Psychological closure as a memory phenomenon

A theory is proposed that life events are remembered with a satisfying sense of closure when there is decreased emotional detail in the constructed autobiographical memory representation. The first three studies show that, although properties of the experienced event (such as valence and recency) accounted for some variance in participants' sense of closure, the amount of emotional detail in the memory was also a significant predictor. The third study shows that emotion-focused biased retelling of the experience increased emotional detail and decreased the sense of closure participants reported. Related approaches and implications for psychological adjustment are discussed.     

Imagining novel futures: The roles of event plausibility and familiarity

The constructive episodic simulation hypothesis suggests that episodic memory supports the simulation of future events through extraction and recombination of stored information. The current study explicitly investigated the use of past episodic thought in the simulation of future scenarios. Participants simulated one of three possible scenarios, differing in plausibility and participants’ prior experience of similar events. Participants recorded related memories and whether they were explicitly used during future event simulation. Memories were rated for source (self-experienced, other-experienced, or media). Findings suggest prior experience and event plausibility did not impact upon ease of future event simulation or the extent of memory usage during simulations. Differences emerged in the source of information used to assist future event simulation. These findings provide support for the hypothesis that episodic memories from a variety of sources are recombined when generating future simulations of novel events.     

Is the future always brighter than the past? Anticipation of changes in the personal future after recall of past experiences

People tend to hold an optimistic view of their futures. Using a novel paradigm to examine the anticipated change from the personal past to the personal future, we found that the future was not always perceived as brighter than the past. College students (N = 156) recalled positive and negative personal events of various situations. Following each recall, they imagined a future personal event involving the same situation. Participants expected over half of the events to change in either upward or downward directions, depending on the valence of the past events. In addition, participants anticipated greater changes in domains of less stability, and Asians anticipated greater changes than European Americans. Anticipated future changes were further associated with psychological well-being. The findings shed new light on future event simulation.     

Future work self and career adaptability in the prediction of proactive career behaviors

This study examined the motivational resource of future work self salience and the additive effect of career adaptability dimensions in the prediction of career planning, proactive skill development, and proactive career networking in a sample of university students (N = 113). It was hypothesized that greater clarity of future work self would predict engagement in each of the proactive career behaviors and that specific dimensions of career adaptability would have an additive effect in predicting particular proactive career behavior in line with the theory of career construction. Results indicated that future work self predicted career planning and that career concern had an additive effect. Future work self also predicted proactive skill development and proactive career networking. However, career confidence and career curiosity mediated these relationships in the prediction of skill development and networking respectively. In sum, results suggest that future work self and career adaptability play an influential role in the engagement of proactive career behavior.     

How will things be the next time? Self in the construction of future events among school-aged children

This study examined among school-aged children the role of the self in perceived valence changes from the past to the future. Nine- to 11-year-old children (N = 57) recalled positive and negative personal events of various situations and imagined a future personal event involving the same situation following each recall. Children’s self-knowledge was assessed in terms of self-concepts for past, present, and future selves, and self-evaluations for social and cognitive competences. Children who viewed their future selves more positively and those who evaluated their cognitive competence more positively anticipated greater upward (positive) changes and smaller downward (negative) changes in their future academic performance. Children who evaluated their social competence more positively anticipated greater upward changes in their future peer relations. Furthermore, children who anticipated greater upward changes and smaller downward changes in their personal futures exhibited greater well-being. These findings shed new light on the role of self in mental time travel.     

Perceived positive and negative consequences after surviving cancer and their relation to quality of life

Surviving childhood cancer has multiple implications on both physical and psychological domains of the individual. However, its study and possible effects on health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) outcomes of adolescent survivors has been understudied. The objective of this study was twofold; to assess positive and negative cancer‐related consequences (psychosocial and physical) in a sample of adolescent cancer survivors and to explore their relationship with HRQoL outcomes. Forty‐one participants answered two questions about positive and negative consequences in the aftermath of cancer and filled in the KIDSCREEN‐52 self‐reported version. Data were analysed using mixed methods approach. Overall, 87.8% of the studied sample identified positive consequences and 63.4% negative consequences in survivorship. Four positive categories and five negative categories with regard to cancer‐related consequences were found. Changed perspectives in life narratives seem to be the positive consequence more related to HRQoL (physical well‐being, mood & emotions, autonomy, social support & peers), followed by useful life experience (physical well‐being, autonomy, social support & peers). Psychological impact was the most referred negative consequence with a significant detrimental effect on social support and peers HRQoL dimension. Even if the majority of survivors reported benefit finding in the aftermath of cancer, concomitant positive and negative consequences have been found. However, findings only reveal a significant relationship between positive narratives and HRQoL, and negative consequences do not seem to have a significant influence on overall HRQoL in survivorship.     

The behavioral origins of phylogenic responses and ontogenic habits

An examination of innate behavior and its possible origins suggests parallels with the formation of habitual behavior. Inflexible but adaptive responses—innate reflexive behavior, Pavlovian conditioned responses, and operant habits—may have evolved from variable behavior in phylogeny and ontogeny. This form of “plasticity-first” scientific narrative was unpopular post-Darwin but has recently gained credibility in evolutionary biology. The present article seeks to identify originating events and contingencies contributing to such inflexible but adaptive behavior at both phylogenic and ontogenic levels of selection. In ontogeny, the development of inflexible performance (i.e., habit) from variable operant behavior is reminiscent of the genetic accommodation of initially variable phylogenic traits. The effects characteristic of habit (e.g., unresponsiveness to reinforcer devaluation) are explicable as the result of a conflict between behaviors at distinct levels of selection. The present interpretation validates the practice of seeking hard analogies between evolutionary biology and operant behavior. Finding such parallels implies the validity of a claim that organismal behavior, both innate and learned, is a product of selection by consequences. A complete and coherent account of organismal behavior may ultimately focus on functional selective histories in much the same way evolutionary biology does with its subject matter.     

中国情境下公共服务动机的理论构建与绩效转换机制

准确把握基层公职人员的公共服务动机是提升工作绩效、完善人力资源管理的重要前提。现有公共服务动机研究忽略了中国情景的特殊性, 对公共服务动机的微观激发机制及其消极绩效影响也关注不足。本研究从中国情景下公共服务动机的概念、核心构成要素、激发机制以及绩效结果入手, 从三个方面系统地构建适合中国场景的公共服务动机理论：第一, 将公共服务动机视为混合动机概念, 基于扎根理论的定性方式识别基层公务员公共服务动机的构成要素与核心内涵, 并据此开发本土化、多维度的公共服务动机量表; 第二, 从微观激发机制出发, 探讨受益人接触、自我倡议、观念反思等机制对个体公共服务动机的激发作用; 第三, 从积极影响和消极影响两个方面探讨公共服务动机与个体公务员行为间的关联及其机理。本研究既响应了国内公共管理学界长期以来发展本土理论的呼声, 亦为政府部门完善公共人事政策提供切实思路和实证依据。     

Maintaining faith in agency under immutable constraints: cognitive consequences of believing in negotiable fate

Negotiable fate refers to the idea that one can negotiate with fate for control, and that people can exercise personal agency within the limits that fate has determined. Research on negotiable fate has found greater prevalence of related beliefs in Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Eastern Europe than in Western Europe and English-speaking countries. The present research extends previous findings by exploring the cognitive consequences of the belief in negotiable fate. It was hypothesized that this belief enables individuals to maintain faith in the potency of their personal actions and to remain optimistic in their goal pursuits despite the immutable constraints. The belief in negotiable fate was predicted to (a) facilitate sense-making of surprising outcomes; (b) increase persistence in goal pursuits despite early unfavorable outcomes; and (c) increase risky choices when individuals have confidence in their luck. Using multiple methods (e.g., crosscultural comparisons, culture priming, experimental induction of fate beliefs), we found supporting evidence for our hypotheses in three studies. Furthermore, as expected, the cognitive effects of negotiable fate are observed only in cultural contexts where the fate belief is relatively prevalent. Implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the intersubjective approach to understanding the influence of culture on cognitive processes (e.g., Chiu, Gelfand, Yamagishi, Shteynberg, & Wan, 2010), the sociocultural foundations that foster the development of a belief in negotiable fate, and an alternative perspective for understanding the nature of agency in contexts where constraints are severe. Future research avenues are also discussed.