The influence of anxiety on action-specific perception

Abstract

Recent empirical research suggests that performance modulates perception. For example, baseball players judge the ball to be bigger when performing well as compared to when performing less successfully. Yet, the underlying processes that mediate the emergence of action-specific effects on perception are still largely unknown. To this end, we aimed to examine the impact of anxiety on the action-specific influence on perception as anxiety has been shown to affect both performance and perception. Thirty participants threw darts at a circle-shaped target and were then asked to judge the size of the target. The task was performed under conditions of low and high anxiety. Results replicated previously reported action-specific effects on perception under levels of low anxiety. However, these effects vanished in the high anxiety condition. Results seem to suggest that anxiety has a direct influence on the relation between performance and perception. Attentional control theory is discussed to explain the current findings.     

Coping through prayer: an empirical study in implicit religion concerning prayers for children in hospital

This study links two fields of empirical research. The first field (grounded in empirical theology) is concerned with ordinary prayer and that aspect of implicit religion discernable within explicit religious expressions. The second field (grounded in the psychology of religion) is concerned with private prayer as a significant method of coping in health-related contexts. Few previous studies, however, have focussed on the specific components comprising the content of such prayers and their concern for health issues relating to others, such as family and friends. The present study addresses this gap by employing the analytical framework for health and well-being devised previously in a content analysis of 583 prayers left in the chapel of a children's hospital in England. The conceptual and practical applications of the new research findings are discussed.     

The Utility of the State Space Grid Method for Studying Peer Interactions in Youth Sport

Although previous studies indicate that peer interactions represent an important component of the youth sport experience, studies examining peer interactions in the sport context are limited. Furthermore, the methodological tools commonly used to investigate peer interactions have restricted researchers’ understandings of the complex, reciprocal nature of these experiences. This paper outlines the potential contribution of a novel dynamic systems-based methodology, the state space grid method (SSG; Lewis, Lamey, & Douglas, 1999 Lewis, M. D., Lamey, A. V. and Douglas, L. 1999. A new dynamic system method for the analysis of early socioemotional development. Developmental Science, 2: 457–475. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), to the study of peer interactions in sport. Concrete recommendations to guide the practical application of the SSG method to future peer research in youth sport are presented.     

The Cross-Cultural Generalizability of Zuckerman's Alternative Five-Factor Model of Personality

Although theories of stress have emphasized the critical role of the appraisal process, the use of dispositional measures of appraisal have not been readily investigated. Using a large multiethnic sample, we examined the factorial validity and dimensionality of a dispositional version of the Stress Appraisal Measure (SAM; Peacock &; Wong, 1990). Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses resulted in a 4-factor representation of dispositional appraisal fitting better than its originally proposed 6-factor representation. This 4-factor model was invariant across gender groups. Although the 6-factor model purported to measure 3 dimensions of primary appraisal and 3 dimensions of secondary appraisal, these factors were found to be highly unstable and had questionable internal consistency. In contrast, the more parsimonious 4-factor solution identified 4 relative distinct and reliable scales of appraisal: 3 primary (Challenge, Threat, and Centrality) and 1 secondary (Resources). These findings suggest that meaningful dispositional dimensions of appraisal can be derived and incorporated into trait–state models of the stress process.     

Multidimensionality of Well-Being and Spillover Effects Across Life Domains: How Do Parenthood and Personality Affect Changes in Domain-Specific Satisfaction?

Whether having children improves our well-being is a long-standing topic of debate. Demographic and sociological research has investigated changes in individuals’ overall well-being and partnership satisfaction when they become parents. However, little is known about how becoming parent may produce vulnerability—observable as an enduring decrease in well-being—in life domains that are strongly interdependent with the family domain, such as work and leisure. Linking life-course and personality psychology perspectives, the authors examine the trajectories of subjective well-being—measured as satisfaction with life, work, and leisure—3 years before and 3 years after the transition to parenthood. The authors particularly focus on the moderating effects of gender and personality. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (1984–2013) and multilevel growth curve modeling, the authors show strong gender-based vulnerability in how people react to parenthood. Although men display a nonlinear pathway of decreasing life satisfaction and a stable trajectory of job satisfaction, women experience more changes in their satisfaction with work and more dramatic decreases in leisure satisfaction. Contrary to most of our expectations, the moderating effects of personality were modest. Extraversion influenced the trajectories of work satisfaction, whereas neuroticism and conscientiousness affected the pathway of leisure satisfaction for women only. This article shows that the transition to parenthood influences well-being trajectories in specific domains, and this influence differs between women and men.     

Professional Development in Sport Psychology: Relating Learning Experiences to Learning Outcomes

To enhance the training of sport psychology consultants, it is important to know which learning experiences are useful for which components of professional development. We interviewed 15 novice consultants on their learning experiences related to 13 different topics. Traditional learning experiences (e.g., courses, teachers) were related to the development of practical know-how. Learning from others (e.g., peers, colleagues) was related to professional development (i.e., dealing with issues, challenges, and dilemmas that occur in sport psychology practice). Practical experience and reflective activities were related to both know-how and professional development. These results can be used to shape effective sport psychology education.     

Depression Moderates the Relationship between Body Image and Health-Related Quality of Life in Adolescent Girls

Body image can predict health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in adolescent girls through self-esteem and psychological well-being. Additionally, depression is a significant predictor of adolescents’ HRQoL and is associated with body image. Therefore, we investigated whether the relationship between body image and HRQoL in adolescent girls is moderated by depression. In this cross-sectional study, adolescent girls’ body image, depression, and HRQoL (n?=?385, age: 12–15 years) were measured through self-report questionnaires. Multiple regression and simple slope analyses were conducted to examine the moderating effect of depression. Body image was positively correlated with HRQoL, whereas depression was negatively correlated with body image and HRQoL. Body image, depression, and their interaction explained 44.9% of the variance in HRQoL. Simple slope analysis showed that a more positive body image was associated with higher HRQoL among adolescent girls without depressive symptoms, but was not significantly related to HRQoL for adolescents with depressive symptoms. The moderating effect of depression was confirmed. In conclusion, screening for depression is recommended for adolescent girls prior to implementing body image interventions in schools and the community that are aimed at improving HRQoL. Furthermore, health care providers in schools and the community should provide psychological support for depression along with body image interventions to improve the HRQoL of girls in schools and the community. In particular, for girls with depressive symptoms, depression management should be conducted beforehand.     

Normative Value Change Across the Human Life Cycle: Similarities and Differences Across Europe

Normative change in people’s value priorities (Schwartz, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 25:1–65, 1992) was examined by analyzing repeated cross sections of the 26 countries that participated in at least four of the first seven waves of the European Social Survey (2002–2015). For this purpose, we compared data from different samples taken from five historical cohorts over time in order to identify generalizable patterns in value development that could apply to most people. Results suggest that most cohorts increasingly valued Self-Transcendence over Self-Enhancement in the transition from late adolescence to young adulthood. During and after middle adulthood, age effects were virtually nonexistent in Eastern Europe, relatively weak in Southern Europe, and limited to midlife in North-Western Europe. The results also suggest that all cohorts, except most Northern and Western European cohorts in midlife, became relatively more conservative and less open with age. We present evidence that differences between historical cohorts produced some of the age–values associations that have been found in previous studies. Latent growth curve modeling was used to further summarize the observed intracohort-aging trajectories and to identify potential country-level moderators. This analysis showed that the positive association between normative aging and Self-Transcendence endorsement was stronger in countries that are more affluent.     

Social power facilitates the effect of prosocial orientation on empathic accuracy

Power increases the tendency to behave in a goal-congruent fashion. Guided by this theoretical notion, we hypothesized that elevated power would strengthen the positive association between prosocial orientation and empathic accuracy. In 3 studies with university and adult samples, prosocial orientation was more strongly associated with empathic accuracy when distinct forms of power were high than when power was low. In Study 1, a physiological indicator of prosocial orientation, respiratory sinus arrhythmia, exhibited a stronger positive association with empathic accuracy in a face-to-face interaction among dispositionally high-power individuals. In Study 2, experimentally induced prosocial orientation increased the ability to accurately judge the emotions of a stranger but only for individuals induced to feel powerful. In Study 3, a trait measure of prosocial orientation was more strongly related to scores on a standard test of empathic accuracy among employees who occupied high-power positions within an organization. Study 3 further showed a mediated relationship between prosocial orientation and career satisfaction through empathic accuracy among employees in high-power positions but not among employees in lower power positions. Discussion concentrates upon the implications of these findings for studies of prosociality, power, and social behavior.     

Social class, contextualism, and empathic accuracy

Recent research suggests that lower-class individuals favor explanations of personal and political outcomes that are oriented to features of the external environment. We extended this work by testing the hypothesis that, as a result, individuals of a lower social class are more empathically accurate in judging the emotions of other people. In three studies, lower-class individuals (compared with upper-class individuals) received higher scores on a test of empathic accuracy (Study 1), judged the emotions of an interaction partner more accurately (Study 2), and made more accurate inferences about emotion from static images of muscle movements in the eyes (Study 3). Moreover, the association between social class and empathic accuracy was explained by the tendency for lower-class individuals to explain social events in terms of features of the external environment. The implications of class-based patterns in empathic accuracy for well-being and relationship outcomes are discussed.