Fear and guilt in proposers: Using emotions to explain offers in ultimatum bargaining

We argue that offers in bargaining are guided by the emotions that proposers anticipate when contemplating their offers. In particular, we reason that positive offers may be driven by fear and guilt, where fear is more related to the perceived consequences of having one's offer rejected, and guilt is more related to concerns for the opponents' outcomes. Two studies on ultimatum bargaining corroborate this view. In Study 1, we used two well‐documented manipulations to affect the consequences of having one's offer rejected and the initial entitlements of one's opponent. Both factors affected offers: Offers were higher when the consequences of having one's offer rejected were lower, and when the initial entitlements of one's opponent were higher. In agreement with our predictions, the former effect was mediated by anticipated fear and the latter by anticipated guilt. In Study 2, we directly manipulated both mediators. The findings further corroborate our reasoning by showing that both feelings also have a direct effect on ultimatum offers. These findings highlight the potential contribution of studying specific emotions in bargaining behavior. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mathematical Beauty and Perceptual Presence

This paper discusses the viability of claims of mathematical beauty, asking whether mathematical beauty, if indeed there is such a thing, should be conceived of as a sub‐variety of the more commonplace kinds of beauty: natural, artistic and human beauty; or, rather, as a substantive variety in its own right. If the latter, then, per the argument, it does not show itself in perceptual awareness – because perceptual presence is what characterises the commonplace kinds of beauty, and mathematical beauty is not among these. I conclude that the reference to mathematical beauty merely expresses the awe in the mathematician about the intricate complexities and simplicity of certain proofs, theorems or mathematical “objects.”     

A Jungian approach to dreams reported by soldiers in a modern combat zone

Treating combat deployed soldiers is becoming more prevalent and needed in psychiatry. Modern combat produces unique psychological challenges, including those without criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This article will attempt to share the primary author's experience with psychotherapy in a combat zone, along with understanding the general themes of dreams the author encountered while being deployed. Toward that end, the primary author [RW] discusses his personal experiences in Iraq working with soldiers whom he saw and treated while in theatre, with a particular focus on the dreams they reported. The co-authors [EG and MI] afterward collaborated with the primary author to formulate and provide insight into the dreams from a Jungian perspective.     

Subregion-specific dendritic spine abnormalities in the hippocampus of Fmr1 KO mice

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common inherited form of mental retardation and is caused by the lack of fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP). In the brain, spine abnormalities have been reported in both patients with FXS and Fmr1 knockout mice. This altered spine morphology has been linked to disturbed synaptic transmission related to altered signaling in the excitatory metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) pathway. We investigated hippocampal protrusion morphology in adult Fmr1 knockout mice. Our results show a hippocampal CA1-specific altered protrusion phenotype, which was absent in the CA3 region of the hippocampus. This suggests a subregion-specific function of FMRP in synaptic plasticity in the brain.     

Hitting is contagious: experience and action induction

In baseball, it is believed that "hitting is contagious," that is, probability of success increases if the previous few batters get a hit. Could this effect be partially explained by action induction--that is, the tendency to perform an action related to one that has just been observed? A simulation was used to investigate the effect of inducing stimuli on batting performance for more-experienced (ME) and less-experienced (LE) baseball players. Three types of inducing stimuli were compared with a no-induction condition: action (a simulated ball traveling from home plate into left, right, or center field), outcome (a ball resting in either left, right, or center field), and verbal (the word "left", "center", or "right"). For both ME and LE players, fewer pitchers were required for a successful hit in the action condition. For ME players, there was a significant relationship between the inducing stimulus direction and hit direction for both the action and outcome prompts. For LE players, the prompt only had a significant effect on batting performance in the action condition, and the magnitude of the effect was significantly smaller than for ME. The effect of the inducing stimulus decreased as the delay (i.e., no. of pitches between prompt and hit) increased, with the effect being eliminated after roughly 4 pitches for ME and 2 pitches for LE. It is proposed that the differences in the magnitude and time course of action induction as a function of experience occurred because ME have more well-developed perceptual-motor representations for directional hitting.     

On the Morality of Having Faith that God Exists

Many theists who identify themselves with the Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) maintain that it is perfectly acceptable to have faith that God exists. In this paper, I argue that, when believing that God exists will affect others, it is prima facie wrong to forgo attempting to believe that God exists on the basis of sufficient evidence. Lest there be any confusion: I do not argue that it is always wrong to have faith that God exists, only that, under certain conditions, it can be.     

Transitions in first-year college student drinking behaviors: does pre-college drinking moderate the effects of parent- and peer-based intervention components?

This study used Latent Transition Analysis (LTA) to examine a stage-sequential model of alcohol use among a sample of high-risk matriculating college students (N=1,275). Measures of alcohol use were collected via web-administered surveys during the summer before entering college and followed-up during the fall semester of college. Seven indicators of alcohol use were used in the LTA models, including temporal measures of typical drinking throughout the week. The results indicated that four latent statuses characterized patterns of drinking at both times, though the proportion of students in each status changed during the transition to college: (a) nondrinkers; (b) weekend nonbingers; (c) weekend bingers; and (d) heavy drinkers. Heavy drinkers were distinguished by heavy episodic drinking (HED), and increased likelihood of drinking throughout the week, especially on Thursdays. Covariates were added to the LTA model to examine the main and interaction effects of parent- and peer-based intervention components. Results indicated that participants in the parent and peer conditions were least likely to transition to the heavy drinkers status. Results also indicated that the parent condition was most effective at preventing baseline nondrinkers from transitioning to heavy drinkers whereas the peer condition was most effective at preventing escalation of use among weekend nonbingers. The results underscore the value of considering multiple dimensions of alcohol use within a person-centered approach. Differential treatment effects were found across baseline drinking class, suggesting the benefit for tailored intervention programs to reduce high-risk drinking among college students.     

Ethnic and gender differences in the labour market perceptions of post‐higher education job seekers: ‘Double jeopardy’ or ‘ethnic prominence’?

Ethnic and gender differences in perceptions of graduate job acquisition difficulty among U.K. post‐higher education job seekers were investigated. Two main hypotheses were compared: the double jeopardy hypothesis (DJH), suggesting an additive or interactive increase in perceived difficulty associated with membership of different disadvantaged demographic categories; and the ethnic prominence hypothesis, arguing for the salience of ethnicity over gender in perceptions. Graduates and final year students (N= 800) from Black, Indian, Pakistani/Bangladeshi, and White ethnic backgrounds rated the level of difficulty that a suitably qualified man and woman from their own ethnic background would encounter in attaining 10 graduate jobs. Interactions between participant ethnic background and gender of job seeker rated were examined in the context of the competing hypotheses. The perceptions of men, and Indian and Pakistani/Bangladeshi women, were consistent with the additive DJH, whereas Black women's perceptions were not. It is concluded that: (1) the perceptions of the latter group may reflect knowledge of Black male disadvantage, or negative stereotyping with respect to employment in the U.K. graduate labour market; and (2) perceptions of double jeopardy by some female graduates may have negative effects on their job seeking endeavours.     

The influence of approach–avoidance motivational orientation on conflict adaptation

To deal effectively with a continuously changing environment, our cognitive system adaptively regulates resource allocation. Earlier findings showed that an avoidance orientation (induced by arm extension), relative to an approach orientation (induced by arm flexion), enhanced sustained cognitive control. In avoidance conditions, performance on a cognitive control task was enhanced, as indicated by a reduced congruency effect, relative to approach conditions. Extending these findings, in the present behavioral studies we investigated dynamic adaptations in cognitive control—that is, conflict adaptation. We proposed that an avoidance state recruits more resources in response to conflicting signals, and thereby increases conflict adaptation. Conversely, in an approach state, conflict processing diminishes, which consequently weakens conflict adaptation. As predicted, approach versus avoidance arm movements affected both behavioral congruency effects and conflict adaptation: As compared to approach, avoidance movements elicited reduced congruency effects and increased conflict adaptation. These results are discussed in line with a possible underlying neuropsychological model.