Spousal Religiosity is Positively Associated with the Partner's Meaning in Life

Past research has established that personal religiosity is positively associated with a sense of meaning in life. However, it has largely overlooked how religious others influence one's own life meaning. Given that a marital partner may be the most influential other in a person's everyday life, this study aims to examine how the religiosity of one's spouse is associated with the sense of meaning in life of the self, regardless of the religiosity of the self. Moreover, this study assesses whether this association differs by gender. Analysis of data from the 2006 Portraits of American Life Study reveals that spousal religiosity is positively associated with the partner's meaning in life, net of the partner's own religious commitment. However, these observed patterns do not vary by gender. Overall, these observations highlight the importance of social contexts in which others’ religious attributes are related to one's own meaning in life.     

The COVID-19 threat and luxury advertising

The purpose of this research is to examine how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the luxury goods industry. The authors hypothesize that pandemic threats drive consumers toward luxury consumption to increase their perceptions of control. The article reports results of three experimental studies conducted in the United States. In Study 1, after participants read an article about COVID-19, they respond favorably to an advertisement for a luxury brand. The comparative control participants read an article about a tofu dish and respond less favorably to the luxury advertisement. Study 2 provides further evidence that perceived control acts as a mediator, while ruling out alternative explanations. Study 3 indicates that threat evokes luxury preferences only when advertisements for both luxury and nonluxury products use abstract messages, as opposed to concrete messages. The findings provide practical insights showing that the most effective advertising strategy for luxury brand managers is to use abstract rather than concrete messages for targeting consumers who feel highly threatened by COVID-19.     

How regulatory focus–mode fit impacts variety-seeking

Variety-seeking research has examined antecedents in terms of contextual factors and individual differences. However, it does not consider the interaction of individual difference factors such as regulatory focus (promotion vs. prevention) and regulatory mode (locomotion vs. assessment) to predict variety-seeking. Drawing on regulatory fit theory, this study introduces a new kind of regulatory fit based on the interaction between regulatory focus and mode (i.e., regulatory focus–mode fit), thereby extending previous work examining fit based on either regulatory focus or regulatory mode in isolation. Results from five studies, including field data from 10,547 music app consumers (text analysis), two preregistered studies, and two online experiments, show that regulatory focus–mode fit (vs. non-fit) decreases variety-seeking. Engagement and attitude certainty serially mediate regulatory focus–mode fit effects. Findings provide implications for consumer segmentation and message framing.     

College Student Samples Are Not Always Equivalent: The Magnitude of Personality Differences Across Colleges and Universities

This research examined the magnitude of personality differences across different colleges and universities to understand (a) how much students at different colleges vary from one another and (b) whether there are site‐level variables that can explain observed differences. Nearly 8,600 students at 30 colleges and universities completed a Big Five personality trait measure. Site‐level information was obtained from the Integrated Postsecondary Education System database (U.S. Department of Education). Multilevel models revealed that each of the Big Five traits showed significant between‐site variability, even after accounting for individual‐level demographic differences. Some site‐level variables (e.g., enrollment size, requiring letters of recommendation) explained between‐site differences in traits, but many tests were not statistically significant. Student samples at different universities differed in terms of average levels of Big Five personality domains. This raises the possibility that personality differences may explain differences in research results obtained when studying students at different colleges and universities. Furthermore, results suggest that research that compares findings for only a few sites (e.g., much cross‐cultural research) runs the risk of overgeneralizing differences between specific samples to broader group differences. These results underscore the value of multisite collaborative research efforts to enhance psychological research.     

Interplay between Attachment to Peers and Parents in Korean Adolescents’ Behavior Problems

The present study investigated the relative contribution of style of peer attachment (secure, anxious, avoidant) and quality of attachment to parents on behavior problems in Korean adolescents. In addition, we examined the role of paternal and maternal attachment separately as a potential moderator in the relationship between style of peer attachment and internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Middle school students (245 males, 209 females) completed the Korean version of the Adolescent Friendship Attachment Scale, Inventory of Parental and Peer Attachment-Revised, and Youth Self-Report. Attachment to peers and parents as predictors of behavior problems were tested via hierarchical multiple regression analyses. Results revealed that anxious peer attachment remained the strongest predictor of behavior problems among adolescents (internalizing behavior problems β?=?.18, p?<?.01; externalizing behavior problems β?=?.21, p? <?.001), indicating the relative importance of peer relationship compared to attachment to parents. Paternal attachment significantly moderated the relationship between avoidant peer attachment and externalizing behavior problems (β?=?.15, p?<?.05), even when the main effect of avoidant peer attachment on externalizing behavior problems was not significant. Results highlight the role of both attachments to peers and parents on adolescents’ psychological adjustment.     

Asian Parents’ Perception of Child Weight Status: A Systematic Review

Parental perception of a child’s weight is important in determining parenting and feeding styles, which relate to childhood obesity. Evidence suggests this perception can vary by ethnicity. The purpose of this review was to explore Asian parents’ child weight perception and examine factors related to Asian parents’ child weight misperception. A systematic literature review was conducted on eight studies between 2000 and 2016 through the databases of CINAHL, Cochrane Reviews, PsycINFO, Medline, and PubMed. Searching key words were Asians, Asian-Americans, weight perception, and parents. The review revealed that all eight studies identified child weight misperception, but with highly varying results (ranging from 29.7 to 89.2%). Factors that influenced the accuracy of a parent’s child weight perception included maternal BMI, parental gender and age, child’s BMI, child’s own weight perception, child’s gender and age, and child’s birth order and birth weight. Misperception about their children’s weight is prevalent among Asian parents. Anthropometric measurement of a child, rather than a parent’s reporting of a child’s weight, should be used to educate Asian parents regarding childhood obesity. Health care professionals should be aware of misperceptions when developing and providing a culturally appropriate intervention to address overweight/obesity among Asian children, which might include improving weight perception.     

Mexican American Adolescents’ Cultural Orientation, Externalizing Behavior and Academic Engagement: The Role of Traditional Cultural Values

This study of 598 7th grade students of Mexican origin examined the role of traditional cultural values as a mediator of the effects of immigrant status, Mexican cultural orientation and Anglo cultural orientation on adolescent externalizing behavior and academic engagement. Immigrant status of adolescents and their maternal caregivers uniquely predicted increased Mexican cultural orientation and decreased Anglo cultural orientation, and both Mexican and Anglo cultural orientation related positively to adolescents’ endorsement of traditional cultural values. Endorsement of traditional cultural values related, in turn, to decreased externalizing behaviors and increased academic engagement and these findings were replicated across adolescent and teacher report of these two outcomes. Tests of mediation provided further evidence to support these pathways. Findings support the central importance of traditional cultural values as a protective resource that explains why immigrant youth exhibit fewer externalizing problems and increased academic engagement when compared to their second and third generation peers.     

The ameliorating effect of oroxylin A on scopolamine-induced memory impairment in mice

Oroxylin A is a flavonoid and was originally isolated from the root of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi., one of the most important medicinal herbs in traditional Chinese medicine. The aim of this study was to investigate the ameliorating effects of oroxylin A on memory impairment using the passive avoidance test, the Y-maze test, and the Morris water maze test in mice. Drug-induced amnesia was induced by administering scopolamine (1 mg/kg, i.p.) or diazepam (1 mg/kg, i.p.). Oroxylin A (5 mg/kg) significantly reversed cognitive impairments in mice by passive avoidance and the Y-maze testing (P<.05). Oroxylin A also improved escape latencies in training trials and increased swimming times and distances within the target zone of the Morris water maze (P<.05). Moreover, the ameliorating effects of oroxylin A were antagonized by both muscimol and diazepam (0.25 mg/kg, i.p., respectively), which are GABA(A) receptor agonists. Furthermore, oroxylin A (100 microM) was found to inhibit GABA-induced inward Cl(-) current in a single cortical neuron. These results suggest that oroxylin A may be useful for the treatment of cognitive impairments induced by cholinergic dysfunction via the GABAergic nervous system.     

Delinquent peer affiliation and conduct problems: A twin study

Many putative environmental risks correlate with individuals' genotypes. The association between delinquent peer affiliation and conduct problems may occur because of shared genetic liability. Five hundred fifty three monozygotic and 558 dizygotic twin pairs, aged 11 to 18 years, were assessed for delinquent peer affiliation and conduct problems. The authors investigated whether genes contribute to both delinquent peer affiliation and the correlation between delinquent peer affiliations and conduct problems. Delinquent peer affiliation was influenced by genetic, shared environmental, and nonshared environmental factors; genetic factors also contributed to the correlation between delinquent peer affiliations and conduct problems, providing evidence for genotype-environment correlation. The magnitude of the genetic variance of conduct problems was contextually dependent on levels of delinquent peer affiliation and was greater at higher levels of delinquent peer affiliation.     

Islamophobia? Religion,Contact with Muslims,and the Respect for Islam

In the midst of growing reservations about Muslims in America, this study seeks to explore the factors accounting for Islamophobia by utilizing nationally representative data. The findings suggest that religious affiliations have differential effects on the degree to which one respects Islam, with Christians more likely to have low regard for Islam. The image of a God who punishes his followers for their sins has a positive association with the odds of Islam being least respected among all religions. While higher frequency of contact with Muslims predicts an overall improved opinion for Islam, evangelical and black Protestants present the opposite picture. Their increased exposure to Muslims leads to lower respect for Islam. I discuss the implications of these findings for theories of intergroup contact and subcultural identity.