Future anhedonia and time discounting

The temporal location of an event influences the way people mentally represent that event. We suggest (a) that such representational differences can produce an affective forecasting error that we call future anhedonia, which is the belief that hedonic states will be less intense in the future than in the present, and (b) that future anhedonia plays a role in time discounting (i.e., the tendency to place a smaller present value on present events than on future events). Experiments 1a and 1b demonstrated that people are prone to future anhedonia, Experiments 2a and 2b ruled out artifactual alternatives, and Experiments 3a and 3b demonstrated that future anhedonia plays a role in time discounting. These studies suggest that one reason why people prefer to enjoy benefits in the present and pay costs in the future is that they do not realize how they will feel when those costs and benefits are actually experienced.     

The Relations of Cognitive Triad, Dysfunctional Attitudes, Automatic Thoughts, and Irrational Beliefs with Test Anxiety

Previous research has highlighted the important role of cognition in anxiety, including test anxiety. The present study explores the role of cognitive distortions and irrationality in test anxiety by studying the relationships among cognitive triad (core beliefs), dysfunctional attitudes (intermediate beliefs), negative automatic thoughts, irrational beliefs, debilitating test anxiety, and facilitating test anxiety in 138 undergraduates. Multiple regression analyses showed that only the cognitive triad as a whole was a significant predictor of debilitating anxiety. Specifically, negative view of self was a significant predictor of debilitating anxiety. The results supported an expansion of the current cognitive conceptualizations of test anxiety to include the importance of negative self-view. Other implications are also discussed.     

Affective intentionality and self-consciousness

We elaborate and defend the claim that human affective states (“feelings”) are, among other things, self-disclosing. We will show why affective intentionality has to be considered in order to understand human self-consciousness. One specific class of affective states, so-called existential feelings, although often neglected in philosophical treatments of emotions, will prove central. These feelings importantly pre-structure affective and other intentional relations to the world. Our main thesis is that existential feelings are an important manifestation of self-consciousness and figure prominently in human self-understanding. We offer an ordering of four levels of existential feelings and also give considerations in favour of the essential bodily nature of these feelings.     

老年歧视的特点、机制与干预

目前在全球范围内普遍存在老年歧视和消极的老化态度。2~3岁的幼儿就已经具有了老化的消极刻板印象, 家庭、社会、媒体和图书资料是为人们提供消极老化态度的主要来源, 而缺少代际接触、缺乏对老化知识的了解是人们形成老年歧视的主要原因。老年歧视会影响个体的行为、自我老化接受度、心理健康状况、生活方式以及择业。了解老化知识信息、讨论老龄化问题, 以及与老年人直接接触等方法可以帮助人们改变老化消极刻板印象, 并且代际接触的质量比数量更重要。目前, 老年歧视的研究横向研究多, 纵向研究少; 特点描述、干预研究多, 机制研究较少; 研究方法多样, 测量工具不同, 导致研究结果不同, 各研究间难以进行比较, 如直接测量主观态度的老年歧视调查, 人们表现出更多的积极态度, 而采用间接方法测量时, 人们则表现出更多的消极态度。我国对老年歧视的研究有待进一步深入和扩展。     

Broken Promises: Equity Sensitivity as a Moderator Between Psychological Contract Breach and Employee Attitudes and Behavior

This study examined the moderating role of equity sensitivity in determining the relationship between psychological contract breach and employees' attitudes and behaviors. Entitled individuals were expected to have greater increases in negative affect toward their organization and greater decreases in job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior than benevolent individuals following a breach of extrinsic outcomes (i.e., pay, benefits). Conversely, benevolents were expected to respond more negatively than their entitled counterparts following a breach of intrinsic outcomes (i.e., autonomy, growth). Results supported most of the study's propositions. Practical implications as well as directions for future research are discussed.     

The Near-Death Experience: Knowledge and Attitudes of College Students

There is a considerable literature documenting the effects of a near-death experience (NDE) on persons who actually undergo the experience, in terms of their attitudes and opinions about NDEs. However, investigations of how much nonexperiencers know about NDEs and their attitudes towards them are in short supply. This study examined the relationship in people who have not had an NDE between attitudes toward and knowledge of near-death experiences. Subjects were undergraduate students, with a mean age of 32 years. The Near-Death Phenomena Knowledge and Attitudes Questionnaire was employed to assess attitudes toward and knowledge of NDEs. Results indicated that both knowledge and attitudes were relatively normally distributed, and that level of knowledge significantly predicted attitudes towards NDEs, accounting for 34 percent of the common variance.     

Does Religiosity Predict Attitudes Toward Psychotherapy?

Several studies have demonstrated that Jewish people have positive attitudes toward psychotherapy. This study differentiates among Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform Jewish groups to test whether there are differences in the level of religiosity and practice among these different affiliations to Judaism and whether these differences may influence attitudes toward seeking psychological help. Despite significant differences in religiosity and level of practice, results indicate that positive attitudes are present among all affiliations. However, Orthodox Jews are significantly more likely to use their rabbi as a source for psychological counseling and perhaps as a conduit to professional treatment.     

Five personality factors and sex: preliminary findings

This study assessed the relationships between the Big Five personality domains, attitudes to sex, and three specific sexual behaviours. Respondents were 123 undergraduate students (51 males; 72 females). Men were found to score significantly higher than women on measures of sexual curiosity and sexual excitement, while women were higher on sexual satisfaction. Neuroticism (N) and Extraversion (E) appeared to be the most important predictors of attitudes to sex, although Conscientiousness (C) and Openness to experience (O) were also implicated. N, C, and Agreeableness (A) were implicated in sexual behaviours. Some suggestions for future research are made.