Piece of cake? Allocating rewards to third parties when fairness is costly

Reactions to third-party inequality were investigated in three experiments. In Experiment 1, 52 undergraduates allocated money between themselves and two others. Preferences for equal and unequal distributions were also rated. The results show that people are averse to inequalities between themselves and others, and to inequalities between others. Post-experimental ratings indicate that egocentric equality, third-party equality, and max–min preferences are important motives. The findings were replicated in Experiment 2, where 74 undergraduates allocated compensation for a previously conducted task, and in Experiment 3, where 112 participants rated preferences. In these experiments random determination of rewards to third parties altered participants’ behavior and preferences. The results indicated that random determination decreases the importance of all fairness motives while increasing the importance of monetary payoff. While people still care about economic equality under these conditions, contextual factors, such as perceived responsibility for unfair outcomes, seem to alter the impact of fairness.     

四川灾区群众社会支持系统现状及其与主观幸福感的关系

研究5·12汶川地震后四川灾区群众的社会支持系统现状及其与主观幸福感之间的关系。方法：使用自编社会支持量表和简式主观幸福感问卷对四川省什邡市洛水镇村民和温州地区居民的社会支持和主观幸福感调查了解,社会支持源被划分为8个,共有2个项目,主观幸福感包括3个分量表,分别是12个项目的积极情绪和消极情绪以及5个条目的生活满意度。结果：1）灾区社会支持按照来源可分为人情支持与公共支持;2）在灾难后,什邡地区的群众更依赖于公共支持而温州地区群众更依赖于人情支持;3）公共支持与消极情绪之间存在显著的负相关。结论：除了与温州地区一样都依赖于人情支持外,四川灾区群众更依赖于公共支持,尤其是中央政府的支持,并且公共支持有助于缓解受灾群众的消极情绪。     

Searching for the Roots of the Circumstantial Ad Hominem

This paper looks into the known evidence on the origins of the type of argument called the circumstantial ad hominemargument in modern logic textbooks, and introduces some new evidence. This new evidence comes primarily from recent historical work by Jaap Mansfeld and Jonathan Barnes citing many cases where philosophers in the ancient world were attacked on the grounds that their personal actions failed to be consistent with their philosophical teachings. On the total body of evidence, two hypotheses about the roots of the circumstantial ad hominem are considered. One is that it came from Aristotle through Locke. The other is that it may have had separate roots in these ancient philosophical writings that criticized philosophers for not practicing what they preached.     

The Relationship Between Agentic and Communal Personality Traits and Psychosocial Adjustment to Breast Cancer

Agency, communion, unmitigated agency (UA), and unmitigated communion (UC) are related to psychosocial health outcomes in nonclinical and medical populations. This study examined the relationship between these personality traits and emotional and interpersonal well-being, as up to 50% of women experience difficulties in psychosocial adjustment after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Seventy-four women newly diagnosed with breast cancer completed baseline assessment measures within 2 weeks prior to their first chemotherapy treatment or at the beginning of their hormonal therapy. Findings indicate that (1) agency and UA are important correlates of emotional and interpersonal adjustment and should be considered when attempting to identify women at high risk for psychosocial distress, and (2) UC deserves increased attention in behavioral medicine research, given its strong relationship with emotional distress in a breast cancer population. Thus, evidence continues to accumulate regarding the important relationship of these personality traits to psychosocial outcomes in medical populations.     

Relational Risk and Its Personal Correlates in Strategic Alliances

In this study we focus on the perception of one particular type of risk in the context of strategic alliances—relational risk. Perceived relational risk refers to the degree to which decision makers are concerned with the partner's opportunistic behavior in cooperative efforts. We develop a measure of relational risk in strategic alliances, and empirically examine some of its personal correlates. Based on a survey of senior executives of corporations and MBA students, we found partial support for the principal hypothesis that the perception of relational risk for prospective strategic alliances is related to an individual's age and trust in people.     

Group identity as a source of threat and means of compensation: Establishing personal control through group identification and ideology

Compensatory control theory proposes that individuals can assuage threatened personal control by endorsing external systems or agents that provide a sense that the world is meaningfully ordered. Recent research drawing on this perspective finds that one means by which individuals can compensate for a loss of control is adherence to ideological beliefs about the social world. This prior work, however, has largely neglected the role of social groups in defining either the nature of control threat or the means by which individuals compensate for these threats. In four experiments (N = 466), we test the possibility that group‐based threats to personal control can be effectively managed by defensively identifying with the threatened group and its values. We provide evidence for the specificity of these effects by demonstrating that defensive identification and ideology endorsement are specific to the content of the group‐based threat.     

The association of personal semantic memory to identity representations: insight into higher-order networks of autobiographical contents

Identity representations are higher-order knowledge structures that organise autobiographical memories on the basis of personality and role-based themes of one’s self-concept. In two experiments, the extent to which different types of personal semantic content are reflected in these higher-order networks of memories was investigated. Healthy, young adult participants generated identity representations that varied in remoteness of formation and verbally reflected on these themes in an open-ended narrative task. The narrative responses were scored for retrieval of episodic, experience-near personal semantic and experience-far (i.e., abstract) personal semantic contents. Results revealed that to reflect on remotely formed identity representations, experience-far personal semantic contents were retrieved more than experience-near personal semantic contents. In contrast, to reflect on recently formed identity representations, experience-near personal semantic contents were retrieved more than experience-far personal semantic contents. Although episodic memory contents were retrieved less than both personal semantic content types to reflect on remotely formed identity representations, this content type was retrieved at a similar frequency as experience-far personal semantic content to reflect on recently formed identity representations. These findings indicate that the association of personal semantic content to identity representations is robust and related to time since acquisition of these knowledge structures.     

The longitudinal impact of a job crafting intervention

This study examined the impact of a job crafting intervention based on job demands-resources (JD-R) theory. We hypothesized that the intervention would influence participants’ job crafting behaviours, as well as their job demands, job resources, and personal resources. In addition, we hypothesized a positive impact of the intervention on work engagement and self-rated job performance. The study used a quasi-experimental design with a control group. Teachers (N = 75) participated in the job crafting intervention on three occasions with 9 weeks in-between the first and second measurement, and 1 year in-between the second and third measurement. Results showed that the intervention had a significant impact on participants’ job crafting behaviours, both at time 2 and time 3. In addition, the results showed a significant increase of performance feedback, opportunities for professional development, self-efficacy, and job performance 1 year after the job crafting intervention. Participants’ levels of job demands, resilience, and work engagement did not change. We discuss the implications of these findings for JD-R theory and practice.     

Reflecting on self-care practices during clinical psychology training and beyond

In this paper, I will discuss the concept of self-care and its importance for clinical psychologists, both during training and post-qualification. I will review the pertinent literature in this area covering the concept of self-care and its meaning, the personal and professional impact of a lack of self-care for clinical psychologists, and discuss some of the barriers to implementing self-care practices. Throughout the discussion of barriers to self-care, I will intersperse three reflective pieces on my own experiences throughout clinical psychology training, which will allow for a more in-depth exploration of the issues. My conclusion will highlight the personal, professional and systemic barriers to self-care in clinical psychologists, and in other helping professionals, and suggest possible ways of tackling these barriers and promoting greater utilisation of self-care during clinical training and beyond and across different professional groups.     

Self-compassion promotes positive adjustment for people who attribute responsibility of a romantic breakup to themselves

Attributing responsibility for a romantic breakup to the self can have dual effects on psychological adjustment, exacerbating disruptive thoughts and feelings, yet also increasing the likelihood of positive changes. Three studies (N = 441) examined whether these dual effects associated with attributing responsibility for a romantic breakup to the self are moderated by self-compassion. Supporting this assertion, trait self-compassion predicted better romantic outlook (Studies 1 & 2), and induced self-compassion predicted greater intended future romantic partner appreciation (Study 3), among people who attributed greater responsibility of a breakup to themselves. In addition, higher trait (Study 2) and induced self-compassion (Study 3) boosted self-improvement motivation with regard to future relationships among participants who attributed responsibility of a romantic breakup to themselves. These adjustment-promoting tendencies associated with self-compassion held controlling for a range of variables known to impact romantic breakup adjustment (e.g., self-esteem, attachment styles, and prior relationship characteristics). We discuss possible mechanisms for these effects and broader implications for future self-compassion research.