Relative deprivation based on occupation: An effective predictor of Chinese life satisfaction

Relative deprivation (RD) refers to the fact that individuals may feel deprived of some desirable thing in social comparison relative to a reference group. Occupational group is widely recognized as the essential reference group and generally used to compare differences in earnings and social position. Four waves' data from the Social Attitudes Survey of Urban‐Rural Residents (China) (SAS‐C; 2005/2007/2008/2009) were used to compute to Stewart's new measure of RD for different occupational groups and its relationship to life satisfaction (a cognitive component of subjective well‐being). Results showed that both economic RD (defined as individuals' RD of material benefits, such as income, wealth etc.) and social status RD (defined as individuals' RD on their evaluation of social status) consistently predicted Chinese life satisfaction for a period of time from 2005 to 2009; meanwhile, individual economic RD was moderately correlated to social status RD. The effects of RD and some demographic variables on life satisfaction are discussed and possible improvements for future research are suggested.     

Regulatory Focus and Political Decision Making: When People Favor Reform Over the Status Quo

Two studies examined the impact of self‐reported use of promotion‐related (i.e., eagerness) and prevention‐related (i.e., vigilance) strategies when making “risky” or “conservative” decisions about economic reform under good, average, or poor economic conditions. Consistent with regulatory focus theory ( Higgins, 1997, 1998, 2000 ), in both studies strategic vigilance was associated with making a conservative choice, whereas strategic eagerness was associated with making a risky choice. In addition, along with perceptions of economic conditions, chronic strength of prevention focus (Study 1) or situationally induced prevention focus (Study 2) was associated with using strategic vigilance, whereas chronic strength of promotion focus (Study 1) or situationally induced promotion focus (Study 2) was associated with using strategic eagerness. Finally, regulatory focus and economic perceptions indirectly predicted economic reform decisions through their impact on strategy use. Our studies are the first to demonstrate that vigilant or eager strategy use is associated with “conservative” or “risky” political decisions.     

The association between low socioeconomic status and depressive symptoms depends on temperament and personality traits

Socioeconomic status and personality traits are known to be associated with depression risk. We examined whether temperament and personality traits modified the association between socioeconomic status and depressive symptoms. The participants were 2678 individuals from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study, aged 18-49 during the three study waves in 1997, 2001, and 2007 included in the present study. Temperament was assessed with the Temperament and Character Inventory, personality with the Five Factor Model, and depressive symptoms with a modified version of Beck’s Depression Inventory. Education, occupational status, and income level were used as indicators of socioeconomic status. Results of multilevel linear regression analysis indicated that low occupational status and income were associated with high depressive symptoms particularly in individuals with high neuroticism or harm avoidance, and with low extraversion or reward dependence. High persistence also strengthened the negative association between income and depressive symptoms, but this interaction effect was not observed with conscientiousness. The mental health risks of low socioeconomic status may therefore be most potent among individuals who are sensitive to negative and threatening stimuli.     

Sex drive, attachment style, relationship status and previous infidelity as predictors of sex differences in romantic jealousy

Recent research examining sex differences in jealousy suggests that more men than women tend to be distressed by sexual infidelity, and that more women than men tend to be distressed by emotional infidelity. The primary explanation for these findings is that evolution has shaped men’s and women’s responses to enhance their chances of reproductive success. However, within-sex differences are also found in terms of relative level of distress at sexual or emotional infidelity. This study examined the effect of alternative variables, particularly those associated with attachment and sexual motivations, on both between- and within-sex differences in relative distress at sexual and emotional infidelity. A community sample of 437 adults provided data using a self-report questionnaire. The results showed that sex drive was a significant predictor of distress at jealousy for both men and women, while attachment avoidance and previously being the victim of a sexual infidelity were significant predictors for men only, and relationship status was a significant predictor for women only. Overall, these findings support the evolutionary model of jealousy, and suggest that sex-specific evolved psychological mechanisms underpinning jealousy are influenced by attachment and sexual motivations.     

Overvaluation of shape and weight among overweight children and adolescents with loss of control eating

Little is known about the phenomenology of pediatric loss of control (LOC) eating. Overvaluation of shape and weight, however, appears to be diagnostically meaningful among binge eating adults. We explored the significance of shape and weight overvaluation among children and adolescents with LOC eating. Participants (n = 526) included 149 overweight youth with LOC eating and 377 overweight controls (CON). Participants were categorized as those reporting at least moderate overvaluation (LOC-Mod, n = 74; CON-Mod, n = 106) or less than moderate overvaluation (LOC-Low, n = 75; CON-Low, n = 271), and compared on measures of eating-related and general psychopathology. LOC-Mod evidenced lower self-esteem than CON-Low, and greater behavioral problems than CON-Mod and CON-Low, but did not differ from LOC-Low in these domains. With the exception of LOC-Low and CON-Mod, all groups differed on global eating-disorder severity, with LOC-Mod scoring the highest. Overvaluation of shape and weight appears to be of questionable importance in defining subtypes of youth with LOC eating. However, as overvaluation and LOC eating each independently predicts eating-disorder onset, their confluence may confer even further risk for eating-disorder development. Longitudinal studies should address this possibility. Developmentally appropriate discussion about body image disturbance may be indicated in interventions targeting pediatric LOC eating and/or obesity.     

Demonstrating knowledge: The effects of group status on outgroup helping

We examined, in two experiments, the notion that members of low status groups, more than members of high status groups, use outgroup helping as a strategic tool to demonstrate their group's knowledge and boost its reputation. In Study 1 (N = 103), we compared outgroup helping in response to requests for help with offering help. As predicted, participants' knowledge was positively related to outgroup helping in response to requests, but only among members of low status groups. Knowledge also predicted the offering of help among members of high status groups. The second study (N = 75) replicated the findings from the requested help condition and showed that the effect disappeared in a condition in which help could not reflect ingroup knowledge. Additional data support a conclusion in terms of a collective strategy to boost the ingroup's reputation by demonstrating ingroup knowledge to the outgroup. The implications for promoting outgroup helping in a salient intergroup context are discussed.     

Automatic and controlled cognitive responses to intergroup threat as assessed using the process dissociation procedure: a study of a low-status group from China

Xiang, L. & Zhao, Y. (2012). Automatic and controlled cognitive responses to intergroup threat as assessed using the process dissociation procedure: A study of a low-status group from China. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 53, 280-285. Explicit and implicit methods are typically employed to investigate the respective controlled and automatic cognitive responses to intergroup threat. However, these may not be "process pure" measures of automatic or controlled responses. The present study used the process dissociation procedure to investigate the relative contributions of automatic and controlled cognitive responses to intergroup threat. Following exposure to a threat/no threat manipulation, fifty Chinese rural undergraduates who were regarded as low-status group members completed a recognition memory task, in which they were asked to identify all or select "old" (previously presented) trait words relating to an urban outgroup. The results showed that compared to the non-threat group, when rural members perceived threat from an urban group, their automatic response was a decrease in favoritism for this outgroup, but was not derogative, whereas the controlled response was neither positive nor negative. These findings are inconsistent with previous research using explicit and implicit methods. The reasons for this discrepancy are discussed.     

授权赋能领导行为对员工内部人身份感知的影响:基于组织的自尊的调节作用

从组织投资的视角,研究授权赋能领导行为、内部人身份感知与组织公民行为之间的关系.通过问卷调查,搜集了一家企业146名主管和下属的配对数据.研究结果表明,领导授权赋能行为对员工内部人身份感知有积极的影响作用,同时,内部人身份感知在授权赋能领导行为和员工组织公民行为之间起到完全中介作用,同时,员工基于组织的自尊对内部人身份感知的中介效应起到调节作用.最后还讨论了未来的研究方向和实际应用的意义等内容.     

Motivation as a Mediator of Social Disparities in Academic Achievement

The present study aimed at contributing to the understanding of social disparities in relation to students' academic achievement in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics domains. A sample of n = 321 German 11th graders completed measures of their family socio‐economic status (SES), general intelligence, domain‐specific ability self‐concepts and subjective scholastic values in math, physics and chemistry. Students' grades in these subjects received four months after testing served as criteria. Significant mediation effects were found for all motivational variables between fathers' SES and students' achievement, whereas for mothers' SES, only children's academic self‐concept in chemistry was a significant mediator. These results also held when students' general intelligence was controlled. Additionally, we controlled for students' grades before testing to investigate which variables mediated the influence of SES on change in school performance. Motivational variables significantly mediated the influence of fathers' SES on change in school performance in math but not in chemistry and physics. Intelligence significantly mediated the influence of fathers' SES on change in school performance in physics and chemistry but not in mathematics. The impact of mothers' SES on change in grades in chemistry was mediated by intelligence. Among others, the reasons potentially accounting for the differential influences of fathers' and mothers' SES are discussed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

后悔的一致性模型:理论和证据

重新检验Ｇｉｌｏｖｉｃｈ和Ｍｅｄｖｅｃ的后悔时间性模型。该模型认为,与假设思维有关的短期后悔的研究结果相反,人们日常生活中最大的后悔（长期后悔）多是“不做”而不是“做”的后悔。该文认为这一理论上的矛盾来自于双方对“做／不做”概念以及“做－不做”规律适用范围的不同理解。该研究使用这一新的分类方法,发现和短期后悔一样,至少一半的长期后悔来自于“状态改变”的后悔。这此基础上提出后悔的一致性模型,认为长期