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Conceptual Framework

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The influence of robot salience on workplace objectification XU Liying, YU Feng, PENG Kaiping, WANG Xuehui 2022, 30 (9):  1905-1921.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2022.01905 Abstract ( 1660 )   HTML ( 114 )   PDF (1297KB) ( 2037 )   With buzzwords such as “tool man”, “laborer” and “corporate slave” sweeping the workplace, workplace objectification has become an urgent topic to be discussed. With the increasing use of artificial intelligence, especially robots in the workplace, the workplace effects produced by robots are also worth paying attention to. Therefore, the present research aims to explore whether the penetration of robots into the workplace will produce or aggravate the phenomenon of workplace objectification. Based on the intergroup threat theory and previous related studies, the present research assumes that the salience of robot workers in the workplace will pose both realistic threats and identity threats to people, and the perception of these threats will reduce people's sense of control. According to the compensatory control theory, the decrease of perceived control will cause people to have a strong motivation of restoring control. And workplace objectification, the 4th strategy proposed by compensatory control theory (i.e., affirming nonspecific structure, or seeking out and preferring simple, clear, and consistent interpretations of the social and physical environments), can be used to restore the sense of control. Therefore, this paper hypothesizes that the salience of robot workers in the workplace will increase the workplace objectification, because robot salience will increase people's perceived threats of robots, which will lead to control compensation, which will eventually lead to more severe workplace objectification. In addition, the other three strategies proposed by compensatory control theory, namely, bolstering personal agency, affiliating with external systems perceived to be acting on the self's behalf, and affirming specific structure (i.e., clear contingencies between actions and outcomes within the context of reduced control), can moderate the effect of robot salience on workplace objectification. Other ways of affirming non-specific structure than workplace objectification can also moderate the effect of robot salience on workplace objectification. Based on theories of social psychology and combined with the realistic background of workplace objectification, this paper attempts to use diverse methods to test the above hypothesis. Specifically, experiments, big data, and questionnaire surveys will be adopted to explore the potential mechanism and boundary conditions of the impact of robot salience on workplace objectification. The present research consists of five studies. Study 1 verifies the existence of the phenomenon that robot salience has an effect on workplace objectification. Study 2 explores the chain mediating effects of perceived robot threat and control compensation. Study 3 examines the moderating effect of personal factors, including bolstering personal agency, affiliating with external systems perceived to be acting on the self's behalf, affirming specific structure, and other ways of affirming non-specific structure than workplace objectification. Study 4 examines the moderating effect of robot factors, including anthropomorphism and two dimensions of mind perception. Study 5 examines the moderating effect of environmental factors, including different organizational cultures and ethical organizational cultures, and explores the intervention strategies for workplace objectification. The present research helps to prospectively understand the possible negative effects of artificial intelligence in the workplace and put forward effective solutions. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The effect of multicultural experiences on the capabilities and development of leaders LI Qian, LI Chaofan, GONG Shiyang, ZHOU Qiwei, KE Yi 2022, 30 (9):  1922-1943.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2022.01922 Abstract ( 1049 )   HTML ( 61 )   PDF (921KB) ( 1195 )   With a further deepening of globalization, an increasing number of business leaders now have multicultural experiences. Multicultural experiences refer to an individual's direct or indirect experiences of encountering or interacting with elements of foreign cultures and/or foreigners. In recent years, as the business practice is placing higher emphasis on the multicultural experiences of leaders, researchers are beginning to investigate the role of leaders' multicultural experiences in organizational management. Based on the current research findings and latest research progress, this study aims to explore the impact of multicultural experiences on leaders' capabilities and development from two levels—leader development and leadership development. First, we investigate the impact of multicultural experiences on leader development (including the individual-level, relational-level and collective-level capabilities) and the underlying mechanisms. In Research Module 1, based on the theory of integrative complexity, we explore the effects of leaders' multicultural experiences on their capabilities at the individual level (including innovation, problem-solving, and self-regulation capabilities) and relational level (interpersonal communication), the mediating role of integrative complexity, and the moderating role of leaders' engagement in multicultural experiences and intercultural distance. In Research Module 2, we investigate the effects of leaders' multicultural experiences on their collective-level capability (ethical decision-making) and the underlying mechanisms. We also discuss the differentiated effects of the breadth and depth of multicultural experiences on leaders' ethical decision-making. Second, we investigate the effects of multicultural experiences on leadership development (including leadership emergence, leadership selection, and leadership effectiveness) and the underlying mechanisms. To be more specific, in Research Module 3, we investigate the impact of different types of multicultural experiences on leadership emergence, leadership selection, and leadership effectiveness, the mediating role of perceived resource availability, in-group similarity and interpersonal effectiveness, as well as the moderating role of leader-team fit. The theoretical contributions of this paper are mainly threefold. First, our study explores the relationship between multicultural experiences and leadership against the backdrop of globalization and expands the research scope of multicultural experiences into organizational management settings. Second, our study introduces multicultural experiences into leadership research and explores the impact of global changes on leadership, providing new context and insights into leadership research. Third, the study takes the perspective of integrative complexity theory to reveal the mechanisms behind the effects of multicultural experiences on leaders' capabilities development through the lens of individual cognition and experiential learning. Moreover, the study provides implications for global management and international talent fostering practices. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Observer reactions to unethical pro-organizational behavior and their feedback effects CHENG Ken, WANG Yifei, LIN Yinghui, WANG Jing 2022, 30 (9):  1944-1954.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2022.01944 Abstract ( 945 )   HTML ( 67 )   PDF (705KB) ( 1131 )   In the recent decade, unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB), defined as unethical behaviors conducted by employees to potentially benefit the organization, has become a hot topic in the organizational behavior research field. Since the concept of UPB was put forward, scholars have widely investigated the formation mechanisms of UPB. In comparison, the research on the effects of UPB is rather limited. Until now, little has been known about the social interaction mechanism of UPB that happens between coworkers and has UPB characteristics. Learning from and inspired by some views of correspondent inference theory and social cognitive theory, this study develops a social interaction model of UPB between coworkers. This theoretical model involves two roles, namely actors and observers, and consists of three correlated parts. In the first part, based on the perspective of outcome expectation, we discuss the observers' psychological and behavioral reactions to UPB. Specifically, given that UPB can bring short-term benefits to the organization, we propose that observers will have positive expectations about the outcomes that UPB brings to the actors. Thus, the more UPB observers witness, the more positive outcomes observers will expect. Furthermore, we posit that observers' reactions to the positive outcome expectations will be contingent on the levels of observers' integrity. For observers high in integrity, positive outcome expectations may trigger moral anger, which in turn prompts observers to punish actors by undertaking workplace negative gossip. In contrast, observers low in integrity may be motivated by the positive outcome expectations, thereby engaging in moral disengagement and then conducting UPB. In the second part, based on the perspective of motive attribution, we explore the observers' psychological and behavioral reactions to UPB. Specifically, given the analysis of the outcomes of UPB in the first part, we contend that when observing UPB, observers will attribute self-interested and pro-organizational motives to the UPB actors. The attributed self-interested motives may result in moral anger and subsequently encourage observers to engage in workplace negative gossip, while the attributed pro-organizational motives may attenuate the relationship between the attributed self-interested motives and moral anger. We further argue that the aforementioned relationships will vary across individuals. For observers high in integrity, the attributed self-interested motives may exert stronger impacts on moral anger, while the moderating effect of the attributed pro-organizational motives may become weaker. In the third part, based on the perspective of intent inference, we analyze the actors' behavior changes in accordance with observers' feedback. Specifically, if actors find that many observers also conduct UPB, they will form a perception that UPB is accepted by the working unit and then maintain or increase the levels of UPB. In contrast, when actors hear negative gossips from the observers, they will interpret the gossips as a kind of warning and thus reduce UPB subsequently. Moreover, considering that Chinese people value the maintenance of interpersonal harmony, we deem that workplace negative gossip may likely prompt actors to shift their behaviors from UPB to organizational citizenship behavior directed at observers to improve the interpersonal relations. In conclusion, the present study not only narrows the extant research gap of the impacts of UPB to some extent, but also deepens the understanding of the social interaction mechanism of UPB. Meanwhile, our model offers practical implications for managers to control the contagion of UPB in organizations. Finally, we put forward some future research directions of this theoretical model in terms of observers' moral judgment to UPB, cognitive appraisals related to the unethical attribute of UPB, and the internal mechanisms of behavior changes of UPB actors. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The withdrawal behaviors of rural migrant workers: A perspective from multiple embeddedness and identity strain CHEN Jingqiu, FAN Qingyue, HUANG Minyan 2022, 30 (9):  1955-1967.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2022.01955 Abstract ( 754 )   HTML ( 34 )   PDF (750KB) ( 820 )   The 290 million rural migrant workers in China make up more than one third of its urban labor force. They however often exhibit withdrawal behaviors that tend to reduce their participation in their work roles, such as work avoidance, reduced work effort, lateness, absenteeism, and turnover, etc., which undermines the productivity of Chinese enterprises. In fact, given the importance of rural migrant workers, their experience of withdrawal behaviors jeopardizes the normal functioning of cities, modernization and urbanization in China, as well as obstructs work resumption in the context of the global COVID-19 epidemic. Therefore, under the umbrella of COR theory, we propose to comprehensively predict the factors behind work withdrawal behaviors among rural migrant workers by integrating the multiple embeddedness and identity strain perspectives and the data from three successive studies which we carry out. In Study 1, we establish an indicator system for work withdrawal behaviors in rural migrant workers by including both explicit and implicit indicators. Furthermore, we examine the association between implicit work withdrawal behaviors and three explicit work withdrawal behaviors—turnover within a same career, career-changing turnover, and returns to hometown among rural migrant workers. In study 2, we investigate the negative effects of rural migrant workers' multiple embeddedness in their host city (as a “pushing” force) on work withdrawal behaviors, and how this is moderated by rural migrant workers' hometown community embeddedness (as a “pulling” force). In study 3, we further examine whether rural migrant workers' dual identity strain stemming from their dual identities as “countryman” and “urbanist” has indirect effects on their work withdrawal behaviors mediated by their multiple embeddedness in their host city. Our research has a number of theoretical implications as follows: First, our research makes up for gaps in the micro-level research on rural migrant workers. The literature on rural migrant workers is dominated by macro-level research, and it is the rare research that focuses on micro-level concerns such as the physical and psychological well-being of rural migrant workers. Further, what micro-level research exists is often descriptive and qualitative, which provides limited implications regarding the psychological process inherent in rural migrant workers' decision to engage in work withdrawal behaviors. From this perspective, our research seeks to theoretically predict rural migrant workers' work withdrawal behaviors based on the framework of conservation of resources. Second, our research investigates the relationship between explicit and implicit work withdrawal behaviors among rural migrant workers, as well as the different processes by which the two types of withdrawal behaviors may develop. Previous literature rarely examines both explicit and implicit work withdrawal behaviors within the same study. Furthermore, based on the specialty of rural migrant workers, we include three types of turnover as explicit work withdrawal behaviors—turnover within a same career, career-changing turnover, and returning to hometown. In fact, it is not usual to simultaneously observe such three types of turnover in other urban working samples. Third, our research, via its correspondence to the call for “contextual research”, contributes to work withdrawal theories by providing special antecedents and psychological mechanisms, which is not easily observed in common working samples other than rural migrant workers. In particular, based on rural migrant workers' Hukou” situations and migration nature, we propose their dual identity strain stemming from their “urbanist” and “countryman” identities, as distal antecedents of potential work withdrawal behaviors, and propose their multiple embeddedness in their host city and hometown as proximal antecedents of work withdrawal behaviors. Furthermore, we also establish a relationship between dual identity strain and work withdrawal behaviors which is mediated by multiple embeddedness and we show that our established proximal and distal antecedents differently predict different types of work withdrawal behaviors among our sample of Chinese rural migrant workers. Thus, our model contributes to the theoretical framework of identity strain, multiple embeddedness and conservation of resources. Finally, our research also has practical implications for Chinese enterprises in the manufacturing industry and other industries which widely recruit rural migrant workers. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

Meta-Analysis

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Cross-temporal changes of college students' time management disposition in the mainland of China during 1999~2020 CHEN Bizhong, SUN Xiaojun 2022, 30 (9):  1968-1980.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2022.01968 Abstract ( 1367 )   HTML ( 96 )   PDF (1181KB) ( 1696 )   In an era with surging time pressure, time management disposition is playing an increasingly important role in the psychological and social adaptation of college students experiencing psychological moratorium. Time management disposition refers to individuals' psychological and behavioral patterns of time arrangement when dealing with the functions and values of time. It covers three dimensions, namely sense of time value, sense of time control and sense of time efficacy. The socio-ecological modle highlighted the important role of diachronic systems and macro systems in the mental health of the yonth. But indirect evidence suggested that there was no clear trend in the time management disposition of Chinese college students. The enhancement of skills related to time management may help boost time management disposition while increasing interference and time pressure may weaken the time management skills. Moreover, existing research focued on the impact of individual factors and micro systems on the time management disposition of college students. No research from the macro-perspectives has been made. This research, therefore, adopted the cross-temporal meta-analysis method, a newly developed but extensively applied method of quantitative literature review, to analyze 215 papers published between 1999 and 2020 applying the Adolescence Time Management Disposition Inventory (ATMDI) (N = 103876). Our results showed that: (1) The time management disposition of Chinese college students has declined steadily in the past 22 years, among which the sense of time value stayed stable while the sense of time control and the sense of time efficacy were on the decline; (2) Seven social indicators, namely socioeconomic factors (GDP, household consumption level and urbanization rate), employment factors (the number of college graduates and registered urban unemployment rate) and Interet factors (Internet availability and weekly Internet using hours of netizens), significantly predicted the decline in the time management disposition of college students; (3) there were no significant gender and regional differences in the time management disposition of college students in China. This research explored the time management disposition of college students, a micro psychological variable, from the macro-perspective. Guided by the social ecosystem theory, the research pioneered to verify the declining trend in the time management disposition of college students from the mainland of China. It is revealed that their judgement of time functions and values remained stable over 22 years, but their time planning competence and confidence were declining. In other words, college students admitted the value of time but could not make efficient use of it, which led to a contradiction between attitude and behavior. In addition, this research proved that economy, employment and Internet (three social macro factors) predicted the time management disposition of college students, which elevated the macro significance of time management disposition. Based on existing findings, this research came up with a influencing mechanism model on the time management disposition of college students including the social macro factors. According to the model, the changes in objective macro systems, such as economy, employment and Internet, resulting in changed subjective macro systems, such as social mentality. Both types of macro systems function on individuals and micro systems at the same time. Meanwhile, individual factors and micro systems interact with each other. Futhermore, time change or social transformation has a controlling effect on the whole system. Time change and social transformation can trigger the changes of the above two macro systems, affecting individual factors and micro systems, and further exert an effect on the time management disposition of college students. The model provided theoretical and practical references for future research on time psychology in the social sense. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The relationship between grandparenting and depression in Eastern and Western cultures: A meta-analysis DU Yufei, OUYANG Huiyue, YU Lin 2022, 30 (9):  1981-1992.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2022.01981 Abstract ( 1288 )   HTML ( 121 )   PDF (606KB) ( 1501 )   Granpareting is that grandparents take care of grandchildren and assume some or all of the responsibility for upbringing and education. Older parents often become caregivers when young couples are unable to care for their children for some reasons. Based on the researches available, effectiveness of grandparenting on grandparents' depression levels remains unclear. In addition, previous studies have ignored the influence of cultural backgrounds on the relationship between grandparenting and grandparents' depression levels. And differences of cultural background may explain why grandparents take care of their grandchildren and the consequence of grandparenting. Therefore, meta-analysis was used in this paper to explore the relationship between grandparenting and grandparents' depression levels in eastern cultures and western cultures respectively. We identified cross-sectional studies and case-control studies through Web of Science, EBSCO, PubMed, CNKI and Wangfang (from inception to June 29, 2021). Through literature retrieval, 22 articles met the inclusion criteria of this meta-analysis were selected and 22 independent effect sizes were synthesized. CMA3.0 software was used for the meta-analysis. We also applied the Effective Public Health Practice Project's (EPHPP) Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies to evaluate the quality of primary studies included in the meta-analysis. What's more, publication bias analysis showed that there was no publication bias. And the results of heterogeneity test suggested the use of random-effects model. Evidence from cross-sectional studies and case-control studies was synthesized as standardized mean differences which were used to compare the depression levels of grandparents who did and did not take care of grandchildren. The main-effect analysis showed that standardized mean differences (d) were -2.44 (95%CI: [-3.22, -1.67]) and 0.22 (95%CI: [0.04, 0.40]) in eastern cultures and western cultures respectively. Sensitivity analysis excluded one study with the greatest influence of heterogeneity in the two cultural backgrounds respectively and the effect size was no longer significant in eastern cultures (d= -0.05, 95%CI: [-0.18, 0.08]) and the effect size of western cultures had no significant change. In order to prevent the reliability of meta-analysis from being interfered by this abnormal study of eastern cultures, it was excluded in subsequent analysis. Because of the high level of heterogeneity, we used subgroup analysis and meta-regression to explore whether measurement tools of depression, study design, gender and marriage were potential moderators. Subgroup and meta-regression results showed that in eastern cultures, the type of depression measurement tools, the type of study design, gender and marriage had significant moderating effects. But in western cultures, the results showed that only measurement tools and study design do moderate. In conclusion, it is found that in eastern cultures, grandparenting has no significant effect on the depression levels of the elderly. However, it has a noteworthy negative effect on the depression levels of grandparents in the West. One possible explanation is the weakening of traditional cultural values in the context of eastern cultures and the role strain experienced by the elderly in the context of western cultures. The results of this meta-analysis contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between grandparenting and depression levels of the elderly. They also provide future empirical studies with a reference to explain depression levels of the elderly with grandparenting. However, eastern and western cultures can not represent all cultures, so further researches can focus on using more appropriate coding methods to explore the more precise and more detailed relationships between grandparenting and depression levels of the elderly. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

Regular Articles

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Processing characteristics and mechanisms of perception and memory of mind sports experts in domain-specific tasks ZHAO Bingjie, ZHANG Qihan, CHEN Yixin, ZHANG Peng, BAI Xuejun 2022, 30 (9):  1993-2003.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2022.01993 Abstract ( 1813 )   HTML ( 32 )   PDF (668KB) ( 675 )   Mind sports are competitive sports that aim at developing intelligence and involves multiple high-level cognitive processing. Deliberate practice enables the mind sports experts to exhibit steady expertise effects in domain-specific tasks. A review of previous research reveals that perception and memory are not only the basis of high-level cognitive functions, but also the central to the mind sports expert advantage. That is, the extraordinary performance of the mind sports experts is based on their perceptual and memory advantage. In this paper, we summarize the cognitive neural mechanisms through which expert perception and memory are influenced by the experience of mind sports from the perspective of cognitive neuropsychology to reveal the intrinsic processing patterns and neural mechanisms of the expertise effects in mind sports. Long-term training contributed to a stable holistic perceptual advantage in mind sports experts, as reflected by the fact that experts made a greater proportion of fixations between the pieces and completed the perceptual task with fewer fixations. This performance is consistent with the holistic model of image perception, in which the experts automatically process information about the entire game or board with a larger perceptual span, quickly locate task-relevant target areas with prior knowledge, and process abstract pieces relations in parallel. The temporo-parietal junction and fusiform gyri are the neural bases of a holistic perceptual process. Mind sports experts also have a stable memory advantage. Long-term training in mind sports allows experts to store not only a large amount of visual-spatial information in their long-term memory, but also more abstract and generalized knowledge. The Chunking and Template theory argues that experts rely primarily on concrete visuospatial information and therefore have an advantage when processing familiar stimuli. To explain experts' advantage in memorizing random chess stimuli, the SEEK theory suggests that experts have rich and flexible abstract knowledge and therefore have a memory advantage even when processing unfamiliar or stimuli that change presentation. The neural basis for the expert's advantage in accurate, rapid, and flexible memory is the synergistic activity of the medial temporal, frontotemporal, and frontoparietal regions. The existence of stable superior performance of experts in mind sports on tasks within the domain suggests that deliberate practice can improve experts' specific skills, supporting the view that training can promote intelligence. The following shortcomings still exist: 1) most studies have mainly focused on the chess domain, and it is still unclear whether the differences in cognitive demands of different mind sports lead to differences in extrinsic behavior and intrinsic neural basis; 2) existing studies have mainly examined the neural mechanisms underlying mind sports experts' advantage effects through univariate analysis based on voxels. Multi-voxel pattern analysis and representational similarity analysis can be used to explore the intrinsic neural basis more profoundly; 3) The timing of stimulus presentation has not been standardized and the adequacy of timing may lead to a decrease in group differentiation and a mix of other cognitive components. Multimodal studies can be conducted with high temporal resolution EEG and eye-movement recording to explore the dynamic cognitive neural mechanisms in depth. 4) due to a lack of long-term longitudinal study on how novices would become mind sports experts through deliberate practice, it remains incomplete regarding the cognitive performance and the trajectory of neural mechanism changes of mind sports experts. Future research can examine types of mind sports, innovative experimental paradigms, combined with measurement equipment and cognitive characteristics, to explore in depth and detail the neural mechanisms underlying the holistic perceptual advantage and memory advantage of mind sports experts, to provide a theoretical basis for artificial intelligence and skill training. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Children's distributive justice in group context JIANG Danying, YANG Yunmei, LI Jing 2022, 30 (9):  2004-2019.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2022.02004 Abstract ( 760 )   HTML ( 46 )   PDF (733KB) ( 867 )   How children allocate resources in group context is affected by group factors such as group identification, group status and group norms. Faced with the conflicts between group factors and fairness, some children stick to fairness, while others might change their minds to benefit related groups. First and foremost, the influence on children's distributive justice by in-group bias varies with age. It begins to have an impact on children's distributive justice around the age of 4, peaks at the age of 6, and slides down at the age of 8, when children prefer fairness the most. The impact of in-group bias is also closely related to how intensively children are involved in distributive tasks. The deeper children's interest is drawn into the task, the greater the impact is. When allocating resources among individuals with different merits, children are far less affected by in-group bias. What's more, the impact of in-group bias is also affected by other factors such as inter-group relations, the number and value of resources, the gender of distributor and accepter. Yet studies on these factors are limited and deeper explorations are to be expected. In the second place, children tend to match or compensate the disadvantaged and rectify injustice formed by group status. On one hand, System Justification Theory (SJT) might be an explanation of the tendency to match injustice, which states that children may justify current social situation, attributing injustice to justice reasons so that to match existing injustice is quite fair for them. On the other hand, the two opposite choices (to match or to rectify) could be explained by cultural differences, specificity of groups and the development of children's fairness cognition. Thirdly, children's distributive justice is also affected by group norms. When group norms contradict with fairness, whether it is a norm of a specific group or a norm formed out of culture and social structure, they will leave an influence on both children's evaluation on others' allocation behavior and children's own allocation decisions. Group norms are as inevitable as other group factors, yet limited research has been conducted on this issue, especially on how fairness interact with both specific and generic norms. Moreover, individual factors are also to be considered when children allocate resources in group context. Among all the individual factor, theory of mind is closely linked to children's resource allocations. Generally, children with higher theory of mind are more likely to be capable of analyzing group factors and balancing motivations to make fair decisions. With massive studies on in-group bias, we have mastered its features of many aspects. However, the impact of group status and group norms on children's distributive justice remains unknown and intrigued. More attention should be cast on these two factors respectively. Future studies should also have attempts to probe into the interaction effects among these three group factors with more exquisite designs and tasks, thus making more sense of children's distributive justice in group context. Individual factors that matter in group context are also to be explored. It is still quite a mystery to us how theory of mind is related to children's resource allocation with information of group status and group norms in mind. Furthermore, theory of mind can also make a difference on distributive behavior of exceptional children. Clarifying its mechanism will offer a guide for future work on improve prosocial behavior of exceptional children. Meanwhile, more issues closely related to theory of mind need to be discussed, such as inhibitory control, working memory and individual experience, which also bring about changes to children's allocation decisions in group context. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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An investigation into the definition of arousal and its cognitive neurophysiological basis ZOU Di, LI Hong, WANG Fushun 2022, 30 (9):  2020-2033.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2022.02020 Abstract ( 1812 )   HTML ( 53 )   PDF (780KB) ( 758 )   Arousal is an activator for the body's resources, reflecting the strengthened preparation for external stimulus input. As it is introduced into the emotional dimension, arousal is regarded as one of the core characteristics of emotions, which is a measurement of body's wakefulness, and its level changes on the continuum from sleep to provocation. Arousal can be subjectively experienced by individuals, and has a unique physiological mechanism and neural circuit. Its concept contains both psychological arousal and physical arousal. However, as arousal is closely related to emotions, many investigators neglect the original meaning of arousal, taking arousal as a substitute for emotional intensity. The reason for this confusion may be that valence is regarded as the direction of emotions. In fact, valence is only a feature of emotions. It also has different intensities, which affect the emotional intensity. Therefore, arousal cannot be simply equaled with emotional intensity. Instead, emotional intensity should be the vector addition of arousal and valence. In this paper, we analyze the concept of arousal and its relationship with emotions. Then, inspired by Lazarus' argument that stimuli define emotions, we hold that it may be possible to further understand the connotation and psychological mechanism of arousal from the perspective of anticipation. Specifically, a variety of emotions can be summed up to an objective material or stimulus. In other words, it is stimuli that define emotions; when stimuli appear more unexpectedly, it indicates that the level of previous preparedness is lower, so more resources are needed for the individual to mobilize, and the level of arousal rises in response. Anticipation and its related mechanisms (uncertainty, habitation, etc.) are the major cognitive mechanisms of arousal. As for other factors (stimulus attributes, individual differences, etc.), as the number of resources that the individual needs to process the stimulus changes, the one of the resources required to be mobilized after the stimulus appears(arousal level) changes accordingly. Besides, the degree of individual expectations can be affected. As a result, these factors also affect the level of arousal. The neural mechanism of arousal mainly involves a “bottom-up” pathway that originates from the brainstem and projects to the thalamus, hypothalamus, and cerebral cortex. The arousal signals in the brainstem and the tail of the hypothalamus mainly come from the areas rich in monoamine neurons and cholinergic neurons. The GABAergic neurons in the preoptic area of ??the hypothalamus, the lateral hypothalamus, and the sub-substantia nigra reticular region play a role in inhibiting arousal. Some key cortical nodes in the default mode network and the salience network and their interconnections also participate in the processing of arousal levels. It is worth noting that the arousal system almost overlaps with the brain area that encodes unexpected signals. Based on this, the anticipatory mechanism is presumably the key factor that induces arousal changes. This paper suggests that future researchers may further promote the basic and applied research for arousal from the following aspects: FMRI, eye movement, skin conductance and other technical methods may be used to explore the effect of physical arousal on psychological arousal, which is helpful to further clarify the physiological basis of arousal and related processing mechanisms; a model of integrating multimodal data may be used to optimize the measurement of arousal; the arousal characteristics of human mental diseases (especially comorbid problems) may be further evaluated; and it would be better if the discussion of the relationship between arousal and emotional intensity be more in-depth. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on response inhibition in healthy people GUO Zhi-Hua, LU Hong-Liang, HUANG Peng, ZHU Xia 2022, 30 (9):  2034-2052.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2022.02034 Abstract ( 796 )   HTML ( 28 )   PDF (782KB) ( 655 )   Response inhibition refers to the ability to inhibit inappropriate or irrelevant actions so that one can make flexible and goal-directed behavioral responses based on environmental changes. Response inhibition is an essential component of cognitive ability. It is critical for the executive control of behavior in healthy individuals and a fundamental cognitive ability required for people to function properly. Previous studies have shown that response inhibition is mainly related to the functions of the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG), the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and the pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA). An increasing number of studies have used transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to modulate the activities of these brain regions, thereby affecting response inhibition. This review examined existing studies concerning the modulatory effects of tDCS targeting relevant brain regions on response inhibition in healthy participants, summarized the parameters of tDCS used in these studies and their main behavioral findings, and pointed out the shortcomings of previous studies and the future research directions of response inhibition enhancement by tDCS. The neural mechanism of tDCS modulating response inhibition has yet to be clarified, mainly for the following two reasons: First, efforts are still needed to clarify the neural circuit of response inhibition itself, especially the time process of each brain region in the circuit. Second, the key brain region for improving response inhibition (i.e., the brain region that most greatly affects response stimulation after being stimulated) has not been confirmed yet. Solving these two problems can provide a basis for a better understanding and application of tDCS in response inhibition enhancement. This review also provides some insights on how to solve these problems. Currently, a majority of studies focus on healthy young adults, but have neglected the needs of the elderly and the children for enhanced response inhibition. Previous studies have shown that the effects of tDCS on response inhibition are age-dependent. Considering the age-related differences in physiological characteristics (especially brain anatomy characteristics), targeted studies should be conducted in the future to investigate the age-dependent effects of tDCS on response inhibition enhancement, so as to better use tDCS in healthy people of different ages. Altogether, tDCS is an effective method to improve the ability of response inhibition, but the outcomes of previous studies are heterogeneous. Most studies have found that anodal tDCS can improve response inhibition; however, some studies have obtained inconsistent results. This review assumed that such inconsistency can be explained by three categories of factors, that is, individual differences (genetics, personality, baseline performance, etc.), stimulation parameters (current intensity, electrode placement, electrode size, duration, etc.), and behavioral tasks (difficulty, analytical methods, etc.). We have put forward valuable suggestions on how to control the effects of these factors, so that future research can introduce more standardized designs to reduce the heterogeneity of related studies. Finally, in order to further investigate how to use tDCS to improve response inhibition more efficiently, this review proposed several directions for future research. First, existing studies are mostly based on conventional tDCS. Future research should actively embrace high-definition tDCS (HD-tDCS), as HD-tDCS has higher spatial resolution than conventional tDCS and can produce more prominent behavioral or neurophysiological effects and obtain results with higher reliability and validity. Second, few studies have explored the combination of tDCS with cognitive training of response inhibition. It is worthwhile to further clarify the effects of this protocol on response inhibition enhancement. Third, the effects of different stimulation patterns need to be explored, such as multisession repeated stimulation, combination of tDCS with other stimulation methods, and multitarget stimulation over multiple brain regions. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The application of different frequencies of transcranial alternating current stimulation in mental disorders ZHANG Siyuan, LI Xuebing 2022, 30 (9):  2053-2066.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2022.02053 Abstract ( 575 )   HTML ( 25 )   PDF (725KB) ( 624 )   In these years, researchers have begun to apply transcranial alternating current stimulation to the field of mental disorders. Especially, the gamma- and alpha-band frequencies are attracting the most attention. Previous studies have found that using γ-tACS to intervene abnormal brain activity can alleviate cognitive impairment and bring emotional benefits in various mental disorders, such as improving attention and memory functions, and reducing the depressive and anxious symptoms. The α-tACS have been used to modulate abnormal alpha oscillations and brain network connections in mental disorder, which could improve abnormal perceptual processing and enhance emotion regulation function in schizophrenia, depression and anxiety disorders. In addition, few studies have found that θ-tACS could improve cognitive functions in schizophrenia and ADHD, and 77.5 Hz, 15mA-tACS could modulate the release of neurotransmitters in MDD and chronic insomnia. Based on these clinical trials and case reports, the underlying mechanisms of the effects of tACS on mental disorders might be directly modulating abnormal brain neural activities and indirectly improving cognitive functions of patients'. First, neuroimaging studies have shown that a specific frequency tACS targeting specific brain region could modulate the nerve oscillations of corresponding frequency and brain functional connections, which directly reducing clinical symptoms of patients. Second, instead of targeting the specific damaged brain activity in mental diseases, the tACS is used to activate neural circuits associated to cognitive functions, so as to improve the attention, memory and other cognitive functions, thus alleviating adverse symptoms indirectly. At present, there are still some unsolved problems in theapplication of tACS in mental disorders. Firstly, the comparative analysis of the stimulation parameters and experiment paradigms is helpful to formulate standardized stimulation protocols and guide the clinical treatment. Secondly, one of the main hypotheses of tACS intervention mechanism in mental diseases is to target the abnormal brain activity of patients. Therefore, high definition tACS is an important method to improve the stimulation accuracy. In addition, the tACS intervention accompanied by EEG recording is also a concern to researchers. Compared with delayed recording, synchronous recording of EEG can better reflect the effect of tACS on brain neural activity, and this dynamic feedback is more conducive to personalized intervention protocol. In conclusion, the tACS is expected to be a safe and effective method for diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. The mechanism of its effects, the improvement of stimulus parameters and paradigms, and the enhancement of technique upgrading may become the key direct of future study. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The safety behaviors in anxiety and their effects LI Tao, LI Yonghong, SONG Hui, GAO Ran, FENG Fei 2022, 30 (9):  2067-2077.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2022.02067 Abstract ( 1355 )   HTML ( 141 )   PDF (635KB) ( 1862 )   Safety behaviors are actions used to prevent or minimize a feared consequence. They are considered one of the primary mechanisms of maintaining anxiety disorders and may interfere with exposure therapy. Here, we review recent studies on safety behaviors in anxiety and their effects. A large body of research demonstrates that safety behaviors are closely associated with both the level of anxiety and relevant cognitive bias, such as probability bias, cost bias, and post-event processing. In other words, individuals who use more safety behaviors will experience higher level of anxiety, have greater post-event processing, and overestimate the likelihood and costs of negative outcomes. The misattribution of safety hypothesis, biased attentional resources hypothesis, and behavior as information hypothesis explain the mechanisms of how safety behaviors impact anxiety. To start with, by the lens of misattribution of safety hypothesis, anxious individuals attribute safe outcomes to their safety behaviors rather than recognizing their feared outcomes are irrational or to tolerable. Comparing to misattribution of safety hypothesis, biased attentional resources hypothesis postulates that anxious individuals allocate attention to the execution of safety behaviors, as a result, their attentional resources are directed away from disconfirmatory information. Additionally, behavior as information hypothesis posits that response information may influence stimulus evaluation, and anxious individuals tend to infer danger on the basis of safety behaviors. Some research reveals that the utilization of safety behaviors can interfere with the efficacy of exposure therapy. In contrast to these results, some literature suggests that safety behaviors may not necessarily undermine the efficacy of CBT. There are three reasons for the inconsistent results. First, the conflicting results may result from the conceptualization of safety behaviors. The definition of safety behaviors emphasizes the underlying behavioral intention and its idiosyncratic character. Thus it is unsure to what extent previous studies employed the same definition. Secondly, Another reason for different findings might be that the measurements of treatment outcomes are carried out mostly during or immediately after the treatments. Thirdly, the reason that may explain the inconsistency is that there may be individual differences in the motivation of safety behaviors. In terms of the acceptability ofnj CBT, some researchers suggest that the judicious use of safety behaviors may make treatment less aversive and reduce refusal and drop-out. However, there is no sufficient practical research to support this viewpoint. Furthermore, when researchers talk about the effects of safety behaviors on anxiety treatment, some important factors, such as the classification of safety behaviors, the treatment process, and the type of anxiety disorder, may interfere with the relationship between safety behaviors and exposure therapy. The current study puts forward some valuable directions for future studies. First, in order to draw more consistent conclusions, safety behaviors should be defined more clearly and measured more accurately. Secondly, due to some limitations in cross sectional studies and previous experimental studies, study designs need to be improved in the future. Researchers should conduct multiwave longitudinal study and control sample bias as well as important extraneous variables. Thirdly, the third wave of behavioural psychotherapies should be used for reference to explain the relationship between safety behaviors and anxiety. Traditional CBT focuses on modifying the content of cognitive bias. In contrast, the third wave of behavioural psychotherapies focuse more on the persons' relationship to thought and emotion than on their content. From this perspective, theorists can make a new explanation concerning the impacts of safety behaviors on anxiey. Fourthly, It is necessary to investigate not only the negative but also positive effects of these behaviors on anxiety treatment. Finally, more attention should be paid to the development of treaments focusing on safety behaviors. When designing more targeted treatments, clinical practitioners should put much emphasis on how to recognize and eliminate the false safety behaviors. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Interpersonal synchrony: A new perspective to elucidate the essence of working alliance in psychological counseling DAI Xiaoyan, HU Yi, ZHANG Ya 2022, 30 (9):  2078-2087.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2022.02078 Abstract ( 1452 )   HTML ( 86 )   PDF (603KB) ( 1550 )   Interpersonal synchrony (IS) is the co-occurrence of speech features, behavior as well as physiological and neurological activities of two individuals or more. Over the past decade, ever-increasing advancement in the measurement methods of this phenomenon has prompted researchers to make a thorough investigation into almost every aspect of interpersonal interactions, an important research field of which is the therapeutic interaction between the counselor and the client in psychological counseling. Clinical psychologists attempt to reveal the interactional patterns between the psychological counselor and the client and to understand the mechanism underlying the successful establishment of working alliance from the perspective of interpersonal synchrony. This, to a large extent, has addressed the predicament in the study of alliance, that is, a lack of research on interactional features between the counselor-client dyad combined with outdated measurement methods solely dependent on self-report data. To elucidate the interactional features of alliance, researchers mainly focus on the relation between non-verbal synchrony, physiological synchrony as well as interpersonal brain synchrony and working alliance together with its influencing factors. They found that physiological synchrony between the psychological counselor and the client indicated more positive working alliance, and might serve as an objective measure of the counselor's degree of empathy; however, the bidirectional relationship between non-verbal synchrony and alliance and the likelihood of non-verbal synchrony acting as a supplementary form of assessment of alliance quality still require further investigation. Besides, interpersonal brain synchrony has the potential to be an additional neurological indicator of the successful formation of alliance. In terms of the mechanism underlying the successful establishment of alliance, extant theories, such as Shared Intentionality Theory, Polyvagal Theory, Social Psychological Theory, Resilience Model and so on, illuminate the rationale behind how interpersonal synchrony brings forth working alliance and even therapeutic effect. Besides, Oxytocin Synchrony Hypothesis focuses on the biological mechanism of the formation of alliance while Interpersonal Synchrony Model (In-Sync Model) combines different modes of interpersonal synchrony (i.e., non-verbal synchrony and interpersonal brain synchrony) and provides a more integrative theory to uncover the mechanism. Nevertheless, there are still some key issues yet to be addressed in this research field. First, whether interpersonal synchrony can act as an objective indicator of the successful formation of alliance requires further evidence. Additionally, while it is vital to differentiate between different components of alliance (i.e., trait-like component and state-like component) and different types of non-verbal synchrony (i.e., counselor-led synchrony and client-led synchrony), extant research seldom takes the dynamic nature of interpersonal synchrony into account and investigates its contribution to the state-like component of alliance. Furthermore, there still lack theories and empirical evidence devoted to integrating different modes of interpersonal synchrony to uncover the interactional features during the formation of alliance, with the majority of current theories only centered on a single mode of interpersonal synchrony; although the In-Sync Model tries to take both non-verbal synchrony and interpersonal brain synchrony into account, it lacks empirical validation and requires further refinements. Future researchers should integrate different types and modes of interpersonal synchrony when studying its relation with alliance and other influencing factors, pay more attention to the dynamics of interpersonal synchrony alongside the change of working alliance, develop more integrative theories to reveal the essence of working alliance, and, in clinical practice, promote the type of interaction in psychological counseling that features interpersonal synchrony between the psychological counselor and the client. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The protective effects of the “shift-and-persist” strategy on the health of the lower class and their mechanisms HU Xiaoyong, LI Lanyu, DU Tangyan, WANG Tiantian, YANG Jing 2022, 30 (9):  2088-2099.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2022.02088 Abstract ( 881 )   HTML ( 40 )   PDF (750KB) ( 923 )   Having lower socioeconomic status is one of the most well-established social predictors of poor health. However, little is known about why some lower-class individuals maintain good physical health despite experiencing adversity. From a large number of empirical studies, researchers have found that psychological factors such as the “shift-and-persist” strategy can effectively protect the health of lower-class individuals in adversity and prevent them from developing certain diseases. The present study shows that in the midst of adversity, some individuals find role models who teach them to trust others, better regulate their emotions, and focus on their future. A role model is any individual who serves as an attachment figure and provides inspiration to a child and can be a parent, extended family member, or teacher. Over a lifetime, lower-class individuals with such role models develop an approach to coping with stress that helps them accept pressures and reappraisals (shift) while enduring adversity by maintaining a sense of meaning and optimism (persist). In contrast, among higher-class individuals, proactive efforts to cope aimed at eliminating stressors and the pursuit of future goals may be more effective, given such individuals' greater access to resources for engaging in preventive behaviors, resolving situations, and influencing outcomes. The “shift-and-persist” model proposes that for lower-class individuals, developing a way of life that values changing oneself in coping with pressure while insisting on enduring adversity with strength and maintaining optimism and hope for the future can reduce the stress response, thereby protecting one's health. Why can the “shift-and-persist” strategy effectively protect the health of the lower class? Researchers have explained how a “shift-and-persist” strategy can affect the health of the lower class in reference to physiology and behavior. Specifically, the approach balances adaptation to stress and persistence at the same time, changes the physiological pathway of stress, and inhibits the physiological stress response of the lower-class in the face of adversity. In other words, the “shift-and-persist” strategy reduces responses to stress, thereby reducing the acute physiological activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis. Over time, this prevents the development of the pathogenic process and ultimately slows pathogenic disease processes over the long term among lower-class individuals. Specifically, first, a “shift-and-persist” strategy can effectively reduce the repeated activation of the HPA axis among lower-class individuals and then play a protective role in health. Cortisol, the end product of the HPA axis, is one of the most widely used physiological indicators of psychosocial stress, and researchers often use it as an indicator of HPA axis activity. Second, a “shift-and-persist” strategy can effectively regulate the inflammatory process of lower-class individuals to reduce the risk of developing chronic diseases. Low-grade inflammation has been implicated in the pathogenesis and expression of several chronic diseases associated with aging. Lower-class individuals are also more likely to engage in unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking, sedentary lifestyles and following a high-fat diet. These unhealthy behaviors increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and cancer and of early death. Preliminary evidence shows that different dimensions of the “shift-and-persist” strategy can reduce the health-threatening behavior of lower-class individuals to reduce the risk of disease. In sum, the “shift-and-persist” strategy has drawn interest from researchers, its theoretical and practical value has been continuously examined, and it presents good development prospects. To address the problem of health poverty in a period of relative-poverty in China and better serve the health of lower-class individuals, future research can focus on the following aspects. First, research must be conducted in a longitudinal fashion to establish whether “shift-and-persist” strategies can predict health trajectories over time in children and adults. Second, from a multilevel and multipath perspective, studies must comprehensively investigate the mechanism by which a “shift-and-persist” strategy affects the health of lower-class individuals. Finally, future studies should vigorously develop intervention programs to promote a “shift-and-persist” strategy. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Collective narcissism: A catalyst for intergroup conflicts XU Buxiao, BAI Jie, LI Ye, GUO Yongyu 2022, 30 (9):  2100-2116.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2022.02100 Abstract ( 1553 )   HTML ( 142 )   PDF (656KB) ( 1820 )   Collective narcissism is the group-level equivalent of individual narcissism and is currently defined as the belief that one's own group is exceptional and entitled to privileged treatment but it is not sufficiently recognized by others. Current research findings show that it has relatively strong explanatory power for intergroup hostility, because collective narcissists are hypersensitive to threats to their in-group image, status, or identity, and are prone to overestimate threats and suspect out-groups; and that lacking sense of self-worth and personal control is one important source of collective narcissism. After reviewing the past research on collective narcissism, combined with latest progress in the field of individual narcissism, this paper proposes several important questions that remain to be investigated in the field of collective narcissism. First, does collective narcissism necessarily entail vulnerability? Currently, collective narcissism tends to be understood as collective self-esteem that is contingent on admiration and recognition from others. This suggests that collective narcissists are generally conceived to be fragile internally, in that it is because of the vulnerability implicit in their own beliefs—or in other words, their own lack of confidence in their in-group's exceptional image—that they are prone to demand external affirmation or recognition. However, vulnerability may not be a necessary attribute of collective narcissism because there may be collective narcissism that is not fragile, just as there may be individual narcissism that is not fragile. Therefore, researchers may consider appropriately narrowing the connotation of collective narcissism to expand its denotation so as to explore more diverse forms of collective narcissism, such as collective narcissism with and without vulnerability. Second, is the structure of collective narcissism one-dimensional? If not, what dimensions does it have? Although the most widely used collective narcissism scale has a one-dimensional structure, recent studies have developed and validated collective narcissism scales with a multidimensional structure. These studies are preliminary, however, and only suggest it is necessary to carry out multidimensional exploration. As for the exact structure of collective narcissism, further exploration is needed. And future research should not only explore the dimensions of collective narcissism, but also explore the sub-dimensions of both of vulnerable collective narcissism and grandiose collective narcissism. Third, are the consequences of collective narcissism always negative? The vast majority of current research has focused on revealing the negative effects of collective narcissism, and very few studies have directly examined and found positive effects of collective narcissism. However, according to E. Fromm's classical theoretical view, collective narcissism may also have its benign forms within certain limits, just as individual narcissism may also have an adaptive side. Therefore, future research should explore the effects of collective narcissism from a more complete theoretical perspective, and especially, examine more the positive effects of collective narcissism. Finally, does collective narcissism stem simply from frustrated individual needs? Although studies in recent years have begun to investigate the causes of collective narcissism, these studies largely focus on individual motivational factors and fail to examine them together with factors such as cognitions and sociocultural contexts. Future research may draw on ideas from theories such as system justification theory, social identity theory, and self-categorization theory to explore a more complete explanation for the phenomenon of collective narcissism. In summary, after more than a decade of research, there are still many theoretically meaningful questions in the field of collective narcissism that deserve further exploration. And in today's world, such exploration also has profound practical significance, and it may bring a wealth of insights into how to deal with the struggles of various social groups for recognition. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Power analysis in structural equation modeling: Principles and methods ZHAI Hongkun, LI Qiang, WEI Xiaowei 2022, 30 (9):  2117-2130.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2022.02117 Abstract ( 1252 )   HTML ( 56 )   PDF (1016KB) ( 1288 )   Structural equation modeling (SEM) is an important statistical tool in psychology, management, and sociology. However, many studies that use SEM lack analyses and reports of statistical power. Studies with low statistical power may result in a waste of labor and material resources; studies may even be led astray because of failure to test real effects, thereby making incorrect conclusions. In addition, low statistical power may cause researchers to mistake poorly fitted models for well-fitted models. Consequently, researchers may draw incorrect conclusions. At present, the Satorra-Saris, MacCallum, and Monte Carlo methods are the three main types of statistical power analysis methods for SEM. The Satorra-Saris and MacCallum methods are based on various important conclusions on the χ2 distribution given by the earlier works of Satorra and Saris. These methods are applicable for analyzing the statistical power of χ2-based tests in SEM. The Monte Carlo method is based on the work of Muthén and Muthén, and it uses simulations to analyze the statistical power, which can be applied to a wide range of test situations in SEM. Among the three types of analytical methods, the MacCallum method is the simplest and least computationally intensive; however, it has the narrowest scope of application. The Monte Carlo method is the most complex and computationally intensive, and it has the widest scope of application. The Satorra-Saris method has moderate complexity, computation intensity, and scope of application. In practice, researchers can choose the appropriate analysis method according to the purpose of the test, test method, availability of alternative models, ease of use of the method, and computational power. The Satorra-Saris method is recommended when the test is based on the χ2 distribution (e.g., the χ2 test, likelihood ratio test, Wald test, and test of model fit index), the alternative model is clear, and the test object is simple; the MacCallum method is recommended if the alternative model is unknown. The Monte Carlo method is recommended when simulation or resampling methods are used, or when the target of the test is complex. In addition, when researchers try to evaluate the model fit for SEM, there is a conjugate relationship between the statistical power analysis and the equivalence test. Therefore, researchers have proposed a new method in recent years to evaluate the model fit of SEM, which can be conditionally interchanged to some extent. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The second type of mediated moderation WANG Yang, WEN Zhonglin, WANG Huihui, GUAN Fang 2022, 30 (9):  2131-2142.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2022.02131 Abstract ( 2156 )   HTML ( 70 )   PDF (854KB) ( 1518 )   Mediated moderation (meMO) accounts for the moderating effect of a moderator (W) on the relationship between an independent variable (X) and a dependent variable (Y) transmitted through a mediator (M). It has been widely applied in psychological studies. However, the traditional meMO (also known as the first type of meMO, or meMO-I) is difficult to interpret, and thus, researchers often misapply it. In this regard, the second type of meMO (meMO-II), which has been in the foreground in recent years, can better articulate the definition of meMO. meMO-II indicates that the moderating effect of W on X→Y is mediated by an intervening variable, M, which is affected by W initially. An important theoretical implication of meMO-II is that it reveals how W moderates the effect of X on Y, for which meMO-I has limited applicability. We compare and contrast meMO-II with other models that combine moderation and mediation. Then, we demonstrate the analytical procedure behind meMO-II. We conducted this analysis in three steps. The first step was to test whether there was a total moderating effect of W on X and Y. With Y as the dependent variable, we performed a hierarchical regression analysis in which the independent variable X and moderator W are entered first into the regression, followed by the interaction term XW. If there is a total moderating effect, this will be confirmed by XW's regression coefficient being statistically significant and ΔR2 being high enough (e.g., ≥ 0.02 or even ≥ 0.03). The second step was to test whether there was an indirect moderating effect. If the regression coefficient a1of W from the regression of M to W, and the coefficient b2from interaction term XM from the regression of Y to X, W, M, XW and XM, are significant, respectively, then the indirect moderating effect is significant (causal steps approach). If at least one coefficient was insignificant, we would apply the bootstrap method with higher power to test the product coefficient a1b2 directly. If the 95% bootstrap confidence interval of a1b2did not contain 0, the indirect moderating effect was significant (product of coefficients approach). The third step was to conduct a simple slope analysis. In accordance with the relation between the moderators W and M, we fixed the two variables at a set level to investigate the difference in the effect of X on Y at different points. This method is known as the pick-a-point technique. The Johnson-Neyman (J-N) technique can also be adopted to identify the range of W values for which the main effect between the X and Y is significant. Furthermore, we applied the above procedure to an empirical study as an illustration. Then, we present two analytical methods of meMO-II based on latent variables: latent moderated structural equations (LMS) and the factor score approach (FS). Several recent advances in modeling approach of meMO-II, including variable system (VS) and two-level mediated moderation (2meMO) are also introduced. As for VS, the product of path coefficients from XW→XM→Y is employed as the index of indirect moderation by multiplying X to the regression of M to W. Thus the disadvantages of endogeneity, incoherent paths and confusion about meMO-II, and the second-stage moderated mediation model in meMO-II, can be mitigated, whereas 2meMO uses error term partitioning in a multi-level model as a reference, applying the random effect of X on Y to the meMO-II model. This saves the trouble of verifying the homoscedasticity assumption. Additionally, this paper also presents several effect sizes concerning indirect moderation. These include the ratio of the indirect moderating effect divided by the total moderating effect, υ (i.e., the square of a1b2), and an effect size based on the variance decomposition of coefficients ϕMO_ind(i.e., the ratio of the variance of a1b2 to the total variance of the path coefficients from X→Y). Finally, we present the variant models of meMO-II, including multiple indirect moderation, suppression effect in moderation, multi-level indirect moderation, indirect moderation of categorical variables, moderated indirect moderation and indirectly moderated mediation. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics