The magic of collective emotional intelligence in learning groups: No guys needed for the spell!

Using a cross‐lagged design, the present study tests an integrative model of emergent collective emotions in learning groups. Our results indicate that the percentage of women in the group fosters the emergence of collective emotional intelligence, which in turn stimulates social integration within groups (increases group cohesion and reduces relationship conflict) and the associated affective similarity, with beneficial effects for group effectiveness.     

Relationships Between Physical Symptoms,Emotional Distress,and Pain Appraisal in Fibromyalgia: The Moderator Effect of Alexithymia

Alexithymia is a personality construct that is frequently identified in fibromyalgia (FM). Previous studies have explored the relationship between alexithymia and emotional distress in this disease. Yet, the additional link with factors of pain appraisal is unknown. This study examined the moderating effect of alexithymia in the relationship between emotional distress and pain appraisal in 97 FM women. A control group of 100 healthy women also participated in the study. All participants completed several self-reports about pain experience, sleep quality, impairment, emotional distress, pain appraisal, and alexithymia. FM women showed significantly more difficulty in identifying and describing feelings, but less externally oriented thinking than healthy women. In the clinical group, difficulty in identifying feelings and difficulty in describing feelings significantly correlated with lower sleep quality, higher anxiety and depression, and increased pain catastrophizing and fear of pain. Difficulty in describing feelings significantly correlated with higher pain experience and vigilance to pain. Externally oriented thinking was not correlated with any of the clinical variables. Difficulty in identifying feelings moderated the relationship between anxiety and pain catastrophizing, and difficulty in describing feelings moderated the relationship between anxiety and fear of pain. Implications of the findings for the optimization of care of FM patients are discussed.     

Why Seemingly Trivial Events Sometimes Evoke Strong Emotional Reactions: The Role of Social Exchange Rule Violations

People sometimes display strong emotional reactions to events that appear disproportionate to the tangible magnitude of the event. Although previous work has addressed the role that perceived disrespect and unfairness have on such reactions, this study examined the role of perceived social exchange rule violations more broadly. Participants (N = 179) rated the effects of another person’s behavior on important personal outcomes, the degree to which the other person had violated fundamental rules of social exchange, and their reactions to the event. Results showed that perceptions of social exchange rule violations accounted for more variance in participants’ reactions than the tangible consequences of the event. The findings support the hypothesis that responses that appear disproportionate to the seriousness of the eliciting event are often fueled by perceived rule violations that may not be obvious to others.     

An Examination of a New Psychometric Method for Optimizing Multi‐Faceted Assessment Instruments in the Context of Trait Emotional Intelligence

Driven by the challenge of representing and measuring psychological attributes, this article outlines a psychometric method aimed at identifying problem facets. The method, which integrates theoretical and empirical steps, is applied in the context of the construct of trait emotional intelligence (trait EI), using data from six different samples (N = 1284) collected across Europe. Alternative representations of the trait EI variance, derived from the outcome variables used in previous validation studies of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire, were regressed on the 15 trait EI facets using the stepwise method. The analyses revealed five facets, which did not occupy unique construct variance in any of the six samples. As expected, a composite of the remaining 10 facets consistently showed greater construct validity than the original 15‐facet composite. Implications for construct and scale development are discussed, and directions for further validation of the method and for its application to other constructs are provided. © 2014 The Authors. European Journal of Personality published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Association of Personality Psychology.     

Individual Differences in Emotional Mimicry: Underlying Traits and Social Consequences

Mimicry, the imitation of the nonverbal behaviour of others, serves to establish affiliation and to smoothen social interactions. The present research aimed to disentangle rapid facial reactions (RFRs) to affiliative emotions from RFRs to nonaffiliative emotions from a trait perspective. In line with the Mimicry in Social Context Model by Hess and Fischer, we expected that only the former are mimicry responses indicative of underlying social relating competence and predictive of social satisfaction, whereas the latter superficially resemble mimicry responses and are driven by social relating incompetence and have opposite effects on social satisfaction. Further, we assumed that social relating competence would moderate the relationship between stable individuals' tendencies to show (mal)adaptive RFRs and social satisfaction. To test these hypotheses, 108 participants first completed scales measuring social relating competence, then participated in a mimicry laboratory task and finally evaluated their naturally occurring social interactions for 10 days. Affiliative RFRs to sadness were related to proximal indices of social relating competence and predicted positive social interactions, whereas nonaffiliative RFRs to disgust were related to social relating incompetence and predicted negative social interactions. By contrast, neither affiliative RFRs to happiness nor nonaffiliative RFRs to anger were linked to proximal indices of social relating competence, and both RFRs were only (dys)functional for interaction quality in less social relating‐competent individuals. Copyright © 2015 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Intercorrelations and developmental pathways of mothers' and fathers' loneliness during pregnancy,infancy and toddlerhood – STEPS study

Our aim was to study the inter‐correlations and developmental pathways of mothers' and fathers' social and emotional loneliness during pregnancy (20th pregnancy week), infancy (child aged 8 months), and early childhood (child aged 18 months). Moreover, we aimed to study whether mothers and fathers who have different developmental profiles (identified by latent growth curve mixture models) differ in their experiences of marital dissatisfaction (RDAS), social phobia (SPIN) and depression (BDI) during pregnancy. Both mothers' social and emotional loneliness and fathers' social and emotional loneliness were highly stable, and within individuals these loneliness factors were strongly correlated. However, the correlations between mothers' loneliness experiences and fathers' loneliness experiences were weaker than expected. Separate latent growth curve groups were identified, which differed in feelings of marital dissatisfaction, social phobia, and depression. These groupings revealed that the higher the loneliness was, the more the parents experience these other psychosocial problems.     

How Transitional Justice Processes and Official Apologies Influence Reconciliation: The Case of the Chilean ‘Truth and Reconciliation’ and ‘Political Imprisonment and Torture’ Commissions

Perceptions of the ‘Truth and Reconciliation’ and ‘Political Imprisonment and Torture’ commissions and related beliefs, emotions and socio‐emotional climate were analysed in people affected and unaffected by past political violence in Chile (N = 1278). People directly affected regard institutional apologies as less sincere and effective, and they were more critical of the commissions. Those who have a positive appraisal of the commissions, compared with people who disagree with the commissions activities, are less prone to forget past collective violence; report higher levels of negative emotions, such as shame, and positive ones, such as pride and hope, about the collective past; and consider that the commissions contributed to knowing the truth about what happened to victims and helped bring human rights violators to justice. Those appraising the commissions in a positive fashion also perceive a more positive emotional climate and inter‐group trust, have more confidence in institutions and report more universalistic values. A multiple‐regression analysis suggests that commissions play a relatively successful role as transitional justice rituals, reinforcing reconciliation. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

大学生情绪智力和班级人际网络对适应性的影响机制:多层中介效应模型

以国内7所大学、20个教学班、646名学生为研究样本,采用问卷调查法和社会网络分析法收集数据。运用1-1-1中介效应模型分析大学生情绪智力、班级人际网络和适应性之间的关系。结果显示:(1)大学生适应性与情绪智力、班级人际网络的点度中心度呈显著正相关,情绪智力可正向预测大学生适应性,情绪智力可正向预测大学生在班级人际网络的点度中心度;(2)1-1-1中介效应模型分析结果显示班级人际网络的点度中心度在情绪智力与适应性关系中起部分中介作用。     

Help-Seeking Behaviors in Non-Offending Caregivers of Abused Children in the Philippines

The help-seeking process among non-offending caregivers (NOCs) of abused children particularly in the non-Western context has yet to be elucidated. The objective of the current study was to investigate what proportion of Filipino NOCs of abused children sought professional support services within 12 months following child abuse disclosure (T1) and at 12 months (T2) follow-up in the Philippines. Two further aims were to investigate NOCs’ preferred service providers and settings and to explore barriers to help-seeking. A comparison group of Filipino parents without an abused child were also recruited to compare preferences and potential barriers to help seeking for child and family problems. A total of 47 NOCs and 70 comparison parents/guardians completed questionnaires, which assessed help-seeking preferences and barriers as well as parental stress. The majority of NOCs reported seeking help, which was perceived to be helpful. Almost two thirds of NOCs indicated preference for in-person counseling relative to the comparison group of parents. The majority of NOCs preferred seeking help from social workers and psychologists. Almost one third of both parental samples reported being judged as an unfit parent as a key barrier to seeking help for family problems. The findings have implications for psychological and allied health service providers in facilitating the adjustment for families of recently abused children.     

Prevalence and Predictors of Psychological Violence Against Male Victims in Intimate Relationships in Canada

Psychological violence involves expressive violence (i.e., the use of words to humiliate or psychologically harm a partner) and coercive violence (i.e., controlling behavior directed to dominate and manipulate a partner). From studies that collect data on both physical and psychological violence, it is apparent that psychological violence is the most prevalent form of intimate partner violence (IPV). However, psychological violence is one of the dimensions of IPV that has received relatively less attention. Furthermore, very little is known about the state of female-to-male psychological violence, as most studies on the subject have focused on female victims. This study seeks to understand recent trends and prevalence of psychological violence in male-to-female and female-to-male relationships in Canada. Using the 2014 General Social Survey (Victimization) data, the risk factors of female-to-male psychological violence were analyzed. The findings of the analysis revealed that there are significant differences in the prevalence of psychological violence among victims when gender is taken into consideration. The study also revealed that childhood victimization, childhood exposure to domestic violence, marijuana use, and educational attainment are predictors of female-to-male psychological violence. The study highlights the need for more studies to be conducted to attain a better understanding of the nature and context of psychological violence in heterosexual relationships.