A two-part study was undertaken to investigate the relationship between fiction writing and social cognition: the ability to make inferences about the mental states of others. First, an online survey was administered that assessed beliefs held by the general public about the social cognition of fiction writers compared to a variety of other professions. The findings revealed that the general public believes fiction writers demonstrate above average sociocognitive abilities. Next, the possibility of an empirical relationship between social cognition and fiction writing was explored by comparing two groups of fiction writers (established/published and intermediate writers) and a control group on measures directly assessing different facets of social cognition (e.g., social perception, interpreting body language, and making inferences about interpersonal interactions on video and in written vignettes). Participants were also asked to self-report their own sociocognitive abilities via a questionnaire assessing perspective taking. Related variables to social cognition were also tested, including self-reported interpersonal/social reactivity and cognitive complexity/differentiation. Potential confounding variables, including age, level of depression, verbal IQ, and tendency to read fiction were also measured and accounted for. All participants provided a short story writing sample which was scored by three experts for quality, as well as potential textual determinants of social cognition: character transparency and point of view. The results of the study consistently revealed a lack of between-group differences on measures of social cognition as well as the related measure of cognitive complexity/differentiation. Fiction writing quality and character transparency correlated only with cognitive complexity/differentiation, but not with any variables directly assessing social cognition. Taken together, the results of the study suggest that, contrary to public perceptions, and contrary to the hypotheses of many theorists in the literature, fiction writers do not demonstrate superior sociocognitive abilities.

In face-to-face contexts, individuals typically make one social comparison per day and make more self-enhancing downward comparisons (to worse-off others) than potentially threatening upward comparisons (to better-off others). However, online social networks such as Facebook may be radically altering these standards. In two studies, I examined the frequency, direction, and impact of social comparisons on Facebook, and investigated potential moderating factors, including self-esteem. Participants reported making more upward than downward Facebook comparisons (Studies 1 and 2) and made an average of four comparisons in a 20-minute Facebook session (Study 2). Both low self-esteem and being motivated to log onto Facebook to get information with others predict making more comparisons on Facebook (Study 1) and participants with lower self-esteem may feel worse about themselves after making both upward and downward Facebook comparisons compared to their higher self-esteem peers (Study 2).

In face-to-face contexts, individuals typically make one social comparison per day and make more self-enhancing downward comparisons (to worse-off others) than potentially threatening upward comparisons (to better-off others). However, online social networks such as Facebook may be radically altering these standards. In two studies, I examined the frequency, direction, and impact of social comparisons on Facebook, and investigated potential moderating factors, including self-esteem. Participants reported making more upward than downward Facebook comparisons (Studies 1 and 2) and made an average of four comparisons in a 20-minute Facebook session (Study 2). Both low self-esteem and being motivated to log onto Facebook to get information with others predict making more comparisons on Facebook (Study 1) and participants with lower self-esteem may feel worse about themselves after making both upward and downward Facebook comparisons compared to their higher self-esteem peers (Study 2).

A reasoner’s beliefs can compromise or inflate the accuracy of their syllogistic judgments when syllogistic content and structure are incongruent or congruent, respectively. An integrated approach to the study of syllogistic reasoning led to the investigation of premise-based belief-content conflict and its impact on belief bias. The belief-content conflict cue attenuated belief bias in incongruent valid and invalid trials, as well as congruent invalid trials. Its efficacy was found to depend on the difficulty level of the syllogism in which it was embedded and the location of its placement. Reaction time analyses were used to guide interpretations about the relative engagement of Systems 1 and 2. The key findings suggested that belief-content conflict activated System 2 for invalid incongruent trials which would otherwise have been processed using low-cost heuristic means due to their inherent difficulty. In contrast, it appeared that in valid trials the cue led to a redirection of System 2 resources such that specialized analytic strategies were applied in incongruent trials preceded by belief-content conflict compared to those lacking this cue. Finally, belief bias was successfully offset by belief-content conflict even in cases of congruency. In congruent invalid trials without this cue participants’ intuitive awareness of the content-structure match appeared to lead to low-cost, belief-based guesses; yet when presented as the major premise this conflict cue appeared to shift System 1 processing away from content and towards structure. Albeit less diligent than System 2 analysis, the shallow consideration of structural features may have been viewed as a safer bet than any shortcut aiming to capitalize on syllogistic content. This set of findings cannot be fully accounted for by the selective scrutiny, misinterpreted necessity, mental models, verbal reasoning, selective processing, or Receiver Operating Characteristics accounts thereby highlighting the need for considering belief-content conflict in future models of belief bias.

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the process by which emotional abuse occurs and is often sustained in sport, and to examine athletes’, parents’, and coaches’ reflections on emotional abuse in the coach-athlete relationship. The methodological approach used for the study was a constructivist and symbolic interactionist approach to grounded theory. Methods were established that were consistent with the iterative nature of grounded theory. In total, 18 retired elite athletes, 16 parents of retired elite athletes, and nine elite coaches participated in the study. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with each participant, and data were coded using open, axial, and selective coding techniques. Athlete data were interpreted to suggest a sequence of stages by which emotionally abusive coach-athlete relations developed and were sustained over time. Furthermore, the perceived impact of emotionally abusive coaching practices on motivation, self-confidence, commitment, and achievement outcomes in sport were discussed. Parent data were interpreted to suggest that parents are socialized into the culture of elite sport and can become silent bystanders to their children’s experiences of emotional abuse. Coaches’ reflections about the reasons for choosing to use emotionally abusive behaviours in the coach-athlete relationship were interpreted to suggest two distinct origins for the use of this behaviour. Additionally, perceived reasons for abandoning emotionally abusive coaching techniques were reported by the coaches. Finally, based on the collective reflections of the athletes, parents, and coaches, an ecological transactional model of vulnerability to emotional abuse in the coach-athlete relationship is proposed. Several implications of the study findings are discussed and questions are posed for future research.

Prior research has shown that the distress associated with social exclusion (i.e., social pain) and physical pain share biological and neural substrates. This social-physical pain overlap has spawned a number of hypotheses regarding how both types of pain might interact. The dissertation research reported here employed diverse methodologies to investigate two questions stemming from these hypotheses: 1) what is the effect of social pain on physical pain sensitivity and 2) what is the effect of physical pain on social pain sensitivity? Pertaining to the first question, Study 1 showed that a socially disconnecting live interaction with a partner led to a decrease in physical pain sensitivity. This result, however, was not replicated in Study 2 using an imagination paradigm to conjure two different types of social exclusion experiences, nor did low levels of social connectedness predict subsequent physical pain levels in a sample of chronic pain patients in Study 3. Pertaining to the second question, pain levels did not predict subsequent reports of social disconnection in the diaries of chronic pain patients in Study 3, nor did participants experiencing capsaicin-induced physical pain report social judgments any different from their pain-free counterparts in Study 4. The reasons for, and meaning of, these findings are discussed in detail. Crucial questions that must be confronted to continue advancement in this area of research and recommendations for future studies are also explored.

Prior research has shown that the distress associated with social exclusion (i.e., social pain) and physical pain share biological and neural substrates. This social-physical pain overlap has spawned a number of hypotheses regarding how both types of pain might interact. The dissertation research reported here employed diverse methodologies to investigate two questions stemming from these hypotheses: 1) what is the effect of social pain on physical pain sensitivity and 2) what is the effect of physical pain on social pain sensitivity? Pertaining to the first question, Study 1 showed that a socially disconnecting live interaction with a partner led to a decrease in physical pain sensitivity. This result, however, was not replicated in Study 2 using an imagination paradigm to conjure two different types of social exclusion experiences, nor did low levels of social connectedness predict subsequent physical pain levels in a sample of chronic pain patients in Study 3. Pertaining to the second question, pain levels did not predict subsequent reports of social disconnection in the diaries of chronic pain patients in Study 3, nor did participants experiencing capsaicin-induced physical pain report social judgments any different from their pain-free counterparts in Study 4. The reasons for, and meaning of, these findings are discussed in detail. Crucial questions that must be confronted to continue advancement in this area of research and recommendations for future studies are also explored.

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the process by which emotional abuse occurs and is often sustained in sport, and to examine athletes’, parents’, and coaches’ reflections on emotional abuse in the coach-athlete relationship. The methodological approach used for the study was a constructivist and symbolic interactionist approach to grounded theory. Methods were established that were consistent with the iterative nature of grounded theory. In total, 18 retired elite athletes, 16 parents of retired elite athletes, and nine elite coaches participated in the study. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with each participant, and data were coded using open, axial, and selective coding techniques. Athlete data were interpreted to suggest a sequence of stages by which emotionally abusive coach-athlete relations developed and were sustained over time. Furthermore, the perceived impact of emotionally abusive coaching practices on motivation, self-confidence, commitment, and achievement outcomes in sport were discussed. Parent data were interpreted to suggest that parents are socialized into the culture of elite sport and can become silent bystanders to their children’s experiences of emotional abuse. Coaches’ reflections about the reasons for choosing to use emotionally abusive behaviours in the coach-athlete relationship were interpreted to suggest two distinct origins for the use of this behaviour. Additionally, perceived reasons for abandoning emotionally abusive coaching techniques were reported by the coaches. Finally, based on the collective reflections of the athletes, parents, and coaches, an ecological transactional model of vulnerability to emotional abuse in the coach-athlete relationship is proposed. Several implications of the study findings are discussed and questions are posed for future research.

Evolutionary accounts of empathy often focus on the ways in which empathy-motivated helping can give rise to indirect fitness benefits. These accounts posit that empathy is adaptive insofar as it motivates strategic helping behavior, but they neglect a key feature of the empathic process – it can prepare one to act effectively within a shared environment. In particular, adopting the affective and motivational states of others provides a rapid and automatic way to avoid danger and threat, which play a disproportionately large role in shaping behavior. Based on the idea that empathic processes facilitate adaptive reactions to threat, I conducted four experiments to test the hypothesis that empathic reactions reflect withdrawal motivation. In the first experiment I used electroencephalography (EEG) to measure baseline right-frontal cortical asymmetry, a reliable neural correlate of withdrawal motivation. I then assessed empathic reactions to images of children ostensibly taken from a charity campaign. Participants who showed greater right-frontal cortical asymmetry also showed stronger empathic reactions to the images. In the second study I used self-report measures fear and anger to assess dispositional withdrawal- and approach-motivation, respectively. This time, participants indicated their empathic reactions to targets experiencing happiness and targets experiencing sadness. Empathy for both types of targets was positively related to fear and negatively related to physical aggression, again supporting a link between empathy and withdrawal motivation. In the third study I measured state withdrawal motivation by using facial electromyography (EMG) to assess disgust expressions towards charity images. These expressions were positively correlated with empathic reactions, demonstrating that state withdrawal motivation is also positively related to empathy. In the final study I manipulated approach and withdrawal emotions by having participants make emotional facial expressions. Focusing on fear and anger, I found that participants were more empathic when making fearful faces than when making angry faces, although these results must be interpreted with caution, as the manipulation may not have had the intended effects on emotional state. Taken together, these four studies provide converging evidence of an association between withdrawal motivation and empathy, supporting the idea that empathy plays a role in the adaptive response to threat.

In the wake of 21 year old Don Sanderson’s death (January 1st, 2009), the direct result of head injuries sustained during an on-ice hockey fight, the social and political appetite for eliminating violence in amateur hockey appears to be at an all time high. Unfortunately, due to a variety of methodological and conceptual limitations previous research is currently unable to provide a unified and valid explanation for sport-specific aggression (Kirker, Tenenbaum, & Mattson, 2000). One of the primary impediments facing our understanding of sport-specific aggression is the descriptive and fragmented nature of the current body of literature. Over the years a number of independent lines of research have been undertaken, through which several psychological and social factors have been identified as potential determinants. However, in many cases these constructs have yet to be tested against athletes’ actual aggressive behaviour in sport and thus their predictive contribution to our understanding is still unknown. Consequently, the purpose of the current investigation was to assess the predictive influence of several commonly cited psychosocial constructs on amateur hockey players actual within-competition use of aggressive behaviour over a competitive season. A trait aggressive personality disposition emerged as the strongest and most stable predictor of athletes’ aggressive behaviour, accounting for 10 – 40% of the statistical variance depending upon the age and competitive level of the athletes under investigation. Differences in the overt expression of the this trait aggressive disposition between age cohorts (bantam / midget) and competitive levels (house league / rep) suggests that environmental and contextual factors also play a significant role in facilitating or repressing athletes’ aggressive behaviour. As such, the results of the current study support an interactive explanation for hockey-related aggression, whereby situational (e.g., team norms, perceived reinforcement) and personal factors (e.g., trait aggressive disposition, ego orientation) interact to either increase or decrease an athlete’s likelihood for committing aggressive penalty infractions over a competitive season. The current results are plotted and discussed within the parameters of Anderson and Bushman’s (2002) General Aggression Model (GAM), which is a frequently cited interactionist framework used in the broader study of human aggression.