Attainable and Relevant Moral Exemplars Are More Effective than Extraordinary Exemplars in Promoting Voluntary Service Engagement

The present study aimed to develop effective moral educational interventions based on social psychology by using stories of moral exemplars. We tested whether motivation to engage in voluntary service as a form of moral behavior was better promoted by attainable and relevant exemplars or by unattainable and irrelevant exemplars. First, experiment 1, conducted in a lab, showed that stories of attainable exemplars more effectively promoted voluntary service activity engagement among undergraduate students compared with stories of unattainable exemplars and non-moral stories. Second, experiment 2, a middle school classroom-level experiment with a quasi-experimental design, demonstrated that peer exemplars, who are perceived to be attainable and relevant to students, better promoted service engagement compared with historic figures in moral education classes

Race Gaps in School Trust: Where They Come from and How to Resolve Them

Trust in American institutions varies widely among adults from different racial-ethnic backgrounds. This brief, from PRC faculty research associate David Yeager and colleagues, demonstrates that unjust treatment causes minority adolescents to lose trust in school, but a respectful "wise feedback" intervention can repair distrust.Population Research Cente

Laboratory measurement of the pure rotational spectrum of vibrationally excited HCO^+ (v_2 = 1) by far-infrared laser sideband spectroscopy

Laboratory observations of the pure rotational spectrum of HCO^+ in its lowest excited bending state (v_1, v^l_2 v_3)_= (0,1^1,0) are reported. Because of their severe excitation requirements, such vibrational satellites and the high-J ground-state lines also measured here sample only hot, dense regions of matter in active molecular cloud cores and circumstellar envelopes. As the HCO^+ abundance is tied directly to the gas fractional ionization, it is probable that the vibrationally excited formyl ion transitions will provide high-contrast observations of shocked molecular material, rather than the more quiescent, radiatively heated gas surrounding stellar sources detected with the few vibrationally excited neutral species observed to date

A Critical Evaluation Of The Trigger Point Phenomenon

The theory of myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) caused by trigger points (TrPs) seeks to explain the phenomena of muscle pain and tenderness in the absence of evidence for local nociception. Although it lacks external validity, many practitioners have uncritically accepted the diagnosis of MPS and its system of treatment. Furthermore, rheumatologists have implicated TrPs in the pathogenesis of chronic widespread pain (fibromyalgia syndrome). We have critically examined the evidence for the existence of myofascial TrPs as putative pathological entities and for the “vicious cycles that are said to maintain them. We find that both are inventions that have no scientific basis, whether from experimental approaches that interrogate the suspect tissue or empirical approaches that assess the outcome of treatments predicated on presumed pathology. Therefore the theory of MPS caused by TrPs has been refuted. This is not to deny the existence of the clinical phenomena themselves, for which scientifically sound and logically plausible explanations based on known neurophysiological phenomena can be advanced

Tunable far-infrared laser spectroscopy of hydrogen bonds: The K_a = O(u)→1(g) rotation-tunneling spectrum of the HCI dimer

The ground state K_a =0(u)→1(g) b‐type subband of the rotation–tunneling spectrum of the symmetric ^(35)Cl–^(35)Cl,^(37)Cl–^(37)Cl, and the mixed ^(35)Cl–^(37)Cl hydrogen chloride dimers have been recorded near 26.3 cm^(−1) with sub‐Doppler resolution in a continuous two‐dimensional supersonic jet with a tunable far‐infrared laser spectrometer. Quadrupole hyperfine structure from the chlorine nuclei has been resolved. From the fitted rotational constants a (H^(35)Cl)_2 center‐of‐mass separation of 3.81 Å is derived for the K_a =1(g) levels, while the nuclear quadrupole coupling constants yield a vibrationally averaged angular structure for both tunneling states of approximately 20–25 deg for the hydrogen bonded proton and at least 70–75 deg for the external proton. This nearly orthogonal structure agrees well with that predicted by ab initio theoretical calculations, but the observed splittings and intensity alterations of the lines indicate that the chlorine nuclei are made equivalent by a large amplitude tunneling motion of the HCl monomers. A similar geared internal rotation tunneling motion has been found for the HF dimer, but here the effect is much greater. The ground state tunneling splittings are estimated to lie between 15–18 cm^(−1), and the selection rules observed indicate that the trans tunneling path dominates the large amplitude motion, as expected, provided the dimer remains planar. From the observed hyperfine constants, we judge the dimer and its associated tunneling motion to be planar to within 10°

The Future of Nanotechnology Risk Perceptions: An Experimental Investigation of Two Hypotheses

This paper reports the results of an experiment designed to test competing conjectures about the evolution of public attitudes toward nanotechnology. The rational enlightenment hypothesis holds that members of the public will become favorably disposed to nanotechnology as balanced and accurate information about it disseminates. The cultural cognition hypothesis, in contrast, holds that members of the public are likely to polarize along cultural lines when exposed to such information. Using a between-subjects design (N = 1,862), the experiment compared the perceptions of subjects exposed to balanced information on the risks and benefits of nanotechnology to the perceptions of subjects exposed to no information. The results strongly confirmed the cultural polarization hypothesis and furnished no support for the rational enlightenment hypothesis. Data obtained in the experiment also suggested that the observed correlation in the general public between familiarity with nanotechnology and a positive view of it is spurious: familiarity does not cause a favorable view; rather other influences, including individualistic cultural values, incline certain individuals both to form a positive view and to learn about nanotechnology. The paper also discusses the implications of these findings for promoting informed public understandings of nanotechnology

The Future of Nanotechnology Risk Perceptions: An Experimental Investigation of Two Hypotheses

This paper reports the results of an experiment designed to test competing conjectures about the evolution of public attitudes toward nanotechnology. The rational enlightenment hypothesis holds that members of the public will become favorably disposed to nanotechnology as balanced and accurate information about it disseminates. The cultural cognition hypothesis, in contrast, holds that members of the public are likely to polarize along cultural lines when exposed to such information. Using a between-subjects design (N = 1,862), the experiment compared the perceptions of subjects exposed to balanced information on the risks and benefits of nanotechnology to the perceptions of subjects exposed to no information. The results strongly confirmed the cultural polarization hypothesis and furnished no support for the rational enlightenment hypothesis. Data obtained in the experiment also suggested that the observed correlation in the general public between familiarity with nanotechnology and a positive view of it is spurious: familiarity does not cause a favorable view; rather other influences, including individualistic cultural values, incline certain individuals both to form a positive view and to learn about nanotechnology. The paper also discusses the implications of these findings for promoting informed public understandings of nanotechnology

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in US Adolescents’ Dietary Quality and Its Modification by Weight-Related Factors and Physical Activity

There are well-known disparities in the prevalence of obesity across racial-ethnic groups, although the behavioral and psychological factors driving these disparities are less well understood. Therefore, the objectives of this study were: (1) to examine differences in dietary quality by race/ethnicity and weight-related variables [body mass index (BMI), weight loss attempt, and weight dissatisfaction] and physical activity (PA) using the Health Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015); and (2) to investigate the interactions and independent associations of race/ethnicity, weight-related variables and PA on dietary quality. Data for adolescents aged 12–19 years (n = 3373) were abstracted from the 2007–2014 National Health and Nutrition and Examination Survey and analyzed using multiple PROC SURVEYREG, adjusting for demographics and accounting for complex sampling. Analyses determined that Hispanic males had better overall HEI-2015 scores than non-Hispanic whites (48.4 ± 0.5 vs. 45.7 ± 0.6, p = 0.003) or blacks (48.4 ± 0.5 vs. 45.5 ± 0.5, p \u3c 0.001). Hispanic females also had better dietary quality than non-Hispanic whites (50.2 ± 0.4 vs. 47.5 ± 0.5, p \u3c 0.001) and blacks (50.2 ± 0.4 vs. 47.1 ± 0.5, p \u3c 0.001). Meeting the PA recommendation modified racial/ethnic differences in dietary quality for females (p = 0.011) and this was primarily driven by the associations among non-Hispanic white females (ΔR2 = 2.6%, p = 0.0004). The study identified racial/ethnic and gender differences among adolescents in factors that may promote obesity. Results may be useful for obesity prevention efforts designed to reduce health disparities in adolescents

Cultural Cognition of the Risks and Benefits of Nanotechnology

We conducted an experimental public opinion study of the effect of balanced information on nanotechnology risk-benefit perceptions. The study found that subjects did not react in a uniform, much less a uniformly positive manner, but rather polarized along lines consistent with cultural predispositions toward technological risk generally

Cultural Cognition of the Risks and Benefits of Nanotechnology

We conducted an experimental public opinion study of the effect of balanced information on nanotechnology risk-benefit perceptions. The study found that subjects did not react in a uniform, much less a uniformly positive manner, but rather polarized along lines consistent with cultural predispositions toward technological risk generally