Dr. Seuss, felicitator

This article uses the life and work of Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss) to discuss certain aspects of what it means to be a ‘felicitator’, i.e. a person who brings happiness to others. The focus is particularly on his promotion of creativity and social inclusion, and his critique of materialism

Personality and Values Based Materialism: Their Relationship and Origins

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141942/1/jcpy389.pd

Traditional, Interpretive, and Reception Based Content Analyses: Improving the Ability of Content Analysis to Address Issues of Pragmatic and Theoretical Concern

This paper argues for a subtle but important shift in the way we view content analysis which allows for the introduction of two new variants on this methodology. Previously, content analysis has been seen as a method for quantifying the content of texts. This paper argues that we should view content analysis as a method for counting interpretations of content. Based on this reconceptualization, this paper suggests two new varieties of content analysis. Reception based content analysis allows researchers to quantify how different audiences will understand text. Interpretive content analysis is specially designed for latent content analysis, in which researchers go beyond quantifying the most straightforward denotative elements in a text. These new forms of content analysis are contrasted with traditional content analysis, and the appropriate conditions for their use are discussed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43696/1/11205_2004_Article_273898.pd

Individualism/Collectivism and Cultures of Happiness: A Theoretical Conjecture on the Relationship between Consumption, Culture and Subjective Well-Being at the National Level

This theory paper seeks to explain an empirical puzzle presented by past research on the relationship between consumption and subjective well-being (SWB). Research has shown that people in rich countries are, on average, significantly higher in SWB than people in poor countries, which is consistent with a strong link between one's overall level of consumption and one's SWB. However, when individuals within the same country are compared, income has little relationship to SWB above the level at which basic needs can be met, suggesting that higher levels of consumption may not be linked to higher levels of SWB. This link between consumption and SWB when nations are compared to each other, but not when individuals within a given nation are compared to each other, presents a puzzle. As a solution, I propose that economic development leads to higher levels of national average SWB not by increasing consumption (again, with the caveat that this statement excludes situations where basic needs are not being met), but by creating more individualistic cultures which encourage their members to pursue personal happiness over honor and meeting social obligations. Whether or not this is seen as a socially positive development depends in a circular fashion on the cultural values of the person making the judgement.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43060/1/10902_2004_Article_404141.pd

Development and validation of the illness perceptions questionnaire for youth anxiety and depression (IPQ-Anxiety and IPQ-Depression)

Background: The Revised Illness Perceptions Questionnaire (IPQ-R) is a well-established measure for measuring illness representations with sound psychometric properties. However, one limitation is that it provides a generic measure of illness representations and lacks specificity to individual health conditions, making it difficult to capture the nuances of illness beliefs for different populations. Objective: The aim of this study was to develop reliable and valid versions of the IPQ-R for young people with anxiety and depression to better understand how they perceive and cognitively represent the course, severity, impact, and treatability of their anxiety and depression. Methods: This mixed-methods study consisted of a qualitative study, involving semi-structured interviews (n = 26) followed by think-aloud interviews (n = 13), and a quantitative study (n = 349), resulting in the development of the IPQ-Anxiety (IPQ-A) and IPQDepression (IPQ-D). Item development is reported, along with the psychometric properties of the measures. Concurrent validity was assessed by correlating the IPQ-A and IPQ-D with the Brief Illness Perceptions Questionnaire (B-IPQ) across equivalent dimensions. Results: Results suggest that the IPQ-A, IPQ-D, B-IPQ-A and B-IPQ-D are valid and reliable tools for measuring mental illness representations. The measures show acceptable model fit, high factor loadings, and good to excellent internal consistency, test – retest reliability across subscales and concurrent validity with mental health measures. Conclusions: The development of these measures represents an important step in the field of youth mental health by providing the opportunity for reliable assessment of young people’s conceptualisations of their anxiety and depression. Better understanding of young people’s illness beliefs has the potential to open a range of intervention possibilities by prioritising illness perceptions over the supposed objective condition severity and trajectory

Development and validation of the illness perceptions questionnaire for youth anxiety and depression (IPQ-Anxiety and IPQ-Depression)

Background: The Revised Illness Perceptions Questionnaire (IPQ-R) is a well-established measure for measuring illness representations with sound psychometric properties. However, one limitation is that it provides a generic measure of illness representations and lacks specificity to individual health conditions, making it difficult to capture the nuances of illness beliefs for different populations. Objective: The aim of this study was to develop reliable and valid versions of the IPQ-R for young people with anxiety and depression to better understand how they perceive and cognitively represent the course, severity, impact, and treatability of their anxiety and depression. Methods: This mixed-methods study consisted of a qualitative study, involving semi-structured interviews (n = 26) followed by think-aloud interviews (n = 13), and a quantitative study (n = 349), resulting in the development of the IPQ-Anxiety (IPQ-A) and IPQ-Depression (IPQ-D). Item development is reported, along with the psychometric properties of the measures. Concurrent validity was assessed by correlating the IPQ-A and IPQ-D with the Brief Illness Perceptions Questionnaire (B-IPQ) across equivalent dimensions. Results: Results suggest that the IPQ-A, IPQ-D, B-IPQ-A and B-IPQ-D are valid and reliable tools for measuring mental illness representations. The measures show acceptable model fit, high factor loadings, and good to excellent internal consistency, test – retest reliability across subscales and concurrent validity with mental health measures. Conclusions: The development of these measures represents an important step in the field of youth mental health by providing the opportunity for reliable assessment of young people’s conceptualisations of their anxiety and depression. Better understanding of young people’s illness beliefs has the potential to open a range of intervention possibilities by prioritising illness perceptions over the supposed objective condition severity and trajectory

Pride of Ownership: An Identity-Based Model

Pride of ownership is explored in a series of depth interviews utilizing a new "surfacing" methodology. Results support some past findings, but also uncover some new and unexpected aspects. Consistent with past research, pride of ownership is linked to a brand’s or product’s ability to help consumers construct a positive identity. Specifically, we find that pride of ownership is related to constructing five major aspects of identity: cultivating personal taste, achieving non-dependence and adulthood, achieving social status, building close relationships, and connecting to groups. These five implicit identity goals are ordered based on the extent to which each aspect of identity is part of the independent-self (i.e. personal taste) or the interdependent-self (i.e. social roles and connecting to groups). We introduce the terms independent pride and interdependent pride to refer to pride that helps construct the independent and interdependent aspects of the self, respectively. In addition, this research uncovers several ways that consumer’s pride of ownership changes over time. Conclusions are drawn for further theory-building and for managers