Attitudes toward older and younger adults: a meta-analysis

Attitudes toward the elderly have been examined in a number of empirical studies, yet the question of whether the elderly are viewed more negatively than younger persons has not been resolved. A meta-analysis of the literature was conducted to examine this question; results demonstrated that attitudes toward the elderly are more negative than attitudes toward younger people. However, smaller differences between the evaluations of elderly and younger targets were found when (a) the study used measures of personality traits (compared with measures of competence), (b) there were a larger number of dependent measures included in the effect size, (c) specific information was provided about the target person (compared with when a general target such as old person was used), and (d) a between-subjects design (compared with a within-subjects design) was used. These results support Lutsky's (1981) conclusion that age, in and of itself, seems to be less important in determining attitudes toward the elderly than other types of information. The methodological limitations within the literature and a need to consider multiple components of attitudes toward older individuals are discussed.     

Gender Differences in Anti-Gay Prejudice: Evidence for Stability and Change

Sex Roles - In recent years, there has been remarkable change in societal acceptance of lesbians and gay men. This meta-analysis explored whether this positive shift has reduced the gender...     

The assessment of protective behavioral strategies: Comparing prediction and factor structures across measures

Protective behavioral strategies (PBS), or drinking control strategies, are specific behaviors one can utilize to minimize the harmful consequences of alcohol consumption. As there is not currently a standard measure of PBS, the goal of the present study was to examine the factor structure and concurrent validity of three scales designed to assess PBS: Protective Behavioral Strategies Scale (PBSS; Martens, M. P., Ferrier, A. G., Sheehy, M. J., Corbett, K., Anderson, D. A., & Simmons, A., 2005 Development of the Protective Behavioral Strategies Survey. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 66, 698-705), Protective Behavioral Strategies Measure (Novik, M. G., & Boekeloo, B. O., 2011, Dimensionality and psychometric analysis of an alcohol protective behavioral strategies scale. Journal of Drug Education, 41, 65-78. doi:10.2190/DE.41.1.d), and the Strategy Questionnaire (SQ); (Sugarman, D. E., & Carey, K. B., 2007), The relationship between drinking control strategies and college student alcohol use. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 21, 338-345. doi:10.1037/0893-164X.21.3.338). In a sample of college students (n = 291), we used confirmatory factor analysis to examine the proposed factor structures of each scale. Although the theorized three-factor structure fit the data moderately well for the PBSS, the theorized factor structures for the Protective Behavioral Strategies Measure and SQ did not fit the data well. Further, the composite scores from the PBSS were all significantly negatively correlated with alcohol-related problems, whereas the composites of the SQ were not significantly correlated with alcohol-related problems. Although we have evidence in favor of 1 PBS measure over others, we discuss broader issues related to assessment of PBS. We consider the different instructions, response scales, and time intervals for various PBS measures in terms of how they relate to the advancement of PBS research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

“亚当·斯密问题”的逻辑张力

“亚当·斯密问题”是指斯密的《国富论》与《道德情操论》之间存在着对立或不一致的问题,最初由十九世纪中叶的德国历史学派所提出。此后,随着现实与理论的发展,出现了不同的看法。学者们普遍认为,斯密的两大著作之间、经济学与伦理学之间存在着对立或者不存在对立,而是相互一致的。这些看法都具有各自的积极合理的内容,但缺乏辩证的观点,而没有看到“斯密问题”自身的逻辑张力,也就是说,“斯密问题”所指涉的是现实的经济与伦理之间及作为其理论表现的经济学与伦理学之间的关系。“斯密问题”所含的这些关系呈现出了一个动态的、由肯定到否定再到否定之否定的辩证过程。     

Presence and television.

Film and a number of emerging entertainment technologies offer media consumers an illusion of nonmediation known as presence. To investigate the possibility that television can evoke presence, 65 undergraduate students were shown brief examples of rapid point‐of‐view movement from commercially available videotapes on a television with either a small screen (12 inches [30.5 cm], measured diagonally) or a large screen (46 inches [116.8 cm]). Participants' responses were measured via a questionnaire and a computer‐based recording of arousal (electrodermal activity). Viewers of both televisions reported an enjoyable sense of physical movement, excitement, involvement, and a sense of participation. Furthermore, as predicted, participants who watched the large screen television thought the movement in the scenes was faster, experienced a greater sense of physical movement, enjoyed the movement to a greater extent, found the viewing experience more exciting, and were more physiologically aroused. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.     

Age,Emotion Regulation Strategies,Temperament, Creative Drama,and Preschoolers' Creativity

Based on Yeh's (2004) Ecological Systems Model of Creativity Development, this study investigated the effects that age, the use of emotion regulation strategies, temperament, and exposure to creative drama instruction have on the development of creativity among preschool children. Participants were 1164‐ to 6‐year‐old preschool children. This study categorized the emotion regulation strategies used by preschool children and developed a creativity test which includes the measurement of usefulness, an indicator of creativity that has, until now, been ignored. The main findings are that (a) 6‐year‐olds outperform 4‐ and 5‐year‐olds in terms of creativity; (b) emotion regulation strategies as well as a positive temperament have positive effects on children's creativity; (c) creative drama instruction contributes to children's creativity; and (d) age group, emotion regulation strategies, temperament, and creative drama instruction can collectively predict children's creativity.