The beneficial effect of Tai Chi on self‐concept in adolescents

Previous research has documented the beneficial effect of Tai Chi, but most of the studies focused on elders and patients with specific health conditions. The aim of the study was to test whether Tai Chi can help to improve self‐concept in adolescents with a longitudinal study. The sample comprised 160 students from a Chinese middle school; half of students formed the experimental group and the rest formed the control group. A 1‐year Tai Chi intervention was delivered in 60‐minute sessions, five times a week. Both groups were instructed to complete the measure of self‐concept at the beginning and end of the intervention. Statistical analysis shows the significant reduction of good behaviour, intellectual and school status, popularity and anxiety in the experimental group compared with the control group. The results suggest that the Tai Chi intervention could improve self‐concept in adolescents.     

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.     

The spirituality of people with late-stage dementia: a review of the research literature,a critical analysis and some implications for person-centred spirituality and dementia care

If spirituality is fundamental to personhood, it must be as integral to the life of a person with dementia as to any other person. In this paper, the author uses a three-stage process to explore the features, meanings and significance of spirituality in late-stage dementia. First, a critical literature review is undertaken to evaluate the present state of research and its methodological limitations. The second stage of the argument comprises a critical analysis of the available models of how spirituality may persist beyond the loss of cognitive and communicative capacity, leading the elucidation of two dimensions to spirituality (duration over time and the role of social space) that can sometimes be overlooked. Finally, these findings are brought to bear on wider questions of how person-centred spiritual care may be offered to people with dementia and the role of shared social values in building spiritual resilience.     

基于文本阅读的间接接触也可改善公众对残疾人的态度

以镶嵌残疾人图片的正性行为描述性信息为文本阅读材料,以大学生为被试,采用概念启动范式,考察了健全人对残疾人态度改善的可能性.研究结果表明,阅读残疾人正性行为描述性材料不仅可以降低健全人对残疾人的负性认知评价,而且可以提高其对残疾人的钦佩感和减弱其对残疾人的嫌弃感,同时也可提高健全人对该类人群的积极趋近行为和减弱对该类人群的消极趋近和消极回避行为,从而证明基于文本阅读的间接接触可改善公众对残疾人的负性态度的假设.因此,创造条件鼓励残疾人尽力发挥其积极的社会功能,引导和塑造其身残志不残的品质,有助于改善健全人对该类人群的消极态度.     

Show me the product,show me the model: Effect of picture type on attitudes toward advertising

We suggest that a consideration of consumer self-evaluations is fundamental to understanding the conditions under which it is more advantageous to present person or product pictures in print advertisements. We build on the basic human motives of self-enhancement and self-verification to propose that the specific self-esteem level of consumers, in the domain relevant for the category, differentially affects their responses to picture type. Specifically, for consumers with low (high) domain-specific self-esteem, depicting a product (person) in the advertisement enhances attitudes toward the advertisement more than depicting a person (product). In two studies, we demonstrate the proposed matching relationships using two different domains of consumer self-evaluation: appearance self-esteem and academic self-esteem. We also show that increased and more fluent generation of self-related mental imagery drives the observed improvement in attitudes toward the advertisement. Our findings suggest direct implications for advertising design.     

Different routes to metacognitive judgments: The role of accuracy motivation

The current research proposes that metacognitive difficulty affects product evaluation through two different routes—the feelings of ease-of-retrieval heuristic and the self-validation process. The findings across four laboratory experiments show that metacognitive difficulty can undermine product evaluation through the feelings of ease-of-retrieval heuristic among low-accuracy individuals, regardless of a perceived fit between expected and experienced difficulty. In contrast, the findings indicate that metacognitive difficulty can enhance (vs. undermine) product evaluation among high-accuracy individuals through the self-validation process when there is a perceived fit (vs. misfit) between expected and experienced difficulty. We suggest that individuals under high accuracy motivation are more likely than those under low accuracy motivation to draw less determined and more flexible interpretation of metacognitive difficulty in making their product evaluation.