Dimensions in scales for measuring exploratory tendencies and stimulation levels in consumers: a cross‐cultural comparison of the USA and Spain

Current scales to assess the exploratory tendency are mainly composite measures of psychological characteristics of the consumers concerning their personality. The cultural environment in which they were developed and tested is also a major factor that could affect their validity across different cultural scenes. In this paper the relevant scales measuring exploratory tendencies are reviewed and compared in two different cultural settings: USA and Spain. The main conclusion is that the scales are not equally valid; nor do the items included in them have the same relevance in different cultural setting. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The mediating role of affective commitment in the relation of the feedback environment to work outcomes

The Feedback Environment, as opposed to the formal performance appraisal process, is comprised of the daily interactions between members of an organization (Steelman, Levy, & Snell, in press). Relations between the feedback environment and work outcome variables such as Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) were examined through the mediating effects of affective commitment. Results indicate that affective commitment mediates the relation between the feedback environment and organizational citizenship behavior, and this mediated relation is stronger for OCBs directed at individuals than directed at the organization as a whole. Conclusions and implications are discussed.     

Testing multiple motives in feedback seeking: The interaction of instrumentality and self protection motives

Research indicates that information received from feedback seeking is valuable for both individual and organizational outcomes. Previous research examining the feedback seeking process has consistently suggested that individual's feedback behaviors are directly influenced by three motives. Specifically, individuals are instrumentally motivated to obtain valued information but are also motivated to protect and/or enhance their ego and to protect others' impressions of them (Ashford, Blatt and VandeWalle, 2003). The current study simultaneously examined these motives by testing the interactive effects of them on feedback seeking behavior. As predicted, they did significantly interact and the results present a deeper understanding of these motives and how employees weigh various factors in deciding whether to seek feedback within the organization.     

感觉寻求对工读生毒品使用的影响：有中介的调节效应

以523名工读生为调查对象,考察工读生毒品使用特点,并在控制相关人口学变量后,探讨感觉寻求、压力性生活事件、结交不良同伴与工读生毒品使用的关系。结果显示：（1）工读生的毒品使用行为严重,34.2%的工读生曾使用过毒品,毒品使用呈现低龄化、以吸食新型毒品为主的趋势。（2）工读生的感觉寻求是毒品使用的风险因素。（3）压力性生活事件对感觉寻求与毒品使用之间的关系具有风险增强的调节效应。（4）这种调节效应以结交不良同伴为中介变量。因此,感觉寻求对工读生毒品使用的影响是有中介的调节效应。研究结果对青少年毒品使用的预防和干预有重要的理论价值和参考价值。     

Understanding the relationship between emotional and behavioral dysregulation: emotional cascades

Recent research suggests that many dysregulated behaviors, such as binge-eating and non-suicidal self-injury, often occur during times of emotional distress. These behaviors also appear to decrease negative affect. Why is it, however, that individuals engage in these behaviors to reduce emotional distress rather than taking a shower or talking to a friend? This study proposes the role of emotional cascades, an emotional phenomenon that occurs when an individual intensely ruminates on negative affect, thus increasing the magnitude of that negative affect to the point that an individual engages in a dysregulated behavior in order to distract from that rumination. The purpose of these studies was to examine the relationship between rumination and dysregulated behaviors, and in doing so determine if there is some support for the emotional cascade model of behavioral dysregulation. Using two different studies we were able to demonstrate that rumination is associated with some dysregulated behaviors, both cross-sectionally using structural equation modeling, and temporally using a two time-point method.     

A context-informed approach to the study of negative-feedback seeking in depression

The purpose of the current study was to examine the link between negative-feedback seeking (NFS) and depression using a behavioural task that addressed many of the limitations of existing measures of NFS, to use a remitted-depressive design to determine whether NFS is a temporary or stable feature of depression, and to examine the role of personality and contextual variables (e.g., marital quality, spousal characteristics) in NFS. Using a sample of 59 couples (12 wife currently depressed, 20 wife remitted-depressed, and 27 wife never-depressed), we designed a task that correlated with an established measure of NFS and was able to distinguish between non-depressed and currently depressed wives. Using this behavioural task, we found that NFS is stably associated with depression and that relationship and partner characteristics may protect depressed individuals from engaging in destructive interpersonal patterns.     

Feedback and driver situation awareness (SA): A comparison of SA measures and contexts

The dominant technological trajectory in vehicle design brings with it similarly dominant driver performance issues in regard to vehicle feedback and driver situational awareness (SA). Three experiments are reported in this paper that describe not only the effects on driver SA of manipulations of vehicle feedback but also illuminate issues concerned with SA measurement methods and contexts. The findings suggest that current trends in vehicle design may contribute little towards a driver’s SA and, in fact, may actually show a generalized trend towards decreasing it. The efficacy of verbal protocol and probe recall SA measurement techniques is noted in terms of observing this effect. On the other hand, a concerning dissociation occurred with findings from a self-report measure of SA. Drivers appear to show a concerning lack of self-awareness of their SA and, indeed, any shortfall in it.     

On the mechanisms and effects of feedback in group psychotherapy

Group psychotherapists commonly see feedback as one of the primary mechanism that furthers the goals of the group. This paper will summarize the research that has been done on the mechanisms leading members to produce feedback, the factors that induce members to accept feedback (for example, feedback valence and timing), and the effects of feedback on outcome and aspects of group process such as group cohesion. The article will address the practical implications of these findings for the interventions of the group psychotherapist. As will be discussed, the emphasis on the importance of feedback in the interpersonal group psychotherapy literature exceeds the programmatic research that has been done on basic questions. This paper will identify major lines of future investigation that could yield findings critical to the delivery of effective group psychotherapy such as the information processing sequences that underlie feedback delivery and reception.     

Treatment Seeking for Anxiety and Depression Among Black Adults: A Multilevel and Empirically Informed Psycho-Sociocultural Model

Black adults with anxiety and/or depressive disorders underutilize outpatient psychotherapy and pharmacological treatment compared to White adults. Notably, anxiety and depressive disorders tend to be chronic and Black individuals with these disorders experience greater functional impairment than White individuals. Documented racial disparities in mental health treatment initiation indicate a need for research that addresses culture-specific barriers to treatment. This review paper critically evaluates existing theoretical models of treatment seeking among Black adults to inform a novel integrated, culturally contextualized model. This model extends previous ones by incorporating factors relevant to treatment seeking among Black adults (e.g., racial identity, perceived discrimination, medical mistrust) and critically examines how these factors intersect with key factors at three levels of influence of the treatment seeking process: the individual level, the community level, and the societal level. We posit interactions among factors at the three levels of influence and how these may impact treatment seeking decisions among Black adults. This model informs suggestions for enhancing interventions designed to support outpatient service use among Black adults.     

The moderating role of attitude strength in selective exposure to information

Individuals prefer to receive information that is consistent with their attitudes. Three experiments examined whether attitude strength moderates this selective exposure effect. Experiments 1A and 1B found that participants preferred attitudinally consistent information but that this effect was more pronounced to the extent that the attitude was strongly held. Experiment 2 replicated these findings and ruled out an alternative interpretation that a general tendency to hold strong attitudes rather than issue-specific attitude strength moderates selective exposure. Discussion concerns the implications of these findings and the possibility that other variables moderate the selective exposure effect.