Wanting,having, and satisfaction: examining the role of desire discrepancies in satisfaction with income

In 3 studies, the authors tested the predictors of income satisfaction, examining whether discrepanc between the things people have and the things they desire predict satisfaction. Study 1 manipulated the desirability of items that can be purchased with participants' income, and showed that their satisfaction with that income depended on the desirability of these items. Study 2 demonstrated that whether people's income enabled them to purchase the things they desired influenced their satisfaction with income. Study 3 found that the effect of comparisons with a person's past on income satisfaction is completely mediated by one's desires; and the effect of social comparison on income satisfaction is partially mediated by desires. Thus, desires play a pivotal role in determining people's satisfaction with income.     

The mediating role of parental expectations in culture and well-being

In two studies, we examined the role of perceived fulfillment of parental expectations in the subjective well-being of college students. In Study 1, we found that American college students reported having higher levels of life satisfaction and self-esteem than did Japanese college students. American college students also reported having fulfilled parental expectations to a greater degree than did Japanese college students. Most importantly, the cultural difference in well-being was mediated by perceived fulfillment of parental expectations. In Study 2, we replicated the mediational finding with Asian American and European American college students. Asian American participants also perceived their parents' expectations about their academic performance to be more specific than did European Americans, which was associated with the cultural difference in perceived fulfillment of parental expectations. In short, perceived parental expectations play an important role in the cultural difference in the well-being of Asians and European Americans.     

Consuming now or later? The interactive effect of timing and attribute alignability

Decisions are often temporally separated from their outcomes. Using theories of structural alignment and temporal construal, we examined how temporal distance and the associated shift in decision processes moderate susceptibility to context effects. Specifically, in two experiments (one hypothetical, one with real outcomes), we demonstrated that people attend more to nonalignable differences when the outcome of the decision is in the distant future than when it is in the near future. This shift in decision processes was found in preference and choice data, as well as coded written protocols. We further show that this temporal shift cannot be explained by differential involvement with the decision or by the feasibility and desirability of the attributes. Our findings establish temporal distance as an important moderator of structural alignment effects and also extend the implications of temporal construal theory beyond the nature of the attributes to the structural relationships among attributes.     

An fMRI study of temporal sequencing of motor regulation guided by an auditory cue—a comparison with visual guidance

The neuronal system to process and transfer auditory information to the higher motor areas was investigated using fMRI. Two different types of internal modulation of auditory pacing (1 Hz) were combined to design a 2×2 condition experiment, and the activation was compared with that under a visual guidance. The bilateral anterior portion of the BA22 (ant-BA22) and the left BA41/42 were more extensively activated by the combined modulation condition under the auditory cue than that under the visual cue. Among the four auditory conditions with or without the two types of internal modulation, the activation in the ant-BA22 was augmented only on the left side by the combined modulation condition. The left ant-BA22 may be especially involved in integrating the external auditory cue with internal modulation, while the activation on the right side did not depend on the complexity. The role of the left BA41/42 in motor regulation may be more specific to the processing of an auditory cue than that on the right side. These two areas in the left temporal lobe may be organized as a subsystem to handle the timing of complex movements under auditory cues, while the higher motor areas in the frontal lobe support both sensory modalities for the cue. This architecture may be considered as ‘audio-motor control’, which is similar to the visuo-motor control of the front-parietal network.     

Re-examining the general positivity model of subjective well-being: the discrepancy between specific and global domain satisfaction

Three studies were conducted to examine the role of global life satisfaction in the discrepancy between specific and global domain satisfaction. Participants rated both global (e.g., education) and the corresponding, specific domain (e.g., professors, textbooks) satisfactions. In 3 studies, we found that individuals with higher life satisfaction evaluated global domain as a whole as more satisfying than those with lower life satisfaction, given the same level of satisfaction with specific domains. In Study 3, we also found that, given the same level of satisfaction during the previous 2 weeks, individuals with higher life satisfaction rated the global domains in general as more satisfying than those with lower life satisfaction. Overall, the association between globallife satisfaction and evaluative enhancement of global domains was most consistent in "self" and "social relationships." Finally, the effect of global life satisfaction on evaluative enhancement remained significant, controlling for extraversion and neuroticism.     

Progressive taxation and the subjective well-being of nations

Using data from the Gallup World Poll, we examined whether progressive taxation is associated with increased levels of subjective well-being. Consistent with Rawls's theory of justice, our results showed that progressive taxation was positively associated with the subjective well-being of nations. However, the overall tax rate and government spending were not associated with the subjective well-being of nations. Furthermore, controlling for the wealth of nations and income inequality, we found that respondents living in a nation with more-progressive taxation evaluated their lives as closer to the best possible life and reported having more positive and less negative daily experiences than did respondents living in a nation with less-progressive taxation. Finally, we found that the association between more-progressive taxation and higher levels of subjective well-being was mediated by citizens' satisfaction with public goods, such as education and public transportation.     

Residential mobility moderates preferences for egalitarian versus loyal helpers

The present research examines whether the experience and the expectation of residential mobility related to the type of helpers whom people wanted to befriend and work with. We predicted and found that people who moved more frequently before college (Studies 1 and 2) preferred those who were likely to extend a helpful hand to those outside their immediate social circles. By contrast, people who had not moved preferred those who prioritized helping in-group members over strangers. Study 3 tested the hypothesis by priming the expectation of residential mobility versus stability and replicated the findings with residential mobility but did not find difference in the stability condition. These results suggest that residential mobility does not merely change people's living environments but also affects interpersonal preferences and with whom people would like to associate.     

Re-examining the positivity of self-evaluations among East Asians and European Americans

Evidence from recent studies suggests that the method used to assess self-enhancement can influence the interpretation of findings on the existence of self-enhancement among East Asians. Circumventing many of the methodological problems associated with previous studies, we conducted a cross-cultural study that contrasted participants’ self-evaluations of personality traits with peer ratings. Specifically, East Asian and European American participants provided separate self- and peer-ratings on measures of individualistically- and collectivistically-valued traits in a round-robin design. Results revealed greater self-enhancement tendency among European Americans on both traits. Moreover, European Americans, but not East Asians, provided self-ratings that were more positive than peer-ratings. These findings challenge claims regarding the use of tactical self-enhancement among East Asians.     

When is Parental Suppression of Black Children’s Negative Emotions Adaptive? The Role of Preparation for Racial Bias and Children’s Resting Cardiac Vagal Tone

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - Research demonstrates that Black parents attempt to suppress children’s expressions of negative emotions (e.g., anger, fear), in part, to...     

Tilted InSb nanostructures fabricated by off-normal ion beam irradiation

ABSTRACT

Using a two-step focused ion beam irradiation process, tilted InSb nanostructures have been fabricated using a off-normal angle of irradiation. In the first step, a well-focused ion beam was used to irradiate the surface of the structure to achieve top-down sputtering. In the second step, the ion beam was used to irradiate the entire surface to promote bottom-up nanostructure growth through the migration of ion-beam-induced interstitial atoms. The formation of a nanostructure with a 46° tilt and an aspect ratio of 0.5 was achieved using ion beam irradiation at an angle of 45° in both steps of the process. The 2% concentration of point defects obtained by changing the volume of the nanostructure before and after irradiation contributed to the growth of the structure. The results showed that many point defects did not recombine, and survived to contribute toward the growth of the wall structure.