Rotation to Simple Loadings Using Component Loss Functions: The Oblique Case

Component loss functions (CLFs) similar to those used in orthogonal rotation are introduced to define criteria for oblique rotation in factor analysis. It is shown how the shape of the CLF affects the performance of the criterion it defines. For example, it is shown that monotone concave CLFs give criteria that are minimized by loadings with perfect simple structure when such loadings exist. Moreover, if the CLFs are strictly concave, minimizing must produce perfect simple structure whenever it exists. Examples show that methods defined by concave CLFs perform well much more generally. While it appears important to use a concave CLF, the specific CLF used is less important. For example, the very simple linear CLF gives a rotation method that can easily outperform the most popular oblique rotation methods promax and quartimin and is competitive with the more complex simplimax and geomin methods. The author would like to thank the editor and three reviewers for helpful suggestions and for identifying numerous errors.     

How does mindfulness modulate daily stress response: evidences from ambulatory assessment

Objective: Mindfulness has been found to be associated with less adverse stress response. However, little is known about how mindfulness modulates stress response in the real daily life. The current study investigated the relation between daily stress and negative emotions, and explored a mediational link via perceived loss of control, and moderation by dispositional mindfulness, to better understand this association. Design: A total of 95 college students were recruited to complete a questionnaire and to report on their stress, perceived loss of control and negative emotions in daily life. Main Outcome Measures: Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) was used to assess dispositional mindfulness. Stress, perceived loss of control and negative emotions were assessed by ambulatory assessment. Results: Stress was positively related with negative emotions at within-person level. Perceived loss of control mediated the relationship between stress and negative emotions. Furthermore, participants with higher levels of dispositional mindfulness showed an attenuated association between stress and anger, and also attenuated associations between perceived loss of control, and anger and fatigue at within-person level. Conclusion: These findings point to perceived loss of control as an important key factor in daily stress effects. Dispositional mindfulness appears to have beneficial effects in that it attenuates the impact of daily stressors on individuals’ wellbeing. Clinical implications and limitations are discussed.     

‘It’s not a diet,it’s a lifestyle’: a longitudinal,data-prompted interview study of weight loss maintenance

Objective: To advance understanding of the individual and environmental factors underpinning weight loss maintenance. Design: Semi-structured, data-prompted interviews were conducted with twelve overweight adult participants (three men, nine women) who had lost over 5% of their body weight in the year before baseline. Participants gathered daily data through wireless scales, activity monitors (Fitbit?), ecological momentary assessment and experience sampling (taking photographs, writing notes). They were interviewed at 3- and 6-months post baseline. Interview stimuli included personal data of weight and activity graphs, correlations of psychological factors, and self-generated notes and photographs. Interview data were analysed using the Framework Method, applying pre-specified maintenance-relevant theoretical themes. Results: The theoretical Framework provided a good fit for the narratives, with five main themes underpinning successful weight loss maintenance: sustained motivation, effective self-regulation, plentiful resources, habit formation and a supportive environment. Additionally, participants reported an identity shift from being a dieter to accepting a new healthy lifestyle. Goal prioritising and allowing for occasional controlled lapses enhanced weight loss maintenance. Conclusions: This study successfully used the novel method of data-prompted interviews to explore weight loss maintenance experiences with new explanations emerging from the data. Future research should further develop behaviour change maintenance theory and data-prompted interview method.     

When do keepsakes keep us together? The effect of separation from a partner on directing attachment to inanimate objects

Prior research has often limited the coping potential of inanimate objects to being cues for nostalgia. This article proposes that, due to an unavoidable separation from a loved one, individuals might adhere to an intuitive view that their loved one remains present in inanimate objects associated with him or her. Directing attachment behavior to inanimate objects associated with a loved one can be an effective strategy for maintaining subjective closeness to the partner. In Study 1, participants who imagined being trapped on a deserted island (vs. being together) were more likely to express both attachment to a photograph of their partner and nostalgia. Nostalgia, however, led to the anticipation that having the photograph would exacerbate the situation. Studies 2 and 3 demonstrated that adults experiencing real‐life separation were more likely than controls to direct their attachment to inanimate objects that decreased loneliness and increased closeness to one's partner. The distinctive role of attachment to inanimate objects as a coping strategy is further discussed.     

源于“反常”终于“常理”的禀赋效应

如果忽略收入影响和交易成本, 愿意为一样物品支付的价格应等于愿意出售的价格。而塞勒教授却发现, 现实生活中有一些“反常”现象, 个体会对自己所拥有的物品赋予更高的价值, 造成“愿意支付价格”和“愿意出售价格”的不一致。塞勒利用预期理论中的损失厌恶对这些反常现象进行解释, 并将该现象称为禀赋效应(endowment effect)。此后, 众多研究者从不同角度对该效应进行了探索和论证。文章详细梳理了禀赋效应的多种解释机制, 包括损失厌恶、心理所有权理论、偏差的认知过程以及进化的观点等, 论证了禀赋效应符合“常理”的原因, 同时也探讨了禀赋效应在商业销售策略和政府拆迁政策等方面的应用前景。     

框架效应的应用研究及其应用技巧

个体的决策及偏好常会因信息的表达方式而变, 研究者将这种违背期望效用理论不变性的现象称之为“框架效应”。框架效应体现了人类非理性决策的普遍性, 也为合理利用人类的决策特点以干预其决策行为提供了重要契机。本文总结了框架效应在健康行为、市场营销及环保领域中的应用研究, 着重分析了数量信息的表达技巧, 如风险信息的呈现、数量单位的选择以及图形的物理属性设计, 旨在探讨如何在实践过程中通过变化信息呈现方式以实现对人类决策行为的重要影响。     

The New York Inferno: Taking Solace from the Stories

The sudden destruction of the World Trade Center on 9/11 created an instant scenario of panic and horror. It was followed by post-traumatic shock that spread across New York. Psychoanalysts and other therapists were mobilized to provide emergency counseling for survivors, families of victims, firemen, police, rescue workers and others who had been scarred. One of the most effective techniques was to encourage the telling of personal stories as a method of working through trauma. It emerged as the most powerful tool in our therapeutic arsenal.     

The Orpheus complex

This paper examines the possible psychological implications of two adaptations of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, both of which were completed in 1997. The first is by a man: 'Deconstructing Harry', a film by Woody Allen. The second is by a woman: 'Eurydice in the Underworld', a short story written by Kathy Acker in the last year of her life. The paper argues that there are only four 'necessary events' in the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. It defines the sequence of these events as a 'mythic pattern' that represents the experience of loss, unconscious yearning, depression, and psychological inflation. The film is examined as an expression of an 'Orpheus complex', the short story as an expression of an 'Eurydice complex'. The paper suggests a possible reason for the persistence of interest in the myth throughout the twentieth century. Although it notes that women appear to find it easier to free themselves from identification with the mythic pattern, it also provides reasons for thinking that men may be about to do the same.     

通以显体——从老庄道论看中国古代哲学的本体学说

中国古代哲学本体论的特色 ,可以“通以显体”一语来概括 ,老庄的道论集中体现了这一特色。道是“一” ,或超越的本体 ;但它是在事物个体实存的“通”性中显现出来的超越性 ,而非形式实体性之“一”。“通以显体” ,强调事物自然差异的肯定性意义。因任事物自然性命差异性以实现其在价值上的平等性或齐一性 ,则万物“道通为一”。“道通为一”的境界 ,要在人文义的“有名”上开显 ,并通过“日损”去蔽的修为功夫或生命实现的历程来达成。道家对道的证显 ,采取的是一条存有实现论或人学的进路