Assessing anxiety with extrinsic Simon tasks

This article introduces two new indirect measures of anxiety that are based on the Extrinsic Affective Simon Task (EAST; De Houwer, 2003). The EAST differs from the more established Implicit Association Test (IAT; Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998) in that participants' responses to different trials within one block of trials are compared rather than performance between two different blocks of trials. Two studies led to the following results: (a) Both extrinsic Simon tasks for assessing anxiety showed only moderate internal consistencies, (b) one of the two tasks showed at least some convergent validity with an IAT for assessing anxiety, and (c) both tasks were dissociated from self-reported anxiety. Implications for future adaptations of the EAST for the indirect assessment of personality dimensions are discussed.     

Empathy-motivated helping: the moderating role of group membership

In this article, the authors present two laboratory experiments testing a group-level perspective on the role of empathy in helping. Experiment 1 tested the authors' predictions in an intercultural context of helping. Confirming their specific Empathy x Group Membership moderation hypothesis, empathy had a stronger effect on helping intentions when the helper and the target belonged to the same cultural group than when they belonged to different groups. Experiment 2 replicated these findings in a modified minimal group paradigm using laboratory-created groups. Moreover, this second experiment also provides evidence for the hypothesized psychological mechanisms underlying the empathy-(ingroup) helping relationship. Specifically, analyses in the ingroup condition confirmed that the strength of the empathy-(ingroup) helping relationship systematically varied as a function of perceived similarities among ingroup members. The general implications of these findings for empathy-motivated helping are discussed.     

Reciprocal relationships between value orientation and motivational interference during studying and leisure

Background. Motivational interference is defined as the amount of impairment in a target activity due to the incentives of a non‐chosen attractive alternative. The amount to which pupils experience motivational interference while studying or while performing a leisure activity in a school–leisure conflict situation is seen as depending on the values they attach to achievement and well‐being. At the same time, values may also be effects of frequent experience of motivational interference in the respective areas. Aims. The study is aimed at investigating the reciprocal relationship between personal value orientations and the experience of motivational interference during studying and leisure. Sample. A total of 363 pupils (sixth to eighth graders at the time of first measurement) completed the same questionnaire twice in a 2‐year interval. Method. The questionnaire included measures of achievement and well‐being value orientation and the experience of motivational interference during studying and during leisure in school–leisure conflicts. For this, two scenarios were created. In regression analyses, achievement and well‐being value orientations as well as their interaction terms were used as predictors for experience of motivational interference at t₂ while controlling for experience of motivational interference at t₁, and vice versa. Additionally in path models, these relations were tested in an integrative way. Results. Pupils' achievement value orientations were connected to differential changes in experiencing motivational interference during leisure and during studying in one scenario but only for pupils low or medium in well‐being value orientation. Conversely, experience of motivational interference at t₁ was related to changes in value orientations 2 years later. High motivational interference during studying led to an increase in well‐being value orientation, while high motivational interference during leisure was followed by a decrease in well‐being value orientation and an increase in achievement value orientation. Overall, path models supported these results. Conclusions. The results are discussed in terms of value change and are linked to self‐control and motivation research.     

Serious,Minor, and Non-Delinquents in Early Adolescence: The Impact of Cumulative Risk and Promotive Factors. The TRAILS Study

This study uses a social-ecological approach to the development of delinquency. The authors emphasize that a balance between eliminating risk and enhancing protection across domains is essential in reducing problems and promoting competence. The cumulative risk and promotive effects of temperament, family and school factors in preadolescence were examined on different groups of delinquents (based on self-report) in early adolescence. Data from the first two waves of the TRAILS study (N = 2,230) were used. The results provide evidence for a compensatory model that assumes main effects of risk and promotive factors on problem behavior. Accumulation of risks in preadolescence promoted being a serious delinquent in early adolescence, with the strongest effects for temperament. Accumulation of promotive effects decreased being a delinquent and supported being a non-delinquent. Furthermore, evidence is found for a counter-balancing effect of cumulative promotive and risk factors. Exposure to more promotive domains in the relative absence of risk domains decreased the percentage of serious delinquents. Our results did not support a protective model. Implications for prevention and intervention are discussed.     

No Justice Without Democracy: A Deliberative Approach to the Global Distribution of Wealth

Abstract

The debate about global distributive justice is characterized by an often stark opposition between universalistic approaches, advocating an egalitarian global redistribution of wealth (Beitz, Pogge, Barry, Tan), and particularistic positions, aiming to justify a restriction of redistribution to the domestic community (D. Miller, R. Miller, Blake, Nagel, Rawls). I argue that an approach starting from the deliberative model of democracy (Habermas) can overcome this opposition. On the one hand, the increasingly global scope of economic interactions implies that the range of individuals concerned with the redistribution of wealth should also be increasingly universal. On the other hand, the need for democratic deliberation refers to the fact that demands of justice should be contextual and should take into account the particular circumstances, needs and values of the people concerned. Both concerns can be realized simultaneously only within a multi‐layered democratic system in which redistribution is a concern at the domestic, the international and the global level.     

The Use of Bigfoots Reduces State Anxiety in Novice Skiers

Novice skiers’ learning and performance is often hampered by the anxiety of falling. We investigated if the use of Bigfoot (i.e., short skis) for the first 4 of 10 days of a skiing course reduces anxiety. We surveyed state anxiety at the beginning and on the ninth day of the skiing course. Compared to a control group, which completed the course on normal skis, the Bigfoot group showed significantly reduced state anxiety on the ninth day, even though they had been performing on normal skis for the last 5 days.     

Correlates of Dispositional and State Flow in Tennis Competition

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between psychological correlates and flow in tennis competition. Using a cross-sectional design, the sample of 261 junior tennis athletes showed moderate-to-strong correlations between flow (dispositional and state) and confidence (r _disp = .59; r _state = .35), imagery use (r _disp = .58; r _state = .32), and action control (r _disp = .41; r _state = .40), whereas absorption was orthogonal to flow. Commonality analysis revealed that imagery and confidence accounted for 34.2% of the variance in dispositional flow. The results are discussed for the development of intervention studies in order to enhance flow in competition.     

How to achieve synergy in group decision making: Lessons to be learned from the hidden profile paradigm

Based on over 25 years of research on hidden profiles and information sharing in groups, and particularly our own work in this area, we outline a general model of how groups can achieve better decisions in a hidden profile situation than their individual members would have been capable of (i.e., synergy). At its core the model defines intensity and bias as the two key parameters that have to be optimised with regard to both the discussion of information and the processing of information in order to ensure synergy in group decision making. We review the empirical literature on information sharing and group decision making in the hidden profile paradigm (with a particular focus on our own studies) to illustrate how group decision quality can be enhanced by increasing intensity and decreasing bias in the discussion and processing of information. Finally we also outline why we think that the lessons learned from research using the hidden profile paradigm can be generalised to group decision-making research in general, and how these lessons can stimulate studies in other fields of group decision-making and group performance research.     

Examining the Dynamics of the Implicit and the Explicit Self-Concept in Social Anxiety: Changes in the Implicit Association Test–Anxiety and the Social Phobia Anxiety Inventory Following Treatment

Data from the first two childhood memories was used to distinguish 15 delinquents from 18 nondelinquent controls. Subjects were male, middle class, 15-17 years of age, and equated for verbal IQ. All delinquents were property offenders. A coding system, devised from the memories of the delinquents and nondelinquents, successfully identified 80% of the delinquents and 100% of the nondelinquents. These prediction rates exceeded those from three clinicians experienced in working with a comparable delinquent population The coding system was then discussed in terms of the axioms and presuppositions which are suggested by the memories of the delinquent sample.