Between friends: Forgiveness, unforgiveness, and wrongdoing in same-sex friendships

Friendships fulfill needs for intimacy, belonging, and support and yet have rarely been the focus of forgiveness research. In this study, we explored forgiveness, unforgiveness, and young adults’ experiences of transgressions in same-sex friendships ( N = 407). Our results suggest that, although forgiveness and unforgiveness share important antecedents (e.g., apology status, perceived remorse, and barriers to forgiveness), they are nevertheless empirically distinct constructs, both worthy of further investigation in friendships. For example, unforgiveness predicted unique variance in current friendship status controlling for forgiveness. We discuss several lessons learned from our study about the nature of responses to wrongdoing among same-sex friends (e.g., even when forgiven, offenses may cause longstanding changes in people’s views of their offending friends).

A-147 The Relationship of FSIQ and Executive Functioning Performance to a Self-Report Measure of Shifting (BRIEF-Shift)

Objective This study aimed to clarify the relationship between a self-report measure of set-shifting and performance-based measures of set-shifting as compared to FSIQ using the Trail Making Test-Part B (TMT-B), Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) perseverative responses, Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult Version (BRIEF-A) self-report shift index, and the full-scale intelligence quotient (FSIQ) from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV). Method Data from 65 individuals (34 females, mean age 36) from an outpatient clinic in Chicagoland was analyzed using 2 block-wise hierarchical regression analyses with BRIEF-A shift as the outcome variable and TMT-B, WCST, and WAIS-IV FSIQ data as the predictor variables. Results Intelligence accounted for 4.7% (R2 = 0.047, p = 0.08) of the unique variance in BRIEF-A Shift self-report. In contrast, the TMT-B and WCST data accounted for little unique variance in the model and was to significantly correlated (R2 = 0.028, p = 0.416). Conclusion The current data somewhat surprisingly indicates that FSIQ is a more robust predictor of BRIEF Shift than performance-based measures of cognitive flexibility. Implications including an understanding of response bias, general aptitude, and normative comparisons will be discussed.

Palm oil: Understanding barriers to sustainable consumption

Palm oil is relatively inexpensive, versatile, and popular, generating great economic value for Southeast Asian countries. However, the growing demand for palm oil is leading to deforestation and biodiversity loss. The current study is the first to employ a capability-opportunity-motivation (COM-B) framework in green consumerism, to determine which capability, opportunity, and motivation factors strongly predict the intentional purchasing of sustainable palm oil products by Australian consumers (N = 781). Exploratory factor analysis revealed four main types of predictors of SPO purchasing–Pro-Green Consumption Attitudes, Demotivating Beliefs, Knowledge and Awareness, and Perceived Product Availability. Multiple regression revealed that these four factors explained 50% of the variability in SPO purchasing behaviour, out of which Knowledge and Awareness accounted for 18% of the unique variance. Perceived Product Availability and Pro-Green Consumption Attitudes were also significant predictors but accounted for only 2% and 1% of unique variance, respectively. These results provide a valuable foundation for designing behaviour change interventions to increase consumer demand for sustainable palm oil products.

Compassionate goals predict COVID-19 health behaviors during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

We predicted that people with compassionate goals to support others and not harm them practiced more COVID-19 health behaviors during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic to protect both themselves and others from infection. Three studies (N = 1,143 American adults) supported these predictions and ruled out several alternative explanations. Compassionate goals unrelated to the health context predicted COVID-19 health behaviors better than the general motivation to be healthy (Studies 2 and 3). In contrast, general health motivation predicted general health behaviors better than did compassionate goals. Compassionate goals and political ideology each explained unique variance in COVID-19 health behaviors (Studies 1–3). Compassionate goals predict unique variance in COVID-19 health behaviors beyond empathic concern, communal orientation, and relational self-construal (Study 3), supporting the unique contribution of compassionate goals to understanding health behaviors. Our results suggest that ecosystem motivation is an important predictor of health behaviors, particularly in the context of a highly contagious disease.

Psychopathy, Borderline Personality Disorder, and Substance Use in Incarcerated Females

Psychopathy and borderline personality disorder (BPD) are commonly associated with an increased propensity toward substance use. However, few studies have accounted for shared variance between psychopathy and BPD when examining relationships with unique forms of substance use, particularly in justice-involved females. This study investigated psychopathic and BPD traits in relation to alcohol and drug use in a sample of 274 incarcerated adult females. Results revealed that psychopathic and BPD traits were differentially related to alcohol and drug use. Specifically, unique variance in BPD traits was related to alcohol use, whereas unique variance in lifestyle-antisocial psychopathic traits was related to drug use. Findings support unique relationships between psychopathic and BPD traits and problematic and prolonged alcohol and drug use in incarcerated adult females. Results may inform methods of tailoring specific substance use treatments for use in females with distinct personality profiles.

Feedback Environment: A Meta-Analysis

Feedback environment reflects the perceptions of the contextual, day-to-day feedback process within supervisor-subordinate relationships. Here, we present a comprehensive meta-analysis of the feedback environment literature. Based on K = 112 independent samples, representing N = 31,089 workers, results suggest that feedback environment is positively related to feedback orientation (rc = .42), leader–member exchange (rc = .81), supervisor-rated performance (rc = .29), and negatively related to burnout (rc = -.51). Moreover, we present multiple regression and relative weights analyses to consider the unique and incremental predictive power of feedback environment above-and-beyond two related constructs: leader–member exchange and feedback orientation. The results suggest that feedback environment explains unique variance in several correlates and is a particularly important predictor of (lower) burnout.

Social Anxiety and Depression in Romantic Relationships: A Three-Sample Exploration.

Introduction: Social anxiety contributes to a variety of interpersonal difficulties and dysfunctions. Socially anxious adults are less likely to marry and more likely to divorce than are non-anxious adults. The present pre-registered study investigated incremental variance accounted for by social anxiety in relationship satisfaction, commitment, trust, and social support. Methods: Three independent samples of adults (N = 888; 53.7% female; Mage = 35.09 years) involved in a romantic relationship completed online self-report questionnaires. Both social anxiety and depression were significantly correlated with relationship satisfaction, commitment, dyadic trust, and social support. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted with each sample to investigate the incremental variance accounted for by each of social anxiety and depression in relationship satisfaction, commitment, dyadic trust, and social support. Subsequent meta-analyses were run to determine the strength and replicability of the hierarchical models. Results: Results suggest that social anxiety is a robust predictor of unique variance in both perceived social support and commitment. Depression was a robust predictor of unique variance in relationship satisfaction, dyadic trust, social support, and commitment. Discussion: These results help to further understanding of social anxiety in romantic relationships and provide direction for future research and clinical intervention.

Content matters: Measures of contextual diversity must consider semantic content

Measures of contextual diversity seek to replace word frequency by counting the number of contexts in which a word occurs rather than the raw number of occurrences (Adelman, Brown, & Quesada, 2006). It has repeatedly been shown that contextual diversity measures outperform word frequency on word recognition datasets (Adelman & Brown, 2008; Brysbaert & New, 2009). Recently, Hollis (2020) has questioned the importance of contextual diversity by demonstrating that when other variables of contextual occurrences are controlled for, diversity accounts for relatively small amounts of unique variance over word frequency. However, the analysis of Hollis (2020) did not take into account the semantic content of the contexts that words occur in. Johns, Dye, and Jones (2020) and Johns (2021) have recently shown that defining linguistic contexts at larger, and more ecologically valid, levels lead to contextual diversity measures that provide very large improvements over word frequency, especially when implemented with principles from the Semantic Distinctiveness Model of Jones, Johns, and Recchia (2012). Across a series of simulations, we demonstrate that the advantages of contextual diversity measures are dependent upon the usage of semantic representations of words to determine the uniqueness of contextual occurrences, where unique contextual occurrences provide a greater impact to a word’s lexical strength than redundant contextual occurrences.

The concurrent and longitudinal relationship between narrative skills and other language skills in children

We examined the concurrent relationship between narrative skills (the Renfrew Bus Story Test) and core language measures (vocabulary, grammar and verbal memory) at age 4 and the longitudinal relationship between core language and listening comprehension skills at age 7 in a sample of 215 children using latent variables and structural equation modelling. Our main purpose was to investigate to what extent narrative retell constitutes a unique influence on later language and listening comprehension skills. The results support a two-factor model of narrative retelling and core language representing different but related constructs at age 4. Narrative retell explained unique variance in later language skills but did not explain additional variance beyond the 58% explained by the age 4 language construct. Similarly, narrative retell predicted unique variance in later listening comprehension, but not beyond what was explained by core language skills at age 4. The strength of the relationship between narrative retelling at age 4 and the age 7 measures was not related to the level of narrative skills. The results indicate that age 4 traditional core language measures capture more of the skills that are important for later language and listening comprehension than narrative skills at the same age.

Displaying character strengths in behavior is related to well-being and achievement at school: Evidence from between- and within-person analyses

In two studies, we establish the association between different assessments of character strengths (i.e., traits, habitual and daily behavior at school) with well-being and achievement at school. Study 1 (N = 414, mean age = 14.14 years) demonstrated that habitual strengths-related behavior at school accounted for unique variance in well-being at school and in achievement beyond the influence of the respective character strength trait. Further, the desirability of certain strengths (e.g., perseverance, fairness, forgiveness, and humor) at the classroom level accounted for additional variance in students’ well-being. Study 2 (N = 186, mean age = 14.27 years) used a diary design across five days to replicate the between-person associations and study within-person associations. Results revealed that daily strengths-related behavior predicted well-being on the following day. Overall, the results underline the importance of strengths-related behavior at school and suggest that all 24 character strengths are relevant for well-being at school.