When is a lie acceptable? Work and private life lying acceptance depends on its beneficiary

In this article we show that when analyzing attitude towards lying in a cross-cultural setting, both the beneficiary of the lie (self vs other) and the context (private life vs. professional domain) should be considered. In a study conducted in Estonia, Ireland, Mexico, The Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and Sweden (N = 1345), in which participants evaluated stories presenting various types of lies, we found usefulness of relying on the dimensions. Results showed that in the joint sample the most acceptable were other-oriented lies concerning private life, then other-oriented lies in the professional domain, followed by egoistic lies in the professional domain; and the least acceptance was shown for egoistic lies regarding one’s private life. We found a negative correlation between acceptance of a behavior and the evaluation of its deceitfulness.     

Religious involvement and happiness: Assessing the mediating role of compassion and helping others

Research reveals that a number of different aspects of religious involvement are associated with happiness. However, researchers have yet to provide an overarching theoretical explanation for how multiple dimensions of religion might be associated with happiness. The purpose of this study is to develop and test a conceptual model that includes the following core hypotheses: (1) people who attend worship services more often tend to be more committed to their faith; (2) people who are more committed to their faith are more likely to be compassionate; (3) compassionate individuals are more likely to provide emotional support to significant others; and (4) people who provide support to others tend to be happier. Data from a recent nationwide survey in the United States (N = 3,010) provides support for each hypothesis. The theoretical implications of these finding are discussed.     

Evaluating performance over time: Is improving better than being consistently good?

In many decision contexts, people evaluate others based on intertemporal performance records and commonly face a choice between two distinct profiles: performance that is consistently high versus performance that improves over time to that high level. We proposed that these two profiles could be appealing for different reasons, and thus evaluators’ preferences will differ across decision contexts. In three studies, participants were presented with candidates (e.g., students, employees) displaying the two profiles, and evaluated each candidate in terms of performance, future expectations, and deservingness. The consistent candidate was rated higher on performance, but lower on future expectations, than the improved candidate. Consequently, in achievement-based decisions (e.g., selecting a student for a scholarship), the consistent candidate was viewed as most deserving, whereas in potential-based decisions (e.g., selecting an employee for promotion), the improved candidate was preferred. These effects were mediated by the relative weight that evaluators placed on performance and future expectations.     

Women’s hair as a cue to desired relationship and parenting characteristics

We investigated how women’s hair color (blond, brown, black) and length (short, medium, long) influences males’ judgments about the women’s age, health, physical attractiveness, relationship potential, and parenting capability. Results, which are generally consistent with evolutionary psychology approaches, indicate that hair color and, to a lesser extent, length can affect perceptions of personal characteristics. More specifically, we found that lighter hair (blond and brown) compared to darker hair (black) is generally associated with perceptions of youth, health and attractiveness, and generally leads to more positive perceptions of relationship and parenting potential. Furthermore, the relationships between variables suggest that characteristics directly related to reproductive potential may be inferred from more obvious indirect characteristics. These results suggest that males are able to make complex judgments about women concerning their desirable relationship and parenting potential based on discernable characteristics such as hair color and length.     

Academic goals and learning strategies in secondary education Spanish students with social anxiety / Metas académicas y estrategias de aprendizaje en estudiantes españoles de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria con ansiedad social

The purpose of this study was to analyse the relationship between high social anxiety, academic goals and learning strategies in a sample of 2,022 (51.1% male) Spanish adolescents aged 12–16. The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI), Achievement Goal Tendencies Questionnaire (AGTQ) and Learning and Studies Skills Strategies Inventory — High School Version (LASSI-HS) were used to assess the variables. The results showed no statistically significant differences in goal orientations between students with and without high social anxiety. However, students with high social anxiety used learning strategies significantly less. In addition, the logistic regression results indicated that high social anxiety acts as a significant predictor for setting social reinforcement goals and learning and study strategies.     

Toward a New Paradigm of Health and Human Potential

In today's highly dynamic and changing industries there are an incredible array of things converging, all of which are signalling a significant need for a new paradigm in health and medicine. Scientific revolutions have brought forward new forms of knowledge, which fundamentally oppose the premises on which the majority of our traditional medical institutions are based. Through my CIRR framework (Critique, Insight, Re-Define, Re-Structure) I will bring forward the key elements and principles of what this paradigm shift is and what would be involved in bringing it into fruition. There are 3 key elements of a paradigm shift which I will review through the CIRR framework these are a) structural and systemic elements b) dynamics of social constituents and pathologies and c) shifts in thinking that have given rise to new forms of knowledge that enable new forms of research and practice. I will demonstrate that the key elements involved in a genuine paradigm shift are here, however it's up to us to bring it into fruition. I hope to inspire both researchers and practitioners towards this new paradigm in health and human potential.     

Transdisciplinary Conversations in Child and Youth Care

Beginning from the proposition that doing transdisciplinary child and youth care (CYC) entails an ethic of risk and vulnerability, four graduate students from differing social, spiritual, bodied, and academic locations trace how our research and professional projects encounter, challenge, support, and disrupt one another. Thinking through two concepts critical to the field of CYC in Canada (politics and care), we aim to (a) make visible the possibilities, tensions, and incommensurabilities that emerge when we collectively risk generous, rigorous dialogue between distinct research projects, practice orientations, and lived ontological and epistemological loyalties; and (b) imagine the practices required to enact, and the creative collaborations that might emerge through, transdisciplinary conversations in child and youth care.     

Evidence for Opportunity Cost Neglect in the Poor

People often neglect opportunity costs: They do not fully take into account forgone alternatives outside of a particular choice set. Several scholars have suggested that poor people should be more likely to spontaneously consider opportunity costs, because budget constraints should lead to an increased focus on trade‐offs. We did not find support for this hypothesis in five high‐powered experiments (total N = 2325). The experiments used different products (both material and experiential) with both high and low prices (from $8.50 to $249.99) and different methods of reminding participants of opportunity costs. High‐income and low‐income participants showed an equally strong decrease in willingness to buy when reminded of opportunity costs, implying that both the rich and the poor neglect opportunity costs. © 2017 The Authors Journal of Behavioral Decision Making Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

Transmission of reduction‐oriented crafting among colleagues: A diary study on the moderating role of working conditions

Zooming into reduction‐oriented job crafting among employees, next to minimizing demands (i.e., making a job less strenuous), we introduced optimizing demands (i.e., simplifying the job and making work processes more efficient) and suggested that optimizing demands should be positively related to work engagement, whereas minimizing demands negatively related to work engagement. Moreover, we suggested that both forms of reduction‐oriented crafting can be transferred among colleagues, and this will particularly occur in jobs that are high on demands (workload and emotional demands), low on resources (autonomy), and when the colleagues have a high‐quality relationship. We examined these hypotheses among 65 dyads of employees who filled in a general questionnaire and a diary for three working days. Multilevel analyses supported the transmission of both job crafting dimensions among colleagues. Moreover, there is more transmission of minimizing demands among colleagues when workload and emotional demands are high and autonomy is low. Additionally, optimizing demands was transmitted among colleagues when autonomy was low and quality of relationship with colleague was high. Optimizing demands was positively related to work engagement, whereas minimizing demands was unrelated to work engagement. These findings imply that optimizing demands is a favourable behaviour and can be transmitted among colleagues under specific conditions.

Practitioner points

• Working smarter is related to higher work engagement
• Employees model their colleague's proactive behaviour
• Unfavourable working conditions stimulate modelling behaviour of colleagues