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One possible explanation for the lack of pro‐environmental behavior among the public is that the benefits of combating climate change are long‐term and distant. Temporal discounting is a pervasive tendency to prefer small immediate gains to large delayed benefits, which may lead to a lack of motivation to engage in pro‐environmental behavior. However, exposure to nature can reduce this tendency and by extension may promote pro‐environmental behavior. Two behavioral experiments were conducted to investigate whether exposure to natural (vs. urban) scenes would induce lower discounting and increase the tendency toward pro‐environmental behavior. We demonstrated that exposure to natural (vs. urban) scenes was associated with a lower level of discounting and a greater tendency toward pro‐environmental behavior, including energy‐saving use of air conditioning (Experiment 1), willingness to participate in beach cleaning (Experiment 2), and choosing meals with less environmental impact (Experiment 2). Mediation analysis indicated that the discounting tendency mediated the relationship between exposure to natural scenes and pro‐environmental behavior. This study provides the first experimental evidence that temporal discounting accounts for the association between exposure to natural (vs. urban) scenes and the tendency toward pro‐environmental behavior. Our findings support the development of a novel strategy for promoting pro‐environmental behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Author(s): Huei-Lin Juang [sup.1] , Yevvon Yi-Chi Chang [sup.2] , Bei-Lu Tseng [sup.1] [sup.3] , Chia-Chun Chang [sup.1] , Yung-Jong Shiah [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.412076.6, 0000 0000 9068 9083, [...], The present study examined the role of psychological acceptance in the relationship between neuroticism, extraversion and happiness. 216 adults from a Chinese society ranging in age from 18 to 30 years (M = 19.7, SD = 1.48) completed the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire, The Chinese version of the EPQ (CEPQ), and the Chinese People Happiness Scale (CPHS). As predicted, psychological acceptance had a significant negative correlation with neuroticism (p < .01) and a significant positive correlation with extraversion (p < .01) and with happiness (p < .01). In the linear mediation models, psychological acceptance was found to partially mediate the relationship between neuroticism and happiness ([beta] = -.34, p < .01). Psychological acceptance was found to partially mediate the relationship between extraversion and happiness ([beta] = .19, p < .01). The non-linear mediation model analyses also support both neuroticism and extraversion on happiness are mediated by psychological acceptance. Accordingly, these results suggest that the effects of neuroticism and extraversion on happiness can be at least partially accounted for by psychological acceptance. These findings imply that interventions aimed at enhancing psychological acceptance as a way to improve happiness is a good strategy.

Self-efficacy toward science learning has been shown to play a crucial role in determining students' motivation and achievements. Social cognitive theory proposes that positive and negative task outcomes affect mastery experiences from which self-efficacy develops. The current research examined whether prior level of self-efficacy would serve as a moderator of the effect of experiential valence on self-efficacy in science learning. One hundred and thirty engineering undergraduates with varying levels of prior self-efficacy (high, medium, and low) were randomly assigned to receive either a positive or a negative task experience regarding circuit design. The findings of our experiment showed that students with lower levels of self-efficacy appeared to be more affected by positive versus negative task experiences, and those with higher levels of self-efficacy tended to be more affected by negative versus positive task experiences. The present findings indicate that both valence of task experience and students' prior self-efficacy affect their changes in self-efficacy with regard to STEM learning. The present findings have far-reaching implications for enhancing self-efficacy on learning of science.

The present study investigated the developmental relationship between cognitive thinking and diversity beliefs among late adolescents from a postPiagetian perspective. The participants were 762 Taiwanese undergraduates aging from 19 to 25 years. The Social Paradigm Belief Scale was used to assess three modes of cognitive development of late adolescents: formal, relativistic, and dialectical thinking. Regarding diversity beliefs, participants were administrated the adapted scale of multiculturalism and the adapted scale of color blindness. Results indicated that postformal thinkers scored higher than formal thinkers in multiculturalism and color blindness. Multiple discriminant analysis showed that the linear combination of multiculturalism and color blindness could discriminate between formal and postformal thinkers, which supported the prediction about the parallel relationship between development of postformal thinking and maturity of multiculturalism. This article provides an alternative approach of multicultural pedagogy in which fostering postformal thinking may promote the appreciation of diversity and thereby cultivate the growth of multicultural literacy.

Consumer plate waste is a pressing environmental concern. Scholars hypothesize that moral and financial inducements have the potential to reduce food waste at the end of the meal. This study addresses this hypothesis for buffet restaurants, a popular dining option in Asia. 'All-you-can-eat' consumption leads to higher volumes of food waste at the end of the meal, as the leftovers may not be taken away. This study is the first attempt to examine the effect of the combination of serving styles (self-service buffet bar vs. rolling cart) and inducements (both moral and financial) on food waste, employing a field experiment method. Bulk food waste was recorded for a total of 630 participants. The results provide evidence that there is a significant interaction between serving styles and inducements on food waste volume (Study 1 and Study 2). Specifically, the results indicate that buffet self-service combined with moral persuasion and a discount produces the least food waste (Study 3). Restaurants can employ a variety of methods to address the problem of plate waste by their customers, including serving styles, moral persuasion, and financial inducements in the form of discounts as a reward for eating all that one takes at the buffet bar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People are beginning to develop symbiotic relationships with social networking sites ( SNSs), which provide users with abundant opportunities for social interaction. We contend that if people perceive SNSs as sources of social connection, the idea of SNSs may reduce the desire to pursue offline social activities and offline pleasures. Experiment 1 demonstrated that priming with SNSs was associated with a weakened desirability of offline social activities and an increased inclination to work alone. Felt relatedness mediated the link between SNS primes and reduced desire to engage in offline social activities. Experiment 2 showed that exposure to SNS primes reduced the desirability of offline socializing and lowered the desire for offline pleasurable experiences as well. Moreover, heavy users were more susceptible to this detrimental effect. We provide the first experimental evidence that the idea of online social networking may modulate users' engagement in offline social activities and offline pleasures. Hence, online social networking may satisfy the need for relatedness but undercut the likelihood of reaping enjoyment from offline social life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]