Positive Adjectives Research Articles

LANGUAGE, WESTERN MEN AND THAI WOMEN ON THE DATING SITE

This research studied the language of men on the Thai women dating site. The purpose of the study were 1) to investigate the kind of language being used by men on the dating site and 2) to study western men on the dating site’s social status. Data were collected from online dating sites randomly. There were 73 case studies for this research. The result of the study revealed that western men used a lot of positive adjectives to describe the desire characteristics of Thai women. They also used the pronoun ‘I’ and the possessive pronoun ‘My’ frequently. This illustrated the self-centric and the superiority feeling of men on the dating site. On the aspect of social status, the majority of these western men were divorced and middle aged. They did not mention their occupation as if they found it not important for the relationship.

A Sociolinguistic Approach to the Persian Native Speakers’ Strategies for Expressing Sorrow and Happiness: A Comparison of the Gender Differences

This study aimed to investigate the strategies adopted by Persian native speakers for expressing their happiness and sorrow. For this purpose, the researcher spent one month observing the behavior of different male and female native speakers of Farsi who were of different ages between 12-68. The researcher collected the data either by participating different events of happiness and sorrow or putting the audience under one of these circumstances by giving them some good or bad news in order to audit their way of expressing happiness and sorrow. The responses collected were extracted as 8 happiness expression strategies (surprise, positive adjectives, appreciation, thanking God, expressing emotions and statements and informal emotional expression) and 6 sorrow-expression strategies (expressing pity, questions, statements, curse words and threatening). Among these strategies, statement was common in both happiness and sorrow strategies. After identifying the strategies, the number and percentage of each strategy was calculated for male and female participants. The results indicated that surprise, thanking God, statements and appreciation are the most frequent happiness strategies among male participants and expressing emotions and surprise are the most frequently-used happiness strategies among female ones. One important point in the strategy of "expressing emotion" is that it is a female-specific strategy not used by male population at all. On the other hand, regarding expressions of sorrow, according to the findings of this research, expressing pity is the most frequent strategy both for males and females. In expressing sorrow, using curse words is the second rank for male participants and other strategies are somehow equally-used among both groups as the difference between the frequencies of male and female was not that considerable.

Социально-перцептивный образ различных социальных групп в сознании подростков

The article is dedicated to the results of the study, which was aimed at the research of adolescent’s socio-cognitive representations (images) of social groups (parents, classmates, teachers, policemen, public officials). 7000 high-school students from different cities and villages of Russia took part at the research. Age: 14—18. Deviant adolescent’s socio-cognitive representations (images) are also studied. The sample of deviant adolescents — 127 participants. Method: «80 adjectives» (by A. Rean) technique was used. Сontingency table method was used for the evaluation of correlation between adjective choice preferences and the participant’s group. χ-square test was used for statistical significance evaluation. The major findings are: adolescents use mostly positive adjectives for description of parents, mostly negative descriptors for policemen and public offocials, both for classmates and teachers. Descriptor-choice preferences are found among different groups of participants.

Preludeas lifespan gauge

AbstractThrough multiple versions ofPrelude, readers can follow the progress of a poem 41 years in the making, a period that exceeds by far the timeline of its narration. To do so I employed automated analysis platforms LIWC (Pennebaker, Chung, Ireland, Gonzales, & Booth, 2007a) and SEANCE (Crossley, Kyle, & McNamara, 2016). Results reveal that Wordsworth exhibited habits of mind resonant with maturation, especially in his increased positivity and abstraction. Discriminant function analysis revealed four psychological markers that almost completely identified shifts between editions. Indices connoting trust and sadness, as well as positive adjectives and the cognitive indicator of exclusion, accounted for 63 percent of the variance. The study offers a methodology for considering multiple versions of any text in which the passage of time becomes an important marker. I present these findings within a digital humanities framework and conclude by discussing applications.

They Are What You Hear in Media Reports: The Racial Stereotypes toward Uyghurs Activated by Media.

Stereotypes from the major nationality toward minorities constitute a widely concerning problem in many countries. As reported by previous studies, stereotypes can be activated by media information that portrays the negative aspects of the target group. The current study focused on the neural basis of the modulation of negative media information on Han Chinese stereotypes toward Uyghurs by using event-related potentials. We employed the lexical decision task, in which participants were asked to categorize the presented word as positive or negative. Behavioral result showed that participants had a shorter reaction time to positive adjectives than to negative adjectives. The data of brain activity showed that compared with the Han condition, the Uyghurs condition elicited smaller N400 differences in the media priming group, whereas there was no significant N400 deflection difference between Han Chinese and Uyghurs in the control group. The current results suggested that the negative media information might influence their judgments toward other groups reflected in the deflection of N400 amplitude. Therefore, in order to mitigate or even eliminate stereotypes about national minorities, the effort of the media is important.

Abnormal self-schema in semantic memory in major depressive disorder: Evidence from event-related brain potentials

An overly negative self-schema is a proposed cognitive mechanism of major depressive disorder (MDD). Self-schema − one’s core conception of self, including how strongly one believes one possesses various characteristics − is part of semantic memory (SM), our knowledge about concepts and their relationships. We used the N400 event-related potential (ERP) − elicited by meaningful stimuli, and reduced by greater association of the stimulus with preceding context − to measure association strength between self-concept and positive, negative, and neutral characteristics in SM. ERPs were recorded from MDD patients (n=16) and controls (n=16) who viewed trials comprising a self-referential phrase followed by a positive, negative, or neutral adjective. Participants’ task was to indicate via button-press whether or not they felt each adjective described themselves. Controls endorsed more positive adjectives than did MDD patients, but the opposite was true for negative adjectives. Patients had smaller N400s than controls specifically for negative adjectives, suggesting that MDD is associated with stronger than normal functional neural links between self-concept and negative characteristics in SM.

Dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and cerebellar contribution to in-group attitudes: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study.

We tend to express more positive judgments and behaviors toward individuals belonging to our own group compared to other (out-) groups. In this study, we assessed the role of the cerebellum and of the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) - two regions critically implicated in social cognition processes - in mediating implicit valenced attitudes toward in-group and out-group individuals. To this aim, we used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in combination with a standard attitude priming task, in which Caucasian participants had to categorize the valence of a series of adjectives primed by either an in-group or an out-group face. In two behavioral experiments, we found an in-group bias (i.e. faster categorization of positive adjectives when preceded by in-group faces) but no evidence of an out-group bias. Interestingly, TMS over both the dmPFC and over the (right) cerebellum significantly interfered with the modulation exerted by group membership on adjective valence classification, abolishing the in-group bias observed at baseline. Overall, our data suggest that both the dmPFC and the cerebellum play a causal role in mediating implicit social attitudes.

Stagnant or Successful, Carefree or Anxious? Australian University Students' Goals and Beliefs About Adulthood and Their Current Well‐being

ObjectiveThis article questions an assumption that modern young adults are unwilling to grow up, do not wish to take on traditional adult roles, and experience their current lives as carefree. Goals and beliefs for adulthood, and current mental health, were assessed.MethodsA total of 518 Australian university students aged 18–25 (73% female, mean age 19 years, 72% Australian born) completed surveys of their goals for age 40, the goals they believed significant others held for them, and their views of life now and in the future, as well as standard assessments of mental health and well‐being (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale 10; Goldberg anxiety subscale, Life Orientation Test—Revised, Perceived Stress Scale, and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support).ResultsStudents overwhelmingly aspired to “traditional” adult roles: over 90% wanted to be married, with children, and to be in paid employment. Their highest priorities were finishing education, finding a life partner, and finding satisfying work. They generally selected positive adjectives to describe their futures, but selected negative adjectives to describe their current lives, and reported high levels of depressive symptoms, anxiety, and stress.ConclusionsFindings suggest that these modern young adults are not leading carefree lives, nor are they reluctant to “grow up.” Aspirations for family and employment, coupled with positive views of the future, are encouraging, while high levels of depressive symptoms, anxiety, and stress are cause for concern. Clinical responses to young people need to acknowledge instability that can result from spending extended periods of time “in‐between.”

Conceptualizing Creativity: General and Cultural Biases in Gough's Creative Personality Scale

AbstractThis study analyzes the validity of Gough's Creative Personality Scale (CPS) for the Adjective Check List (ACL) by using 1773 Swiss, South Korean, and Mainland Chinese students as a sample. Four sources of potential bias were identified in Gough's CPS, two of which are general and two cultural in nature. The two general biases were investigated by conducting correlation analyses and evaluating alternative scoring methods for the CPS. As a result of the first bias, checking a large number of adjectives was found to be more important for achieving a high score than checking the relevant ones. Due to the second bias, the CPS score mostly depends on the number of positive adjectives checked while negative items have little impact. The two cultural biases were analyzed using an implicit version of the CPS (iCPS) and factor analysis. The latter revealed three different clusters of creativity type: exploratory‐type, socially responsible‐type, and intellectual‐type creativity. Based on cultural background, they are all weighted differently, causing a potential experiential bias in the CPS. Findings indicate that in South Korea and Mainland China socially responsible‐type creativity dominates whereas in Switzerland exploratory‐type creativity prevails. Findings from the iCPS suggest the second cultural bias, the socially desirable responding bias arising from differences in responding styles among the three cultures.

Effects of Facial Symmetry and Gaze Direction on Perception of Social Attributes: A Study in Experimental Art History.

This article explores the possibility of testing hypotheses about art production in the past by collecting data in the present. We call this enterprise “experimental art history”. Why did medieval artists prefer to paint Christ with his face directed towards the beholder, while profane faces were noticeably more often painted in different degrees of profile? Is a preference for frontal faces motivated by deeper evolutionary and biological considerations? Head and gaze direction is a significant factor for detecting the intentions of others, and accurate detection of gaze direction depends on strong contrast between a dark iris and a bright sclera, a combination that is only found in humans among the primates. One uniquely human capacity is language acquisition, where the detection of shared or joint attention, for example through detection of gaze direction, contributes significantly to the ease of acquisition. The perceived face and gaze direction is also related to fundamental emotional reactions such as fear, aggression, empathy and sympathy. The fast-track modulator model presents a related fast and unconscious subcortical route that involves many central brain areas. Activity in this pathway mediates the affective valence of the stimulus. In particular, different sub-regions of the amygdala show specific activation as response to gaze direction, head orientation and the valence of facial expression. We present three experiments on the effects of face orientation and gaze direction on the judgments of social attributes. We observed that frontal faces with direct gaze were more highly associated with positive adjectives. Does this help to associate positive values to the Holy Face in a Western context? The formal result indicates that the Holy Face is perceived more positively than profiles with both direct and averted gaze. Two control studies, using a Brazilian and a Dutch database of photographs, showed a similar but weaker effect with a larger contrast between the gaze directions for profiles. Our findings indicate that many factors affect the impression of a face, and that eye contact in combination with face direction reinforce the general impression of portraits, rather than determine it.

Child-Parent Attachment Styles and Borderline Personality Disorder Relationship

Many studies have focused on the attachment styles and their impact on human functioning and relationships (Bretherton, 1992). Some attachment styles have been associated with pathological way of human overall functioning, and it has already been observed that insecure attachment style in childhood may be associated with personality dysfunction (Brennan & Shaver, 1998). The purpose of this study is to investigate how people diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) describe their attachment style to the primary caregivers from their memories from childhood. This study was conducted in Germany in an inpatient psychiatric clinic. Fifteen participants represented a convenience sample, of patients already diagnosed with BPD. For this study Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) was used. The AAI is a semi-structured interview focusing on the early attachment experiences and their effects based on Attachment Theory.The results indicated that people diagnosed with BPD showed both preoccupied and dismissing child-parent attachment style,however it was the dismissing attachment style that dominated in our sample. The findings supported the hypothesis that participants who showed dismissing attachment style also used positive adjectives to describe the relationship with their primary caregiver, and those with the preoccupied attachment style used negative adjectives to describe the relationship with their primary caregiver. Even though, study was conducted with small number of participants, the study did provide evidence that there is a relationship between BPD and attachment styles in childhood. Threfore, the study offered contribution to the already existing knowledge and research findings regarding the influence of attachment style on BPD development. Keywords: Attachment, Personality disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), child, childhood

Does Spontaneous Favorability to Power (vs. Universalism) Values Predict Spontaneous Prejudice and Discrimination?

ObjectiveWe conducted five studies testing whether an implicit measure of favorability toward power over universalism values predicts spontaneous prejudice and discrimination.MethodStudies 1 (N = 192) and 2 (N = 86) examined correlations between spontaneous favorability toward power (vs. universalism) values, achievement (vs. benevolence) values, and a spontaneous measure of prejudice toward ethnic minorities. Study 3 (N = 159) tested whether conditioning participants to associate power values with positive adjectives and universalism values with negative adjectives (or inversely) affects spontaneous prejudice. Study 4 (N = 95) tested whether decision bias toward female handball players could be predicted by spontaneous attitude toward power (vs. universalism) values. Study 5 (N = 123) examined correlations between spontaneous attitude toward power (vs. universalism) values, spontaneous importance toward power (vs. universalism) values, and spontaneous prejudice toward Black African people.ResultsSpontaneous positivity toward power (vs. universalism) values was associated with spontaneous negativity toward minorities and predicted gender bias in a decision task, whereas the explicit measures did not.ConclusionsThese results indicate that the implicit assessment of evaluative responses attached to human values helps to model value‐attitude‐behavior relations.

Explicit self-esteem mediates the relationship between implicit self-esteem and memory biases in major depression

This study examines the relationships between explicit and implicit self-esteem and self-referent memory biases in depression. We specifically tested the hypothesis that implicit self-esteem would influence depression-related memory biases via its association with explicit self-esteem. Self-esteem was assessed in patients with a current Major Depressive Disorder (MDD; n=38) and in a control group of participants who had never experienced depression (ND; n=40) by using explicit (Rosenberg Self-esteem Questionnaire) and implicit (Go/No-go Association Task) measures. A self-referent processing task of negative and positive adjectives was used to assess memory bias. Our analyses revealed that participants diagnosed with MDD showed lower levels of both explicit and implicit self-esteem in comparison to ND participants. MDD compared to ND participants also recalled a greater number of depressed self-referent adjectives and lower recall of positive self-referent information. Mediation analyses showed an indirect effect of explicit self-esteem on the relationship between implicit self-esteem and depression-related memory biases in the MDD group. These findings suggest an association between implicit and explicit self-esteem in depression that may result in negative cognitive processing, as reflected by self-referent memory biases.

Examining the N400m in affectively negative sentences: A magnetoencephalography study.

Magnetoencephalography was used to examine the effect on the N400m of reading words that create emotional violations in sentences. The beginnings of the sentences were affectively negative and were completed with either a negative congruous, positive incongruous, or neutral incongruous adjective (e.g., "My mother was killed and I felt bad/great/normal"). The task conditions were also manipulated to favor semantic over affective processing. Compared to the sentences with the congruous negative adjectives, the results of sensor space analysis showed that there was an N400m effect with the sentences with the neutral but not positive adjectives, despite both types of sentences containing an emotional violation. Source localization results showed a similar pattern where the sentences with the incongruous positive versus congruous negative adjectives showed no significant N400m effect in the temporal and frontal areas examined, but the sentences with the incongruous neutral versus incongruous positive adjectives in the temporal areas did, particularly the left middle temporal gyrus. These results suggest that (a) the N400m effect was likely to be caused by the incongruous neutral adjectives being comparatively harder to integrate into a negative emotional context than the incongruous positive ones, (b) emotional context created by the negative sentence stems caused deeper semantic processing of the incongruous positive adjectives to be bypassed, and (c) negative affective context was generated from reading the sentences even in task conditions where it has not been generated with isolated words.

Relationship between bicultural identity and psychological well-being among American and Japanese older adults.

In a large national sample of American and Japanese older adults, this study investigated how bicultural identity affects perception of health and well-being in 11 individual psychological variables (i.e. positive well-being: self-esteem, optimism, subjective well-being Japanese equivalent, gratitude, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule–positive adjectives, and satisfaction with life; negative well-being: depression, pessimism, social anxiety, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule–negative adjectives, and perceived stress). This sample consisted of 1248 Americans from the Midlife in the United States survey, 2004–2006, and 380 Japanese from the Midlife in Japan survey in Tokyo, Japan, 2008–2010. Results showed that bicultural individuals (having both highly independent and interdependent self-construals) in both countries tend to exhibit higher scores across most perceived health and well-being measures when compared to other groups (i.e. marginal, interdependent, and independent). Cultural-specific aspects of self-construal, health, and well-being are explained to support the findings. Discussion of these findings and their implications is also provided.

The WFOT strikes back!

The WFOT strikes back!

Self-reference effect on memory in healthy aging, mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease: Influence of identity valence

The self-reference effect (SRE) has been shown to benefit episodic memory in healthy individuals. In healthy aging, its preservation is acknowledged, but in Alzheimer's disease (AD), the jury is still out. Furthermore, there has yet to be a study of the SRE in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). As self-reference implies subjective self-representations, and positive information enhance memory performance, we set out to examine the effects of 1) material and 2) identity valence on the SRE across the early stages of AD. Twenty healthy older individuals and 40 patients (20 diagnosed with aMCI and 20 diagnosed with mild AD) performed a memory task. Participants had to judge positive and negative personality trait adjectives with reference to themselves or to another person, or else process these adjectives semantically. We then administered a recognition task. Participants also completed a questionnaire on identity valence. Among healthy older individuals, the SRE benefited episodic memory independently of material and identity valence. By contrast, among aMCI patients, we only observed the SRE when the material was positive. When self-referential material was negative, patients' performance depended on the valence of their self-representations: negative self-representations correlated with poor recognition of negative self-referential adjectives. Finally, performance of patients with mild AD by condition and material valence were too low and inappropriate to be subjected to relevant analyses. The persistence of an SRE for positive adjectives in aMCI suggests the existence of a positivity effect for self-related information, which contributes to wellbeing. The absence of an SRE for negative adjectives, which led aMCI patients to dismiss negative self-related information, could be due to low self-esteem. These results corroborate the mnenic neglect model and point out the importance of the psychoaffective dimension in patients with aMCI, which could constitute a major factor for the preservation of their self-esteem and self-related memory.

The Impact of Contact Languages on the Grammaticalization of the Modern Hebrew Superlative

Modern Hebrew grammatical constructions include a tripartite paradigm of degree comparison consisting of the positive adjective, the comparative, and the superlative. Such a paradigm did not exist in classical Hebrew, and the expression of the superlative in both Biblical Hebrew and Rabbinic Hebrew required reference to a comparison class by means of a noun. Based on an examination of textual evidence from the initial phases of the formation of Modern Hebrew, this article traces the emergence of the modern superlative constructions and evaluates the role of contact languages in the process.

High feedback versus low feedback of prenatal ultrasound for reducing maternal anxiety and improving maternal health behaviour in pregnancy.

Prenatal ultrasound is one of many techniques used in screening and diagnosis. It gives parents instant access to the images of the fetus. Receiving information promotes knowledge and understanding, but it may also increase maternal anxiety. To compare high feedback versus low feedback during prenatal ultrasound for reducing maternal anxiety and improving maternal health behaviour. We searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials Register (12 May 2015), the Central Register of Controlled Trials (The Cochrane Library 2015, Issue 5), MEDLINE (January 1966 to 12 May 2015), and the ISRCTN Registry (12 May 2015). We handsearched citation lists of relevant publications. We did not apply any language or date restrictions. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of high feedback (women can see the monitor screen and receive detailed visual and verbal explanations) versus low feedback (women can not see the monitor screen and women are given only a summary statement of the scan) during prenatal ultrasound. The primary outcome measure was maternal state anxiety. Two review authors independently assessed trials for inclusion and risk of bias, extracted data and checked for accuracy. We have expressed results as risk ratio (RR) or mean differences (MD), together with their 95% confidence intervals (CI). We included four studies (365 women). Three RCTs (346 participants) reported the effect of high versus low feedback during ultrasound on state anxiety scores (mean difference (MD) 0.92, 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.58 to 2.43; participants = 346; three studies, low quality evidence). Two trials (148 participants) reported women's views of the level of feedback. They do not show that women in the high feedback groups are more likely to choose very positive adjectives to describe their feelings after the scan (risk ratio (RR) 3.30; 95% CI 0.73 to 14.85). Women who had a high feedback during ultrasound were more likely to stop smoking during pregnancy (RR 2.93, 95% CI 1.25 to 6.86; participants = 129; one study; low quality evidence) and to avoid alcohol during pregnancy (RR 2.96, 95% CI 1.15 to 7.60; participants = 129; one study; low quality evidence). Downgrading of evidence was based on the unclear risk of bias of included studies, wide CI crossing the line of no effect or presence of heterogeneity. There is insufficient evidence to support either high or low feedback during a prenatal ultrasound to reduce maternal anxiety and promote health behaviour.

Stress among First and Third Year Medical Students at University Kebangsaan Malaysia.

Objective:To identify the stress-prevalence and coping-strategies among University Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) medical students.Methods:This was an observational study conducted among 234 UKM first and third year medical students. Standardized questionnaire on stress and coping strategies was used. Stress data was related to subjective experiences on some positive and negative adjectives such as tense, relaxed etc. Positive adjectives were measured by sign “++” and “+” scoring “1” while stress-negative adjectives were measured by sign “?” and “–“ scoring “0”. Forty-eight coping items under task, emotion and avoidance strategies were measured using 5-point Likert-scale.Results:Overall stress-prevalence was 49%. Female and Malay respondents were more stressed. Significant differences of stress-level was observed between Malays and non Malays in first year (p=0.04) and in third year (p=0.01). Most common strategies used to cope stress was task-oriented while emotion oriented was least.Conclusion:Stress-prevalence and stress-level in UKM medical students was high. Most of the respondents coped stress using task-oriented strategies. Stressor and its effective management must be ensured. Educational institutions should act as a creative designer of learning environment to get relieve from educational stressor.