Open or close the door to the outgroup? Diversity beliefs moderate the impact of group boundary permeability on attitudes toward the outgroup

The present research investigated the moderating role of diversity beliefs with the aim of reconciling inconsistent findings regarding the impact of group boundary permeability on attitudes toward outgroup. In Study 1, all variables were measured with self‐report scales completed by Chinese participants. In Study 2, diversity beliefs were manipulated by randomly assigning Chinese participants to a high or low diversity belief condition. In Study 3, we replicated the moderating model with American participants. Results of all three studies indicated that diversity beliefs moderated the relationship between group boundary permeability and attitudes toward outgroup. Individuals with high diversity beliefs held more positive attitudes toward the outgroup when the group boundary was permeable (vs. impermeable). Conversely, individuals with low diversity beliefs held more negative attitudes toward the outgroup when the group boundary was permeable (vs. impermeable). These findings suggest that when the inflow of the outgroup members is inevitable, attitudes toward the outgroup may be effectively improved by increasing diversity beliefs.     

Is personal growth initiative associated with later life satisfaction in Chinese college students? A 15‐week prospective analysis

Personal growth initiative (PGI) is presumed to foster positive change leading to positive psychological adjustment. Accordingly, in this study we examined PGI as a predictor of life satisfaction 15 weeks later in a sample of 152 Chinese college students. Time 1 PGI was found to explain a significant amount of unique variance in Time 2 life satisfaction, even after controlling for Time 1 life satisfaction and Time 2 PGI. Specifically, (lower) intentional behavior and planfulness at baseline emerged as significant predictors of later life satisfaction. No evidence was found indicating that life satisfaction at Time 1 accounted for any significant amount of unique variance in PGI processes at Time 2, after controlling for baseline PGI processes and concurrent life satisfaction. Overall, the present findings are the first to demonstrate the importance of PGI as a prospective predictor of positive psychological adjustment in adults.     

Young infants' reasoning about hidden objects: evidence from violation-of-expectation tasks with test trials only

The present research examined alternative accounts of prior violation-of-expectation (VOE) reports that young infants can represent and reason about hidden objects. According to these accounts, young infants' apparent success in these VOE tasks reflects only novelty and familiarity preferences induced by the habituation or familiarization trials in the tasks. In two experiments, 4-month-old infants were tested in VOE tasks with test trials only. The infants still gave evidence that they could represent and reason about hidden objects: they were surprised, as indicated by greater attention, when a wide object became fully hidden behind a narrow occluder (Experiment 1) or inside a narrow container (Experiment 2). These and control results demonstrate that young infants can succeed at VOE tasks involving hidden objects even when given no habituation or familiarization trials. The present research thus provides additional support for the conclusion that young infants possess expectations about hidden objects. Methodological issues concerning the use of habituation or familiarization trials in VOE tasks are also discussed.