Flawed Self-Assessment

College women's perceived risk to experience sexual victimization: a prospective analysis

This study implemented a prospective design to explore college women's perceived risk to experience sexual victimization over a 2-month interim (N = 143). Compared to women without such histories, women with a history of unwanted sexual contact via arguments/ pressure, or a history of unwanted sexual intercourse via administration of alcohol/drugs reported higher perceived risk to subsequently experience these forms of victimization. Compared to women who were not victimized, women who subsequently experienced unwanted sexual intercourse via administration of alcohol/drugs or arguments/pressure reported higher levels of risk to experience these forms of victimization. Controlling for victimization history, higher levels of risk to experience sexual intercourse over the interim via arguments predicted this form of victimization over the follow-up. Implications are discussed.

Combating Unintended Consequences of in-Class Revision Using Study Skills Training

In order to assess the most effective means of revising course material in-class, the researchers manipulated the type of revision (spaced after each chapter versus a single, pre-exam revision) and collected exam scores, student study time estimates, and student confidence estimates. In addition, the researchers manipulated whether the class received a study skills training lecture at the beginning of the semester. Results indicated that a single, massed revision might have a counterintuitive effect, increasing student confidence, while decreasing study time and exam scores. This negative effect, however, was mitigated by a brief study skills training that highlighted the dangers of overconfidence and massed practice.

Understanding the better than average effect: motives (still) matter

People evaluate themselves more positively than they evaluate most other people. Although this better than average (BTA) effect was originally thought to represent a motivated bias, several cognitively oriented theorists have questioned whether this is the case. In support of a motivational model, the author reports five studies showing that the BTA effect is stronger for important attributes than unimportant ones (all five studies) and that once attribute importance is taken into account, the effect occurs when self-evaluations are compared with a single peer (Study 2) and when self is specified as the referent rather than the target (Study 4). Finally, Study 5 shows that the BTA effect increases in magnitude after participants experience a threat to their feelings of self-worth. Collectively, these findings establish that motivational processes underlie the BTA effect.

Self-Enhancement and Self-Protection Strategies in China

The motive to enhance and protect positive views of the self manifests in a variety of cognitive and behavioral strategies, but its universality versus cultural specificity is debated by scholars. We sought to inform this debate by soliciting self-reports of the four principal types of self-enhancement and self-protection strategy (positivity embracement, favorable construals, self-affirming reflections, defensiveness) from a Chinese sample and comparing their structure, levels, and correlates to a Western sample. The Chinese data fit the same factor structure and were subject to the same individual differences in regulatory focus, self-esteem, and narcissism, as the Western data. Chinese participants reported lower levels of (enhancement-oriented) positivity embracement but higher levels of (protection-oriented) defensiveness than Western participants. Levels of favorable construals were also higher in the Chinese sample, with no differences in self-affirming reflections. These findings support and extend the universalist perspective on the self by demonstrating the cross-cultural structure, yet culturally sensitive manifestation, of self-enhancement motivation.

Evaluation of insight training of ambulance drivers in Sweden using DART, a new e-learning tool

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the study was to evaluate whether a new e-learning tool for insight training of ambulance drivers can have an effect on drivers' driving behaviors, perceived driving competence, competence to assess risks, self-reflection, and safety attitudes.

METHODS

A quasi-experimental study design, with participants nonrandomly assigned into a control and intervention group, was used. The intervention group participated in the insight-training course and the control group did not. Both groups completed a self- and peer assessment online questionnaire before and after the training.

RESULTS

The main finding is that the ambulance drivers assessed themselves through the instruments after the training, with the e-learning tool Driver Access Recording Tool (DART), as safer drivers in the areas of speed adaptation, closing up, and overtaking. In the answers from the group-based evaluation, the ambulance drivers responded that they were more reflective/analytical, had increased their risk awareness, and had changed their driving behaviors.

CONCLUSIONS

After insight training, the ambulance drivers in this study assessed themselves as safer drivers in several important areas, including speed adaptation, closing up, and overtaking. In future training of ambulance drivers there should be more focus on insight training instead of previous training focusing on maneuvering capabilities.

It's not all about me: motivating hand hygiene among health care professionals by focusing on patients

Diseases often spread in hospitals because health care professionals fail to wash their hands. Research suggests that to increase health and safety behaviors, it is important to highlight the personal consequences for the actor. However, because people (and health care professionals in particular) tend to be overconfident about personal immunity, the most effective messages about hand hygiene may be those that highlight its consequences for other people. In two field experiments in a hospital, we compared the effectiveness of signs about hand hygiene that emphasized personal safety ("Hand hygiene prevents you from catching diseases") or patient safety ("Hand hygiene prevents patients from catching diseases"). We assessed hand hygiene by measuring the amount of soap and hand-sanitizing gel used from dispensers (Experiment 1) and conducting covert, independent observations of health care professionals' hand-hygiene behaviors (Experiment 2). Results showed that changing a single word in messages motivated meaningful changes in behavior: The hand hygiene of health care professionals increased significantly when they were reminded of the implications for patients but not when they were reminded of the implications for themselves.

In search of our true selves: feedback as a path to self-knowledge

How can self-knowledge of personality be improved? What path is the most fruitful source for learning about our true selves? Previous research has noted two main avenues for learning about the self: looking inward (e.g., introspection) and looking outward (e.g., feedback). Although most of the literature on these topics does not directly measure the accuracy of self-perceptions (i.e., self-knowledge), we review these paths and their potential for improving self-knowledge. We come to the conclusion that explicit feedback, a largely unexamined path, is likely a fruitful avenue for learning about one’s own personality. Specifically, we suggest that self-knowledge might be fully realized through the use of explicit feedback from close, knowledgeable others. As such, we conclude that the road to self-knowledge likely cannot be traveled alone but must be traveled with close others who can help shed light on our blind spots.

Trait gambling cognitions predict near-miss experiences and persistence in laboratory slot machine gambling

'Near-miss' outcomes (i.e., unsuccessful outcomes close to the jackpot) have been shown to promote gambling persistence. Although there have been recent advances in understanding the neurobiological responses to gambling near-misses, the psychological mechanisms involved in these events remain unclear. The goal of this study was to explore whether trait-related gambling cognitions (e.g., beliefs that certain skills or rituals may help to win in games of chance) influence behavioural and subjective responses during laboratory gambling. Eighty-four individuals, who gambled at least monthly, performed a simplified slot machine task that delivered win, near-miss, and full-miss outcomes across 30 mandatory trials followed by a persistence phase in extinction. Participants completed the Gambling-Related Cognitions Scale (GRCS; Raylu & Oei, 2004), as well as measures of disordered gambling (South Oaks Gambling Screen [SOGS]; Lesieur & Blume, 1987) and social desirability bias (DS-36; Tournois, Mesnil, & Kop, 2000). Skill-oriented gambling cognitions (illusion of control, fostered by internal factors such as reappraisal of losses, or perceived outcome sequences), but not ritual-oriented gambling cognitions (illusion of control fostered by external factors such as luck or superstitions), predicted higher subjective ratings of desire to play after near-miss outcomes. In contrast, perceived lack of self-control predicted persistence on the slot machine task. These data indicate that the motivational impact of near-miss outcomes is related to specific gambling cognitions pertaining to skill acquisition, supporting the idea that gambling near-misses foster the illusion of control.

The distinct role of comparative risk perceptions in a breast cancer prevention program

BACKGROUND

Comparative risk perceptions may rival other types of information in terms of effects on health behavior decisions.

PURPOSE

We examined associations between comparative risk perceptions, affect, and behavior while controlling for absolute risk perceptions and actual risk.

METHODS

Women at an increased risk of breast cancer participated in a program to learn about tamoxifen which can reduce the risk of breast cancer. They reported comparative risk perceptions of breast cancer and completed measures of anxiety, knowledge, and tamoxifen-related behavior intentions. Three months later, the women reported their behavior.

RESULTS

Comparative risk perceptions were positively correlated with anxiety, knowledge, intentions, and behavior 3 months later. After controlling for participants' actual risk of breast cancer and absolute risk perceptions, comparative risk perceptions predicted anxiety and knowledge, but not intentions or behavior.

CONCLUSIONS

Comparative risk perceptions can affect patient outcomes like anxiety and knowledge independently of absolute risk perceptions and actual risk information.

Metacognition and depressive realism: evidence for the level-of-depression account

Introduction. The present study examined the relationship between metacognition (i.e., "thinking about thinking") and depression. More specifically, the depressive realism hypothesis (Alloy & Abramson, 1979), which posits that depressed people have a more accurate view of reality than nondepressed people, was tested. Methods. Nondepressed, mildly depressed, and moderately depressed individuals predicted their memory performance by making judgements of learning after each studied item. These predictions were then compared with actual performance on a free recall task to assess calibration, an index of metacognitive accuracy. Results and conclusions. Consistent with the depressive realism hypothesis, mild depression was associated with better calibration than nondepression. However, this "sadder but wiser" phenomenon appears to only exist to point, as moderate depression and nondepression showed no calibration differences. Thus, the level-of-depression account of depressive realism is supported.

Tensions in informed self-assessment: how the desire for feedback and reticence to collect and use it can conflict

PURPOSE

Informed self-assessment describes the set of processes through which individuals use external and internal data to generate an appraisal of their own abilities. The purpose of this project was to explore the tensions described by learners and professionals when informing their self-assessments of clinical performance.

METHOD

This 2008 qualitative study was guided by principles of grounded theory. Eight programs in five countries across undergraduate, postgraduate, and continuing medical education were purposively sampled. Seventeen focus groups were held (134 participants). Detailed analyses were conducted iteratively to understand themes and relationships.

RESULTS

Participants experienced multiple tensions in informed self-assessment. Three categories of tensions emerged: within people (e.g., wanting feedback, yet fearing disconfirming feedback), between people (e.g., providing genuine feedback yet wanting to preserve relationships), and in the learning/practice environment (e.g., engaging in authentic self-assessment activities versus "playing the evaluation game"). Tensions were ongoing, contextual, and dynamic; they prevailed across participant groups, infusing all components of informed self-assessment. They also were present in varied contexts and at all levels of learners and practicing physicians.

CONCLUSIONS

Multiple tensions, requiring ongoing negotiation and renegotiation, are inherent in informed self-assessment. Tensions are both intraindividual and interindividual and they are culturally situated, reflecting both professional and institutional influences. Social learning theories (social cognitive theory) and sociocultural theories of learning (situated learning and communities of practice) may inform our understanding and interpretation of the study findings. The findings suggest that educational interventions should be directed at individual, collective, and institutional cultural levels. Implications for practice are presented.

Benchmark to escape from Lake Wobegon

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate whether an employee reports an accurate view of the relative performance level of the organisation for which they work.

Design/methodology/approach

Utilizes a survey of 2,517 senior managers, managers and team leaders from 120 different organisations in nine different countries.

Findings

There is significant and consistent overestimation of performance with 75 percent of the management team reporting that their organisation is above average, and only 5 percent rating their organisation as below average compared to its competitors. A very significant finding is that where there is likely to be a greater degree of knowledge of competitor's performance estimation improves.

Practical implications

The implication of this misrepresentation of the true position is to make it less likely that an improvement initiative will succeed as managers will not be sufficiently motivated to improve an apparently satisfactory status quo. The paper calls for greater focus both on the activity of benchmarking and in the process of spreading knowledge of the benchmarking activity.

Originality/value

This paper extends issues such as the Lake Wobegon effect and socially desirable reporting which have been investigated in depth in the area of personal self‐assessment and applies them into a different arena, that of the employee's view of the performance of the organisation.

Factors influencing Australian construction industry apprentices' dietary behaviors

To date there has been a theoretical and empirical gap in workplace-centered health promotion research-particularly as it applies to blue-collar men's diets. To begin addressing the paucity of research, five qualitative focus groups (N = 53) were conducted in Australian training colleges to explore the dietary behaviors of apprentices. Thematic analysis was used by the researcher who concludes that although some apprentices were health conscious and attempted to eat healthy foods, many had diets high in saturated fats and sugar. These types of diets are associated with increased risks for developing chronic disease and are associated with decreased life expectancy. As such it poses a serious challenge for health promoters. Apprentices' dietary practices were also found to be moderated by convenience, availability, and cost of foods in their environment. Their nutritional beliefs, significant others, colleagues in the workplace, and their body image also influence their food choices.

Simulation-based emergency medicine resident self-assessment

BACKGROUND

Videotaped recordings of simulation-based performance may allow learners the opportunity to review, evaluate, and reflect upon their own performance.

OBJECTIVES

To determine the accuracy of resident performance self-assessment after a simulation-based encounter; compare low- and high-scoring residents' abilities to evaluate their performance; and determine if video-assisted performance review improves self-assessment accuracy.

METHODS

Emergency Medicine residents participated in a videotaped simulation-based assessment. Residents evaluated their performance immediately after completing simulated cases, and after reviewing the session's video. Self-ratings were compared to the faculty observers, and scores were divided based on the median.

RESULTS

Seventeen residents participated, providing 270 self-ratings before, and 269 after, video review. Before video review, residents accurately graded their performance in 73.7% of the items. High- and low-scoring residents accurately self-assessed 83.9% and 62.2% of items, respectively. The odds of a high scorer accurately rating their own performance were 3.2 times that of a low scorer (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.9-5.2, p<0.001). After video review, resident self-assessments were accurate for 73.6% of the items. High scorers were accurate in their post-video self-assessment in 83.3% of the items, vs. 62.4% for low scorers. After video review, the odds of a high scorer accurately self-rating their performance were 3.0 times that of a low scorer (95% CI 2.1-4.1, p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Residents' abilities to self-assess vary, and performance quality may influence self-assessment. Video review did not significantly increase self-assessment accuracy. Improving self-assessment skills may assist residents in identifying practice gaps, thereby allowing them to focus their energy toward filling that gap.

Exploring the divergence between self-assessment and self-monitoring

Many models of professional self-regulation call upon individual practitioners to take responsibility both for identifying the limits of their own skills and for redressing their identified limits through continuing professional development activities. Despite these expectations, a considerable literature in the domain of self-assessment has questioned the ability of the self-regulating professional to enact this process effectively. In response, authors have recently suggested that the construction of self-assessment as represented in the self-regulation literature is, itself, problematic. In this paper we report a pair of studies that examine the relationship between self-assessment (a global judgment of one's ability in a particular domain) and self-monitoring (a moment-by-moment awareness of the likelihood that one maintains the skill/knowledge to act in a particular situation). These studies reveal that, despite poor correlations between performance and self-assessments (consistent with what is typically seen in the self-assessment literature), participant performance was strongly related to several measures of self-monitoring including: the decision to answer or defer responding to a question, the amount of time required to make that decision to answer or defer, and the confidence expressed in an answer when provided. This apparent divergence between poor overall self-assessment and effective self-monitoring is considered in terms of how the findings might inform our understanding of the cognitive mechanisms yielding both self-monitoring judgments and self-assessments and how that understanding might be used to better direct education and learning efforts.

Personality and longevity: knowns, unknowns, and implications for public health and personalized medicine

We review evidence for links between personality traits and longevity. We provide an overview of personality for health scientists, using the primary organizing framework used in the study of personality and longevity. We then review data on various aspects of personality linked to longevity. In general, there is good evidence that higher level of conscientiousness and lower levels of hostility and Type D or "distressed" personality are associated with greater longevity. Limited evidence suggests that extraversion, openness, perceived control, and low levels of emotional suppression may be associated with longer lifespan. Findings regarding neuroticism are mixed, supporting the notion that many component(s) of neuroticism detract from life expectancy, but some components at some levels may be healthy or protective. Overall, evidence suggests various personality traits are significant predictors of longevity and points to several promising directions for further study. We conclude by discussing the implications of these links for epidemiologic research and personalized medicine and lay out a translational research agenda for integrating the psychology of individual differences into public health and medicine.

Two to Tango

Four studies examined dyadic collaboration on quantitative estimation tasks. In accord with the tenets of “naïve realism,” dyad members failed to give due weight to a partner’s estimates, especially those greatly divergent from their own. The requirement to reach joint estimates through discussion increased accuracy more than reaching agreement through a mere exchange of numerical “bids.” However, even the latter procedure increased accuracy, relative to that of individual estimates (Study 1). Accuracy feedback neither increased weight given to partner’s subsequent estimates nor produced improved accuracy (Study 2). Long-term dance partners, who shared a positive estimation bias, failed to improve accuracy when estimating their performance scores (Study 3). Having dyad members ask questions about the bases of partner’s estimates produced greater yielding and accuracy increases than having them explain their own estimates (Study 4). The latter two studies provided additional direct and indirect evidence for the role of naïve realism.

Neurocognitive functions and everyday functions change together in old age

OBJECTIVE

Although neurocognitive functions are known to decline normatively with adult age, there is a common belief that everyday functions (e.g., paying bills, following medication instructions, making change, looking up telephone numbers in a phone book) are unaffected by these changes.

METHOD

This hypothesis was examined by applying longitudinal growth models to data from a community-based sample of 698 adults (ages 65 to 94 years and living independently at baseline) who were repeatedly measured over five years on neurocognitive tests of executive reasoning, episodic memory, and perceptual speed, and on a number of tasks that adults should be reasonably expected to be able to perform in their day-to-day lives.

RESULTS

Individual differences in changes in neurocognitive performance were strongly correlated with individual differences in changes in performance on the everyday tasks. Alternatively, changes in self-reports of everyday functions were only weakly correlated with changes in performance on the neurocognitive tests and the everyday tasks.

CONCLUSIONS

These results together suggest that normative neurocognitive aging has substantial consequences for the daily lives of older adults and that both researchers and clinicians should be cautious when interpreting self-reports of everyday functioning.

Misery has more company than people think: underestimating the prevalence of others' negative emotions

Four studies document underestimations of the prevalence of others' negative emotions and suggest causes and correlates of these erroneous perceptions. In Study 1a, participants reported that their negative emotions were more private or hidden than were their positive emotions; in Study 1b, participants underestimated the peer prevalence of common negative, but not positive, experiences described in Study 1a. In Study 2, people underestimated negative emotions and overestimated positive emotions even for well-known peers, and this effect was partially mediated by the degree to which those peers reported suppression of negative (vs. positive) emotions. Study 3 showed that lower estimations of the prevalence of negative emotional experiences predicted greater loneliness and rumination and lower life satisfaction and that higher estimations for positive emotional experiences predicted lower life satisfaction. Taken together, these studies suggest that people may think they are more alone in their emotional difficulties than they really are.

How confident are internal medicine residents in rheumatology versus other common internal medicine clinical skills: an issue of training time or exposure?

The objective of this study was to determine self-confidence of internal medicine (IM) residents regarding rheumatology clinical skills and factors that may affect their confidence. Permission was sought to e-mail a web-based survey to IM residents at all 13 English language Canadian internal medicine programs. Residents were asked to rank self-confidence in rheumatology, cardiology, respirology, and gastroenterology skills. Further questions included site and year of training, career interests, rheumatology experiences, learning opportunities, and assessment frequency. These factors were analyzed by univariate and multivariate analyses. Two hundred sixteen residents (21.8%) from all 13 sites responded to the survey. Resident self-confidence in rheumatology diagnoses was 5.24/10, lower than all three comparator subspecialties. Increasing teaching exposure had a more significant impact on confidence in rheumatology than on comparator subspecialties. Increasing year of training had no association with higher self-confidence for rheumatology, in contrast to the increase in confidence seen with increased year of training for each comparator subspecialty. Further analysis demonstrated that the completion of a rheumatology rotation, increasing learning opportunities, annual assessment, and career interest were associated with greater resident self-confidence. Resident self-confidence for rheumatology skills is cautious at best and is lower than other common subspecialties. Self confidence improves with targeted rheumatology clinical experience and teaching, but does not improve solely with higher year of IM training. Furthermore, the impact of rheumatology teaching is greater than that of other common IM subspecialties. This information is critical to the planning and implementation of effective rheumatology curricula within internal medicine residency programs.

Too Much of a Good Thing

Aristotle proposed that to achieve happiness and success, people should cultivate virtues at mean or intermediate levels between deficiencies and excesses. In stark contrast to this assertion that virtues have costs at high levels, a wealth of psychological research has focused on demonstrating the well-being and performance benefits of positive traits, states, and experiences. This focus has obscured the prevalence and importance of nonmonotonic inverted-U-shaped effects, whereby positive phenomena reach inflection points at which their effects turn negative. We trace the evidence for nonmonotonic effects in psychology and provide recommendations for conceptual and empirical progress. We conclude that for psychology in general and positive psychology in particular, Aristotle’s idea of the mean may serve as a useful guide for developing both a descriptive and a prescriptive account of happiness and success.

Differentiation in the momentary rating of somatic symptoms covaries with trait emotional awareness in patients at risk for sudden cardiac death

OBJECTIVES

Somatic symptom ratings covary with neuroticism. Yet, people vary from one another in their ability to report their own emotions and differentiate them from bodily sensations. We hypothesized that stressed individuals with greater emotional awareness would experience somatic symptoms in a more differentiated way independent of neuroticism.

METHODS

Over 3 days, ecological momentary assessments were completed in 161 patients (72.6% female; mean age, 35 years) with Long QT Syndrome, a genetic disorder associated with increased risk for sudden cardiac death. Patients were paged randomly ten times per day to report their momentary experience of nine somatic symptoms (e.g., headache, sore throat, tiredness) as well as other variables. We examined the intercorrelation between somatic symptom ratings, reasoning that greater intercorrelation among ratings indicated less differentiation. Subjects completed measures of neuroticism, depression, and the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale, a trait measure of the tendency to experience emotions in a complex and differentiated way.

RESULTS

Higher Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale-Self scores were associated with greater differentiation in the momentary rating of somatic symptoms (p < .001) in men and women independently. This association did not change after removing variance due to neuroticism, depression, or symptom intensity.

CONCLUSIONS

Among individuals stressed by having a life-threatening condition, those who are more emotionally aware report somatic symptoms in a more differentiated way. These findings regarding symptoms largely unrelated to the disorder are consistent with other evidence that medically unexplained physical symptoms, which tend to be nonspecific, may be accompanied by relatively undifferentiated negative affect.

[Teaching pain management. An innovative curriculum model at the University of Witten/Herdecke (UWH)]

BACKGROUND

The subject of pain and pain therapy is not mandatory in medical curricula in Germany. Therefore, the German Society for the Study of Pain (DGSS) has developed a core-curriculum for pain and suggested its implementation for all medical faculties.

METHOD

At the University of Witten/Herdecke this DGSS core curriculum was extended in terms of a "pain week", which comprised 22 h of seminars and clinical teaching and started in 2009. The knowledge gained by the students regarding the intended learning issues was measured by a pre-post self-assessment questionnaire.

RESULTS

In almost every category the students reported significant knowledge gain. The learning issues were rated as relevant for the professional career.

CONCLUSION

The "pain week" is intended to be a constant part of the medical curriculum at the University of Witten/Herdecke in the future. It will be integrated into the new cross-sectional subject of palliative care and be assessed by examinations.

Discrepancy between how children perceive their own alcohol risk and how they perceive alcohol risk for other children longitudinally predicts alcohol use

This paper examined discrepancies between children's self-perceptions of the riskiness of alcohol use versus their perceptions of the riskiness of alcohol use for other children, and whether these discrepancies predicted children's future alcohol use. Participants included 234 children (M=11 years, 45.3% female) who completed baseline and one-year follow-up assessments on self-perceived riskiness of alcohol use, perceived riskiness of alcohol use for other same-age children, and own past year alcohol use. When considering child age and gender, baseline alcohol use, and the individual reports of the riskiness of alcohol use, the interaction between alcohol use riskiness reports prospectively predicted greater odds of alcohol use. The highest percentage of childhood alcohol use at one-year follow-up came from those children with both low self-perceived riskiness of alcohol use and high perceived riskiness of alcohol use for other children. Children's perceptions of multiple people's risk from alcohol use result in identifying important subgroups of children at risk for early-onset alcohol use.

The effects of performance-based assessment criteria on student performance and self-assessment skills

This study investigated the effect of performance-based versus competence-based assessment criteria on task performance and self-assessment skills among 39 novice secondary vocational education students in the domain of nursing and care. In a performance-based assessment group students are provided with a preset list of performance-based assessment criteria, describing what students should do, for the task at hand. The performance-based group is compared to a competence-based assessment group in which students receive a preset list of competence-based assessment criteria, describing what students should be able to do. The test phase revealed that the performance-based group outperformed the competence-based group on test task performance. In addition, higher performance of the performance-based group was reached with lower reported mental effort during training, indicating a higher instructional efficiency for novice students.

Emotion Differentiation as Resilience Against Excessive Alcohol Use

Some people are adept at using discrete emotion categories ( anxious, angry, sad) to capture their felt experience; other people merely communicate how good or bad they feel. We theorized that people who are better at describing their emotions might be less likely to self-medicate with alcohol. During a 3-week period, 106 underage social drinkers used handheld computers to self-monitor alcohol intake. From participants’ reported experiences during random prompts, we created an individual difference measure of emotion differentiation. Results from a 30-day timeline follow-back revealed that people with intense negative emotions consumed less alcohol if they were better at describing emotions and less reliant on global descriptions. Results from ecological momentary assessment procedures revealed that people with intense negative emotions prior to drinking episodes consumed less alcohol if they were better at describing emotions. These findings provide support for a novel methodology and dimension for understanding the influence of emotions on substance-use patterns.

When Self-Affirmations Reduce Defensiveness: Timing Is Key

Research on self-affirmation has shown that simple reminders of self-integrity reduce people’s tendency to respond defensively to threat. Recent research has suggested it is irrelevant whether the self-affirmation exercise takes place before or after the threat or the individual’s defensive response to it, supposedly because the meaning of threats is continuously reprocessed. However, four experiments revealed that affirmations may be effective only when introduced prior to the initiation of a defensive response. Affirmations introduced before threatening feedback reduced defensive responding; affirming after a threat was effective in reducing defensiveness only if the defensive conclusion had yet to be reached. Even though threats may activate a defensive motivation, the authors’ results suggest that defensive responses may not be spontaneous and may be prompted only when suggested by the dependent measures themselves. This explains why some affirmations positioned after threats are effective in reducing defensiveness. Implications for self-affirmation theory are discussed.

A comparison of insight into clinical symptoms versus insight into neuro-cognitive symptoms in schizophrenia

BACKGROUND

Schizophrenia is associated with neuropsychological deficits that have been linked to poor functional outcome. To address this problem, pharmacologic and behavioral treatments are being developed for cognitive impairments, but they will not be well utilized if people with schizophrenia do not perceive a need for treatment.

AIMS

This study compared whether people with schizophrenia have a similar degree of insight into neuro-cognitive symptoms as clinical symptoms, and whether neuro-cognitive and clinical symptoms are similarly related to degree of insight into these two aspects of the illness.

METHOD

Seventy-one patients with schizophrenia were administered measures of clinical and neuro-cognitive status as well as clinician rated measures of insight into clinical and neuro-cognitive symptoms.

RESULTS

Patients had significantly less insight into their neuro-cognitive symptoms than their clinical symptoms. On average, patients had good insight into clinical symptoms and partial insight into neuro-cognitive symptoms. Neuropsychological variables were related to insight into clinical symptoms, but not insight into neuro-cognition. Clinical variables were not significantly related to either type of insight.

CONCLUSIONS

Insight is not a unitary concept and the differences between awareness of neuro-cognition and awareness of clinical symptoms suggest that they have to be addressed separately in treatment. Specific education about cognitive symptoms may be necessary to improve awareness of this aspect of the schizophrenia.