Cutting words: Priming self-objectification increases the intention to pursue cosmetic surgery

We examined whether subtle exposure to sexually objectifying cues increases women’s intentions to have cosmetic surgery. Undergraduate women (N = 116) were randomly assigned to a condition in which they unscrambled sentences containing words associated with sexual objectification, non-self-objectifying physicality, or neutral content. Following a manipulation check of these primes, participants reported their body shame and intentions to have cosmetic surgery in the future. Results revealed that priming a state of self-objectification, compared to the two non-self-objectifying conditions, increased both body shame and intentions to have cosmetic surgery. In a mediational model, the link between self-objectification and intentions to have cosmetic surgery was partially mediated by body shame. Controlling for other key intrapersonal and social motives linked to interest in cosmetic surgery did not alter these patterns. These findings highlight the potential for the consumption of cosmetic surgery to stand as another harmful micro-level consequence of self-objectification that may be perpetuated via subtle exposure to sexually objectifying words, even in the absence of visual depictions or more explicit encounters of sexual objectification

The effects of eye gaze and emotional facial expression on the allocation of visual attention

This thesis examines the way in which meaningful facial signals (i.e., eye gaze and emotional facial expressions) influence the allocation of visual attention. These signals convey information about the likely imminent behaviour of the sender and are, in turn, potentially relevant to the behaviour of the viewer. It is already well established that different signals influence the allocation of attention in different ways that are consistent with their meaning. For example, direct gaze (i.e., gaze directed at the viewer) is considered both to draw attention to its location and hold attention when it arrives, whereas observing averted gaze is known to create corresponding shifts in the observer’s attention. However, the circumstances under which these effects occur are not yet understood fully. The first two sets of experiments in this thesis tested directly whether direct gaze is particularly difficult to ignore when the task is to ignore it, and whether averted gaze will shift attention when it is not relevant to the task. Results suggest that direct gaze is no more difficult to ignore than closed eyes, and the shifts in attention associated with viewing averted gaze are not evident when the gaze cues are task-irrelevant. This challenges the existing understanding of these effects. The remaining set of experiments investigated the role of gaze direction in the allocation of attention to emotional facial expressions. Without exception, previous work looking at this issue has measured the allocation of attention to such expressions when gaze is directed at the viewer. Results suggest that while the type of emotional expression (i.e., angry or happy) does influence the allocation of attention, the associated gaze direction does not, even when the participants are divided in terms of anxiety level (a variable known to influence the allocation of attention to emotional expressions). These findings are discussed in terms of how the social meaning of the stimulus can influence preattentive processing. This work also serves to highlight the need for general theories of visual attention to incorporate such data. Not to do so fundamentally risks misrepresenting the nature of attention as it operates out-with the laboratory setting.ESRC Postgraduate Training Award, PTA-030-2002-00724

Decoherence and Quantum-Classical Master Equation Dynamics

The conditions under which quantum-classical Liouville dynamics may be reduced to a master equation are investigated. Systems that can be partitioned into a quantum-classical subsystem interacting with a classical bath are considered. Starting with an exact non-Markovian equation for the diagonal elements of the density matrix, an evolution equation for the subsystem density matrix is derived. One contribution to this equation contains the bath average of a memory kernel that accounts for all coherences in the system. It is shown to be a rapidly decaying function, motivating a Markovian approximation on this term in the evolution equation. The resulting subsystem density matrix equation is still non-Markovian due to the fact that bath degrees of freedom have been projected out of the dynamics. Provided the computation of non-equilibrium average values or correlation functions is considered, the non-Markovian character of this equation can be removed by lifting the equation into the full phase space of the system. This leads to a trajectory description of the dynamics where each fictitious trajectory accounts for decoherence due to the bath degrees of freedom. The results are illustrated by computations of the rate constant of a model nonadiabatic chemical reaction.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, revision includes: Added references on mixed quantum-classical Liouville theory, and some minor details that address the comments of the reviewe

Climate change: Why the conspiracy theories are dangerous

Uncertainty surrounds the public understanding of climate change and provides fertile ground for conspiracy theories. Typically, such conspiracy theories assert that climate scientists and politicians are distorting or hijacking the science to suit their own purposes. Climate change conspiracy theories resemble other conspiracy theories in some respects, but in others they appear to be quite different. For example, climate change conspiracy theories appear to be motivated by the desire to deny or minimize an unwelcome and threatening conclusion. They also appear to be more contentious than other types of conspiracy theories. Perhaps to an unparalleled extent, people on both sides of the issue champion climate change conspiracy theories. Finally, more than other conspiracy theories, those concerning climate change appear to be more politically loaded, dividing opinion across the left-right continuum. Some empirical evidence suggests that climate change conspiracy theories may be harmful, steering people away from environmentally friendly initiatives. They therefore present a significant challenge for governments and environmental organizations that are attempting to convince people to take action against global warming

Meta-analyzing partial correlation coefficients using Fisher's <i>z</i> transformation

The partial correlation coefficient (PCC) is used to quantify the linear relationship between two variables while taking into account/controlling for other variables. Researchers frequently synthesize PCCs in a meta-analysis, but two of the assumptions of the common equal-effect and random-effects meta-analysis model are by definition violated. First, the sampling variance of the PCC cannot assumed to be known, because the sampling variance is a function of the PCC. Second, the sampling distribution of each primary study's PCC is not normal since PCCs are bounded between -1 and 1. I advocate applying the Fisher's z transformation analogous to applying Fisher's z transformation for Pearson correlation coefficients, because the Fisher's z transformed PCC is independent of the sampling variance and its sampling distribution more closely follows a normal distribution. Reproducing a simulation study by Stanley and Doucouliagos and adding meta-analyses based on Fisher's z transformed PCCs shows that the meta-analysis based on Fisher's z transformed PCCs had lower bias and root mean square error than meta-analyzing PCCs. Hence, meta-analyzing Fisher's z transformed PCCs is a viable alternative to meta-analyzing PCCs, and I recommend to accompany any meta-analysis based on PCCs with one using Fisher's z transformed PCCs to assess the robustness of the results

Analyzing data of a Multilab replication project with individual participant data meta-analysis:A tutorial

Multilab replication projects such as Registered Replication Reports (RRR) and Many Labs projects are used to replicate an effect in different tabs. Data of these projects are usually analyzed using conventional meta-analysis methods. This is certainly not the best approach because it does not make optimal use of the available data as a summary rather than participant data are analyzed. I propose to analyze data of multilab replication projects with individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis where the participant data are analyzed directly. The prominent advantages of IPD meta-analysis are that it generally has larger statistical power to detect moderator effects and allows drawing conclusions at the participant and lab level. However, a disadvantage is that IPD meta-analysis is more complex than conventional meta-analysis. In this tutorial, I illustrate IPD meta-analysis using the RRR by McCarthy and colleagues, and 1 provide R code and recommendations to facilitate researchers to apply these methods

Business, Professional and Other Torts

The authors examine the 1978 developments in the law of torts. Particulare mphasis is placed upon recent Floridad ecisions in the areas of professional malpractice and the business torts of fraud and deceit, conspiracy, and intentional interference with an advantageous business relationship

Correcting for outcome reporting bias in a meta-analysis:A meta-regression approach

Outcome reporting bias (ORB) refers to the biasing effect caused by researchers selectively reporting outcomes within a study based on their statistical significance. ORB leads to inflated effect size estimates in meta-analysis if only the outcome with the largest effect size is reported due to ORB. We propose a new method (CORB) to correct for ORB that includes an estimate of the variability of the outcomes’ effect size as a moderator in a meta-regression model. An estimate of the variability of the outcomes’ effect size can be computed by assuming a correlation among the outcomes. Results of a Monte-Carlo simulation study showed that the effect size in meta-analyses may be severely overestimated without correcting for ORB. Estimates of CORB are close to the true effect size when overestimation caused by ORB is the largest. Applying the method to a meta-analysis on the effect of playing violent video games on aggression showed that the effect size estimate decreased when correcting for ORB. We recommend to routinely apply methods to correct for ORB in any meta-analysis. We provide annotated R code and functions to help researchers apply the CORB method.</p

Business, Professional and Other Torts

The authors examine the 1978 developments in the law of torts. Particulare mphasis is placed upon recent Floridad ecisions in the areas of professional malpractice and the business torts of fraud and deceit, conspiracy, and intentional interference with an advantageous business relationship