On Polarizing Outranking Relations with Large Performance Differences

We introduce a bipolarly extended veto principle—a positive, as well as negative, large performance differences polarization—which allows us to extend the definition of the classical outranking relation in such a way that the identity between its asymmetric part and its codual relation is preserved. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development and initial validation of the job loss grief scale

Background: Research on complicated grief (CG) symptoms following job loss is surprisingly rare. Involuntary job loss can turn someone’s world upside down and can result in loss of identity, social contacts, and self-worth. In this study, we drew on the literature on major life events in conceptualizing involuntary job loss as a significant and potentially devastating life event.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate an instrument that measures job loss-related CG symptoms, the Job Loss Grief Scale (JLGS). The purpose of the JLGS is to foster systematic research on CG symptoms following job loss.

Design: A cross-sectional study

Methods: We recruited Dutch workers who had lost their job, 130 men and 158 women with an average age of 49.6 years. To examine the psychometric properties of the JLGS and its associations with other concepts we conducted correlational and confirmatory factor analyses.

Results: CFA revealed that the JLGS was a one-dimensional instrument, and that CG symptoms were distinguishable from depression and anxiety symptoms.

Conclusion: The JLGS is a reliable and valid instrument to measure job loss-related CG symptoms. The availability of the JLGS could stimulate systematic research on the antecedents and consequences of involuntary job loss.     

Are our samples representative? Understanding whether temperament influences infant dropout rates at 3 and 7 months

In this study, we examined whether infant temperament predicted study dropout at 3.5 and 7 months and whether dropout was stable across time. Dropout was measured across four experimental tasks (free-play, ERP, still-face, and eye tracking). Temperament was not related to dropout at either timepoint. Dropout was not stable across time, nor was it stable across tasks. These findings suggest that individual differences in temperament are not systematically related to study completion across experimental tasks with varied requirements. These findings additionally suggest that dropout is not consistent across tasks, which may support the utility of multi-study data collection methods.     

Comparing graphic and symbolic classification in interactive multiobjective optimization

In interactive multiobjective optimization systems, the classification of objective functions is a convenient way to direct the solution process in order to search for new, more satisfactory, solutions in the set of Pareto optimal solutions. Classification means that the decision maker assigns the objective functions into classes depending on what kind of changes in their values (in relation to the current values) are desirable. Here we study the role of user interfaces in implementing classification in multiobjective optimization software and how classification should be realized. In this way, we want to pay attention to the usability of multiobjective optimization software. Typically, this topic has not been of interest in the multiobjective optimization literature. However, usability aspect is important because in interactive classification‐based multiobjective optimization methods, the classification is the core of the solution process. We can say that the more convenient the classification is, the more efficient the system or the method is and the better it supports the work of the decision maker. We report experiments with two classification options, graphic and symbolic ones, which are used in connection with an interactive multiobjective optimization system WWW‐NIMBUS. The ideas and conclusions given are applicable for other interactive classification‐based method, as well. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The roles of autonomous motivation and self-control lapses in concurrent adherence to a gluten-free diet and a self-chosen weight loss plan in adults with coeliac disease

Objective: Examine the correspondence between autonomous motivation, self-control lapses, and adherence, to a gluten-free diet (GFD) and weight loss plan in adults with coeliac disease; and assess the impact of the interaction of motivation style and self-control lapses on adherence to both diets.

Design: Cross-sectional survey in 519 adults with coeliac disease, 238 of whom were also attempting weight loss.

Main outcome measures: Adherence, motivation style, frequency of temptation and self-control lapses (e.g. when tired, stressed, happy) for GFD and weight loss plan.

Results: Autonomous motivation was higher, and amotivation lower, for the GFD than weight loss; adherence to the two diets was unrelated. Similar circumstances led to temptation and self-control lapses across diets; both were less frequent for the GFD than weight loss. Motivation and self-control lapses explained 21% and 35% of the variance in adherence, respectively; the interaction between motivation and lapse frequency did not explain additional variance for either diet.

Conclusions: There are clear benefits to developing autonomous motivations and strategies to resist temptation for both the GFD and weight loss. Understanding how these processes differ and interact across diets may lead to the design of interventions to improve adherence and weight outcomes in coeliac disease.     

A scoping review on the extent and nature of anxiety-related research within the research domain criteria (RDoC) framework: Limited coverage using non-disorder-specific search terms

The need for research on modifiable risk factors in anxiety has been highlighted in previous reviews synthesizing literature on the etiology and maintenance of anxiety. The Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) provides a useful framework to lead this body of work. A scoping review was conducted to examine the extent and nature of research evidence on each RDoC domain as they have been investigated in anxiety via relevant correlates, with the end goal of informing future research priorities. The coverage of this review was limited to search terms bound within non-disorder-specific anxious pathology. The adopted selection criteria resulted in 170 cases (across 94 studies) where RDoC-relevant correlates of anxiety were studied. Results highlight disparate research focus across domains (limited research on processes within the Positive Valence Systems, Systems for Social Processes, and Arousal/Regulatory Systems), inconsistent findings within domains (Cognitive Systems), and a lack of research on cross-domain interactions.     

LOSS OF SELF AS ETHICAL LIMIT

This Comment argues that Stephen Bush's critique of Georges Bataille's meditative practice fails to recognize how the disruption of the self, and the challenge to goal‐oriented activity that comprise the heart of that practice, serve as an ethical limit that protects against sadistic and violent engagement with the world. The ethical disposition fostered by Bataille's practice is a dissolution of the self.