Help Giving and Aggression From an Attributional Perspective: Why and When We Help or Retaliate1

Two studies were conducted to test Weiner's (1995) theory of responsibility, both in the domains of prosocial (help giving) and antisocial behavior (aggression). Experiment 1 revealed that for both behavioral domains, a positive relation exists between perceived controllability and anger, whereas a negative relation was found between controllability and sympathy. In addition, help giving is promoted by feelings of sympathy and inhibited by feelings of anger, and the reverse is true for aggression. However, the present results also reveal that for aggression, there is a direct influence of cognitions (perceived controllability) on behavioral reactions, whereas for help giving, cognitions have an indirect effect on behavior, mediated by emotions. Thus, for help giving, thoughts determine what we feel, and feelings determine what we do. In contrast, for aggression, an additional influence of thoughts on actions is present. Experiment 2, in which different scenarios were used, replicated this pattern of results.     

Observing repetitive finger movements modulates response times of auditorily cued finger movements

Our motor and perceptual representations of actions seem to be intimately linked and the human mirror neuron system (MNS) has been proposed as the mediator. In two experiments, we presented biological or non-biological movement stimuli that were either congruent or incongruent to a required response prompted by a tone. When the tone occurred with the onset of the last movement in a series, i.e., it was perceived during the movement presentation, congruent biological stimuli resulted in faster reaction times than congruent non-biological stimuli. The opposite was observed for incongruent stimuli. When the tone was presented after visual movement stimulation, however, no such interaction was present. This implies that biological movement stimuli only affect motor behaviour during visual processing but not thereafter. These data suggest that the MNS is an "online" system; longstanding repetitive visual stimulation (Experiment 1) has no benefit in comparison to only one or two repetitions (Experiment 2).     

An Internet-Based Compassion-Focused Intervention for Increased Self-Criticism: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Increased levels of self-criticism and a lack of self-compassion have been associated with the development and maintenance of a range of psychological disorders. In the current study, we tested the efficacy of an online version of a compassion-focused intervention, mindfulness-based compassionate living (MBCL), with guidance on request. A total of 122 self-referred participants with increased levels of self-criticism were randomly assigned to care as usual (CAU) or the intervention group (CAU + online intervention). Primary endpoints were self-reported depressive, anxiety and distress symptoms (DASS-21) and self-compassion (SCS) at 8 weeks. Secondary endpoints were self-criticism, mindfulness, satisfaction with life, fear of self-compassion, self-esteem, and existential shame. At posttreatment, the intervention group showed significant changes with medium to large effect sizes compared to the control group regarding primary outcomes (Cohen’s d: 0.79 [DASS] and -1.21 [SCS]) and secondary outcomes (Cohen’s ds: between 0.40 and 0.94 in favor of the intervention group). The effects in the intervention group were maintained at 6-months postrandomization. Adherence measures (number of completed modules, self-reported number of completed exercises per week) predicted postintervention scores for self-compassion but not for depressive, anxiety, and distress symptoms in the intervention group. The current study shows the efficacy of an online intervention with a transdiagnostic intervention target on a broad range of measures, including depressive and anxiety symptoms and self-compassion.     

Becoming who you are: An integrative review of self‐determination theory and personality systems interactions theory

One of the enduring missions of personality science is to unravel what it takes to become a fully functioning person. In the present article, the authors address this matter from the perspectives of self‐determination theory (SDT) and personality systems interactions (PSI) theory. SDT (a) is rooted in humanistic psychology; (b) has emphasized a first‐person perspective on motivation and personality; (c) posits that the person, supported by the social environment, naturally moves toward growth through the satisfaction of basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. PSI theory (a) is rooted in German volition psychology; (b) has emphasized a third‐person perspective on motivation and personality; and (c) posits that a fully functioning person can form and enact difficult intentions and integrate new experiences, and that such competencies are facilitated by affect regulation. The authors review empirical support for SDT and PSI theory, their convergences and divergences, and how the theories bear on recent empirical research on internalization, vitality, and achievement flow. The authors conclude that SDT and PSI theory offer complementary insights into developing a person's full potential.     

Mergers and group status: the impact of high,low and equal group status on identification and satisfaction with a company merger,experienced controllability,group identity and group cohesion

Although mergers are seen as tools to enhance business in today's global marketplace, they have had a low success rate, possibly because the focus has been on financial and legal issues rather than on the human factors involved. In this respect, focusing on the social psychological variables, social identity theory can provide an explanation for the failure of most mergers. An experiment based on this theory involving mergers between two workgroups was conducted to investigate the effects of merger‐related status on participants' psychological responses to the mergers. Thirty‐six small groups were assigned to three different status groups (high, low and equal status groups) using the minimal group paradigm. Most negative responses to the merger—in terms of identification with the merger group, satisfaction with the merger, common in‐group identity, group cohesion and controllability—were given by the members of the low status groups. Contrary to expectations, status was not related to the performance of the groups. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Beyond fear: rapid spatial orienting toward positive emotional stimuli

There is much empirical evidence for modulation of attention by negative -- particularly fear-relevant -- emotional stimuli. This modulation is often explained in terms of a fear module. Appraisal theories of emotion posit a more general mechanism, predicting attention capture by stimuli that are relevant for the needs and goals of the organism, regardless of valence. To examine the brain-activation patterns underlying attentional modulation, we recorded event-related potentials from 20 subjects performing a dot-probe task in which the cues were fear-inducing and nurturance-inducing stimuli (i.e., anger faces and baby faces). Highly similar validity modulation was found for the P1 time-locked to target onset, indicating early attentional capture by both positive and negative emotional stimuli. Topographic segmentation analysis and source localization indicate that the same amplification process is involved whether attention orienting is triggered by negative, fear-relevant stimuli or positive, nurturance-relevant stimuli. These results confirm that biological relevance, and not exclusively fear, produces an automatic spatial orienting toward the location of a stimulus.     

Near, yet so far: the effect of pictorial cues on spatial attention

Distinct cognitive and neural mechanisms underlie perception and action in near (within-reach) and far (outside-reach) space. Objects in far space can be brought into the brain's near-space through tool-use. We determined whether a near object can be pushed into far space by changing the pictorial context in which it occurs. Participants (n = 372) made relative length judgements for lines presented in near space, but superimposed over photographs of near and far objects. The left segment of the line was overestimated in the baseline and near-context conditions whereas the right was overestimated in the far-context. The change from leftward to rightward overestimation is the same when lines are physically shifted from near to far space. Because participants did not have to do anything in relation to the photograph, the results suggest that simply viewing images with a near/far context can cause a shift of attention along the distal/proximal axis, which may reflect differential activation of the ventral/dorsal visual streams.     

Names Introduced with the Help of Unsatisfied Sortal Predicates: Reply to Aranyosi

In this paper I answer Aranyosi’s (Axiomathes 19(2):223–224, 2009) criticism of my “Is Phosphorus Hesperus?” (Axiomathes 19(1):101–102, 2009).     

Self-esteem,motivation and school attendance among sub-Saharan African girls: A self-determination theory perspective

Sub-Saharan samples are severely under-represented in the psychological literature. Taking an ecological approach, the current study examines key propositions derived from self-determination theory in a sample of adolescent girls in Mozambique. As a framework theory, self-determination theory consists of six sub-theories. We test the main premises of two of these theories: organismic integration theory and basic psychological need theory. In line with organismic integration theory, we assess the role of intrinsic, extrinsic, introjected and identified motivation for school attendance. We also test the possible moderating role of the ecological variable resource scarcity. The second part of the study focuses on the main premise of the basic psychological need sub-theory, which states that satisfaction of the needs for relatedness, competence and autonomy underlies intrinsic motivation, goal-directed behaviour (school attendance) and well-being (self-esteem). The study also assesses the moderation of resource scarcity in these relationships. Results provide support for both sub-theories of self-determination theory. Resource scarcity is not found to moderate the relationships between motivation and attendance or between need satisfaction and well-being, motivation and attendance. Implications for the universality claim of self-determination theory, as well as for the field of international development aid, are discussed.