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The self-concept literature in consumer behavior can be characterized as fragmented, incoherent, and highly diffuse. This paper critically reviews self-concept theory and research in consumer behavior and provides recommendations for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collective victimhood is the belief that one's own group has been intentionally and undeservingly harmed by another group (Bar-Tal, Chernyak-Hai, Schori, & Gundar, 2009). While previous research has established the link between collective victimhood and negative intergroup behaviors, the underlying mechanism is virtually unexplored. In the current study, we test the idea that intergroup emotions play an important role, particularly for those group members who are highly identified. Whereas previous research has primarily studied collective victimhood in violent contexts, the current study focuses on its role in the intergroup relations in Belgium, known as a non-violent conflict between French and Dutch speakers. The associations between collective victimhood, intergroup emotions, and action tendencies were studied in an online survey. The sample consisted of both French-speaking and Dutch-speaking Belgians (Ntotal = 1774). Structural equation modeling showed that collective victimhood was negatively related to intergroup affiliative emotions (i.e., sympathy) and positively to intergroup distancing emotions (i.e., anger). In addition, these relationships were stronger for participants who strongly identified with their ingroup. Furthermore, intergroup affiliative emotions positively predicted fostering contact with outgroup members, and negatively predicted the tendencies to exclude and take revenge on the outgroup; intergroup distancing emotions positively predicted outgroup exclusion and revenge, and negatively predicted fostering contact with them. The established associations were no different between the linguistic groups. Our results confirm that collective victimhood, and the emotions associated, can help to understand intergroup conflict in non-violent contexts, in addition to violent ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Testifying to the gap in fundamental research on positive intergroup outcomes, we investigated reconciliation attitudes in a non-violent intergroup context (i.e., the linguistic conflict in Belgium). By incorporating both important predictors of negative outgroup attitudes (i.e., individual differences in rigid cognitive styles and authoritarian ideologies), and important predictors of reconciliation (i.e., intergroup emotions), we aimed to contribute to a more comprehensive theoretical framework for the analysis of intergroup relations. We recruited one Flemish (N = 310) and one Walloon (N = 365) undergraduate students sample to test the proposed model. Structural equation analyses with maximum likelihood estimation were conducted using the Lavaan package. In both samples, similar patterns were found. More in particular, the need for cognitive closure appeared to be the basic predictor of right-wing attitudes (i.e., right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation) and essentialist thinking, which were then associated with less outgroup empathy and trust, and more outgroup anger. Furthermore, outgroup trust and empathy were positively related to reconciliation. Interestingly, some differences between the Flemish and Walloon sample were found, such as the direct effects of need for closure and social dominance orientation in the first sample, and the non-significant effects of essentialism in the latter sample. Considering the ongoing public and political debate about the linguistic conflict in Belgium, these findings shed a new light on how individual differences relate to specific outgroup emotions, and how these are associated with important intergroup outcomes in the face of intergroup conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores on the aspects of individual differences such as unique talents, interests and desires. It highlights the impact of science and technology in developing the skills and talents of student for professions after graduation. It also emphasizes the major role of schools in helping the students plan and pursue their strengths and ambitions.

Generally, human life is not going on a straight way. It runs on a zig-zag line. In searching of better solutions, facing these small and big problems, and making adjustment with current situations and environment, a person feels stress more or less. Stress affects us at home, work, and even on holidays. Many models are available to understand the concept of stress but it has been felt that they all suffer from being either narrow in scope or lacking a role for individual differences, and lacking in predictive validity. The present model would add new dimension to think about the work stress. In such a complex and competitive job environment, to find proper solutions or skills to cope with workplace stress, an employee would first need to understand the nature and whole process of workplace stress and this model would be more helpful to understand the work stress, its nature and whole process including an important role of individual capacity which exists in every stage, so that the better psychological therapies and medicinal treatments may be discovered in future to help such several employees to improve their health in the interest of the concerned organizations because employees are considered as backbone of any organization for development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IQ has played a prominent part in developmental and adult psychology for decades. In the absence of a clear theoretical model of internal cognitive functions, however, construct validity for IQ tests has always been difficult to establish. Test validity, therefore, has always been indirect, by correlating individual differences in test scores with what are assumed to be other criteria of intelligence. Job performance has, for several reasons, been one such criterion. Correlations of around 0.5 have been regularly cited as evidence of test validity, and as justification for the use of the tests in developmental studies, in educational and occupational selection and in research programs on sources of individual differences. Here, those correlations are examined together with the quality of the original data and the many corrections needed to arrive at them. It is concluded that considerable caution needs to be exercised in citing such correlations for test validation purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared with other communication media such as cellphones and video chat, teleoperated robots have a physical existence which increases the feeling of copresence. However, the appearance of a teleoperated robot is always the same regardless of the characteristics of its operator. Since people can determine their partner's personality from his/her appearance, a teleoperated robot's appearance might construct a personality that confuses the user. Our research focuses on establishing what kind of appearance of the telecommunication media could prevent confusion and increase the feeling of copresence. In this study, we compare the appearance of three types of communication media (nonhuman-like robot, human-like robot, and video chat with a projection of the speaker). The result shows that, in the case of the human-like robot, the consistency of the personality judgment is better than in the case of the nonhuman-like robot. Also, we found that teleoperated robots transmit a more appropriate context-based atmosphere, while the video chat transmits more nonverbal information, such as facial expressions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report two experimental studies of human perceptions of robotic facial expressions while systematically varying context effects and the cultural background of subjects (n = 93). Except for Fear, East Asian and Western subjects were not significantly different in recognition rates, and, while Westerners were better at judging affect from mouth movement alone, East Asians were not any better at judging affect based on eye/brow movement alone. Moreover, context effects appeared capable of over-riding such cultural differences, most notably for Fear. The results seem to run counter to previous theories of cultural differences in facial expression based on emoticons and eye fixation patterns. We connect this to broader research in cognitive science - suggesting the findings support a dynamical systems view of social cognition as an emergent phenomenon. The results here suggest that, if we can induce appropriate context effects, it may be possible to create culture-neutral models of robots and affective interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined individual differences in sensitivity to human-like features of a robot's behavior. The paradigm comprised a non-verbal Turing test with a humanoid robot. A "programmed" condition differed from a "human-controlled" condition by onset times of the robot's eye movements, which were either fixed across trials or modeled after prerecorded human reaction times, respectively. Participants judged whether the robot behavior was programmed or human-controlled, with no information regarding the differences between respective conditions. Autistic traits were measured with the autism-spectrum quotient (AQ) questionnaire in healthy adults. We found that the fewer autistic traits participants had, the more sensitive they were to the difference between the conditions, without explicit awareness of the nature of the difference. We conclude that although sensitivity to fine behavioral characteristics of others varies with social aptitude, humans are in general capable of detecting human-like behavior based on very subtle cues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Each relationship has its own personality. Almost immediately after a social interaction begins, verbal and nonverbal behaviors become synchronized. Even in asocial contexts, individuals tend to produce utterances that match the grammatical structure of sentences they have recently beard or read. Three projects explore language style matching (LSM) in everyday writing tasks and professional writing. LSM is the relative use of 9 function word categories (e.g., articles, personal pronouns) between any 2 texts. In the first project, 2 samples totaling 1,744 college students answered 4 essay questions written in very different styles. Students automatically matched the language style of the target questions. Overall, the LSM metric was internally consistent and reliable across writing tasks. Women, participants of higher socioeconomic status, and students who earned higher test grades matched with targets more than others did. In the second project, 74 participants completed cliffhanger excerpts from popular fiction. Judges' ratings of excerpt-response similarity were related to content matching but not function word matching, as indexed by LSM. Further, participants were not able to intentionally increase style or content matching. In the final project, an archival study tracked the professional writing and personal correspondence of 3 pairs of famous writers across their relationships. Language matching in poetry and letters reflected fluctuations in the relationships of 3 couples: Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning, and Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes. Implications for using LSM as an implicit marker of social engagement and influence are discussed. Keywords: individual differences, mimicry, language, LSM, LIWC DOI: 10.1037/a0020386

System justifying beliefs can have adaptive consequences for individuals that include enhanced coping and decreased emotional distress. The present study examined whether individual differences in two kinds of system justifying beliefs uniquely predict dispositional affect. Participants from across the United States were recruited via internet to complete dispositional measures of procedural and distributive justice beliefs, and also brief measures of positive and negative affectivity. While belief in fair outcomes (distributive just world beliefs) was generally associated with greater positive affectivity, belief in fair processes (procedural just world beliefs) was modestly associated with decreased negative affectivity. In addition, positive and negative affectivity were predicted by interactions between procedural and distributive just world beliefs, with each accentuating the general emotional benefit provided by the other. Finally, an interactive effect of procedural just world beliefs and social class was obtained for positive affectivity, with greater positive affectivity occurring for disadvantaged (lower income) individuals who had strong procedural just world beliefs. In general, these results suggest the potential for unique and interactive relationships between particular system justifying beliefs and measures of emotion, especially among members of advantaged versus disadvantaged groups. Keywords Justice. System justification * Procedural justice. Distributive justice. Just world Curr Psycho (2009) 28:249-265 DOI 10.1007/s12144-009-9066-x Publish online: 27 August 2009 [c] Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2009

The authors present a behavioral process model of personality that specifies explicit and implicit aspects of the self-concept of personality as predictors of actual behavior. An extensive behavioral study (N = 130) including a variety of relevant social situations was conducted. This approach allowed reliable measurement of more than 50 behavioral indicators. A priori assignment of indicators to the Big Five dimensions was conducted on the basis of theory and expert ratings. In line with the authors' model, 3 main findings were revealed: First, direct measures (questionnaires) of personality predicted actual behavior for all Big Five dimensions. Second, indirect measures (implicit association tests) of neuroticism and extraversion also predicted actual behavior. Third, the predictive validity of these indirect measures was incremental. The authors were additionally able to show that controlling for valence did not affect any of these results. Implications and future prospects for the study of personality and actual behavior are discussed. Keywords: actual behavior, personality, impulsive and reflective processes, implicit and explicit measures, indirect and direct measurement

This article introduces an instrument for the indirect assessment of positive and negative affect, the Implicit Positive and Negative Affect Test (IPANAT). This test draws on participant ratings of the extent to which artificial words subjectively convey various emotions. Factor analyses of these ratings yielded two independent factors that can be interpreted as implicit positive and negative affect. The corresponding scales show adequate internal consistency, test-retest reliability, stability (Study 1), and construct validity (Study 2). Studies 3 and 4 demonstrate that the IPANAT also measures state variance. Finally, Study 5 provides criterion-based validity by demonstrating that correlations between implicit affect and explicit affect are higher under conditions of spontaneous responding than under conditions of reflective responding to explicit affect scales. The present findings suggest that the IPANAT is a reliable and valid measure with a straightforward application procedure. Keywords: implicit affect, indirect assessment, affect priming, positive affect, negative affect

To test aspects of a theoretical framework on goal detection in social interaction, an experiment examined dyadic initial interactions wherein one participant pursued a goal unbeknownst to another participant. The level of specificity and efficiency at which a pursuer sought a goal interacted to affect the accuracy of the detector's inference as well as the time of onset for that inference. Consistent with hypotheses, efficiency was unrelated to accuracy and negatively correlated with onset latency when pursuers had an abstract information-seeking goal, whereas efficiency was positively correlated with accuracy and onset latency when detecting a concrete (i.e., specific) information-seeking goal. Unexpectedly, efficiency was unrelated to accuracy and onset latency for a midlevel information-seeking goal. Other results focused on the role of individual differences (i.e., perspective-taking and suspicion in others' motives) and perceived communication competence in the goal detection process. A more controlled, second experiment that employed confederates generally replicated results. Keywords: goal inferences; tactic; context; message processing; social cognition; interpersonal communication; message production; conversation; accessibility

What is the function of disgust? Whereas traditional models have suggested that disgust serves to protect the self or neutralize reminders of our animal nature, an evolutionary perspective suggests that disgust functions to solve 3 qualitatively different adaptive problems related to pathogen avoidance, mate choice, and social interaction. The authors investigated this 3-domain model of disgust across 4 studies and examined how sensitivity to these functional domains relates to individual differences in other psychological constructs. Consistent with their predictions, factor analyses demonstrated that disgust sensitivity partitions into domains related to pathogens, sexuality, and morality. Further, sensitivity to the 3 domains showed predictable differentiation based on sex, perceived vulnerability to disease, psychopathic tendencies, and Big 5 personality traits. In exploring these 3 domains of disgust, the authors introduce a new measure of disgust sensitivity. Appreciation of the functional heterogeneity of disgust has important implications for research on individual differences in disgust sensitivity, emotion, clinical impairments, and neuroscience. Keywords: disgust, individual differences, emotions, evolutionary psychology

This study explores correlates of social value orientation, a personality trait that reflects a stable individual difference in the way people evaluate outcomes for themselves and others in situations of interdependence. Previous findings (e.g., the triangle hypothesis) have indicated that people with a prosocial orientation tend to view their interacting partners as having heterogeneous social motives, whereas people with a proself orientation tend to believe all people are alike and selfish. Consistent with this idea that people vary in their perception of other's social motives, the data in this study indicate that a prosocial orientation correlated positively with the ability to adopt another person's point of view and infer mental states from eye gazes. These social skills correlated negatively with an individualistic orientation. Keywords: empathy, eye gazes, prosocial behavior, social value orientation, theory of mind, IN SITUATIONS OF SOCIAL INTERDEPENDENCE, people vary systematically in their willingness to cooperate versus their tendency to freeride. Some people seldom cooperate genuinely, and when they do, it is at [...]

N. D. Weinstein (1980) established that optimistic bias, the tendency to see others as more vulnerable to risks than the sell varies across types of event. Subsequently, researchers have documented that this phenomenon, also known as comparative optimism, also varies across types of people. The authors integrate hypotheses originally advanced by Weinstein concerning event-characteristic moderators with later arguments that such optimism may be restricted to certain subgroups. Using multilevel modeling over 7 samples (N = 1,436), the authors found that some degree of comparative optimism was present for virtually all individuals and events. Holding other variables constant, higher perceived frequency and severity were associated with less comparative optimism, higher perceived controllability and stereotype salience with more comparative optimism. Frequency, controllability, and severity were associated more with self-risk than with average-other risk, whereas stereotype salience was associated more with average-other risk than with self-risk. Individual differences also mattered: comparative optimism was related negatively to anxiety and positively to defensiveness and self-esteem. Interaction results imply that both individual differences and event characteristics should jointly be considered in understanding optimistic bias (or comparative optimism) and its application to risk communication. Keywords: optimistic bias, comparative optimism, risk perception, risk communication, repressive coping

The authors examined one manner in which to decrease the negative impact of social dominance orientation (SDO), an individual difference variable that indicates support for the 'domination of 'inferior' groups by 'superior' groups' (J. Sidanius & F. Pratto, 1999, p. 48), on the selection of candidates from low-status groups within society. Consistent with the tenets of social dominance theory, in 2 studies we found that those high in SDO reported that they were less likely to select a potential team member who is a member of a low-status group (i.e., a White female in Study 1 and a Black male in Study 2) than those low in SDO. However, explicit directives from an authority moderated this effect such that those high in SDO were more likely to select both candidates when authority figures clearly communicated that job performance indicators should be used when choosing team members. Thus, our studies suggest that the negative effects of SDO may be attenuated if those high in SDO are instructed by superiors to use legitimate performance criteria to evaluate job candidates. Keywords: social dominance orientation, diversity, discrimination, selection

The authors examined whether individual differences in social value orientation moderate responses to other's expressions of disappointment in negotiation. The literature suggested competing hypotheses: First, prosocials are more responsive to other's disappointment because they have a greater concern for other; second, proselfs are more responsive because they see other's disappointment as a threat to their own outcomes. Results of a computer-mediated negotiation in which a simulated opponent expressed disappointment, no emotion, or anger supported the second prediction: Proselfs conceded more to a disappointed opponent than to a neutral or angry one, whereas prosocials were unaffected by the other's emotion. This effect was mediated by participants' motivation to satisfy the other's needs, which disappointment triggered more strongly in proselfs than in prosocials. Implications for theorizing on emotion, social value orientation, and negotiation are discussed. Keywords: emotion; disappointment; social value orientation; negotiation

This study examined how the frequency of positive and negative emotions is related to life satisfaction across nations. Participants were 8,557 people from 46 counties who reported on their life satisfaction and frequency of positive and negative emotions. Multilevel analyses showed that across nations, the experience of positive emotions was more strongly related to life satisfaction than the absence of negative emotions. Yet, the cultural dimensions of individualism and survival/self-expression moderated these relationships. Negative emotional experiences were more negatively related to life satisfaction in individualistic than in collectivistic nations, and positive emotional experiences had a larger positive relationship with life satisfaction in nations that stress self-expression than in nations that value survival. These findings show how emotional aspects of the good life vary with national culture and how this depends on the values that characterize one's society. Although to some degree, positive and negative emotions might be universally viewed as desirable and undesirable, respectively, there appear to be clear cultural differences in how relevant such emotional experiences are to quality of life. Keywords: satisfaction with life, positive emotions, negative emotions, national culture

CHIN-CHUN YI, Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica, 128, Academia Road, Sec. 2, Nangang, Taipei City 115, Taiwan HSIANG-MING KUNG, Department of Social Psychology, Shih Hsin University, #1, Lane 17, Sec. 1, Mu-Cha Road, Taipei City 116, Taiwan YU-HUA CHEN, Department of Bio-Industry Communication and Development, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei City 10617, Taiwan JOUJUO CHU, Department of Labor Relations & Institute of Labor Studies, National Chung Cheng University, 168, University Road, MinHsiung, Chia-Yi County 62102, Taiwan The Importance of Social Context in the Formation of the Value of Children for Adolescents: Social Class And Rural Urban Differences in Taiwan This paper examines how adolescents' values may be shaped by the immediate social context with special reference to social class and rural urban background. The locus of study is Taiwan, a society with drastically declining birth rates in recent years. It is hypothesized that the value adolescents place on having children (or the positive value) and not having children (or the negative value) are accounted for by individual, familial and social contextual factors. Data are taken from an island-wide sample of first-year senior high students. A field survey was administered from winter of 2005 to spring of 2006. The analysis shows that three dimensions can be extracted from both positive and negative values toward having children: with emotional value rated the most important, followed by physical and social value. Results indicate that expected effects from different social class and rural-urban background vary and are salient for explaining physical and social value. In addition, social contextual factors and individual factors are shown to contribute to the formation of positive value of children among Taiwanese adolescents. The importance of social context in adolescents' value formation with regard to the value of children is thus supported. Keywords: positive value of children, negative value of children, social context, social class, rural urban background, social network CHIN-CHUN YI, Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica, 128, Academia Road, Sec. 2, Nangang, Taipei City 115, Taiwan HSIANG-MING KUNG, Department of Social Psychology, Shih Hsin University, #1, Lane 17, Sec. 1, Mu-Cha Road, Taipei City 116, Taiwan YU-HUA CHEN, Department of Bio-Industry Communication and Development, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei City 10617, Taiwan JOUJUO CHU, Department of Labor Relations & Institute of Labor Studies, National Chung Cheng University, 168, University Road, MinHsiung, Chia-Yi County 62102, Taiwan L'importance du contexte social dans la valorisation des enfants aupres des adolescents: Les differences de classes sociales et les differences ubain-rural a Taiwan Cet article analyse la facon dont la valorisation attribuee par les adolescents est faconnee par le contexte social direct avec une reference particuliere a la classe sociale et a un environnement urbain ou rural. Le champs d' etude est Taiwan, sachant que le taux de natalite de la societe taiwanaise a dramatiquement chute ces dernieres annees. On formule l'hypothese que la valeur attribuee par les adolescents sur le fait d'avoir des enfants (valorisation) ou sur le fait de ne pas avoir d'enfants (devalorisation) est justifiee par des facteurs issus de contextes sociaux, familiaux et individuels. Les donnees ont ete recueillis aupres d' un large echantillon d'eleves de premiere annee de lycee repartis sur toute I'ile. Une enquete sur le terrain a ete faite entre I'hiver 2005 et le printemps 2006. Les analyses montrent que trois dimensions peuvent etre extraites des estimations positives et negatives sur les enfants: la valeur emotionnelles est la plus importantes, suivie par les valeurs physique et sociale. Les resultats indiquent que les effects attendus provenant des differentes classes sociales et de l'environnement rural-urbain varient et sont frappants. De plus, les facteurs sociaux et les facteurs individuels montrent que ceux-ci contribuent a la formation d'une valorisation positive des enfants parmi les adolescents taiwanais. L'importance du contexte social dans la constitution de la valorisationattribuee par les adolescents en ce qui concerne la valorisation des enfants est ainsi demontree. Mots-cles: Valorisation des enfants, contexte social, classes sociales, environnement rural-urbain, reseau social CHIN-CHUN YI, Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica, 128, Academia Road, Sec. 2, Nangang, Taipei City 115, Taiwan HSIANG-MING KUNG, Department of Social Psychology, Shih Hsin University, #1, Lanel7, Sec.1, Mu-Cha Road, Taipei City 116, Taiwan YU-HUA CHEN, Department of Bio-Industry Communication and Development, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei City 10617, Taiwan JOUJUO CHU, Department of Labor Relations & Institute of Labor Studies, National Chung Cheng University, 168, University Road, Min-Hsiung, Chia-Yi County 62102, Taiwan La importancia del contexto social en la formacion de los Valores Relativos a los Ninos entre los adolescentes: Diferencias entre clases sociales y entre campo y ciudad El presente trabajo examina como los valores de los adolescentes pueden ser perfilados por la pertenencia a una clase social y al contexto en el que se vive, bien sea rural o urbano. El presente caso de estudio es Taiwan, una sociedad que ha experimentado un drastico declive de su tasa de natalidad. Se parte de la hipotesis de que el valor de fertilidad entre los adolescentes (positivo o negativo en funcion de estar a favor de su crecimiento o en su contra) dependen de factores individuales, familiares y sociales. La base de information para verificar esto esta tomada de una encuesta hecha en toda la isla a estudiantes del primer ario del ciclo superior de bachillerato. El trabajo de campo se realizo desde el invierno de 2005 hasta la primavera de 2006. El analisis senala que de las apreciaciones positivas de los Valores Relativos a los Ninos, tres dimensiones que pueden extraerse: la mas importante es la emotional, seguida de la fisica y finalmente de la social. Los resultados indican que los efectos esperados de las diferentes clases sociales y del ambiente rural/urbano son especialmente importantes para explicar los aspectos fisicos y sociales. Adicionalmente, los factores de contexto social (como las redes de apoyo) asi como los individuales muestran que contribuyen a la formacion positiva de los Valores Relativos a los Ninos entre los adolescentes taiwaneses. Por ultimo la importancia del contexto social en la formacion de los Valores Relativos a los Ninosentre los adolescentes es algo que tambien queda demostrado. Palabras clave: valoracion positiva de lo ninos, valoracion negativa de los ninos, contexto social, clase social, transfondo rural y urbano, redes sociales de cooperation, INTRODUCTION In recent years, fertility behavior, parenting and elderly support have received increasing attention in family studies. This is largely due to emergent changes in'the population structure, especially the declining […]

Individual differences have been the center of attention of a considerable number of linguists and educators for decades (see, e.g., Krashen, 1980; Skehan, 1989, 2014; Larsen-Freeman & Long, 1991; Dornyei, 2006; Robinson, 2012). This could be attributed to the hypothesis that individual differences are fundamental psychological factors which could predict success or failure of a language learner (Lightbown & Spada, 2006). Aptitude factor is one of these major and controversial individual characteristics (Brown, 2007). It is believed that language aptitude is one of the primary learner attributes noticeably involved in second language acquisition (Skehan, 1989). It is also assumed to be the most successful predictor of language learning attainment (Gardner & MacIntyre, 1992). This has been supported in a study conducted by DeKeyser, Alfi-Shabtay, and Ravid (2010) who concluded that language learning aptitude can play a fundamental role in adult second language acquisition. That could be attributed to the aptitude tests such as Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT) which have been proved to have positive relation with language learning. For instance, Bain, McCallum, Bell, Cochran, and Sawyer (2010) indicated that MLAT could be "the strongest predictor of foreign language learning success" (p. 140). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human characteristics or behaviour to animals, non-living things or natural phenomena. It is pervasive among humans, yet nonetheless exhibits a high degree of inter-individual variability. We hypothesized that brain areas associated with anthropomorphic thinking might be similar to those engaged in the attribution of mental states to other humans, the so-called ‘theory of mind’ or mentalizing network. To test this hypothesis, we related brain structure measured using magnetic resonance imaging in a sample of 83 healthy young adults to a simple, self-report questionnaire that measured the extent to which our participants made anthropomorphic attributions about non-human animals and non-animal stimuli. We found that individual differences in anthropomorphism for non-human animals correlated with the grey matter volume of the left temporoparietal junction, a brain area involved in mentalizing. Our data support previous work indicating a link between areas of the brain involved in attributing mental states to other humans and those involved in anthropomorphism. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents a review of and integration of social science research on the suspicion construct and also applies the findings and theoretical correlates concerning suspicion to automation and information technology contexts. The topics include suspicion components such as uncertainty and perceived intent, the effect of trust and distrust on suspicion, and a three-stage model of state-level suspicion which includes individual difference determinants.

The authors evaluated the reliability and validity of a set of 7 behavioral decision-making tasks, measuring different aspects of the decision-making process. The tasks were administered to individuals from diverse populations. Participants showed relatively consistent performance within and across the 7 tasks, which were then aggregated into an Adult Decision-Making Competence (A-DMC) index that showed good reliability. The validity of the 7 tasks and of overall A-DMC emerges in significant relationships with measures of socioeconomic status, cognitive ability, and decision-making styles. Participants who performed better on the A-DMC were less likely to report negative life events indicative of poor decision making, as measured by the Decision Outcomes Inventory. Significant predictive validity remains when controlling for demographic measures, measures of cognitive ability, and constructive decision-making styles. Thus, A-DMC appears to be a distinct construct relevant to adults' real-world decisions. Keywords: individual differences, decision making, judgment, competence, external validity

This study examined variable and pattern approaches to studying the influence of individual differences on both leadership emergence and leader effectiveness. Emergent leaders were identified and then followed for 9 months of effectiveness data gathering. Bivariate correlation and regression analyses were complemented by person-based analyses. Results showed that the same pattern of individual differences (high intelligence, high dominance, high general self-efficacy, and high self-monitoring) was associated with both leadership emergence and leader effectiveness. Persons scoring high on the set of individual difference variables emerged as leaders, were promoted to leadership positions, and were rated by their superiors as effective leaders. Keywords: leadership emergence, leadership effectiveness, leader perceptions, pattern approach

This study examined the relationships between culture, individual attributes, and self-rating behavior among 1,786 university students in Canada, Hong Kong, Taiwan, mainland China, and Japan, and in doing so extended and refined the cultural relativity hypothesis. It explored the difference between vertical and horizontal individualists in self-rating behavior, and examined the mediating effects of two individual attributes, self-enhancement propensity and general self-efficacy in the relationship between individualism and self-rating behavior. The results confirmed that individualism is the cultural driver for self-rating leniency, and that the individual-level assessment of individualism is a stronger predictor of self-rating leniency than are culture-level differences. Vertical individualism was found to be positively related to self-enhancement propensity, which in turn was positively related to self-rating. Whereas, horizontal individualism was positively related to general self-efficacy, which in turn had a positive relationship with self-rating. We discuss the implications of the results for academic research and practical management.

Despite frequent complaints, people work in groups all the time. The complaints are often warranted; groups frequently fall prey to a vast array of dysfunctions, from the numbing effects of [...]

Gender differences in employment rates in later life, although still substantial, have narrowed dramatically in the past four decades. The authors hypothesize that some of the gender variation in employment rates results from gendered differences in the demand for labor independent of individuals' characteristics. The authors use multilevel models to investigate variation across local-area labor markets in gender differences in employment among 56- to 66-year-olds. The demand for female labor is measured as the degree to which the occupational structure of a local labor market is skewed toward typically female occupations. Areas with relatively more female occupations have lower gender differentials in full-time employment than areas where occupations are overwhelmingly male. This would suggest that some of the convergence in employment rates among the elderly in the past half century might be traced to the larger historical shift from traditionally male industrial employment to more typically female service and office employment.

The author outlines several approaches for fostering constructive differences in humanities education, specifically women's studies, as differences can enhance the growth and development of the discipline.

ABSTRACT Research has demonstrated that individual differences in numeracy may have important consequences for decision making. In the present paper, we develop a shorter, psychometrically improved measure of numeracy-the ability to understand, manipulate, and use numerical information, including probabilities. Across two large independent samples that varied widely in age and educational level, participants completed 18 items from existing numeracy measures. In Study 1, we conducted a Rasch analysis on the item pool and created an eight-item numeracy scale that assesses a broader range of difficulty than previous scales. In Study 2, we replicated this eight-item scale in a separate Rasch analysis using data from an independent sample. We also found that the new Rasch-based numeracy scale, compared with previous measures, could predict decision-making preferences obtained in past studies, supporting its predictive validity. In Study, 3, we further established the predictive validity of the Rasch-based numeracy scale. Specifically, we examined the associations between numeracy and risk judgments, compared with previous scales. Overall, we found that the Rasch-based scale was a better linear predictor of risk judgments than prior measures. Moreover, this study is the first to present the psychometric properties of several popular numeracy measures across a diverse sample of ages and educational level. We discuss the usefulness and the advantages of the new scale, which we feel can be used in a wide range of subject populations, allowing for a more clear understanding of how numeracy is associated with decision processes. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Numeracy or one's ability to appropriately process and use numerical information has been shown to be an important individual difference factor in decision making. The current study utilized a risky decision-making task (called the 'cups task') in which choices are made to both earn and avoid losing hypothetical money. Critically, this design allowed investigators to examine numeracy-related differences in adaptive decision-making as measured by sensitivity to expected value (EV) differences over 54 paired-choice trials-some in which it was advantageous to take a risk and some in which it was not. Results showed that in an undergraduate sample of 114 individuals, the less numerate took more risks and were less sensitive to varying EV levels than the more numerate, especially when it was disadvantageous to take a risk and when the choice involved a potential loss (rather than a gain). These results are consistent with a dual processing account in which the more numerate are much better than the less numerate at extracting the precise affective 'gist' of the numerical information, which is then used to determine the goodness or badness of a particular choice. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) provide an objective measure of auditory cortical function, but AEPs from cochlear implant (CI) users are contaminated by an electrical artifact. Here, we investigated the effects of electrical artifact attenuation on AEP quality. The ability of independent component analysis (ICA) in attenuating the CI artifact while preserving the AEPs was evaluated. AEPs recovered from CI users were systematically correlated with age, demonstrating that individual differences were well preserved. CI users with high-quality AEPs were characterized by a significantly shorter duration of deafness. Finally, a simulation study revealed very high spatial correlations between original and recovered normal hearing AEPs ( r>.95) that were previously contaminated with CI artifacts. The results confirm that after ICA, good quality AEPs can be recovered, facilitating the objective, noninvasive study of auditory cortex function in CI users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are individual differences in the amount and type of vocabulary that adults produce to young children in the home environment before the children enter school. How many words a mother knows is a significant predictor of a child's vocabulary. The current study addressed the question of whether there were individual differences in the amount and type of vocabulary that pre-service teachers produced in their first read-aloud lessons to first and second grade students. Specifically, would pre-service teachers with higher vocabulary scores differ from those with lower vocabulary scores in their choice of books to read and in the language they used to discuss the books? Results indicated that pre-service teachers with more advanced vocabulary scores chose books with more vocabulary diversity and sophistication. When they chose narrative texts, they also chose books that were more difficult in terms of their semantic cohesion. Both the receptive vocabulary of pre-service teachers and the language in the books that they chose had an effect on the 'teacher talk' that they used in the lesson surrounding the book reading. Just as parents show individual differences in the richness of the language input provided to their children before they enter school, pre-service teachers own knowledge of language varies, and this influences the linguistic input that they provide to their students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnic differences in central sensitization of pain processing and stress-relevant endogenous pain regulatory mechanisms were examined. Forty-four African Americans (AAs; 50% women) and 44 non-Hispanic Whites (nHWs; 50% women) matched for socioeconomic status, were tested for pain responses to the temporal summation of heat pulses and ischemic and cold pain. Resting and stress blood pressure (BP) and norepinephrine (NE) were assessed. AAs had heightened pain responses to all 3 pain tasks relative to nHWs. In nHWs, higher BP and NE were related to reduced pain. In AAs, there was no relationship between BP and pain, but higher NE was related to increased pain. This study provides evidence for ethnic differences in centrally mediated pain and extends prior research demonstrating ethnic differences in endogenous pain regulatory mechanisms. These results have implications for understanding biobehavioral factors contributing to ethnic disparities in clinical pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents chapter one of the book "Research in Urban Sociology: Everyday Life in the Segmented City," Volume 11, edited by Camilla Perrone, Gabriele Manella, and Lorenzo Tripodi. It discusses the contemporary city in myriad of problems which requires an habitual way of thinking to deal with the emergent problems including the multiplication of new citizens, mosaic differences, and recognition of multiple society. The authors reflect on the planning viewpoint of the segmented city in the outcome of post-modernity. They mentions that image planning represents the domain of organisational practices characterized by the exercise of everyday life and urbanity.

In recreation specialization the idea of progression largely has been relegated to an assumption. Fundamental questions about how leisure participants enter and progress through social subworlds remain. We examined panel data over a six-year period to look for evidence of progression among Texas anglers. Similar to previous studies, we were unable to detect forward movement along the specialization continuum. Results revealed strong individual differences in each subdimension of the developmental process. Our study adds to this literature by treating specialization in terms of its underlying subdimensions and by demonstrating latent growth modeling as a viable alternative to repeated measure analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is concerned with the nature and significance of inequality in the environmental experience of children and young people. We argue that research in this area needs to widen in perspective and address a complex set of environmental attributes that matter to children and young people, and to their development. Discussing a study conducted in three differing locations in Scotland, the paper examines the local places that were important to children and young people, and the factors that affected the benefits they derived from them. The results illustrate that unequal experiences arise partly through different material provision of environmental goods, but also issues of quality and maintenance, and that relational dynamics have a crucial role. An important concern is not just the quality of experiences in the present, but the effects that environmental experiences in early life have on skills and capacities taken forward into adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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We show that differences in social orientation and in cognition that exist between cultures and social classes do not necessarily have counterparts in individual differences within those groups. Evidence comes from a large-scale study conducted with 10 measures of independent vs. interdependent social orientation and 10 measures of analytic vs. holistic cognitive style. The social measures successfully distinguish between interdependence (viewing oneself as embedded in relations with others) and independence (viewing oneself as disconnected from others) at the group level. However, the correlations among the measures were negligible. Similar results were obtained for the cognitive measures, for which there are no coherent individual differences despite the validity of the construct at the group level. We conclude that behavioral constructs that distinguish among groups need not be valid as measures of individual differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports sex differences in cognitive task performance that emerged when 39 Australian university undergraduates (19 men, 20 women) were asked to solve verbal (lexical) and visual-spatial cognitive matching tasks which varied in difficulty and visual field of presentation. Sex significantly interacted with task type, task difficulty, laterality, and changes in performance across trials. The results revealed that the significant individual-differences' variable of sex does not always emerge as a significant main effect, but instead in terms of significant interactions with other variables manipulated experimentally. Our results show that sex differences must be taken into account when conducting experiments into human cognitive-task performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the extent to which implicit measures of aggressiveness predict actual aggressive behavior in response to provocation. Participants (n = 77) completed implicit measures of aggressiveness, were or were not exposed to insult from an experimenter, evaluated the performance of the experimenter (i.e., opportunity for aggressive behavior), and completed explicit measures of aggressiveness. Results showed that the implicit measure of aggressiveness significantly predicted aggressive behavior in response to provocation, whereas it was not predictive when there was no provocation. The discussion deals with the validity of implicit measures as predictors of aggressive behavior and their moderators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study that examines the beliefs and knowledge of pre-service teachers on diversity and multicultural education through case-based pedagogy. The study utilizes the story "El Secreto de las Niñas" regarding the reasons why Cynthia and Jessica, children of poor immigrant parents, dislike science. It states that personal experiences and formal education of teachers are the bases of their attitudes toward diversity. It mentions the importance of flexibility of teachers in various issues including student's personal background and individual differences, and problem solving about diversity.

The article discusses the definition of an political identity. The author of the article argues that evoking an identity would necessarily exclude and ignore certain groups of people. There is no pure identity but an identity that denies another one. The article focuses on the blindness caused by this kind of policy.

The chapters in this issue revisit the social origins of the development of executive function (EF) through both empirical examination of the contexts in which EF development occurs (in vivo), as well as its social antecedents and consequences. Importantly, they also point to new directions in studying the social foundations of neurodevelopment, novel methods that take the social context into account, and cultural influences on EF development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mead no doubt had a manifest influence on Blumer's thinking, and Blumer's acknowledgment of his indebtedness to Mead is a central feature of Blumer's writing. While I do not presume to question the importance Blumer assigns to the role played by Mead in the development of Blumerian symbolic interactionism, I argue that the perspective also owes much to the insights of Georg Simmel. In particular, a Simmelian flavor is evident in how Blumer addresses the core sociological issues of the nature of social reality, the nature of the relationship between the individual and society, and the nature of social action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

American organizations should go beyond complying with employment anti-discrimination laws and capitalize on the competitive benefits of having a diverse workforce. A multicultural work environment is a fertile ground for innovative ideas stemming from the employees' diverse experiences. Instead of opposing affirmative action programs, employers stand to benefit more if they focus their efforts on formulating policies aimed at encouraging acceptance and appreciation of individual differences., To gain the full benefit of diversity, management must foster understanding, value differences, and demonstrate commitment to employee development. Even though the US has one of the most diverse workforces [...]