理想情感及其影响的跨文化差异

理想情感是人们期望获得的情感状态。情感评估理论认为文化对理想情感的塑造有着重要影响,主要的影响途径有文化体验、文化价值观和社会文化变化。理想情感对个体会产生具有文化特异性的影响,主要会影响个体的偏好及选择行为、混合情绪体验、身心健康和社会认知决策。理想情感研究未来发展可以着眼于4个方向:使用纵向视角研究理想情感,进一步探索理想情感的前因变量,打造适合中国文化的心理健康标准和通过认识理想情感来消除文化隔阂。     

动机的结构与效应：基于动机连续体的视角

动机连续体是对内部动机、外部动机进行整合的心理学概念,其对内部动机和外部动机的争论提出了不同的假设。从大理论(grand theory)视角出发,对涉及上述两个概念的理论进行梳理,将自我决定理论与其他相关理论进行整合。由此展开对内部动机、外部动机结构的讨论,总结了动机的单维结构、多维结构和复杂结构假设下的理论新进展,分别论述在拮抗效应、累加效应和其他复杂效应等假设下动机对结果变量的影响,并展开不同效应对实践应用的讨论。     

钦佩感：一种见贤思齐的积极情绪

钦佩感是对优秀他人或榜样的一种高度喜欢和尊敬, 是看到他人的优秀行为或品质时所产生的一种积极情绪, 其典型成分是欣赏和鼓舞。他人的优秀能力、美德、积极态度、自我提升动机、相似的价值观等因素影响钦佩感的产生。美德钦佩感会导致后叶催产素分泌, 和能力钦佩感分别激发不同但又相互重叠的脑区。钦佩感具有激励作用, 提高自我效能感和结果期望并影响其职业意向, 激发个体的亲社会动机与行为。拓展钦佩感的概念与成分、辨析与崇拜的相似与不同、开展钦佩感的应用研究以及跨文化或本土化研究等是该领域未来重要的研究方向。     

自尊与人际互动：理论、研究与问题

基于自我确认理论开展的大量研究,有助于理解自尊对人际互动行为的调节作用。然而,研究者对自尊的测量工具不尽相同,筛选实验被试的标准也不尽一致,实验范式忽略了对实际人际互动情境的操纵,单纯采用人际选择反应作为测量自我确认的指标,因而难以形成具有整合性的理论模型。今后的研究有必要在编制合适的测量工具的基础上,将整体自尊与特殊自尊作为两个独立的变量置于整合性实验范式下开展研究,同时采用对人际评价信息的认知判断和对评价者的交往选择的双维指标,以全面揭示整体自尊与特殊自尊对自我确认过程的相对作用及其心理机制。     

Belief and Survival

Our ability to survive in a world beset by looming global perils depends ultimately on our collective will to harness our intellects and change our behaviors. In order to respond appropriately, people must first believe that serious problems exist, that there are potential solutions, and that they have a role to play in finding and implementing them. Without such beliefs, individual change is unlikely. In order to promote belief change, it is important to understand how beliefs are learned, what their functions are, and why they are so often resistant to change. These issues are discussed in this article, along with the role that social dilemmas play in inhibiting individually prosocial behavior.     

Infants’ behavioral styles in joint attention situations and parents’ socio-economic status

In this study the eco-cultural model of parenting (Keller, H. (2007). Cultures of infancy. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum) was applied to the study of joint attention behavior of children from families with different socio-economic status (SES). It was hypothesized that infants’ early communication styles would differ with SES reflecting more independent or interdependent interactions with their caregivers. It was also hypothesized that infants would use the same types of behaviors whether they have declarative or imperative communication goals. The Early Social Communication Scales (ESCS, Mundy et al., 2003) was administered to 103 typically developing infants of 12 months (approximately half of them siblings of children with autism). A factor analysis, yielding four behavioral factors, namely pointing, eye contact, actions and following points, confirmed the hypothesis that infants use behaviors consistently across situations independent of their communicative intent. MANOVAs (comprising parental education and income) revealed that higher SES infants showed actions more frequently in the ESCS whereas lower SES infants followed experimenter's points more frequently. The results are discussed in the context of presumably differing socialization goals for infants and the divergent contribution of parental education and income that seem to have additive contribution to some factors (actions, following points) but divergent contributions to others (pointing, eye contact).     

A note on computing Louis’ observed information matrix identity for IRT and cognitive diagnostic models

Using Louis’ formula, it is possible to obtain the observed information matrix and the corresponding large-sample standard error estimates after the expectation–maximization (EM) algorithm has converged. However, Louis’ formula is commonly de-emphasized due to its relatively complex integration representation, particularly when studying latent variable models. This paper provides a holistic overview that demonstrates how Louis’ formula can be applied efficiently to item response theory (IRT) models and other popular latent variable models, such as cognitive diagnostic models (CDMs). After presenting the algebraic components required for Louis’ formula, two real data analyses, with accompanying numerical illustrations, are presented. Next, a Monte Carlo simulation is presented to compare the computational efficiency of Louis’ formula with previously existing methods. Results from these presentations suggest that Louis’ formula should be adopted as a standard method when computing the observed information matrix for IRT models and CDMs fitted with the EM algorithm due to its computational efficiency and flexibility.     

I can see myself helping: The effect of self-awareness on prosocial behaviour

Many studies indicate that increasing self-awareness leads to individuals reflecting on their values and ideals (Silvia & Duval, 2001). This self-reflection appears to increase prosocial behaviour (Berkowitz, 1987). However, previously studies typically manipulated self-awareness in situations in which the individual may have felt pressure from the researcher to help. Thus, experimenter pressure to behave prosocially confounds the self-awareness explanation provided in past research. We used a novel experimental paradigm to manipulate self-awareness and remove the researcher's presence to decrease the likelihood that the participant would conform to experimenter demand. Participants were 36 college students (M_age = 19.52; 25 women). The results indicated a strong probability that the experimental condition participants were more prosocial than control condition participants. These findings provide additional support for the hypothesis that self-reflection increases prosocial behaviour, even without experimenter demands. These findings and the importance of studying objective self-awareness in light of the coronavirus are discussed.     

The effects of exposure to political and domestic violence on preschool children and their mothers

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of exposure to political violence on preschool children and their mothers. We explored whether these dyads are different from dyads with no known history of exposure to violence and from mother–child dyads with known exposure to domestic violence. Specifically, we explored differences in mothers' psychological status (depression and anxiety), dyadic emotional availability (EA), children's social information processing, and children's social behaviour, in a sample of 216 dyads divided into three groups (exposure to political violence, no exposure to violence, and exposure to domestic violence). We found evidence to support our hypotheses that children exposed to domestic violence exhibit the highest levels of social maladjustment with smaller but still significant differences between children exposed to political violence and children in the comparison group. As expected, the lowest EA scores were found in the exposure to domestic violence group, followed by dyads in the exposure to political violence group. Dyads belonging to the comparison group (no exposure) exhibited the highest levels of EA. These findings contribute to our understanding of the meaning of exposure to political violence, as well as sharpen the difference between exposure to political and domestic violence.     

Fostering Well‐being through Social Support: The Role of Evangelical Communities in the Lives of Dominican Women of Haitian Descent

Women of Haitian descent living in the Dominican Republic experience oppression due to their gender, ethnicity, and economic status. They also exhibit high rates of participation in evangelical Christian communities, a paradoxical finding given the restricted roles women have traditionally played in these settings. The goals of this study were to explore the perceived benefits of participation in evangelical communities and the setting characteristics that lead to these benefits. The research team interviewed 19 current and former church participants aged 18–59. Thematic analysis revealed three perceived benefits of congregational life. Participants viewed their participation as: (a) an opportunity for personal growth and development; (b) protective against negative social influences; and (c) providing social support in the face of life challenges. In addition, dependable, expected, and reciprocal relational support was a key characteristic of evangelical communities. Findings extend the current understanding of how religious communities enhance well‐being for marginalized women through social support networks. Findings also explore the dialectical nature of settings as both empowering and disempowering. Implications for future interventions are discussed.