Rediscovering the Positive Psychology of Sport Participation: Happiness in a Ski Resort Context

Interrelated functions of the three orientations to happiness were examined by a cross-sectional survey, in the context of a ski resort experience. Accordingly, a conceptual framework of pleasure, flow, and involvement influencing satisfaction was established. Utilizing structural equation modeling, the conceptual framework was tested by analyzing data collected from 279 participants who enjoyed skiing and/or snowboarding. Results from bootstrap test indicated that direct and total effects from flow had the highest predictive power on satisfaction. In contrast, pleasure showed higher explanatory power on subjective experiences of flow and meaning, and influenced satisfaction only by indirect effects through those elements. Together, these findings support the research model synthesizing the behavioral constructs of sport participation with subjective well-being perspectives. Moreover, the expanded model in a sporting context further evidences the functional roles of the orientations to happiness by results consistent with extant literature of positive psychology. Roles of embodiments of orientations to happiness in an action-based exercise and its implications are further discussed.     

Genetic Testing of Children for Predisposition to Mood Disorders: Anticipating the Clinical Issues

Large-scale sequencing information may provide a basis for genetic tests for predisposition to common disorders. In this study, participants in the Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative (N?=?53) with a personal and/or family history of Major Depressive Disorder or Bipolar Disorder were interviewed based on the Health Belief Model around hypothetical intention to test one’s children for probability of developing a mood disorder. Most participants (87 %) were interested in a hypothetical test for children that had high (“90 %”) positive predictive value, while 51 % of participants remained interested in a modestly predictive test (“20 %”). Interest was driven by beliefs about effects of test results on parenting behaviors and on discrimination. Most participants favored testing before adolescence (64 %), and were reluctant to share results with asymptomatic children before adulthood. Participants anticipated both positive and negative effects of testing on parental treatment and on children’s self-esteem. Further investigation will determine whether these findings will generalize to other complex disorders for which early intervention is possible but not clearly demonstrated to improve outcomes. More information is also needed about the effects of childhood genetic testing and sharing of results on parent–child relationships, and about the role of the child in the decision-making process.     

Demographic and Experiential Correlates of Public Attitudes Towards Cell-Free Fetal DNA Screening

This study seeks to inform clinical application of cell-free fetal DNA (cffDNA) screening as a novel method for prenatal trisomy detection by investigating public attitudes towards this technology and demographic and experiential characteristics related to these attitudes. Two versions of a 25-item survey assessing interest in cffDNA and existing first-trimester combined screening for either trisomy 13 and 18 or trisomy 21 were distributed among 3,164 members of the United States public. Logistic regression was performed to determine variables predictive of interest in screening options. Approximately 47 % of respondents expressed an interest in cffDNA screening for trisomy 13, 18, and 21, with a majority interested in cffDNA screening as a stand-alone technique. A significantly greater percent would consider termination of pregnancy following a diagnosis of trisomy 13 or 18 (52 %) over one of trisomy 21 (44 %). Willingness to consider abortion of an affected pregnancy was the strongest correlate to interest in both cffDNA and first-trimester combined screening, although markedly more respondents expressed an interest in some form of screening (69 % and 71 %, respectively) than would consider termination. Greater educational attainment, higher income, and insurance coverage predicted interest in cffDNA screening; stronger religious identification also corresponded to decreased interest. Prior experience with disability and genetic testing was associated with increased interest in cffDNA screening. Several of these factors, in addition to advanced age and Asian race, were, in turn, predictive of respondents’ increased willingness to consider post-diagnosis termination of pregnancy. In conclusion, divergent attitudes towards cffDNA screening—and prenatal options more generally – appear correlated with individual socioeconomic and religious backgrounds and experiences with disability and genetic testing. Clinical implementation and counseling for novel prenatal technologies should take these diverse stakeholder values into consideration.     

Organizational identification and perceived organizational support as mediators of the procedural justice–citizenship behaviour relationship: A cross-cultural constructive replication

This study examined the psychological processes that might underlie the relationship between procedural justice and organizational citizenship behaviour using an integrative approach. In doing so, we focused on the mediating effects of perceived organizational support and organizational identification in the relationship simultaneously. Framed as an integrated test of social exchange and social identity predictions, the hypotheses were tested using two cross-cultural samples (i.e., South Korea and the United States) as well as different operationalizations of the constructs of interest, which meets the criterion of a constructive replication (Lykken, 1968 Lykken, D. 1968. Statistical significance in psychological research. Psychological Bulletin, 70: 151–159. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) by two samples (N = 130, 135). Interestingly, the results showed convergence in support of the mediating role of organizational identification, but not perceived organizational support, when the two mediators were included in the model concurrently. These findings indicate that social identity may be the dominant psychological mechanism underlying the relationship between procedural justice and organizational citizenship behaviour in workplaces.     

Body dissatisfaction levels and gender differences in attentional biases toward idealized bodies

Attentional bias toward idealized bodies (men: muscular; women: thin) may cause upward comparisons and increase body dissatisfaction (BD). We investigated attentional biases of 39 men and 41 women with high and low BD toward muscular male bodies and thin female bodies. An eye-tracker measured gaze durations and fixation frequencies while exposing participants to images of thin, normal, muscular, and fat bodies of the same gender. Results revealed longer and more frequent attention toward muscular bodies in high BD men, and toward thin bodies in high BD women. High BD men and women also rated muscular and thin bodies as more attractive than those with low BD. Although men attended to muscular and women attended to thin bodies, both showed an attentional bias toward body types they rated as more attractive. These findings could provide indirect evidence in explaining the relationship between BD and the social comparison theory with attentional bias.     

Congruency sequence effect in cross-task context: Evidence for dimension-specific modulation

The congruency sequence effect refers to a reduced congruency effect after incongruent trials relative to congruent trials. This modulation is thought to be, at least in part, due to the control mechanisms resolving conflict. The present study examined the nature of the control mechanisms by having participants perform two different tasks in an alternating way. When participants performed horizontal and vertical Simon tasks in Experiment 1A, and horizontal and vertical spatial Stroop task in Experiment 1B, no congruency sequence effect was obtained between the task congruencies. When the Simon task and spatial Stroop task were performed with different response sets in Experiment 2, no congruency sequence effect was obtained. However, in Experiment 3, in which the participants performed the horizontal Simon and spatial Stroop tasks with an identical response set, a significant congruency sequence effect was obtained between the task congruencies. In Experiment 4, no congruency sequence effect was obtained when participants performed two tasks having different task-irrelevant dimensions with the identical response set. The findings suggest inhibitory processing between the task-irrelevant dimension and response mode after conflict.     

Mental Juggling: When Does Multitasking Impair Reading Comprehension?

The present study investigated the conditions under which multitasking impairs reading comprehension. Participants read prose passages (the primary task), some of which required them to perform a secondary task. In Experiment 1, we compared two different types of secondary tasks (answering trivia questions and solving math problems). Reading comprehension was assessed using a multiple-choice test that measured both factual and conceptual knowledge. The results showed no observable detrimental effects associated with multitasking. In Experiment 2, the secondary task was a cognitive load task that required participants to remember a string of numbers while reading the passages. Performance on the reading comprehension test was lower in the cognitive load conditions relative to the no-load condition. The present study delineates the conditions under which multitasking can impair or have no effect on reading comprehension. These results further our understanding of our capacity to multitask and have practical implications in our technologically advanced society in which multitasking has become commonplace.     

Differential involvement of prefrontal cortex,striatum, and hippocampus in DRL performance in mice

Behavioral effects of neurotoxic lesions of the hippocampus, medial prefrontal (prelimbic, infralimbic and anterior cingulate) cortex or dorsal striatum were assessed using a DRL-10s schedule in mice. Post-operative acquisition data indicate that mice with hippocampal, but not prefrontal or striatal lesions received fewer reinforcements during daily 30-min sessions, and were less efficient in the timing of their responses. Additional analysis of inter-response-time (IRT) distributions revealed that the responses of hippocampal-lesioned mice exhibited undistinguishable responses for short IRTs (up to 9s). In addition, prefrontal-lesioned mice demonstrated a degradation of performance with further testing, and a flattened IRT distribution at late test phase, while striatal-lesioned mice behaved similarly to sham-lesioned mice. These results are interpreted in terms of known functions of the hippocampus in behavioral inhibition, and of the prefrontal cortex in executive control/decision making (and time production).     

Father Involvement and Young,Rural African American Men’s Engagement in Substance Misuse and Multiple Sexual Partnerships

This study was designed to examine the associations of biological father and social father involvement during childhood with African American young men’s development and engagement in risk behaviors. With a sample of 505 young men living in the rural South of the United States, a dual mediation model was tested in which retrospective reports of involvement from biological fathers and social fathers were linked to young men’s substance misuse and multiple sexual partnerships through men’s relational schemas and future expectations. Results from structural equation modeling indicated that levels of involvement from biological fathers and social fathers predicted young men’s relational schemas; only biological fathers’ involvement predicted future expectations. In turn, future expectations predicted levels of substance misuse, and negative relational schemas predicted multiple sexual partnerships. Biological fathers’ involvement evinced significant indirect associations with young men’s substance misuse and multiple sexual partnerships through both schemas and expectations; social fathers’ involvement exhibited an indirect association with multiple sexual partnerships through relational schemas. Findings highlight the unique influences of biological fathers and social fathers on multiple domains of African American young men’s psychosocial development that subsequently render young men more or less likely to engage in risk behaviors.