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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The (Un) Desirability Of Happiness: Pathogen Threats Predict Differences In The Value Of Happiness, Sharon Li Hua Koh Dec 2014

The (Un) Desirability Of Happiness: Pathogen Threats Predict Differences In The Value Of Happiness, Sharon Li Hua Koh

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

People in some parts of the world find positive emotions more desirable than others. What accounts for this variability? We predicted that happiness would be valued less under conditions where the behaviors that happiness promotes would be less beneficial. We analyzed international survey data and United Nations voting records and found that happiness was valued relatively less in environments that had been historically pathogen-rich. Using a series of experimental studies, we showed that people who were experimentally primed by the threat of pathogens judged happiness in others less favorably and found happiness less appropriate. Our findings contribute to research on …


East Asian Low Marriage And Birth Rates: The Role Of Social Status Affordance In Marriage And Childbearing Behavior, Jose C. Yong Nov 2014

East Asian Low Marriage And Birth Rates: The Role Of Social Status Affordance In Marriage And Childbearing Behavior, Jose C. Yong

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Although declines in marriage and birth rates are generally associated with industrialization and economic advancement, countries with a dominantly East Asian cultural population exhibit the lowest marriage and birth rates in the developed world. This study aims to identify and verify a new latent construct, social status affordance, as an underlying account for the differences in long-term mating outcomes (i.e., marriage and childbearing) between developed East Asian countries and other developed countries. Drawing on an understanding of the specific East Asian cultural values of harmony and deference and, subsequently, the importance of social status conferred by educational and occupational prestige …


Directed Forgetting Of Happy And Angry Faces: The Effects Of Facial Emotion And Sex On Recognition Memory For Facial Identity, Kay Chai Tay Oct 2014

Directed Forgetting Of Happy And Angry Faces: The Effects Of Facial Emotion And Sex On Recognition Memory For Facial Identity, Kay Chai Tay

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

The literature on directed forgetting – which refers to forgetting the specified information intentionally – has almost exclusively focused on either emotional words or pictures. Consequently, little is known about the impact of facial stimuli that demand more complex cognitive processing than words or pictures. A pilot study was conducted to obtain norm ratings on 152 facial images portraying neutral, happy and angry emotions. From this set of facial stimuli, 96 faces were selected for the main study. In the main study, 75 female participants were presented with 48 faces individually with equal number of happy and angry and, male …


Who Am I Faced With?: The Influence Of Gender-Professional Identity Integration (G-Pii) And Sex Of Opposing Negotiator On Female Businesspersons’ Negotiations, Yi Wen Tan Oct 2014

Who Am I Faced With?: The Influence Of Gender-Professional Identity Integration (G-Pii) And Sex Of Opposing Negotiator On Female Businesspersons’ Negotiations, Yi Wen Tan

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Previous research examining sex differences in negotiation revealed conflicting evidence for its presence. This could be due to the lack of consideration of having a business identity on top of having a gender identity. This suggests the importance of examining how female businesspersons integrate their female and business identities using the construct of gender-professional identity integration (G-PII). The purpose of Study 1 was to develop a measure for G-PII by adapting and validating from existing items from past bicultural identity integration research. A 15-item measure with two factors (distance and conflict) emerged. Study 2 investigated how the sex of the …


Facial Features And The Effectiveness Of Apology, Michal Franc Aug 2014

Facial Features And The Effectiveness Of Apology, Michal Franc

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Apology is an important tool for the maintenance of positive and cooperative relationships in the workplace. This paper reviews the existing research in the field of apology, and identifies four main components of apology. It uses impression management theory and signaling theory to explain the effect of apology. In addition, it proposes moderating effect of the offender's facial dominance on the effectiveness of apology. Specifically, previous research (e.g., Perrett et al., 1998) found that people with high facial dominance are less trustworthy, which suggests that apology may act as an equalizer between people with high and low facial dominance. Through …


The Motivation To Comply With Internal Or External Moral Expectations: Is Just One Motivation Enough?, Huey Woon Lee Jul 2014

The Motivation To Comply With Internal Or External Moral Expectations: Is Just One Motivation Enough?, Huey Woon Lee

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Although researchers have shown how the need to reduce internal discrepancies between one’s current level of morality and one’s moral standard and the need to reduce negative social judgment drive pro-social behaviors, it remains unclear if the presence of both these motivations has additive effects on pro-social behaviors. I propose that the answer is no: people operate on a sufficient motivation principle when deciding to behave prosocially, that is, they should be equally prosocial whether one or both motivations are present. I further argue that individual differences in public (PUSC) and private (PRSC) self-consciousness affect people’s attention to the two …