Current research on factors predicting self-harm focus on disparate factors and may not be able to comprehensively explain the mechanisms causing self-harm. The aim of the current study was to examine factors that may be related yet independently predict self-harm. Factors discussed include rumination, self-criticism, and working memory. A binary logistic regression found that the only factor that predicted the presence of self-harming behavior was a high level of self-criticism. Further, a Classification and Regression Tree found that the single strongest predictor of self-harming behavior was a belief that love needs to be continually earned from others. Our findings have implications for improving the efficacy of interventions aimed at preventing self-harm, which traditionally have been ineffective. Treatments incorporating ways to reduce self-criticism, such as a focus on improving self-compassion with Compassionate Mind Training, may address underlying mechanisms that can trigger self-harm behavior.

The relationship between age and perceived credibility was examined, particularly whether or not middle-aged witnesses were perceived as more credible than older eyewitnesses. Additionally, I was interested in whether or not the relationship between age and credibility was moderated by need for cognition. Participants read a trial transcript about a child pedestrian-car accident wherein a defendant was charged with manslaughter. The sole eyewitness, either a 49 or 79 year-old male, testified that the child hit his head on a rock upon stepping off the curb before being struck by the defendant’s vehicle. Transcripts included direct and cross-examination with half accompanied by the eyewitness’ photo. Participants rated witness credibility on nine dimensions including competence, honesty, and suggestibility, then rendered a verdict. Participants completed the Need for Cognition Scale and a questionnaire measuring attitudes towards punishment. There was a significant three-way interaction between age, information type, and need for cognition on perceived credibility ratings. Perceived credibility ratings were positively correlated with judgments of guilt. Results are discussed in terms of their implications within the criminal justice system.

When provided an opportunity for thought, individuals experience a strengthening of their already moderate attitude toward some attitude object. This process was studied in the context of variables – attitudes toward behavior, norms about behavior, and perceived behavioral control – known to predict intentions to engage in health-related behavior. A potential moderator of this process – locus of control beliefs – was also investigated. In this study, 195 participants indicated their attitudes toward eight health-related behaviors. Participants were randomly assigned to either a high or low opportunity for thought during which time they were asked to focus their thoughts on the health behavior getting 8 hours of sleep a night. Participants then responded to 18 items measuring Theory of Planned Behavior constructs and the 18-item Multidimensional Health Locus of Control scale. Although self-generated attitude polarization was not observed in this study, evidence was found which supports previous Theory of Planned Behavior and Multidimensional Health Locus of Control research findings. Study limitations and implications are discussed. Keywords: attitudes, attitude change, health locus of control, theory of planned behavior

In this study we investigated the role of semantic-processing on memory for Spanish-English bilinguals using the DRM paradigm (Deese, 1959; Roediger & McDermott, 1995), a procedure commonly used to elicit false memories. Participants were tested in within-language (i.e., encoding language and recall language match) and across-language (i.e., encoding language and recall language mismatch). The results indicated higher levels of recall for semantic processing in all conditions, however at the cost of higher thematically-related intrusions. These findings are consistent with the “more is less” pattern (Toglia, Neuschatz, & Goodwin, 1999), wherein greater correct recall is accompanied by greater false recall. In addition, the cross-language conditions resulted in higher semantically relevant intrusions and lower recall overall when compared to the within-language conditions, what might be termed “less is less.” Across all conditions non-semantic processing led to fewer false memories leading to overall accuracy exceeding that in the semantic-processing. In addition, greater levels of accuracy were observed in the within-language conditions. The study highlights the effects of semantic-processing on associative memory by exploring linguistic conditions that lead to false memories and provides insight into the procedure involved in transferring information from one language at encoding and another at retrieval and how false memories occur during this transferring process. Spanish-English bilinguals represent more than half of all bilinguals in the United States, and this population continues to increase (Grosjean, 2012). Implications for forensic interviewing (as in avoiding suspect interrogations always being conducted in English) and eyewitness testimony are among the applications that are discussed.

The effects of ambient room temperature on social cognition were examined in the current study. This study included 202 participants who completed a computer-based survey consisting of eight items measuring participants’ self-perception and desired social dynamics. I included these constructs because they serve to empirically examine the claims put forth by the Socio-Relational Framework of Expressive Behavior (Vigil, 2009). Participants completed the survey in experimental settings with the ambient room temperature ranging from 67.8 °F to 77.2 °F. I identified several important relationships that support the current theoretical framework, such as the differential desire for either affiliative or avoidant social responses, and the differential inflation of either empowerment or trustworthiness descriptors in colder and warmer conditions, respectively. Implications of the findings for future research are discussed.

The relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and conflict management was investigated using 229 college students and 4 3 participants from organizational settings. A positive correlation was found between emotional intelligence scores and use of the integrating style of handling conflict with one's bosses, one's subordinates and one's coworkers. Of the five styles of handling conflict, emotional intelligence had the highest significant positive relationship with the integrating style; this style is generally considered to be the best approach to handling conflict. High levels of emotional intelligence were associated with high levels of socially desirable responding. Emotional intelligence scores decreased with age, and no significant differences were found between scores for males and females. Regression analysis revealed that the three integrating styles of handling conflict, socially desirable responding, age and years of education explain 24% of the variance in emotional intelligence. A significant positive relationship was found between being happy in the workplace and use of the integrating style with subordinates and co-workers. The findings in this study may be applicable for organizations, in that incorporating programs aimed at increasing employees' emotional intelligence skills may be conducive to a more satisfying work environment, as well as an increase in profitability for the organization.

Revenge, the act of retaliating against a person or group in response to a perceived wrongdoing, appears to be a human universal. Those who research culture, revenge, and forgiveness have indicated cultural differences, but no clear patterns have emerged that could be useful in mediating conflicts. Thus, a meta-analysis was conducted of studies in which people from two different countries were compared on a measure of revenge or forgiveness. The countries represented were also coded based on Geert Hofstede's national culture dimensions, to test whether any specific cultural characteristics moderated desire for revenge. The final sample was made up of 16 studies, including data from 9416 participants across 16 countries. The largest cultural differences in revenge and forgiveness were observed between countries also showing the largest differences in Uncertainty Avoidance and Power Distance. Participants from countries higher in Uncertainty Avoidance and Power Distance were more likely to seek revenge and less likely to forgive, though the pattern was not statistically significant. These results indicate that, when working toward reconciliation, divergent strategies might be required for different countries and cultures based on the level of Uncertainty Avoidance and Power Distance that exist within those cultures.

The researcher investigates the effect of viewing positive and negative cosmetic surgery images, with short descriptive scenarios, on acceptance of cosmetic surgery. Two hundred ninety-nine participants were assigned to view one of three conditions: positive before/after cosmetic surgery pictures and an accompanying scenario, negative pictures and scenario, or no pictures or scenario (control), followed by the Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery Scale (ACSS, Henderson-King & Henderson-King, 2005), the Body Parts Satisfaction Scale (Berscheid, Walster, & Bohrstedt, 1973), and the Physical Self Description Questionnaire (Marsh, Richards, Johnson, Roche, & Tremayne, 1994). There was a significant relationship between ACSS Intrapersonal subscale and picture/scenario type, specifically that the positive picture/scenario type participants had a higher Intrapersonal Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery score. There was also a significant relationship between picture/scenario type & physicality, with four of the 11 subscales, physical activity, sport competence, strength, and endurance, being significantly related to acceptance of cosmetic surgery. Results show significant bivariate correlations between cosmetic surgery acceptance and the physicality aspect of body image as measured by the PSDQ, and total body image as measured by the BPSS. Ethnicity and gender were also significant indicators of cosmetic surgery acceptance. The researcher expects that these results could generalize to society as a whole because of the many people that view cosmetic surgery makeover shows on television. Viewing cosmetic surgery images in the media could possibly decrease body image and alter intrapersonal beliefs toward cosmetic surgery.

To extend the research on self-monitoring and romantic relationships, we explored the connection between self-monitoring and romantic jealousy using a between-subjects design. We hypothesized high self-monitors (like men) would find sexual infidelity more distressing than emotional infidelity, whereas low self-monitors (like women) would find emotional infidelity more distressing than sexual infidelity. Participants completed the 25-item Self-Monitoring Scale (Snyder, 1974) and 6 hypothetical infidelity scenarios (Buss et al., 1999). To statistically control for third variables, participants also completed the 11-item Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (Gangestad & Simpson, 1991). Although we found a main effect for self-monitoring in romantic jealousy, these results did not support our hypotheses. That is, these reliable differences in self-monitoring reflected more or less distress by emotional infidelity. Limitations (e.g., third variables, directionality) and future directions (e.g., potential moderators/mediators for self-monitoring differences in romantic jealousy) of this research are discussed.

Although worry is a common source of distress in children and adolescents, relatively few studies have focused on understanding worry in both of these age groups (Cartwright-Hatton, 2006). This area of research is of particular relevance, as understanding worry in youth may have implications for the assessment and treatment of adolescent worry and other anxiety-related difficulties. Consequently, the focuses of this study were to examine the validity and relevance of metacognitive measures of worry in an adolescent sample, to determine the degree to which metacognitive worry is associated with worry in adolescents, and to examine the potential association between adolescent metacognitive worry and intolerance of uncertainty, another cognitive variable hypothesized to be associated with worry, in an adolescent sample. A total of 175 adolescents between the ages of 11-17 were recruited from local middle and high schools to complete a series of self-report measures, which included the following: the Metacognitive Questionnaire for Children, the Meta-Worry Questionnaire, the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale for Children, the Penn State Worry Questionnaire for Children, and the Spence Children‘s Anxiety Scale. The findings of this study suggest that metacognition may play a role in the development and maintenance of excessive worry and related generalized anxiety disorder symptoms in adolescents. Further, current findings provide support for the combined influence of metacognitive beliefs and intolerance of uncertainty in the development and maintenance of worry.