Entrepreneurial Risk Taking Is Related to Mental Imagery: A Fresh Look at the Old Issue of Entrepreneurship and Risk

This paper contributes to the debate concerning determinants of willingness to take entrepreneurial risks and proposes a new approach to this issue. Our theoretical model predicts that entrepreneurs differ from non-entrepreneurs in their willingness to accept business risks because the former produce more vivid and more positive mental images of the consequences of risk taking than the latter. We investigated the psychological processes behind willingness to take business and non-business risks in groups of entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs. First, we measured basic risk attitudes. Next, participants were presented with risky scenarios and asked to: (1) produce mental images; (2) evaluate their positivity and vividness; and (3) assess fearfulness evoked by the scenarios as well as risk level and willingness to take risk. Entrepreneurs did not differ from non-entrepreneurs in either their basic risk attitudes or willingness to take non-business risks. However, entrepreneurs declared a greater readiness to take business risks and produced more positive and vivid mental images of business risks. We found that an indirect effect of vividness of mental imagery on declared business risk taking only occurred for entrepreneurs. On a theoretical level, our results show that mental imagery might determine entrepreneurs’ willingness to take business risk.     

Sex differences in discriminative power of volleyball game-related statistics

To identify sex differences in volleyball game-related statistics, the game-related statistics of several World Championships in 2007 (N=132) were analyzed using the software VIS from the International Volleyball Federation. Discriminant analysis was used to identify the game-related statistics which better discriminated performances by sex. Analysis yielded an emphasis on fault serves (SC = -.40), shot spikes (SC = .40), and reception digs (SC = .31). Specific robust numbers represent that considerable variability was evident in the game-related statistics profile, as men's volleyball games were better associated with terminal actions (errors of service), and women's volleyball games were characterized by continuous actions (in defense and attack). These differences may be related to the anthropometric and physiological differences between women and men and their influence on performance profiles.     

A Comparison of Family Environment Characteristics Among White (Non‐Hispanic), Hispanic,and African Caribbean Groups

To investigate differences in the family environments of different cultural groups, the Family Environment Scale and a clinical interview were administered to 153 college students from White (non‐Hispanic), Hispanic, and African Caribbean backgrounds. A multivariate analysis of covariance and post hoc comparisons revealed significant differences between the groups on the Expressiveness, Independence, and Moral‐Religious Emphasis subscales. Para investigar las distinciones en los ambientes familiares entre grupos culturales diferentes, la Escala del Ambiente Familiar (FES) y una entrevista clínica fueron administradas a 153 estudiantes colegiales Blancos (no‐Hispanos), Hispanos, y Africano‐Caribeños. Un análisis de la covariancia multivariado y comparaciones post hoes revelarón diferencias significativas entre los grupos en Expresividad, Independencia, y Enfasis Moral‐Religioso.     

Thriving and Ethnic Discrimination: A Mixed‐Methods Study

Using mixed methodology, the authors examined facilitators to psychological thriving—or positive changes after adversity—in the context of ethnic discrimination among Latina/o adults. Several themes emerged from qualitative interviews (n = 10), including proving others wrong, ethnic identity, and community involvement. Quantitative analyses (n = 97) indicated that U.S. identity moderated the relationship between ethnic microaggressions and thriving such that high levels of U.S. identity were associated with lower thriving. Implications and future directions are discussed. Usando una metodología mixta, los autores examinaron los facilitadores de la prosperidad psicológica (o cambios positivos tras la adversidad) en el contexto de la discriminación étnica en personas latinas adultas. Varios temas surgieron de las entrevistas cualitativas (n = 10), entre los que se incluyen demostrar que otros estaban equivocados, la identidad étnica y la implicación de la comunidad. Los análisis cuantitativos (n = 97) indicaron que la identidad estadounidense moderó la relación entre las microagresiones étnicas y la prosperidad de tal modo que unos altos niveles de identidad estadounidense se asociaron con una baja prosperidad. Se discuten las implicaciones y direcciones futuras.     

Physical home environment is associated with prefrontal cortical thickness in adolescents

Biologically embedded experiences alter developmental trajectories in ways that can influence health, learning, and/or behavior. These systematic differences in experiences may contribute to different biological outcomes as individuals grow and develop, including at the neural level. Previous studies of biologically embedded experiences on neurodevelopment have focused on large‐scale institutional or economic factors (e.g. socioeconomic status [SES]) and psychosocial factors (e.g. caregiving behavior). Less attention has focused on how the quality of the immediate home settings, such as the physical home environment (PHYS), influences neurodevelopment. Moreover, no study has investigated these effects in adolescents, who undergo significant physical maturation and neurodevelopment that may influence how they respond to their physical environments. The goal of the current study was to examine whether PHYS quality is biologically embedded in the developing adolescent brain as evidenced by cognitive achievement and cortical development in 56 (48% female) healthy adolescents (14–18 years (M = 16.83 years, SD = 1.17). Using in‐home assessments of the physical home environment, anatomical brain scans, and indices of academic achievement, we found that adolescents who have more physical problems in the home (e.g. structural hazards, crowding, excessive noise, poorly lit) have thinner prefrontal cortices, which was associated with lower levels of reading achievement, independent of SES and psychosocial factors. By conducting home visits to assess physical characteristics of adolescents’ home, we highlight a typically overlooked aspect of the home environment that has relevance for adolescents’ cognitive and brain development.     

Psychological predictors of problem mobile phone use.

Mobile phone use is banned or illegal under certain circumstances and in some jurisdictions. Nevertheless, some people still use their mobile phones despite recognized safety concerns, legislation, and informal bans. Drawing potential predictors from the addiction literature, this study sought to predict usage and, specifically, problematic mobile phone use from extraversion, self-esteem, neuroticism, gender, and age. To measure problem use, the Mobile Phone Problem Use Scale was devised and validated as a reliable self-report instrument, against the Addiction Potential Scale and overall mobile phone usage levels. Problem use was a function of age, extraversion, and low self-esteem, but not neuroticism. As extraverts are more likely to take risks, and young drivers feature prominently in automobile accidents, this study supports community concerns about mobile phone use, and identifies groups that should be targeted in any intervention campaigns.     

The Great Divorce: Ethics and Identity

Significant epistemological shifts took place during the modern period that led to the exclusion of ethical constructs of the human self. Subsequently, ethics or morality was systematically divorced from reason and human identity. This has left modern psychologies with impoverished languages for understanding morality and ethics, especially as it relates to human identity. Some of these changes and their subsequent effects are chronicled. Toward this end, three unique influences of the modern era are surveyed. First, it is argued that the nature of reasoning and rationality underwent a significant shift in definition and emphasis, becoming autonomous and secular. Second, it is suggested that the scope of inquiry was restricted to the natural order, creating an immanentization of knowledge. Lastly, it is argued that modernity ushered in a promotion of and preoccupation with the individual subject. The context of each influence are explored, along with a subsection in each describing how the effects of these impacted the growing divorce between ethics and human identity.     

Coparenting Profiles in the Context of Mexican‐Origin Teen Pregnancy: Links to Mother–Daughter Relationship Quality and Adjustment

The current study explored the multifaceted nature of the mother–adolescent coparental relationship with data from 167 Mexican‐origin adolescent mothers and their own mothers at 10 months post childbirth. Profiles of mother–adolescent coparenting were created with latent profile analysis using adolescents’ reports of three dimensions of coparenting (communication, involvement, and conflict). Four profiles were identified: (a) Harmonious Coparents (equal involvement, high communication, low conflict); (b) Harmonious‐Adolescent Primary (adolescent is more involved than mother, high communication, low conflict); (c) Conflictual Coparents (equal involvement, high communication, high conflict); and (d) Conflictual‐Adolescent Primary (adolescent is more involved than mother, moderate communication, high conflict). Families characterized by high mother–daughter conflict and psychological control prior to childbirth were more likely to belong in the Conflictual Coparents profile. In addition, adolescents’ and mothers’ depressive symptoms and parenting efficacy after childbirth were linked to profile membership, such that the Harmonious‐Adolescent Primary profile reported the most positive adjustment patterns, whereas profiles with high coparental conflict (i.e., Conflictual Coparenting and Conflictual‐Adolescent Primary profiles) showed the least positive adjustment patterns. Discussion considers the applied implications of identifying precursors to healthy and problematic mother–daughter coparenting for families of adolescent mothers in the early years of parenting.     

The Effect of Mindfulness-based Programs on Cognitive Function in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Neuropsychology Review - Mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) are increasingly utilized to improve mental health. Interest in the putative effects of MBPs on cognitive function is also growing. This...