production and originality, especially when prosocial rather than pro-self motives were present and participants were Dutch or originality norms were experimentally primed. When appropriateness norms were primed or participants were Korean, epistemic motivation stimulated production and appropriateness, especially when prosocial rather than pro-self motives were present. We discuss implications for research on group processes and for work on culture and creativity.     

Is the principle of minimization of secondary moments validated during various fingertip force production conditions?

During the application of fingertip forces with simultaneous flexion of the four fingers, namely index, middle, ring, and little fingers, a stable force sharing among fingers is adopted. Several studies have hypothesized that this stable force sharing is established to minimize unnecessary rotational moments (different from the main flexion moments). This principle labeled "minimization of secondary moments" is presented in the literature as a principle used by the central nervous system to solve musculoskeletal redundancy. However, this principle has only been tested with one solicited degree of freedom and in one finger posture. Our study tests this principle with various degrees of freedom solicited as secondary moments and in two different finger postures. Participants (n=6) were asked to apply a downward vertical force using their four fingers with the forearm placed in two different configurations: a "horizontal" condition (involving flexion/extension and pronation/supination at the wrist joint) and a "vertical" condition (involving flexion/extension and radial/ulnar deviation at the wrist joint). Additionally, two finger postures were tested in each forearm configuration: in the first, the distal inter-phalangeal joints (DIP) were extended and the proximal inter-phalangeal joints (PIP) highly flexed. In the second finger posture, both DIP and PIP joints were flexed. The resultant four-finger force and the relative involvement of each finger in the resultant four-finger force (force sharing) were analyzed. Results showed that the finger postures did not influence the finger force sharing, showing that the minimization of the secondary moment principle was stable among the finger joint angle configurations. Nonetheless, the relative involvement of each finger was dependent on the secondary degree of freedom solicited (pronation/supination vs. radial/ulnar). The modifications of the finger force sharing between the "horizontal" and "vertical" conditions were in accordance with the principle of minimization of the secondary moments.     

The role of personality in defeat: a revised social rank model

This study sought to test the role of personality within the social rank theory of depression. Specifically, self‐criticism was hypothesised to be a risk factor for mechanisms underlying involuntary subordination, while self‐efficacy was hypothesised to have a protective function. Involuntary subordination has been implicated as an underlying cause of depression and it was therefore important to determine the personality variables and other intrapsychic mechanisms that lead to this condition. The sample consisted of 115 participants (average age of 20.2 years) who were involved in athletic competition. Participants were evaluated at baseline for personality and social rank variables and for mood immediately before and after a competitive match. Two models were tested: the first model showed that self‐criticism and neuroticism predicted a heightened perception of defeat following a loss. Self‐criticism also predicted an inability to accept defeat which was associated with a latent variable interpreted as involuntary subordination. The second model demonstrated that self‐efficacy was associated with a more adaptive response to defeat, being negatively related to the perception of defeat. Both models proved to be viable and suggest that different personality styles confer specific vulnerabilities to involuntary subordination in the context of defeating events. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fluency and positivity as possible causes of the truth effect

Statements’ rated truth increases when people encounter them repeatedly. Processing fluency is a central variable to explain this truth effect. However, people experience processing fluency positively, and these positive experiences might cause the truth effect. Three studies investigated positivity and fluency influences on the truth effect. Study 1 found correlations between elicited positive feelings and rated truth. Study 2 replicated the repetition-based truth effect, but positivity did not influence the effect. Study 3 conveyed positive and negative correlations between positivity and truth in a learning phase. We again replicated the truth effect, but positivity only influenced judgments for easy statements in the learning phase. Thus, across three studies, we found positivity effects on rated truth, but not on the repetition-based truth effect: We conclude that positivity does not explain the standard truth effect, but the role of positive experiences for truth judgments deserves further investigation.     

Donating organs: a theory-driven inventory of motives

Two studies examined the motives that lay behind patients' acceptance or reluctance at donating organs after death. They also examined the way these motives were related to demographic characteristics, personality, and signing a donor card. Six separable motives for donation were found: Financial Incentive, Humanistic or Religious Duty, Positive Consideration from Others, Living on Through a Receiver, Gift of Life, and Close Others. Five motives for not donating were found: Preserving the Absolute Integrity of the Corpus, Strict Individualism, Lack of Control over the Use of the Organs, Anonymity of the Procedure, and Respecting Family Wishes. These motives were linked to personality factors in a meaningful way. Willingness to sign was higher among female participants and among participants with lower scores on Integrity of the Corpus and higher scores on Duty and Gift of Life. When Integrity of the Corpus scored highly, however, the effect of the other factors was practically eliminated. In other words, Integrity of the Corpus acted as a protected value: Trying to change people's belief that the integrity of the corpus at death is a sacrosanct issue would come with its own ethical issues.     

Sex differences in expressive drawing

We examined sex differences in expressive drawings produced by 105 boys and 105 girls aged 9-15 years. The drawings were classified according to the type of expressive strategy used to depict emotion (literal, content, abstract, or any combination of these), and rated according to the complexity of that strategy. A creative/divergent thinking task (figural form) was used to assess the relationship between expressive drawing and figural creativity. As predicted, girls scored higher than boys on the expressive drawing task. Specifically, girls relied less often on literal strategies alone and were more likely to combine literal expression with metaphorical (content and abstract) expression than boys. There was a linear relationship between expressive drawing and divergent thinking scores. These results are consistent with the idea that boys and girls differ in the expressive component of emotion, and suggest that these sex differences extend to the expressive drawing domain. They also suggest that divergent thinking may be involved in the ability to draw expressively.     

A Critical Examination of the Reliability and Validity of a Gender Role Attitude Scale in Flanders (Belgium): What Lessons Can be Learned?

Western societies have shifted toward more egalitarian gender role attitudes (GRA). Quantitative research on GRA has been critiqued for not having kept up with societal changes in GRA. GRA scales are claimed to lack discriminative power and not fully capture the diversity within non-traditional attitudes. The present study gives an overview of the theoretical critiques with regard to GRA scales and empirically assesses these critiques. A typical example of a GRA scale measuring adolescents’ GRA in Flanders (Belgium) is used to test the scale’s quality across three waves of surveys completed by 4063 early secondary school students. Our analysis identifies the drawbacks of this particular scale. First, a ceiling effect was found, with most respondents being egalitarian. Second, the representativeness of roles inquired about is restricted; relevant societal domains are not questioned and most roles are only questioned for one gender. Third, a gender-binary approach is dominant. Finally, our results confirm that adolescents demonstrate ambivalent feelings toward balancing female employment and motherhood; although paid employment is encouraged, childcare is prioritized. We recommend that other researchers critically examine the usability and quality of GRA scales in today’s society. Using outdated GRA scales might conceal the ambivalence that adolescents feel due to new gender inequities. Also, investing in structures and regulations supporting the work-family balance is key in further promoting gender equity.     

The use of perspective as a depth cue with a 2D display in 4 and 5-month-old infants

Four experiments were conducted to study the use of perspective as a depth cue in infants, using an eye-tracking-system. In the first experiment, no significant difference was observed between the looks for the "normal" and the "strange" events on the complete display and at the target in 4-month-olds. In the second experiment, the results of 5-month-olds were similar to those obtained by 4-month-olds but they looked more at the test events when the "strange" event was presented first. In the third experiment, 5 month-olds were shown a repeated presentation adapted from the "Partial-Lag" design. Infants' exploration of the target indicated that they looked more at the "strange" event than at the "normal" event. In the fourth experiment, the same design was used with 4-month-olds but no difference between conditions was observed. Five-month-olds seem to be able to use the perspective cues alone. These different data are discussed.