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PurposeThis paper examines in detail how the use of storytelling with parallax technology can influence the user experience (UX) in online shops as well as brand- and behavior-relevant variables. Furthermore, this study analyzes the causal relationships between UX, brand attitudes and brand-related behavioral intentions in terms of purchase intention and price premiums. Explicit and implicit paths of human information processing are considered.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 266 respondents completed a web-based experiment under two conditions (text-based vs parallax storytelling online shop). An existing and operational online shop was used. The causal relationships were assessed by using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). To measure implicit information processing, a single category implicit association test was applied.FindingsBy applying the storytelling technique with parallax scrolling, the online shop increased visitors' UX on explicit and implicit information processing levels and increased the online shop's overall perceived attractiveness. Storytelling with parallax motion enables an efficient transmission of brand-related associations to consumers' minds, enhances their explicit and implicit brand attitudes and increases their willingness to pay a higher price. Moreover, this study provides empirical evidence on the effects of UX on brand-related measures by applying PLS-SEM and thus reveals a causal chain of effects from UX on online shop attractiveness, brand attitude and behavioral intentions. Again, explicit and implicit perceptions were considered.Originality/valueScience and practice are increasingly emphasizing that storytelling emotionalizes content, which facilitates effective communication and builds strong relationships with customers. Little evidence exists about its efficient implementation in an online shopping context and in fulfilling hedonic and pragmatic needs throughout the online journey. This study provides novel insights into managing online shoppers' UX, brand-related perceptions and behavioral intentions with the optimal use of techniques to implement storytelling. Furthermore, this is one of the first studies to holistically consider the human perception of online shops by drawing on theories and methods of psychology, marketing, consumer behavior, brand research and consumer neuroscience and considering explicit and implicit information processing in terms of hedonic and pragmatic UX and brand-related measures.

A body of empirical research shows that pursuing goals via means that do not fit (vs. do fit) one's regulatory mode creates resistance that disrupts motivation. However, other empirical research shows that resistance sometimes motivates people to work harder toward their goals, suggesting that regulatory nonfit (vs. fit) might be more motivating at times. The current research tests this possibility while also demonstrating how an integral dimension of a goal-a person's preexisting commitment to it-determines when regulatory nonfit (vs. fit) is more motivating. Three initial studies provide evidence that, among people low in preexisting commitment, regulatory nonfit (vs. fit) demotivates people: goal value and intentions to pursue the goal become lower with nonfit (vs. fit). However, among people high in preexisting commitment, regulatory nonfit (vs. fit) motivates people: goal value and intentions to pursue the goal become higher with nonfit (vs. fit). Three additional studies document an experimental causal chain providing evidence for underlying mechanisms: regulatory nonfit (vs. fit) creates an experience of resistance that people need to interpret, and preexisting commitment shifts whether people interpret resistance as a negative or positive motivational signal. Finally, two studies demonstrate how naturally occurring variance in preexisting goal commitment moderates the effect of experiencing regulatory nonfit (vs. fit) on people's subsequent goal-directed behavior. By identifying an integral dimension of goals that can reverse the motivational effects of regulatory nonfit, the present research connects with other work documenting the importance of mindsets about resistance, and suggests novel implications for motivating desired behaviors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

The profound changes in personality, mood, and other features of the self that neural interventions can induce can be disconcerting to patients, their families, and caregivers. In the neuroethical debate, these concerns are often addressed in the context of possible threats to the narrative self. In this paper, I argue that it is necessary to consider a dimension of impacts on the narrative self which has so far been neglected: neural interventions can lead to a loss of meaning of actions, feelings, beliefs, and other intentional elements of our self-narratives. To uphold the coherence of the self-narrative, the changes induced by neural interventions need to be accounted for through explanations in intentional or biochemical terms. However, only an explanation including intentional states delivers the content to directly ascribe personal meaning, i.e., subjective value to events. Neural interventions can deprive events of meaning because they may favor a predominantly biochemical account. A loss of meaning is not inherently negative but it can be problematic, particularly if events are affected one was not prepared or willing to have stripped of meaning. The paper further examines what it is about neural interventions that impacts meaning by analyzing different methods. To which degree the pull towards a biochemical view occurs depends on the characteristics of the neural intervention. By comparing Deep Brain Stimulation, Prozac, Ritalin, psychedelics, and psychotherapy, the paper identifies some main factors: the rate of change, the transparency of the causal chain, the involvement of the patient, and the presence of an acute phenomenological experience.

Attitudes toward outgroups are an important determinant of peaceful coexistence in diverse societies, but it is difficult to improve them. The current research studies the impact of messages with negations on outgroup attitudes, more specifically on outgroup trust. All studies were preregistered. Using different target groups, Studies 1 and 2 provide evidence for the prediction that communicating negations (e.g., "they are not deceptive") enhances outgroup trust (more so than affirmations, such as "they are reliable," and no messages) among people who are initially low in outgroup trust. Three additional studies (Studies 3a, 3b, and 4), using both a causal chain approach and (moderated) mediation analysis, demonstrate that negations promote cognitive flexibility which in turn enhances outgroup trust among those initially low in outgroup trust. One final study suggests that these findings generalize to outgroup attitude change per se by showing that communicating negations also results in more moderate attitudes when the dominant initial attitude is positive (Study 5: high warmth) rather than negative (Studies 1-4: low trustworthiness). As such, communication that negates people's initial outgroup attitudes could be an effective (previously discounted) intervention to reduce prejudice in intergroup settings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Delay discounting refers to the decline in the value of a payoff as the objective delay to its fulfillment increases. Recent research on delay discounting has examined its relationship with time and risk perceptions through correlational studies. Manipulated experiments were conducted in the current research to further investigate the causal links among the relevant variables. Experiment 1 revealed causal influences of objective delay on both risk perception and delay discounting as well as a positive correlation between risk perception and delay discounting. By manipulating risk perception, Experiment 2 demonstrated further a causal impact of risk perception on delay discounting. Experiment 3 manipulated time perception and provided further evidence for causal pathways from time perception to risk perception and delay discounting. Overall, the results verified a causal chain from objective delay to delay discounting through time and risk perceptions in support of the implicit-risk hypothesis regarding delay discounting.

While there is ample evidence documenting associations between fixed intelligence mindset and students’ mental health much less is known about the mediating mechanisms through which fixed intelligence mindset exerts its influence. The present study (N = 310) aimed to investigate exam-related irrational beliefs from cognitive-behavioral theories as potential mediators between fixed intelligence mindset and students’ mental health-related outcomes during the exam period. Structural equation modeling revealed that self-downing—as evaluating one’s worth globally and negatively due to failure on exams— and depressive symptoms mediated the effect of fixed intelligence mindset on emotions in a causal chain. Other types of irrational beliefs such as low frustration tolerance of poor exam performance, demandingness and catastrophizing about exam failure did not serve as mediators. These findings suggest that students with fixed intelligence mindset interpret exam performance from the perspective of its repercussions on their self and its worth, which, in turn, predisposes them to poorer mental health during the exam period.

PurposeThis paper aims to draw upon motivated information processing theory to examine the sequential mediating roles of perspective taking and boundary spanning between transformational leadership and the creative performance of knowledge workers.Design/methodology/approachThe study was carried out on a sample, including a dyad of 398 knowledge workers and their immediate supervisors in four research institutes in southwest China. The authors tested the theoretical model using structural equation modeling (SEM) and Mplus 7.0 software.FindingsThe results support the mediation model in which perspective taking was found to significantly and positively mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and boundary spanning. Boundary spanning was found to significantly and positively mediate the relationship between perspective taking and creative performance. Moreover, both perspective taking and boundary spanning were found to mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and creative performance.Practical implicationsThe study findings imply that the transformational leadership behaviors of managers or supervisors nurture knowledge workers' perspective taking and their boundary spanning activities leading to creative performance.Originality/valueThe findings contribute new knowledge to the relationship between transformational leadership and creative performance by uncovering the causal chain of a cognitive mechanism (perspective taking) with a behavioral mechanism (boundary spanning).

Ockham developed two theories to explain the intentionality of memory: one theory that takes previously perceived things to be the objects of memory, and another that takes one’s own earlier acts of perceiving to be the objects of memory. This paper examines both theories, paying particular attention to the reasons that motivated Ockham to give up the first theory in favor of the second. It argues that the second theory is to be understood as a theory of double intentionality. At the core of this theory is the thesis that one directly remembers one’s own acts, and indirectly also the objects of these acts. The paper analyzes the cognitive mechanism that makes this double intentionality possible and examines the causal account that Ockham gave for explaining the emergence of acts of remembering. It emphasizes that he accepted nothing more than a causal chain of acts and habits, thereby offering an ontologically parsimonious theory of memory.

In the eighteenth century, Daniel Bernoulli, Adam Smith and Jeremy Bentham proposed that economic choices rely on the computation and comparison of subjective values1. This hypothesis continues to inform modern economic theory2 and research in behavioural economics3, but behavioural measures are ultimately not sufficient to verify the proposal4. Consistent with the hypothesis, when agents make choices, neurons in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) encode the subjective value of offered and chosen goods5. Value-encoding cells integrate multiple dimensions6-9, variability in the activity of each cell group correlates with variability in choices10,11 and the population dynamics suggests the formation of a decision12. However, it is unclear whether these neural processes are causally related to choices. More generally, the evidence linking economic choices to value signals in the brain13-15 remains correlational16. Here we show that neuronal activity in the OFC is causal to economic choices. We conducted two experiments using electrical stimulation in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). Low-current stimulation increased the subjective value of individual offers and thus predictably biased choices. Conversely, high-current stimulation disrupted both the computation and the comparison of subjective values, and thus increased choice variability. These results demonstrate a causal chain linking subjective values encoded in OFC to valuation and choice.

In line with growing interest in subjective well-being (SWB) as a goal of public policy, a substantial research base examining the correlates, effects and determinants of adolescent SWB is beginning to develop. However, there is a dearth of data on the SWB of adolescents with disabilities. The limited available data suggest that adolescents with disabilities in high-income countries face a heightened risk of poorer SWB relative to peers without disabilities. Few studies have investigated potential causes of disability-based differences in adolescent SWB. This lack of research may be due, in part, to the widely held but now contested assumption that disability is inherently negative and therefore a direct cause of poorer SWB. Utilising data from the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, this study investigated the potential mediating role of adverse life conditions, including socioeconomic disadvantage, impoverished peer relationships, and peer victimisation. Employing structural equation modelling, the study found evidence consistent with a causal chain running from early childhood disability, through adverse life conditions, to poorer adolescent SWB. The findings suggest that poorer SWB in adolescents with disabilities cannot be assumed or attributed to disability in any straightforward way. With equivalent means, including economic and social resources, adolescents with disabilities may enjoy levels of SWB that are not significantly different from their peers without disabilities.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to draw upon social information processing theory to examine the sequential mediating roles of psychological safety and creative process engagement between participative leadership on creativity.Design/methodology/approachUsing a time-lagged sample of 526 supervisor–subordinate dyads from R&D teams of five enterprises located in the southwest part of China, we tested the theoretical model using structural equation modelling (SEM) as well as with the MPLUS 7.0 software.FindingsResults indicated that participative leadership is positively related to creative process engagement; psychological safety significantly mediates the relationship between participative leadership and creative process engagement; creative process engagement significantly mediates the relationship between psychological safety and employee creativity; psychological safety and creative process engagement sequentially mediates the relationship between participative leadership and creativity.Practical implicationsThe study findings imply that the participative leadership behaviors of managers or supervisor's nurtures employees psychological safety to take risk and promotes employee engagement in creativity relevant ventures leading to creativity.Originality/valueThe findings contribute new knowledge on the relationship between participative leadership and creativity by uncovering the causal chain of a cognitive mechanism (psychological safety) with a behavioral mechanism (creative process engagement).

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate how perceived supervisor support (PSS) affects employees' innovation implementation behavior (IIB), the psychological mechanisms of this relationship, and the role of perceived coworker support (PCS).Design/methodology/approachUsing a three-phase survey, data were collected from 307 employees of a state-owned coal company located in the central region of China. The study tests the hypotheses by using hierarchical regression analyses. The mediating effects and the moderated mediating effects are further examined by using bias-corrected bootstrapping methods.FindingsAffective commitment (AC) fully mediates the positive relationship between PSS and IIB, and this mediating effect can be moderated by PCS.Practical implicationsCompanies should foster supportive supervisors and colleagues by investing in appropriate training programs. In addition, managers should emphasize the psychological changes of employees and provide more supportive feelings for them.Originality/valueThe study explicitly tests the entire causal chain implied by organizational support theory in predicting IIB. It specifies the different role of two similar support constructs (i.e. supervisor support and coworker support) in affecting employees' attitudes and behaviors.

Robots that can communicate with people are one of the goals reached by the technology developed for automation in work life. Experts aim to improve the communication skills of these robots further in the near future. Besides, various studies emphasize that people may interact with robots in a similar way as they interact with other people. In line of this idea, this study examines the possible causal chain in which the social anxiety affects the robot anxiety which in turn affects the attitude toward interacting with robots. Data obtained from university students were analyzed in a simple and parallel mediation model. The results showed that robot anxiety and in particular two of its sub-dimensions mediate the relationship between social anxiety and negative attitudes toward interaction with robots. Researchers should carry out new studies about the common structural characteristics of the anxiety felt by people due to interacting with humans and robots.

Why do some workers experience less insecurity than others even when facing the same objectively insecure work situation? Combining appraisal theory with the construct of proactive coping, we propose that proactive career behavior represents a form of resource accumulation that mitigates the extent to which insecure work situations result in perceived insecurity. We hypothesize that proactive career behavior moderates the effect of an acute insecure work situation (time remaining before contract expiration) and a chronic insecure work situation (probability of digitalization) on control appraisals of these situations and, in turn, perceptions of job and employment insecurity. We tested this moderated mediation model in a 3-wave field study with 2 samples. First, workers in unstable temporary jobs (with no renewed contract, N = 227) perceived higher lack of control and hence higher job insecurity as their contract got closer to expiring. As hypothesized, this process was mitigated by proactive career behavior. Second, workers in stable jobs (with a renewed contract or a permanent contract, N = 205) perceived higher lack of control and hence higher employment insecurity, as their occupation had a higher probability of digitalization. In contrast to our hypothesis, proactive career behavior did not mitigate this effect. Results further replicated established relationships between perceived insecurity and later stress and career dissatisfaction. By moving up the causal chain and focusing on the emergence of insecurity rather than the more common emphasis on consequences of insecurity, our study uncovers the role of proactive coping in the job insecurity process. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

This study examines employee evaluations of HR practices (HRPs), which are a critical and yet underexplored antecedent of their effectiveness. Drawing on the Job Demands–Resources model, it proposes a moderated mediation model that studies the relationship between employee satisfaction with HRPs and in-role and extrarole performance as mediated by engagement. The results suggest satisfaction with HRPs influences both the performance dimensions considered, although its effects are greater for extra-role performance. Engagement intervenes significantly only in the relationship between this satisfaction and extra-role performance. Furthermore, the study acknowledges the burdens HRP-related resources may place on the workforce and examines the moderating effects of a personal resource such as health on the satisfaction with HRPs-engagement link, finding that it significantly strengthens it. It also finds that the indirect effect of satisfaction with HRPs on extra-role performance is stronger for healthier employees. These findings provide novel insights into the HR causal chain and help practitioners to better manage HRP design, communication, and audits.

The most recent version of the job demands-resources (JD–R) theory proposes that demanding working conditions and employee strain form a self-perpetuating loss cycle. By acknowledging that such cycles are detrimental for both employees and organizations, the present study aimed to contribute to enhancing the current scarce understanding regarding their explanatory mechanisms. For this purpose, it applied social cognitive theory to propose that occupational self-efficacy mediates the effects of two role stressors (i.e., role ambiguity and role conflict) on employee mental health complaints and vice versa. The hypothesized reciprocal mediation effects were tested using a three-wave full panel research design and a dataset of 917 (NT1 = 513, NT1+T2 = 122, NT1+T3 = 70, NT1+T2+T3 = 212) Croatian employees working in heterogeneous private sector industries. The results demonstrated that role conflict, but not role ambiguity, undermined employees’ beliefs in their capabilities to successfully master their jobs which, in turn, led them to experience more mental health complaints over time. Contrary to expectations, poor mental health did not lead to diminished efficacy beliefs nor, in turn, more job demands over time. Overall, the results of this study demonstrated an additional mechanism in the job demands-strain relationship and, at the same time, shed new light on the role of personal resources within the JD–R theory. Accounting for the malleable nature of employee efficacy beliefs, the study proposes several ways in which organizations can enhance occupational self-efficacy and thereby curb the causal chain linking job demands and employee strain reactions.

Social network sites (SNS) have been indispensable channels for people to access information, present themselves, and conduct commercial activities. Existing literature on online consumer behavior mainly focus on Western consumers and on explicit conspicuous signals. However, reports have shown that SNS users in China have exceeded 370 million, ranking the first in the world. Meanwhile, more and more consumers display status in more implicit ways nowadays. To fill these gaps, the present research was conducted to investigate the subtle signals of status for Chinese consumers on SNS. We proposed that frequent SNS posting leads to higher status perception among Chinese consumers. The psychological process of this effect is perceived busyness. These hypotheses received convergent support in a set of three studies. Study 1 used secondary data to preliminarily verify the positive correlation between SNS posting frequency and perceived social status. Studies 2A and 2B adopted the causal chain method to test the underlying mechanism of the effect, and to provide causal evidence for the entire relationship chain. Specifically, Study 2A examined how SNS posting frequency affects perceived busyness. Furthermore, Study 2B explored whether the differences in perceived busyness will affect social status perceptions. Implications of these findings and potential extensions in future are discussed.

Systematic reviews summarise and synthesise the global evidence about an intervention. By incorporating causal chain analysis, a systematic review moves beyond the question of ‘does it work?’ to ‘why does it work, for whom, under what circumstances and at what cost?’. The CEDIL Methods Brief 4, ‘Using causal chain analysis in systematic reviews’, lays out what causal chain analysis is, the benefits of using it, and how to do so. The brief provides guidance on conducting a causal chain analysis by illustrating with an example of a systematic review on farmer field schools.

During the last year students have been exposed to a continuous evolution of the learning processes (fully online, blended, parallel blended, rotation of the face-to-face activities, etc.) and, often, to a lot of different technologies, with only one common denominator: the carrying out of the educational activities. Despite the peculiarity of the pandemic situation, one year is a time long enough to analyze the evolution of the students’ perceptions and understand if could be put in relation with a possible start-up of processes of technology innovation and/or acceptance. In this article, we present the outcomes of an investigation conducted by means of an online survey at almost one year distance from the first one that involved, like this time, the students of the bachelor course in Educational Science of the University of Tor Vergata: this year 159 students (98% women). We have been able to explore the relevance of many categories of factors: intrinsic to the characteristics of the learning ecosystems, personal, contextual, related to the educational activities, perceived values of the technology-based processes. It appears that the main causal chain moves from the characteristics of the learning ecosystem, toward the impressions about the learning activities and their effectiveness to, finally, the future intentions and expectations. Not very relevant appear to be individual and contextual factors. The overall impressions of the students about the online activities seem to be positive but personal setting (equipment and connectivity) appear to be more effective than that provided by the university, possibly to underline criticalities met with the delivering of parallel blended activities. In addition, students deem very importantly the collaboration/interaction among peers and with the teachers and, as well, collaborative and design activities, while, on the contrary, most of the implemented learning activities seem to have a transmissive nature.

'Freedom and Determinism' is a conflicting postulate with reference to the nature of human conduct. Is man free or is everything determined? Freedom is a matter of choice based on rationality, intelligence and knowledge. Moral freedom implies both choice and responsibility. ­Man is morally good because, he enjoys freedom which makes life meaningful. So, freedom and social responsibility go hand in hand. Determinists argue that free will is impossible and preceding causes necessitate everything. Naturalistic determinists consider man a part of causal chain. His actions are determined by antecedent causes. Hence, man is an 'instrumental cause. Theistic Determinists trace man's actions to God's controlling hand. Hard-determinists believe that determinism is true and moral responsibility is an illusion. So, determinism is incompatible with free will and moral responsibility. They interpret freedom as the 'Liberty of indifference.' In the opinion of soft determinists, determinism is true but man can make choices, which are the effects of certain antecedent events. So, freedom and determinism are compatible and interpret freedom as the 'Liberty of Spontaneity'. According to libertarians, determinism is false, freedom is possible and man is morally responsible for his actions. Freedom and determinism, being an ethical problem sometimes seems to deny each other and some other times seem to co-inhere in our life. The paper argues that freedom, however limited it may be, is a 'fact' of experience while, determinism is mostly a matter of 'faith', and whether to accept the fact or the faith, depends on one's individual choice and belief. Both represent different attitudes of man. So, the key is more 'attitudinal' than 'conceptual'.

This study aims to identify how the professional teaching of Basic Korean Literacy begins and develops by analyzing the experiences and perceptions embedded in the narratives of teachers as educational agents. In order to achieve the purpose of the study, the researchers conducted in-depth interviews with 10 elementary school teachers who were tutoring “reading underachievers” after school in North Jeolla Province. Their narratives, obtained from two-month interviews with the researchers, are the most important sources of this study. These data were analyzed by the thematic analysis and the causal chain analysis. The main research results show that these teachers began to actively cultivate their “specialty in teaching elementary level reading” after encountering their fateful reading underachievers and face serious reading problems of the learners. Also, teachers were well aware that reading underachievers were not confident in their learning, which may cause many difficulties throughout their school lives. Because of their poor academic performance, underachievers may not be likely to have a good relationship with their peers. Learners who fail to read properly will not be able to keep up with subsequent Korean curricula or other subjects. Thus, the primary role of elementary school teachers is to find reading underachievers as early as possible and minimize learning deficits by finding the most appropriate teaching methods to solve their problems. This study suggests that teaching reading underachievers is as important as defining one’s identity as an elementary school teacher.

Work to Family Facilitation considers that time and other resources spent on the job by an individual can have a positive impact on family life. The current study tests to what extent this perception affects the employee’s level of job satisfaction, affective commitment, and self-rated job performance. A systematic random sample of 293 faculty members from 30 public and private universities of Pakistan filled an online survey. Results from path analysis performed in AMOS indicate that Work to Family Facilitation is significant and positive predictors of all three outcomes variables. Moreover, both job satisfaction and affective commitment mediate path leading from work to family facilitation and self-rated job performance such that job satisfaction precedes affective commitment in the causal chain. Hence by devising family-friendly HR policies, effective job designs and fostering environment that is family supportive will result in enhanced employee performance. Similarly hiring employees with resourceful psychological traits or interventions to enhance resourceful psychological states can result in greater perception of work to family facilitation. Discussion and implications are followed by future research directions.

Despite massive investments in teacher professional development (PD) programs in developing countries, there is little evidence on their effectiveness. We present results of a large-scale, randomized evaluation of a national PD program in China in which teachers were randomized to receive PD; PD plus follow-up; PD plus evaluation of the command of PD content; or no PD. Precise estimates indicate PD and associated interventions failed to improve teacher and student outcomes after one year. A detailed analysis of the causal chain shows teachers find PD content to be overly theoretical, and PD delivery too rote and passive, to be useful. (JEL I21, I28, J24, J45, O15, P36)

An epistemic account of constitutive relevance lists the criteria by which scientists can identify the components of mechanisms in empirical practice. Three prominent claims from Craver (Explaining the brain: mechanisms and the mosaic unity of neuroscience, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2007) form a promising basis for an account. First, constitutive relevance is established by means of interlevel experiments. Second, interlevel experiments are executions of interventions. Third, there is no interlevel causation between a mechanism and its components. Currently, no account on offer respects all three claims. I offer my causal situationist account of constitutive relevance that respects the claims. By situating a part of a mechanism on the causal chain between the mechanism’s input and output, components can be identified with interventions, without the interventions suggesting interlevel causation. The causal situationist account is the only account on offer so far that clearly fits within Craver’s (2007) framework.

The existence of differences in prediction systems involving test scores across demographic groups continues to be a thorny and unresolved scientific, professional, and societal concern. Our case study uses a two-stage least squares (2SLS) estimator to jointly assess measurement invariance and prediction invariance in high-stakes testing. So, we examined differences across groups based on latent as opposed to observed scores with data for 176 colleges and universities from The College Board. Results showed that evidence regarding measurement invariance was rejected for the SAT mathematics (SAT-M) subtest at the 0.01 level for 74.5% and 29.9% of cohorts for Black versus White and Hispanic versus White comparisons, respectively. Also, on average, Black students with the same standing on a common factor had observed SAT-M scores that were nearly a third of a standard deviation lower than for comparable Whites. We also found evidence that group differences in SAT-M measurement intercepts may partly explain the well-known finding of observed differences in prediction intercepts. Additionally, results provided evidence that nearly a quarter of the statistically significant observed intercept differences were not statistically significant at the 0.05 level once predictor measurement error was accounted for using the 2SLS procedure. Our joint measurement and prediction invariance approach based on latent scores opens the door to a new high-stakes testing research agenda whose goal is to not simply assess whether observed group-based differences exist and the size and direction of such differences. Rather, the goal of this research agenda is to assess the causal chain starting with underlying theoretical mechanisms (e.g., contextual factors, differences in latent predictor scores) that affect the size and direction of any observed differences.

Trust is a key ingredient in decision making, as it allows us to rely on the information we receive. Although trust is usually viewed as a positive element of decision making, we suggest that its effects on memory are costly rather than beneficial. Across nine studies using three different manipulations of trust and distrust and three different memory paradigms, we find that trust reduces memory performance as compared with distrust. In Study 1, trust leads to higher acceptance rates of misinformation. Studies 2a and 2b demonstrate that participants in a distrust and a control condition perform better at a memory-recognition task than participants in a trust condition. Studies 3a and 3b show that trust also reduces free recall of memory content. Examining the underlying mechanism, we find that reduced memory performance in a state of trust is caused by an increased perception of similarities between items that are to be memorized. Following a causal chain design, Study 4 shows that trust increases the sensitivity to similarities as compared with distrust and a control condition, and Study 5 shows that a processing focus on similarities reduces memory accuracy. Studies 6 and 7 create circumstances that either leave the proposed mediator free to vary or interrupt it via the induction of a similarity-focus (Study 6) or a difference-focus (Study 7). The disadvantage of trust is only present if the mediating processing focus can freely operate. Overall, these studies show that trust impairs memory performance due to an increased perception of similarities between memory content. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Situation awareness (SA) of pilots’ unsafe behavior can ensure safety onboard. Thus, the cognitive mechanism that controls the SA leading to unsafe behavior must be articulated. This study employs the SA model and theory of planned behavior (TPB) to articulate a quantitative model of ship safe piloting. Firstly, the hierarchical classification framework of unsafe behaviors was constructed as an analytical foundation for rational and unconscious behaviors in sight of cognitive processes, and then the measurement elements of the cognitive mechanisms for behaviors were identified. Subsequently, based on the structural model, a hypothetical model of the cognitive path for unsafe behaviors was proposed by using the extended TPB, where there are four independent variables (i.e., attitude (ATD), subjective norm (SN), and perceived behavioral control (PBC)), one mediating variables (i.e., SA) and two dependent variables (i.e., behavioral intention (BI) and unsafe behaviors (BE)). Finally, this hypothetical model was analyzed with the data resources from extended TPB questionnaire of 295 pilots. Analysis results show that relationships of causation and mediation in the cognitive mechanism are in line with the behavior pattern and SA have a pronounced mediating effect and a strong relevance to the causal chain of extended TPB framework. This study integrated the SA three-level model to understand the motivation–cognition–action–feedback (MCAF) mechanism of pilots’ unsafe behaviors under cognitive mode of information processing through structural model. It would make a valuable contribution to the assessment and intervention of safety behaviors, and provide a basic framework for monitoring the situation awareness of pilot by man-machine interactive measurement technology in the future.

Today many consumers prefer interactions with companies via chat and instant messaging, however, although in most cases it is now a virtual agent to handle the interactions, many of them feel it would be eerie if a chatbot pretended to be human. The present study aims at disentangling this sort of ambivalence people have for chatbots through an investigation on how the explicit disclosure of the chatbot identity, before the interaction, influences consumers’ perceptions. Specifically, this study compares the effects that the explicit disclosure of the chatbot identity has on social presence trust and users’ attitudes toward the online retailer. Findings from an online experiment with 160 participants show that interacting with the chatbot whose identity has been primed through a disclosure leads to less perceived social presence, trust, and attitude toward the online retailer, compared to interacting with the chatbot whose identity has not been disclosed before the interaction. The study further analyses a causal chain among the variables, proving that social presence and trust mediate the relationship between the chatbot identity disclosure and the attitude toward the online retailer.

The ability to efficiently recognize the emotions on others’ faces is something that most of us take for granted. Children with callous-unemotional (CU) traits and impulsivity/conduct problems (ICP), such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, have been previously described as being “fear blind”. This is also associated with looking less at the eye regions of fearful faces, which are highly diagnostic. Previous attempts to intervene into emotion recognition strategies have not had lasting effects on participants’ fear recognition abilities. Here we present both (a) additional evidence that there is a two-part causal chain, from personality traits to face recognition strategies using the eyes, then from strategies to rates of recognizing fear in others, and (b) a pilot intervention that had persistent effects for weeks after the end of instruction. Further, the intervention led to more change in those with the highest CU traits. This both clarifies the specific mechanisms linking personality to emotion recognition and shows that the process is fundamentally malleable. It is possible that such training could promote empathy and reduce the rates of antisocial behavior in specific populations in the future.

Background Antipsychotics are often used for the first-line management of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia despite their limited efficacy and the risk of serious adverse drug events, compounded with disregard for guidelines recommending prioritizing non-pharmacological interventions. Some innovative interventions promote the deprescription of antipsychotics in long term care (LTC) settings. Objective The objective of this article is to present the conditions leading to the scale-up of an innovative program on the appropriate use of antipsychotics in LTC centers. Methods The Optimizing Practices, Use, Care and Services-Antipsychotics (OPUS-AP) program is a mixed-method project that aims to improve LTC residents’ care through increased knowledge and competency among staff, resident-centered approaches, nonpharmacologic interventions, and by deprescribing antipsychotics when appropriate. This article consists of a qualitative study focused on exploring the implementation conditions of the OPUS-AP program. This study was carried out in an integrated health area of Quebec. It consisted of 46 semi-structured interviews with staff members and managers involved in the implementation of OPUS-AP. The qualitative data analysis was inspired by a realistic evaluation approach, which shed light on the causal chain between context, mechanisms, and perceived effects. Results This study identified certain conditions conducive to scaling up the OPUS-AP program: an integrated, collaborative and evidence-based approach; communications in support of the process; stakeholder engagement at the strategic, tactical and operational levels; an implementation climate conducive to change; and an integrated knowledge translation strategy. Conclusion Despite evidence of clinical efficacy, deprescribing programs require great deal of scaling up efforts. Hence, this study underscores the need to further examine conditions for scaling up medication usage programs in real life contexts.

Empirical research on the Gateway Belief Model (GBM) has flourished in recent years. The model offers a dual-process account of how attitude change happens in response to normative cues about scientific agreement. A plethora of correlational and experimental evidence has emerged documenting the positive direct and indirect effects of communicating the scientific consensus on global warming. I review recent scholarship and argue that the next generation of research on the GBM should focus on better justifying the inclusion of moderators on both a theoretical and empirical level, explicitly manipulate motivations to process the consensus message, model how consensus cues operate in competitive information networks and test the model in field settings using causal chain experiments.

Voluntary movements are usually preceded by a slow, negative-going brain signal over motor areas, the so-called readiness potential (RP). To date, the exact nature and causal role of the RP in movement preparation have remained heavily debated. One important open question is whether people can exert conscious control over their RP, for example by learning to suppress it. If people were able to initiate spontaneous movements without eliciting an RP, this would challenge the idea that the RP is a necessary stage of the causal chain leading up to a voluntary movement. We tested the ability of participants to control the magnitude of their RP in a neurofeedback experiment. Participants performed self-initiated movements and after every movement they were provided with immediate feedback about the magnitude of their RP. They were asked to find a mental strategy to perform voluntary movements such that the RPs were as small as possible. We found no evidence that participants were able to to willfully modulate or suppress their RPs while still eliciting voluntary movements. This suggests that the RP might be an involuntary component of voluntary action over which people cannot exert conscious control.

Background Telepsychology is increasingly being incorporated in clinical practice, being offered in many psychotherapy centers, especially after the impact of the pandemic. However, there seems to be a remarkable discrepancy between the offer, or interest in, and real-world uptake of e-mental health interventions among the population. A critical precondition is clients’ willingness to accept and use telepsychology, although this issue has thus far been overlooked in research. Objective The aim of this study was to examine people’s acceptance and use of telepsychology by adopting an extended model of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) that integrates perceived telepsychology advantages and barriers, usefulness perceptions, behavioral intention, and telepsychology use. Methods An online survey was conducted with a convenience sample of 514 participants. Structural equation models were computed to test a mediation model. Results Results supported the UTAUT model to explain participants’ acceptance and use of telepsychology. They showed a causal chain in which perceived telepsychology advantages and barriers were related to telepsychology use through the perceived usefulness of and intention to use telepsychology. Conclusions Telepsychology use may be explained according to the UTAUT model when coupled with participants’ perceptions of telepsychology advantages and barriers. Mental health stakeholders could consider these factors in order to increase the acceptance and use of telepsychology.

The influence of action-effect integration on motor control and sensory processing is often investigated in arrangements featuring human-machine interactions. Such experiments focus on predictable sensory events produced through participants' interactions with simple response devices. Action-effect integration may, however, also occur when we interact with human partners. The current study examined the similarities and differences in perceptual and motor control processes related to generating sounds with or without the involvement of a human partner. We manipulated the complexity of the causal chain of events between the initial motor and the final sensory event. In the self-induced condition participants generated sounds directly by pressing a button, while in the interactive condition sounds resulted from a paired reaction-time task, that is, the final sound was generated indirectly, by relying on the contribution of the partner. Auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) and force application patterns were similar in the two conditions, suggesting that social action effects produced with the involvement of a second human agent in the causal sequence are processed, and utilized as action feedback in the same way as direct consequences of one's actions. The only reflection of a processing difference between the two conditions was a slow, posterior ERP waveform that started before the presentation of the auditory stimulus, which may reflect differences in stimulus expectancy or task difficulty.

How do people judge the degree of causal responsibility that an agent has for the outcomes of her actions? We show that a relatively unexplored factor – the robustness (or stability) of the causal chain linking the agent’s action and the outcome – influences judgments of causal responsibility of the agent. In three experiments, we vary robustness by manipulating the number of background circumstances under which the action causes the effect, and find that causal responsibility judgments increase with robustness. In the first experiment, the robustness manipulation also raises the probability of the effect given the action. Experiments 2 and 3 control for probability-raising, and show that robustness still affects judgments of causal responsibility. In particular, Experiment 3 introduces an Ellsberg type of scenario to manipulate robustness, while keeping the conditional probability and the skill deployed in the action fixed. Experiment 4, replicates the results of Experiment 3, while contrasting between judgments of causal strength and of causal responsibility. The results show that in all cases, the perceived degree of responsibility (but not of causal strength) increases with the robustness of the action-outcome causal chain.

Across various subfields within psychology, mechanistic causation is invoked regularly. When the temporal contiguity of the typical cause-effect relation is violated, mechanistic causation often assigns causal roles to mediating hypothetical constructs to account for observed effects. Two primary consequences of mechanistic causation are that 1) the proposed hypothetical constructs add what many behavior analysts consider an unnecessary step in the causal chain, and 2) these constructs then become the focus of study thereafter diverting attention from more accessible "causes." Constructs do not contribute directly to determining the control of behavior; thus, their reification as "causes" often distracts from variables that do fulfill a causal role. In this review, these consequences are discussed in relation to theories of interval timing proposing an internal clock. Not only has this clock been said to be a cause of behavior in experiments on temporally regulated behavior, but also the clock itself has been a frequent subject of study within the timing literature. Despite descriptive accounts of this sort initially serving a heuristic function for model development, the promotion from descriptive aid to causal factor has the potential to limit much of the heuristic value that mechanistic models of causation can provide to the analysis of behavior. Problems related to construct reification are less likely to be at issue when functional relations and the processes of establishing such behavior are emphasized as alternatives to mechanistic causation alone.

This paper extends Croft’s theory of argument realization to include nominals that denote events, instead of participants. Events are represented as force dynamic interactions between participants and their subevents. That is, each participant is associated with its own subevent; participants are related to each other through force dynamic interactions as part of a causal chain (Croft 2012). There is extensive cross-linguistic evidence that a participant’s place in the causal chain determines its argument realization. In this paper, we tested three hypotheses about the argument realization of event nominals against English sentences from VerbNet. First, we define an event nominal as any nominal that refers to an event, regardless of whether it is morpho-syntactically derived from a verb. Our three hypotheses are (i) event nominals correspond to participant subevents, (ii) event nominals follow the same argument realization rules as their associated participant, and (iii) when both a participant and its subevent are realized as arguments, the subevent (i.e., the event nominal) is construed as subsequent to its participant in the causal chain. We find support for these hypotheses in the VerbNet data. In addition, we discuss more complex cases of argument realization with event nominals.

According to a famous brocardo (i.e., an ancient legal maxim), “Actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea”, culpability exists only when the author of a crime has committed it with a criminal intention. Nowadays it is commonly held that, barring some minor exceptions, this maxim states a necessary condition of culpability. From a philosophical point of view, however, two problems must still be discussed in regard to it. First, because of the so-called “deviant causal chain”, it can happen that a mens rea causes an actus reus, without producing culpability; however, no satisfactory criteria for distinguishing such cases from the ordinary ones has ever been individuated. Second, a growing number of scientists and philosophers suggest that our conscious mental states rarely (if ever) determine our decisions and actions. If this is correct, a mens rea causes an actus reus rarely (if ever), and, consequently, culpability should be seen as a rare condition – if it is ever real. After analyzing these issues, my conclusions will be that, even if it may be true that the cases in which we consciously control what we decide and do are more limited than we would like to think, they still do exist. The ancient brocardo, then, still holds its validity.

The goal of this chapter is to present Beyond Budgeting as an MCS that claims to be based on the Theory Y school of thought and to conclude how these changes in MCS characteristics toward Theory Y might affect trust and behavior. Based on this framework an overall causal chain and a model of hypotheses are developed.

There is widespread agreement among friends of irreducible powers that powers are properties, and intrinsic ones at that. But when it comes to what is produced by the exercise of powers, little has been said about what sort of ontological category these ‘manifestations’ belong to, and even less agreement is to be found. The default response seems to be that manifestations are events, but a few recent proposals treat manifestations as properties or processes. Though these proposals boast a number of virtues, I argue that any view that understands manifestations these ways has unsavoury consequences that outweigh any virtues on offer. Those unsavoury consequences come to light when we consider manifestations that go awry. In particular, I consider an attempted poisoning foiled by antidote, wherein the circumstances required for the power’s triggering have been satisfied, but the anticipated causal chain is frustrated. One the one hand, it seems mistaken to say that the power has been manifested, as the characteristic manifestation—death—has been avoided. But on the other hand, it seems equally wrong to claim that the power was not manifested, given that the conditions required for the display of the power were met and the expected causal process began, despite not running to completion. I thus propose that we think of manifestations as being extremely short-lived, ideally as states of affairs. En route to that conclusion some important discoveries about powers-based causation are made apparent.

Causal explanations of land change are fundamental in land system science, yet existing findings are difficult to synthesize due to the imprecise terminology and the various analytical frameworks they have applied. This paper compares three existing conceptual frameworks, in terms of underlying driving forces and proximate causes, actors, and environmental cognitions, by aligning the relevant elements into a causal chain. We find that the elicitation of environmental cognitions helps in providing a detailed description of this causal chain. By synthesizing case study evidence on agricultural land change into the generalized causal chain, we find that the effects of underlying driving forces on land change have been substantially mediated by environmental cognitions. Operationalizing environmental cognitions requires more efforts than regular actor-based studies, but a proper understanding of its mediating role should be accounted for in local scale studies and is essential for human-centred policy design.

I argue that the physiological, phenomenal and conceptual constitute a trichotomous hierarchy of emergent categories. I claim that each category employs a distinctive type of interactive mechanism that facilitates a meaningful kind of environmental discourse. I advocate, therefore, that each have a causal relation with the environment but that their specific class of mechanism qualifies distinctively the meaningfulness of that interaction and subsequent responses. Consequently, I argue that the causal chain of physical interaction feeds distinctive value-laden constructions that are ontologically distinct for each category. Within the limitations of the interactive mechanisms of each category, increasingly sophisticated forms tend to evolve. The increase in sophistication in each category inevitably leads to the emergence of the novel mechanism particular to the next in the hierarchy. In essence, there is an emergent hierarchy of evolving categories delineated by the nature of their mechanism of environmental engagement. I argue that biochemical mechanisms have a tendency to evolve meaningfully, specifically in a way that is both qualitatively relevant and responsive to environmental particulars. I explain that these mechanisms set in play an organisational imperative that leads to the emergence of the capacity to evaluate and prioritise qualitative biochemical assimilations which, inevitably, generates a subjectively individuated experience phenomenon. I then relate this to the novel characteristics of the human perspective.

Understanding the extent to which an intervention ‘works’ can provide compelling evidence to decision makers, although without an accompanying explanation of how an intervention works, this...

This study investigates how social norms influence the household recycling behavior in collectivistic societies. High household participation rate is essential to accomplish the economic and environmental goals of recycling programs. To this end, the determinants of recycling behavior have long been studied, and social norms have been indicated as the strong predictor of recycling behavior. However, there is a need for a more in-depth examination to understand how social norms function in activating recycling behavior in different contexts. Hence, this study develops a model that disentangles the influence of social norms (i.e. informational and normal influences) on recycling behavior in a collectivistic social context. Using data collected from the households of the case-study area (Seferihisar, Turkey), the research hypotheses were tested via structural equation modelling. The findings confirm the influence of social norms on household recycling behavior, but this influence was found to occur not through internalization process. The causal chain effect triggered by social norms (i.e. internalization process) maintains its influence until the task knowledge necessary for recycling is obtained; however, this process does not end with actual recycling behavior. Rather, the results show that the perceived convenience mediates the influence of social norms on recycling behavior. In addition, the perceived convenience mediates the effects of physical constraints on recycling behavior. As well as revealing valuable theoretical implications, these results also provide managerial guidance in devising social norms to increase the household participation into recycling programs.

Large differences in mortality rates across those with different levels of education are a well-established fact. Cognitive ability may be affected by education so that it becomes a mediating factor in the causal chain. In this paper, we estimate the impact of education on mortality using inverse-probability-weighted (IPW) estimators. We develop an IPW estimator to analyse the mediating effect in the context of survival models. Our estimates are based on administrative data, on men born between 1944 and 1947 who were examined for military service in the Netherlands between 1961 and 1965, linked to national death records. For these men, we distinguish four education levels and we make pairwise comparisons. The results show that levels of education have hardly any impact on the mortality rate. Using the mediation method, we only find a significant effect of education on mortality running through cognitive ability, for the lowest education group that amounts to a 15% reduction in the mortality rate. For the highest education group, we find a significant effect of education on mortality through other pathways of 12%.

Security in relationship partners’ positive regard promotes high-quality close relationships, and insecurity in partners’ regard undermines relationship quality. Hence, people may be motivated to dispel their close partners’ insecurity. The current research used an experimental-causal-chain design to test a novel model of the interpersonal regulation of relationship partners’ security. Manipulated perceptions of relationship partners’ insecurity increased the activation of security regulation goals (i.e., goals to improve partners’ security and dispel their insecurity) and selective attention to threat-relevant information (Study 1). In turn, manipulated security regulation goals increased the expression of positive regard for relationship partners, particularly in negatively evaluated and important domains (Study 2). In turn, manipulated expression of positive regard increased partners’ relationship security and satisfaction, particularly when partners had chronic doubts about the extent to which they were valued (Study 3). These studies provide compelling causal evidence for a relationship-protective response to detection of partner insecurity; people try to dispel the relationship threat posed by an insecure partner by adopting security regulation goals, which motivate expressions of positive regard that increase partner security.

OBJECTIVE: There is evidence of a causal chain in motivational interviewing (MI) involving counselor MI-consistent skills, client change language, and outcomes. MI was a key component of the combined behavioral intervention in the Combined Pharmacotherapies and Behavioral Interventions for Alcohol Dependence (COMBINE) Study. Participants in COMBINE were treatment-seeking and medication-seeking, and were required to maintain a period of abstinence before enrollment. Counselors were closely monitored and were temporarily removed from the study for remediation and supervision if their performance fell below threshold. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the MI causal chain among initial-session combined behavioral intervention audio recordings in this unique sample of highly motivated clients and highly monitored counselors. METHOD: Session 1 audio recordings (N = 254, 73.5% men) were evaluated using the Motivational Interviewing Skill Code Version 2.0 with good interrater reliability. Counselor speech was measured using a summary measure of MI-consistent behavior. Client change language was assessed, using change talk and sustain talk. The outcome measure of drinks per week was computed using the COMBINE data set. RESULTS: Higher sustain talk was significantly associated with increased drinking during treatment, whereas higher change talk was significantly associated with decreased drinking at the 1-year follow-up. In addition, there were significant indirect effects linking counselor behavior, client speech, and drinking both during treatment and at 1 year. CONCLUSIONS: Results supported the posited causal chain for MI. Despite somewhat lower variability of counselor behavior and use of a coding instrument that did not capture directional counselor behaviors, counselor behavior, client speech, and drinking outcomes were clearly linked in this unique sample.

Recent research on humans' prosociality has highlighted the crucial role of Honesty-Humility, a basic trait in the HEXACO personality model. There is overwhelming evidence that Honesty-Humility predicts prosocial behavior across a vast variety of situations. In the present contribution, we cloud this rosy picture, examining a condition under which individuals high in Honesty-Humility reduce prosocial behavior. Specifically, we propose that under self-uncertainty, it is particularly those individuals high in Honesty-Humility who reduce trust in unknown others and become less prosocial. In 5 studies, we assessed Honesty-Humility, manipulated self-uncertainty, and measured interpersonal trust or trust in social institutions using behavioral or questionnaire measures. In Study 1, individuals high (vs. low) in Honesty-Humility showed higher levels of trust. This relation was mediated by their positive social expectations about the trustworthiness of others. Inducing self-uncertainty decreased trust, particularly in individuals high in Honesty-Humility (Studies 2-5). Making use of measuring the mediator (Studies 2 and 3) and applying a causal chain design (Studies 4a and 4b), it is shown that individuals high in Honesty-Humility reduced trust because self-uncertainty decreased positive social expectations about others. We end with an applied perspective, showing that Honesty-Humility is predictive of trust in social institutions (e.g., trust in the police; Study 5a), and that self-uncertainty undermined trust in the police especially for individuals high in Honesty-Humility (Study 5b). By these means, the present research shows that individuals high in Honesty-Humility are not unconditionally prosocial. Further implications for Honesty-Humility as well as for research on self-uncertainty and trust are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record