Evidence that Killing Escalates Within‐Subjects in a Bug‐Killing Paradigm

Prior research has examined killing behavior using a paradigm in which participants believe (falsely) that they are killing bugs. This work suggests that killing behavior escalates. In the present study, we sought to replicate the basic escalation effect within‐subjects. Further, in doing so, we controlled for experimenter “sanctioning” of killing that may have differed with key between‐subjects manipulations in the prior research. To control for this possible confound, the present experiment held experimenter instructions constant and examined whether killing naturally escalated within‐subjects across two 12‐sec bug‐killing tasks. Additionally, to verify that escalation is due to killing per se and not just physical practice of the procedure, we manipulated whether the procedure was described as real killing or simulated killing. Results showed that when participants thought they were killing bugs, the number of bugs put into the grinder increased from the first to the second killing task. No such escalation occurred when participants performed the procedure while knowing the killing was simulated. Thus, killing of bugs escalates and is not simply a consequence of perceived sanctioning of killing by an experimenter or simulated practice of the procedure.     

Preliminary support for links between media body ideal insecurity and women's shoe and handbag purchases

Two studies examined the relationship between women's insecurity-arousing comparisons with female models and shoe/handbag ownership. Idealized media images appear capable of threatening some women's sense of attractiveness and it may be that as a result, accessorizing becomes particularly appealing because it helps increase physical attractiveness without drawing attention to one's figure, the object of the threatening comparisons. In Study 1 (N=922), a correlational study, the more women reported that they feel insecure when they see attractive female models, the more shoes they tended to own. In Study 2 (N=286), we manipulated whether women saw images of attractive female models or not. The more women exhibited insecurity following exposure to the images of attractive models, the more shoes and handbags they tended to own. In both studies, these effects did not hold for ownership of trousers, an item of clothing that draws attention toward one's body.     

Expanding the link between core self-evaluations and affective job attitudes

The present study examined the differentiated relationship between core self-evaluations and affective job attitudes. In previous research, job characteristics were proposed to mediate this relationship. However, the facets of the job characteristics model have not yet been assessed separately. In the present study we tested which job characteristics (i.e., skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback) mediate the relationship between core self-evaluations and job satisfaction as well as organizational commitment in a sample of 199 employees. Results revealed that core self-evaluations were related to job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Task significance was found to mediate these relationships. These findings are discussed with respect to the level on which people regulate their actions.     

To Preserve,Protect, and Defend: Masculine Honor Beliefs and Perceptions of the 2016 Presidential Candidates

We investigated the relationship between masculine honor beliefs and perceptions of the candidates vying for the presidency. Consistent with hypotheses, we found that higher levels of masculine honor beliefs were associated with more positive perceptions of Donald Trump and with more negative perceptions of Hillary Clinton. Furthermore, our results indicate that higher levels of masculine honor beliefs were associated with clear preferences for Donald Trump. Thus, our data, collected immediately prior to the election likely reflect the beliefs and perceptions that individuals took with them to the polls and help to explain the decisions that voters made on Election Day.     

Emotional facial expressions and the attentional blink: Attenuated blink for angry and happy faces irrespective of social anxiety

Although facial information is distributed over spatial as well as temporal domains, thus far research on selective attention to disapproving faces has concentrated predominantly on the spatial domain. This study examined the temporal characteristics of visual attention towards facial expressions by presenting a Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) paradigm to high (n=33) and low (n=34) socially anxious women. Neutral letter stimuli (p, q, d, b) were presented as the first target (T1), and emotional faces (neutral, happy, angry) as the second target (T2). Irrespective of social anxiety, the attentional blink was attenuated for emotional faces. Emotional faces as T2 did not influence identification accuracy of a preceding (neutral) target. The relatively low threshold for the (explicit) identification of emotional expressions is consistent with the view that emotional facial expressions are processed relatively efficiently.     

Intact emotion–cognition interaction in schizophrenia patients and first-degree relatives: Evidence from an emotional antisaccade task

Schizophrenia patients have deficits in cognitive control as well as in a number of emotional domains. The antisaccade task is a measure of cognitive control that requires the inhibition of a reflex-like eye movement to a peripheral stimulus. Antisaccade performance has been shown to be modulated by the emotional content of the peripheral stimuli, with emotional stimuli leading to higher error rates than neutral stimuli, reflecting an implicit emotion processing effect. The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact on antisaccade performance of threat-related emotional facial stimuli in schizophrenia patients, first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients and healthy controls. Fifteen patients, 22 relatives and 26 controls, matched for gender, age and verbal intelligence, carried out an antisaccade task with pictures of faces displaying disgusted, fearful and neutral expressions as peripheral stimuli. We observed higher antisaccade error rates in schizophrenia patients compared to first-degree relatives and controls. Relatives and controls did not differ significantly from each other. Antisaccade error rate was influenced by the emotional nature of the stimuli: participants had higher antisaccade error rates in response to fearful faces compared to neutral and disgusted faces. As this emotional influence on cognitive control did not differ between groups we conclude that implicit processing of emotional faces is intact in patients with schizophrenia and those at risk for the illness.     

Subject and Experimenter Errors in Behavioral Research with Particular Reference to Motor Behavior

Sources of error stemming from S and E and their interaction were identified, their prevalence in behavioral science research discussed, and means for eliminating or discounting them suggested. The findings reviewed indicated that E may bias his findings by indicating to S the demand characteristics of the experimental situation. S errors include such behavior as trying to be over-helpful, attempting to defeat E’s intentions, and the Hawthorne effect. Errors from E may arise by transmitting subtle cues to S as to the hypothesized outcome of the experiment, E’s various characteristics, situational factors, and intentional errors. The applicability of these errors to mo tor behavior research was discussed.     

The careless or the conscientious : Who profits most from goal progress?

Although research indicates that making progress on personal work goals predicts positive job attitudes, little is known about the role of conscientiousness in moderating this relationship. Congruence theories suggest that job attitudes will be more dependent on goal progress when employees are high in conscientiousness, whereas compensation theories suggest the opposite. We test these competing hypotheses in a three-wave, 4-month longitudinal panel study of 121 trainee teachers, who are at their early stages of career development. Conscientiousness moderated the relationships between progress on personal work goals and job attitudes according to the compensatory pattern, such that employees displayed stronger increases in job satisfaction and affective organizational commitment in response to goal progress when they were low rather than high in conscientiousness. Our results help to resolve conflicting findings about the relationship between goal progress and job attitudes and adjudicate competing hypotheses about the role of conscientiousness in moderating this relationship.     

Agreement Between Descriptive and Experimental Analyses of Behavior under Naturalistic Test Conditions

We compared the results of a contingency space analysis (CSA) of behavior-consequence recordings to the results of functional analysis (FA) test conditions involving antecedent stimuli and verbal statements that both differed from and mimicked those in the natural environment. Three preschool children with autism spectrum disorder participated. During Phase I, we identified teacher-delivered consequences that were contingent on problem behavior from observational data. During Phase II, each child participated in FA test conditions conducted by their teacher or a same-sex experimenter in an ABA reversal design. Two Experimenter FA conditions were identical to the Teacher FA, with an additional condition involving a different task, demands, and verbal statements. Teacher FAs revealed a clear function for problem behavior for two children, whereas the Experimenter FA was undifferentiated. The reverse pattern was observed for the third child. Results of the CSAs were consistent with the Teacher FAs for two children. Implications for generalizing the outcomes of analog FA test conditions are discussed.