Ambiguous comparative judgment: Fuzzy set model and data analysis

Abstract:  This paper proposed two types of fuzzy set models for ambiguous comparative judgments, which did not always hold transitivity and comparability properties. The first type of model was a fuzzy theoretical extension of the additive difference model for preference that was used to explain ambiguous preference strength. The second was a fuzzy logic model for explaining ambiguous preference in which preference strength was bounded, such as a probability measure. In both models, multi-attribute weighting parameters and all attribute values were assumed to be asymmetric fuzzy L-R numbers. For each model, a method of parameter estimation using fuzzy regression analysis was proposed. Numerical examples were also provided for comparison. Finally, the theoretical and practical implications of the proposed models were discussed.     

Beliefs about personality change and continuity

Lay conceptions of personality change and continuity were examined in a sample of 112 undergraduates. Participants rated their personal change over 5 years (past or future), the change they perceived to be normative over 10-year age spans between 15 and 65, their beliefs about whether personality is fixed or malleable (“lay theories”) and their beliefs about the causes of personality change and continuity. Beliefs about normative personality change generally corresponded to research evidence on adult trajectories of the Big Five factors, with some age bias, whereas recalled and anticipated personal change tended to be more positive than these norms. Participants tended to endorse environmental causes more for personality change than for continuity. Lay theories were not consistently associated with these causal beliefs, or with beliefs about personal and normative change.     

Aging stereotypes and active lifestyle: Personal correlates of stereotype internalization and relationships with level of physical activity among older adults

ObjectivesThe goal of this study was to identify the personal correlates (openness to experience and implicit theories of ability) of internalization of aging stereotypes and its relationships with physical activity.DesignCross-sectional survey.MethodOne hundred and ninety-two older adults (78 men and 114 women) from 60 to 93 years (M_age = 73.44, SD = 7.34) completed a series of questionnaires measuring openness to experience, implicit theories of ability, stereotypes about older people and physical activity, attitude toward own aging, physical self-worth, physical activity level, self-rated health and education level.ResultsThe main results showed that (a) openness to experience positively predicted physical activity level through incremental theories, endorsement of aging stereotypes relative to benefits, attitude toward own aging, and physical self-worth; and (b) entity theories negatively predicted physical activity level through endorsement of aging stereotypes relative to risks, attitude toward own aging, and physical self-worth.ConclusionThe present study indicates that openness to experience and implicit theories of ability are correlates of endorsement of aging stereotypes and suggests that endorsement may be an important factor of engagement in physical activity in older adults.     

Coping Styles,Pain Expressiveness,and Implicit Theories of Chronic Pain

Whereas some individuals use active coping strategies and are able to adaptively cope with their pain, others use passive strategies and catastrophic appraisals, which are often associated with increased displays of pain behavior and negative pain-related outcomes. To investigate attribution-based implicit theories as a potential underlying mechanism that might affect coping success, we hypothesized that pain patients with an incremental implicit theory of pain (i.e., view pain as malleable) would have more active coping strategies, lower levels of pain expressiveness, and better pain-related outcomes than those with an entity implicit theory of pain (i.e., view pain as nonmalleable). Patients with chronic back pain undergoing a functional assessment completed a variety of self-report measures and participated in a pain-inducing physiotherapy procedure. The results revealed those with an incremental theory of pain used more active coping strategies, displayed less pain behavior, and reported better pain-related outcomes (e.g., lower levels of depression) than individuals with an entity theory of pain. The findings suggest implicit theories of pain may represent an underlying social-cognitive mechanism linked to important coping, emotional, and expressive reactions to chronic pain. Identifying such a mechanism may provide valuable information for the assessment and treatment of chronic pain.     

与上司“心有灵犀”会让你的工作更出色吗?——追随原型一致性、工作投入与工作绩效

内隐追随作为一种关于追随角色的认知结构,包括追随原型和反原型两种。其中,追随原型表征了个体对追随角色的积极预期。本研究基于角色理论,考察了领导者-追随者的追随原型一致性对工作绩效的影响及工作投入的中介作用。采用跨层次多项式回归和响应面分析技术,对64个工作团队的数据进行分析,发现追随原型能否提升工作绩效主要取决于领导-追随双方的匹配情况。具体而言,(1)领导-追随双方的追随原型越一致,关系绩效越高。但上述结论并不适用于任务绩效。(2)在一致情况下,与"低-低"一致相比,任务绩效和关系绩效在双方追随原型的"高-高"一致时更高。(3)在不一致情况下,与"领导者的追随原型高-追随者的追随原型低"相比,任务绩效和关系绩效在"领导者的追随原型低-追随者的追随原型高"时相对更高。(4)追随原型一致性通过工作投入影响任务绩效和关系绩效。     

Norms of judgement,naturalism, and normativism about content

David Papineau [1999. “Normativity and Judgement.” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 73 (Sup. Vol.): 16–43.] argues that norms of judgement pose no special problem for naturalism, because all such norms of judgement are derived from moral or personal values. Papineau claims that this account of the normativity of judgement presupposes an account of content that places normativity outside the analysis of content, because in his view any accounts of content that place normativity inside the analysis of content cannot explain the normativity of judgement in the derivative way he proposes. Furthermore, he argues that normative accounts of content along those lines are independently problematic. In this paper I aim to respond to both objections, by arguing that normative accounts of content can be seen as naturalist accounts, even if they place normativity inside the analysis of content; and that normative accounts of content are compatible with a derivative account of norms of judgement of the sort Papineau advocates.     

Embodying the sacred and profane: how temporal empires,narratives of salvation,and the prison regime value bodies in the United States

Although analyses of the ‘sacred’ and ‘profane’ tend to remain within the discipline of religious studies, categories of sacrality and profane-ness actively shape and label all bodies in the United States. Combining theories of the sacred and profane with formulations of race, gender and sexuality, I investigate the social de/valuation of specific bodies at the turn of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. During each period, three structural factors influence these categorisations: empires of hegemonic social time, dominant Christian narratives of salvation and the role of prison. A comparative analysis demonstrates both continuity and specificity in producing sacred and profane bodies.