“We want the world and we want it now”: Materialism,time perspectives and problem spending tendency of Chinese

Chinese consumers' spending has been expanding rapidly in the past decade, and along with it household and credit card debt. The present research collected evidence to triangulate the contention that materialism is positively related with Chinese's problem spending tendency (PST), and that present‐time‐perspective (PTP) and future‐time perspectives (FTP) interact systematically with materialism to affect PST. A survey of the general population in Macao, China (Study 1; N = 239) confirmed that materialism was positively correlated with PST. An interaction between materialism and PTP intensified the relationship, whereas an interaction with FTP weakened the relationship. Another survey with a sample of university students (Study 2; N = 223) again found positive relationships among PST, materialism, and PTP, as measured by temporal discount rate. But further exploration showed that PST was only related with temporal discounting among high materialists, but not among low materialists. Study 3 experimentally examined the causal effects of materialism and FTP on PST. When being primed of an orientation towards materialism (n = 33), the participants' planned consumption doubled that of the control group (n = 31). A FTP prime interacted with materialism prime and put a “damper” on participants' planned spending (n = 29), compared to their counterparts who were not primed of such a time perspective.     

Validating the coping scale for Chinese athletes using multidimensional Rasch analysis

Objective

The Coping Scale for Chinese Athletes (CSCA) was developed and validated using classic testing theory in 2004 (Chung, Si, Lee, & Liu, 2004). This study aimed to validate CSCA using multidimensional Rasch analysis with the ConQuest software programme.

Method

The sample in this study comprised 367 athletes from mainland China. A Multidimensional Rating Scale model was applied to investigate the validity of the four-dimension scale. Standard fit statistics (Infit and Outfit MNSQ) and Differential item functioning (DIF) were computed to examine the model-data fit. Test reliability and category functioning were also checked.

Results

The item difficulty and the athletes’ trait level of coping were calibrated along the same latent trait scale. Three items were removed from the scale due to misfit with the Rasch model. No DIF across gender was found for the remaining 21 items. Test reliabilities for the four subscales ranged from 0.66 to 0.76. The results also indicated that the original 5-category rating scale structure did not function well.

Conclusion

The multidimensional Rasch analysis supported that the 21-item CSCA measures four latent traits of coping of Chinese athletes as expected. The results also demonstrated advantages of multidimensional Rasch analysis over unidimensional Rasch analysis as well as traditional approach in examining the quality of multidimensional scale in sport settings.     

The gap that makes us desperate: Paths from language to mental health

Although past research provided some clues about the relation of language use with mental health, the mediatory functions of personality variables in this relationship have been ignored. This research examined the mediatory role of self‐concept clarity in the relationship between language use perceived by individuals and mental health indicators including anxiety, depression, and alexithymia. Based on the theoretical framework suggested by ?im?ek (2010), two studies sought to test two alternative structural equation models in data from university students in the first study (n = 250) and data from other groups in the second study (n = 331). The first model assumed that the relationship of language use with anxiety, depression, and alexithymia was mediated by self‐concept clarity. The second model tested the mediatory role of both anxiety and self‐concept clarity in this relationship. The results of the first study showed that the second model fitted better to the data than the first. Consistent with the first study, the results of the second study confirmed that the second model produced better goodness of fit statistics than the first model.     

Taiwanese Employees' Justice Perceptions of Co-Workers' Punitive Events

Abstract

The authors examined justice perceptions of Taiwanese employees in response to co-workers' punitive events (punishment by a superior). They developed a hypothesis based on Chinese indigenous wu-lun principles and the concept of empathy. Results of the study showed that perceived vertical (between superior and subordinate) and horizontal (between subordinates) relationships jointly affected justice perceptions. Respondents who perceived low (negative) leader-member exchange with the superior and high (positive) liking of the punished person showed the lowest justice perceptions. In conclusion, the authors note that comparative analysis of organizational justice is a promising direction for future research.     

Work Stress,Chinese Work Values,and Work Well-Being in the Greater China

ABSTRACT

Work values influence our attitudes and behavior at work, but they have rarely been explored in the context of work stress. The aim of this research was thus to test direct and moderating effects of Chinese work values (CWV) on relationships between work stressors and work well-being among employees in the Greater China region. A self- administered survey was conducted to collect data from three major cities in the region, namely Beijing, Hong Kong, and Taipei (N = 380). Work stressors were negatively related to work well-being, whereas CWV were positively related to work well-being. In addition, CWV also demonstrated moderating effects in some of the stressor–job satisfaction relationships.     

Did the Chinese Have a Change of Heart?

In their "The Prevalence of Mind-Body Dualism in Early China," Slingerland and Chudek use a statistical analysis of the early Chinese corpus to argue for Weak Folk Dualism (WFD). We raise three methodological objections to their analysis. First, the change over time that they find is largely driven by genre. Second, the operationalization of WFD is potentially misleading. And, third, dating the texts they use is extremely controversial. We conclude with some positive remarks.     

汉字字谜任务中限制解除的电生理机制

尽管“限制解除”作为一种顿悟问题解决的关键途径早在上世纪90年代就被德国心理学者Knoblich及其同事提出, 但学界对于“限制解除”所包含的信息加工程序、阶段以及相应的脑认知过程却并未有进一步的探讨和细化。本文从“限制解除”的理论角度出发, 以答案提示催化的“诱发式”字谜解决顿悟为例, 首次提出了一个关于“诱发式”限制解除过程的信息加工阶段初步构想。该构想认为：顿悟问题解决中的“诱发式”限制解除过程包含3个不同的信息加工阶段。第一阶段是以早期注意参与为特征的冲突信息的预警或预处理过程; 第二阶段是以新旧思路交替为特征的关键限制解除过程, 鉴于这个过程以基本问题表征空间的拓展为特征, 因此我们推测右脑的活动很有可能在这个过程中占据主导地位; 第三阶段是以自上而下的控制加工为特征的重新整合过程。脑电研究数据部分地支持了本研究的假设, 发现了上述第一阶段在脑电变化上体现为顿悟性限制解除所伴随的N100/P200复合体; 第二阶段体现为P300在300~400 ms的时间窗内的地形图分布及差异波; 而第三阶段则体现为N400在400~800 ms内的变化。脑电结果还证实：在第二阶段也就是限制解除的关键阶段, 右脑的活动明显强于左脑, 提示基本问题空间的拓展可能更多地依赖于右脑, 而在第三阶段也就是信息的重新整合阶段则表现出相反的半球偏侧化倾向。上述发现有可能为进一步认识和理解顿悟中“限制解除”的脑认知机理提供了新的见解。     

Number of sense effects of Chinese disyllabic compounds in the two hemispheres

The current study manipulated the visual field and the number of senses of the first character in Chinese disyllabic compounds to investigate how the related senses (polysemy) of the constituted character in the compounds were represented and processed in the two hemispheres. The ERP results in experiment 1 revealed crossover patterns in the left hemisphere (LH) and the right hemisphere (RH). The sense facilitation in the LH was in favor of the assumption of single-entry representation for senses. However, the patterns in the RH yielded two possible interpretations: (1) the nature of hemispheric processing in dealing with sublexical sense ambiguity; (2) the semantic activation from the separate-entry representation for senses. To clarify these possibilities, experiment 2 was designed to push participants to a deeper level of lexical processing by the word class judgment. The results revealed the sense facilitation effect in the RH. In sum, the current study was in support of the single-entry account for related senses and demonstrated that two hemispheres processed sublexical sense ambiguity in a complementary way.     

Age and gender differences in adolescents' homework experiences

Extant data collected through the Experience Sampling Method were analyzed to describe adolescents' subjective experiences of homework. Analyses explored age and gender differences in the time adolescents spend doing homework, and the situational variations (location and companions) in adolescents' reported concentration, effort, interest, positive affect and stress while doing homework. Regarding age differences, middle school students reported more positive experiences when homework was done with companions and in locations other than home, whereas high school students reported more positive experiences when homework was done alone and at home. Regarding gender differences, girls, regardless of age, reported greater stress than boys when doing homework alone, and lower stress when doing homework with friends. High school girls reported lower interest than middle school boys when doing homework alone. Findings provide an understanding of age and gender differences in adolescents' perceptions of homework, which might help educators and parents structure engaging homework environments.