Conflict Resolution in Chinese Adolescents' Friendship: Links with Regulatory Focus and Friendship Satisfaction

It is generally acknowledged that people adopt different resolution strategies when facing conflicts with others. However, the mechanisms of conflict resolution are still unclear and under researched, in particular within the context of Chinese adolescents' same-sex friendship relations. Thus, the present study investigated the mediator role of conflict resolution strategies in the relationship between regulatory foci and friendship satisfaction for the first time. 653 Chinese adolescents completed the regulatory foci, conflict resolution style, and friendship satisfaction measures. The results of the structure equation modeling showed that while promotion focus was positively associated with problem-solving and compliance, prevention focus was positively associated with withdrawal and conflict engagement. In addition, problem-solving mediated the relationship between promotion focus and friendship satisfaction, and conflict engagement mediated the relationship between prevention focus and friendship satisfaction. These findings contribute to understanding Chinese adolescents' use of conflict resolution strategies as well as the relationship between regulatory foci and behavioral strategies in negative situations.     

Emotional influences on perception and working memory

Although there has been steady progress elucidating the influence of emotion on cognition, it remains unclear precisely when and why emotion impairs or facilitates cognition. The present study investigated the mechanisms involved in the influence of emotion on perception and working memory (WM), using modified 0-back and 2-back tasks, respectively. First, results showed that attentional focus modulated the impact of emotion on perception. Specifically, emotion facilitated perceptual task performance when it was relevant to the task, but it impaired performance when it was irrelevant to the task. The differential behavioural effect of emotion on perception as a function of attentional focus diminished under high WM load. Second, attentional focus did not directly modulate the impact of emotion on WM, but rather its influence depended on the dynamic relationship between internal representations. Specifically, WM performance was worse when the material already being held online and the new input were of matching emotions (e.g. both were negative), compared to when they were not. We propose that the competition between “bottom-up” and “top-down” processing for limited cognitive resources explains the nature of the influence of emotion on both perception and WM.     

Social importance enhances prospective memory: evidence from an event-based task

Prospective memory performance can be enhanced by task importance, for example by promising a reward. Typically, this comes at costs in the ongoing task. However, previous research has suggested that social importance (e.g., providing a social motive) can enhance prospective memory performance without additional monitoring costs in activity-based and time-based tasks. The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of social importance in an event-based task. We compared four conditions: social importance, promising a reward, both social importance and promising a reward, and standard prospective memory instructions (control condition). The results showed enhanced prospective memory performance for all importance conditions compared to the control condition. Although ongoing task performance was slowed in all conditions with a prospective memory task when compared to a baseline condition with no prospective memory task, additional costs occurred only when both the social importance and reward were present simultaneously. Alone, neither social importance nor promising a reward produced an additional slowing when compared to the cost in the standard (control) condition. Thus, social importance and reward can enhance event-based prospective memory at no additional cost.     

A focus on commitment: the roles of transformational and transactional leadership and self-regulatory focus in fostering organizational and safety commitment

The concept of employees’ commitment is one of the most challenging concepts in the management, organizational behaviour and human resource management literatures and research. The current study focuses on the construct of commitment as an emotional attitude, and expands the concept of general organizational commitment to a new more specific form of commitment, commitment to safety. Furthermore, commitment theorists commonly identify leadership as an important contributing factor to the development of organizational commitment. We aim to explain an underlying motivational mechanism, self-regulatory foci, through which leadership styles foster followers’ commitment. Results of three studies that used different methods (field and experimental), within different samples, demonstrated that transformational leadership was positively associated with followers’ promotion focus, which in turn was positively associated with both followers’ general and affective commitment to safety. Prevention focus mediated the positive relationship between a transactional active leadership style and both followers’ general and continuance commitment to safety. The implications of the findings for theory and practice are further discussed.     

青少年未来时间洞察力和学业成绩的关系:时间管理倾向的中介作用

思考未来对个体现在行为具有重要指导意义。本研究以1002名初、高中学生为调查对象,采用问卷调查法探究未来时间洞察力与学业成绩间的关系,以及时间管理倾向在其中的中介作用。结果表明:(1)学业成绩高低分组在未来时间洞察力各维度和时间管理倾向上差异显著。(2)未来积极、未来坚持、未来清晰和未来计划与时间管理倾向和学业成绩呈显著正相关,未来消极和未来迷茫与时间管理倾向和学业成绩呈显著负相关。(3)未来消极对学业成绩具有显著的直接预测作用;未来消极还通过时间效能感间接影响学业成绩;时间管理倾向在未来迷茫、未来清晰、未来坚持、未来计划和学业成绩之间起中介作用。     

The Effect of Approach and Avoidance Referents on Academic Outcomes: A Test of Competing Predictions

In an academic setting, we tested competing predictions derived from two conceptual models about the effects of approach and avoidance referents (e.g., goals and role models) on student performance. One model suggests a main effect such that focusing on approach referents leads to better outcomes than focusing on avoidance referents, regardless of personality (e.g., A. J. Elliot & K. M. Sheldon, 1997). Another model suggests an interaction such that focusing on either approach or avoidance referents can lead to positive outcomes, but only when people are promotion focused or prevention focused, respectively (e.g., P. Lockwood, C. H. Jordan, & Z. Kunda, 2002). Findings supported the main effect model. The more prevention focused participants were, the more avoidance goals they generated, which led to poorer grades.

中国人的时间知觉广度

时间知觉是社会结构和文化传统的映射,具有深刻的社会文化意涵。本文聚焦时间知觉广度这一概念,探讨中国人的时间知觉广度及其对自我连续性和社会变化观等心理过程的影响。通过综合讨论诸多实验发现提出,中国人具有较大的时间知觉广度,包括具有显著的过去取向和未来取向。较大的时间知觉广度提升了中国人跨时间的自我连续性,并且影响着中国人看待世事变化的变化观,这些特点又进一步影响到其它心理过程,例如对苦难和幸福的解读,在股票市场中的决策等。在一定程度上,这些特点可能是中国人在应对不确定性和重大危机时表现出更强的心理韧性和复原力的心理基础。本研究还指出中国人时间知觉广度具有独特的文化意义,包括整体性思维、过去现在未来互嵌互动和双向延展、与自我连续性和社会结构相关联以及具有道德属性等。基于此,本研究提出了时间知觉广度的文化心理比较模型,并分析了时间知觉广度对自我同一性和文化同一性的影响结果。希望本文能为进一步研究“中国人应对历史危机的心理特征与行为表现”提供科学依据。     

How regulatory focus–mode fit impacts variety-seeking

Variety-seeking research has examined antecedents in terms of contextual factors and individual differences. However, it does not consider the interaction of individual difference factors such as regulatory focus (promotion vs. prevention) and regulatory mode (locomotion vs. assessment) to predict variety-seeking. Drawing on regulatory fit theory, this study introduces a new kind of regulatory fit based on the interaction between regulatory focus and mode (i.e., regulatory focus–mode fit), thereby extending previous work examining fit based on either regulatory focus or regulatory mode in isolation. Results from five studies, including field data from 10,547 music app consumers (text analysis), two preregistered studies, and two online experiments, show that regulatory focus–mode fit (vs. non-fit) decreases variety-seeking. Engagement and attitude certainty serially mediate regulatory focus–mode fit effects. Findings provide implications for consumer segmentation and message framing.     

如何道歉更有效:调节聚焦与信息框架的作用

本研究结合调节聚焦理论探讨了如何道歉更有效。两个实验通过启动不同调节聚焦,创设冒犯情境并呈现不同框架的道歉信息,考察调节聚焦与道歉框架对道歉效果的影响。结果表明,向促进聚焦的受害者呈现积极框架的道歉信息、向防御聚焦的受害者呈现消极框架的道歉信息能改善受害者对冒犯者的评价,降低交往回避倾向,获得较好的道歉效果,且正确感是此种影响发生的内在机制。     

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.