Search

Low socioeconomic status has various adverse effects on health, which can be mitigated through the shift‐and‐persist (S‐P) strategy. Studies have focused on how this strategy can affect health in the face of adversity. However, that children learn this strategy from positive role models, such as parents, is an unexamined precondition of the theory. This study presents one bit of supporting evidence for this precondition by examining the similarity in S‐P among parent–child dyads using the actor‐partner interdependence model. We also examine parent and child strategies related to depressive tendencies based on mixed results in relevant research. The results from 309 parent–child pairs indicate that shifting and persisting tendencies and depressive tendencies were similar among the parent–child pairs. Furthermore, regardless of their socioeconomic status, the parents' and children's persisting scores predicted lower levels of depressive tendencies as actor effects. Although this study does not fully support S‐P theory, it provides important insights regarding similar patterns of strategic tendencies between parents and children and highlights the importance of positive role models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low socioeconomic status has various adverse effects on health, which can be mitigated through the shift‐and‐persist (S‐P) strategy. Studies have focused on how this strategy can affect health in the face of adversity. However, that children learn this strategy from positive role models, such as parents, is an unexamined precondition of the theory. This study presents one bit of supporting evidence for this precondition by examining the similarity in S‐P among parent–child dyads using the actor‐partner interdependence model. We also examine parent and child strategies related to depressive tendencies based on mixed results in relevant research. The results from 309 parent–child pairs indicate that shifting and persisting tendencies and depressive tendencies were similar among the parent–child pairs. Furthermore, regardless of their socioeconomic status, the parents' and children's persisting scores predicted lower levels of depressive tendencies as actor effects. Although this study does not fully support S‐P theory, it provides important insights regarding similar patterns of strategic tendencies between parents and children and highlights the importance of positive role models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When someone's self‐esteem is raised, how does their presence affect the people surrounding them? The purpose of the present study was to provide initial evidence for this question from the viewpoint of social comparison. We therefore conducted a questionnaire experiment among junior high school students (N = 225) using a scene‐assumption method, investigating the effect of a change in the self‐esteem of a specific individual on the self‐esteem of others in that individual's proximity. Results showed that, for students who had low self‐esteem and saw self‐esteem as important, their self‐esteem decreased when the self‐esteem of a friend increased; conversely, self‐esteem increased for individuals who did not view this trait as important. This finding suggests that, depending on both the degree of the participants' original level of self‐esteem and the degree to which self‐esteem is considered important, activities to improve self‐esteem may have an unintentional adverse effect that undermines their original purpose. Based on this suggestion, the necessity of considering the effects on others in efforts to improve an individual's self‐esteem is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of four individual factors (shyness, self‐esteem, social skills, and defensive pessimism) on the formation of friendships among undergraduate students. Freshmen (N = 93) completed a questionnaire assessing their shyness, self‐esteem, social skills, and level of defensive pessimism. Then, they answered questions about interpersonal indices (number of friends, satisfaction with friendships, their willingness to continue relationships, and their feelings of interpersonal friction). After 3 months, they completed a questionnaire about their anxiety state and behavior when talking with the people they had met since university admission. Moreover, they discussed the interpersonal indices they used in a pre‐questionnaire. Path analysis indicated that shyness directly leads to having fewer friends, whereas social skills lead to having more friends through extroversive behavior. Moreover, self‐esteem was positively related to an increase in the willingness to continue relationships, and reflection and pessimistic thinking (which is one component of defensive pessimism) led to a feeling of being fatigued from the effort of considering and respecting the reactions of others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]