Vol.25,No.3 March, 2010
- Title
- Animistic thinking in adults: The memorial service for dolls as a voluntary loss
- Author
- Hiromi IKEUCHI (Faculty of Sociology, Kansai University)
- Summary
- The purposes of this study were to develop an animism scale for adults and to examine the relationship between animistic thinking and the "memorial service for dolls" in terms of voluntary loss. In this study, animism was defined as the tendency to regard inanimate objects as living, and to regard objects in nature as gods. Questionnaires were given to 395 people who had held a memorial service for dolls and 204 people who had not. The results of the factor analysis indicated that this animism scale consisted of three factors: the apotheosis of natural products, the parts of possessors, and the anthropomorphication of possessions. Animism was more prevalent in the following groups of individuals: a) those who held a memorial service for dolls, b) female individuals, and c) younger individuals, that is, individuals aged 39 and under. The third result in particular was discussed in terms of the influences of video games and the media rather than the traditional Japanese polytheistic religion of Shinto. Furthermore, participants were asked about psychological changes after they finished holding a memorial service for dolls. As a result, some people who held a memorial service for dolls felt grief and guilt, although they voluntarily parted with their dolls.
- Key words
- animism, voluntary loss, apotheosis, anthropomorphication, memorial service for dolls
- Title
- The determinants of the attitude toward public policies to support unemployed middle-aged and elderly persons: An attributional approach
- Author
- Kaori KARASAWA, Mizuka OHTAKA and Masumi TAKEUCHI (Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, The University of Tokyo)
- Summary
- This study examined the determinants of the attitude toward public policy to support the unemployed elderly and middle-aged persons from the attributional perspective. A structural equation analysis of the survey data from 864 citizens revealed results mostly in accord with the attributional studies of support provision. That is, a negative impression of unemployed persons and a conservative political attitude led to the attribution of unemployment to personal causes, although the effect of the political attitude was weak. Moreover, the attribution to personal causes increased anger toward the unemployed persons, whereas the attribution to societal causes increased sympathy and approval for public policy to support those unemployed. The discussion also considered the role of anger in the attributional model of support provision and the structure of the causal perception of unemployment.
- Key words
- causal attribution, unemployment, middle-aged and elderly persons
- Title
- The psychological mechanism of complaining behavior
- Author
- Hiromi IKEUCHI (Faculty of Sociology, Kansai University)
- Summary
- Recently, consumer complaints and consumer claims have become a major social issue. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the psychological mechanism of complaining behavior with reference to the theory of aggressive behavior in social psychology. Two hundred and fifteen participants (106 males, 109 females) who lived in Japan were asked to complete a questionnaire by the mail survey method. After a covariance structure analysis, the proposed model was found to fit the data very well. The main findings were as follows: (1) High levels of self-esteem and the self-control of emotion led to having a positive attitude for complaining behavior. (2) Attitudes toward complaining behavior and dissatisfaction with products had a direct effect on actual complaining behavior. Furthermore, dissatisfaction with products was affected by the differences between the expectations for products and the performances of products. (3) Complaining behavior led to a decrease in consumer dissatisfaction. This result indicated the existence of a "cathartic effect."
- Key words
- complaining behavior, conflict resolution, dissatisfaction, aggressive behavior, cathartic effect
- Title
- The impact of mood on category-consistent/inconsistent information processing: The effect of time lapse on the recall rate
- Author
- Masayo NODA (School of Psychology, Kibi International University)
- Summary
- This study investigates the impact of mood on category-consistent/inconsistent information processing by comparison of data collected immediately after an experiment and a time lapse. In two experiments, no impact of mood was observed in recall rate immediately after the experiment among participants induced into a positive mood, regardless of the consistency of category information. However, a greater recall rate was observed for category-consistent information in the time lapse condition. On the other hand, no substantial impact of mood was found, regardless of time lapse, in the negative mood. The results showed the significant impact of mood on category-information coding styles, depending on the strength of the unit connections of the category-consistent/inconsistent information.
- Key words
- mood, information processing, category-consistent/inconsistent information
- Title
- Regret and mental health in the bereaved family: Action versus inaction
- Author
- Mariko SHIOZAKI (International Center for Human Sciences, Kinki University)
Kazuhiro NAKAZATO (Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University)
- Summary
- The purpose of this study was to examine the differences between regret over actions taken versus regret over inaction vis- a -vis bereaved family. The focal points of the study were as follows: 1) to explore the nature of unreversed regret in the bereaved; 2) to examine the association between the number and intensity of regrets and mental health and grief; and 3) to examine the effect of action and inaction on mental health and grief. Using a mail-in questionnaire, we surveyed and analyzed the results of 89 bereaved respondents. The results showed that participants had more lifetime regrets over inaction than over action taken. The number and intensity of regrets also correlated with mental health and grief. Bereaved participants who expressed regret over inaction had poorer mental health and stronger feelings of grief than those with no regrets over inaction. We discuss the implications of unreversed regret and examine regret prevention for the bereaved.
- Key words
- regret, bereavement, mental health, grief, cancer patients
- Title
- The relationships among interpersonal intolerance of ambiguity, dispositional interpersonal stress coping, and mental health
- Author
- Takanari TOMONO (Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Doshisha University)
- Summary
- This study examined whether interpersonal intolerance of ambiguity (IIA) has effects on mental health mediating dispositional interpersonal stress-coping based on an interpersonal stress model. Three hundred and nine university students participated in the study. They were asked to complete a Revised Interpersonal Intolerance of Ambiguity Scale (IIAS-R), a Stress Response Scale (SRS), and a dispositional Interpersonal Stress coping Inventory (ISI). Covariance structural analysis showed that IIA had a positive effect on stress response mediating dispositional negative relationship-oriented coping, and had a direct positive effect on stress response, respectively. But no significant mediation effect of dispositional postponed-solution coping was obtained. These results suggested that a combination of IIA and a specific maladaptive coping style had a negative effect on mental health.
- Key words
- interpersonal intolerance of ambiguity, interpersonal stress model, dispositional interpersonal stress coping, mental health
