The perceived helpfulness of rendering emotional first aid via email

The present research examined the perceived helpfulness of an increasingly widespread mode of psychological assistance, namely, emotional first aid via email. The sample comprised 62 naturally occurring email interactions between distressful clients and trained volunteers operating within the framework of the Israeli Association for Emotional First Aid. Data were gathered by means of a structured questionnaire and open-ended questions so as to examine the clients' motivation to seek help via email and evaluate their satisfaction with the responses obtained. The results revealed a preference for written communication and the accessibility of assistance to be the most frequent reasons for clients to choose the medium of email. Most clients found the responses to be helpful in providing emotional support, enhancing cognitive change and suggesting practical ways of coping. Women perceived the assistance to be more helpful than men did. The results are discussed in terms of the unique value of email as an agent of mental health assistance.     

On the definition of objective probabilities by empirical similarity

Synthese - We suggest to define objective probabilities by similarity-weighted empirical frequencies, where more similar cases get a higher weight in the computation of frequencies. This formula is...     

Don't Make Me Angry! A Psychophysiological Examination of the Anger–Performance Relationship in Intermediate and Elite Fencers

We aimed to identify the effect of state-anger on precision, speed, and power components of performance during fencing attacks. We conducted a laboratory-based, single-case research experiment to test the fine motor task performance of two experienced and two elite-level fencers under two emotional states: anger and emotion-neutral. We assessed anger via psychophysiological and self-report measures, and we induced anger via a brief imagery intervention. Through the use of an innovative design, which included multiple measures of change, we showed that anger had a consistent negative effect on precision but an inconsistent relationship with response time and muscle activity. The current research design and protocol offer a novel and in-depth method for examining the specific relationships between affective states, emotions, and the complexities that underpin performance. The specific effects of anger on performance were multifarious, complex, and inconsistent. Nonetheless, the results tend to indicate that anger facilitates reaction time and debilitates performance, and these effects were clearer for the most elite performers. The effects of anger on performance are clearly complex, so it would be rather premature to make any suggestions for future practice at this point. Nonetheless, the clearer findings with the elite fencers indicate that researchers will likely yield the most fruitful insights by examining the effects of emotion of performance in elite performers.     

Personality Traits and Body Weight Measures: Concurrent and Across‐Time Associations

We tested the possibility that the five‐factor model of personality is associated with three measures of body weight and with changes in their levels over time and that these associations are gender specific. The study was conducted at two points of time, Time 1 (2664 participants) and Time 2 (1492 participants), over approximately 4 years, controlling for gender, age, education, and having a chronic disease. Body weight was assessed by body mass index, waist circumference, waist‐to‐hip ratio, and the five‐factor model by Saucier's Mini‐Markers. Cross‐sectional regression results indicated that conscientiousness was negatively associated with the three body weight measures, whereas neuroticism and extraversion were positively associated with the three body weight measures. The longitudinal regression results indicate that extraversion was associated with an increase in two of the body weight measures. Neuroticism was associated with increase in all three body weight measures and more strongly for women than for men. Openness was associated with a decrease in all three body weight measures for women, but this association was not significant for men. These findings help identify personality traits that lead to risk of weight gain and point to the modifying role of gender. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Contradictory asymmetries in body and weapon size,and assessment in fighting male prawns,Macrobrachium rosenbergii

Asymmetries in weapon size and body size, both contributing to an animal's fighting ability, may be contradictory in two fighting Macrobrachium rosenbergii males: One male may be larger in body size but smaller in cheliped size than its rival. The aim of the study was to determine the relevance of these two asymmetries in the assessment of relative fighting ability, and to reveal the effect of the asymmetry level on the structure of contests. Thirty contests were staged between male prawns from the ‘blue-clawed’ morphotype and the ‘orange-clawed’ morphotype. The blue-clawed males were 0%, 10%, or 20% larger in cheliped length but 93%, 45%, or 25% smaller in weight, respectively (n = 10), as compared to their orange-clawed opponents. The blue-clawed males with 10% and 20% advantage in cheliped length almost invariably won the contests. When similar in cheliped length, the 93% smaller blue-clawed males still won half of the contests. This indicated that the prawns ignored large asymmetries in body size even when no asymmetry in cheliped size existed. The results suggest that only cheliped size is used by M. rosenbergii males in the assessment of fighting ability. The effect of asymmetry level on contest structure was apparent only with the increase from 10% to 20% difference in cheliped size: Both the frequency and the intensity of fighting were lower in contests between prawns with 20% difference, as compared to 0% and 10% difference in cheliped length. Aggr. Behav. 23:81–91, 1997.© 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Style and substance in social desirability scales

The purpose of the present study was to examine the nature of a social desirability measure under two different types of instructions for filling out personality questionnaires in an occupational selection setting. 1230 male applicants for public vehicle driving licences were administered Cattett's 16PF and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ). The subjects were randomly assigned to two groups. One was given standard instructions for filling out these questionnaires; the second was given special instructions designed to reduce social desirability response bias. Social desirability was indexed by the Lie scale of the EPQ. Based on Eysenck's theorizing concerning the meaning of the Lie scale, the following hypothesis was tested: the factorial location of the Lie scale in the personality domain will differ under the two forms of instructions. It should appear separately from other personality factors under the standard instructions, whereas under the special instructions it should be subsumed under the personality factor which measures conformity. The results supported this hypothesis. The discussion focuses on the meaning of the Lie scale under conditions that elicit social desirability bias and on the role of special instructions in reducing this bias.     

Asymmetry of cognitive functioning as a possible predictor for vocational counseling and personnel classification

Neuropsychological research indicates the asymmetrical functioning of the cerebral hemispheres. The right hemisphere appears to specialize in global, synthetic, spatial, time-independent processing, whereas the left hemisphere is dominant in analytic, verbal, sequential, time-dependent processing. It is proposed here that in tasks, jobs, and occupations entailing hemisphere-specific abilities, personnel with superior functioning of the relevant hemisphere would perform more proficiently. A test battery designed to assess hemispheric dominance was administered to two groups, Economics and Arts students. Significant differences in mean performance were found between groups, as predicted. The findings suggest that the identification of individual patterns of hemispheric specialization may be useful for matching people's abilities with job demands.     

Burnout and risk of cardiovascular disease: evidence, possible causal paths, and promising research directions

Burnout is characterized by emotional exhaustion, physical fatigue, and cognitive weariness, resulting from prolonged exposure to work-related stress. The authors review the accumulated evidence suggesting that burnout and the related concept of vital exhaustion are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular-related events. The authors present evidence supporting several potential mechanisms linking burnout with ill health, including the metabolic syndrome, dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis along with sympathetic nervous system activation, sleep disturbances, systemic inflammation, impaired immunity functions, blood coagulation and fibrinolysis, and poor health behaviors. The association of burnout and vital exhaustion with these disease mediators suggests that their impact on health may be more extensive than currently indicated.