Splitting the affective atom: Divergence of valence and approach-avoidance motivation during a dynamic emotional experience

Current Psychology - Valence and approach-avoidance motivation are two distinct but closely related components of affect. However, little is known about how these two processes evolve and covary in...     

Altered states of consciousness, dissociation, and dream recall

In a sample of 71 medical students, dream recall frequency was positively correlated with proneness to altered states of consciousness (r = .26) measured by the State of Mind and Consciousness Questionnaire and dissociation (r = .29) measured by the Dissociative Experiences Scale II. A regression analysis, however, yielded neither altered states of consciousness nor dissociation, sex, or age to be significant predictors of dream recall frequency. Among women dream recall frequency was associated with proneness to dissociation; among men it was correlated with proneness to altered states of consciousness.     

Smile intensity in social networking profile photographs is related to greater scientific achievements

Theory and research indicates that individuals with more frequent positive emotions are better at attaining goals at work and in everyday life. In the current study we examined whether the expression of genuine positive emotions by scientists was positively correlated with work-related accomplishments, defined by bibliometric (e.g. number of citations) and sociometric (number of followers for scholarly updates) indices. Using a sample of 440 scientists from a social networking site for researchers, multiple raters coded smile intensity (full smile, partial smile, or no smile) in publicly available photographs. We found that scientists who presented a full smile had the same quantity of publications yet of higher quality (e.g. citations per paper) and attracted more followers to their updates compared to less positive emotionally expressive peers; results remained after controlling for age and sex. Thin-slicing approaches to the beneficial effects of positive emotionality offer an ecologically valid approach to complement experimental and longitudinal evidence. Evidence linking positive emotional expressions to scientific impact and social influence provides further support for broaden and build models of positive emotions.     

On Quantitative and Qualitative Parsimony

The distinction between quantitative and qualitative parsimony is supposed to allow David Lewis to dismiss one of the charges against his modal realism: that is, the charge of bloated ontology. The aim of this paper is to undermine Lewis's response to this objection. In order to do this, a distinction between multipliable and nonmultipliable objects is introduced. Based on this it is argued that the acceptance of Lewis's response requires one to believe in modal realism in the first place—that is, one has to believe in the view that the existence of nonactual spatiotemporal worlds does not affect the quality of the ontological commitment. Although the paper focuses on the problem of the metaphysics of possible worlds, this should be regarded merely as a case study. Accordingly, the results of this analysis should find applications in other metaphysical debates as well.     

Are Teachers' Implicit Theories of Creativity Related to the Recognition of Their Students' Creativity?

We examine the structure of implicit theories of creativity among Polish high schools teachers and the role those theories play for the accuracy of teachers' assessment of their students' creativity. Latent class analysis revealed the existence of four classes of teachers, whose perception of a creative student differed: two of these classes defined a creative student incoherently with the existing theories of creativity, and the other two classes did that in accordance with Kirton's (1976) theory of creativity styles, that is, as adaptors or innovators. Teachers who perceived a creative student as an adaptor tended to more accurately assess the creativity of females, whereas teachers perceiving a creative student as an innovator more accurately assessed the creativity of males. We discuss the theoretical and practical consequences of these findings.     

Memory as discrimination: What distraction reveals

Recalling information involves the process of discriminating between relevant and irrelevant information stored in memory. Not infrequently, the relevant information needs to be selected from among a series of related possibilities. This is likely to be particularly problematic when the irrelevant possibilities not only are temporally or contextually appropriate, but also overlap semantically with the target or targets. Here, we investigate the extent to which purely perceptual features that discriminate between irrelevant and target material can be used to overcome the negative impact of contextual and semantic relatedness. Adopting a distraction paradigm, it is demonstrated that when distractors are interleaved with targets presented either visually (Experiment 1) or auditorily (Experiment 2), a within-modality semantic distraction effect occurs; semantically related distractors impact upon recall more than do unrelated distractors. In the semantically related condition, the number of intrusions in recall is reduced, while the number of correctly recalled targets is simultaneously increased by the presence of perceptual cues to relevance (color features in Experiment 1 or speaker’s gender in Experiment 2). However, as is demonstrated in Experiment 3, even presenting semantically related distractors in a language and a sensory modality (spoken Welsh) distinct from that of the targets (visual English) is insufficient to eliminate false recalls completely or to restore correct recall to levels seen with unrelated distractors . Together, the study shows how semantic and nonsemantic discriminability shape patterns of both erroneous and correct recall.     

The link between anger and admiration toward governmental actions and self-reported preventive behaviour in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, across six correlational studies in four different countries (total N = 4937), we examined the link between citizens' anger with and admiration for the government's actions and decisions (i.e., system-based anger and admiration) and engagement in preventive behaviour. The internal meta-analyses showed that individuals who admired the government's actions were more likely to adopt personal hygiene and social distancing behaviour. Yet, the link between emotions and preventive behaviour differed concerning the target of emotions, especially for anger. Specifically, anger about restrictions imposed by the government was negatively related to preventive behaviours, but this relationship was not significant when the target of anger was the government's overall handling of the pandemic. Our findings emphasise the importance of citizens' emotions and the targets of those emotions during the crisis.     

Aggressive? from Time to Time… Uncovering the Complex Associations between Time Perspectives and Aggression

The aim of this study was to empirically verify a series of hypotheses on the role of time perspective (TP) in predicting aggression, formulated on the basis of TP Theory and models of aggression. Three hundred participants completed the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI) and the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ). Analysis revealed numerous significant relationships between TP dimensions and aggression. In particular, individuals scoring high on Past Negative, Present Fatalistic, and Present Hedonistic were more prone to aggressive feelings, and, in consequence, aggressive behavior. These relationships were, however, strongly attenuated in individuals with high levels of two remaining TPs – Past Positive and Future. The results provide evidence that the temporal perspective people use to structure their experience into time horizons may play a significant role in the intensity and dynamics of aggression. We discuss our results from the perspectives of psychological theories of aggression and TP.     

Written on the Writer’s Face: Facial Width-to-Height Ratio among Nominees and Laureates of the Nobel Prize in Literature

This study examined the relationship between facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR), an established marker of testosterone level and dominance, and eminent writers’ achievement. The fWHR of laureates (N = 39) and nominees (N = 247) of the Nobel Prize in Literature 1901–1950 was measured together with historiometric data. It was demonstrated that although high-fWHR writers were nominated at a younger age, they waited longer for the prize than their low-fWHR counterparts. The probability of being awarded was predicted by the number of nominations, but fWHR moderated this association—the relationship between the number of nominations and the award probability was stronger among high-fWHR writers. Theoretical explanations of these findings are presented.