Happy today, happy tomorrow: The (non-)effect of temporal distance on judgments of Life Satisfaction

Construal Level Theory (CLT; Trope &; Liberman, 2003) posits that everyday life predictions, evaluations, and choices are influenced by how near or distant in time the event is. However, judgments of Life Satisfaction (LS) are relatively weakly influenced by situational factors and relatively strongly influenced by personality factors. Moreover, the constructive episodic simulation hypothesis ( [Schacter and Addis, 2007] and [Schacter and Addis, 2007] ) implies that memory of past events provides details for simulations of future novel experiences. Undergraduate students (N = 127) were randomly asked for how desirable LS was and for actual judgements of LS in the near- or distant-future. The results show that LS was more desirable in the distant-future. Thus, indicating that LS is abstractly assessed and judgments of LS should therefore be influenced by temporal distance as predicted by CLT. However, no significant differences in actual LS were found between conditions. Implications for theory development are discussed.     

Foot-in-the-door and action identification. Binding communication applied to environmental conservation

IntroductionGrowing concern for the environment gives rise to the development of projects aimed at changing attitudes and/or behaviors of individuals in a more ecological way. While the traditional levers of change (information/persuasion) have clear limitations (Perloff, 2003), the promising results of Binding Communication (Joule et al., 2004) present a relevant alternative.ObjectiveOur research, based on the Binding Communication paradigm, aimed to encourage participation in a project to reduce energy consumption and CO₂ emission. The underlying theoretical aim was to identify the impact of action identification (Vallacher and Wegner, 1985) on individual behavior. A variable that commitment theorists (Girandola, 2003, Joule and Beauvois, 1998, Joule et al., 2004) consider as decisive in the paradigm effect although it has not yet been empirically studied.MethodOne hundred and twenty-three households in Brittany, France received a letter inviting them to participate in the presented project. According to three experimental conditions, some households had already received a phone call in order to answer a questionnaire about the environment (8–10 days earlier), wording in reference to two distinct identification levels.ResultsStatistical analyses showed a positive effect of procedure on intention to participate when the wording of the initial questionnaire referred to a high and adequate level of identification.ConclusionDiscussed in the context of commitment (Joule and Beauvois, 1998, Joule and Beauvois, 2002, Kiesler, 1971), self-perception (Bem, 1972) and action identification (Vallacher and Wegner, 1985); the results provide the first empirical validation of the effect of action identification on Binding Communication.     

Satisfaction et confort au travail. L’apport de la démarche implicative

A large body of research has investigated the psycho-organizational variables predicting satisfaction at work, but few studies have so far examined variables in the field of environmental psychology. Our study aims first to identify the impact of variables evaluating comfort at work (satisfaction with the work environment, attachment to the workplace) by comparing them with organizational variables known to be related to job satisfaction, and then to rank the relationships between these variables in a pseudo- implication sequence, based on statistical implicative analysis. The study involved 105 bank employees and confirms our theoretical model, showing that job satisfaction can be explained implicatively by the three other variables [(Comfort/Functionality => Control/privacy) => Workplace attachment] => job satisfaction.     

How professional pilots perceive interactions of working conditions,rosters, stress,sleep problems,fatigue and mental health. A qualitative content analysis

IntroductionSo far, no qualitative content analysis (QCA) has analysed pilots’ experiences and perceptions regarding weaknesses of fatigue risk management (FRM), flight time limitations (FTL), rosters, fatigue-severity, sleep problems, and how they relate to pilots’ mental health and well-being.ObjectiveThis research analyses pilots’ described perceptions of stress, fatigue, aviation safety and how regulations like FTL can affect their health and well-being.MethodIn total, 119 international pilots described their perceptions of FTL, rosters, aviation safety, and how they relate to fatigue and health. The QCA was conducted to analyse interactions of working conditions, stressors, fatigue, sleep problems and mental health of EASA-based and Australian pilots.ResultsAlthough pilots were rostered for only 60.8% to 62.5% of the legally allowed duty and flight hours/month, 78.6% reported severe or very high fatigue, 22.8% significant depression, 12.3% significant anxiety symptoms, 10.5% reported significant depression and anxiety symptoms. Pilots uttered severe concerns about FTL, sleep restrictions associated with early starts, minimum rest, etc. Pilots also expressed distinct fears regarding more fatigue-related crashes, and how adverse working conditions, work-related and psychosocial stress could impair their health.ConclusionsThis QCA provided valuable insights into interactions of working conditions, fatigue, sleep restrictions, physical and mental health. Progressive health impairment due to lack of sleep and accumulated fatigue promote burnout, mental and physical health problems, which not only threaten flight safety, but also sustainability of aviation.     

Le développement de la mémoire de travail : perspectives dans le cadre du modèle de partage temporel des ressources

Working memory has a central role in cognitive development and its capacity is among the best predictors of high-level cognition and school achievement. Within the Time-Based Resource Sharing (TBRS) model, three main factors account for the development of working memory capacity. In this paper, we will review the main empirical evidence sustaining the impact of two of these factors on cognitive development. First, the amount of attention available for cognitive functioning might increase during childhood. Thus, for the same activities, older children would be able to process information faster than younger children. Within working memory span tasks, because the level of activation of memory traces decreases during the processing steps, any reduction of the duration of these steps directly diminishes the time during which the traces decay, and consequently increases the time available for reactivation or refreshing before the next processing step. These two effects jointly induce a stronger activation of the memory traces and a better recall of the to-be-maintained items. Second, because the main hypothesis of the TBRS model is that attention switches to refresh memory traces from processing to maintenance during the processing episodes, the efficiency of the refreshing mechanism should have a direct and strong impact on working memory functioning. An increase in the efficiency of this refreshing during childhood means that older children should take a greater advantage from the short pauses left free between each processing step. The level of activation of the memory traces would be then higher for older than for younger children, resulting in the classically observed increase in span. As a consequence, age-related changes in the efficiency of the refreshing could play a central role in working memory development.     

Effets de la pression temporelle sur les estimations de durées

This study aims at examining the effects of time pressure on adults’ time estimation. Participants had to solve mazes under two conditions of time pressure (with/without). After each maze, they had to estimate the time elapsed since the beginning of maze solving. Results show that under time pressure, participants 1) overestimated the duration of maze solving and 2) were less variable in their time estimation, in comparison to the condition without time pressure. These results are discussed in the framework of temporal information processing model.     

Apprendre à résoudre des problèmes en favorisant la construction d’une représentation alternative chez des élèves scolarisés en éducation prioritaire

In arithmetic problems solving, the representation of the problem spontaneously induced by the content of the statement is not always compatible with the solving strategy. This study evaluates a learning approach designed to lead pupils to build an alternative representation to the one spontaneously induced. In this paper, we evaluate the efficiency of this learning approach with children with learning difficulties enrolled in a priority education network. This learning by semantic recoding is a process based on an analogy between the problems and a comparison of strategies. The results show that after learning, the pupils built alternative representations.     

Personality measured as Murray’s psychological needs and all-cause mortality: 41 years of follow-up of a population-based sample

ObjectiveTo examine the associations between personality traits, measured as Murray’s psychological needs, and mortality over 41 years.MethodWe used a general population sample aged 18–65 (n = 1094) examined in 1970 according to the Cesarec-Marke Personality Schedule (eleven traits) linked to mortality data. Internal associations were examined using factor analysis, and their associations with mortality using Cox proportional hazard regression models.ResultsDuring follow-up, 513 persons died. In men aged 26–45, achievement and affiliation predicted increased mortality: HR = 1.19, 95% CI 1.04–1.36 and HR = 1.16, 95% CI 1.01–1.33 per step on a stanine scale. In men aged 18–25, nurturance was protective: HR = 0.77, 95% CI, 0.64–0.98 per stanine. In women aged 18–25, feelings of guilt increased the risk of mortality, while dominance was protective: HR = 1.38, 95% CI 1.09–1.75, and HR = 0.74, 95% CI 0.55–0.99 per stanine, respectively. In women aged 46–65, exhibition increased the risk of mortality: HR = 1.09, 95% CI, 1.00–1.18 per stanine. There were no significant associations when all age groups were combined.ConclusionsPersonality traits, measured as Murray’s needs, associated with mortality, but the differed according to age at assessment and sex.