Being moved by meaningfulness: appraisals of surpassing internal standards elicit being moved by relationships and achievements

ABSTRACT

People can be moved and overwhelmed, a phenomenon typically accompanied by goose-bumps and tears. We argue that these feelings of being moved are not limited to situations that are appraised as pro-social but elicited when someone surpasses an internal standard. In line with these predictions, people were moved by relationships and success (Study 1), by reunion, separation, success and failure (Study 2) and by social, environmental and sports achievements (Study 3). In all three studies, the elicitation of these feelings was partially mediated by appraisals of surpassing social or achievement standards. In line with this, ratings of meaningfulness were closely associated with feelings of being moved and moving stimuli elicited behavioural intentions such as spending time with family and friends, helping others and/or achieving something in life. Thus, moving situations may remind us about what we perceive as meaningful and thereby help us to act accordingly.     

Effects of scapular retraction/protraction position and scapular elevation on shoulder girdle muscle activity during glenohumeral abduction

According to scapulohumeral rhythm, shoulder abduction is followed through scapular upward rotation to ensure joint mobility and stability. Of interest, the shoulder abduction can be performed holding the scapula in different positions and in association with scapular elevation, with possible effects on shoulder muscle activity. Therefore, the aim of the study was to analyze the activity of relevant shoulder muscles and the activity ratios between the scapulothoracic muscles, during shoulder abduction performed in different combinations of scapular position (neutral, retracted, protracted) and scapular elevation.The electromyographic activity of middle deltoid, serratus anterior, upper, middle and lower fibers of trapezius was recorded during shoulder abduction movements executed holding the scapula in neutral, retracted and protracted position, and subsequently a shoulder elevation movement. The activation of each muscle and the scapulothoracic muscles activity ratios were determined every 15 degrees, from 15° to 120° of abduction.Scapular retraction led to higher activation of the entire trapezius muscle, whereas protraction induced higher upper trapezius, middle deltoid and serratus anterior activity, along with lower activity of middle and lower trapezius. Shoulder elevation led to higher activity of the upper trapezius and middle deltoid. Moreover, it induced lower activation of the serratus anterior and middle and lower trapezius, thus leading to high ratios between the upper trapezius and the other scapulothoracic muscles, especially between 15 and 75 degrees of abduction.This study highlights that shoulder abduction performed with scapular protraction and in combination with scapular elevation leads to increased activity of the middle deltoid and upper trapezius, resulting in imbalances between the scapulothoracic muscles that could hamper the optimal scapulohumeral rhythm. The abduction performed in the aforementioned scapular conditions also induce potential reciprocal inhibition effects between the movers and stabilizers muscles of scapula, suggesting different motor control strategies of integrating a common shoulder movement with various modification of the scapular position.     

非ST段抬高急性冠脉综合征药物治疗规范化分析

回顾性分析我院收治的129例非ST段抬高急性冠脉综合征患者的临床资料。对比在非ST段抬高急性冠脉综合征诊治上与最新指南的差距,找出改进措施。结果表明我院的临床实践与最新指南存在较大差距,在强化抗栓,调脂治疗,B受体阻滞剂及血管紧张素转换酶抑制荆类药物使用上均有待提高。今后应采取更加积极的措施,规范用药,以达到更好的预后和转归效果。     

Intersegmental dynamics of 3D upper arm and forearm longitudinal axis rotations during baseball pitching

The shoulder internal rotation (IR) and forearm pronation (PR) are important elements for baseball pitching, however, how rapid rotations of IR and PR are produced by muscular torques and inter-segmental forces is not clear. The aim of this study is to clarify how IR and PR angular velocities are maximized, depending on muscular torque and interactive torque effects, and gain a detailed knowledge about inter-segmental interaction within a multi-joint linked chain. The throwing movements of eight collegiate baseball pitchers were recorded by a motion capture system, and induced-acceleration analysis was used to assess the respective contributions of the muscular (MUS) and interactive torques associated with gyroscopic moment (GYR), and Coriolis (COR) and centrifugal forces (CEN) to maximum angular velocities of IR (MIRV) and PR (MPRV). The results showed that the contribution of MUS account for 98.0% of MIRV, while that contribution to MPRV was indicated as negative (−48.1%). It was shown that MPRV depends primarily on the interactive torques associated with GYR and CEN, but the effects of GYR, COR and CEN on MIRV are negligible. In conclusion, rapid PR motion during pitching is created by passive-effect, and is likely a natural movement which arises from 3D throwing movement. Applying the current analysis to IR and PR motions is helpful in providing the implications for improving performance and considering conditioning methods for pitchers.     

Elevation and mentoring: An experimental assessment of causal relations

Mentoring is a prosocial behavior in which an experienced person guides someone with less experience. Elevation refers to the responses elicited when a person witnesses others upholding the highest standards of moral virtue. Three experimental studies bring these two domains together. For all three studies, participants were randomly assigned to either read a story of someone exhibiting moral excellence or to a control condition. Participants in the elevation condition reported feeling more elevated, more positive attitudes toward mentoring, less negative attitudes toward mentoring, greater intentions to become a mentor (Study 1); an increased proclivity to gather information about becoming a mentor (Study 2a); and, an increased tendency to engage in mentoring directly via submitting advice to students (Study 2b). In their totality, the current studies link another prosocial outcome with elevation and demonstrate a condition under which individuals are more likely to be motivated to become a mentor.     

Elevation at work: The effects of leaders’ moral excellence

Leaders influence followers in many ways; one way is by eliciting positive emotions. In three studies we demonstrate that the nearly unstudied moral emotion of ‘elevation’ (a reaction to moral excellence) mediates the relations between leaders’ and their followers’ ethical behavior. Study 1 used scenarios manipulated experimentally; study 2 examined employees’ emotional responses to their leaders in a natural work setting; study 3 compared the effects of elevation to those of happiness, serenity, and positive affect. We found that leaders’ interpersonal fairness and self-sacrifice are powerful elicitors of elevation, and that this emotion fully mediates leaders’ influence on followers’ organizational citizenship behavior and affective organizational commitment. In the first study, we also observed a moderation effect of interpersonal fairness on self-sacrifice. Results underline the importance of positive moral emotions in organizations and shed light on the emotional process by which ethical leaders can foster positive organizational outcomes.     

Elevation predicts domain-specific volunteerism 3 months later

Elevation, the feeling of moral uplift when viewing the virtuous action of another, has been shown to be a distinct moral emotion [Algoe, S.B., & Haidt, J. (2009). Witnessing excellence in action: The ‘other-praising’ emotions of elevation, gratitude, and admiration. Journal of Positive Psychology, 4, 105–127]. Prosocial behaviors have been theorized to be one of the behavioral effects of elevation, but this behavioral connection has not been strongly established. This study followed college students in a naturalistic setting known to induce elevation, a spring break service trip. Self-reports of elevation during service trip were collected from participants at the conclusion of the trip. At 1 week and 3 months later, participants reported on trip-related and general volunteerism. Self-reports of elevation during the trip predicted trip-specific volunteerism at 1 week and 3 months, but did not relate to general volunteerism at either time. This predictive connection was maintained even when pre-trip volunteerism, trait empathy, and the dispositions of Extraversion, Openness to Experience, and Agreeableness were controlled for. These results suggest that the experience of elevation motivated participants to volunteer in the domain in which they felt elevation. This finding supports the hypothesis that prosocial responses are a behavioral effect of elevation, but further refines this hypothesis by suggesting that the prosocial response occurs in a domain linked to the context in which elevation was experienced.     

An inferential investigation into how stride length influences temporal parameters within the baseball pitching delivery

Motion analyses of lower body mechanics offer new schemas to address injury prevention strategies among baseball pitchers, where the influence of stride length remains unknown. This study examined the temporal effect of stride length at constituent pitching events and phases. Nineteen competitive pitchers (15 collegiate, 4 high school) were randomly assigned to pitch two simulated, 80-pitch games at ±25% of their desired stride length. An integrated, three-dimensional motion capture system recorded each pitch. Paired t-tests were used to determine whether differences between stride conditions at respective events and within phases were significantly different. The results demonstrate the shorter strides mediated earlier onset of stride foot contact, reduced time in single support whereas double support intervals increased (p < .001). The opposite was observed with the longer strides. However, the acceleration phase, which comprises the highest throwing arm kinematics and kinetics, remained unchanged. The interaction between stride length, stride foot contact onsets, and time in single support is inferentially evidenced. The equivalent acceleration phases suggest stride length alone influenced time in single and double support by altering the onset of stride foot contact, which perhaps affects the mechanics in preparing the throwing arm for maximal external shoulder rotation.     

A comparison of parental attention and preferred items during tummy time: A consecutive controlled case series evaluation

Tummy time is an activity for infants to practice their early motor skills. Although most pediatricians recommend tummy time, parents may avoid the procedures due to indices of infant discomfort during this period. This consecutive controlled case series evaluation compared the effects of preferred items selected from a preference assessment with those of parental attention on head evaluation and negative vocalizations during tummy time. In addition, we directly evaluated parental choice by inviting parents to select which tummy time treatment they wanted to implement. We found that both preferred items and parental attention effectively increased head elevation and decreased negative vocalizations during tummy time; however, parents tended to prefer the treatment that included the preferred item.     

Is moral elevation an approach-oriented emotion?

Two studies were designed to test whether moral elevation should be conceptualized as an approach-oriented emotion. The studies examined the relationship between moral elevation and the behavioral activation and inhibition systems. Study 1 (N = 80) showed that individual differences in moral elevation were associated with individual differences in behavioral activation but not inhibition. Study 2 (N = 78) showed that an elevation-inducing video promoted equally high levels of approach orientation as an anger-inducing video and significantly higher levels of approach orientation than a control video. Furthermore, the elevation-inducing stimulus (vs. the control condition) significantly promoted prosocial motivation and this effect was sequentially mediated by feelings of moral elevation followed by an approach-oriented state. Overall the results show unambiguous support for the proposal that moral elevation is an approach-oriented emotion. Applied and theoretical implications are discussed.