Europe’s Journal of Psychology (PsychOpen)
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“I Knew It Would Happen ... And I Remember It!”: The Flashbulb Memory for the Death of Pope John Paul II
No full textFlashbulb memory (FBM) has been defined as a vivid and detailed memory for the circumstances under which one first learned of a consequential and emotionally involving event. The present study aimed to assess a FBM for expected events, i.e., the death of Pope John Paul II, across four different religious groups (i.e., Catholic, Orthodox, No Religion, and Other Religion). Furthermore, the study addressed to test the extent to which the FBM features and the emotional and social FBM determinants vary as a function of the importance given to the event within each religious group. Results showed that all participants, regardless of their religious affiliation, exhibited a consistent memory of the details related to the reception context of the expected news. Additionally, the results emphasized the effect of the religious affiliation on the FBM features, and on the variables traditionally associated with FBM. Compared to the other religious groups, Catholic participants exhibited the highest FBM Consistency for the Pope’s death, and they were the most emotionally and socially involved in the event. Implications for the FBM debate are discussed
At the Roots of Product Placement: The Mere Exposure Effect
No full textThe present study aims to analyze the effect of product placement on attitude change and takes into consideration psychological models of the mere exposure effect. A sample of high school students watched an excerpt from two widely-distributed movies in which several products were shown by using the technique known as product placement. The results indicate that students who saw the commercial brand liked the products more than those who didn’t see it. This effect, in line with the literature on the product placement effect, seems to be independent from the recognition of the brand in the movie excerpt. This study also shows that, in the high involvement condition, one exposure is enough to produce a positive attitude toward the brand
Coming to Terms With Permanent Involuntary Childlessness: A Phenomenological Analysis of Bulletin Board Postings
No full textLittle is known about the role that online support communities play in the lives of women faced with permanent involuntary childlessness. To understand the experiences of these women, this study conducted a thematic analysis of messages downloaded from an online community for permanent involuntary childlessness. Four central themes were identified: Feeling like an “outsider”, A whole lifetime of loss, Coming to terms with childlessness and Finding a safe haven online. These findings show that the online community appeared to empower women to move on with their lives and discover a new sense of self-worth and identity beyond that of motherhood
The Paradoxical Effect of Praise and Blame: Age-Related Differences
No full textBlame and praise sometimes have a seemingly paradoxical effect: blame after failure sometimes leads to the impression that the recipient has a high ability. In contrast, praise after success can lead to an inference of low ability. Several studies showed this effect and its relation to concurrent sympathy ratings as well as to cognitive schemas underlying these estimations. The present study is the first to focus on differences across the adult lifespan regarding peoples’ ability and sympathy estimations of praised or blamed individuals. In this context, the causal schemas underlying peoples’ judgments were also investigated. The results show that seemingly paradoxical ability estimations were independent of age in contrast to reversed ability estimations (i.e., a praised individual is perceived as more capable than a blamed individual) decreasing with age. Moreover, age affected the estimation of a teacher’s sympathy for blamed and praised students in terms of a universal decrease with age. Finally, exclusive ability-related causal schemas were primarily used by older people and facilitated the occurrence of seemingly paradoxical ability estimations. The results provide a first base for future research on this largely neglected topic
How Adult Attachment and Personality Traits are Related to Marital Quality: The Role of Relationship Attributions and Emotional Reactions
No full textThe purpose of this research was to explore the role of General Factor of Personality (GFP) and adult attachment dimensions in marital quality through relationship attributions and emotional reactions. The sample consisted of 261 couples who were married at least more than one year and had no major stressful events in their lives up to the time of the study. In this study, the NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), the Experiences in Close Relationships Questionnaire-Revised (ECR-R), the Relationship Attribution Measure (RAM), the Geneva Emotion Wheel (GEW), and the Perceived Relationship Quality Components (PRQC) were used for collecting the data. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to analyze the data. The results suggest that attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance and GFP directly and indirectly, through relationship attributions and emotional reactions, were related to marital quality. In addition, relationship attributions are antecedent to emotional reactions. Based on the findings, an intrapersonal-situational model of marital quality is suggested
Why We Laugh and What Makes Us Laugh: 'The Enigma of Humor'
No full textHumor (and related concerns such as the nature of comedy and of laughter) is an enigmatic subject that has perplexed our greatest thinkers from Aristotle’s time to the present. There are four competing theories that explain humor, each of which argues that all humor is based on: superiority, incongruity, cognitive problems in processing humor and psychoanalytic perspectives (such as masked aggression)
Factorial Structure and Psychometric Properties of the Sensation Seeking Scale – Form V (SSS-V) in a Sample of Italian Adolescents
No full textThe present study was designed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Sensation Seeking Scale – Form V (SSS-V) for the Italian-speaking population. The instrument was administered to 1,530 high school and college students. A second group of 268 high school students completed the SSS-V and the Impulsiveness Questionnaire (IVE). Exploratory factor analysis highlighted a 2-factor structure, Thrill and Adventure Seeking (TAS) and Disinhibition (Dis). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed an adequate model fit. Internal consistency of the subscales was marginally supported using the alpha reliability measure. Convergent validity was supported by significant positive correlations between Venturesomeness IVE subscale and both TAS and Dis. As a proof of discriminant validity, Impulsiveness was found to be not related to TAS and lowly correlated to Dis. Our results corroborated the outcomes of many previous studies suggesting the need to test the SSS-V degree of factor invariance and factor structure stability. Further analyses involving independent samples are required to confirm the present findings
Negative Results in European Psychology Journals
No full textPsychologists have long speculated that the research literature is largely dominated by positive findings, but yet there is little data to justify these speculations. The present study investigates the extent to which negative findings exist in the literature by reviewing articles published in five European psychology journals. While no temporal change was observed, the results indicate that almost all (95.4%) articles published in 2001, 2006 and 2011 found support for at least one tested hypothesis. Moreover, a sizable number (73%) of papers found support for all tested hypotheses. It is argued that the lack of negative findings can have a detrimental effect on the ability to systemize scientific knowledge, the way science is practiced, and the rate of replications in psychology. Publishing positive findings may be very important for making progress in our field, but negative findings are also crucial for maintaining its scientific integrity. When we base our conclusions on results that support our predictions and ignore data to the contrary, we run the risk of creating a biased view of reality that gives us little confidence in the validity and applicability of our findings
Exposure Therapy for Phobias
No full textReid Wilson’s approach to treating anxiety disorders draws upon cognitive behavior therapy techniques to create a brief, aggressive, paradoxical treatment for people who suffer from anxiety disorders. Research has shown that exposure therapy is by far the most effective way to get lifelong results in the treatment of specific phobias. Not many therapists had a chance to see live therapy sessions with real clients and neither to access a good training specific for phobia. In the help of those trainee therapists eager to have rapid and long-lasting results with their clients comes the video in which Reid Wilson is giving step-by-step specific instruction to both trainee-therapists and client. Reid conducts two sessions with a real client, Mary, who experiences different phases and facets of claustrophobia: the fear of using elevators (especially crowded ones), the fear of traveling in tunnels without being able to see the light at the end as humorously dr. Wilson noticed, the fear of parking in tight and dark parking structures and most of all, the fear of flying, which is the most invalidating for dr. Wilson’s client
Active Use of the Natural Environment for Emotion Regulation
No full textTwo studies on the use of nature for emotion regulation were conducted. Study 1 (N = 35) ran over two weeks and was an experimental investigation. Participants in the experimental condition were asked to use a picture of nature actively as environmental stimuli for emotion regulation in their everyday life, while two control groups simply looked at a picture of nature or a picture of balloons each evening. A significant effect of the manipulation was found on positive mood, but the effect was complex with an initial increase and then a decrease. There were no findings on negative mood. Study 2 (N = 473) explored the motivational tendency to seek out nature when the participants were happy or sad. A novel concept (expectancy construct) was introduced to measure the perception of the emotion regulatory potential of different environments. The classical natural environment was rated highest on emotional potential of all environments tested here. Perceiving a higher emotional potential in nature was related to a higher intention to seek out nature when happy or sad. Personality and mood were also related to these concepts. Higher positive mood was related to the intention to seek out nature when happy. Conscientiousness was related to a more positive perception of nature. The studies support the notion that using nature may be an effective strategy for regulating one’s emotions