Dynamic mechanisms of exercise to improve body satisfaction: Perceived or actual fat loss?

We examined the dynamic mechanisms of aerobic training (AT) and strength training (ST) to improve body satisfaction. Sixty-six participants were randomised to either the AT or ST condition and completed an 8-week intervention. Participants completed 3 weekly, 30-minute sessions of moderate intensity AT (65–75% VO₂max) or ST (65–75% 1-RM). The energy consumption of each session was approximately equivalent under both conditions. Body satisfaction, body composition, perceived fitness and exercise self-efficacy were measured at baseline and biweekly during the intervention. Exercise improved individuals' body satisfaction (p < .05). When the energy expenditures of AT and ST were equal, there was no difference in body satisfaction improvement. There were dynamic mechanisms underlying the effects of exercise on body satisfaction. Specifically, perceived fitness influenced body satisfaction improvements during the early stages of the exercise program, while changes in body composition influenced body satisfaction toward the end of the exercise program. There were sex differences in the mechanisms underlying body satisfaction. For women, perceived fat was more important in the early intervention period; for men, actual body fat was more valuable in the late intervention period. An effective strategy to improve body satisfaction is to initially target perceived fitness before focusing on changing body composition.     

Speaking to the trained ear: musical expertise enhances the recognition of emotions in speech prosody

Language and music are closely related in our minds. Does musical expertise enhance the recognition of emotions in speech prosody? Forty highly trained musicians were compared with 40 musically untrained adults (controls) in the recognition of emotional prosody. For purposes of generalization, the participants were from two age groups, young (18-30 years) and middle adulthood (40-60 years). They were presented with short sentences expressing six emotions-anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise-and neutrality, by prosody alone. In each trial, they performed a forced-choice identification of the expressed emotion (reaction times, RTs, were collected) and an intensity judgment. General intelligence, cognitive control, and personality traits were also assessed. A robust effect of expertise was found: musicians were more accurate than controls, similarly across emotions and age groups. This effect cannot be attributed to socioeducational background, general cognitive or personality characteristics, because these did not differ between musicians and controls; perceived intensity and RTs were also similar in both groups. Furthermore, basic acoustic properties of the stimuli like fundamental frequency and duration were predictive of the participants' responses, and musicians and controls were similarly efficient in using them. Musical expertise was thus associated with cross-domain benefits to emotional prosody. These results indicate that emotional processing in music and in language engages shared resources.     

老子《道德经》中的理想人格思想

理想人格是解读《道德经》的一个重要维度。老子关注人的生命的本真存在和理想状态的实现,他从其抽象玄妙的形而上道论出发,引申出以"朴"为本质的人性论,并通过其朴素的辨证思维建立其彻底的道德观,进而提出尚柔、守中、持保三宝等修养途径,建立了一个使人实现其个别性与普遍性相统一、完成人格并达至理想的存在状态的体系。守中成德——修德复命——复命归朴——道无名,朴,这即是老子理想人格思想的基本进路。     

Dysfunctional body investment versus body dissatisfaction: Relations with well-being and controlled motivations for obesity treatment

In this study, we investigated the associations between body image and psychological well-being, exploring the mediating role of controlled regulation for entering obesity treatment. In addition, we analyzed whether investment body image was more strongly associated with controlled regulation (and subsequent well-being) compared to evaluative body image. These analyses were performed controlling for baseline BMI effects. Participants were 139 overweight women (age: 38.0 ± 6.7 year; BMI: 32.0 ± 4.1 kg/m²) entering treatment. Evaluative and investment body image, controlled regulation, and psychological well-being were assessed. Body image investment was positively associated with controlled regulation; evaluative body image was not. Controlled regulation was negatively associated with self-esteem and psychological functioning. Controlled regulation partially mediated the effects of body image investment on self-esteem, but did not mediate its effects on psychological functioning. Results suggest that dysfunctional body image investment might undermine well-being within overweight women, partly by increasing controlled regulation for entering obesity treatment. Discussion focuses on the importance of enhancing body image and autonomy during treatment to improve well-being and weight outcomes.     

抑郁绝望理论在我国儿童中适用性的追踪研究

摘 要 以抑郁的绝望理论和最弱联结假设为基础,采用纵向追踪研究设计,应用多层线性模型分析考察抑郁绝望理论在我国儿童中的适用情况。结果表明：1、应激事件水平能预测抑郁症状的程度,并且在较大年龄儿童中具有更强的预测性; 2、虽然研究结果的统计显著性不支持以最弱联结假设为认知依据的绝望理论,但在一定程度上还是反应了该理论的适用性;3、个体认知归因方式可能在儿童阶段开始形成并逐渐发展成熟。     

采用词表法变式研究指向遗忘现象

在组内设计的词表法变式任务中,词表一的项目按语义或知觉特征分为遗忘项和记住项,中间指导语要求被试遗忘词表一某类项目的同时记住另一类项目,指向遗忘效应以词表一记住项与遗忘项的差异来反映。实验一中,词表一项目按语义性质分为记住项和遗忘项,结果显示:与控制组比较,标准词表法实验组词表一记忆受损显著,出现传统意义上的指向遗忘效应;变式实验组词表一记忆部分受损,与控制组差异接近.05显著水平;标准词表法实验组以及变式实验组词表二都没有表现出记忆获益;另外,变式实验组词表一记住项与遗忘项之间差异显著,反映出遗忘指导语效应。实验二发现:在变式任务中,指定被试遗忘词表一某种语义性质的项目,结果出现遗忘指导语效应;但是,在指定被试遗忘某种颜色项目时,结果没有出现遗忘指导语效应。变式任务结果比较好地支持提取抑制理论;同时也反映出,词表一记住项与遗忘项之间的区分度是影响变式情境下指向遗忘效应的重要因素。     

Examination of a perceived cost model of employees' negative feedback-seeking behavior

The present study extends the feedback-seeking behavior literature by investigating how supervisor-related antecedents (i.e., supervisors' expert power, reflected appraisals of supervisors, and supervisors' emotional intelligence) influence subordinates' negative feedback-seeking behavior (NFSB) through different cost/value perceptions (i.e., expectancy value, self-presentation cost, and ego cost). Using data collected from 216 supervisor-subordinate dyads from various industries in Taiwan, we employ structural equation modeling analysis to test our hypotheses. The results show that expectancy value mediates the relationship between supervisor expert power and subordinates' NFSB. Moreover, self-presentation cost mediates the relationship between reflected appraisals of supervisors' and subordinates' NFSB. Theoretical and practical implications of this study are also discussed.     

Attracting Minority Applicants to Malaysian Organizations: The Effect of Race Composition

This study aims to investigate the effect of race composition of organizational representatives on perceived similarity, organizational attractiveness, and perceived opportunities for advancement. Two hundred and twenty four Malaysian Chinese university students participated in the study. The findings showed that race composition was significantly related to the participant’s perception of similarity to the representatives, attraction to the organization, and perception of advancement opportunities in the organization. Minority Chinese participants gave higher ratings on all three outcome variables when they were presented with an organization featuring a homogenous group of Chinese representatives or a racially diverse group of representatives, than an organization featuring a homogenous group of Malay representatives in recruitment advertising. In summary, the inclusion of minority representatives in recruitment advertising is beneficial in attracting minority applicants.     

Family mastery enhances work engagement in Chinese nurses: A cross-lagged analysis

Based on Greenhaus and Powell's (2006) theory of work–family enrichment and the job demands-resources (JD-R) model of work engagement (Bakker & Demerouti, 2008), this study focused on the family-to-work enrichment process by investigating the effect of family mastery on work engagement in a Chinese context. A sample of 279 Chinese female nurses completed questionnaires in a two-wave longitudinal survey. With a cross–lagged analysis, the results indicated that family mastery at Time 1 had a significant positive effect on work engagement at Time 2. Furthermore, the relationship between family mastery and work engagement was stronger in a context of high (vs. low) job demand. These findings suggested that resource generated in family could directly help people stay engaged in the workplace, particularly under stressful working conditions. Our findings have expanded the JD-R model of work engagement and bridged it with theory of work–family enrichment. Implications for theory and practices are discussed.