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2013. vol. 10. No. 4
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Theoretical and Empirical Research
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5–38
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The present situation in thinking research can be characterized as “methodological hunger”, because the number of methods available is small, and they are hardly new. One of the main challenges in the field is the study of the structure of problem representation that plays a key role in thinking. The author discusses the limitations of existing methods for problem representation research and describes three studies of problem representation carried out within experimental and non-experimental settings. The studies used different tasks (problem classification, solution principle transfer, and description of solution structure) applied to algebra problems expressed in textual form. Several different methods were used to reveal the process of thinking. A modification of the “Yes-No” method involves varying the presence of certain structural elements of a problem in order to find out the specific elements used by participants to solve it. Higher competence was associated with larger number of types of problems successfully solved by participants. Usage of problems with similar structure organized in groups allows to study the contribution of specific structural elements of the problem to solution transfer. Creation of paradigms (classes of units grouped on a certain basis and yet logically opposed to each other) using equations with substantial meaning allows to evaluate the frequency of occurrence of each type of problem representation and to interpret the solution errors of different types. The new methods for thinking research can facilitate new theoretical and empirical research, contributing also to solution of classical problems in the field. |
Special Theme of the Issue.
Psychology of Economic Desicions
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42–66
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This works focuses on the problem of confidence in decisions made. Existing studies of prognosis calibration (defined as the ratio between the correct response frequency and the subjective evaluation of response correctness) have revealed that people tend to overestimate the probability of correct responses (“overconfidence effect”). The authors hypothesized that subjective estimates of confidence in decisions made and the accuracy of prognosis calibration depend on the method used to measure confidence. An experimental study was performed in a sample of school students (N=50) and university students (N=36). The participants answered common knowledge questions and evaluated the degree of confidence in the correctness of their answers on verbal scales, using either a standard scale or a duplex scale (rating their confidence in both chosen and rejected answer options). Finally, the participants made bets that the chosen alternatives would be correct. The results indicated that the “overconfidence effect” was weaker in the duplex scale condition, confirming the hypothesis. We explain this finding by the notion of residual uncertainty that remains when two answer options are compared, but not in the standard scale setting, when the respondents’ attention is concentrated only on the chosen answer option. The association between the level of confidence and prognosis quality had an inverse linear shape in the standard scale setting and a parabolic shape in a duplex scale setting. Finally, we found that in cases when the decisions were rational and the confidence ratings were consistent, bets predicted prognosis quality more reliably than verbal estimates did. |
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67–79
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One of the first experimental studies of fraud in Russia is presented. Based on the findings from other countries, a hypothesis was made that propensity to fraud in Russians would be positively associated with the size of the gains from a successful fraud and negatively associated with the probability of fraud detection and with the size of the ensuing penalty. The participants (N=82) were students and employees of Moscow companies who were asked to play games with monetary winnings. First, the participants were asked to throw a coin (and get ‘heads’), then they played the card game “21” (to attain a certain number of points), and finally they solved Sudoku puzzles. The outcome of each game was only seen by participants who could either report it honestly or deceive. The extent of fraud was evaluated by comparing the game outcome distributions from the participants’ self-reports with control group results or theoretical distributions. Both cross-individual and repeated measures plans were used. Experimental conditions differed in the size of reward for success (Study 1), penalty for unfair wins (Study 2), and the probability of it being detected (Studies 2 and 3). The results were statistically significant, confirming the hypotheses in all the series. The probability of fraud was increased in the settings with higher rewards (Study 1) and decreased in the settings with higher penalty (Study 2) and better surveillance by the experimenter (Studies 2 and 3). The limitations of the study are discussed, and directions future research are suggested. |
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80–98
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The study looked into the association between social psychological capital of individuals and their activity associated with organization of a private business. The study is based in the theory of social psychological capital and the theory of planned behavior by I. Isen. The hypothesis was that higher social psychological capital of individuals is associated with more efforts invested into development of a private business. However, this associated can be mediated by attitudes, perceived behavioral control, perceived norms, and intentions to create a private business. The sample included 269 respondents who intended to open their private business. Questionnaires were used measuring social psychological capital (social support from family and friends, number of friends, frequency of contacts with relatives, participation in community activities), attitudes, perceived behavioral control, subjective norms, intention to create a new business, and steps actually taken towards its implementation. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses. The resulting model showed that the assistance of friends and participation in community activities are associated with more positive attitudes towards private business and increased perceived behavioral control, whereas higher number of friends is associated with lower perceived behavioral control. Attitudes and perceived control predict the intention to open a private business, which, in turn, predicts specific actions towards its implementation. However, there was also a direct effect of social psychological capital on entrepreneurial activity. |
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99–107
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The paper presents a study of consumer decisions made by people in different emotional states. According to the existing data, mood influences the mechanisms of information processing and the type of decisions made. We hypothesized that the characteristics people refer to when they compare different models of tablet personal computers depend on their mood. Decision-making was studied by means of evaluation by consumers of importance of different attributes of goods in the process of making a purchase. The mood was induced by viewing animation fragments. The sample of the main study included 64 respondents (40 males and 24 females, mean age 26.2 years). The respondents were shown either a funny or a sad fragment from an animated cartoon and were asked to evaluate the extent to which different parameters of a tablet personal computer influence their purchase decision. The results indicated that the respondents in negative mood were more inclined to refer to characteristics associated with equipment reliability and stable performance, as well as service options and price, so that they ended up preferring cheaper and simple models of high quality. In contrast, respondents in positive mood ascribed higher importance to the equipment design, extra features, and to the opinion of others. These findings show that in a high-technology device purchase setting emotional states influence the preference for positive or negative information, the strategies of information processing, and the willingness to take risks. |
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108–120
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The existing approaches to insurance decision-making and behavior research are analyzed and categorized in the paper. The introduction describes the present state of the Russian insurance market and tendencies therein. The first section presents two fundamental approaches to understanding insurance purchase behavior, the classical ‘rational’ approach (where the consumer is supposed to have analyzed the possible risks and insurance options to make a reasonable and well-grounded purchase decision) and the contemporary ‘irrational approach’ based on the idea that the classical theory fails to explain many of the documented patterns of insurance behavior. The second section describes the principal factors that influence insurance decision-making and behavior at its different stages (decision concerning the necessity of insurance, choice and purchase of insurance policy, interaction with the insurance company in case of insured event occurrence, and decision to continue or discontinue insurance). Particular attention is given to the first two stages that are focused on in most empirical studies. The concluding section of the paper formulates a number of questions for future research, including the issues of applicability of the planned behavior theory to insurance behavior, the associations between the factors that underlie it, as well as the role of subjective psychological and cultural variables in influencing insurance behavior. |
Personology
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121–143
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The paper discusses the problem of personality development in its reflexive aspect and realization of its capacities within relationship with another person. Methodological bases of the study are psychology of personality, ontology and philosophy of life, existential philosophy, philosophy of language, phenomenology. Being a part of “general personology”, a new area of psychological science, the study uses the methods of hermeneutics, reflection, and theoretical modelling in order to extract and generalize the existing knowledge about the capacities of the I. Based on the ideas of M. Heidegger, J.-P. Sartre, and P. Ricoeur, the author develops a hermeneutic model of the multidimensional capacities of the I that are revealed within relationship with the Other. The model describes the genesis of these capacities and of awareness, of the I as a source of reflective mediation, and the forms these capacities take in the relationships of personality. It summarizes the types and dynamics of the capacities of the I in the dimensions of “between I and the Other”, “I-in-the-Other”, “the-Other-in-me”. The reflexive model of the capacities of the I can be used within practices of dialogical self-experience and self-development using retrospective analysis of oneself and one’s past expressions, as well as a practice of development of relationship with the Other. The vocal dialogue between the I and the Other is viewed within the life context of each of its participants, which reveals its personological nuances not represented in other human sciences. |
Psychodiagnostics
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143–157
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The results of psychometric validation of a model of in-group identification (Leach et al., 2008) in three Russian samples are presented. The theoretical model is hierarchically structured. It includes five components (individual self-stereotyping, in-group homogeneity, in-group solidarity, satisfaction with in-group, and centrality of in-group identity) that form two second order factors (self-definition and self-investment). The samples included members of a social group (“students”, N=196), an ethnic group (“Russians”, N=146), and a religious group (“Orthodox Christians”, N=249). In study 1 different measurement models were compared for each sample using confirmatory factor analysis. The results support the hierarchical model with two second-order factors. The sets of items comprising each of the five in-group identification components have high internal consistency and discriminant validity. Study 2 focused on the validity of the new instrument in the ethnic group subsample using a number of Russian-language ethnic identity measures. The data indicate convergent validity of the new measure, indicating that its five scales tap into cognitive, affective, and behavioral components of identity with an ethnic group. The results of two studies show that the new Russian-language instrument based on the model of in-group identification has convergent and discriminant validity. Limitations of the study and future directions for the development of the instrument are discussed. |
Original View
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158–172
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The paper aims to review the theoretical approaches to personality self-presentation as a social psychological topic developed since 1950s, and discuss the problem of determination of conscious and unconscious self-presentation behavior. The author suggests an original definition and a model of structure and functions of self-presentation, extending the understanding of this phenomenon in social psychology. Personality self-presentation is seen as a general, fundamental characteristic of social behavior that may have conscious or unconscious origins. According to the theoretical concept of self-presentation developed by the author, interaction with others involves a continual process of presentation of self-relevant information, regardless of the degree of awareness by the person of own behavioral self-presentation. The resulting structural and functional model of personality self-presentation includes also the situational, motivational, and personality factors that influence the degree of awareness of own self-presentation behavior aimed towards impression management. The model provides a means for social psychological analysis of different aspects of personality self-presentation and can be used in practice of human-oriented professions. |
Reviews
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173–181
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The paper discusses the problem of gender differences in social loafing, describes the existing positions, and provides a critical analysis of the results of empirical studies of social loafing and of their interpretations. The aim is to develop an unbiased view of gender differences in social loafing. Based on their theoretical review and critical analysis, the authors make several conclusion. First, the question of existence of gender differences in social loafing can not be given a definite answer at present, because the issue has not been studied sufficiently. The existing empirical studies demonstrate contradictory results, are limited to only a few countries, certain age groups, and use stimuli of certain limited type. Second, the prevailing position in the literature that suggests higher social loafing in males, compared to females, may be simply a result of gender stereotypes. Third, the interpretation given in several empirical studies of social loafing (that females are more inclined to cooperative behavior, and males tend to behave in competitive ways) can also be seen as an expression of gender stereotypes. Fourth, the ubiquity of gender stereotypes in psychological literature may have a negative effect on future research of gender differences in social loafing, as researchers may not be interested in studying an issue that already seems “clear” to them. |
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