Intergroup Dynamics in Speech Perception: Interaction Among Experience, Attitudes and Expectations

Experience, attitudes, and expectations have been identified as separate influences on speech perception and comprehension across groups. In this study, we investigate the interaction among these three variables. 58 Australia-born participants completed an online survey and a vowel categorization task. The survey examined participants’ experience with Vietnamese-accented English and their attitudes towards Asians. The vowel categorization task examined participants’ recovery of a Vietnamese-accented speaker’s intended vowels. Half of the participants were told to expect a Vietnamese accent whereas the other half were not. Results indicated that the relationship between listener expectations and group attitudes varied according to whether or not participants had experience with the Vietnamese accent. This interaction was most clearly reflected on the ‘book’ vowel. Compared to participants who did not expect a Vietnamese accent, had no experience with the Vietnamese accent, but positive attitudes towards the Vietnamese group, those who expected a Vietnamese accent showed a decrease in accuracy on ‘book’ categorization. A decrease in ‘book’ categorization accuracy was also found for those having experience with the accent but negative attitudes. In contrast, an increase in accuracy was found for those having no experience with the Vietnamese accent and negative attitudes towards the Vietnamese group, and those having experience with the accent and positive attitudes. We concluded that expectations, experience and attitudes interact in their relationship with speech perception

Informing the development of Australia's national eating disorders research and translation strategy : a rapid review methodology

Background Eating disorders (EDs) are highly complex mental illnesses associated with significant medical complications. There are currently knowledge gaps in research relating to the epidemiology, aetiology, treatment, burden, and outcomes of eating disorders. To clearly identify and begin addressing the major deficits in the scientific, medical, and clinical understanding of these mental illnesses, the Australian Government Department of Health in 2019 funded the InsideOut Institute (IOI) to develop the Australian Eating Disorder Research and Translation Strategy, the primary aim of which was to identify priorities and targets for building research capacity and outputs. A series of rapid reviews (RR) were conducted to map the current state of knowledge, identify evidence gaps, and inform development of the national research strategy. Published peer-reviewed literature on DSM-5 listed EDs, across eight knowledge domains was reviewed: (1) population, prevalence, disease burden, Quality of Life in Western developed countries; (2) risk factors; (3) co-occurring conditions and medical complications; (4) screening and diagnosis; (5) prevention and early intervention; (6) psychotherapies and relapse prevention; (7) models of care; (8) pharmacotherapies, alternative and adjunctive therapies; and (9) outcomes (including mortality). While RRs are systematic in nature, they are distinct from systematic reviews in their aim to gather evidence in a timely manner to support decision-making on urgent or high-priority health concerns at the national level. Results Three medical science databases were searched as the primary source of literature for the RRs: Science Direct, PubMed and OVID (Medline). The search was completed on 31st May 2021 (spanning January 2009-May 2021). At writing, a total of 1,320 articles met eligibility criteria and were included in the final review. Conclusions For each RR, the evidence has been organised to review the knowledge area and identify gaps for further research and investment. The series of RRs (published separately within the current series) are designed to support the development of research and translation practice in the field of EDs. They highlight areas for investment and investigation, and provide researchers, service planners and providers, and research funders rapid access to quality current evidence, which has been synthesised and organised to assist decision-making

Interpersonal effects of appearance-based rejection sensitivity

Appearance-based Rejection Sensitivity (Appearance-RS) is the tendency to anxiously expect, readily perceive, and overreact to rejection based on one’s physical attractiveness. In the present research, we examined how sensitivity to appearance-based rejection influenced desire for social contact. High Appearance-RS participants wanted to avoid social interaction in general (Study 1) and even close others (Study 2) following appearance-based rejection, but not appearance-based acceptance or rejection based on perceived intelligence. Results of a daily diary study revealed that high Appearance-RS participants showed greater social avoidance on days when they felt sensitive to rejection based on their looks (Study 3). High Appearance-RS individuals therefore overreact to appearance rejection by withdrawing from social interactions. Implications for motivation, interpersonal processes, and clinical disorders are discussed

The impact of social comparisons on motivation

Overall, the impact of social comparisons on motivation will be influenced by the degree of fit among the direction of the comparison, an individual's regulatory focus and culture, and the nature of the behavior change involved. Upward comparisons are most likely to be motivating among individuals with strong chronic or temporarily activated promotion orientations, and among individuals from cultures that emphasize promotion concerns. Such comparisons, moreover, will be preferred by individuals who are attempting to harness their motivation to make additive behavior changes. Downward comparisons, in contrast, are most likely to be motivating among individuals with strong chronic or temporarily activated prevention orientations, and may be especially effective among individuals from cultures that emphasize prevention concerns. Such comparisons, moreover will be preferred by individuals who are attempting to boost their motivation' to make subtractive behavior changes

Social comparisons within romantic relationships

In the present chapter, we discuss possible mechanisms through which upward comparisons may exert a positive impact in the context of a romantic relationship and the outcomes that these comparisons may have for interactions within the relationship (see also Locke, chapter 1, this volume). We propose that although comparisons may continue to inflict a self-evaluative sting, forcing individuals to recognize their inferiority in a given domain, individuals will nevertheless experience positive affect when their partner is successful. First, because individuals in romantic relationships are part of a dyad, they may be especially likely to experience reflection (Beach & Tesser, 1993; Beach et al., 1996, 1998; Mendolia, Beach, & Tesser, 1996), basking in the reflected glory of their partner’s achievements. Second, because individuals in romantic relationships, and marriages in particular, share at least some resources with their partner, they are especially likely to gain more tangible benefits when their partner is successful and to suffer losses when the partner experiences failure. Finally, because romantic relationships tend to be highly communal (Clark & Mills, 1993; Clark, Ouellette, Powell, & Milberg, 1987), individuals are especially likely to empathize with their partner (Mills, Clark, Ford, & Johnson, 2004), experiencing the partner’s happiness as their own. Thus, through the processes of reflection, sharing of outcomes, and empathy, individuals are likely to experience positive rather than negative affect in response to a more successful partner. We examine the evidence for each of these processes in the following sections

Motivating commitment : the power of a smart relationship unconscious

“The uttered part of a man's life, let us always repeat, bears to the unuttered, unconscious part a small unknown proportion. He himself never knows it, much less do others”. Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881). While Thomas Carlyle probably did not intend his words as a commentary on romantic love, his insights have telling implications for close relationships nonetheless. Perhaps the "unuttered" or unconscious mind knows something about one's relationship that the "uttered" or conscious mind does not fully appreciate. Imagine the potentially unhappy relationship fate of a low-self-esteem Gayle. Her conscious mind makes it hard for her to sustain her commitment. She constantly worries that Ron does not love her as much as she loves him (Murray, Holmes, & Griffin, 2000). Such doubts typically weaken her commitment by motivating her to distance herself from Ron-rejecting him before he has the chance to reject her (Murray, Holmes, & Collins, 2006). Might Gayle's unconscious mind better know how to sustain her commitment? Current social psychological theorizing and research on the "smart" unconscious give reason for optimism (Bargh, 2007; Bargh & Marsella, 2008; Dijksterhuis & Nordgren, 2006; Murray, Holmes, & Pinkus, 2010; Wegner, 2002; Wilson, 2002). In proposing a new model of interdependence, Murray and Holmes (2009, 2011) attributed part of the "knowhow" to build stable relationship bonds to the unconscious. In this spirit, the current chapter reviews two lines of research that suggest that a smart relationship unconscious can sometimes better protect one's commitment than one's conscious mind. Through both lines of research, we argue that unconscious or automatic processes of partner valuing can help sustain relationship commitment in the face of sometimes disappointing realities, unless the conscious mind gets in the way

Emotionally intelligent people show more flexible regulation of emotions in daily life

Emotion regulation strategies have been characterized as adaptive or maladaptive; however, the ability to switch strategies to best suit the situation (regulatory flexibility and adaptability) underlies effective emotion regulation. Emotional intelligence may be a key capacity that enables flexible emotion regulation. We use experience sampling data from 165 participants to test whether emotional intelligence abilities (emotion understanding and management) predict variability in four emotion regulation strategies. Results show that both the emotion understanding and emotion management branches of emotional intelligence significantly relate to between-strategy variability (with moderate effect sizes), but only emotion understanding significantly predicts within-strategy variability. These findings support the hypothesis that emotional intelligence is an important predictor of the ability to flexibly vary emotion regulation depending on the situation

The Impact of appearance comparisons made through social media, traditional media, and in person in women's everyday lives

Appearance comparisons are an important sociocultural factor influencing women's body image. These comparisons can occur in different contexts (e.g., through magazines, social media, in person). However, little is known about the frequency and outcome of appearance comparisons made in different contexts in women's everyday lives. Using Ecological Momentary Assessment methods, female undergraduate students (n = 146) completed a brief online survey at random times every day for 5 days. They reported the frequency, direction (upward, lateral, downward), and context of appearance comparisons, and also reported their appearance satisfaction, mood, and diet and exercise thoughts and behaviors. Upward appearance comparisons were the most common across all contexts. Upward comparisons through social media were associated with more negative outcomes on all measures (except diet and exercise behavior) than comparisons made in person, and with more negative mood than comparisons in any other context. These findings highlight the importance of the appearance comparison context.9 page(s

The nature and structure of correlations among Big Five ratings : the halo-alpha-beta model

In light of consistently observed correlations among Big Five ratings, the authors developed and tested a model that combined E. L. Thorndike’s (1920) general evaluative bias (halo) model and J. M. Digman’s (1997) higher order personality factors (alpha and beta) model. With 4 multitrait–multimethod analyses, Study 1 revealed moderate convergent validity for alpha and beta across raters, whereas halo was mainly a unique factor for each rater. In Study 2, the authors showed that the halo factor was highly correlated with a validated measure of evaluative biases in self-ratings. Study 3 showed that halo is more strongly correlated with self-ratings of self-esteem than self-ratings of the Big Five, which suggests that halo is not a mere rating bias but actually reflects overly positive self-evaluations. Finally, Study 4 demonstrated that the halo bias in Big Five ratings is stable over short retest intervals. Taken together, the results suggest that the halo-alpa-beta model integrates the main findings in structural analyses of Big Five correlations. Accordingly, halo bias in self-ratings is a reliable and stable bias in individuals’ perceptions of their own attributes. Implications of the present findings for the assessment of Big Five personality traits in monomethod studies are discussed