Volitional shielding of the self: Effects of action arientation and external demands on implicit self-evaluation

Two studies examined whether volitional resources can shield implicit self-evaluation against the autonomy-undermining influence of external demands. Volitional resources were operationalized as individual differences in action orientation (Kuhl & Beckmann, 1994). Implicit self-evaluation was assessed via an adaptation of the affective priming task (Fazio, 2001). In Study 1, a threatening visualization led participants with low action orientation (or "state-oriented" individuals) to display less autonomous implicit self-evaluations compared to participants with high action orientation. In Study 2, performance-contingent rewards led action-oriented participants to display more autonomous implicit self-evaluations than state-oriented participants. These findings were specific to the autonomy motive. Volitional shielding plays an important role in self-defense processes

Clearing the Mind: A Working Memory Model of Distraction from Negative Mood

The present research examined whether and how loading working memory can attenuate negative mood. In three experiments, participants were exposed to neutral, weakly negative, or strongly negative pictures followed by a task and a mood scale. Working memory demands were varied by manipulating task presence (Study 1), complexity (Study 2), and predictability (Study 3). Participants in all three experiments reported less negative moods in negative trials with high compared to low working memory demand. Working memory demands did not affect mood in the neutral trials. When working memory demands were high, participants no longer reported more negative moods in response to strongly negative pictures than to weakly negative pictures. These findings suggest that loading working memory prevents mood-congruent processing, and thereby promotes distraction from negative moods. © 2007 American Psychological Association

Putting self-regulation theory into practice: A user's manual

Cervone, Shadel, Smith, and Fiori (2006) propose that theories of personality architecture may provide an integrative theoretical framework for self-regulation research. Building further on this argument, the present paper considers one comprehensive modern approach to personality architecture, personality systems interactions (PSI) theory. The authors provide a brief overview of PSI theory and discuss a simple, three-step "user's manual" that has guided applications of the theory to real-life behavior. Work on PSI theory highlights some of the integrative potential of personality science in the field of self-regulation. The authors conclude that theories of personality architecture may improve the quality and precision of the counselling, coaching, and training that psychologists in many diverse areas provide. © 2006 International Association for Applied Psychology

Priming in concert: Assimilation and contrast with multiple affective and gender primes.

The present research investigated the influence of multiple sequential primes on social categorization processes. Study 1 examined an evaluative decision task in which targets were preceded and succeeded by two primes. As expected, the temporally closest forward primes had assimilative effects on target processing. Moreover, if the temporally closest forward prime and the target were congruent, backward affective primes had assimilative effects; if the temporally closest forward prime and the target were incongruent, the distal forward primes had contrastive effects. Study 2 found similar effects in a gender priming task. In a reanalysis of Gawronski, Deutsch, and Seidel (2005), Study 3 partly replicated Studies 1 and 2 with more complex and varied stimuli. The results indicate that people can flexibly extract and disentangle brief snapshots from a continuous stream of environmental stimulation

Unfixing the fixed pie: A motivated information processing approach to integrative negotiation.

Negotiators tend to believe that own and other's outcomes are diametrically opposed. When such fixed-pie perceptions (FPPs) are not revised during negotiation, integrative agreements axe unlikely. Itwas predicted that accuracy motivation helps negotiators to release their FPPs. In 2 experiments, accuracy motivation was manipulated by (not) holding negotiators accountable for the manner in which they negotiated. Experiment 1 showed that accountability reduced FPPs during face-to-face negotiation and produced more integrative agreements. Experiment 2 corroborated these results: Accountablenegotiators revised their FPPs even when information exchange was experimentally held constant. Experiment 2 also showed that accountability is effective during the encoding of outcome information. Negotiators appear flexible in their reliance on FPPs, which is consistent with a motivated informationprocessing model of negotiation

From perceptual rags to metaphoric riches: Bodily, social, and cultural constraints on socio-cognitive metaphors

What leads people to describe some of their interpersonal relationships as " close" and " warm" and others as " distant" and " cold" ? Landau, Meier, and Keefer (2010) proposed that conceptual metaphors facilitate social cognition by allowing people to use knowledge from a relatively concrete (source) domain (e.g., physical distance) in understanding a different, usually more abstract (target) concept (e.g., love). We concur that such a notion of metaphors can greatly enrich the field of social cognition. At the same time, we believe it is important to devote greater theoretical attention to the nature of metaphorical representations in social cognition. We believe that Landau et al. place too much emphasis on sociocognitive metaphors as top-down knowledge structures and pay too little attention to the constraints that shape metaphors from the bottom up. In the present contribution, we highlight important bottom-up constraints, imposed through bodily constraints and social scaffolds. Sociocognitive metaphors do not exist just for mental representation but for action as well. We discuss the relevance of grounding sociocognitive metaphors for broader motivational purposes. © 2011 American Psychological Association

Één onderzoek is géén onderzoek : het belang van replicaties voor de psychologische wetenschap

Recent criticisms on the way psychologists analyze their data, as well as cases of scientific fraud, have led both researchers and the general public to question the reliability of psychologicalresearch. At the same time, researchers have an excellent tool at their disposal to guarantee the robustness of scientific findings: replication studies. Why do researchers rarely perform replication studies? We explain why p-values for single studies fail to provideany indication of whether observed effects are real or not. Onlycumulative science, where important effects are demonstratedrepeatedly, is able to address the challenge to guarantee thereliability of psychological findings. We highlight some novelinitiatives, such as the Open Science Framework, that aim tounderline the importance of replication studies

Getting lost in a story: how narrative engagement emerges from narrative perspective and individual differences in alexithymia

The present research examines how narrative engagement, or the extent to which people immerse themselves into the world of a story, varies as a function of narrative perspective and individual differences in alexithymia. The authors hypothesised that narrative engagement would be higher when people assume a first-person (rather than third-person) perspective and for people lower (rather than higher) on alexithymia. In an online study (N = 541) and a lab study (N = 55), participants with varying levels of alexithymia read first- and/or third-person narrated texts and then rated their narrative engagement. As expected, first-person stories evoked more narrative engagement than third-person stories, and global alexithymia was negatively correlated with narrative engagement. Narrative perspective did not interact with cognitive facets of alexithymia (i.e. difficulties identifying, verbalising, and understanding feelings). However, narrative perspective did interact with affective facets of alexithymia (i.e. emotionalising and fantasising): First-person (rather than third-person) stories elicited more narrative engagement at lower levels of affective alexithymia, but not at higher levels of affective alexithymia. The interaction effect was significant in Study 1; the interaction was significant in Study 2 after controlling for trait absorption. Together, these findings suggest that alexithymia is linked to difficulties in mentally simulating narrative worlds.Pathways through Adolescenc