Perceived threat and depression among patients with cancer: the moderating role of health locus of control

Illness perception was found to be a better predictor of psychological outcome among cancer patients than the objective characteristics of illness. The current study explored the association between the perceived threat of illness (a major aspect of illness perception) and depression among cancer patients. We examined the hypothesis that this association will be higher for persons with low External (others) or internal (self) Health Locus of Control (HLC) than for those with high HLC. The study took an exploratory approach regarding the role that different sources of control (external and internal) may assume. Fifty-seven cancer patients completed self-report measures of Perceived Life Threat (PLT), HLC and Depression. The possible moderating role of HLC on the relationship between PLT and Depression was examined. A significant relationship between perceived threat and depression was found only among participants reporting low levels of internal locus of control. The results support the hypothesis that perception of cancer as life threatening is important factor in determining the level of depression among cancer patients. The results also support the differentiation between internal and external HLC and suggest that internal HLC may be more relevant than external HLC in managing perceived threat. Internal locus of control can be interpreted as having a sense of agency and mastery which is important in managing the cognitive perception of the threat of illness. Further research is needed in order to determine the role of external HLC in managing perceived or actual threats.     

Disavowing White Identity: How Social Disgust can Change Social Identities

Recent work finds that the sense of solidarity some whites feel with their racial group is strongly associated with their political attitudes, particularly since the election of Barack Obama. Prior work has also noted that levels of this identity have been stable across time and data sources. We, however, document a notable decline in levels of white identity in both panel and cross-sectional national survey data immediately after the 2016 presidential election. Using a two-wave panel design, we examine the factors associated with this decline. We examine whether particular emotional reactions, especially disgust toward Donald Trump, pushed some whites away from their racial identity. We also consider the possibility that some whites may have felt that Trump's election reduced perceptions of racial or political threat, therefore lowering levels of white identity. We find the strongest support for the former hypothesis; the decline in white identity was driven mostly by whites expressing disgust toward Trump. Our results highlight the effect that the political environment can have on group identities and point in particular to the significant role that disgust may play in attenuating the strength of group solidarity.     

基于三元精神病态模型的精神病态认知-情感加工框架

精神病态作为暴力犯罪、累犯和青少年犯罪的重要预测变量, 在临床心理学和司法领域受到了广泛重视。三元精神病态模型通过大胆、卑劣和去抑制三个维度对精神病态进行了操作化定义, 反映了精神病态在神经生物学维度上存在的认知情感加工缺陷。其中, 低威胁敏感性是精神病态大胆的主要病因学基础; 而执行功能受损, 尤其是注意调节缺陷则导致了精神病态的去抑制倾向; 而与情绪识别存在联系的共情缺陷可能是卑劣的深层原因。未来研究中仍需关注精神病态的概念化问题, 以及不同精神病态特质之间是否存在共同的潜在病因学基础, 探索精神病态特质在生命早期阶段的体现从而进行及时有效的干预。     

The cultural dimension of intergroup conspiracy theories

Although conspiracy theories are ubiquitous across times and cultures, research has not investigated how cultural dimensions may predict conspiracy beliefs. The present research examined intergroup conspiracy beliefs in United States and Chinese samples at the peak of the trade war. In two studies (one pre-registered; total N = 1,092), we asked US participants to what extent they believed Chinese institutions and companies were conspiring against the United states and Chinese participants to what extent they believed US institutions and companies were conspiring against China. Results revealed that such beliefs were stronger among Chinese than US participants due to higher power distance values and vertical collectivism. In particular, these cultural dimensions were associated with increased psychological involvement in intergroup conflict (as reflected by higher levels of collective narcissism and perceived outgroup threat), which in turn predicted intergroup conspiracy beliefs. Exploratory analyses suggested that particularly power distance values mediate these effects. We conclude that cultural dimensions that promote hierarchy in society are associated with increased intergroup conspiracy beliefs.     

Competence and confusion: How stereotype threat can make you a bad judge of your competence

Women tend to have competence doubts for masculine‐stereotyped domains (e.g., math), whereas men tend to think they can handle both feminine‐stereotyped and masculine‐stereotyped domains equally well. We suggest that perhaps women's more frequent experience with stereotype threat can partly explain why. Our results showed that when stereotype threat was primed in high school students (n = 244), there was no relationship between their performance on an academic test (the SweSAT) and their assessment of their performance (how well they did), whereas in a non‐stereotype threat condition, there was a medium‐sized relationship. The effect was similar for both men and women primed with stereotype threat. The results imply that stereotype threat undermines performance assessments.     

Intergroup threat,social dominance,and the malleability of ideology: The importance of conceptual replication

Consistent with the theory of malleable ideology, research has shown that, under intergroup threat, antiegalitarian individuals will exploit the malleable character of color blindness and strategically claim to be strong supporters of it. In three studies conducted in France, we found no support for this theory when measuring color blindness but strong support when using measures of laïcité, an ideology of secularism. Indeed, those who score low on social dominance orientation (SDO) were more likely to support laïcité than antiegalitarian individuals. However, a situational threat (Study 1), a symbolic threat experimentally induced (Study 2), and a perceived symbolic threat (Study 3) were all related to increased support for laïcité by people high in SDO, without affecting those low in SDO. Thus, laïcité is a malleable ideology that can be adopted by individuals having contrasting motivations, as color blindness in the United States. Implications for the role of exact and conceptual replications in the development of a psychological science are discussed.     

Emotional Responses to the Charlie Hebdo Attacks: Addressing the Authoritarianism Puzzle

The finding that threat boosts the public's preferences for authoritarian policies has been well established in the research literature. Why this shift occurs remains open as the extant literature reports contradictory findings regarding the interaction of dispositions, such as conservatism and authoritarianism, with threat. One line of research argues that threat increases authoritarian preferences among those who are more prone to authoritarianism. Another argues that it is those with a nonauthoritarian ideology who switch in response to threat. By using a two‐wave panel study of the French population taken before and after the January 2015 twin attacks in Paris, we find that both trends occur simultaneously. Our results show that the factors that drive the impact of ideological dispositions on support for authoritarian policies are emotional reactions. On the one hand, anxiety led left‐wing respondents to move towards adopting authoritarian policy preferences following the attacks, yet produced no such change among right‐wing respondents. On the other hand, anger did not turn left‐wing voters more authoritarian but strengthened authoritarian policy preferences among right‐wing respondents.     

Frightfully funny: combining threat and humour in health messages for men and women

Objective: It is imperative for public health to investigate what factors may reduce defensive responses and increase the effectiveness of health information. The present research investigated gender differences in responses to threatening health-promoting information communicated with humour.

Design: Male and female participants were exposed to a health message stressing the negative consequences of binge drinking (Experiment 1; N = 209) or caffeine consumption (Experiment 2; N = 242), that did or did not contain a funny visual metaphor (Experiment 1) or a slapstick cartoon (Experiment 2).

Main Outcome Measures: Message evaluation, message attention, and attitudes and intentions towards the behaviour were measured.

Results: Results showed that health messages were more persuasive when communicated with humour, although humour played a different role for men and women. Whereas men responded more in line with message goals when the message combined high threat with humour, women preferred the low threat humour messages.

Conclusion: By uncovering the moderating role of gender as a key audience characteristic, this research contributes to designing effective future health campaigns and provides important insights for future studies investigating the underlying mechanisms responsible for the different effects of threat and humour appeals for men and women.     

环境无序性对消费者多样化寻求的影响及作用机制

在日常生活和购物环境中, 混乱无序无处不在。然而, 关于环境无序性对消费者产品选择行为的影响研究却十分有限, 本文试图填补这一不足。具体而言, 本文创新性地提出环境无序性与多样化寻求行为之间存在着因果关系, 且自我效能威胁和未来偏好不确定感在其中发挥链式中介作用。通过1个预实验和4个实验, 本文发现无论在真实环境、线下购物环境、工作环境, 还是线上产品陈列情境下, 环境无序性均可提升多样化寻求行为; 无序的环境会对消费者的自我效能产生威胁, 进而增强其对未来产品偏好的不确定性感知, 最终促使其通过增加多样化寻求行为来应对未来可能变化的产品偏好。     

A Factor Analytic Investigation of the Pay Satisfaction Questionnaire

ABSTRACT

Threat perceptions are associated with politically conservative attitudes. Research has also found that specific forms of threat perception (e.g., concerns about pathogens) are associated with functional reactions (e.g., anti-fat prejudice). Recently, moral intuitions have been implicated in explaining political orientation: Liberals tend to place greater weight on “individualizing foundations” (justice and care concerns) in particular, whereas conservatives tend to place high weight on “binding foundations” (loyalty, respect, and purity concerns) as well. A recent study attempted to integrate the above strands of research by showing that the effect of threat perceptions on conservatism is mediated by a tendency to place relatively greater weight on the binding foundations. The present study was intended to replicate and extend past research by testing (a) whether concerns about pathogens predict conservatism and anti-fat prejudice and (b) whether those effects are mediated by a tendency to place relatively greater weight on the binding foundations.