A Danish version of the Sensation Seeking Scale and its relation to a broad spectrum of behavioral and psychological characteristics

The primary purpose of the present study was to evaluate the internal consistency and construct validity of the Danish translation of Zuckerman's Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS). The secondary aim was to extend the range of psychological variables and behaviors that have been related to sensation seeking. The sample consisted of 691 subjects (363 males and 328 females) with a mean age of 31.7 years. The internal consistency of the scales was evaluated by coefficient alpha and intercorrelations among the five scales derived from the SSS were computed. Information on other variables was collected through standardized tests as well as questionnaires and interviews developed especially for this study. The results showed that the Danish SSS is a psychometrically sound instrument and revealed the relationship between sensation seeking and a broad spectrum of psychological traits and behaviors: socioeconomic status, academic achievement, intelligence, personality, smoking, alcohol and drug use, sexuality, driving and public transportation violations, and leisure time activities. Thus, this study confirmed and expanded the findings of many previous studies, while the results supported the validity of the Danish SSS and corroborated the usefulness of the concept of sensation seeking.     

社会比较研究的现状与发展趋势

社会比较是人类普遍存在的一种社会现象,在西方关于社会比较的研究已经成为心理学界的一个重要课题。该文从社会比较的概念、类型、动机和策略等几个方面,回顾了国外近50年来研究者关于社会比较的研究脉络;最后,在回顾近几年研究的基础上对社会比较的未来研究趋势进行了展望。     

异同判断加工中整体和局部特征的作用

采用三种整体局部特征（关系-属性,全局-局部,抽象-具体）图形,要求3组大学生被试完成异同判断任务,以考察异同判断加工中整体和局部特征的作用,探讨异同比较的加工机制。三个实验的结果表明：⑴三种整体特征均可加速同反应,因而不支持同判断加工是整体匹配的观点;⑵存在快同效应,但并不支持同判断的快速加工器对整个刺激加工完成后慢速比较器才开始工作的观点;⑶异反应时随差异特征的增多而减小,从而进一步支持异判断是分析加工、自终止的观点;⑷异反应时随差异特征从上至下、从整体到局部而增加,意味着异判断加工的顺序可能是自上而下、从整体到局部。上述结果支持研究假设：同判断的快速加工器先加工整体特征,然后再和异判断的慢速比较器一起开始加工局部特征。     

The effects of exposure to muscular male models among men: exploring the moderating role of gym use and exercise motivation

This study examines the effects of exposure to the muscular male body ideal on body-focused negative affect among male gym users and non-exercisers. As hypothesized, the impact of media exposure depended on men's exercise status. Non-exercisers (n = 58) reported greater body-focused negative affect after exposure to images of muscular male models than after neutral images (no model controls), whereas gym users (n = 58) showed a tendency for less body-focused negative affect after the model images than after the control images. Furthermore, the extent to which gym users were motivated to increase strength and muscularity moderated these exposure effects; men who reported stronger strength and muscularity exercise motivation reported a greater degree of self-enhancement after exposure to the muscular ideal. The findings are interpreted with respect to likely differences in motives for social comparisons.     

Assessing vocational interests in the Basque Country using paired comparison design

This article proposes the Thurstonian paired comparison model to assess vocational preferences and uses this approach to evaluate the Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprise, and Conventional (RIASEC) model in the Basque Country (Spain). First, one unrestricted model is estimated in the Structural Equation Modelling framework using one paired comparison design. Secondly, the RIASEC circumplex structure is evaluated upon the estimated latent preferences correlation matrix. The results show good fit between the Thurstonian model and the data, but do not confirm the RIASEC structure in the Basque population.     

The role of egocentrism and focalism in the emotion intensity bias

People sometimes judge their emotions, preferences, and attitudes to be more intense than those of other people. Two experiments tested whether this emotion intensity bias in direct comparisons results from two non-motivated cognitive processes—egocentrism and focalism. In Study 1, the intensity bias was found even when comparing a friend’s preferences to peers. In Study 2, attention given to own versus other’s preferences, and the referent of the comparison (self or others) were manipulated. Results indicated that attention to others reduced the bias, presumably by reducing egocentrism. Consistent with focalism, the bias also emerged when a friend was the target of comparison, and the bias was eliminated when the self was the referent rather than the target of comparison. In the discussion, we evaluate these accounts in light of some alternative explanations for the intensity bias.     

Suitable stimuli to obtain (no) gender differences in the speed of cognitive processes involved in mental rotation

Gender differences in speed of perceptual comparison, of picture-plane mental rotation, and in switching costs between trials that do and do not require mental rotation, were investigated as a function of stimulus material with a total sample size of N=360. Alphanumeric characters, PMA symbols, animal drawings, polygons and 3D cube figures were used with an otherwise completely equivalent experimental design in which age and speed-based IQ were comparable across male and female groups. Small gender-related differences in speed of perceptual comparison were found with the magnitude as well as the direction depending upon the stimulus material. Polygons were the only material that produced substantial and reliable gender differences in mental rotation speed, and additionally revealed gender differences in switching costs. Thus, whereas gender differences in paper-pencil mental rotation tests constitute an empirical reality, the generalization that men outperform women in the speed of mental rotation was not supported in the present experiment.     

Working harder with the out-group: The impact of social category diversity on motivation gains

This paper examines the influence that social category diversity (i.e., working with an in-group or out-group member) has on individual levels of motivation. The results of two experiments provide evidence that individuals increase their effort more when being outperformed by an out-group instead of an in-group member (Experiment 1), but only when the potential for social comparison is present (Experiment 2). We discuss the implications of this research for understanding how and why social category diversity may impact individual levels of motivation.     

Providing worked examples for learning multiple principles

Worked examples support learning. However, if they introduce easy-to-confuse concepts or principles, specific ways of providing worked examples may influence their effectiveness. Multiple worked examples can be introduced blocked (i.e., several for the same principle) or interleaved (i.e., switching between principles), and can be sequentially or simultaneously presented. Crossing these two factors provides four ways of presenting worked examples: blocked/sequential, interleaved/sequential, blocked/simultaneous, and interleaved/simultaneous. In an experiment with university students (N = 174), we investigated how these two factors influence the acquisition of procedural and conceptual knowledge about different, but closely related (thus, easy-to-confuse) stochastic principles. Additionally, we assessed the ability of students to discriminate between principles with verification tasks. Simultaneous presentation benefitted procedural knowledge whereas, interleaved presentation benefitted conceptual knowledge. No significant differences were found for verification tasks. The results suggest that it is worthwhile to adapt the presentation of the worked examples to the learning goals.     

Which Societies Provide a Strong Religious Socialization Context? Explanations Beyond the Effects of National Religiosity

Religious socialization occurs within the immediate family as well as in the broader social context. Previous research has shown that parents’ religiosity matters less for the transmission of religious beliefs in devout than in secular nations, implying smaller costs of religious socialization. In this article we test which other societal factors affect the transmission of religious beliefs: anti‐religious policies in formerly socialist countries, economic development, and income inequality. Our results indicate that societies with high levels of income inequality seem to provide the most favorable context for religious socialization. Individuals develop strong religious beliefs even if they only received little religious socialization within the family. Formerly socialist nations increased socialization costs through the overall suppression of religious practice. Economic development has no impact on socialization effects, suggesting that inequality is a more important driver of religious change than previously thought.