The SNARC effect is not a unitary phenomenon

Models of the spatial–numerical association of response codes (SNARC) effect—faster responses to small numbers using left effectors, and the converse for large numbers—diverge substantially in localizing the root cause of this effect along the numbers’ processing chain. One class of models ascribes the cause of the SNARC effect to the inherently spatial nature of the semantic representation of numerical magnitude. A different class of models ascribes the effect’s cause to the processing dynamics taking place during response selection. To disentangle these opposing views, we devised a paradigm combining magnitude comparison and stimulus–response switching in order to monitor modulations of the SNARC effect while concurrently tapping both semantic and response-related processing stages. We observed that the SNARC effect varied nonlinearly as a function of both manipulated factors, a result that can hardly be reconciled with a unitary cause of the SNARC effect.     

Emotion Regulation and Empathy: Which Relation with Social Conduct?

A shared consensus among researchers deals with the positive association between the ability to effectively regulate and manage one's emotion and the engagement in empathic behavior and morally desirable actions. This study was designed to investigate how dispositional reliance on suppression and reappraisal differently impacted on the cognitive and affective components of empathy and on social conduct, distinguishing among prosocial, internalizing, and externalizing behaviors. Two hundred nineteen middle adolescents were enrolled and fulfilled self-reports assessing emotion regulation strategies, empathy, and social behaviors. The results suggest that there are important distinctions among the emotion regulation strategies and the components of empathy as they relate to one another and to prosocial behavior and problem conduct. Specifically, cognitive reappraisal was related to prosocial behavior through empathic concern. While internalizing behavior was associated with emotion regulation strategies, externalizing behavior was only related to perspective-taking ability. Delimitations and practical implications were discussed.     

Emergent social identity and observing social support predict social support provided by survivors in a disaster: Solidarity in the 2010 Chile earthquake

Survivors of disasters commonly provide each other with social support, but the social‐psychological processes behind such solidarity behaviours have not been fully explicated. We describe a survey of 1240 adults affected by the 2010 Chile earthquake to examine the importance of two factors: observing others providing social support and social identification with other survivors. As expected, emotional social support was associated with social identification, which in turn was predicted by disaster exposure through common fate. Observing others' supportive behaviour predicted both providing emotional social support and providing coordinated instrumental social support. Expected support was a key mediator of these relationships and also predicted collective efficacy. There was also an interaction: social identification moderated the relationship between observing and providing social support. These findings serve to develop the social identity account of mass emergency behaviour and add value to disaster research by showing the relevance of concepts from collective action.     

The relationship between personality organization and sexual life in a community sample of men

Contemporary object-relation theory of personality postulates that the level of severity of personality organization parallels the nature and extent of problems in the patient’s sexual life. The study aims at exploring the relationship between dimensions of Borderline Personality Organization (BPO) (as assessed according to Otto Kernberg’s model), sexual functioning, quality of sexual life and paraphilias in a community sample of men. One-hundred and thirty-six healthy men were asked to complete a set of questionnaires including the Inventory of Personality Organization (IPO), the International Index of Erectile Function, the Sexual Quality of Life Questionnaire, and a checklist to assess the prevalence of paraphilias. High scores on IPO subscales were significantly associated with low overall satisfaction in sexual functioning, low quality of sexual life, and the presence of paraphilias. Results expand previous findings on the relationship between features of BPO and core components of sexual life and support the need for an assessment of personality functioning in subjects reporting sexual problems.     

Contributions of Behavioral Systems Science to Leadership for a New Progressive Movement

We argue in this paper that we are in the midst of a period in which fundamental global change will be required if societies and many species, perhaps even our own, are to survive. The realities are inescapable, and the potential implications are likely to affect nearly every dimension of human life in the USA and globally. Current trends are discouraging and will be extraordinarily difficult to shift, given global structural realities. It is hard to imagine a time when effective leadership is more necessary or will be more challenging. Our thesis here is that behavioral systems science can contribute in meaningful ways to shaping and sustaining such leadership, leadership required to advance a new progressive movement.     

Size From Shadow: Some Informational Paths Less Traveled

This article deals with informational structure in cast shadows. Most research on cast shadows has focused on retrieving various geometric properties of the scene from shadow patterns, the shape of objects and distances between objects being the foremost features. Size appears to be a rather neglected aspect. However, shadows contain a wealth of information about size. I explore first a simple heuristic (approximate equivalence of size of shadow and size of object) and some complicating factors: elongated shadows, shadows from pinholes, and penumbra. Finally, I discuss the case of relative size of objects in multiobject scenes with shadows.     

Looking (also) at the Other Side of the Story. Resilience Processes in Migrants

Studies on migration have focused on obstacles and barriers encountered by migrants when they arrive in a new country. Recognizing that there are difficulties, it is also important to know the resources used by migrants to overcome adversity. This study springs from a theoretical perspective of resilience, based on a culturally significant ecological model (Ungar M, Resilience across Cultures. British Journal of Social Work, 38(2), 218–235, 2008) to analyze the processes of cultural adjustment to the host country in migratory movements. Thus, it seeks to understand the various dynamics in adversity and in resources experienced by migrants in Portugal originated from Portuguese-speaking countries (Guinea, Cape Verde, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique). To this end, seven focus groups (N?=?35) were facilitated for a discussion on the dimensions of resilience processes. The thematic analysis revealed five main themes in the adversity dimension with some of its topics further grouped in specific sub-topics. In the resources dimension, four salient themes have emerged. Data was discussed in an articulated perspective of themes, illustrating some of the difficulties and resources of migrants in the specificity of the Portuguese context. Implications for research on resilience are highlighted, and some bridges are built for the context of intervention in migrant integration.     

Does Positive Wellbeing Predict Job Performance Three Months Later?

The present study examines the relationship between wellbeing and work performance in a twotime model. The model was based on the happy-productive worker hypothesis. Labour wellbeing (Time 1, T1) was measured with three constructs: job satisfaction, personal satisfaction, and organizational commitment, and showed good one dimensional adjustment in the second-order confirmatory factor analysis performed. We use a stratified sampling strategy, controlling for sex, age and whether workers were employed in the public or private sector. Of the 235 employees analysed in T1, 205 responded in Time 2 (T2). Results obtained through SEM analysis establish a positive and significant relationship between positive wellbeing and job performance. Likewise, job satisfaction and organizational commitment were the variable that most influenced the unidimensional welfare construct (0.902, p < 0.001 and 0.750, p < 0.001, respectively). Personal satisfaction showed a lower value (0.234, p < 0.01), and was the only one of the three variables that was context-free level. The article looks at the theoretical and professional implications of the results.

     

A Decision Support System for Prioritizing Investments in an Energy Efficiency Program in Favelas in the City of Rio de Janeiro

This study proposes an integrated qualitative and quantitative assessment of expert opinions aiming at ranking a set of five shantytowns (favelas) located in the city of Rio de Janeiro. These communities are candidates for investments in an energy efficiency program implemented by the local electric utility company. The city, state, and federal governments want to eliminate domination of these areas by organized criminal gangs and present the city as a peaceful metropolis while hosting two big sports events: the soccer World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016. In recent years, some favelas were chosen to be prototypes for an ambitious project to reshape Rio de Janeiro. This involves first sending in special tactics police to drive drug gangs out, then installing the Pacifying Police Unit in the favela. Once security has been established, it is possible to improve general living conditions in these areas, including by providing public services such as health clinics, formal electricity connections and cable television. The core of the energy efficiency program was to convert informal customers to formal ones, because such communities were responsible for approximately 40% of the commercial losses (stolen energy) in the city. The model specification presented in this paper was set up with ten relevant criteria for decision making, identified through an in‐depth interview with the decision maker. The relative importance of the criteria and the performance of each favela regarding each criterion were measured by the Simos method. The preferences resulting from this method were translated into a nine‐point scale. The imprecision of subjective judgment was partially compensated by using a fuzzy analytical hierarchy process. Some criteria were ordinal, such as ‘Fair Relationship with the Community’ and ‘Complexity to Rebuild the Distribution Lines’, whereas other were cardinal, like ‘Percentage of Clients in Default’ and ‘Commercial Loss Due to Energy Theft’. At the end, the model was efficient in ranking the five favelas, therefore contributing to a rational and transparent approach for capital investment in social projects. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.