I checked 15 psychology journals on Tuesday, April 14, 2026 using the Crossref API. For the period April 07 to April 13, I found 45 new paper(s) in 12 journal(s).

Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science

Just in Time or Just a Guess? Addressing Challenges in Validating Prediction Models Based on Longitudinal Data
Anna M. Langener, Nicholas C. Jacobson
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A common goal of researchers using intensive longitudinal data is to develop models that predict emotions or behaviors, often using passively collected data from smartphone sensors or wearable devices. A frequent use case for such models is the development of just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAIs). However, real-world effectiveness depends on rigorous evaluation. Previous research has highlighted challenges in selecting appropriate evaluation methods. To address these, we review key pitfalls in predictive modeling and provide recommendations for avoiding them. We focus on a common problem: the mismatch between development, evaluation and application, and use simulations to illustrate three pitfalls. First, although models may perform well from applying group-level validation (area under the curve [AUC] = .82), they may lack the ability in predicting within-persons change (mean AUC = .54, SD = .13). For JITAIs, this will prevent the model from identifying intervention-delivery moments and will discriminate only between individuals. Second, ensuring adequate variability in the outcome variable is critical. If outcomes remain stable, frequent prediction may offer little practical benefit. Third, selecting appropriate baseline models is essential; models that appear effective may underperform compared with simple baselines (e.g., AUC = .82 vs. AUC = .96). To address these pitfalls, we present recommendations for matching validation and evaluation strategies to the intended use-case scenario and provide a tool that can help researchers investigate whether their strategy and goal are misaligned. This can help improve the effectiveness of predictive models and increase their utility in real-world applications.
Evaluating Cognitive Models With Permutation Testing: A Case Study of Prototype and Exemplar Categorization
Dagmar Zeithamova, Troy M. Houser, Caitlin R. Bowman
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Computational cognitive models offer powerful means for testing competing theoretical frameworks. A central challenge is determining which model best explains observed data, balancing goodness of fit with parsimony. Several fruitful approaches to model comparison have been used in the areas of cognitive and mathematical psychology, but the most popular in practice remain Akaike information criterion (AIC) and Bayesian information criterion (BIC), which penalize model complexity as measured by the number of free parameters. Here, we revisit these conventional approaches to model selection on a sample case of the prototype and exemplar models of categorization. We highlight the limitations of parameter count-based complexity measures, showing that they may fail to capture a model’s true flexibility. We then introduce a Monte Carlo permutation-testing approach as an alternative that has a rich tradition in many areas but whose use for model selection is still trailing that of AIC/BIC. We demonstrate that permutation testing offers at least three advantages: more robust comparison of models with chance, more robust comparison between models with equal or differing numbers of parameters, and quantification of uncertainty in model selection. After demonstrating how permutation testing offers a more nuanced and principled framework for evaluating cognitive models, we conclude with practical considerations for implementing permutation-based model selection in cognitive-modeling research.

Behavior Research Methods

Penalized eigenvalue block averaging: Extension to nested model comparison and Monte Carlo evaluations
Njål Foldnes, Steffen Grønneberg, Jonas Moss
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Testing goodness-of-fit and multi-group nested models in confirmatory factor analysis under non-normality is foundational in psychometrics and related fields. Recently, a penalized eigenvalue block averaging (pEBA) procedure was proposed for testing goodness-of-fit, showing promise in a restricted type I error control simulation study. In this study, we extend the simulation conditions to higher dimensions for latent and observed vectors and evaluate type I error control and power for many pEBA variants and traditional test statistics. All statistics are evaluated in four versions, by crossing the base statistic (ML or Browne’s RLS), and whether the asymptotic covariance matrix estimator was bias-corrected or not. We develop pEBA methods in the new setting of nested model comparison, accompanied by extensive Monte Carlo evaluation of their performance in weak invariance testing, including type I error control and power. The best-performing procedure for goodness-of-fit testing was pEBA with four blocks, based on the RLS statistic, using the asymptotic covariance matrix estimator without bias correction. For measurement invariance, pEBA with singleton blocks, using the standard ML statistic and the unbiased estimator for the asymptotic covariance matrix, performed best. The pEBA procedures are available in the newly developed R package .
Employing large language models for cognitive heuristic stimulus validation in decision-making experiments
Thom Hawkins, Daniel N. Cassenti, Erin Zaroukian
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Child’s play: A computational method for generating child-specific valence norms
Katharina Gloria Hugentobler, Astrid Haase, Jana LĂĽdtke, Sascha Schroeder
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Research on affective processing depends on the availability of word norms. Norms for adults are widely available and can be computed for whole-language vocabularies by mapping semantic similarities from a semantic vector space to a list of label words. While such methods are abundantly studied for adults, comparable methodologies for children are few and far between. In this article, we explored whether computational methods can be used to estimate word norms for children using valence as an example. We systematically investigated the impact of two main methodological choices relevant for the computation: the source of the semantic space used to measure semantic distance and the selection of the words in the label list. In Study 1, we correlated the computational estimates from all combinations with valence ratings from adults and children. Our results indicate that norms derived from adult vector space models and label lists outperform other combinations. Norms computed based on these parameters correlate with children’s ratings at $$\varvec{r =.71}$$ r = . 71 and with adults’ ratings at $$\varvec{r =.74}$$ r = . 74 . In Study 2, we used estimates and human ratings to predict valence effects in a lexical decision task. Again, we found that norms derived from vector space models and label lists for adults outperformed other combinations and approximated the functional form of children’s and adults’ valence effects best. We discuss the practical implications of these findings. Additionally, a new set of valence ratings from children (mean age = 12.5 years) for 535 German words is made available.
ChildLens: An egocentric video dataset for activity analysis in children
Nele-Pauline Suffo, Pierre-Etienne Martin, Anas Suffo, Daniel Haun, Manuel Bohn
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We present ChildLens, an egocentric video and audio dataset with detailed annotations for activities of naturalistic everyday experiences in children aged 3 to 5 years. A total of 109 h were recorded from 62 children in their home environment using a 140° wide-lens camera equipped with a microphone integrated in a child-friendly vest. Annotations include five location classes and 14 activity classes, covering audio-only, video-only, and multimodal activities. Good benchmark performance of two state-of-the-art models on the dataset—the Boundary-Matching Network for temporal activity localization and the Voice Type Classifier for detecting and classifying speech in audio—speak to the quality of the annotations. The ChildLens dataset will be freely available for research purposes via an institutional repository. It provides rich data to advance computer vision and audio analysis techniques and thereby removes a critical obstacle to studying the everyday context of child development, listed on the ChildLens website: https://www.eva.mpg.de/comparative-cultural-psychology/technical-development/childlens/ .
Obtaining robust practical fit indices with multiply imputed nonnormal data in structural equation modeling
Fan Jia, Terrence D. Jorgensen, Wei Wu
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Delivering tactile stimuli via mobile browsers: A method for remote multisensory research
Rebecca J. Hirst, Kalvin Roberts, Martina Seveso, Alan O’Dowd, Jonathan W. Peirce, Fiona N. Newell
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Online methods are becoming an essential part of the behavioral scientist’s toolkit. While the remote presentation of visual and auditory stimuli has been shown to be reasonably accurate (Bridges et al., 2020), less is known about the feasibility of delivering tactile stimuli via the browser. In this study, we extend remote experimentation to the tactile domain by replicating a well-established multisensory phenomenon – the redundant target effect (RTE) – using Android smartphones. The RTE, wherein response times are faster to multisensory (bimodal or trimodal) than unimodal stimuli, was robustly replicated in an online sample using a browser-based task. In addition to the behavioral replication, we evaluated the timing accuracy and precision of visual, auditory, and tactile (vibration) stimuli presented via mobile browsers. Visual and auditory stimuli exhibited small, consistent lags, while vibration stimuli showed a greater delay. Further analysis indicated that much of this delay was attributable to the gradual ramp-up of smartphone vibration motors, rather than limitations of the browser itself. These results support the feasibility of using consumer mobile devices to study tactile and multisensory processing in uncontrolled environments. The significance of the current manuscript is twofold: first, we demonstrate that scalable, at-home user studies can incorporate haptics without bespoke apps; second, we provide benchmark timing data to inform the feasibility of future research implementing tactile perception measures in remote behavioral research.
Same emotion, different stimuli: A context-sensitive method to evoke nostalgia
Hetvi S. Doshi, Adam K. Anderson, Marlen Z. Gonzalez
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Lived experience and current context are critical antecedents of emotions. However, practical methodologies for incorporating these factors into experimental emotion research remain scarce. We developed and tested an idiographic-nomothetic method to evoke a prototypically situated emotion: nostalgia. We describe the iterative qualitative and quantitative method, which involved (1) choosing cross-cultural target populations to manipulate present versus developmental context, (2) creating a conceptually and visually standardized food image set, (3) testing the nomothetic and idiographic factors in nostalgia, (4) measuring the outcomes’ replicability, and (5) testing the relation of state to global trait nostalgia. The method was examined on US university students who share the same current environment but originate from two distinct developmental contexts (USA vs. India). Across the two cohorts, nostalgic value exhibited an idiographically nomothetic pattern: vast variances between individuals coexisted alongside a cross-cultural pattern of high nostalgia for developmentally consistent foods within a person, which was greater for the culture further displaced from home. Nostalgia for food was consistent across time; high test–retest reliability was on par with food familiarity. Global trait nostalgia contributed to the propensity and intensity of evoked state nostalgia. We discuss this method’s usefulness for bridging phenomenological and positivist accounts of emotions while providing a practical way to systematically probe the impact of lived experience and context on their expression.
Systematic classification differences across eye movement detection algorithms
Jonathan Nir, Leon Y. Deouell
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Eye movement (EM) detection is a critical step in most eye-tracking (ET) research, typically relying on detectors –specialized algorithms designed to segment raw ET data into discrete oculomotor events. However, variability in detection algorithms and the lack of standardized evaluation frameworks hinder transparency and reproducibility across studies. In this work, we introduce pEYES , an open-source toolkit designed to streamline EM detection and enable robust, quantitative comparisons between detectors. The toolkit provides implementations for several widely used threshold-based detectors, along with multiple standardized evaluation procedures for assessing detection performance. Using pEYES , we evaluated seven detection algorithms on two publicly available human-annotated datasets containing recordings of subjects freely viewing color images. Performance was assessed using metrics such as Cohen’s kappa, relative timing offset and deviation, and a sensitivity index ( $$d{\prime}$$ d ′ ) for fixation and saccade onsets and offsets. Engbert’s adaptive velocity-threshold algorithm consistently matched or outperformed the other detectors, occasionally achieving human-level precision. In contrast, several other detectors exhibited substantial variability in performance between datasets. We also found systematic differences in detection scores between fixation and saccade boundaries, with fixation offsets and saccade onsets detected more reliably than their counterparts. These findings highlight the importance of task- and dataset-specific detector selection in EM analysis. The pEYES toolkit is freely available, and its codebase – along with the analyses presented in this report – is accessible at https://github.com/huji-hcnl/pEYES . We invite the research community to use, extend, and contribute to its ongoing development. Through open collaboration, we aim to advance the rigor and reproducibility of EM detection practices.
Congruency and distance effects vary across simultaneous and sequential two-digit integer, fraction, and decimal 2AFC tasks
Isabella Starling-Alves, Eric D. Wilkey
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Two-alternative forced choice (2AFC) comparison tasks are widely used to investigate how humans process complex information. However, it is still not fully understood how the format of these tasks influences cognitive strategies. In this study, we analyzed whether 2AFC tasks with simultaneous stimulus presentation provide the same information on how people process information as 2AFC tasks with sequential stimulus presentation. We investigated this question within the number domain. In particular, we investigated how the distance and congruency effects—which are interpreted as behavioral markers of holistic and fragmented number processing—vary across simultaneous and sequential versions of two-digit integer, fraction, and decimal 2AFC tasks. Undergraduate students ( n = 162) completed both simultaneous and sequential versions of two-digit integer, fraction, and decimal comparison tasks. Comparison pairs varied in numerical distance (near vs. far) and congruency (congruent vs. incongruent). Across all number types, we observed both distance and congruency effects. However, these effects differed by task format. In particular, a linear mixed model revealed that the congruency effect was stronger in simultaneous tasks with near-distance pairs and weaker in sequential tasks with far-distance pairs. The differences in the strength of the distance and congruency effects across simultaneous and sequential 2AFC task formats indicate that they play a critical role in shaping information processing strategies. Thus, our findings suggest that simultaneous and sequential 2AFC tasks engage distinct cognitive processes and should not be used interchangeably in cognitive research.
Moderation with a latent class variable: A tutorial and example
Dina Ali Naji Arch, Karen Nylund-Gibson, Marsha Ing
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Moderation analyses allow a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between a predictor and an outcome. A limitation of traditional moderation analysis arises when addressing the hypothesis when using a moderator that does not account for unobserved heterogeneity in the population. This limitation can be addressed by extending moderation analyses to include a latent class analysis with auxiliary variables (as predictors and/or outcomes) where the moderator is the latent class variable. This tutorial specifies this extended moderation model with a latent class variable using the three-step manual approach (Asparouhov & Muthén, Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal , 21 , 329-341, 2014). Data from the Longitudinal Survey of American Life illustrates this approach within the context of science attitudes. Specifically, a latent class variable (science attitudes) is hypothesized to moderate the relationship between a predictor (science achievement) and an outcome (interest in science issues), while controlling for demographic variables.
Munich Sentence (MuSe) Database: Completion norms and audio recordings for 619 German sentences
Elisabeth F. Sterner, Maximilian Stadler, Franziska Knolle
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Prediction is a core feature of language, which is widely studied across research domains. The Munich Sentence (MuSe) database enhances reproducibility by providing sentence completion norms for 619 German sentences, including cloze probabilities and entropy estimates from up to 232 participants. Sentence completions were collected in two online studies in which participants completed sentence beginnings with a single-word response after either hearing (auditory sample, N = 133) or reading (visual sample, N = 98) the sentence beginning. All responses were manually preprocessed to correct typos and spelling mistakes and to label grammatical errors, proper nouns, and singular and plural variants of the same response. In addition to the sentence norms, we provide trial-level data with participant-level demographic information and subclinical autistic and schizotypal trait measures. Together with open-access R scripts or our web tool, this allows tailoring the cleaning and norming steps to integrate individual-difference measures. For a subset of 479 sentence beginnings, the database also includes professional audio recordings of sentence beginnings, which can be flexibly combined with 531 recordings of unique sentence-final words and implemented in auditory language paradigms. All material is freely accessible via the Open Science Framework ( https://osf.io/ktnze/overview ) and the MuSe webtool ( https://munichsentencedatabase.franziskaknolle.com/ ).
Introducing the Naturalistic Expression Labeling Task (NELT): Associations with posed expression labeling, empathy, and general cognitive ability
Louisa A. Talipski, Romina Palermo, Clare A. M. Sutherland, Gilles E. Gignac, Linda Jeffery, Kate Crookes, Jeremy B. Wilmer, Eva G. Krumhuber, Jason Bell, Amy Dawel
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As decoding emotional expressions is essential to navigating the social world, it is imperative that measures of facial expression labeling ability are psychometrically rigorous and easy to administer. Unfortunately, most studies have used images of prototypically posed expressions, which lack the nuance and variation of real-life expressions and are often perceived as fake. To address the need for a more ecologically valid measure of expression labeling, we introduce the Naturalistic Expression Labeling Task (NELT), modeled after an established posed expression labeling task. We investigated whether the NELT shows expected associations with empathy and general cognitive ability, and the extent to which these associations align with those found for the corresponding posed expression task, despite differences in the realism and perceived genuineness of the expressions. Across three studies, we found that the NELT had strong psychometric properties—including high reliability—that make it well suited to examining individual differences in expression labeling ability. While both the NELT and the posed expression task showed similarly sized positive associations with measures of cognitive and affective empathy, the NELT exhibited a stronger positive association with cognitive ability than did the posed expression task. Our findings suggest that naturalistic expressions can provide insights into expression labeling ability that are at least as robust as those derived from posed expressions. The NELT can serve as a valuable tool for researchers seeking to enhance the ecological validity of their studies by incorporating naturalistic stimuli.
Extrapolated Persian Lexical Affect Norms (E-PLAN) from best–worst judgments of valence, arousal, dominance, and concreteness
Fatemeh Nemati, Chris Westbury, Habib Rostami, Fatemeh Alavi
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Validating dynamic time warping as a measure of gesture form similarity
Sho Akamine, Mark Dingemanse, Aslı Özyürek
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Dynamic time warping (DTW) is a well-known algorithm used to assess the similarity between signals of varying lengths. Initially developed for automatic speech recognition, DTW has found applications in psycholinguistics, particularly in analyzing gesture form similarity. An open question in this domain is how effectively DTW captures gesture form similarity. Here, we validate DTW against human annotations of gesture form similarity across two multimodal interaction corpora and explore its utility as an automatic, continuous measure of gesture form similarity. Our findings reveal weak to moderate correlations between DTW distance and the number of similar gesture features – such as handshape, movement, orientation, and position – suggesting that DTW serves as a useful proxy for gesture form similarity. Additionally, we highlight the importance of qualitative analysis of raw data and DTW predictions in enhancing DTW’s predictive accuracy. Our study offers a rigorous validation of DTW as a measure of gesture form similarity and presents a detailed framework for preprocessing motion tracking data and calculating DTW distance. While none of the methods is perfect, the combination of automatic and manual measures provides a comprehensive approach to understanding and measuring gesture form similarity.
Computational modeling uncovers a dynamic interaction between feature uncertainty and perception–action mapping scaling in visual perception
Qian Sun, Qi Sun
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Computers in Human Behavior

Prescribing a “Dose of Reality”: Exploring How Realistic Portrayals of Motherhood Can Mitigate the Harms of Social Media Comparison
Ciera E. Kirkpatrick
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Beyond composer labels: Aesthetic awe in music composed by humans and AI
Ke Xu, Bihai Xu, Zhongju Xie
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Humans incorrectly reject confident accusatory AI judgments
Riccardo Loconte, Merylin Monaro, Pietro Pietrini, Bruno Verschuere, Bennett Kleinberg
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The hidden cost of digital aggression: How engaging in cyberbullying facilitates moral disengagement among children through changes in normative beliefs about aggression
Xintong Zhang, Xiang Li
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Tracing Need for Cognition in Digital Learning
Aki Schumacher, Luise von Keyserlingk, Hannah Deininger, Renzhe Yu, Nia Nixon, Lisa Bardach
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The tug-of-war between engagement and dysregulation: A comprehensive analysis of cognition and internet gaming disorder in adolescents
David Willinger, Sabine Wunderl, Stefan Stieger
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Paradoxical positivity and community engagement in online suicide discourse
Flynn Kelly-Brunyak, L. Christian Elledge
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Group Processes & Intergroup Relations

The tragedies that bind us: Shared memories, identity fusion, and moral concern among Balinese Hindus following the 2002 Bali bombings
Daniel Revach, Christopher Kavanagh, Barbara Muzzulini, Idhamsyah Eka Putra, Fajar Erikha, Ni Luh Indah Desira Swandi, Rohan Kapitany, Harvey Whitehouse
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Identity fusion is a powerful form of social cohesion capable of motivating extreme pro-group action that can result from the sharing of personally transformative memories of a dysphoric event with other group members. However, it is not known whether such experiences need to be shared directly or if indirect sharing via eye-witness accounts would be equally effective. In this study, we examine the impact of the 2002 Bali bombings, a powerful dysphoric event, on group cohesion and morality among Balinese Hindus. We hypothesized that being copresent would predict stronger fusion with ingroup members compared with vicariously shared experiences, and that fusion scores would be more strongly associated with select moral domains compared with social identification. Using a questionnaire, data were collected in person from 340 Hindus in Bali. Our findings confirmed that directly experiencing this dysphoric event was associated with higher levels of fusion—especially with others who were copresent—which were mediated by the experience’s transformative impact and its recall for those present. Nevertheless, indirect experiences also proved to be powerful drivers of group bonding through similar processes. The study provides new insight into the long-term psychological impacts of terrorist atrocities and their wider consequences for societal cohesion.
Social dominance orientation and perceptions of gender discrimination: A discrepancy account of fairness judgments
Sarah Buhl, Paul-Michael Heineck, Frank Asbrock
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Across four studies ( N = 1,300), we examined how social dominance orientation (SDO) relates to perceptions of gender discrimination in organizations. We propose a discrepancy account: discrimination judgments reflect perceived gaps between prescriptive and descriptive fairness norms, and higher SDO is associated with perceiving smaller gaps and thus lower discrimination perceptions. In Studies 1a and 1b, higher SDO was linked to lower perceived discrimination. Study 2 replicated this pattern and showed that, in hierarchical organizations, higher SDO corresponded to higher perceived descriptive fairness, which in turn related to lower discrimination perceptions. In Study 3, discrepancies across procedural and distributive norms fully mediated the SDO–discrimination association, with effects driven mainly by distributive norm discrepancies. The total indirect effect was larger in hierarchical than egalitarian contexts and remained when controlling for status-legitimizing beliefs. Together, these studies offer evidence for a novel mechanism underlying discrimination perceptions and implications for diversity initiatives.

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

Playing it safe: Negotiators avoid uncertainty and reach safer, but less integrative agreements
Marco Schauer, Johann M. Majer, Caroline Heydenbluth, Roman Trötschel
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Tracking connections, not content: How working memory shapes content and social learning in online networks
Esther Kang, Arun Lakshmanan
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Minority report: How minorities' awareness of power asymmetry drives strategic preparation in opinion debates
Alain Quiamzade, Fanny Lalot, Dominic Abrams
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Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

The environment impressions model.
Travis Lim, Eric Hehman
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Conversations about boring topics are more interesting than we think.
Elizabeth N. Trinh, Nicole Thio, Nadav Klein
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Patterns and sources of life satisfaction stability and change at different developmental stages.
Marco Deppe, Charlotte K. L. DiĂźelkamp, Andreas J. Forstner, Christian Kandler
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Exploring the socioeconomic pattern of humans’ future orientation: A multimethod multistudy approach.
Alejandro Díaz-Guerra, Mirko Antino, Rafael Caballero, Alfredo Rodríguez-Muñoz, Alejandro Vásquez-Echeverría
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Multivariate Behavioral Research

A Comparison of Regularization, Alignment, and a Traditional Method for Estimating Structural Relationships Across Two Groups
Emma Somer, Carl F. Falk, Milica Miočević
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Organizational Research Methods

Modeling Unfolding Response Data Within the Structural Equation Modeling Framework
Ringo Moon-ho Ho, Jie Xin Lim, Olexander Chernyshenko
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Dominance and unfolding response processes describe two ways in which individuals may respond to rating scale items. The dominance process assumes a monotonic relationship between a latent trait and the probability of endorsement and is typically modeled using a linear factor model within structural equation modeling (SEM). In contrast, the unfolding process assumes single-peaked response functions, with endorsement most likely when item and person locations are close on the latent continuum. Fitting unfolding models usually requires specialized software, which limits their integration with SEM. In this article, we proposed the ordered categorical response unfolding model (OCRUM), which can be estimated in Mplus. We illustrated its use with two empirical datasets and found that item and person locations were comparable to those obtained from the generalized graded unfolding model (GGUM). We also conducted Monte Carlo simulations to examine parameter recovery under varying sample sizes, test lengths, and response formats. Finally, we demonstrated that OCRUM can serve as the measurement component of a general structural equation model, enabling dominance and unfolding response processes to be represented within a single SEM framework.
“How Many Interviews Do I Need?” An Examination of Interview Numbers and Sampling Moves in Qualitative Research
Kasper Trolle Elmholdt, Michael Gill, Jeppe Agger Nielsen
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Qualitative researchers face an enduring question: How many interviews do I need? While a variety of guidelines exist, there is limited consensus over which specific factors should determine the number of interviews required. We examined the determination of interview sample sizes in 562 qualitative studies across six high-impact management and organizational journals over a decade. Our findings reveal considerable variance in interview numbers, yet limited information is often provided on the criteria used to determine them. To promote clearer alignment between sample sizes and methodology, we examined studies with detailed descriptions of their interview sampling. We identified specific “sampling moves” used to determine the number of interviews, categorized into three types—opening, focusing, and closing sampling moves—that researchers use to establish confidence in the sample and support theoretical insights. By implication, our study refutes the notion of a “magic” interview number. Instead, sampling moves are heuristic tools that qualitative researchers can thoughtfully adapt to their analytical aims when determining appropriate sample sizes.

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

Beliefs About Using Construal Level to Modulate Regulatory Scope
Phuong Q. Le, Tina Nguyen, Abigail A. Scholer, Kentaro Fujita
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Goals require considering the immediate present as well as distant times, places, people, and possibilities. Although proximal goals require sensitivity to local opportunities, distal goals require action plans robust to variability. Construal level theory proposes that people contract versus expand regulatory scope (i.e., the range of possibilities one accounts for) to address these challenges. A primary tool they use to do so is construal level: low-level construal (representation that highlights unique, idiosyncratic features of events) contracts scope; high-level construal (representation that captures essential, core features) expands scope. Fourteen experiments (4 in the main text, 10 in the Online Supplement) support these assertions by documenting meta-motivational beliefs. Lay people recognize the benefits of construal level for modulating scope across a gradient of temporal distance, and across multiple distance dimensions. They also appreciate diverse methods with which to induce differences in construal level, including social preferences. We discuss theoretical and methodological implications.
Values and the Dark Side: Meta-Analysis of Links Between Dark Triad Traits and Personal Values
Nikolay B. Petrov, Velvetina Lim, Adrien Fillon, Gilad Feldman
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In the past two decades, research on the motivational underpinnings of the Dark Triad has burgeoned. However, it is unclear how each Dark Triad trait may map onto the values circumplex, and whether the research conducted thus far indicates consistent effects. In this multi-level meta-analysis, we examined the relationship between Dark Triad personality traits and personal values. Across 34 studies conducted between 2000 and 2020, Dark Triad traits were positively associated with self-enhancement and openness-to-change value dimensions, and negatively associated with self-transcendence and conservation value dimensions. Shape consistency for the Dark Triad associations was stronger for the self-enhancement versus self-transcendence values tension than for the openness-to-change versus conservation values tension. We concluded that Dark Triad traits showed meaningful patterns of associations with personal values with some differences between the traits. Materials, data, and code are available on: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/4Z27F
One Size Might Not Fit All: A Tailored Approach to Psychological Intergroup Interventions
Shira Hebel-Sela, Nimrod Nir, Adva Gruenwald, Boaz Hameiri, Eran Halperin
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Despite growing efforts to improve intergroup relations, the effectiveness of psychological intergroup interventions is often limited. We argue this modest impact stems from a one-size-fits-all approach that overlooks targeted outcomes and individual psychological profiles. Through a large-scale intervention tournament ( N = 3,685) examining Jewish-Israeli attitudes toward Palestinian citizens of Israel, we discovered that interventions show distinct strengths depending on targeted outcomes: social norms interventions excel at fostering support for social change, while meta-perceptions correction interventions effectively reduce prejudice. Using machine learning, we identified systematic variations in intervention effectiveness based on individual differences, with some interventions showing potential backfire effects among specific subgroups while delivering substantial benefits for others. These results underscore the potential of tailoring interventions to align with both the desired outcomes and the unique characteristics of target populations, paving the way for a new era of precision in intergroup interventions.
Is Mobility Linked to Higher or Lower Loneliness? The Importance of Freedom and Instability
Yuri Miyamoto, Tomotaka Okuyama, Atsuki Ito, Brian A. O’Shea, Michiko Ueda
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How is interpersonal and intergroup mobility related to loneliness? Disentangling different facets of mobility may be crucial to understanding the link. We propose that the disruption of life and long-term relationships inherent in a mobile society (i.e., instability facet) is linked to higher loneliness, whereas the opportunities and freedom existing in a mobile society (i.e., freedom facet) are associated with lower loneliness. We developed a community stability scale to capture the former and examined the associations between different measures of mobility and loneliness. Across two studies, one in Japan ( n = 881) and the other in two cultures (Japan and United States; n = 4,163) that vary in levels of mobility, both community stability (high stability) and relational mobility (high freedom) were associated with lower loneliness, which was partially mediated by social isolation. These findings suggest that whether mobility is linked to higher or lower loneliness depends on its specific facets.

Psychological Bulletin

On the mechanisms of intervention effect fade-out: A meta-analytic review of interventions targeting at-risk students’ achievement.
Jens Dietrichson, Roopali Bhatnagar, Trine Filges, Mikkel Helding Vembye
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Interstimulus interval effects on habituation: A systematic review with theoretical implications.
Sebastián A. Becerra, Jorge A. Pinto, Orlando E. Jorquera, Pablo D. Matamala, Claudio C. Ramírez, Edgar H. Vogel
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Psychological Methods

Modeling cyclic patterns using a two-stage hybrid Bayesian approach.
Han Du, Brian Keller, Lijuan Wang, Robert E. Weiss, Lauren Lesko, Martie Haselton
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Causal mediation analysis with one or multiple mediators: A comparative study.
Judith Abécassis, Houssam Zenati, Sami Boumaïza, Julie Josse, Bertrand Thirion
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Psychology of Music

Music listening according to the iso principle in patients with mood disorders
Katrin Starcke, Stefan Gebhardt, Richard von Georgi
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It has been proposed that patients who suffer from mood disorders benefit from music listening according to the iso principle. The iso principle in a therapeutic context means that patients initially listen to music which matches their current state, and afterward listen to music which expresses a desired state. However, experimental evidence in this patient group is lacking. Thirty-eight patients with mood disorders were included. They were randomly assigned to one of two experimental groups: the iso-group listened to music according to the iso principle with a sad song first and a happy song afterward; the compensatory-group listened to music according to the compensatory principle with two happy songs in sequence. In the iso-group, positive affect decreased after the sad song, and increased after the happy song. In the compensatory-group, positive affect immediately increased after the first happy song, and did not further increase after the second happy song. Negative affect decreased in both groups. We conclude that music listening to the iso principle as well as the compensatory principle are suited for affect regulation in patients with mood disorders. For therapeutic purposes, the iso principle may be used to work with the affect-enhancing effect after low positive affect.