“Wrong place to get help”: A field experiment on luxury stores and helping behavior

Three experiments were conducted in field settings. It was hypothesized that luxury stores may act as environmental reminders of materialism and that helpfulness would vary according to the presence or absence of such cues. Study 1 (N = 80) indicated that consumers coming out of famous brand stores displayed less helpfulness, as compared to mere passersby. Study 2 (N = 112) showed passersby were less helpful near a luxury brand store than in an ordinary street with no shops. In Study 3 (N = 360), passersby were less helpful when walking down a street lined with highly exclusive stores, as compared to streets with ordinary stores or no stores. Results, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.     

‘Born this Way’? Prenatal exposure to testosterone may determine behavior in competition and conflict

Fetal exposure to sex hormones can have long lasting effects on human behavior. The second-to-fourth digit ratio (DR) is considered a putative marker for prenatal exposure to testosterone (vs estrogens), with higher exposure resulting in lower DR. Even though testosterone is theoretically related to competition, the role of DR in human behavior is debated; and in situations such as bilateral conflict is unknown. We investigate this through a laboratory experiment using a repeated 2-person Tullock contest played in fixed same-gender pairs. Based on a previously obtained large sample of student subjects, we selectively invited participants to the laboratory if their right-hand DR was in the top (High-DR) or bottom (Low-DR) tercile for their gender. Unbeknownst to the subjects, we performed a controlled match of the DR types (Low-Low, Low-High, High-High). This novel methodology allows us to analyze the causal effect of DR on behavior for the first time in the literature. We find that Low-DR (vs High-DR) males compete more aggressively regardless of the counterpart’s type. For females’ conflict behavior, the counterpart’s type matters more than the decision-maker’s type: Low-DRs are non-significantly more aggressive but every-one is more aggressive against High-DRs. Limitations due to sample size are discussed.     

Does subliminal exposure to sexual stimuli have the same effects on men and women?

Three studies explored gender differences in explicit and implicit components of sexual arousal following brief exposure to a sexual stimulus. Whereas Study 1 assessed reports of sexual arousal following subliminal exposure to a sexual or a neutral picture, Studies 2 and 3 examined the effects of the same priming procedure on accessibility of sex-related thoughts assessed with a pictorial judgment task and a lexical decision task. The subliminal sexual prime did not have an effect on men's reports of sexual arousal, but caused women to report lower levels of sexual arousal. In contrast, the same subliminal sexual prime led to higher accessibility of sex-related thoughts in both men and women. It is therefore suggested that the subliminal sexual prime causes women to activate sex-related mental contents but to experience the result as somewhat aversive.     

Seeing the Forest and the Trees: Using Dynamic Systems Theory to Understand “Stress and Coping” and “Trauma and Resilience”

Although research is beginning to capture the complex interactions of biopsychosocial variables operating within experiences of stressors and trauma, the bodies of research have remained largely separate and limited. This study describes a scaffold of factors and pathways based on principles from dynamic systems theories (DST) to organize the literatures on stress and coping and trauma and resilience. As a process model, DST provides the language to understand both impact and response to stressors and trauma: not as a list of symptoms but as interactive processes within persons and between persons and their surroundings.     

The politics of meaning: Modern Chinese nationalists’ efforts to redefine the English word “nation”

A semantic transformation of the English word “nation” has occurred in recent China. The once popular “ethnic group” connotation of “nation” has been dropped, while the “state-nation” connotation has become increasingly prominent. The change can be attributed to the efforts of Chinese intellectuals who wished to redefine the word—an endeavor which began nearly 100 years ago. The dynamics behind this redefinition has arisen from a nationalist desire to eliminate the threat to the territorial unity of China brought about by the idea of “national self-determination.” By manipulating the politics of meaning, that is, redefining “nation” as “state-nation,” Chinese intellectuals have eventually converted the original separatist slogan into a slogan of maintaining national unity.     

The relationship of the frequency of masturbation to several aspects of personality and behavior∗

Some sexual dysfunctioning may be due to a drug side effect. This paper cites 118 brand name drugs that have sexual side effects. These drugs (primarily psychotropic) are presented in chart form for easy reference. In Section I, drugs are listed alphabetically by brand name, along with the sexual side effect(s), and possible medical use. Section II, lists alphabetically, the generic and chemical names of the brand name drugs found in Section I. This provides a listing of all brand name drugs having the same basic chemical components.     

It’s about the process,not the result: An fMRI approach to explore the encoding of explicit and implicit price information

This research examines the neurophysiological correlates of consumers’ price memory processes. We focus on the explicit and implicit dimensions of consumers’ price knowledge and use an experimental functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) study to assess how the encoding of task-dependent price memory affects the choice process and neural activation. The findings of our study add to the field of consumer neuroscience by demonstrating how neural correlates of explicit and implicit task-dependent price memory can shed light on processes that guide consumer decision-making. Over the course of our experiment we found that consumers did not always make consistent decisions, but that their decisions were influenced by explicit components of price memory. Implicit price memory components seem to have a more supportive role in the decision-making process. In summary, we found that price memory is a dynamic construct that is influenced by unconscious and neurophysiological processes, and we conclude that a neurophysiological perspective can add value for consumer and marketing research.     

Exploring the Relations between “Soul” and “Role”: Learning from the Courage to Lead

In this article, the authors consider how participants in a year-long, transformative professional development program for public school leaders took up and/or ignored insights when they left the sanctity of the retreats and returned to work. The program, called the Courage to Lead, aims to help school leaders to reconnect their “soul” (an essential, inner self) with their “role” so that they can live and work with integrity. Drawing on insights from social practice theory and critical psychology, the authors present two case studies that show why ideas from the retreats were held tentatively in one case and embraced more fully in another. Based on the analysis of interviews with focal participants and participant observation during the professional development program, the authors found that to transfer core principles from the retreat to work, the participants needed their own personal motivations to do so as well as institutional roles that lent themselves to acting on their insights. This research contributes to our growing appreciation for the complex relations between the self and learning in social and cultural contexts.     

Does marijuana use lead to aggression and violent behavior?

Marijuana use and violent behavior are causing widespread public concern. This article reviews theory and research on the relation between marijuana use and aggressive/violent behavior. It is evident from the inconsistent findings in the literature that the exact nature of the relation remains unclear. This article identifies several possible reasons for these contradictory findings and provides suggestions for future research. In particular, more research is needed on the different subtypes of aggressive behavior. Further research is also needed to elucidate the associations between gender, marijuana use, and violent behavior. Likewise, an important task for future research is to continue to tease apart the complex relations between gang involvement, marijuana use, and violent behavior. Longitudinal studies also warrant further investigation. Moreover, future research should control for several potentially confounding variables.     

“Get to Know the Unknown”: Understanding Religion and Advertising

The relationship between religion and advertising has mostly been theorized in terms of “religion in advertising” or “advertising as religion.” This article pursues two goals: First, it offers a substantial critique of previous studies of advertising and religion in order to take stock and discern future directions of research. Second, it presents the results of an empirical qualitative study of print advertisements which responds to some of the open questions of previous research. It shows that advertising partially fulfills religious functions, focusing on those to do with self-actualization and meaning making within an immanent horizon, and less so on community-related functions. Based on these results, I argue that in the study of religion and advertising, “religion” cannot be limited to specific religious traditions, but has to be understood more broadly. Also, the conventional distinction between “religion in advertising” and “advertising as religion” has to be overcome in order to understand the phenomenon.     

The Philosophical Interpretation and Comparative Analysis of Different Translations of the word “Dao”in Dao De Jing

Dao De Jing, one of the outstanding Chinese classics, has been translated for numerous times.This paper seeks to compare different renderings of its key concept Dao by interpreting the similarities between Chinese and Western philosophy and further explore the right way to translate culture-loaded words in Chinese Classics.     

“What Would a Loving Mom Do Today?”: Exploring the Meaning of Motherhood in Stories of Prenatal and Postpartum Depression

Prenatal depression (PD) and postpartum depression (PPD), experienced by up to one-quarter of pregnant women and new mothers, are associated with maternal impairment and disruptions to children’s behavior, development, and health. Women experiencing PD/PPD must cope with negative feelings and detrimental outcomes that stand in contrast with cultural conceptions of how (ideal) mothers feel and act (i.e., the discourse of intensive mothering), thus furthering stigma and negativity surrounding the PD/PPD experience. The present study, couched in relational dialectics theory, aims to explore how women, through naturally occurring online narratives, make sense of motherhood in light of both PD/PPD experiences and cultural expectations/understandings of mothers. Throughout the narrative corpus, the culturally dominant Discourse of (Self-)Sacrificing Blissful Moms (DSBM)—which expands on the discourse of intensive mothering—is de-centered, albeit never fully delegitimated, by the Discourse of Mothers as Whole People (DMWP). Rather than closing down the DSBM, the DMWP works to expand meanings of what “good” mothers can feel and do. This finding holds both cultural/theoretical and practical implications, as discussed by the authors.     

Children’s protective strategies in the context of exposure to domestic violence

The purpose of this study was to explore children’s accounts of exposure to domestic violence and the strategies they used to protect themselves from such adversity. Convenience sampling included youth (N = 29), ages 7–16, who received mental health services at a rural victim-service provider. Child self-report measures were used to assess exposure and protective strategies. Children were most often exposed to verbal and physical abuse of mother, inter-parental disagreements, and the abuser’s destruction of property. Participants used a variety of strategies to escape, understand, safety plan, protect, and intervene among these types of abuse.     

“How to wind the clock of the day?” Solo living phenomena and the various stabilities of home

The domestic home is usually theorized as negotiated and structured space-time and as an emotional attachment to people and places. However, the increasing number of people living on their own brings about the question of how home is experienced, embodied, and narrated by solo-living individuals, especially in terms of ordering and stability under the flexible and fluid nature of some other realms, such as paid work. Following the affordance approach in studies of home, our aim is to integrate research on practices, materialities, and narratives of domestic homes. Our main question concerns how home is perceived, experienced, and performed by childless solo-living people and how they understand the stability of their dwelling—one of the main characteristics of home in social theory. To broaden this “traditional” concept of home, we build upon the emphasis on stability with the notion of flow, as presented by Deleuze and Guattari, along with the concept of boundary work, to describe the processes of delineation between these two from the level of mundane “doings.” Through in-depth interviews conducted using the go-along technique, combined with walking through the dwellings and some of the neighborhoods, we explore the ambivalence of stability, permanence, and temporariness, and the interconnection between materialities and meanings. The appropriation of space and time enables solo-living people to dwell comfortably, while also materializing and stabilizing the sometimes unwanted state of singleness or living alone. In contrast, the unfinished nature of some homes indicates a provisional state of being, pointing out that the current situation is still not satisfactory, being more open to change; however, it might lead to permanent living in unpleasant or even un-homey homes.     

Experiments with the Traveler��s Dilemma: welfare, strategic choice and implicit collusion

This article investigates behavior in the Traveler??s Dilemma game and isolates deviations from textbook predictions caused by differences in welfare perceptions and strategic miscalculations. It presents the results of an experimental analysis based on a 2?×?2 design where the own and the other subject??s bonus?Cpenalty parameters are changed independently. We find that the change in own bonus?Cpenalty alone entirely explains the effect on claims of a simultaneous change in one??s own and the other??s bonus?Cpenalty. An increase in the other subject??s bonus?Cpenalty has a significant negative effect on claims when the own bonus?Cpenalty is low, whereas it does not have a significant effect when the own bonus?Cpenalty is high. We also find that expected claims are inconsistent with actual claims in the asymmetric treatments. Focusing on reported strategies, we document substantial heterogeneity and show that changes in choices across treatments are largely explained by risk aversion.