Do individual differences in intolerance of uncertainty affect health monitoring?

Researchers have postulated that individual differences in intolerance of uncertainty (IU) may affect people's health behaviours. Study 1 (N?=?147 university students) supports this proposition showing that higher IU is associated with higher monitoring (seeking threat-relevant information). Study 2 (N?=?117 university students) experimentally manipulated IU to ensure that the association is not due to other related constructs such as anxiety or worry. Results show that inducing high IU led to increased monitoring as reflected by higher scores on an index of monitoring measures. Wanting information about the health threat in order to reduce their uncertainty was an independent predictor of monitoring and did not mediate the relationship between IU and monitoring. Findings suggest that high IU induces people to increase their monitoring; an adaptive strategy when the health threat can be reduced through this behaviour.     

Authoritarian reactions to terrorist threat: Who is being threatened,the Me or the We?

Endorsement of authoritarian attitudes has been observed to increase under conditions of terrorist threat. However, it is not clear whether this effect is a genuine response to perceptions of personal or collective threat. We investigated this question in two experiments using German samples. In the first experiment (N = 144), both general and specific authoritarian tendencies increased after asking people to imagine that they were personally affected by terrorism. No such effect occurred when they were made to think about Germany as a whole being affected by terrorism. This finding was replicated and extended in a second experiment (N = 99), in which personal and collective threat were manipulated orthogonally. Authoritarian and ethnocentric (ingroup bias) reactions occurred only for people highly identified with their national ingroup under personal threat, indicating that authoritarian responses may operate as a group‐level coping strategy for a threat to the personal self. Again, we found no effects for collective threat. In both studies, authoritarianism mediated the effects of personal threat on more specific authoritarian and ethnocentric reactions. These results suggest that the effects of terrorist threat on authoritarianism can, at least in part, be attributed to a sense of personal insecurity, raised under conditions of terrorist threat. We discuss the present findings with regard to basic sociomotivational processes (e.g., group‐based control restoration, terror management) and how these may relate to recent models of authoritarianism.     

Cutaneous Pattern Perception on Foreheads in 3- and 4-Year-Old Children

In the present study, we investigated how 3- and 4-year-old children perceived mirror-image stimuli traced on their foreheads. First, the subjects were taught matching-to-sample tasks with symmetrically shaped and asymmetrically shaped figures (called mirror-image stimuli) on cards. Then the subjects were taught cutaneous perception of a figure traced by the experimenter's finger on the forehead. Last, the subjects were tested with mirror-image stimuli in cutaneous perception tasks. The results of these experiments indicated that the subjects who could discriminate the mirror-image stimuli could also perceive asymmetrical stimuli as mirror reversals.     

Improving intergroup attitudes and reducing stereotype threat: An integrated contact model

In this chapter we develop an intergroup contact model of stereotype threat effects. We review research on improving intergroup relations and reducing stereotype threat. We then propose an integrated model that specifies the processes through which both actual and imagined intergroup contact reduce the impact of stereotypes on behaviour. We discuss support for this model and, drawing on social identity theory, how changing intergroup relations produces interrelated effects on perceptions of the self, ingroup, and outgroup. This review documents an emerging, wider range of benefits that accrue from intergroup contact. It illustrates how such interventions not only challenge prejudiced attitudes, but can also free individuals from the negative impact of stereotypes in a range of other domains. Finally we discuss the practical benefits of taking this integrated perspective and outline an agenda for future work.     

Rights for me but not for thee: Restriction of human rights based on group membership and threat perceptions

Policies aimed at limiting border crossing and influencing other cultural values have been enacted domestically and internationally in the name of security. However, do these decisions concerning such tradeoffs resonate equally across all groups? In two studies, we probe the moderating impact of intergroup threat on the inclination to restrict human rights. In Study 1, we employ a unique economic tradeoff model to directly compare the value of security with the rights of either citizens or non-citizens. In Study 2, we broaden these findings by examining whether support for infringements on the right to privacy varies among diverse groups. Across both studies, our results consistently show that an increase in intergroup threat corresponds to heightened restriction of rights, but only when contemplating individuals who are not citizens, such as non-citizens, residents, or foreigners. We propose future research directions that include promoting the concept of a global community and exploring altruistic behaviours associated with rights protection.     

When believing in the union is (not) enough: The role of threat and norms in intentions to act on union legitimacy and efficacy beliefs

Three field studies conducted with academics and students examined the dynamic role of threat and normative support for a union in qualifying the relationship between union‐related legitimacy and efficacy beliefs, and union intentions. There was evidence for interplay between threat and norms in facilitating people acting in accordance with their union beliefs, and in providing the conditions where those with weaker beliefs may be mobilised. In Study 1, students' perception of threat to group interests facilitated their preparedness to act on pro‐union legitimacy and efficacy beliefs. In Study 2, among academics who perceived low threat, acting on union legitimacy and efficacy beliefs was contingent on a pro‐union norm, while those who perceived high threat were prepared to act on their union legitimacy beliefs regardless of the normative environment. Finally, in Study 3, a pro‐union norm again facilitated acting on union beliefs in a low threat condition and overcame the importance of legitimacy and efficacy beliefs in a high threat condition. In sum, this research makes a case for the importance of union strategies attending to both the framing of intergroup threat and the communication of in‐group normative support for the union.     

群际威胁与社会认知基本维度自我肯定对自我评价的影响

两个实验探索群际威胁情境下表达性和能动性自我肯定对个体自我评价的影响。实验一诱发群际威胁,操作表达性自我肯定,测量被试的自我评价水平。实验二与实验一采用相同的方法,诱发群际威胁,操作能动性自我肯定,之后测量自我评价水平。两个实验均发现,群际威胁组的自我评价显著低于控制组;在群际威胁情境下,表达性自我肯定组和能动性自我肯定组的自我评价显著高于无自我肯定组。研究表明,群际威胁虽然是群体水平的感知,但会对个体水平的自我评价产生消极影响,通过社会认知基本维度进行自我肯定能有效缓解群际威胁对自我评价的消极影响。自我肯定对群际威胁与自我评价之间关系的作用机制还需要进一步探讨。     

The Country's Crime Rate Moderates the Relation Between Authoritarian Predispositions and the Manifestations of Authoritarianism: A Multilevel,Multinational Study

We performed a multilevel, multinational test of Stenner's model on authoritarianism using the 2008 European Values Survey dataset (N = 55 199, nested in 38 nations). We focussed on the effects exerted on four authoritarian manifestations (racial intolerance, political intolerance, negative attitudes towards immigrants, and moral intolerance) by the cross‐level interaction between participants' authoritarian predispositions (assessed in terms of childrearing values) and their country's crime rate. Associations between authoritarian predispositions and racial intolerance, political intolerance, negative attitudes towards immigrants, and moral intolerance were significantly stronger among participants living in countries characterised by high crime rates than those among participants living in countries with low crime rates. Limitations, implications, and future directions of this study are discussed. Copyright © 2013 European Association of Personality Psychology.     

认知判断中手部动作模拟的fMRI研究

该研究采用功能磁共振成像技术,考察不同条件下进行工具认知判断时手部姿势对认知判断的影响及动作模拟的神经机制。实验发现：手部姿势存在显著的主效应,冲突手部姿势条件下反应时最慢,且冲突手部姿势条件下与不冲突手部姿势条件下、自然状态条件下反应时存在显著差异,自然状态条件与不冲突手部姿势条件下反应时不存在显著差异。另外,f MRI成像结果发现,额中回、额下回、顶下小叶以及辅助运动区在自然状态下有显著激活,表明个体在进行认知判断过程中有动作模拟过程;海马结构、扣带回及楔前叶等与记忆有关的脑区有显著激活,表明身体经验在认知过程的作用。总的研究表明,不同的手部姿势状态对认知判断有不同影响,冲突手部姿势会对动作模拟产生干扰作用,手部动作模拟的神经机制主要涉及镜像神经元区,且在认知判断时存在具身效应。     

Assessing lifetime stressor exposure in sport performers: Associations with trait stress appraisals,health, well-being,and performance

Research has found that greater lifetime stressor exposure increases the risk for mental and physical health problems. Despite this, few studies have examined how stressors occurring over the entire lifespan affect sport performers’ health, well-being, and performance, partly due to the difficulty of assessing lifetime stressor exposure. To address this issue, we developed a sport-specific stress assessment module (Sport SAM) for the Stress and Adversity Inventory (STRAIN) and then analyzed the instrument’s usability, acceptability, validity, and test-retest reliability. Furthermore, we examined whether trait-like tendencies to appraise stressful situations as a challenge or threat mediated the association between lifetime stressor exposure and health, well-being, and performance. Participants were 395 sport performers (M_age = 22.50 years, SD = 5.33) who completed an online survey. Results revealed that the Sport SAM demonstrated good usability and acceptability, good concurrent validity in relation to the Adult STRAIN (rs = 0.23 to 0.29), and very good test-retest reliability (r_icc = 0.87 to 0.89). Furthermore, the Sport SAM was significantly associated with symptoms of depression (β = 0.21 to 0.24, ps ≤ .001) and anxiety (β = 0.13 to 0.19, ps ≤ .012), and general physical (β = 0.24 to 0.27, ps = ≤ 0.001) and mental (β = 0.23 to 0.32, p ≤ .001) health complaints. Finally, we found that associations between total lifetime non-sport and sport-specific stressor severity and health were mediated by trait stress appraisals. Consequently, these findings may help practitioners better identify sport performers who are at risk of developing stress-related health problems.