Enjoyment of destruction: The role of uncertainty

Enjoyment is frequently associated with acts of destruction. It is posited that enjoyment derived from observing or engaging in destruction is related to the stimulus characteristics of the object being destroyed. Specifically, the factors that determine a person's enjoyment of aesthetic stimuli should also affect one's response to destruction. In the present experiment one stimulus characteristic was studied—uncertainty concerning the breaking of a pane of glass. Subjects observed a film in which three panes of glass broke immediately upon being struck, but the fourth pane of glass broke on either the first strike (low uncertainty) or the third strike (high uncertainty). Results indicated that subjects enjoyed the breaking more in the high-uncertainty condition, that is, when they were more uncertain about when the glass would break. The findings support the aesthetic theory of destruction and also have implications for design.     

Effects of facial expression and stare duration on walking speed: Two field experiments

Two field experiments investigated the generality of the stare-escape phenomenon for pedestrians. Experiment 1, conducted at a traffic intersection, failed to replicate a previous finding that being stared at leads to faster walking speed. One hypothesis that could explain this failure is that the relatively short staring times used in Experiment 1 were insufficient for subjects to attribute a threatening meaning to the stare. In Experiment 2, conducted at a library elevator, duration of staring was systematically varied—either 2 seconds or more than 15 seconds. Consistent with the attribution time hypothesis, subjects increased walking speed after a long stare but decreased it after a short stare. In both experiments a smile coupled with a stare appeared to neutralize the effects of a stare alone.The authors would like to thank Clyde Hendrick for his valuable comments on an earlier draft of this paper.     

THE COMMUNITIES WE ARE REGAINING BUT NEED TO LOSE

Michael Young and Gerard Lemos’ (1997 Young, M. and Lemos, G. 1997. The communities we have lost and can regain, London: Lemos and Crane.  [Google Scholar]) text The communities we have lost and can regain has had a substantial influence on New Labour's communitarian thinking. This paper critically examines a specific aspect of New Labour's communitarian agenda, namely, its use of public housing policy to rebuild communities in order to combat social exclusion on so-called ‘sink estates’. The paper is presented in four main parts. The first part of the paper discusses how, why and to what extent ‘community’ has been lost, with particular reference to public housing estates. The second part examines why community rebuilding is now seen as the solution to the problems caused by the loss of community on public housing estates and, to this end, pays particular attention to the communitarian values that underpin New Labour's third way. The third part of the paper examines some empirical studies of community in order to highlight the key characteristics of ‘community’ and thereby develop a critical understanding of what New Labour are currently seeking to achieve. The fourth part of the paper juxtaposes this discussion of ‘community’ with a discussion of emerging socio-economic trends that have been identified in the literature on late modernity and globalization. By highlighting emerging socio-economic trends such as residential mobility into the community debate, the paper concludes by criticizing the policy of community building as ‘good for you’. Our key point is that community building restricts the residential mobility of poorer households and exacerbates (rather than combats) their social exclusion because a key indicator of social inclusion is their ability to take advantage of the social, cultural and economic opportunities that so often exist ‘elsewhere’.     

直销到底是什么？

直销对许多人来说.光听这两个字.可能会激起许多不同的情绪。您也许喜欢直销.也许讨厌直销(有时候是又爱又恨).但是直销到底是什么呢?您是否曾在看完一场精彩电影或到一家很棒的餐馆用餐后.对您的朋友介绍呢?这是一种口耳相传的广告方式.企业最爱的就是口耳相传的这种方式了.因为这种方式比其它广告、促销或行销方式更加有效。"直销"其实就是企业运用这种口耳相传广告方式的一个型式。我举个虚构的例子:假设您对您的姐姐推荐一家餐厅(假设餐厅的名称叫做"Tony'sHacienda")。有一天您姐姐和姐夫到这家餐馆用餐.吃饭时服务生问他们是如何知道这家餐馆的,     

Female Delinquency: Goal Obstruction and Anomie

S'inspirant de Cohen et de Merton, les auteurs enoncent l'hypothese que la delin-quence feminine pourrait etre la consequence de l'ensemble des difficultes que percoivent les jeunes filles dans la poursuite et la realisation de leur desir de se marier. Un groupe experimental d'adolescentes delinquentes et un groupe-con-trole de filles frequentant deux ecoles superieures furent utilisees. Elles durent remplir un questionnaire comportant un index de difficultes et trois echelles distinctes de delinquence, d'angoisse et d'anomie. Les resultats demontrent le fait suivant: bien que les delinquentes pergoivent moins d'obstacles que les autres par rapport a un mariage eventuel, elles manifestent tout de meme plus d'angoisse et plus d'anomie. On essaie d'expliquer ce resultat inattendu.
Inspired by Cohen and Merton the authors hypothesize that female delinquency may be the result of difficulties perceived by girls in the fulfillment of their marital goal. A test group of delinquent girls and a control group of high school girls were administered a questionnaire with an obstacle index, and three separate scales on delinquency, anxiety, and anomie. The findings revealed that although delinquent girls perceived fewer obstacles to their marital goal, they showed higher delinquency, greater anxiety, and higher anomie. The possible explanations are discussed.