问责能否抑制个体非伦理行为？——调节定向和自我损耗的作用机制

根据以往研究,问责对于非伦理行为的影响可能产生混淆的结论,它既可能降低,也可能促进非伦理行为的产生,即出现“问责失灵”的情况。鉴于此,本文通过实验研究来探究问责失灵的理论边界和内在机制。结果发现：（1）促进定向启动下的个体,问责对于非伦理行为有促进作用;预防定向下的个体,问责对于非伦理行为有抑制作用;（2）促进定向启动下,问责通过增加个体的自我损耗增强了其非伦理行为,即促进定向下个体的自我损耗中介了问责与非伦理行为的关系。     

Regulatory focus theory: Disentangling goals and strategies

The purpose of this research was to develop and test the Regulatory Goals and Strategies Questionnaire (RGSQ) to promote conceptual and empirical clarity in the literature on regulatory focus theory (RFT). According to RFT, construing an end-state as a maximal goal (ideal, gain, and advancement) elicits the adoption of an eager promotion-focused strategy, whereas construing an end-state as a minimal goal (ought, non-loss, and security) elicits the adoption of a vigilant prevention-focused strategy. This means that promotion-focused eagerness and prevention-focused vigilance can be elicited by various goals and that eager and vigilant strategies are in fact separate from goals. However, extant measurement instruments have not treated them as such. The RGSQ was developed to distinguish various maximal and minimal goals and to separate these goals from promotion- and prevention-focused strategies of eagerness and vigilance. Across three studies that combine six samples (total N = 1848), we examined the factor structure and nomological network of the RGSQ (Study 1: four samples of students and adults) and its predictive validity in a task context (Study 2) and working sample (Study 3). Overall, we found support for the RGSQ's validity and demonstrated that the RGSQ operationalizes regulatory focus in accordance with the theory's core assumptions.     

Worlds within worlds: a strategy for using interpretative phenomenological analysis with focus groups

There is increasing interest in applying interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to focus group data and in developing appropriate strategies for doing so. These strategies should exploit the unique features of focus groups, which provide a rich canvas of experiences not seen in individual interviews, while remaining true to the personal, phenomenological perspective of IPA. We present a four-stage approach with specific group focused analytical strategies: looking for “groupness,” clustering reoccurring group interactions, identifying interactional relationships, and incorporating group elements into an analysis. These stages are illustrated with worked examples developed while working with data from focus groups of women with gynaecological cancer discussing a yoga intervention, and explain how these can enrich our understanding of participants’ lived experiences. This approach demonstrates a suggested framework for developing IPA themes from focus group data by analysing and interpreting the group setting. We discuss links to psychological concepts, potential applications and limitations. This empirically based methodology is presented as a practical guide for other researchers grappling with this type of data.     

Gain or non‐loss: The message matching effect of regulatory focus on moral judgements of other‐orientation lies

Previous studies found that individuals with promotion focus are more likely to be persuaded by messages framed in terms of gain‐related words; individuals with prevention focus are more likely to be persuaded by messages framed in terms of loss‐related words. This is known as the message matching effect of regulatory focus. The present study extended this effect into the field of moral judgement of other‐orientation lies. Two experiments were conducted, revealing that (a) individuals with promotion focus judged gain‐framed other‐orientation lies to be more moral, while individuals with prevention focus judged non‐loss‐framed other‐orientation lies to be more moral; and (b) the subjective processing fluency had a partial mediating role in the message matching effect. Theoretical implications and future research directions were discussed.     

Karma or Immortality: Can Religion Influence Space‐Time Mappings?

People implicitly associate the “past” and “future” with “front” and “back” in their minds according to their cultural attitudes toward time. As the temporal focus hypothesis (TFH) proposes, future‐oriented people tend to think about time according to the future‐in‐front mapping, whereas past‐oriented people tend to think about time according to the past‐in‐front mapping (de la Fuente, Santiago, Román, Dumitrache, & Casasanto, 2014). Whereas previous studies have demonstrated that culture exerts an important influence on people's implicit spatializations of time, we focus specifically on religion, a prominent layer of culture, as potential additional influence on space‐time mappings. In Experiment 1 and 2, we observed a difference between the two religious groups, with Buddhists being more past‐focused and more frequently conceptualizing the past as ahead of them and the future as behind them, and Taoists more future‐focused and exhibiting the opposite space‐time mapping. In Experiment 3, we administered a religion prime, in which Buddhists were randomly assigned to visualize the picture of the Buddhas of the Past (Buddha Dipamkara) or the Future (Buddha Maitreya). Results showed that the pictorial icon of Dipamkara increased participants' tendency to conceptualize the past as in front of them. In contrast, the pictorial icon of Maitreya caused a dramatic increase in the rate of future‐in‐front responses. In Experiment 4, the causal effect of religion on implicit space‐time mappings was replicated in atheists. Taken together, these findings provide converging evidence for the hypothesized causal role of religion for temporal focus in determining space‐time mappings.     

How preferences for eager versus vigilant judgment strategies affect self-serving conclusions

People are often motivated to reach self-serving conclusions during judgment. This article examines how such self-serving judgment outcomes are influenced by preferences for different judgment strategies. Two studies tested how preferences for eager (promotion-oriented) versus vigilant (prevention-oriented) judgment strategies affected self-serving explanations for success or failure. Regardless of their performance, those preferring vigilant strategies selectively endorsed a few explanations above others, whereas those preferring eager strategies more evenly endorsed multiple explanations. Furthermore, although the explanations selected by those preferring vigilant strategies were indeed self-serving (emphasizing personal responsibility for success and external circumstances for failure), the more balanced endorsement of multiple explanations by those preferring eager strategies was associated with attenuated self-serving tendencies. Finally, those preferring eager strategies were also less self-serving in their generalization from explanations of current performance to predictions of future performance. The larger implications of these findings for the role of strategic preferences in judgment are discussed.     

A field experiment testing the utility of regulatory fit messages for promoting physical activity

Guided by regulatory focus theory, we examined whether messages tailored to individuals’ promotion- or prevention-goal orientation (regulatory focus) elicit positive thoughts and feelings about physical activity and increase participation in physical activity. Inactive participants (N = 206) were assigned randomly to receive either promotion-focused or prevention-focused messages encouraging physical activity. Two weeks after message exposure, we assessed participants’ thoughts and feelings about physical activity and physical activity behavior. Tailored messages that fit individuals’ regulatory focus led to greater physical activity participation and more positive feelings than non-fit messages, particularly in the promotion-focused condition. Furthermore, positive retrospective feelings about physical activity mediated the effects of the tailored messages on behavior. These findings provide support for regulatory focus theory and direction for enhancing the effectiveness of messages encouraging physical activity and other health behaviors.     

Keeping it dull or making it fun: Task variation as a function of promotion versus prevention focus

The self-regulation of motivation model suggests that under certain circumstances, people will strategically vary a boring task to enhance their motivational experience. In three experiments we tested whether the likelihood of this task variation depends on a person’s orientation to promote success or prevent failure. Across studies, all participants engaged in a boring letter-copying task which was coded for task variation. Results showed that a promotion focus led to greater task variation, whereas a prevention focus led to lesser task variation. Furthermore, for those people who varied the task under a promotion focus, greater intrinsic motivation (defined as intent for future task-related behavior and as self-reported immediate task interest) was observed. Results were evident when the foci were induced below conscious awareness (Experiment 1), subtly (Experiment 2), and overtly (Experiment 3). Implications for academic and work-related tasks are discussed.     

Regulatory fit from attribute‐based versus alternative‐based processing in decision making

This paper discusses the fit between attribute-based versus alternative-based processing and regulatory focus, and its impact on decision outcome valuation. Attribute-based processing was found to occur more frequently under prevention focus, whereas alternative-based processing occurred more frequently under promotion focus. The fit between prevention/promotion focus and attribute-based/alternative-based processing was found to enhance satisfaction with choices and the perceived monetary value of chosen options. Moreover, the effect of fit on outcome valuation was found to be mediated by ease of processing. Finally, the effects of fit on ease of processing and outcome valuation disappeared when consumers first practiced to process information based on either attributes or alternatives.     

权力的社会认知研究述评

作为人类古老现象的权力,却是社会心理学的一个崭新课题。近年来,社会心理学家从社会认知的视角对权力心理进行了很多具有启发性的研究。理论和实证研究表明,权力的存在或激发广泛地影响了个体有意和无意的社会认知、情绪和社会行为,这些心理和行为既包含消极的成分,也包含中性和积极的成分。文章指出了权力心理学具有“强调社会认知、基础认知甚至神经机制”等特点和趋势。