Implications of Pro‐ and Counterattitudinal Information Exposure for Affective Polarization

The American electorate is characterized by political polarization, and especially by increasingly negative affective responses toward opposing party members. To what extent might this be attributed to exposure to information reinforcing individuals' partisan identity versus information representing the views of partisan opponents? And is this a uniquely American phenomenon? This study uses survey data collected immediately following recent national elections in two countries, the United States and Israel, to address these questions. Results across the two nations are generally consistent, and indicate that pro‐ and counterattitudinal information exposure has distinct influences on perceptions of and attitudes toward members of opposing parties, despite numerous cross‐cultural differences. We discuss implications in light of recent evidence about partisans' tendency to engage in selective exposure.     

Mediation and moderation of the effects of watching the angiography screen on patients

It has been reported that allowing patients to watch the coronary angiography screen during the procedure results in psychological benefits. This study aimed to investigate the roles of illness perceptions as mediators of this outcome and to examine whether individual differences in monitoring coping style moderated these effects. The experiment compared patients who were instructed to watch the monitor screen (n = 57) with those who were not (n = 51). Questionnaires were used to measure the research variables at one day and one month after the procedure. Results showed that watching the angiography screen increased patients’ personal and treatment control perceptions that mediated changes in self-assessed health, risk perceptions, negative affect, general and diet outcome expectancies, and diet and physical activity intentions. The behavior-related outcomes were moderated by monitoring coping style. These findings illustrate the significance of illness perceptions, perceived control and monitoring coping style in achieving desirable outcomes among patients undergoing coronary angiography, and reveal opportunities for interventions using medical imaging technologies.     

Physical Activity Among Urban Children with Asthma: Does Sleep Matter?

Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings - The present study examined associations between sleep and physical activity among a diverse sample of 97 urban children (ages 7–9) with...     

Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS) reference data for Israeli adolescents

This study presents Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 1974, 2003) data for a sample of 100 Israeli nonpatient adolescents divided into 2 age-based groups: 11-14 (n = 42) and 15-18 (n = 58). The data are compared to those derived from the international project of Meyer, Erdberg, and Shaffer (2007). The results suggest that contemporary Israeli adolescents demonstrate age-appropriate inclination to show excessive self-inspection (FD), to be overly individualistic, perceiving reality in a unique and unconventional manner (elevated Xu%; lowered X+% and P), and to be involved in scientific issues (elevated Sc). The age-based group of 11 to 14, however, also tends to show difficulties in affect modulation (C > 0). Nonetheless, Israeli nonpatient adolescents are quite unlikely and not more than nonpatient adults, to show elevation on the major CS constellations of psychopathological manifestations. Although these observations are mostly in agreement with data collected from their peers around the world, the Israeli youngsters seem to be more similar to adults than to youngsters from other countries as to various CS measures, including those pointing to openness and attentiveness to stimuli (i.e., Lambda, F%). The main conclusion is that with the exception of some age-appropriate deviations, the international reference data for adults can be used for evaluating psychopathology in adolescents.     

The collapse illusion effect: A semantic-pragmatic illusion of truth and paradox

Abstract

Two Experiments demonstrate the existence of a “collapse illusion”, in which reasoners evaluate Truthteller-type propositions (“I am telling the truth”) as if they were simply true, whereas Liar-type propositions (“I am lying”) tend to be evaluated as neither true nor false. The second Experiment also demonstrates an individual differences pattern, in which shallow reasoners are more susceptible to the illusion. The collapse illusion is congruent with philosophical semantic truth theories such as Kripke's (1975 Kripke, S. 1975. Outline of a theory of truth. The Journal of Philosophy, 72: 690–716. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), and with hypothetical thinking theory's principle of satisficing, but can only be partially accounted for by the model theory principle of truth. Pragmatic effects related to sentence cohesion further reinforce hypothetical thinking theory interpretation of the data, although the illusion and cohesion data could also be accounted for within a modified mental model theory.     

Models of dependence and independence: A two-dimensional architecture of dual processing

This theoretical note proposes a two-dimensional cognitive architecture for dual-process theories of reasoning and decision making. Evans (2007b Evans, J. St. B. T. 2007b. On the resolution of conflict in dual process theories of reasoning. Thinking and Reasoning, 13: 321–339. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 2008a Evans, J. St. B. T. 2008a. Dual-processing accounts of reasoning, judgment, and social cognition. Annual Review of Psychology, 59: 255–278. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 2009 Evans, J. St. B. T. and Frankish, K. 2009. In two minds: Dual processes and beyond, Oxford, , UK: Oxford University Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) distinguishes between two types of dual-processing models: parallel-competitive, in which both types of processes operate in parallel, and default-interventionist, in which heuristic processes precede the analytic processes. I suggest that this temporal dimension should be enhanced with a functional distinction between interactionist architecture, in which either type of process influences the content and valence of the other, and independent architecture, in which they do not. Override architecture is a special case of the latter, which postulates statistical interaction, but no interaction of valence and content. I show that this added dimensional distinction casts doubt on two assumptions of statistical modelling that Evans makes: independence and linearity. However, Evans' (2007b Evans, J. St. B. T. 2007b. On the resolution of conflict in dual process theories of reasoning. Thinking and Reasoning, 13: 321–339. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) point, that statistical modelling is underspecified vis-à-vis the verbal theory, is given further support. The functional dimension is crucial to interpreting the statistical model, as well as to theoretical understanding of the cognitive architecture and its educational applications.     

What’s good for me depends on what I see in you: Intimacy avoidance and resources derived from close others

Past research has demonstrated that comfort with intimacy differentially affects the extent to which a person assimilates/contrasts to a close other. Specifically, individuals comfortable with intimacy benefit most from assimilating to those who embody positive aspects, whereas individuals uncomfortable with intimacy benefit most from contrasting to those who embody a mix of positive and negative aspects. Using a multi-method approach, the current research provides evidence suggesting that both those who are positively regarded and those who engender mixed feelings have the potential to benefit the perceiver differentially as a function of the types of traits that are most salient at the time. In Study 1, consistent with predictions, high-avoidant individuals contrasted to the salient traits of a romantic partner and performed better on an intelligence test after thinking about their partner’s unintelligent compared to intelligent traits, whereas low-avoidant individuals assimilated. In Study 2, high-avoidant individuals contrasted to friends’ traits and exhibited more positive cardiovascular responses (i.e., greater challenge) while talking about friends’ negative traits and more negative responses (i.e., greater threat) while talking about friends’ positive traits. Together, these findings suggest that there are situations during which low- and high-avoidant individuals differentially benefit from highly regarded close others.     

Gender,status and the use of power strategies

The present study examined the effects of gender and status on the use of power strategies. The experiment consisted of a computer‐based problem‐solving task performed in pairs, where participants interacted with simulated long‐distance partners. Participants were 36 female and 38 male undergraduate students, who were assigned to be influencing agents and were required to convince their partners to accept their help in the problem‐solving process. Status was manipulated by the extent to which partners were dependent upon the participants' resources. Partners were either same sex or other sex. Results indicated an interactive effect of agent gender by status. Men used more frequently ‘masculine’‐typed and less frequently ‘feminine’‐typed strategies than did women in low status positions, whereas in high status positions no significant gender differences in power strategy choices were found. These findings suggest that gender differences and similarities vary according to social contexts. Implications of the findings for both theory and practice are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Coping with the threat of terrorism: a review

Terrorism creates a ripple of fear and uncertainty. Although most individuals are resilient and recover over time, a minority remains functionally and psychologically impaired. In this paper, we examine research on coping strategies employed in the aftermath of terrorist events, theories and empirical findings related to appraisal processes that influence individuals' primary attributions of risk, and normative processes that shape secondary appraisals, which predict specific coping behaviors. We also describe individual diatheses and factors promoting resilience that may influence coping and functioning in the face of terrorism. Finally, we offer suggestions for future research.