Empirical and Phenomenological Studies of Embodied Cognition

This surveys central results in empirical and phenomenological studies of embodied cognition. The central effort is to show how Husserl's phenomenology and emphasis on kinaesthesis leads to an argument that cognition must inherently be embodied

To love and play: Testing the association of adult playfulness with the relationship personality and relationship satisfaction

It is hypothesized that playfulness in adults is positively associated with relationship satisfaction and that specific types of attachment and love are related with this trait. Findings, based on two samples of adults that are currently in a relationship (N = 161 and 598), show that playfulness is positively associated with relationship satisfaction—albeit low in effect size. Playfulness shares about 17 % overlapping variance with different types of love and attachment; particularly, Seduction, low Market Orientation, Attachment, and Love were predictive for playfulness. While gender differences only played a minor role it was shown that playfulness mediates about 5.7 % of the gender differences in the inclination to Sexuality. Overall, findings are in the expected direction. The discussion highlights the importance of considering multidimensional measures for playfulness and satisfaction and gives future research directions

Family Environment and the Metabolic Syndrome: Results from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) Sociocultural Ancillary Study (SCAS)

BACKGROUND: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Very limited work has evaluated associations of sociocultural processes with prevalence of the MetS. PURPOSE: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate associations between family environment (cohesion/conflict) and the MetS, in a multi-site sample of US Hispanics/Latinos. METHODS: A total of 3278 participants from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos underwent a clinical exam and completed psychosocial measures including family environment (cohesion and conflict) as part of the Sociocultural Ancillary Study. RESULTS: The association between family environment and the MetS was moderated by sex. Among all women, higher family conflict was associated with MetS prevalence. Results by ancestry group showed that only among Cuban women, higher conflict was associated with the MetS, whereas only among Dominican men, greater cohesion was associated with the MetS. CONCLUSIONS: The family context may be a sociocultural protective or risk factor among Hispanics/Latinos in terms of MetS risk, but these associations may vary by sex and Hispanic background