Food preferences before and during treatment for a pediatric feeding disorder

Little is known about the food preferences of children with a feeding disorder and medical diagnoses. Therefore, we conducted repeated paired-stimulus-preference assessments with foods to which we either exposed or did not expose 3 children with a feeding disorder and medical diagnoses during clinical treatment. Responding was relatively equivalent for exposure and nonexposure foods throughout the preference assessments, suggesting that preferences for foods did not change due to exposure during treatment.     

To each his own well-being boosting intervention: using preference to guide selection

This study investigates whether using a selection method based on participant preference increased preference, adherence, or efficacy compared to an unmatched group. Undergraduate students (N?=?127) participated in the study over a 4-week period. All participants randomly received, completed, and rated their preference for an initial positive psychology exercise. These data were used to select a second activity: participants in the matched group received a second exercise based on a previously defined matching rule, whereas a comparison group received a second exercise selected randomly from the set of unmatched exercises. Individuals preferred the matched exercise more significantly and although not statistically significant, reported slightly larger boosts in well-being than those who received an unmatched exercise. No significant differences were found between the groups for exercise adherence. Future efforts to construct treatment packages should follow this model of combining individually validated components using empirical data.     

The other side of the coin: Vocational interests,interest differentiation and annual income at the occupation level of analysis

This research examined the effects of vocational interest levels and differentiation on annual income. Following the environmental perspective, we investigated whether relationships existed at the occupation level of analysis. Using data from 665 occupations in the U.S. obtained from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and O*Net, we demonstrated that certain vocational interests – namely investigative, enterprising, and realistic interests – were most critical in predicting annual income for occupations. Controlling for interest levels, differentiation not only positively predicted annual income but also moderated each interest's relationship with income. In addition, occupations' education and training requirement partially mediated the effects of interest profiles on income. Our findings reveal the need for a better understanding of how characteristics of an occupation's interest profile may shape the experiences of its workers.     

Gender‐role egalitarianism predicts desirable traits of potential marriage partners: A cross‐cultural comparison

We examined whether gender‐role egalitarianism predicted participants' rank‐order preferences for traits in potential marriage partners of the opposite sex, and whether gender‐role egalitarianism mediated cultural differences between participants from North America, Polynesia and East Asia. Participants completed the Sex‐Role Egalitarianism Scale and ranked the following traits in terms of their importance in choosing a potential marriage partner: kindness, physical attractiveness, social level, athleticism, creativity and liveliness. Parallel analyses for male and female participants reveal that traditional males value physical attractiveness more than egalitarian males, and that traditional females value social level more and kindness less than egalitarian females. Gender‐role egalitarianism fully mediated the effect of culture on kindness rankings, but no others. These results expand upon previous findings by accounting for individual differences regarding beliefs about traditional gender roles.     

Do assortative preferences contribute to assortative mating for adiposity?

Assortative mating for adiposity, whereby levels of adiposity in romantic partners tend to be positively correlated, has implications for population health due to the combined effects of partners' levels of adiposity on fertility and/or offspring health. Although assortative preferences for cues of adiposity, whereby leaner people are inherently more attracted to leaner individuals, have been proposed as a factor in assortative mating for adiposity, there have been no direct tests of this issue. Because of this, and because of recent work suggesting that facial cues of adiposity convey information about others' health that may be particularly important for mate preferences, we tested the contribution of assortative preferences for facial cues of adiposity to assortative mating for adiposity (assessed from body mass index, BMI) in a sample of romantic couples. Romantic partners' BMIs were positively correlated and this correlation was not due to the effects of age or relationship duration. However, although men and women with leaner partners showed stronger preferences for cues of low levels of adiposity, controlling for these preferences did not weaken the correlation between partners' BMIs. Indeed, own BMI and preferences were uncorrelated. These results suggest that assortative preferences for facial cues of adiposity contribute little (if at all) to assortative mating for adiposity.     

Moving Onwards: An Action Continuation Strategy in Finding the Way

In four studies, we examined people's strategies when deciding between multiple routes of equivalent length in way‐finding tasks. The results reveal the important role of continuing behavior when faced with a choice from multiple viable routes. After affirming the existence of asymmetric preferences for alternatives (Studies 1 and 2), we observed that variations of simple known‐environment mazes supported action continuation as prevailing process over alternative strategies such as preference for long initial path segments, paths with a least deviating angle, and a modified hill climbing strategy (Study 3). Moreover, asymmetric preferences disappeared with the absence of initial behavior to inform subsequent decision making (Study 4). Results are discussed within the context of decision making, navigation strategies, and everyday life path finding. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Adaptive preferences: merging political accounts and well-being accounts

Accounts of adaptive preferences are of two kinds: well-being accounts fully theorized for their own sake and political accounts theorized to facilitate the political project of reducing oppression and marginalization. Given their practical role, the latter are often less fully theorized, and are therefore less robust to theoretical criticism. In this paper, I first draw on well-being accounts to identify the well-theorized elements that political accounts should want to adopt in order to strengthen their project and avoid common criticisms. Second, I appeal to the political project to show the shortcomings of the well-being accounts on which I draw.     

The Influence of Physical Elevation in Buildings on Risk Preferences: Evidence from a Pilot and Four Field Studies

Little empirical research has been reported on the role of spatial positioning inside buildings on consumer behavior. Based on embodied cognition literature, we propose that elevation from street level influences risk preferences. In a pilot study and four field studies involving financial decisions with both hypothetical and real payoffs, we find evidence that high physical elevation increases risk‐seeking tendencies. Furthermore, we demonstrate that elevation leads to riskier behavior by increasing sensitivity to power. Finally, we establish a boundary condition for the impact of elevation on risk preferences by demonstrating that the effect attenuates when accessibility of physical elevation is low. These findings show that a subtle environmental parameter—physical elevation from street level—can influence human psychological states and consequently affect decisions.     

Patient preferences for medicine administration for acute agitation: results from an internet-based survey of patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia in two Nordic countries

The objective was to elicit patient preferences for medicine administration method in the management of acute agitation episodes among patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. The patients’ experiences of acute agitation episodes and their management of episodes were also explored. Data were collected via an anonymous, internet-based survey of residents in Denmark or Sweden with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder (October 2014 to December 2014). Inclusion criteria were having a diagnosis of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, and being above 18 years of age. The questionnaire included questions about preferences for medication attributes, experiences with pharmacological treatment for agitation and involvement in treatment plans. A total of 237 diagnosed patients (61 with schizophrenia; 176 with bipolar disorder) completed the questionnaire. Agitation episodes were experienced by 90% of the respondents. In total, 83% of the respondents reported having received treatment with tablets. When patients were presented with the attributes of an inhalation method, respondents stated that the fast onset of action, low risk of adverse reactions and least invasive form of drug delivery were positive attributes of treatment with inhalation. Inhalation is a new delivery route for treatment of acute agitation in patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Inhalation is the preferred treatment method for acute agitation among Danish and Swedish patients with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.     

风险偏好可以代际传递吗?——来自多学科的证据与元理论思考

心理学、行为与实验经济学、经济社会学等多学科研究逐渐证实了风险偏好的内生性、异质性以及社会性。在探讨经济地位、态度、决策行为等代际传递时,上述学科高度关注和利用风险偏好的上述属性,证实了风险偏好代际传递的有限存在。从风险偏好代际传递的内涵、外延、机制和内容等方面看,风险偏好的研究表现出从横向维度到纵向维度、从因变量到自变量的转向,同时风险偏好代际传递的具体机制和内容也取得了一些重要研究成果。但在研究数量、研究框架、研究方法与内容等方面,风险偏好代际传递还存在一定局限,有待后续研究充实完善。