A re-examination of the 2x2 model of perfectionism,burnout, and engagement in sports

Studies examining perfectionism, engagement and burnout in sport have produced different levels of support for the hypotheses of the 2 × 2 model of perfectionism. One explanation for why this is so is that researchers have used different measures of perfectionism when testing the hypotheses. To determine whether this is the case, in the current study we retested the hypotheses of the 2 × 2 model for engagement and burnout using different measures of perfectionism. A sample of 401 adult athletes from various sports and levels completed measures of athlete engagement and burnout, along with two measures of perfectionism. Moderated regression analyses revealed that support for the hypotheses of the 2 × 2 model did indeed differ depending on the measure of perfectionism. This was evident for both burnout (emotional and physical exhaustion and reduced sense of accomplishment) and engagement (dedication and vigor). The findings are aligned with similar work that has found differences in support for the hypotheses of the 2 × 2 model when using other measures of perfectionism for engagement and, importantly, provide the first evidence that this extends to athlete burnout. Researchers will need to consider the influence of the measures of perfectionism used when interpreting, comparing, and summarising future research on the 2 × 2 model for these and other outcomes.     

Digit ratios and preferences for aggressive content in entertainment

Digit ratios (2D:4D) contain information concerning an individual’s propensity towards aggression. Our study adds the first clue to better understanding the relationship between 2D:4D and exposure to aggressive contents in entertainment products. Our findings suggest that individuals with low 2D:4D prefer aggressive contents such as action films, sports telecast, killing and achieving games, hip-hop music, and erotic video clips rather than do individuals with high 2D:4D. Also individuals with low 2D:4D tend to demonstrate less preference for romance films than individuals with high 2D:4D. In addition, we found that low 2D:4D was associated with a preference for sports instead of other genres of entertainment products. Therefore, 2D:4D (a putative correlate of prenatal sex steroids) helps us to better understand the rationale of individuals’ preferences for media violence.     

Sorrow: A Therapist's Reflection on the Inevitable and the Unknowable

People who live with a painful gap between who they have been and who they are now, of who they dreamt themselves to be and who they still long to be, are living with chronic sorrow. Chronic sorrow is a normal, nonpathological state of pervasive, continuing, periodic, and resurgent sadness related to the ongoing losses associated with illness and disability, in this case not loss of an other, but loss of self (Roos, 2002). Focusing on the lives of four women, one of whom committed suicide, I explore the macroprocesses that invade the experience of even so personal an experience as self‐loss. The role of the therapist is made transparent through anecdotes and by discussing implications for clinical practice.     

2D:4D in men is related to aggressive dominance but not to sociable dominance

It has been shown that a smaller ratio between the length of the second and fourth digit (2D:4D) is an indicator of the exposure to prenatal testosterone (T). This study measured the 2D:4D of men and assessed dominance as a personality trait to investigate indirectly if the exposure to prenatal T is related to a dominant personality later in life. Results showed that men had a more aggressive dominant personality when having a more masculine (lower) 2D:4D, while there was no relationship between sociable dominance and 2D:4D. Findings from this study indicate that it is important to distinguish different forms of dominance since other studies failed to find relationships between dominance and 2D:4D.     

Is CAG sequence length in the androgen receptor gene correlated with finger-length ratio?

Manning, Bundred, Newton, and Flanagan reported a significant correlation of .29 in a sample of 50 British males between the length of a repeated sequence on the androgen receptor gene and 2D:4D finger-length ratio on the right hand. We report a 2nd failure to replicate this result. Ours was a sample of 182 Australian male twins studied for other purposes, for whom both measures were available. The result was a nonsignificant correlation of −.055. A similar result was obtained for female twins, and for comparisons within sibling pairs. Correlations are also reported for left hands and right-left differences--the last showed a weak tendency toward replication.     

Right-hemisphere interactions in picture-word processing

The processing of pictures was investigated in three experiments which eliminated the response effects involved in naming. When a categorization task was used, clear advantages in response latency and accuracy were observed for left visual-field (LVF) presentations. This was in contrast to previous investigations which have used a naming task and which have reported right visual-field (RVF) advantages. When a distracting word was added to the display, the pattern of influence also changed from that reported previously. The use of naming tasks has indicated predominantly left-hemisphere effects, with demonstrations of interactions between pictures and words in the RVF. With a categorization task in Experiment 2, however, the only effective words were those related in meaning to the picture, and only when they were projected to the right hemisphere. The third experiment confirmed the LVF advantage for picture processing with masked displays, but found no reliable asymmetry with unmasked presentations. The pattern of semantic facilitation was also confirmed with the masked displays, but when the mask was removed an inhibition effect replaced the facilitation effect. These effects are interpreted as indicating that picture recognition is localized within the right cerebral hemisphere. It is suggested that the facilitating effect of related words is restricted to the left hemisphere because it is an effect upon recognition processes, whereas the inhibition effect reflects response competition. It is also suggested that previous reports of left-hemisphere interference effects are due to effects of response competition in naming tasks.     

Ezekiel’s classic estimator of the population squared multiple correlation coefficient: Monte Carlo-based extensions and refinements

Abstract

Ezekiel’s adjusted R² is widely used in linear regression analysis. The present study examined the statistical properties of Ezekiel’s measure through a series of Monte Carlo simulations. Specifically, we examined the bias and root mean squared error (RMSE) of Ezekiel’s adjusted R² relative to (a) the sample R² statistic, and (b) the sample R² minus the expected value of R². Simulation design factors consisted of sample sizes (N?=?50, 100, 200, 400), number of predictors (2, 3, 4, 5, 6), and population squared multiple correlations (ρ² = 0, .10, .25, .40, .60). Factorially crossing these design factors resulted in 100 simulation conditions. All populations were normal/Gaussian, and for each condition, we drew 10,000 Monte Carlo samples. Regarding systematic variation (bias), results indicated that with few exceptions, Ezekiel’s adjusted R² demonstrated the lowest bias. Regarding unsystematic variation (RMSE), the performance of Ezekiel’s measure was comparable to the other statistics, suggesting that the bias-variance tradeoff is minimal for Ezekiel’s adjusted R². Additional findings indicated that sample size-to-predictor ratios of 66.67 and greater were associated with low bias and that ratios of this magnitude were accompanied by large sample sizes (N?=?200 and 400), thus suggesting that researchers using Ezekiel’s adjusted R² should aim for sample sizes of 200 or greater in order to minimize bias when estimating the population squared multiple correlation coefficient. Overall, these findings indicate that Ezekiel’s adjusted R² has desirable properties and, in addition, these findings bring needed clarity to the statistical literature on Ezekiel’s classic estimator.