Motivational and emotional effects of social comparison in sports

The comparison to other athletes and the resulting effects on emotion, motivation and effort investment are a natural and integral part of sports performance. The current study tested a bias toward upward comparison in athletes. Further it tested how comparison processes influence motivation (i.e., self-improvement motivation, coasting, disengagement), emotion (e.g. happiness and shame) and performance improvement as a behavioral measure of effort. Freshmen from an elite sport university volunteered to participate in an experience sampling study conducted over one semester (6 months). Contrary to our predictions, athletes did not generally compare more upward than downward, and only few subscales of the two sport-specific dispositional measures (sport-specific achievement motivation and sport orientation) predicted upward comparison. As hypothesized, upward comparison to moderately better standards was associated with greater motivation while extreme upward comparison was related to a drop in motivation and increased disengagement. Still, upward comparison during the semester significantly predicted performance at the end of the semester. Downward comparison was related to coasting motivation and lower levels of performance. Happiness decreased with upward and increased with downward comparison. The opposite was true for feelings of shame. This research emphasizes the role of the social environment in sports and how training partners depending on their inferiority or superiority can boost or hinder motivation and performance in athletes.     

Research about the university teaching performance evaluation under the data envelopment method

How to take active and effective measures to evaluate the university scientifically and rationally has been an eternal topic that the educational circles are constantly exploring. Based on the principle of index construction, the current educational performance evaluation index system is improved and a more reasonable evaluation index system is formed. On this basis, taking the sample data in 2017 as an example, the principal component analysis method is used to reduce the dimension of input and output indicators and eliminate the correlation between indicators, and three principal components of input and three principal components of output are obtained. Secondly, data envelopment analysis model is established, and the data processed are analyzed with the help of MATLAB and DEAP2.1 operation software. The efficiency of these 24 colleges and universities is compared to understand the efficiency and differences of each college. Moreover, projection analysis of non-DEA effective DMU is completed and the direction of improvement and the specific adjustment value are pointed out.     

Verbal and practical intelligence in general anxiety,obsessive compulsive and major depression disorders

IntroductionPrevious researches have shown that anxiety symptoms are negatively associated with measures of intelligence. However, recent findings indicate possible positive relationships between Generalized Anxiety Disorders (GAD) and intelligence. Also, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is associated with a moderate degree of underperformance on cognitive tests, including deficient processing. There are inconsistent results to present the relationship between Major Depression Disorder (MDD) and IQ. The present study has three main aims. The first aim of this study is to investigate the difference between IQ in individuals with GAD, OCD and major depressive disorder, and normal group. The second purpose is to perform a comparative study between the GAD, OCD and MDD groups on verbal and non-verbal intelligence. The third aim of this study is to examine the relationships between GAD, OCD and MDD as well as their underlying cognitive processes, including worry, rumination, and post-event processing, with verbal and non-verbal intelligence.ObjectiveThe present study is performed on four groups of participants including those with GAD, OCD, MDD and Healthy Volunteer (HV) group consisting of individuals without psychiatric disorders.MethodThe number of 50 healthy volunteers as the control group, 45 patients with GAD, 20 patients with OCD and 25 patients with MDD (n = 140) were selected as the case-referent groups. The present study was a cross-sectional type and the research was performed based on the causal-comparative method. Verbal and non-verbal intelligence was measured with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-3rd edition (WAIS-III). Rumination and post-event processing were measured by PSWQ, RRS-BR, and PEPQ, respectively.ResultsThe results indicate that Verbal Intelligence and Verbal Comprehension Index in GAD patients have significant differences in comparison to the OCD, MDD and control groups. While, the value of the Working Memory Index (WMI) in the normal group is higher than the value of the same index in the GAD, OCD and MDD groups. Also, the values of the Processing Speed Index (PSI) in normal and GAD groups are higher than the OCD and MDD groups. The worry, rumination, and post-event processing in patients with GAD are positively correlated with general and verbal intelligence. But, verbal and non-verbal intelligence had a negative correlation with worry, rumination and post-event processing in healthy volunteers.ConclusionInvestigation of the possible connections between intelligence and the cognitive processes underlying emotional disorders can provide therapeutic strategies for smart individuals who are at risk for GAD.     

浅析现阶段大学生心理压力成因及对策

通过分析当代大学生心理压力问题产生的原因,并提出了相应的对策措施。     

Positivity within teamwork: Cross-level effects of positivity on performance

This study has been designed to investigate, from a multilevel perspective, the relations among positivity and job performance. Analyses were conducted on a sample of 232 participants from three Italian organizations with the Group Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (Kenny & Garcia, 2012). Results corroborate previous findings attesting to the beneficial effects of positivity on organizational behaviours and in particular attest to the crucial role of others’ positivity in neutralizing an individual’s low positivity. People low in positivity performed better when other group members’ positivity was high.     

Measuring being lost in thought: An exploratory driving simulator study

In driver behaviour research there is considerable focus on distraction caused by specific external systems, such as navigation systems or mobile telephones. However, it is not clear whether self-paced actions such as daydreaming have the same negative effects on driving behaviour. In a driving simulator study, the effects of an internal cognitive process (internal distraction) on driving behaviour and physiological data were compared to the effects of a sound and speech task (external distraction). Three groups of participants made two drives on a motorway, with one control group, one internal distraction group and one external distraction group. Dependent measures included driving behavioural measures, physiological measures and a subjective indication of participants’ experienced involvement in the driving task.The effects of both the internal and external distraction task were reflected in speed, number of lane changes, deceleration, glances and subjective ratings. When an effect was found for both the internal and the external distraction task, the results indicated similar (negative) effects. Participants also indicated that they had the feeling they were less involved in the driving task with both secondary tasks.