The context of control: a cross-national investigation of the link between political institutions, efficacy, and collective action

Most research on efficacy and participation in collective action has focused on single country samples with little attention paid to the relationship between efficacy and country-level structural factors. Drawing on value expectancy theory, we theorize a link between macro-level political institutions and micro-level efficacy. To address the previous limitations in the efficacy and collective action literature, we use multi-level, cross-national data, and present results from a series of hierarchical models testing whether efficacy increases collective action cross-nationally, whether political institutions affect efficacy, and whether the effect of efficacy on collective action is conditional on political institutions. We find that efficacy increases collective action, that certain political institutions increase efficacy, and that the effect of efficacy on collective action is partly conditional on the inclusiveness of a country's political institutions. These findings suggest the insufficiency of purely structural as well as social psychological explanations of collective action.     

Approaching the familiar: On the ability of mere exposure to direct approach and avoidance behavior

The mere-exposure literature has shown that familiar objects are preferred to novel objects. However, no work has definitively shown that mere exposure can direct and facilitate approach movements. In Experiment 1, participants were shown stimuli and were later re-exposed to them along with novel stimuli. Participants were directed to make an approach or avoidant motion to each and response times were recorded. As predicted, participants were quicker to approach and slower to avoid familiar relative to novel stimuli. In Experiment 2, participants were shown mere-exposed and novel symbols and were asked to “push” or “pull” a joystick in response to each, based on their intuition. Extending Experiment 1’s findings, participants freely selected an approach response more frequently for familiar compared to novel stimuli. Moreover, in this same experiment, familiar stimuli were judged as more likeable than were novel stimuli, and participants’ liking for familiar stimuli correlated with the frequency with which they were approached. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

The face that launched a thousand ships: the mating-warring association in men

Questions about origins of human warfare continue to generate interesting theories with little empirical evidence. One of the proposed explanations is sexual selection theory. Within and supportive of this theoretical framework, the authors demonstrate a mating-warring association among young heterosexual men in four experiments. Male, but not female, participants exposed to attractive, as compared to unattractive, opposite-sex photographs were significantly more likely to endorse war-supporting statements on a questionnaire. The same mating effect was not found in answering trade conflict questions. Male participants primed by attractive faces or legs of young women were significantly faster in responding to images or words of war than those primed by unattractive faces or national flags. The same mating effect was not found in responding to farming concepts or general aggression expressions. Results underscore the link between mating and war, supporting the view that sexual selection provides an ultimate explanation for the origins of human warfare.     

Personality Factors,Money Attitudes,Financial Knowledge,and Credit‐Card Debt in College Students1

The issue of credit‐card debt among college students has received increasing attention. This study explored factors hypothesized to be causes and effects of credit‐card debt in 448 students on five college campuses. Students reported an average of $1,035 (SD=$1,849) in debt, including students without credit cards or credit‐card debt. Lack of financial knowledge, age, number of credit cards, delay of gratification, and attitudes toward credit‐card use were related to debt. Sensation seeking, materialism, the Student Attitude Toward Debt scale, gender, and grade point average were not unique predictors of debt. Students reporting greater debt reported greater stress and decreased financial well being. Results highlight the need for comprehensive financial literacy education among college students.     

Gender Stereotyping and Under-representation of Female Characters in 200 Popular Children’s Picture Books: A Twenty-first Century Update

Gender stereotyping and under-representation of girls and women have been documented in children’s picture books in the past, in the hope that improvements would follow. Most researchers have analyzed award-winning books. We explored sexism in top selling books from 2001 and a 7-year sample of Caldecott award-winning books, for a total of 200 books. There were nearly twice as many male as female title and main characters. Male characters appeared 53% more times in illustrations. Female main characters nurtured more than male main characters did, and they were seen in more indoor than outdoor scenes. Occupations were gender stereotyped, and more women than men appeared to have no paid occupation. Few differences were found between Caldecott award books and other books. A comparison of our book sample to 1980s and 1990s books did not reveal reduced sexism. The persistence of sexism in picture books and implications for children and parents are discussed.     

Seeing the small picture: Ad-self versus ad-culture congruency in international advertising

Participants in a cross-cultural study in the United States and Taiwan indicated no preference for ads depicting values (individualist or collectivist) consistent with those of their culture. Congruency between personal and ad-portrayed values, however, significantly affected responses. The higher the congruency between ad and self, the more participants related personally to the ad. In addition, affective response, ad liking, perceived ad believability, and brand attitudes were all positively associated with ad-self congruency, but not with ad-culture congruency. Implications for international advertising and cross-cultural research are discussed.     

工作记忆成分在传递性推理中的作用

采用双任务(dual-task)实验范式,探讨工作记忆成分在五项系列问题(five-term task)这种传递性推理中的作用。被试为80名大学生,实验材料为32个空间和时间内容的传递性推理题目。结果发现:(1)空间位置和时间关系的推理结果都支持心理模型理论,而不支持形式规则理论。(2)在推理前提的加工阶段,中央执行系统和视空间模板发挥着关键作用,语音环路没有参与;而在结论的推理阶段,工作记忆的三个成分均发挥了作用。(3)传递性推理在工作记忆系统中采用视空间编码进行表征。     

《企业管理者管理自我效能感问卷》的编制

该研究旨在编制适合我国企业状况的《管理者管理自我效能感问卷》(enterprise intendant managementself-efficacy questionnaire,EIMSEQ)。在初测的基础上,通过探索性因素分析确定了构成该问卷的8个维度。然后,得到了一个包含8个维度共64个项目的《管理者管理自我效能感问卷》。在天津市六家国有企业中,利用该问卷调查了475名中层管理者。数据分析表明,该问卷具有很好的信度和效度。     

Multicultural Competence–Focused Peer Supervision: A Multiple Case Study of Clinical and Counseling Psychology Trainees

In this longitudinal, qualitative case study, 21 clinical and counseling psychology trainees met in leaderless peer supervision groups for 1 training year to discuss multicultural aspects of their clinical work. Peer supervision sessions were audio recorded and transcribed, and the content was analyzed using thematic analysis. Results indicated that, despite the absence of experts to facilitate discussions, participants were able to focus on multicultural issues and generally benefited from this type of peer supervision. En este estudio de caso longitudinal y cualitativo, 21 alumnos de psicología clínica y consejería se reunieron en grupos de supervisión entre pares sin líderes durante un año de su formación para discutir aspectos multiculturales de su trabajo clínico. Se grabó y transcribió el audio de las sesiones de supervisión entre pares, y luego se analizó el contenido usando un análisis temático. Los resultados indicaron que, a pesar de la ausencia de expertos para facilitar las discusiones, los participantes fueron capaces de centrarse en los temas multiculturales y generalmente se beneficiaron de este tipo de supervisión entre pares.