Liking Predicts Judgments of Authenticity in Real-Time Interactions More Robustly Than Personality States or Affect.

We conducted three studies involving small group interactions ( = 622) that examined whether Big Five personality states, affect, and/or liking predict judgments of others' authenticity. Study 1 ( = 119) revealed that neither -rated personality states nor affect predicted other-rated authenticity. Instead, other-rated liking was the only predictor of other-rated authenticity.

Experiencing Pain Invalidation is Associated with Under-Reporting of Pain: A Social Psychological Perspective on Acute Pain Communication.

Pain invalidation involves the dismissal or lack of understanding of another's pain, undermining their subjective experience. Frequent exposure to invalidation negatively impacts mental and physical health as well as pain-related behaviors, potentially leading people to conceal their pain from others in the future and/or withdraw from potential sources of support. It is therefore possible that experiencing pain invalidation may also impact pain-reporting behavior in clinical settings.

Resilience and well-being among persons with spinal cord injury/disorders.

Purpose: We examined positive behavioral resources and characteristics that might distinguish resilient personality prototypes among persons with chronic spinal cord injury/disorder (SCID). Positive psychology variables with clear linkages to existing psychological interventions were examined as potential mediators of the resilience-well-being relationship. Research Method and Design: A cross-sectional, self-report study was conducted.

Authentic for Thee But Not for Me: Perceived Authenticity in Self-Control Conflicts.

Is self-control authentic? Across several hypothetical scenarios, participants perceived impulsive actions as more authentic for others (Study 1a) but self-control as more authentic for themselves (Study 1b). Study 2 partially replicated this asymmetry. Study 3 accounted for behavior positivity because self-control was typically the more positive action in the previous studies.

Authenticity, meaning in life, and life satisfaction: A multicomponent investigation of relationships at the trait and state levels.

Objective: The present study sought to examine: (1) how the components of authenticity (i.e., authentic living, self-alienation, accepting external influence) relate to one another at between- and within-person levels of analysis; (2) how the authenticity facets relate to meaning in life (i.

True self-attributions shape judgments of blame in the context of addiction-relevant crime.

In three studies, we examined how attributing the criminal actions of a drug-addicted offender to their "true self" influences perceptions of their blameworthiness. Study 1 revealed that attributing a drug-addicted offender's crime (theft) to his true self positively predicted judgments of the offender's blameworthiness for the crime. Study 2 employed an experimental design and revealed that information connecting a crime (vs.

Experiential appreciation as a pathway to meaning in life.

A key research program within the meaning in life (MIL) literature aims to identify the key contributors to MIL. The experience of existential mattering, purpose in life and a sense of coherence are currently posited as three primary contributors to MIL. However, it is unclear whether they encompass all information people consider when judging MIL.

Common and disorder-specific upregulation of the inflammatory markers TRAIL and CCL20 in depression and schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia (SZ) and major depressive disorder (MDD) are severe mental disorders, which have been associated with alterations of the peripheral inflammatory network. However, studies for both disorders have not been fully consistent and have focused on few canonical markers with high relevance to the innate immune system, while the role of the adaptive immune system is studied less. Furthermore, it is unclear to what extent inflammatory abnormalities are diagnosis-specific or transdiagnostic.

Feelings of Parental Authenticity Moderate Concurrent Links Between Breastfeeding Experience and Symptoms of Postpartum Depression.

A negative breastfeeding experience is a contextual risk factor for the development of postpartum depressive symptoms among mothers. Many current interventions targeted at disrupting this association rely on the ability to make breastfeeding experiences positive. As a beginning step toward identifying alternative approaches, we investigated a potential psychological buffer of the negative relation between breastfeeding experience and symptoms of postpartum depression: feeling authentic in one's role as a parent.

The Effect of True Self-Attributions on the Endorsement of Retributive and Restorative Justice.

We examined how the attribution of criminal behavior to an individual's "true" self influences justice preferences. In Study 1 ( = 521), the extent to which undergraduates attributed a crime to a target's true self positively predicted their endorsement of a retributive form of punishment and negatively predicted their endorsement of a restorative form of punishment. Study 2 ( = 404) was preregistered and replicated these associations, even when controlling for other perceived causes (e.

When race trumps political ideology: Black teachers who advocate for social responsibility are penalized by both liberals and conservatives.

Meritocracy is a prominent narrative embedded in America's educational system: work hard and anyone can achieve success. Yet, racial disparities in education suggest this narrative does not tell the full story. Four studies ( = 1,439) examined how applicants for a teaching position are evaluated when they invoke different narratives regarding who or what is to blame for racial disparities (i.

Increased random exploration in schizophrenia is associated with inflammation.

One aspect of goal-directed behavior, which is known to be impaired in patients with schizophrenia (SZ), is balancing between exploiting a familiar choice with known reward value and exploring a lesser known, but potentially more rewarding option. Despite its relevance to several symptom domains of SZ, this has received little attention in SZ research. In addition, while there is increasing evidence that SZ is associated with chronic low-grade inflammation, few studies have investigated how this relates to specific behaviors, such as balancing exploration and exploitation.

Peripheral biopterin and neopterin in schizophrenia and depression.

Increasing evidence points to a causal involvement of inflammation in the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric disorders, including major depressive disorder (MDD) and schizophrenia (SZ). Neopterin and biopterin may link peripheral immune system activation and central neurotransmitter alterations. However, it is not fully established whether these alterations are transdiagnostic or disorder-specific and whether they are associated with reward-related psychopathologies.

Why do people believe in a "true self"? The role of essentialist reasoning about personal identity and the self.

Why do many people come to believe that they and others have a true self? We hypothesized that this belief emerges because people routinely rely on essentialist reasoning to understand personal identity and the self. Across eight studies, we found that (a) the features that participants attributed to the true self resembled the features typically attributed to essences (e.g.

Thinking about a new decade in life increases personal self-reflection: A replication and reinterpretation of Alter and Hershfield's (2014) findings.

Alter and Hershfield (2014) recently published a set of studies suggesting that people often search for existential meaning as they approach a new decade in chronological age. The purpose of the current research was to replicate their experimental study (Study 2 in their article) and extend their findings using additional operational measures of search for meaning. Study 1 was a replication comparing the two conditions used in the original study (i.

How Do People Judge Meaning in Goal-Directed Behaviors: The Interplay Between Self-Concordance and Performance.

Perceived performance and self-concordance are two sources of information people may utilize to judge meaning in goal-directed behaviors. We contend that either variable can adequately support the presence of meaning, even in the absence of the other. This perspective suggests that non-self-concordant goal pursuits can feel meaningful as long as one feels successful at the goals, and that failed goal pursuits can feel meaningful as long as they are self-concordant.

Origins of the Belief in Good True Selves.

Despite differences in beliefs about the self across cultures and relevant individual differences, recent evidence suggests that people universally believe in a 'true self' that is morally good. We propose that this belief arises from a general tendency: psychological essentialism (PE).

Straying From the Righteous Path and From Ourselves: The Interplay Between Perceptions of Morality and Self-Knowledge.

The present research addresses the relationship between morally valenced behavior and perceptions of self-knowledge, an outcome that has received little attention in moral psychology. We propose that morally valenced behavior is related to subjective perceptions of self-knowledge, such that people experience lower levels of self-knowledge when they are reminded of their immoral behaviors. We tested this proposition in four studies ( N = 1,177).

True self-alienation positively predicts reports of mindwandering.

Two studies assessed the relationship between feelings of uncertainty about who one truly is (i.e., true self-alienation) and self-reported task-unrelated thoughts (i.

Animal Magnetism: Metaphoric Cues Alter Perceptions of Romantic Partners and Relationships.

The psychological state of love is difficult to define, and we often rely on metaphors to communicate about this state and its constituent experiences. Commonly, these metaphors liken love to a physical force-it sweeps us off our feet, causes sparks to fly, and ignites flames of passion. Even the use of "attraction" to refer to romantic interest, commonplace in both popular and scholarly discourse, implies a force propelling two objects together.

Explaining Extremity in Evaluation of Group Members: Meta-Analytic Tests of Three Theories.

A meta-analysis that included more than 1,100 effect sizes tested the predictions of three theoretical perspectives that explain evaluative extremity in social judgment: complexity-extremity theory, subjective group dynamics model, and expectancy-violation theory. The work seeks to understand the ways in which group-based information interacts with person-based information to influence extremity in evaluations. Together, these three theories point to the valence of person-based information, group membership of the evaluated targets relative to the evaluator, status of the evaluators' ingroup, norm consistency of the person-based information, and incongruency of person-based information with stereotype-based expectations as moderators.

Expectancy violations and the search for meaning among breast cancer survivors.

A number of theoretical perspectives suggest that expectancy violations (EVs) threaten a person's sense of meaning and prompt efforts to reinstate meaning. Yet, little to no research has explicitly examined whether EVs predict actual efforts to search for meaning. The current research redresses this gap in the literature among a sample of breast cancer survivors.

Guilty, but not ashamed: "true" self-conceptions influence affective responses to personal shortcomings.

The current research examined how true self-conceptions (who a person believes he or she truly is) influence negative self-relevant emotions in response to shortcomings. In Study 1 (N = 83), an Internet sample of adults completed a measure of authenticity, reflected on a shortcoming or positive life event, and completed state shame and guilt measures. In Study 2 (N = 49), undergraduates focused on true versus other determined self-attributes, received negative performance feedback, and completed state shame and guilt measures.

The dynamic interplay between perceived true self-knowledge and decision satisfaction.

The present research used multiple methods to examine the hypothesis that perceived true self-knowledge and decision satisfaction are inextricably linked together by a widely held "true-self-as-guide" lay theory of decision making. Consistent with this proposition, Study 1 found that participants rated using the true self as a guide as more important for achieving personal satisfaction than a variety of other potential decision-making strategies. After establishing the prevalence of this lay theory, the remaining studies then focused on examining the proposed consequent relationship between perceived true self-knowledge and decision satisfaction.