The tell-tale heart: physiological reactivity during resolution of ambiguity in youth anxiety

In the past decade, cognitive biases and physiological arousal have each been proposed as mechanisms through which paediatric anxiety develops and is maintained over time. Preliminary studies have found associations between anxious interpretations of ambiguity, physiological arousal, and avoidance, supporting theories that link cognition, psychophysiology, and behaviour. However, little is known about the relationship between youths’ resolutions of ambiguity and physiological arousal during acute stress. Such information may have important clinical implications for use of verbal self-regulation strategies and cognitive restructuring during treatments for paediatric anxiety. In this brief report, we present findings suggesting that anxious, but not typically developing, youth select avoidant goals via non-threatening resolution of ambiguity during a stressor, and that this resolution of ambiguity is accompanied by physiological reactivity (heart rate, heart rate variability, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia). We propose future empirical research on the interplay between interpretation bias, psychophysiology, and child anxiety, as well as clinical implications.     

Effects of frustration justification on hostile aggression

The present study tested Berkowitz' [1989: Psychological Bulletin 106:59-73] reformulation of the frustration-aggression hypothesis which states that any negative or aversive stimulus such as frustration, even if justified, will result in some measurable tendency to aggress, Participants' attainment of an expected gratification was either blocked in an unjustified manner, blocked in a justified manner, or not blocked at all. Degree of hostile aggression directed at the frustrating individual was measured. As predicted, justified frustration produced less hostile aggression than unjustified frustration, but even justified frustration produced more hostile aggression than no frustration at all. Results support Berkowitz' frustration-aggression reformulation. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Reflection as a strategy to enhance task performance after feedback

An unanswered question in employee development is how reflection can be used for improving performance in organizations. Drawing from research and theory on dual-process models, we develop and test a reflection strategy to stimulate deeper learning after feedback. Results of two studies (N = 640 and N = 488) showed that reflection combined with feedback enhanced performance improvement on a web-based work simulation better than feedback alone. Reflection without feedback did not lead to performance improvement. Further analyses indicated that the proposed reflection strategy was less effective for individuals low in learning goal orientation, low in need for cognition, and low in personal importance as they engaged less in reflection. Together, these findings provide a theoretical basis for the future study of reflection in organizations and suggest a practical and cost-effective strategy for facilitating employee development after feedback in organizations.     

Do aggression and rule‐breaking have different interpersonal correlates? A study of antisocial behavior subtypes,negative affect,and hostile perceptions of others

There is mounting evidence that physical aggression and nonaggressive, rule‐breaking delinquency constitute two separable though correlated subtypes of antisocial behavior. Even so, it remains unclear whether these behavioral subtypes have meaningfully different interpersonal correlates, particularly as they are subsumed within the same broad domain of antisocial behavior. To evaluate this, we examined whether hostile perceptions of others (assessed via exposure to a series of neutral unknown faces) were linked to level and type of antisocial behavior aggression vs. rule‐breaking, and moreover, whether this association persisted even when also considering the common association with negative affect (as manipulated via written recollection of one's best and worst life experiences). Analyses revealed that aggression, but not rule‐breaking, was uniquely tied to hostile perceptions of others. Furthermore, this association persisted over and above the common association of both hostile perceptions and aggression with negative affect (at both trait and state levels). Such results provide additional support for clinically meaningful differences between the behavioral subtypes of aggression and nonaggressive rule‐breaking and for the independent role of hostile perceptions in aggressive behavior. Aggr. Behav. 35:453–461, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Mental toughness, stress, stress appraisal, coping and coping effectiveness in sport

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between mental toughness, stressor appraisal, coping strategies and coping effectiveness among a sample of athletes. Participants were 482 athletes (male n = 305; female n = 177), aged between 16 and 45 years (M age = 20.44 years, SD = 3.98). In support of a priori predictions, mental toughness was associated with stress intensity and control appraisal, but not the type of stressor experienced by athletes. Total mental toughness and its six components predicted coping and coping effectiveness in relation to the self-selected stressor. In particular, higher levels of mental toughness were associated with more problem-focused coping, but less emotion-focused and avoidance coping. Coping effectiveness was influenced by the coping strategy employed by the athletes.     

领导-下属情绪评价能力一致与员工建言：内部人身份感知与性别相似性的作用

基于人-环境匹配和资源保存理论, 研究构建了一个调节-中介模型, 从二元视角分析了领导情绪评价能力与下属情绪评价能力一致对员工建言的影响路径与边界。通过对43位领导与182位下属的配对问卷调研, 结果表明：(1) 相较“低领导-低下属”情绪评价能力一致, 在“高领导-高下属”情绪评价能力一致情境下, 员工的内部人身份感知更高; (2) 相较“高领导-低下属”情绪评价能力不一致, 在“低领导-高下属”情绪评价能力不一致情境下, 员工的内部人身份感知更高; (3) 内部人身份感知在情绪评价能力一致与促进性建言、抑制性建言间起部分中介作用; (4) 相较领导-下属性别相同, 当领导-下属性别不同时, 员工内部人身份感知的中介作用更强。研究从情绪评价能力、性别的二元匹配视角揭示了员工建言的前因, 为领导与下属间交互影响提供了更多解释路径。     

Attributions for social failure and adolescent aggression

In the present study, 119 high school boys and 79 institutionalized delinquent boys of the same age range were assessed on their own aggressive behavior and on their tendencies to attribute social failure to controllable, external, stable causes, anticipate a hostile affective response, and endorse aggressive behavioral responses to by pothetical social situations. While the two populations of boys did not differ detectably in their attributional tendencies, the relations between an individual's aggressiveness and an individual's attributions differed considerably across the two populations. In particular, among deliquent but not among delinquent but not among nondelinquent boys, the tendency to attribute one's social failures to stable and controllable causes predicted stronger hostile emotional responses to failure and a tendency to endorse physically aggressive responses following such failure. These hostile emotional responses to failure and this preference for a physically aggressive response, in turn, predicted greater actual aggression within the population of delinquent boys. Neither of these links could be demonstrated for nondelinquent boys. However, in the nondelinquent sample, attributing social failure to external and controllable causes predicted endorsement of aggressive responses only indirectly through increased hostile affect. It was concluded that the specific relations between cognitive and affective responses to social failure may be a contributing factor to the serious physical aggression displayed by some delinquents and to the less serious aggression of nondelinquents. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.