Psychological predictors for health-related quality of life and disability in persons with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

Objective: Individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exhibit low physical and mental health-related quality of life (HRQL) and high susceptibility to disability. We investigated the influence of psychological factors on HRQL and disability in COPD individuals recruited from the general population. In line with Leventhal’s common sense model, we expected psychological factors to be associated with HRQL and disability even after controlling for medical status.

Methods: Individuals with COPD (n = 502; 59.7 years old; GOLD grades were I: 3%, II: 17%, III: 34%, IV: 46%) were assessed through an online survey administered via COPD patient organisations in Germany. Individuals filled in the Short Form Health Survey (SF-12), COPD Assessment Test, Patient Health Questionnaire (modules: GAD-2, PHQ-15, PHQ-9), Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire, a questionnaire that assesses causal illness attributions, and the internal illness-related locus of control scale of the ‘KKG questionnaire for the assessment of control beliefs about illness and health’. Multiple linear regressions were calculated.

Results: The investigated factors explained high variances (disability = 56%, physical HRQL = 28%, mental HRQL = 63%, p ≤ .001). Better mental health, more optimistic illness perceptions, attribution to psychological causes, and stronger internal locus of control were associated with lower disability and better HRQL. Comorbid somatic symptoms contributed to high disability and low quality of life.

Conclusion: Psychological factors, such as illness perception, attribution and internal locus of control, were associated with disability and HRQL. These factors should be considered when designing treatments for individuals with COPD, and adequate interventions should be provided to enhance illness understanding and self-management skills.     

Is bad intent negligible? Linking victim justice sensitivity,hostile attribution bias,and aggression

The hostile attribution bias (HAB) is a well‐established risk factor for aggression. It is considered part of the suspicious mindset that may cause highly victim‐justice sensitive individuals to behave uncooperatively. Thus, links of victim justice sensitivity (JS) with negative behavior, such as aggression, may be better explained by HAB. The present study tested this hypothesis in N = 279 German adolescents who rated their JS, HAB, and physical, relational, verbal, reactive, and proactive aggression. Victim JS predicted physical, relational, verbal, reactive, and proactive aggression when HAB was controlled. HAB only predicted physical and proactive aggression. There were no moderator effects. Injustice seems an important reason for aggression irrespective of whether or not it is intentionally caused, particularly among those high in victim JS. Thus, victim JS should be considered as a potential important risk factor for aggression and receive more attention by research on aggression and preventive efforts.

     

Testosterone and attribution of successful competition

Mood, personal merit, and/or its perception have been suggested to be mediating factors in testosterone responses to competition. Previously we have found that personal contribution and attribution were related to testosterone levels after successful competition. To confirm such associations, two basketball teams (n = 17 players) that emerged as winners in two actual matches were studied. Salivary testosterone levels and mood were measured before and after the games. Individual contribution to the outcome was assessed, and personal satisfaction and causal attribution of outcome were reported by players. Testosterone concentrations increased to near significance in Team 1 but not in Team 2, who attributed their victory more to luck than did Team 1. This latter team showed notably decreased vigor, and both teams showed fatigue at the end of the match. Post‐match testosterone levels were only significantly, negatively related to external attribution. The results support the idea that causal attribution of the outcome is contributing to the variance of the testosterone responses to real confrontations where the outcome is highly dependent on personal merit. Aggr. Behav. 26:235–240, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Retaliation to personalistic attack

Jones and Davis's [1965. Advances in experimental social psychology. Academic Press] notion of “personalism” was experimentally tested in a situation in which behavior had negative hedonic relevance for the recipient. It was hypothesized that (1) if a person is attacked by another person, this victim will react more negatively than when no attack occurs and that (2) a victim who is singled out for attack will react more negatively compared with victims of an undistinctive attack (i.e., when the actor behaves similarly toward the victim and a third person). A 2 × 2 design was employed with “Victim of attack” as the first factor (no attack vs. attack) and “Behaviour toward a third person” as the second factor (no attack vs. attack). The main dependent variable was the number of attacks by the victim toward the attacker (retaliation). Thirty‐two students took part in the experiment. Victims of attack retaliated more against the attacker than those who suffered from no attack. Victims of a personalistic attack retaliated more than victims of an undistinctive attack. The results, confirming both hypotheses, support an attributional view on harm‐doing and contradict the notion of retaliation as pure behavioral reciprocity. Aggr. Behav. 25:91–96, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Mindful social inferences: Decentering decreases hostile attributions

While research indicates that mindfulness can benefit individual well-being, less is known about its potential impact in the interpersonal domain. In the current research, we examined whether a central element of mindfulness—decentering—decreases hostile attributions in ambiguous social situations. We hypothesized that decentering from experiences—observing and considering them as mental events that arise and disappear—hampers the development of hostile attributions. A series of three laboratory studies, two of which were high-powered and pre-registered, demonstrated that decentering decreases hostile attribution in response to ambiguous social scenarios as compared to immersion instructions, and as compared to baseline. Additionally, the results suggest that decentering may be particularly beneficial in reducing hostile attribution bias among participants high in trait rumination. The current findings provide initial insights into the effect of decentering on the development of hostile attribution bias, and the association between mindfulness and interpersonal responses more generally.     

Anger arousal,deindividuation, and aggression

We tested the notion that angered persons' aggression would be increased through a process of excitation transfer when they are deindividuated, but that individuated subjects would be most aggressive in circumstances under which they could use the information that they had ingested an arousing drug as a pretext for their aggression. Sixty-two male undergraduates participated under either deindividuated or individuated conditions, ingested either 350 mg of caffeine or a placebo, were informed that they had either taken a stimulant or a nonarousing drug, and were all angered by a confederate. According to prediction, when deindividuated and aroused by caffeine the amount of noxious stimulation subjects delivered to the provocateur was greater if they believed that the drug they had taken was nonarousing than if they thought it was a stimulant; in contrast, individuated subjects' aggression was greater when aroused subjects believed the drug was a stimulant. The results are discussed in terms of excitation transfer and the effect of aggression inhibition on the use of information about one's arousal.     

领导领域中归因理论的研究述评

领导领域中的归因研究对于把握领导过程、组织绩效评估以及领导成员关系等问题均具有重要的理论与实际意义。文章回顾了自领导归因理论提出以后,领导归因领域中包括有关模型构建、验证与发展、内隐归因在内的相关研究;同时,对归因偏差、归因风格、领导成员关系、人格特质、领导类型、情绪、文化及相关人口学变量等因素与领导归因的关系研究进行了系统梳理;最后,分析、总结了该领域以往研究的不足及今后的研究趋势     

Culture and Causal Cognition

East Asian and American causal reasoning differs significantly. East Asians understand behavior in terms of complex interactions between dispositions of the person or other object and contextual factors, whereas Americans often view social behavior primarily as the direct unfolding of dispositions. These culturally differing causal theories seem to be rooted in more pervasive, culture-specific mentalities in East Asia and the West. The Western mentality is analytic, focusing attention on the object, categorizing it by reference to its attributes, and ascribing causality based on rules about it. The East Asian mentality is holistic, focusing attention on the field in which the object is located and ascribing causality by reference to the relationship between the object and the field.     

Surprise and Motivation of Causal Search: How Are They Affected by Outcome Valence and Importance?

Two studies investigated whether the importance and valence of a target person's achievement outcome affect (a) the intensity of surprise an observer feels about the actual outcome and (b) the role surprise plays in the motivation of the search for a causal explanation for the target's outcome. The present experiments involved conditions controlling for the confounds among outcome valence, importance, and surprise. Both studies revealed that surprise intensity was affected by outcome valence and importance so that an important negative outcome elicits the highest surprise and unimportant success elicited the second highest surprise. Causal search was strong only after (unexpected) important failures. Results are explained in terms of an extended expectancy-disconfirmation approach.