What you see is what you want to get: Perceived abilities outperform objective test performance in predicting mate appeal in speed dating

Are intelligent, creative, and emotionally competent people more desirable? Evolution-based theories and studies on the ideal partner suggest that they are. We aimed to assess whether verbal, numerical, and spatial intelligence, creativity, and intra- and interpersonal emotional competence are associated with higher real-life mate appeal. In speed dates, 87 women and 88 men met up to 14 members of the opposite sex (2188 observations). While only one measured ability—women’s creativity—was significantly associated with mate appeal, ability perceptions by speed-dating partners could broadly predict mate appeal. Effects of perceived and measured abilities were substantially reduced after controlling for physical attractiveness. These results suggest that the investigated abilities play a lesser role in initial attraction than proposed in the past.     

Procedural fairness predicts cooperative behaviour for high-self-esteem individuals but not for low-self-esteem individuals

Cooperation is vital for modern society. Previous studies showed that procedural fairness promotes cooperation; however, they mainly focused on cooperation intention, which may fail to reveal actual cooperative behaviour. Moreover, little is known regarding the personality boundary of the effect of procedural fairness on cooperation. Guided by previous findings that self-esteem increases sensitivity to procedural unfairness, we attempted to explore the moderating effect of self-esteem on the association between procedural fairness and cooperative behaviour. In Experiment 1, 160 participants' self-esteem was measured using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale; procedural fairness was manipulated in two conditions, depending on whether money was allocated in an economic game by rolling the dice twice or an allocator's arbitrary choice. Cooperative behaviour was assessed using the chicken game paradigm. Experiment 2 (148 participants) aimed to replicate and extend the results of Experiment 1 using a more rigorous experimental design, in which the possible effect of outcome favourability was excluded. The results of both experiments consistently showed that procedural fairness positively predicted cooperative behaviour, and this association was significant in high-self-esteem individuals, but not in low-self-esteem individuals. These findings shed light on the vital role of self-esteem in understanding the relationship between procedural fairness and cooperative behaviour.     

Do 5- and 6-Year-Old Children Attempt to Appear Fair to Others?

Abstract

Children come to prefer fair distributions at the age of 5 to 6?years. But do they actually want to be fair, or do they want to appear fair to others? In three conditions, an experimenter initially distributed chocolates to 5-/6-year-old participants and partners they were paired with. Participants always possessed, through some means, two chocolates when the experimenter returned after a brief absence, and they had to decide whether to take an extra one for themselves. To measure the extent to which children were concerned with actually being fair versus appearing fair, two conditions were created in which children were led to believe that the experimenter did not know that the distributions had become equal. In the windfall condition, a confederate gave one additional chocolate to the participant, and in the partner condition, the partner transferred one chocolate to the participant. Compared to the control condition, participants who passed the false belief task in both of these conditions tried to appear fair in their distribution. Thus 5-/6-year-old children seem to prefer appearing fair to others regardless of the situation.     

Angry rumination moderates the association between perceived ethnic discrimination and risky behaviors

Perceived ethnic discrimination (PED) is associated with increased engagement in risky behaviors in ethnic minority emerging adults. Risky behaviors may reflect efforts to cope with emotional distress like depression or anxiety resulting from PED, particularly for individuals with poor emotion regulation skills. We hypothesized that the association between PED and risky behaviors would be particularly strong for emerging adults with tendencies for angry rumination. We further hypothesized that increased depressive and anxious symptoms would mediate the effect of the PED-rumination interaction on risky behaviors. In this survey study, 155 ethnic minority college students completed measures of PED, depressive and anxiety symptoms, trait angry rumination, and risky behaviors. Analyses revealed that angry rumination moderated the association between PED and greater risky behaviors. Depressive and anxiety symptoms did not mediate this effect. Although cross-sectional, these findings suggest that individuals with poor coping skills may be especially likely to respond to stressors such as PED by engaging in risky behaviors. Implications include using rumination-focused interventions in order to prevent engagement in risky behaviors in ethnic minority emerging adults.     

The differential impact of brooding and reflection on the relationship between perceived stress and suicide ideation

This study investigated whether brooding and reflection moderated the relationship between perceived stress and suicide ideation. It was hypothesized that brooding, but not reflection, would strengthen the effect of perceived stress on suicide ideation above and beyond depression symptoms. Hypotheses were supported. Results suggest the assessment of a brooding response style may help identify clients who are more likely to contemplate suicide when confronted with life stress.     

Predicting physical activity intention and behaviour using achievement goal theory: A person-centred analysis

The purpose of the current study was to identify the 2 × 2 achievement goals profiles at the intraindividual level using a latent profile analyses (LPA) approach while controlling for the nesting of students within classroom. Additional analyses involving the direct inclusion of predictors and outcomes to the final latent profile solution were also used to examine the relationships between the latent profiles and perceived motivational climate, intention to be physically active and physical activity participation. A sample of 1810 school children aged 14–19 years drawn from 79 classes in 13 Singaporean schools took part in the study. Using the latent profile analysis, four distinct motivational profiles could be identified. The results from multinomial logistic regressions showed that profile membership was significantly predicted by perceptions of mastery and performance climate. Finally, the results showed that the four profiles differed significantly in terms of intention to be physically active and physical activity participation.     

A step away from impaired well-being: a latent growth curve analysis of an intervention with activity trackers among employees

ABSTRACT

The present study evaluated the effectiveness of a workplace intervention combining activity trackers (behavioural approach) with an online coach (cognitive approach) in order to increase employees’ number of steps and improve their impaired well-being (i.e., emotional strain and negative affect). To analyse the intervention’s effectiveness, the study applied latent growth curve modelling. Moreover, we tested whether work-related and personal resources (i.e., job control and self-efficacy) moderated the intervention’s effectiveness and whether an increase in number of steps was associated with an improvement in impaired well-being. During the intervention, data were collected at six measurement points from 108 mainly low active employees. The results revealed that employees increased their number of steps until the second intervention week; this increase was not moderated by job control or self-efficacy. Moreover, the intervention was effective in decreasing emotional strain and negative affect over the course of the intervention. Further analyses showed that the increase in number of steps was related to the decrease in negative affect, whereas no such association was found for the increase in number of steps and the decrease in emotional strain. In conclusion, the findings showed that our intervention was effective in improving physical activity and impaired well-being among employees.