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“Buddha-like” mentality in workplace: The building of fundamental theory and the empirical test of its validity in Chinese context YAN Yu, FENG Ming, ZHANG Yong Acta Psychologica Sinica    2024, 56 (5): 594-611.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00594 Abstract （2353）      PDF（pc） （701KB）（3968）       Knowledge map    Save As a combination of traditional Buddha culture and modern network culture, Buddha-like mentality has been a popular work attitude in the workplace, yet limited scholarly attentions have been paid to investigate this concept, which is partly due to a lack of established scale. This lack, in turn, lead to incomplete understandings of the facets as well as the consequences of employees' Buddha-like mentality. To construct the framework of Buddha-like mentality and examine its consequences, we used qualitative research and quantitative research in this study. We firstly collected participants' views on Buddha-like mentality through interviews and questionnaires, and searched the contents related to Buddha-like mentality through the Internet. Secondly, the classical grounded theory was adopted to encode the descriptions derived from open survey, so as to conduct an exploration study on the concept and structural dimensions of the Buddha- like mentality in the working context. Based on this qualitative study and the exploratory factor analysis (EFA), an 18-item questionnaire was compiled according to the structural dimension of Buddha-like mentality. Then we conducted a correlation analysis with a sample of 290 participants to examine the discriminant validities between the Buddha-like mentality and existing concepts. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is conducted to test the construct validity with 478 samples. Finally, a time-lagged study is used to test the predictive validity of Buddha-like mentality with 402 valid matching questionnaires collected from 29 enterprises. The results of grounded theory show that the Buddha-like mentality in the work situation can be divided into four dimensions: unconcerned, satisfied with the status quo, friendly and not argumentative, and letting nature take its course. EFA and CFA of the Buddha-like mentality questionnaire show good reliability and validity, and there is no redundancy of questions. In addition, in the second-order four-factor model, the correlation coefficients of these factors are significant, and all of the standardized loadings of the first-order factor and the second-order factor are significant, which further confirms that the Buddha-like mentality in the workplace is a second-order structure composed of four first-order factors. Correlation analyses show (1) Buddha-like mentality correlates negatively with extraversion, (2) Buddha-like mentality has no significant correlation with agreeableness. The prediction validity study shows (1) Buddha-like mentality has a significant negative impact on creativity, (2) Buddha-like mentality has a significant positive impact on workplace well-being, (3) The impact of Buddha-like mentality on job performance is not significant. These findings enrich the scholarly understandings of Buddha-like mentality and offer a reliable instrument for the assessment of Buddha-like mentality, which may benefit much for future studies on this concept. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Social inclusion regulates the effect of social exclusion on adaptation to emotional conflict MENG Xianxin, LUO Yi, HAN Chenyuan, WU Guowei, CHANG Jiao, YUAN Jiajing, QIAN Kun, FU Xiaolan Acta Psychologica Sinica    2024, 56 (5): 577-593.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00577 Abstract （2407）      PDF（pc） （533KB）（3682）       Knowledge map    Save Social exclusion is a very painful experience that threatens people's physical and mental health, potentially increasing their risk of developing emotional problems. However, the psychological mechanism by which social exclusion affects emotional problems remains unclear. Studies have found that an impaired adaptability to emotional conflict plays an important role in emotional problems. Therefore, the first objective of the present study is to explore whether and how social exclusion affects adaptation to emotional conflict. After a person experiences social exclusion, social inclusion can promote positive emotions and lessen negative emotions. Therefore, the second objective of the present study is to explore whether and how social inclusion has the potential to regulate the effect of social exclusion on adaptation to emotional conflict. The present study used the Cyberball game and face-word Stroop paradigm to explore the effect of social exclusion on adaptation to emotional conflict (Experiment 1), and whether social inclusion had the potential to regulate the effect of social exclusion on adaptation to emotional conflict (Experiment 2). Experiment 1 used a mixed experimental design with 2 (social situation: exclusion, inclusion) × 2 (previous trial consistency: consistent, inconsistent) × 2 (current trial consistency: consistent, inconsistent) format. The consistency of the previous trial and the consistency of the current trial were the within-subject factors, while the social situation was the between-subject factor. In Experiment 1, participants were randomly assigned to either the inclusion group or the exclusion group. Experiment 2 used a mixed experimental design with 2 (Game 1: exclusion vs. inclusion) × 2 (Game 2: exclusion vs. inclusion) × 2 (previous trial consistency: consistent, inconsistent) × 2 (current trial consistency: consistent, inconsistent) format. The consistency of both the previous trial and the current trial were the within-subject factors, while Game 1 and Game 2 were the between-subject factors. In Experiment 2, participants were randomly assigned to the inclusion-exclusion, exclusion-exclusion, exclusion- inclusion, or inclusion-inclusion groups. In Experiment 1, the emotional conflict adaptation effect in reaction times of the exclusion group was lower than that of the inclusion group. In Experiment 2, the inclusion-exclusion group showed a greater emotional conflict adaptation effect in its reaction times than the exclusion-exclusion group. There was no significant difference in the emotional conflict adaptation effect in reaction times between the exclusion-inclusion group and the inclusion-inclusion group. In conclusion, social exclusion has the potential to reduce the individual's adaptation to emotional conflict, while social inclusion has the potential to regulate the excluded individual's adaptation to emotional conflict. These findings contribute to understanding the relationship between social exclusion and emotional problems and provide a feasible program to mitigate the risk of emotional problems caused by social exclusion. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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The cognitive mechanism of reducing procrastination by emotion regulation: The mediation role of task aversiveness TONG Tingting, BAI Youling, FENG Tingyong Acta Psychologica Sinica    2024, 56 (4): 458-468.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00458 Abstract （4469）   HTML （229）    PDF（pc） （554KB）（7440）       Knowledge map    Save Previous research has shown that using adaptive emotion-regulation strategies, particularly cognitive reappraisal, can help reduce procrastination. However, the precise cognitive mechanisms underlying the impact of emotion regulation on procrastination remain unclear. The temporal decision model of procrastination posits that procrastination is primarily influenced by the tradeoff between task aversiveness and outcome utility. When task aversiveness surpasses outcome utility, individuals are more likely to procrastinate, whereas when outcome utility outweighs task aversiveness, immediate action is more probable. Consequently, emotion regulation could reduce procrastination by diminishing task aversiveness or by improving outcome utility. To investigate this issue, based on Gross’s emotion regulation theory and the temporal decision model of procrastination, this research focuses on individuals exhibiting high levels of procrastination (as measured by the General Procrastination Scale, with scores above 67.5). These participants were divided into two groups: the positive reappraisal group (consisting of 34 individuals) and the ineffective strategy group (also consisting of 34 individuals). Over a period of 7 days, the two groups were longitudinally tracked through empirical sampling, resulting in a total of 14 data collection points. The results showed that: (1) There was no notable disparity between the two groups in task executive willingness during the pre-test, while the positive reappraisal group demonstrated a significantly higher task executive willingness compared to the ineffective strategy group in the post-test, indicating that positive reappraisal significantly enhanced individuals’ task executive willingness. (2) No significant difference was observed in task aversiveness between the two groups during the pre-test, while the positive reappraisal group exhibited noticeably lower levels of task aversiveness compared to the ineffective strategy group in the post-test. Additionally, initial outcome utility levels did not differ significantly between the two groups, while the positive reappraisal group demonstrated significantly higher outcome utility compared to the ineffective strategy group in the post-test. (3) Mediation analysis indicated that the reduction of task aversiveness mediated the influence of emotion regulation on the degree of improvement in procrastination (that is, the increase in task executive willingness), whereas the increase of outcome utility did not mediate the impact of emotion regulation on the degree of improvement in procrastination (that is, the increase in task executive willingness). These findings suggest that emotion regulation mainly enhance individuals’ task executive willingness by diminishing task aversiveness, thereby reducing procrastination behavior. This offers a strong theoretical foundation for interventions targeting procrastination through the lens of emotional regulation. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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How semantic prosody is acquired in novel word learning: Evidence from the “Double-Jujube Tree” effect WU Shiyu, LI Zan Acta Psychologica Sinica    2024, 56 (5): 531-541.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00531 Abstract （2009）      PDF（pc） （747KB）（2859）       Knowledge map    Save Generally, a word's meaning consists of at least two components. The first is denotative meaning, representing the definitional meaning found in dictionaries and serving as the word's fundamental meaning. The second component involves semantics that a word “absorbs” from its linguistic context, not constrained by definitions; this is known as semantic prosody, described as a consistent aura of meaning with which a form is imbued by its collocates. While theories and empirical studies have shed light on mechanisms supporting the acquisition of the first word meaning component, the acquisition of the connotative meaning engendered by semantic prosody has been overlooked. It remains unclear whether readers can unconsciously acquire the semantic prosody (or emotional connotations) of a novel word after encountering it consistently in a context with a strong emotional polarity. Against this backdrop, we conducted a word learning experiment, manipulating context emotionality (negative vs. neutral vs. positive) and context variability (same-repeated vs. varied contexts) as crucial contextual variables. This aimed to address two understudied questions in vocabulary acquisition: (1) Does transfer of affect to a word from its linguistic context take place through reading exposures, facilitating the acquisition of semantic prosody for the word? If so, is such transfer influenced by context variability? (2) Does the emotionality of context affect the acquisition of word forms and meanings, and is this acquisition modulated by context variability? This experiment involved two sessions: a reading-and-learning phase and a testing phase. During the reading-and-learning session, participants read emotionally charged passages, simultaneously learning embedded target words. The testing session included an immediate posttest, incorporating four vocabulary tests—valence rating, orthographic choice, definition matching, and definition generation. A total of 196 Chinese speakers participated in the experiment. Mixed-effects models were utilized to analyze data from the valence rating task and the other three vocabulary knowledge tests. The findings revealed that, within the same-repeated context, manipulating context emotionality (positive vs. neutral vs. negative) significantly influenced valence ratings, showing significantly higher ratings in the positive condition compared to neutral and negative conditions. Conversely, in the varied context, no significant differences in valence ratings were observed. This result supports the hypothesis of the “Double-Jujube Tree” effect, emphasizing the effect of repetitive texts compared to multiple texts. However, in the varied context, valence ratings played a role in influencing participants' performances in the vocabulary tests, leading to better outcomes as valence ratings increased. In the same-repeated context, valence ratings had minimal effect on accuracy in the orthographic choice test and the definition prompting test. We posit that the effective mechanism for learning the semantic-prosody-engendered connotations of words involves the transfer of affect from their collocations. However, this transfer seems to be contingent on context variability, occurring only in the same-repeated context and not in the varied context. Furthermore, we illustrate that the emotionality of context influences the quality of both orthographic and semantic word learning, with words being better learned in positive contexts as opposed to negative or neutral ones. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Relationship between adolescents’ smartphone stress and mental health: Based on the multiverse-style analysis and intensive longitudinal method HUANG Shunsen, LAI Xiaoxiong, ZHANG Cai, ZHAO Xinmei, DAI Xinran, QI Mengdi, WANG Huanlei, WANG Wenrong, WANG Yun Acta Psychologica Sinica    2024, 56 (6): 745-758.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00745 Abstract （875）      PDF（pc） （1112KB）（1794）       Knowledge map    Save Adolescents frequently encounter elevated levels of digital stress by exposure to digital media (e.g., smartphone stress). Their ongoing brain development increases adolescents’ susceptibility to digital stress, making them more vulnerable to its adverse effects. Among digital devices, smartphones are the most widely used ones by adolescents and a primary source of digital stress. The current study aims to investigate the robust association between digital stress, specifically smartphone stress, and adolescent mental health. The study also aims to investigate the underlying mechanisms of this association. In Study 1, a multiverse-style analysis was employed to investigate the robust relationship between smartphone stress and mental health (depression and well-being) in a large sample of adolescents (N = 74, 182, male = 39, 192). This method was chosen for its robustness of various data manipulations to test the effect of interest, and median β and NSRPD (number of significant results in predominant direction) were used as statistical inference indicators of the effect. In Study 2, we conducted an intensive longitudinal design to examine the mechanism of how smartphone stress affects mental health among adolescents (N = 477, female = 214, Mage = 12.67 ± 0.31). Before intensive longitudinal design, we assessed smartphone stress, well-being, and depression (T1). Subsequently, daily rumination (consecutive 17 days, T2) and daily negative mood (consecutive 18 days, T3) were assessed over a 35-day period. Upon intensive longitudinal design, we once again measured well-being and depression (T4). We found that rumination, negative emotion (NE), and rumination-NE (serial mediation) mediate the link between smartphone stress and mental health (smartphone stress-depression model, smartphone stress-well-being model). Study 1 indicated that over half of adolescents (52.6% of grade 4 students and 78.2% of grade 8 students) experienced smartphone stress. Furthermore, smartphone stress strongly and robustly predicted depression (Median β = 0.37, p < 0.001, NSRPD = 160/160, p < 0.001, partial r2 = 0.172) and well-being (Median β = -0.14, p < 0.001, NSRPD = 160/160, p < 0.001, partial r2 = 0.011). Effect sizes from both outcomes (partial r2 > 0.010) are capable to inform policy and the public sphere. Study 2 revealed that rumination intensity, negative emotion intensity, and rumination-negative emotion intensity mediate the relationship between smartphone stress and depression. However, no mediation was found for rumination or negative emotion fluctuation. In smartphone stress-well-being model, negative emotion intensity and rumination-negative emotion intensity, but not rumination intensity, mediated the association between smartphone stress and well-being. Moreover, negative emotion and rumination-negative emotion fluctuation, but not rumination fluctuation, mediated the association between smartphone stress and well-being. Therefore, the intensity and fluctuation of rumination and negative emotion are common mediators in the relationship between smartphone stress and depression/well-being, while the effects of mechanisms are outcome-dependent. The findings pinpoint the significant and robust effect of smartphone stress on depression and well-being among adolescents. The mediation of rumination and negative emotion in the relationship between smartphone stress and mental health probes into the mechanism of this relationship. These results support classic theories (e.g., the Emotional Cascade Model) and confirm and enrich the recent Media use-Digital stress-Mental health model. These findings could also inform future interventions for mental health problems related to smartphone stress. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Perceived opacity leads to algorithm aversion in the workplace ZHAO Yijun, XU Liying, YU Feng, JIN Wanglong Acta Psychologica Sinica    2024, 56 (4): 497-514.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00497 Abstract （1695）   HTML （178）    PDF（pc） （1664KB）（2769）       Knowledge map    Save With algorithms standing out and influencing every aspect of human society, people’s attitudes toward algorithmic invasion have become a vital topic to be discussed. Recently, algorithms as alternatives and enhancements to human decision-making have become ubiquitously applied in the workplace. Despite algorithms offering numerous advantages, such as vast data storage and anti-interference performance, previous research has found that people tend to reject algorithmic agents across different applications. Especially in the realm of human resources, the increasing utilization of algorithms forces us to focus on users’ attitudes. Thus, the present study aimed to explore public attitudes toward algorithmic decision-making and probe the underlying mechanism and potential boundary conditions behind the possible difference. To verify our research hypotheses, four experiments (N = 1211) were conducted, which involved various kinds of human resource decisions in the daily workplace, including resume screening, recruitment and hiring, allocation of bonuses, and performance assessment. Experiment 1 used a single-factor, two-level, between-subjects design. 303 participants were randomly assigned to two conditions (agent of decision-making: human versus algorithm) and measured their permissibility, liking, and willingness to utilize the agent. Experiment 1 was designed to be consistent with Experiment 2. The only difference was an additional measurement of perceived transparency to test the mediating role. Experiment 3 aimed to establish a causal chain between the mediator and dependent variables by manipulating the perceived transparency of the algorithm. In Experiment 4, a single-factor three-level between-subjects design (non-anthropomorphism algorithm versus anthropomorphism algorithm versus human) was utilized to explore the boundary condition of this effect. As anticipated, the present research revealed a pervasive algorithmic aversion across diverse organizational settings. Specifically, we conceptualized algorithm aversion as a tripartite framework encompassing cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions. We found that compared with human managers, participants demonstrated significantly lower permissibility (Experiments: 1, 2, and 4), liking (Experiments: 1, 2, and 4), and willingness to utilize (Experiment 2) algorithmic management. And the robustness of this result was demonstrated by the diversity of our scenarios and samples. Additionally, this research discovered perceived transparency as an interpretation mechanism explaining participants’ psychological reactions to different decision-making agents. That is to say, participants were opposed to algorithmic management because they thought its decision processes were more incomprehensible and inaccessible than humans (noted in Experiment 2). Addressing this “black box” phenomenon, Experiment 3 showed that providing more information and principles about algorithmic management positively influenced participants’ attitudes. Crucially, the result also demonstrated the moderating effect of anthropomorphism. The result showed that participants exhibited greater permissibility and liking for the algorithm with human-like characteristics, such as a human-like name and communication style, over more than a mechanized form of the algorithm. This observation underlined the potential of anthropomorphism to ameliorate resistance to algorithmic management. These results bridge the gap between algorithmic aversion and decision transparency from the social-psychological perspective. Firstly, the present research establishes a three-dimensional (cognitive, affective, and behavioral) dual-perspective (employee and employer) model to elucidate the negative responses toward algorithmic management. Secondly, it reveals that perceived opacity acts as an obstacle to embracing algorithmic decision-making. This finding lays the theoretical foundation of Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) which is conceptualized as a “glass box”. Ultimately, the study highlights the moderating effect of anthropomorphism on algorithmic aversion. This suggests that anthropomorphizing algorithms could be a feasible approach to facilitate the integration of intelligent management systems. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Individual and collective temporal self-evaluation: Evidence from behavior and ERP ZHANG Feng, PI Yu, LI Xiaobao Acta Psychologica Sinica    2024, 56 (4): 447-457.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00447 Abstract （1766）   HTML （81）    PDF（pc） （1132KB）（2631）       Knowledge map    Save Both behavioral and electrophysiological studies have demonstrated the future positive bias of individual temporal self-evaluation. However, the characteristic of collective temporal self-evaluation is still an open question. The present study aimed to investigate the similarities and differences between individual and collective temporal self-evaluation using a temporal self-reference paradigm among Chinese undergraduates. In comparison to Westerners, Chinese are more unified in their self-concept, and their temporal self contains more social, relational, and family selves in the context of collectivist culture. Therefore, it was assumed that the collective temporal self-evaluation might be highly similar to individual temporal self-evaluation across time, according to interdependent self-construal theory. The present study adopted a 3 (time dimension) × 2 (reference object) × 2 (valence) within-subjects design and employed an event-related potential (ERP) technique to explore the individual and collective temporal self-evaluation using two experiments. Brain electrical activity was recorded from 64 scalp sites using tin electrodes mounted in an elastic cap according to the international 10-20 system, and late positive components (LPC) were used as the EEG indicators because LPC was closely related to temporal self-evaluation. In Experiment 1, 30 Chinese undergraduates were recruited, and they were asked to evaluate their and Zhangsan’s past self, present self, and future self (“Zhangsan” was often referred to the name of an ordinary person in China), using positive and negative personality adjectives. In Experiment 2, 23 Chinese undergraduates were recruited to assess past self, present self, and future self of Chinese and Americans. In Experiment 1, the behavioral results showed that participants tended to use more positive adjectives and fewer negative adjectives to evaluate their future self, compared to their past self and present self; They tended to use more negative adjectives to evaluate their past self, compared to their present self. In addition, participants tended to use more positive adjectives and fewer negative adjectives to evaluate their future self, compared to Zhangsan’s self. These behavioral results indicated that individual self-evaluation was positive across time and had a trend to increase from past to future. ERP data showed that negative adjectives evoked greater LPC amplitudes than positive adjectives in the tasks of evaluating past self and present self, while there was no significant difference in the evaluation of future self, which demonstrated more “negativity bias” effects in individual past self-evaluation and present self-evaluation, compared to individual future self-evaluation. In Experiment 2, the behavioral results showed that participants tended to use more positive adjectives and fewer negative adjectives to evaluate collective temporal self than non-collective temporal self. The positive attitudes toward collective temporal self were no significant differences between different temporal dimensions (past, present, and future), indicating that participants had a stable and consistent positive bias toward their collective temporal self. ERP data showed that greater LPC amplitudes were evoked for negative adjectives than positive adjectives in evaluating collective past self and present self, while there was no significant difference in evaluating collective future self, which indicated that participants had more “negativity bias” effects in collective past self-evaluation and present self-evaluation, compared to collective future self-evaluation. In conclusion, our study suggested that both individual self-evaluation and collective self-evaluation had a positive bias across time. Moreover, there existed a “negativity bias” effect at the neurophysiological level in individual self-evaluation and collective self-evaluation. These results demonstrated that individual temporal self-evaluation and collective temporal self-evaluation among Chinese college students had similar cognitive and neurophysiological characteristics, to some extent, providing supporting evidence for the theory of interdependent self-construal. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Reward facilitates working memory precision during retrieval NIU Hui, HU Yanmei, ZHENG Xutao, JIANG Yingjie, LIU Jia Acta Psychologica Sinica    2024, 56 (4): 435-446.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00435 Abstract （2648）   HTML （154）    PDF（pc） （1127KB）（4183）       Knowledge map    Save Reward can improve working memory performance. However, there has been controversy on whether reward can regulate the retrieval of working memory. Some studies have presented reward signals before the retrieval stage, with the results showing that reward can affect the retrieval phase during working memory. Klink et al. (2017) indicated that reward cues presented in the retrieval phase cannot affect working memory. However, this finding lacks support in the literature and needs to be further tested. The present study aims to explore the mechanism and effect of reward on the precision of working memory during retrieval. A total of 24 participants (Experiment 1) and 60 participants (Experiment 2) were recruited for two experiments. Experiment 1 included two stages: association learning and memory test. The participants first established the connection between color and value through association learning. Thereafter, a working memory test was conducted. Reward cues were presented with the memory probe during the working memory test. Experiment 2 included four stages: pretest, association learning, posttest, and confidence assessment. Pre- and post-test tasks were the same, in which the participants performed two memory tests in sequence during the retrieval phase. Colored cues were not related to rewards in the pre-test but associated with rewards in the post-test. Confidence judgment required the participants to evaluate their confidence that they can infer the color of the second cue based on the color of the first cue. This undertaking aimed to test whether the participants have expectations for the order of cues. Results of Experiment 1 showed that the effect of reward was significant in the memory test stage. In particular, memory performance with high and low reward cues was better than that with no reward cues. Results of the post-test of Experiment 2 showed a significant main effect of test order. Memory performance of the first test item was particularly better than that of the second test item. Moreover, there was a significant test order by serial position of the high-reward cue interaction effect. Memory performance of the first test item was better when the high-reward cue appeared before the low-reward cue. Memory performance of the second test item was better when the low reward cue appeared before the high-reward cue. The participants’ working memory capacity was differentiated according to their performance during the pre-test to investigate the individual differences of the reward effects. Results likewise indicated that reward did not affect the memory performance of the high-capacity group. For the low-capacity group, memory performance was affected by the test order, serial position of the high-reward cue, and their interaction. Thus, the effect of reward was more evident with the low-capacity group. The present study was the first to observe that rewards can directly regulate working memory retrieval without affecting encoding and retention. In addition, the regulation mechanism of reward on working memory retrieval involved the redistribution of working memory resources. Such a reward regulation was affected by the test order and working memory capacity. Moreover, findings indicated that individuals can adjust cognitive strategies before or during learning according to the item value to promote working memory processing. They can also adjust retrieval precision after learning according to the value of information set by the test. This flexible working memory regulation mechanism plays an important role in promoting human cognitive activities and social adaptation. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Trapped by family or compensated from work? The influence of daily negative family events on daily effective leadership behaviors LIU Depeng, LI Juexing, ZHANG Shengjun, PANG Xuhong, WANG Zheng Acta Psychologica Sinica    2024, 56 (5): 612-629.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00612 Abstract （1217）      PDF（pc） （655KB）（2024）       Knowledge map    Save Negative family events and experiences have been major social problems in recent years due to the intersection and influence of technical, economic, and epidemic shocks. Negative family events influence leaders' family domain and also have a cross-domain effect on leadership behaviors at work. However, there are two contradictory views on the relationship between negative family events and effective leadership behaviors. Some scholars claim a negative effect because of the depletion of leaders' self-control resources, called the “trapped-by- family effect.” Others propose a positive effect owing to cross-domain compensation, called the “compensation effect.” The inconsistency in existing literature prompts us to reconcile it using the theory of cross-domain leader identity. We argue that the influence of daily negative family events on leader identity and effective leadership behaviors depends on the leaders' extraversion levels. Specifically, when leaders have higher levels of extraversion, the compensation effect will come into play; that is, daily negative family events will be positively associated with daily effective leadership behaviors by promoting daily leader identity. In contrast, when leaders have lower levels of extraversion, the trapped-by-family effect will play a role; that is, daily negative family events will be negatively associated with daily effective leadership behaviors by reducing daily leader identity. To capture within-person variance and test our model, we conducted two experience sampling studies of middle managers across 10 consecutive workdays. In Study 1, participants were middle managers from three merchant banks in three cities. Before initiating the daily survey, participants were asked to complete a basic survey containing demographic questions and an extraversion personality inventory. After matching procedures, 461 observations from 67 managers were included in our final sample. Data analysis supported our hypotheses for both initial structure and transformational leadership that are typical effective leadership behaviors in the literature. In Study 2, we collected data from participants from different regions and industries, and the final sample included 307 observations from 42 managers. The data analysis results showed that negative family events did have both a trapped-by-family effect on leader identity and effective leadership behavior through ego-depletion and a compensation effect on leader identity and effective leadership behavior through compensation. The theoretical contributions of this paper are fourfold. First, we integrate the inconsistent ideas of the relationship between negative family events and effective leadership behavior using the theory of cross-domain leader identity. We find that the levels of leaders' extraversion play a vital role in deciding whether negative family events will have a trapped-by-family effect or a compensation effect on effective leadership behavior via leader identity. Second, unlike existing empirical studies, our findings suggest that negative family events will not always lead to negative leadership behaviors. At the within-person level, leaders with high levels of extraversion will exhibit more effective leadership behaviors at work after experiencing negative family events. Third, we extend the current research to further explore the effect of personality on leadership behaviors. Prior studies have suggested that extraversion assists leaders in handling the challenges of work, while we find that extraversion will also promote leaders to actively respond to negative family events by engaging in effective leadership behaviors. Fourth, we also contribute to leader identity studies by shifting its antecedents from work domain to family domain and by exploring the interactive effect of personal and situational factors on leader identity. The present study also provides practical guidance for organizations and leaders to cope with the challenge of negative family events and promote its potential positive effects. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Different effects of linguistic and perceptual symbolic representations on foreign language vocabulary learning: Evidence from behavioral and EEG data REN Weicong, YANG Ting, WANG Hanlin Acta Psychologica Sinica    2024, 56 (5): 542-554.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00542 Abstract （1233）      PDF（pc） （1460KB）（1752）       Knowledge map    Save Semantic representation is a way to achieve semantic access, which plays an important role in foreign language vocabulary learning. The linguistic symbolic and perceptual symbolic representations constitute two subsystems of semantic representations. Previous studies have found that the linguistic symbolic representation can provide quick approximate processing, which is suitable for shallow language processing tasks, while the perceptual symbolic representation can create a complete situation model, which is important for deep language processing tasks. In view of these different cognitive processing patterns, the effect of each symbolic representation system on foreign language vocabulary learning were investigated in this study to explore the mechanism of semantic representation on vocabulary learning. A total of 52 participants were randomly assigned to the two symbolic representation conditions and executed a vocabulary learning-recognition task. To manipulate the participants' semantic representations effectively when learning foreign language vocabulary, two types of spatial semantics, i.e., “up” and “down,” were chosen as the learning materials. Furthermore, to investigate the learning process effectively, the foreign words expressing the meanings of “up” and “down” were selected from languages that the participants were completely unfamiliar with. In the learning stage, Chinese characters or spatial cues of “up” and “down” were presented first as semantic priming stimuli to initiate the participants' linguistic symbolic or perceptual symbolic representations of the foreign words subsequently presented. The participants were then required to learn the foreign words. After every 20 words learned, a test on the semantic recognition of the foreign words was conducted. Behavioral and EEG data were collected to investigate the different effects of linguistic symbolic and perceptual symbolic representations on the learning and recognition stages. The behavioral results showed that no significant difference in judgment of learning were found between the linguistic symbolic and perceptual symbolic representation conditions, but the latter showed higher recognition accuracy rate than the former. The event related potential results showed that during the learning stage, the perceptual symbolic representation induced more positive LPC components (in the time window of 400~800 ms) than the linguistic symbolic representation condition. During the recognition stage, in relation to the linguistic symbolic representation condition, the perceptual symbolic representation evoked larger N400 components in the time window of 200~400 ms after the onset of the recognition words. The results of EEG time-frequency analysis showed that during the recognition stage, the perceptual symbolic representation condition elicited lower μ band power and higher θ band power than the linguistic symbolic representation condition (the time windows of the two bands were 200~800 ms after the onset of the recognition words). In conclusion, results indicated that compared with linguistic symbolic representation, perceptual symbolic representation had a delayed influence on vocabulary encoding. It promoted deep encoding processing of vocabulary and improved the efficiency of vocabulary semantic retrieval through perceptual simulation in the recognition process, thereby implicitly improving the semantic recognition of vocabulary. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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A longitudinal study on depression and anxiety among Chinese adolescents in the late phase of the COVID-19 pandemic: The trajectories, antecedents, and outcomes YANG Zhixu, PENG Haiyun, XIN Sufei Acta Psychologica Sinica    2024, 56 (4): 482-496.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00482 Abstract （2772）   HTML （125）    PDF（pc） （601KB）（4404）       Knowledge map    Save During the COVID-19 pandemic, all age groups’ mental health has substantially declined. Compared to other age groups, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescent mental health problems was more salient, particularly on depression and anxiety. Previous studies, which were primarily conducted during the phase of COVID-19 pandemic, have mainly covered the first and second phases of COVID-19-related prevention and containment in China, without adequate attention being paid to the third and fourth phases of COVID-19-related prevention and containment in China. Currently, there are three competing hypotheses for the longitudinal trajectories of depression and anxiety among Chinese adolescents in the post-COVID era, making the construction of the mental health monitoring system and the mental health service system for adolescents in China “blind spots”. Based on developmental contextualism and three-dimensional theoretical framework of mental health change, the present study thus investigated the developmental trajectories of depression and anxiety among adolescents, as well as the potential antecedent (psychological resilience) and outcome (prosocial tendency) of such trajectories in the late phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in China. In this study, 1170 adolescents in Shandong province were assessed at three time points with a six-month interval (Time 1 = May 2021; Time 2 = November 2021; Time 3 = May 2022) from the normalization period of the pandemic through self-report questionnaires. The adolescents completed Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale and Self-Rating Anxiety Scale during the three measurements. Furthermore, all adolescents completed the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale at Time 1 and Prosocial Tendencies Measure at Time 3. Attrition analyses, common method bias analyses, and descriptive statistics were analyzed by SPSS software. The trajectories of depression and anxiety, as well as their associated antecedent (i.e., psychological resilience) and outcome (i.e., prosocial tendency) were further analyzed via latent growth curve models using Mplus software. According to the results of the latent growth curve models, adolescents’ depression and anxiety levels tended to decline. The higher the level of depression and anxiety at Time 1, the slower the decline over time. Furthermore, psychological resilience at Time 1 negatively predicted initial levels of depression and anxiety but positively predicted the decreasing speed of depression and anxiety trajectories. Concerning the outcomes, we found that the initial level and speed of depression trajectories significantly and negatively predicted the levels of prosocial tendency at Time 3. Regarding the anxiety trajectory, its intercept factor negatively predicted prosocial tendency at Time 3, but its slope factor’s predictive effect was non-significant. Finally, multi-group analyses revealed that both boys and girls showed declining trends in depression and anxiety over time, while girls scored significantly higher on depression and anxiety initially than boys. In conclusion, this research found that the changes in mental health (particularly depression and anxiety problems) among Chinese adolescents in the late phase of the COVID-19 pandemic were developing well, which provides empirical evidence for better construction of adolescent mental health service systems in China. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Impact of repeated two-syllable brand names on consumer ethical responses in different moral contexts: A mind perception theory perspective YE Weiling, XU Su, ZHOU Xinyue Acta Psychologica Sinica    2024, 56 (5): 650-669.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00650 Abstract （1338）      PDF（pc） （670KB）（1918）       Knowledge map    Save Brand names serve as crucial touchpoints for establishing brand-consumer relationships and are integral components of brand assets. Linguistic studies on branding have established that the phonetic features of brand names can influence consumers' cognition, emotions, and behavior. However, research on the impact and mechanisms of phonetic features on consumers' ethical responses is limited. Based on the mind perception theory, this study explores the asymmetric paths through which the use of repeated two-syllable brand names influences consumers' moral reactions in two different situations. Based on seven experiments, we determined that in the context of brands as moral agents, compared to non-repeated two-syllable brand names, repeated ones can alleviate consumers' negative moral reactions (anger, disgust, blame, punishment intention) toward the brand by reducing the think dimension of brand mind perception (rather than the feel dimension). However, in the context of brands as moral patients, repeated two-syllable brand names enhance consumers' positive moral reactions (sympathy, compassion, regret, and purchase intention) toward the brand by increasing the feel dimension of brand mind perception (rather than the think dimension). Experiment 1a was designed to derive experimental evidence on the relationship between repeated two-syllable brand name and consumers' negative moral reactions in the context of moral agent. Experiment 1a (N = 200) was a single factor (repeated two-syllable: yes vs. no) between-subjects design in which participants were randomly assigned to different groups to read a news report regarding an incident of vulgar advertising with repeated or non-repeated two-syllable brand names. Participants then reported their level of anger, disgust, and blame toward the brand. Experiment 1b (N = 200), which had a similar between-subjects design as Experiment 1a, verified the relationship between repeated two-syllable brand name and consumers' positive moral reactions in the context of moral patient. The participants were randomly assigned to two groups to read a news report regarding an incident of corporate data breach. They then reported their level of sympathy, compassion, and pity for the brand. Experiment 2a (N = 196) was designed to confirm the mediating role of the think dimension of the brand in the relationship between repeated two-syllable brand name and consumers' negative moral reactions in the context of moral agent. The experimental design was the same as that of Experiment 1a. Participants were randomly assigned to two groups to read a news report regarding an incident of drug companies raising drug prices despite patients. Participants then reported their level of anger, blame, feel dimension, think dimension, brand warmth, and brand competence toward the brand. Experiment 2b (N = 196) verified the mediating role in the relationship between repeated two-syllable brand name and consumers' positive moral reactions in the context of moral patient. The experimental design and procedure were identical to that in Experiment 1b. After reading a news report regarding the incident of corporate data breach, participants reported their level of sympathy, support, feel dimension, think dimension, brand warmth, and brand competence toward the brand. Experiment 3a sought to confirm the influence of repeated two-syllable brand name on downstream behavioral intention in the context of moral agent. Experiment 3a (N = 296) was a single factor (repeated two-syllable: yes vs. no vs. “little”) between-subjects design; participants were randomly assigned to three groups to read the same news report as in Experiment 2a. They then reported their level of anger, disgust, blame, feel dimension, think dimension, and punishment intention toward the brand. Experiment 3b (N = 292) verified the influence of repeated two-syllable brand name on downstream behavioral intention in the context of moral patient and was a similar between-subjects design to Experiment 3a. The participants were randomly assigned to three groups and asked to read a news report on an incident of one company being coerced by another. They then reported their level of sympathy, compassion, regret, feeling, thinking, and purchase intention for the brand. Experiment 4 (N = 363) used a 2 (repeated two-syllable: yes vs. no) ´ 2 (moral agent vs. moral patient) between-subjects design to more rigorously demonstrate the effect of repeated two-syllable names in the same moral situation. Participants were randomly assigned to four groups and asked to read a news report on an incident of commercial bullying. In the moral agent group, the brand was a game production company that bullies other firms, and in the moral patient group, the brand was a game operation company that is bullied by other firms. The participants reported their level of unethical judgment on the incident and the level of feel and think dimensions toward the brand. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) in Experiments 1a and 1b suggested that repeated two-syllable brand name could decrease consumers' negative moral reactions toward the brand when it was a moral agent, whereas such brand name could increase consumers' positive moral reactions when the brand was a moral patient. The ANOVA results of Experiment 2a and an examination of parallel mediation revealed that the think dimension of brand mind perception mediated the influence of repeated two-syllable brand name on consumers' negative moral reactions. Based on the ANOVA and parallel medication analysis, the results of Experiment 2b revealed that feel dimension of brand mind perception mediated the influence of repeated two-syllable brand name on consumers' positive moral reactions. At the same time, Experiment 2a ruled out alternative explanations for the stereotype content model. On the other hand, Experiment 2b established that after controlling for the indirect effect of the stereotype content model, a significant mediating effect of the mind perception theory remained. Meanwhile, the results of the serial mediation mechanism analysis in Experiments 3a and 3b revealed that in the moral agent context, repeated two-syllable brand names ultimately influence consumers' intentions to punish by influencing the think dimension and negative moral reactions. However, in the moral patient context, repeated two-syllable brand names ultimately influence consumers' purchase intention by influencing the feel dimension and positive moral reactions. In addition, the ANOVA and multi-category mediation mechanism analyses of Experiments 3a and 3b documented that repeated two-syllable brand name and “little” could produce similar effects in the moral agent and moral patient context. Finally, the results of the two-way ANOVA for Experiment 4 indicated significant interactions between repeated two-syllable names and moral roles in the immoral judgment of the incident and the feel and think dimensions of the brand. In the moral agent condition, participants in the repeated two-syllable group made fewer unethical judgments about the incident and perceived a lower level of the think dimension of the brand than participants in the non-repeated two-syllable group, but no significant difference was observed in the perceived level of feel dimension. In the moral patient condition, participants in the repeated two-syllable group made more unethical judgments about the incident and perceived a higher level of the feel dimension of the brand than those in the non-repeated two-syllable group, but no significant difference was observed in the perceived level of the think dimension. This study provides an innovative theoretical exploration of the causal relationship between sound symbolism and consumers' reactions to business ethical crisis. Meanwhile, we reveal the mechanism by which the two dimensions (think and feel) of brand mind perception exist as asymmetric mediators. In addition, we employ the theory of mind perception to discover how people anthropomorphize non-human things, which deepens the exploration of the mechanisms of anthropomorphism-generating processes in the brand anthropomorphism literature. In a practical sense, our research not only provides reference for the design of brand names and nicknames but also directly assists in crafting public relations content for handling ethical crises and creating content for public service announcements. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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“Neijuan” in China: The psychological concept and its characteristic dimensions ZHANG Wen, PAN Chao, YAO Shiming, ZHU Jiajia, LING Dong, YANG Hanchun, XU Jingsha, MU Yan Acta Psychologica Sinica    2024, 56 (1): 107-123.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00107 Abstract （6035）   HTML （484）    PDF（pc） （745KB）（9195）       Knowledge map    Save With the deepening and spread of reform and opening-up, China has undergone rapid and unprecedented economic growth and societal transformations over the past few decades. Accumulating evidence has revealed the impacts of sociocultural changes on Chinese mental health. Since 2020, a popular buzzword, “Neijuan” (involution), has garnered significant attention and discussion in daily life. Neijuan could be traced back to agricultural involution, which refers to a process of inward over-elaboration in agricultural development. This concept was first identified by the anthropologist Geertz (1963), who observed that population growth failed to enhance productivity growth and economic development. Despite Neijuan's growing attention, it is still unclear about the connotation and characteristic dimensions of this social phenomenon. Cultural psychology provides a solid theoretical and empirical basis for exploring how social and cultural changes affect individuals’ psychological states and behaviors. In this context, we propose that Neijuan is a multidimensional psychological concept of great significance in this new era, closely connected to cultural changes in China’s rapid development and growth. To explore the psychological concept of Neijuan, Study 1 employed a grounded theory approach through in-depth interviews to clarify the intricate psychological components of Neijuan. Based on the results of Study 1, Studies 2 and 3 developed a measurement tool to validate the multiple characteristic dimensions of Neijuan in Chinese culture, utilizing exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The findings suggested that Neijuan comprises four dimensions: resource scarcity, social norm, psychological pressure, and competition. Subsequently, Study 4 used Neijuan scenario-based task in the university and workplace environments to assess participants’ behavioral tendencies related to Neijuan and examined the relationship between individuals’ perceptions of Neijuan and their actual behaviors. Results revealed that individuals with higher levels of perceived Nejuan exhibited a greater tendency to engage in behaviors associated with Neijuan. In summary, the series of studies sought to explore the psychological concept and multiple characteristic dimensions of Neijuan, which provides a theoretical and empirical basis for understanding this significant phenomenon in the contemporary era. The current research also offers an effective measurement tool to assess individuals’ perception of Neijuan and enlightens future research on the effect of Neijuan on psychological maladjustment and non-benign competition behaviors related to Neijuan. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Morphological structures of two-character words influence character position encoding SU Xingzhi, LI Xiaoxuan, LI Rongrong, ZHAO Changze, CUI Lei Acta Psychologica Sinica    2024, 56 (4): 383-393.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00383 Abstract （2825）   HTML （135）    PDF（pc） （433KB）（3951）       Knowledge map    Save The Transposed-Letter effect (TL effect) demonstrates the importance of letter position encoding in word recognition, highlighting its stable flexibility. In order to understand the processing mechanisms of word recognition, recent research investigated letter position encoding in words with different morphological structures. If the compound word is processed in the morphological decomposition manner, the transposition across morphemes will cause more interference than within morphemes, then resulting in a reduced TL effect. In Chinese, it was also found that the character position encoding is flexible, which is demonstrated by the Transposed-Character (TC) effect. Researchers examined whether the character position encoding is different between the monomorphemic word and the compound word. There was found no significant difference between them. It indicates that the compound word is accessed in a holistic route. However, the Chinese compound word consists of various types of morphological structures. Since the semantic role of each morpheme is different across morphological structures, the subordinative compound word, formed by a modifier and a semantic headedness, might have more rigid character position encoding than the coordinative compound word, formed by two semantic headedness. Then causes different processing mechanisms. Therefore, this study employed eye-tracking technology and the boundary paradigm to explore character position encoding in different morphological structures of two-character words. Seventy-eight students participated in the experiment, which utilized a 3 (Word type: monomorphemic word, subordinate compound, coordinative compound) × 3 (Preview type: identical preview, transposed preview, unrelated preview) within-participants design. We hypothesized the TC effect exists in all types of the two-character word. However, for the processing of the subordinative compound word, the assignment of the semantic role is needed. Thus, the character flexibility of the subordinative compound word should be lower than that of the coordinative compound and monomorphemic word, which is indicated by the lower TC effect for the subordinative compound word. The results revealed that the fixation time (First fixation, Gaze duration, and regression path reading time) of transposed previews were significantly shorter than those of unrelated previews. It indicates a significant TC effect and demonstrates the flexibility of character position encoding. Furthermore, the fixation time of identical previews was significantly shorter than that of transposed previews. It indicates the importance of character position encoding in accurate word recognition. We also found an interaction effect between word type and preview type. The subordinate compound word exhibited a smaller TC effect compared to the coordinative compound word and the monomorphemic word. However, the TC effect of the coordinative compound word did not differ from that of the monomorphemic word in terms of gaze duration and regression path reading time. Additionally, the difference between the identical preview and the transposed preview conditions was greater for the subordinate compound word than for the coordinative compound word and the monomorphemic word. However, the difference between identical preview and transposed preview conditions of the coordinative compound word did not differ from that of the monomorphemic word in terms of gaze duration. In conclusion, the character position encoding of the monomorphemic word and the coordinative compound word showed greater flexibility compared to that of the subordinate compound word, while no significant difference was observed between the monomorphemic word and the coordinative compound word. These findings suggest that the morphological structure of the two-character word directly influences the TC effect, supporting the dual-route race model of the processing of the morphological complex word and providing empirical support for the Chinese reading model. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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The “far dog, near cat” effect in stray animal charity rescue and its mechanism LIU Wumei, WANG Lu Acta Psychologica Sinica    2024, 56 (6): 777-798.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00777 Abstract （500）      PDF（pc） （5217KB）（1026）       Knowledge map    Save While past pro-social research has focused on charitable donations to humans, we know little about charitable assistance for stray animals. However, investigating the factors that promote human’s assistance to stray animals is of great practical importance. Currently, an increasing number of organizations and platforms are involving themselves in rescuing stray animals. When these organizations and platforms present animal rescue information, the information ad contains both animal type and spatial distance. Therefore, to address this research gap, this paper aims to study how animal type and spatial distance jointly influence consumers’ willingness to rescue stray animals, as well as the mechanisms and boundary conditions. We propose a novel “far dog, near cat” effect. Specifically, we predict that under the near spatial distance, rescuing cat (versus rescuing dog) increases consumers’ rescuing willingness, whereas under the far spatial distance, rescuing dog (versus rescuing cat) increases consumers’ rescuing willingness. To test this effect, we conducted a total of nine experiments (N = 2848), including one implicit association test, one field experiment, one laboratory experiment, and six online experiments in different scenarios. We determined sample size of each experiment using G*power calculator. Overall, this study found that cats were more compatible with proximal spatial distance, while dogs were more compatible with distal spatial distance (Experiment 1a、1b). Therefore, presenting a stray cat (vs. a stray dog) in the proximal spatial-distance ad triggered consumers’ higher willingness to rescue the animal, while presenting a stray dog (vs. a stray cat) in the distal spatial-distance ad triggered consumers’ higher willingness to rescue the animal (Experiments 2-5). We further found that processing fluency mediated the “far dog, near cat” effect (Experiments 4-5). In addition, we found that the “far dog, near cat” effect was moderated by consumers’ thinking styles such that the "far dog, near cat" effect was evident when consumers adopted affective thinking style and disappeared when consumers adopted cognitive thinking style (Experiment 6). This paper has significant theoretical contributions and practical implications. Theoretically, this study focuses on stray animals as a novel object of charitable donations and builds the implicit linkage between animal type and spatial distance. Also, this study identifies the “far dog, near cat” effect in stray animal rescue, adding to past pro-social literature in general and donation literature in particular. Practically, the “far dog, near cat” effect we identified in this paper can guide charitable organizations how to present animal-rescue information appropriately. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Chunking feedback in instructor-learner interaction facilities long-term learning transfer: Behavioral and fNIRS hyperscanning studies ZHU Yi, HU Yi Acta Psychologica Sinica    2024, 56 (5): 555-576.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00555 Abstract （948）      PDF（pc） （3189KB）（1481）       Knowledge map    Save Feedback is a crucial driving factor for attitude and behavior change, as well as the acquisition of knowledge and skills. Previous research has shown that providing and receiving feedback with elaborated content in teacher-student interactions can deepen the comprehension of conceptual knowledge and promote knowledge transfer to new contexts. However, the impact of altering the presentation of feedback during interaction on long-term learning and its underlying neurocognitive processes remains unclear. To address this question, the current study employed a naturalistic teacher-student dyadic question-answer feedback task. It conducted both a behavioral experiment and a fNIRS hyperscanning experiment to investigate the facilitative role of chunked feedback in long-term knowledge transfer, its cognitive processes, and the underlying neural basis during interpersonal interactions. In Experiment 1, students learned psychology concepts and received chunked (i.e., a set of two related concepts) or separate (i.e., one concept) feedback (i.e., correct answer and example) from the teacher. The prior knowledge levels were manipulated through a learning introduction phase. The between-subject design included feedback presentation (chunking vs. separate) × prior knowledge (high vs. low). Learning performance was measured after the task regarding knowledge recognition and transfer, with a second test conducted after 7 days to explore the long-term effect. Experiment 2 adopted fNIRS hyerscanning to simultaneously record teachers' and students' brain activity during interactions. Additionally, a pseudo-chunk (i.e., a set of two less-related concepts) feedback group was included to clarify potential confounding between feedback timing and format. The results of Experiment 1 showed that in teacher-student interaction, presenting feedback in a chunked manner, compared to separate feedback, was more beneficial for the long-term transfer performance of students with lower prior knowledge. With the introduction of the pseudo-chunk feedback group as a control, Experiment 2 replicated this finding and revealed no significant difference in long-term transfer performance between the pseudo-chunk and separate feedback groups. This indicates that merely changing the timing of feedback does not lead to long-term transfer gains for students with lower prior knowledge. Furthermore, it was found that chunked error correction partially mediated the relationship between feedback presentation format and long-term transfer performance. In Experiment 2, students receiving chunked feedback reported greater cognitive effort compared to those receiving non-chunked feedback, but no relationship was found between cognitive effort and learning. These results provide support for the possibility that the long-term transfer effect of chunked feedback for low-prior-knowledge students may be due to more organized error correction rather than cognitive effort. Additionally, Experiment 2 revealed that during the process of providing and receiving chunked feedback, greater brain-to-brain synchrony was observed in the frontal and parietal areas between teachers and students, with frontal brain-to-brain synchrony predicting long-term transfer performance and chunked error correction, suggesting it as the interpersonal neural basis of chunked feedback promoting effective error correction and facilitating long-term deep learning such as transfer. This study provides practical insights for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of feedback in real classroom settings. Moreover, it suggests that interpersonal frontal brain synchronization may play a crucial role in organized information representation, effective knowledge correction, and long-term transfer during real instructional interactions, thereby contributing to a better understanding of the cognitive and neural basis of instruction and learning activities. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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The mechanism of visual processing for nonsalient stimuli in perceptual learning ZHANG Qi, WANG Zile, WU Meijun Acta Psychologica Sinica    2024, 56 (6): 689-700.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00689 Abstract （391）      PDF（pc） （659KB）（825）       Knowledge map    Save Previous studies have found that perceptual learning can improve the performance on visual search tasks. However, many cognitive processes are involved in visual search, and it is unclear at which visual processing stage perceptual learning facilitates search performance. The current study explored the mechanism of perceptual learning by dividing the eye movement metrics into three visual processing stages: search initiation time (the early visual processing stage), which represents the cognitive process of the time of processing the current location and selecting the next search location; scanning time (the middle visual processing stage), which includes the number and processing time of fixation positions; verification time (the late visual processing stage), which represents determining whether the current stimulus is the target and making a verification. A 2 (target type: trained vs. untrained triangle) × 2 (test stage: pretest vs. posttest) within-subjects design was used to address the above issue. 24 healthy young adults (5 males; mean age: 21.23 ± 2.02 years) participated as paid volunteers in this study. We randomly selected one of the four orientations of the triangle (Up, Down, Left, or Right) as the trained triangle, which would receive three days of training. Moreover, to ensure that the visual search training was specific to the trained triangle, the trained and untrained triangles were tested by recording the behavior results and eye movement before and after training (untrained triangle was randomly selected from the distractors). Each trial started with a fixation cross (When eye movement was recorded, the search display would not appear until the participants fixated on the center cross for more than 500 ms; when eye movement was not recorded, the central fixation cross was presented for 500 ms and then the search screen was presented). Then a search display was presented until the key response or the elapse reached 2000 ms since its onset. The response was recorded only before the fixation cross disappeared. The task of participants was to determine whether or not the target was presented as quickly as possible. Participants pressed the left arrow key to report the presence of a target or the right arrow key to report its absence. A two-way repeated-measures ANOVA was conducted with the factors of target type (trained vs. untrained triangle) and test stage (pretest vs. posttest). The behavior results found the reduced response time and increased accuracy when searching for trained stimuli after training. However, there was no significant difference in response time or accuracy between pretest and posttest for untrained stimuli. The results of eye movement tracking are as follows: (1) in the early visual processing stage, the search initiation time of the trained stimuli increased significantly after training, and there was no significant difference in the search initiation time between pretest and posttest for untrained stimuli. (2) In the middle visual processing stage, the number of fixations and the average fixation time of trained stimuli were significantly reduced after training, and there was no significant difference for untrained stimuli before and after training. (3) In the late visual processing stage, there was no significant difference in verification time between the pretest and posttest for both trained and untrained stimuli. In conclusion, the accuracy and search initiation time of searching for trained stimuli was increased, while the number of fixations and the fixation time decreased. Moreover, the changes in behavior and eye movement indexes did not transfer to untrained stimuli. It is suggested that perceptual learning can affect the early and middle visual processing stages, and search performance may be improved by increasing the search latency, reducing the number of saccades, and reducing the fixation time. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Underestimating others’ fertility attitudes and behaviors hinders the fertility intentions of childless individuals in Gen Z CHEN Sijing, SHEN Jiahui, JIANG Qiaojie, YANG Shasha Acta Psychologica Sinica    2024, 56 (6): 759-776.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00759 Abstract （393）      PDF（pc） （547KB）（795）       Knowledge map    Save The existing literature on fertility has predominantly focused on analyzing objective factors at macro and micro levels, such as gender, age, income, family relationships, economic situation, and social structure, that impact an individual’s fertility intentions. However, an often overlooked yet equally significant factor lies in an individual’s perception of the social climate surrounding fertility. This factor encompasses attitudes and behaviors related to fertility displayed by similar others. This article presents five studies from a social cognitive perspective aimed at addressing the following questions: (1) How do individuals perceive the fertility attitudes and behaviors of others? (2) To what extent and in what manner does this perception influence an individual’s own fertility intentions? (3) How can we explain this relationship? This paper presents a comprehensive investigation comprising five studies that focus on individuals born between 1995 and 2005. In Studies 2a, 2b, and 3, we specifically targeted childless individuals. The key variables under examination included perceptions of fertility attitudes, operationalized as individuals’ judgments of the desired family size; perceptions of fertility behaviors, proxied by individuals’ judgments of the magnitude of change in China’s total fertility rate from 2021 to 2022; and fertility intentions, measured using a scale developed by the researchers. Study 1 involved a cross-sectional survey with 904 participants, of which 735 had never given birth. The primary aim of Study 1 was to gain initial insights into how individuals perceive the attitudes/behaviors of others and how these perceptions relate to their own fertility intentions. Studies 2a and 2b utilized experimental designs to establish a causal relationship between the perception of others’ fertility attitudes/behaviors and one’s own fertility intentions. In contrast, Study 3, a three-round longitudinal survey, sought to investigate whether fertility efficacy and perceived responsibility could explain the observed relationships. Lastly, Study 4 represents a single-paper meta-analysis that focuses on effect sizes for the key findings derived from the studies in this paper. The main results can be summarized as follows: (1) Childless participants consistently displayed a tendency to underestimate others’ fertility attitudes/behaviors, whereas participants who had given birth in Study 1 exhibited an overly optimistic view of others’ fertility attitudes/behaviors. (2) The underestimation of others’ fertility attitudes/behaviors had a consistent suppressive effect on participants’ own fertility intentions. (3) Overly pessimistic views of others’ fertility attitudes/behaviors significantly reduced participants’ fertility efficacy in successfully pursuing fertility, as well as their perception of fertility as a family and social responsibility. Both of these factors, in turn, contributed to a reduction in fertility intentions, with the effect of fertility efficacy being more pronounced. (4) Notably, all key findings exhibited effect sizes ranging from small to moderate, highlighting the nuanced nature of these relationships. The above findings have significant theoretical and practical implications. Firstly, the results suggest that perceptions of the social climate regarding fertility play a crucial role in an individual’s fertility decisions. Consequently, solely focusing on objective factors may not yield a comprehensive understanding of the intricate processes influencing fertility decisions, thereby bridging a gap in the existing literature. Secondly, the findings imply that a social norms approach can effectively address biased perceptions of others’ attitudes/behaviors toward fertility. By doing so, this approach contributes to bolstering fertility intentions, presenting a valuable complement to current policies that primarily emphasize economic factors. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Empowerment or ostracism? The consequences of interpersonal interaction between star employee and team leader ZHAO Kai, YU Xi, ZHANG Shanshan Acta Psychologica Sinica    2024, 56 (5): 630-649.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00630 Abstract （1339）      PDF（pc） （703KB）（2094）       Knowledge map    Save Star employees can enhance the organizational value creation not only through their direct and disproportionate contribution, but also by their extensive and profound influence on colleagues via interpersonal interaction. Current research primarily focuses on the interpersonal effect of stars on non-star employees; however, investigations into the interpersonal dynamics between star employees and their leaders remain limited. Based on social interdependence theory and dominance complementarity theory, this study built a moderated mediation model to explore the “double-edged sword” mechanisms and boundary condition of the interpersonal interaction of star employees on team leader. We designed a scenario experiment and a field study to test the model. In the scenario experiment (Study 1), we manipulated “the subordinate's stardom” (i.e., star or non-star) and “the subordinate's dominance trait” (i.e., high or low), resulting in a 2 by 2 categories of the scenarios. Data was collected from the participants in an Executive Development Program hosted by a Chinese university through an online questionnaire platform (https://www.wjx.cn). The final sample size was 356. The results revealed that: (1) Through the mechanism of leader's trust in subordinate, the subordinate's stardom had a positive influence on his or her leader's empowerment (tendency) and a negative impact on the leader's ostracism (tendency); via the mechanism of perceived threat to status, the subordinate's stardom negatively affected his or her leader's empowerment (tendency) and positively influenced the leader's ostracism (tendency). (2) The subordinate's dominance trait moderated the relationship between the subordinate's stardom and the leader's perceived threat to status, such that the more dominant of the subordinate, the more likely the leader perceived threat to status caused by the subordinate's stardom, thus exhibiting less empowerment (tendency) and more ostracism (tendency) toward the subordinate. To replicate these findings and increase their external validities, we then conducted a multi-source, multi-wave field study. Employees and their direct supervisors from a Chinese new material manufacturing company were invited to participate in our survey. We collected the data at two time points (i.e., a one-month time lag) through another online questionnaire platform (https://end.huajuetech.com). The paired sample size was 291. Study 2 replicated most of the findings in Study 1, except for the non-significant indirect effect of subordinate's stardom on leader's empowerment behavior through perceived threat to status. In summary, our study makes three important theoretical contributions: (1) We clarified the consequences and mechanisms of star employees' interpersonal interaction on team leaders, thereby enriching research on the interpersonal effect of star employees. (2) By examining the boundary conditions of stars' impact on team leaders, our study prompted scholars and managers to explore how to build a proper work context to leverage stars' value. (3) Our study aided leadership researchers to further investigate the antecedents of positive or negative leadership behaviors (i.e., empowerment and ostracism) from the perspective of “the interpersonal relationship between a leader and the key minority subordinates”. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Prompts affect learning-by-teaching process and learning outcome in multimedia learning WANG Fuxing, HUANG Yu, ZHANG Yang, ZHU Wanling, LENG Xiaoxue Acta Psychologica Sinica    2024, 56 (4): 469-481.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00469 Abstract （1533）   HTML （75）    PDF（pc） （2779KB）（2509）       Knowledge map    Save Learning by teaching is an important generative learning strategy which mainly promotes learners’ knowledge building in educational psychology. It refers to learners teach others what they have learned as the role of a teacher after learning the materials. However, learners cannot fully retrieve all concept units contained in learning materials in the retrieval activities of learning by teaching, which hinders learners’ active generation and final learning performance. According to the Retrieval Practice Theory (RPT) and Generative learning Theory (GLT), prompts can serve as a cue and activates learners' retrieval and generating activity. Therefore, the aim of current study was to explore the effects of different types of prompts on learning outcomes and subjective perceptions in learning by teaching. In Experiment 1, fifty-six college students were randomly assigned to teaching group and control group. Participants in teaching group were told to explain the learning materials by making a lecture video, then complete a final exam. The control condition didn’t include teaching process. In Experiment 2, Participants were one hundred and fourteen college students that were randomly assigned to picture-prompt group, text-prompt group, keyword-prompt group and non-prompt group. Four conditions all include teaching process. The difference between conditions is whether there is a prompt when learners are teaching. In Experiment 3, to compare the effects of learners' passive reception and active generation of prompts, eighty-seven college students were randomly assigned to keyword-prompt group, generated-prompt group and non-prompt group. The results showed that: (1) the retention and transfer test performance of the teaching group were better than that of the control group; (2) picture and keyword prompts could effectively improve learners' retention test scores, while keyword prompts could also improve learners' transfer test scores; (3) the retention test performance of the keyword-prompt group and the generated-prompt group were better than those of the non-prompt group, while the transfer test performance of the generated-prompt group were better than those of the non-prompt group; (4) Experiment 2 and Experiment 3 both found that the number of concept units plays a mediating role in the effect of prompts on learning performance. The conclusions are as follows: (1) Providing picture prompts in the process of learning by teaching can promote knowledge retention, while providing keyword prompts can promote knowledge retention and transfer; (2) Compared to passively obtaining prompts, learners' active generation of prompts is more conducive to knowledge transfer. (3) The number of idea units generated by learners plays a mediating role in the effect of prompts on learning. Above all, the study verified the effectiveness of RPT and GLT in the process of learning by teaching in multimedia learning environment. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics