Food-related stimuli increase desire to eat in hungry and satiated human subjects

In the present study, the effect of food-related cues on the desire to eat chocolate in hungry and satiated subjects was investigated. Subjects (n=46) were randomly assigned to either a hungry or satiated group and then assigned to a group receiving one of the following stimuli: taste (2 M&Ms), sight (a photograph of M&Ms), cognition (a passage describin M&Ms), or control (no stimulus). In each testing session, subjects rated their desire to eat chocolate before and after the 90-s presentation of the particular stimulus. Each subject was then given a half pound of M&Ms so that actual consumption could also be measured. Results indicated that, following the presentation of the sight and taste stimuli, the subjects’ desire to eat chocolate was significantly increased. Furthermore, no differences in chocolate consumption due to state of hunger or type of food-related stimulus presented were found.     

Giving the Devil His Due Process: Exorcism in the Church of England

In recent years the Church of England has renewed its interest in carrying out exorcism. The spiritual renewal manifested by the growth in the Charismatic movement, a growth based very much on healing and exorcism, is attractive to the Church, as is the idea that healing activities based on the practices of the Apostolic church will enhance the Church of England's spiritual presence. This renewal, however, carries many risks, because exorcism can be seen as superstitious behavior based on archaic beliefs contrary to modern science. Confronting Satan has physical risks for both the victim and the helper. There is a potential for wild, unrestrained, erotic, bizarre activities that can get the Church into trouble with the law and with the broader society. In its attempt to respond to these risks and opportunities, the Church has adopted practices that medicalize, bureaucratize, normalize, and restrain the process of dealing with the devil. These policies stress the compatibility between medical practices and exorcism.     

The Moderating Effects of Cognitive Appraisal Processes on Self-Attribution of Responsibility

Research indicates that self-attribution of responsibility for various types of problems is affected by a number of variables, including number of bystanders, persuasive communications, and focus of attention. The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that attributions of responsibility are also influenced by cognitive appraisal of sufficiency of resources relative to the magnitude of the problem in question. When circumstances indicate that self is the most plausible locus of responsibility, attribution to self will occur only if the person also assesses his or her resources as being sufficient to fulfill the obligations implied upon locating responsibility for problem solution in self. The converse is also held to be true. Results confirmed this hypothesis. Implications of this theoretical approach for various theories that include attribution of responsibility to self as a critical factor are discussed.     

The impact of corrections for faking on the validity of noncognitive measures in selection settings

In selection research and practice, there have been many attempts to correct scores on noncognitive measures for applicants who may have faked their responses somehow. A related approach with more impact would be identifying and removing faking applicants from consideration for employment entirely, replacing them with high-scoring alternatives. The current study demonstrates that under typical conditions found in selection, even this latter approach has minimal impact on mean performance levels. Results indicate about .1 SD change in mean performance across a range of typical correlations between a faking measure and the criterion. Where trait scores were corrected only for suspected faking, and applicants not removed or replaced, the minimal impact the authors found on mean performance was reduced even further. By comparison, the impact of selection ratio and test validity is much larger across a range of realistic levels of selection ratios and validities. If selection researchers are interested only in maximizing predicted performance or validity, the use of faking measures to correct scores or remove applicants from further employment consideration will produce minimal effects.     

Teachers' perceptions of the frequency and seriousness of violations of ethical standards

Despite nationwide efforts to professionalize public-school teaching, little attention has been given to the matter of standards of professional conduct for teachers. The authors examined teachers' perceptions of the frequency and seriousness of different categories of teacher misconduct. They administered a 34-item questionnaire to 235 school professionals in northwestern South Carolina. For each item, respondents rated the extent to which they agreed or disagreed that the behavior occurred frequently and represented a serious violation of professional ethics. Factor analysis of the ratings of seriousness yielded 3 domains of ethical concerns: (a) student-teacher boundary violations, (b) carelessness in behavior, and (c) subjectivity in grading and instruction. Teachers rated boundary violations as the most serious but least common violations and carelessness in behavior as the most frequent but least serious violation. Problems of subjectivity in grading were rated as moderately frequent and moderately serious. The authors found no differences between male and female teachers or between elementary and secondary teachers in their ratings of the seriousness or frequency of any of the 3 groups of ethical concerns. The authors discuss implications for development of a national code of teacher conduct.     

Sex differences in regret: all for love or some for lust?

Few sex differences in regret or counterfactual thinking are evident in past research. The authors discovered a sex difference in regret that is both domain-specific (i.e., unique to romantic relationships) and interpretable within a convergence of theories of evolution and regulatory focus. Three studies showed that within romantic relationships, men emphasize regrets of inaction over action (which correspond to promotion vs. prevention goals, respectively), whereas women report regrets of inaction and action with equivalent frequency. Sex differences were not evident in other interpersonal regrets (friendship, parental, sibling interactions) and were not moderated by relationship status. Although the sex difference was evident in regrets centering on both sexual and nonsexual relationship aspects, it was substantially larger for sexual regrets. These findings underscore the utility of applying an evolutionary perspective to better understand goal-regulating, cognitive processes.     

Gender and the Internet: Women Communicating and Men Searching

This research examined gender differences in Internet use and factors responsible for these differences. A sample of 630 Anglo American undergraduates completed the Student Computer and Internet Survey that contained questions about e-mail and Web use, and about potential affective and cognitive mediators of use. Based on a general model of Internet use, we predicted and found that females used e-mail more than did males, males used the Web more than did females, and females reported more computer anxiety, less computer self-efficacy, and less favorable and less stereotypic computer attitudes. Path analysis to identify mediators of gender differences in Internet use revealed that computer self-efficacy, loneliness, and depression accounted in part for gender differences, but that gender continued to have a direct effect on use after these factors were considered. Implications for realizing the democratizing potential and benefits of Internet use are discussed.     

Church-Based Social Support and Religious Coping

The purpose of this study is twofold: to explore the nature of church-based social support, and to see whether support received in religious settings is related to the use of religious coping methods. The data come from a nationwide survey of members of the Presbyterian Church USA. Three dimensions of religious support are examined in detail: emotional support from church members, spiritual support from church members, and emotional support from the pastor. These dimensions of support are used to evaluate an issue that has been largely overlooked in the literature—the relationship between religious support and religious coping. The findings reveal that people are especially inclined to use positive religious coping responses when they receive spiritual support from church members. Even though emotional support from the pastor also increases the use of religious coping methods, the relationship is not as strong. Finally, emotional support from church members has no effect.