The role of parents' self-esteem, mastery-orientation and social background in their parenting styles

In order to examine the extent to which parents' levels of education, financial resources, self-esteem, and their mastery-orientation versus task-avoidance are associated with their parenting styles and parental stress, data from two studies were analyzed. In Study I, parents of 105 6 to 7-year old children were asked to fill in scales measuring their parenting styles and parental stress, mastery-orientation, financial resources, and their level of education. In Study II, 235 parents were asked to fill in the same scales. An identical pattern of results was found in the two studies. Parents' self-esteem and their use of mastery-oriented strategy were found to be associated with authoritative parenting and low parental stress, whereas parents' low level of education was related to an authoritarian parenting style. The results further showed that the impact of parents' self-esteem on authoritative parenting and parental stress was partly mediated by their use of a mastery-oriented strategy.     

视觉刺激探测的警觉性注意特征初探

采用"预警提示-目标探测"范式,对视觉刺激探测的警觉性注意特征进行初步探索。实验一表明,随着预备到目标刺激的时间间隔(interstimulus interval,ISI)变化,固定位置上探测目标刺激的速度也随之变化,并且对大概率刺激的探测更快,表现出了警觉性注意的稳定性和选择性特征。实验二进一步考察了目标刺激在不同ISI和不同空间位置的情况,除发现与实验一相似的结果以外,被试探测目标刺激的速度随注意视角增大而下降,表现出了警觉性注意的集中性特征。     

上行比较影响行为表现—不同类型高自尊的作用

已有研究表明,上行比较对高自尊个体产生积极效应。然而鉴于高自尊包括安全性高自尊和防御性高自尊,有必要在上行比较影响不同任务领域内的行为表现这一观点的基础上探讨高自尊的不同类型对上行比较与行为表现之间关系的影响。两个实验均采用高自尊类型、上行比较和任务领域一致性的2×2×2混合因素设计,不同之处在于其分别采用创造性测验和非创造性的语词测验作为不同领域任务。结果表明,防御性高自尊个体没有像安全性高自尊个体那样采取领域转换策略来修复自我关注,由上行比较所引起的领域转换只对安全性高自尊个体产生积极影响。     

Threat to Ethnic Identity: The Experience of White Afrikaans-Speaking Participants in Postapartheid South Africa

Abstract

The dismantling of apartheid and the postapartheid dispensation had far-reaching implications for all the citizens of South Africa. In an urban sample of White Afrikaans-speaking South Africans (Afrikaners) in postapartheid South Africa, the authors investigated perceptions of threat to ethnic identity, as well as correlates of those perceptions. The respondents experienced threat on 2 levels: The 1st was distinctive continuity, the concern that their ethnic group would not continue as a distinctive group in society. The 2nd was the evaluative dimension of ethnic identity (i.e., well-being), the concern that group membership would no longer contribute to positive self-esteem. The respondents experienced greater threat on the 2nd level, reflecting predominantly negative experiences as White Afrikaans-speaking persons in postapartheid South Africa. A high threat perception on the 2nd level was associated with (a) a perception of other groups' negative evaluations of their ethnic group, (b) negative attitudes toward political changes, and (c) perceptions of illegitimacy and instability of the postapartheid political system. The respondents who felt that Afrikaners would not continue as a distinctive group in society had a more positive attitude toward the sociopolitical changes, did not show strong ethnic identification, and had a negative collective self-esteem. They were also politically more liberal. Those findings are discussed in relation to theoretical expectations.     

Self-Esteem and In-Group Bias Among Members of a Religious Social Category

Abstract

In a sample of New Zealand university students, the author extended earlier research into the relationship between self-esteem and intergroup discrimination. He found no support for the hypothesis that social-category members (i.e., Christians) experience an elevation in the domain of self-esteem (i.e., religious self-esteem) judged as more relevant to the in-group after evaluations favoring the in-group. Regardless of whether the evaluation targets behaved positively or negatively, the respondents in the experimental condition evaluated in-group (Christian) targets more highly than out-group (Atheist) targets. After evaluations favoring the in-group, the respondents did not experience an elevation of religious self-esteem, global self-esteem, or mathematical self-esteem (judged as less relevant to the in-group).     

Development of key-pecking, pause, and ambulation during extended exposure to a fixed-interval schedule of reinforcement

Six pigeons key-pecked under a fixed-interval (FI) 3-min schedule of food presentation. Each pigeon was studied for 200 daily sessions with 15 intervals per session (3,000 total food presentations). Analyses included the examination of latency to first peck (pause), mean rate of key pecking, and ambulation. Characterizations of stable performance were assessed across measures of behavior and evaluated using commonly employed stability criteria. Stability of response rate and pause was identified better by assessments that evaluated variability and trend, rather than just variability. Between-subject differences in rate of acquisition and terminal values of steady-state performance of pause were observed, and stable pause durations took longer to develop than did stable key-pecking rates. Relative variability in response rate and pause duration decreased as the means increased. A temporally organized pattern of key-pecking (the so-called FI scallop) developed within 50 sessions of exposure to the schedule. Overall ambulation decreased during the early sessions of exposure and further analyses showed greater rates of ambulation during the pause than after it for 4 of the 6 pigeons. Performance under the FI 3-min schedule developed relatively slowly, and key-pecking, pause, and ambulation developed at different rates.     

Liking for positive words and icons moderates the association between implicit and explicit self-esteem

Whereas explicit self-esteem (ESE) refers to a conscious self-evaluation, implicit self-esteem (ISE) refers to non-conscious self-evaluation. Presumably, ISE and ESE are based on different mental processes — the experiential system and the rational system, respectively (Epstein, 1994) as well as different experiences (DeHart, Pelham, & Tennen, 2006). Two studies showed that participants who more strongly preferred positive icons and positive words showed a stronger association between ISE and ESE, presumably because they are highly willing to trust their intuitions. Because the major motive of the experiential system is the hedonic principle — pursuing positive affect and avoiding negative affect (Epstein, 2010), we argue that people's reactions to unambiguously positive stimuli should reflect their reliance on their intuition. In addition, we suggest that a better understanding of intuitiveness may yield important insights into the nature of ISE and ESE.     

Is objectification always harmful? Reactions to objectifying images and feedback as a function of self-objectification and mortality salience

From the perspective of terror management theory, awareness of death induces a need for validation of important values. Thus, for women who place a high value on their appearance (e.g., high self-objectifiers), mortality salience should increase positive reactions to objectifying experiences relative to women who do not highly value appearance. Two studies supported this hypothesis. Self-objectification moderated favorable reactions to objectifying stimuli (Study 1) and state self-esteem in response to an objectifying comment (Study 2) when women were primed with death. Together, the studies illustrate the complexity of reactions to objectification and, by highlighting conditions in which objectification serves a psychological function, help to explain the pervasiveness of the phenomena.     

Predicting counterproductive work behavior from the interaction of personality traits

Much attention has been given to enhancing the prediction of counterproductive work behavior (CWB), with a particular focus on the relationship between the five factor model of personality and CWB. Several scholars have advocated for a more complex view of this relationship, and rather than focusing simply on main effects, to examine the interaction of personality traits in predicting employee behavior. In consideration of the traits most strongly related to CWB, we examined the interaction between: (1) conscientiousness and emotional stability, (2) agreeableness and emotional stability, and (3) conscientiousness and agreeableness on CWB directed at individuals (CWB-I) and the organization (CWB-O). Results from a multi-national sample illustrate the interaction of traits increases the prediction of CWB over and above a single trait approach. The interactions suggest employees perform the least CWB when they are high on both traits (in the respective trait pairings), but low levels on either trait relate to increased CWB, and at levels comparable to individuals low on both traits. We conclude research on personality and CWB would benefit from an interactive approach as it allows for greater prediction of CWB-O and CWB-I, which is important in light of the organizational and interpersonal consequences of employee misbehavior.     

不稳定控制感剥夺损害工作记忆刷新功能

控制感剥夺会阻碍工作记忆中的转换功能,但对工作记忆中刷新功能的影响机制尚不清楚。据此,本文通过两个实验来探究控制感剥夺对工作记忆刷新功能的影响。结果发现,相较于基线水平,无论是通过行为无助任务（实验1）还是通过信息无助任务（实验2）操纵的稳定控制感剥夺均未阻碍随后的刷新任务;但在不稳定控制感剥夺的条件下（实验2）,刷新任务的成绩显著降低。这表明,控制感剥夺对工作记忆刷新功能的影响依赖于对其操纵的稳定性。