Flexible Mediation Analysis in the Presence of Nonlinear Relations: Beyond the Mediation Formula

In the social sciences, mediation analysis has typically been formulated in the context of linear models using the Baron &; Kenny (1986) Baron, R. M. and Kenny, D. A. 1986. The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51: 1173–1182. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] approach. Extensions to nonlinear models have been considered but lack formal justification. By placing mediation analysis within the counterfactual framework of causal inference one can define causal mediation effects in a way that is not tied to a specific statistical model and identify them under certain no unmeasured confounding assumptions. Corresponding estimation procedures using parametric or nonparametric models, based on the so-called mediation formula, have recently been proposed in the psychological literature and made accessible through the R-package mediation. A number of limitations of the latter approach are discussed and a more flexible approach using natural effects models is proposed as an alternative. The latter builds on the same counterfactual framework but enables interpretable and parsimonious modeling of direct and mediated effects and facilitates tests of hypotheses that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to test. We illustrate the approach in a study of individuals who ended a romantic relationship and explore whether the effect of attachment anxiety during the relationship on unwanted pursuit behavior after the breakup is mediated by negative affect during the breakup.     

Improved training of football referees and the decline in home advantage post-WW2

ObjectivesResearch has identified a decline in home advantage (HA) in a number of professional leagues since World War 2 (WW2). The purpose of the current study was to identify whether the decline in HA in English and Scottish Professional Football Leagues is mirrored by the radical transformation in the training of referees post-WW2, thus providing a new insight into the cause of HA.DesignA longitudinal quasi-experimental design.MethodsHA was calculated for each team at the end of every season for the four English and the Scottish Premier League post-WW2. We also compiled a list of events, statements and quotations to illustrate the dramatic change in the way referees have been trained (physically and psychologically), and assessed over the same period.ResultsWe observed a systematic decline in HA in professional English and Scottish leagues post-WW2, but with the steepest decline observed in lower divisions with smaller crowds. Of the factors thought to influence HA, crowd support appears the most consistent with these observations. Crowds are known to influence referees' decisions to favour the home side. However we argue that improved training of referees since WW2 has contributed to an improved ability to make objective decisions and a greater resilience to crowd influence, which explains the decline in HA but also accounts for the steeper decline observed with smaller crowds.ConclusionsThe continued existence of HA, and the less steep decline observed in top leagues suggests that referees' judgements are still not immune to the influence of larger crowds.     

Implications of the Islamic revival for Christian‐Muslim dialogue in Asia

Abstract

After a review of the demographic balance between Christians and Muslims in Asia, this article looks at the different factors which influence the relations between them. A review of the growth of Christianity in Asia is then followed by an outline of the four phases of the spread of Islam and a survey of the causes of the contemporary Islamic revival in the region. Particular attention is devoted to the influence of Wahhabi ideas from what is now Saudi Arabia, the hopes engendered by the creation of Pakistan in 1947, the influence of the Palestinian struggle, the legacy of the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the consequences of the Gulf War of 1991, and the impact of al‐Qa'ida and the events of 11 September 2001. Recent tensions between Christians and Muslims in Indonesia and the Philippines are discussed, and the significance of the revivalist critique of modernity and the clash of values between anthropocentric liberalism and the theocentric system of revivalist Islam is assessed.     

Computer-Mediated Communication Versus Vocal Communication and the Attenuation of Pre-Interaction Impressions

Conflicting theoretical approaches yield divergent predictions about the effects of telephones versus computer-mediated communication (CMC) in the persistence or dissipation of pre-interaction expectancies. Moreover, different theoretical orientations and their underlying assumptions often invoke different methodologies, which can bias the results of research. The current studies articulate and assess rival hypotheses from alternative theoretical paradigms to uncover how CMC and vocal communication affect interpersonal impressions. Methodological issues in past CMC research are evaluated that limit the generalizability of previous findings in the area. Experiments employing alternative assumptions and methods indicate that CMC is functionally equivalent to vocal communication in its ability to ameliorate expectancies and that in some cases it can be superior in transmitting positive impressions.     

Comprehension of the Referential Intent of Looking and Pointing Between 12 and 15 Months

Butler, Caron, & Brooks (2000) tested the gaze following of 14-and 18-month-olds under 3 conditions: (1) when the adult's view of the targets was blocked by barriers, (2) when the barriers contained open windows, and (3) no barriers. Contrary to a nonmentalist "ecological" model (adult turns serve as cues to the location of interesting events), frequency of gaze following by 14-month-olds was not equivalent across the 3 conditions. Contrary to a mentalist model (infant wants to see what the adult is seeing), gaze following was not substantially less in the barrier than in the window and no-barrier conditions (as was the case for 18-month-olds). To examine whether the barriers posed vector projection problems for essentially nonmentalist, or line-of-sight problems for essentially mentalist younger infants, 3 experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, a 12-month group was tested in the same 3 conditions to determine if, being younger, they might yield a more clearcut nonmentalist pattern. Contrarily, they behaved like Butler et al.'s 14-month-olds. In Experiment 2, a 14-month group was tested in the barrier and window conditions, but now combining pointing with turning. Infants behaved as predicted by the mentalist model: strong responding in the window condition and minimal in the barrier (where many strained to look inside the partitions). In Experiment 3, an attempt was made to differentiate between mentalist and "geometric" (vector projection) interpretations of the results of Experiment 2 by testing another 14-month group with the adult's eyes closed while pointing. Gaze following now dropped precipitously in the window condition as did looking inside the solid barriers, indicating (1) that infants in Experiment 2 had not simply been guided to target by an extended arm, but construed it as part of a referential act that was as much visual as gestural, and (2) that by 14 months, infants may have acquired a mentalistic concept of seeing.     

Individual differences in spatial configuration learning predict the occurrence of intrusive memories

The dual-representation model of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Brewin, Gregory, Lipton, & Burgess, Psychological Review, 117, 210-232 2010) argues that intrusions occur when people fail to construct context-based representations during adverse experiences. The present study tested a specific prediction flowing from this model. In particular, we investigated whether the efficiency of temporal-lobe-based spatial configuration learning would account for individual differences in intrusive experiences and physiological reactivity in the laboratory. Participants (N = 82) completed the contextual cuing paradigm, which assesses spatial configuration learning that is believed to depend on associative encoding in the parahippocampus. They were then shown a trauma film. Afterward, startle responses were quantified during presentation of trauma reminder pictures versus unrelated neutral and emotional pictures. PTSD symptoms were recorded in the week following participation. Better configuration learning performance was associated with fewer perceptual intrusions, r = ?.33, p < .01, but was unrelated to physiological responses to trauma reminder images (ps > .46) and had no direct effect on intrusion-related distress and overall PTSD symptoms, rs > ?.12, ps > .29. However, configuration learning performance tended to be associated with reduced physiological responses to unrelated negative images, r = ?.20, p = .07. Thus, while spatial configuration learning appears to be unrelated to affective responding to trauma reminders, our overall findings support the idea that the context-based memory system helps to reduce intrusions.     

Dialogue in Therapy's "Borderzone"

This article explores some implications of practicing therapy from a discourse perspective. In particular, the dialogues of therapy are portrayed as a context in which client and therapist practice culture. Therapy, from this perspective, can optimally take place in an imaginary dialogic meeting place--a "borderzone"--wherein the discussions of therapy can occur in respectful ways. Discursive therapists are encouraged to see the differends, or potential stuck times of therapy, as times to turn to alternative discourses to keep the dialogue resourceful and collaborative.     

Personal Constructs of Mind-Body Identity in People Who Experience Medically Unexplained Symptoms

“Medically unexplained symptoms” (MUS) refers to chronic physical symptoms without a clear medical cause, which produce significant levels of distress and functional impairment. This project modified the repertory grid technique to explore how twenty participants experiencing MUS construed self and others in bodily and psychological ways. Findings suggested that symptoms are well integrated within participants' wider mind–body construct systems. Increased distance between how self in general is construed compared to self when symptoms are worst was associated with reduced anxiety. Measuring intrapersonal and interpersonal implicative dilemmas suggested that moral and relational construing of identity is affected by MUS.     

Conceptually Downstream: Revisiting Old Tributaries of Thought for “New” Constructivist Ideas and Practices

Contemporary constructivism occurs at the confluence of three tributaries of thought and practice: hermeneutics, phenomenology, and linguistic philosophy. Selectively tracing the contributions of each tributary, or tradition of thought, a case is made for integrating cultural meanings and customs, lived experience, and people's uses of language in a generative and socially grounded approach to constructivism.