Specific and individuated death reflection fosters identity integration

Identity integration is the process wherein a person assimilates multiple or conflicting identities (e.g., beliefs, values, needs) into a coherent, unified self-concept. Three experiments examined whether contemplating mortality in a specific and individuated manner (i.e., via the death reflection manipulation) facilitated outcomes indicative of identity integration. Participants in the death reflection condition (vs. control conditions) considered positive and negative life experiences as equally important in shaping their current identity (Experiment 1), regarded self-serving values and other-serving values as equally important life principles (Experiment 2), and were equally motivated to pursue growth-oriented and security-oriented needs (Experiment 3). Death reflection motivates individuals to integrate conflicting aspects of their identity into a coherent self-concept. Given that identity integration is associated with higher well-being, the findings have implications for understanding the psychological benefits of existential contemplation

Moving forward during major goal blockage: situational goal adjustment in women facing infertility

Individuals confronting chronic medical conditions often face profound challenges to cherished life goals. The primary aim of this study was to examine the associations of goal adjustment with psychological adjustment in the context of infertility. At study entry (T1; n = 97) and 6 months later (T2; n = 47), women in fertility treatment completed measures of goal blockage, goal adjustment ability, and psychological adjustment. At T1, greater perceived and actual goal blockage were related to negative psychological adjustment. Ability to disengage from the goal of biological parenthood was associated with less infertility-specific thought intrusion, whereas engagement with other goals was related to fewer depressive symptoms and greater positive states of mind. Greater general goal engagement was protective against the negative relationships between low goal disengagement and the dependent variables. Promoting letting go of the unattainable and investing in the possible may be a useful intervention to foster well-being among individuals experiencing profound goal blockage

Pleasure in decision-making situations

BACKGROUND: This study explores the role of pleasure in decision making. RESULTS: In Experiment 1, 12 subjects were presented with a questionnaire containing 46 items taken from the literature. Twenty-three items described a situation where a decision should be made and ended with a suggested solution. The other items served as filler items. The subjects were requested not to make a decision but to rate the pleasure or displeasure they experienced when reading the situation described in the item. The subjects' ratings were then compared to the decisions on the same situations made by the other subjects of the studies published by other workers. The ratings of pleasure/displeasure given by our subjects correlated significantly with the choices published by other authors. This result satisfies a necessary condition for pleasure to be the key of the decision making process in theoretical situations. In Experiment 2, a new group of 12 subjects rated their experience of pleasure/displeasure when reading various versions of 50 situations taken from daily life where an ethical decision had to be made (Questionnaire I) including 200 items. This was followed by a multiple-choice test with the 50 situations (Questionnaire II) using the same 200 items and offering the various behaviors. Subjects tended to choose ethical and unethical responses corresponding to their highest pleasure rating within each problem. In all cases the subjects' behavior was higher than chance level, and thus, followed the trend to maximize pleasure. In Experiment 3, 12 subjects reading 50 mathematical short problems followed by correct and incorrect versions of the answer to the problem (Questionnaire III), including 200 items. This was followed by a multiple-choice mathematical test with the 50 problems (Questionnaire IV) using the same 200 items and offering the correct and incorrect answers. In questionnaire IV, subjects tended to choose correct as well as incorrect responses corresponding to their highest hedonic rating within each problem. In all cases the subjects' behavior was higher than chance level, and thus, followed the trend to maximize pleasure. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the three experiments support the hypothesis according to which decisions are made in the hedonic dimension of conscious experience

Spontaneous comparisons with others in gay men´s judgements of HIV risk

In studies on &lsquo;unrealistic optimism&rsquo; (UO), when people are asked questions designed to make them compare their risk of experiencing an undesirable event with that of the average person, they tend to respond that their risk is lower. This study investigated whether comparisons of own and others&rsquo; risk also occur spontaneously, unprovoked by such questions. Gay men uninfected with HIV (n&frac14;50) were asked to think aloud about their risk of becoming infected; their comments were audiotaped and analysed. Over half the men added comments relating to others&rsquo; risk. The phrasing of these comments and the reported basis for them are described. The men represented others&rsquo; risk as relatively high, own risk as relatively low. In the case of onethird of the men, it seemed possible to be confident that a comparison was being made. The findings suggest that comparisons of own and others&rsquo; risk do occur spontaneously and that, while the judgements made in UO studies do not capture all the characteristics of those made spontaneously, they resemble them in important ways.<br /

Alteration of Residual Circulation Due to Large-Scale Infrastructure in a Coastal Plain Estuary

Large-scale human-built infrastructure is shown to alter the salinity and subtidal residual flow in a realistic numerical simulation of hydrodynamic circulation in a coastal plain estuary (Tampa Bay). Two model scenarios are considered. The first uses a modern bathymetry and boundary conditions from the years 2001–2003. The second is identical to the first except that the bathymetry is based on depth soundings from the pre-construction year 1879. Differences between the models\u27 output can only result from changes in bay morphology, in particular built infrastructure such as bridges, causeways, and dredging of the shipping channel. Thirty-day means of model output are calculated to remove the dominant tidal signals and allow examination of the subtidal dynamics. Infrastructure is found to steepen the mean axial salinity gradient ∂s¯¯¯/dx by ~40% when there is low freshwater input but flatten ∂s¯¯¯/dx by ~25% under more typical conditions during moderate freshwater inflow to the estuary. Deepening of the shipping channel also increases the magnitude of the residual Eulerian circulation, allowing for larger up-estuary salt transport. Local bathymetry and morphology are important. Some regions within the estuary show little change in residual circulation due to infrastructure. In others, the residual circulation can vary by a factor of 4 or more. Major features of the circulation and changes due to infrastructure can be partially accounted for with linear theory

Complexity Science in the Future of Behavioral Medicine

Complexity science offers a new, broader paradigm emerging from the traditional biomedical model of medicine. This new paradigm will inform research and intervention, particularly for the most complex medical conditions such as type-II diabetes (DT2), heart disease, pain, and anxiety-depression spectrum (ADS) disorders. Traditional medical interventions, including those from behavioral medicine, utilize the framework ofdiseaseto understand etiology and treatment. The disease framework is based on the idea that some exogenous agent, such as a germ, intrudes upon an otherwise healthy body and causes illness. Etiological concerns for health care providers are then logically aimed at identifying these disease agents as simple material causes, and treatment is aimed at protecting against their intrusion, mitigating their harmful effects, or removing them from bodily systems where they may cause harm.https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/psychology_books/1005/thumbnail.jp