Maintaining Life Satisfaction: The Role of Positive Cognitive Bias

Recent research into population standards of life satisfaction has revealed a remarkable level of uniformity, with the mean values for Western populations clustering at around three-quarters of the measurement scale maximum. While this seems to suggest the presence of a homeostatic mechanism for life satisfaction, the character of such a hypothetical device is uncertain. This paper proposes that well-being homeostasis is controlled by positive cognitive biases pertaining to the self. Most particular in this regard are the positive biases in relation to self-esteem, control and optimism. Past controversies in relation to this proposition are reviewed and resolved in favour of the proposed mechanism. The empirical data to support this hypothesis are discussed in the context of perceived well-being as an adaptive human attribute.     

Promoting Creativity at Work: The Role of Problem‐Solving Demand

We propose that problem‐solving demand (PSD) is an important job attribute for employees' creative performance. Applying job design theory, we examined the relationship between PSD and employee creativity. The theorised model was tested with data obtained from a sample of 270 employees and their supervisors from three Chinese organisations. Regression results revealed that PSD was positively related to creativity, and this relationship was mediated by creative self‐efficacy. Additionally, intrinsic motivation moderated the relationship between PSD and creative self‐efficacy such that the relationship was stronger for individuals with high rather than low intrinsic motivation. We discuss our findings, implications for practice, and future research.     

Interventions With Juvenile Offenders: Strategies to Prevent Acting Out Behavior

In this article Moral Dilemma Discussion Groups, Just Communities, Positive Peer Culture and the EQUIP program are reviewed for their appropriateness for intervening with juvenile offenders in residential settings. The suitability of these interventions for diverse populations is also examined.     

Infantile stimulation and its effects on frustration- and fear-motivated behavior in rats

Infant rats that were either removed from the nest each day (handled) or left undisturbed (nonhandled) were, in adulthood, given 72 food-reinforced runway acquisition trials followed by 24 trials of extinction training with or without shock. Handled and nonhandled control animals were given runway training without food reinforcement. Reinforced rats ran faster than nonreinforced rats, and handled rats ran faster than nonhandled rats during the initial trials of runway acquisition irrespective of the reinforcement condition. Nonhadled rats stopped running sooner than handled rats when shock was introduced in the goalbox, but differences between handled and nonhandled rats given extinction training without shock were small. Results of a second experiment showed no differences between handled and non-handled rats in the magnitude of the depression effect after an incentive shift. It was concluded that infantile handling had little effect on frustration-motivated behavior, but did affect fear-motivated behavior.     

The Marriage Contract

This article is intended to serve as an introduction to the concept of the marriage contract, which has proved to be a useful clinical tool for clarification and treatment of troubled marriages. Transactional as well as intrapsychic factors are important aspects of marital dynamics. The contract concept employs both these behavioral parameters and facilitates therapeutic intervention at both levels.     

Children's interpretation of adult nonreaction: A trial-by-trial self-report assessment and evidence for contrast effects in an observational context

The study investigated children's interpretation of blank reaction (nonreaction) from one adult to another as a function of its pairing with positive or negative overt feedback. Each child watched through a one-way mirror as an evaluating adult provided feedback to a second adult who was performing on a two-choice discrimination task. After six initial blank reaction trials, children observed one of four types of feedback combinations over 60 experimental trials: (a) right feedback on some trials and blank reactions on others, (b) wrong feedback on some trials and blank reactions on others, (c) right, wrong, and nonreaction on different trials, or (d) nonreaction on all trials. There was little evidence that children consistently interpreted blank reaction as meaning right independent of feedback combination. In contrast, in the Right-Blank and Wrong-Blank feedback combinations, children interpreted blank as meaning the opposite of the overt feedback it was paired with on over two-thirds of the trials, with no sex differences or test anxiety effects.