The influence on the global evaluation of a person based on the perception of a single trait is a phenomenon widely investigated in social psychology. Widely regarded as Halo effect, this phenomenon has been studied for more than 100 years now, and findings such as the relationship between aesthetic perception and other personality traits—such as competence and trustworthiness—have since been uncovered. Trustworthiness plays an especially crucial role in individuals' social interactions. Despite the large body of literature published on the Halo (...) effect, and especially on the relationship between aesthetic appearance and perceived trustworthiness, little is known about the overall generalizability of the effect, as almost all of the studies have been conducted on adult participants from Western countries. Moreover, little is known about the stability of the effect over time, in the event of major destabilization, such as the outbreak of a pandemic. In this work, the cross-cultural generalizability of the Halo effect is investigated before and during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic. An analysis of the generalizability and stability over time of the Halo effect is presented. Participants have been asked to rate the aesthetic appearance and perceived trustworthiness of a set of human faces of different ages, gender, and ethnicity. Result of our analysis demonstrated that the Halo effect is influenced by the age of presented faces, but not by their gender or ethnicity. Moreover, our results show that the strength of the effect can be affected by external events and that the volatility is higher for adults' than children's faces. (shrink)

The present study examined how two- to four-year-old preschoolers in Singapore (N = 202) balance fairness and ingroup loyalty in resource distribution. Specifically, we investigated whether children would enact fair distributions as defined by an equality rule, or show partiality toward their ingroup when distributing resources, and the conditions under which one distributive strategy may take precedence over the other. In Experiment 1, children distributed four different pairs of toys between two puppets. In the Group condition, one puppet was assigned (...) to the same group as the child while the other puppet was assigned to a different group using colored stickers in a minimal group paradigm; in the No Group condition, no group assignments were made. Children’s distributions in each condition were assessed for whether the toys were fairly (equally) distributed or unfairly (unequally) distributed in favor of either puppet. Experiment 2 was identical to Experiment 1, except that a third identical toy was introduced following the distribution of each toy pair. Distributions were separately assessed for whether the first two toys were fairly (equally) distributed or unfairly (unequally) distributed in favor of either puppet, and whether children distributed the third toy to the ingroup or outgroup puppet. Overall, the vast majority of children abided by an equality rule when resources were precisely enough to be shared between recipients, but distributed favorably to the ingroup member when there was limited resource availability. We found that fairness trumped ingroup loyalty except in resource distribution involving limited resources. Our findings are consistent with findings from other resource distribution studies with preschoolers and similar studies measuring young infants’ expectations of distributive behaviors in third-party observations. Taken together, there is evidence suggesting stability in the development of knowledge to behavior in the subdomains of fairness and ingroup loyalty. (shrink)

We contribute to the literature on intentions to report wrongdoing by examining whether Chinese internal auditors make consistent judgments when an ethical dilemma is presented in English and when the same dilemma is presented in Chinese. We invoke cultural frame switching theory, and our findings, which are based on a randomized experiment using between-subjects and within-subject mixed design, support the hypothesis that Chinese internal auditors are more likely to report wrongdoing when the ethical dilemma is presented in English than when (...) it is presented in Chinese. Our results, which demonstrate that internal auditors make inconsistent ethical judgments in English and Chinese, point to language-triggered cognitive bias resulting from cultural mindsets. We suggest practical interventions and language strategies to improve audit quality. (shrink)

Researchers have suggested that ethical judgments about “right” and “wrong” are the result of deep and thoughtful principles and should therefore be consistent and not influenced by factors, such as language :e94842, 2014b, p. 1). As long as an ethical scenario is understood, individuals’ resolution should not depend on whether the ethical scenario is presented in their native language or in a foreign language. Given the forces of globalization and international convergence, an increasing number of accountants and accounting students are (...) becoming proficient in more than one language, and they are required to interpret and apply complex ethical pronouncements issued by various global standard setters both in their native language and in English. There have been calls in the literature to examine whether subjects make systematically different ethical judgments in a foreign language than in their native language. We contribute to the literature by drawing on culture, linguistics, and psychology research to provide empirical evidence that Chinese subjects are more aggressive in interpreting the concept of control when providing their consolidation reporting recommendations in English than in Simplified Chinese. We applied a 2 × 2 within-subject and between-subject randomized experimental design using a sample of Chinese final year undergraduate accounting students at a leading Chinese university, where accounting courses are taught in both Simplified Chinese and English. Students in our study are proxy for entry-level accounting practitioners. Our findings have implications for the globalized business world and cross-cultural research by challenging the commonly held assumption that an individual’s ethical judgment is consistent in different languages. We suggest that systematically different ethical judgments in native and foreign languages needs to be recognized. (shrink)

Makoto (sincerity, truth, or faithfulness) is an important concept in haikai (Japanese comic linked verse) poetics. The discussions on makoto by the seventeenth-century haikai master Uejima Onitsura (1661-1738) clearly refer to the Daoist discourse on ziran (the Natural), and the clarification of this intertextuality is crucial to the understanding of the theoretical connotations of the term.

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Onitsura's Makoto and the Daoist Concept of the NaturalPeipei QiuIn haikai history, Uejima Onitsura (1661-1738) is famous for the following statement concerning the nature of comic linked verse: "Without makoto, there would be no haikai."1 The two Japanese terms used in this statement, haikai and makoto, present an obvious semantic conflict. Makoto in Japanese basically means "truth," "faithfulness," and "genuineness."2haikai, on the other hand, literally means "facetiousness" or "humor." (...) The term is used to refer to facetious poems in Japan since the first imperial poetic anthology, the Kokin wakashū (905). When haikai no renga (comic linked verse) became a popular genre during the later medieval and early Edo periods, it was conceived basically as a playful and facetious poem. By saying that "without makoto there would be no haikai," Onitsura declared a revolutionary change in the nature of the comic linked verse, a reform carried out by the joint effort of a number of haikai poets during the last two decades of the seventeenth century. Before this change took place, haikai had been characterized as a poem of "free exaggerations" and "the most deluding falsehoods."3 The shift of the critical emphasis from falsehood to truthfulness transformed the genre from an entertaining pastime to a serious literary form.An important notion in haikai poetics, Onitsura's makoto has garnered wide scholarly attention. But, because of the lack of a clear definition by the author himself, over the years scholars have been debating the precise meaning of Onitsura's makoto and trying to discover its derivation through various sources. The filiation of makoto has been traced to Zen Buddhist doctrine,4 traditional waka poetics,5 and Confucian teaching.6 The assumption that Onitsura's makoto originates in Zen doctrine is based on the preface that Onitsura wrote to Haidō Enō roku (The Way of haikai: Notes on Huineng's teaching) (1680). The preface begins with the following lines:Printed poetry books are not trees; the paper on which a poem is written also has no stand. "From the beginning not a thing is"—this is the key to my haikai.7Peculiar at first glance, these lines are derived from the legendary gatha of Huineng (Enō), the Sixth Patriarch of Zen Buddhism. Huineng's gatha appears in section 8 of Liuzu fabao tanjing (The Platform Sūtra of the Sixth Patriarch):Bodhi originally has no tree,The mirror also has no stand.From the beginning not a thing is,Where is there room for dust?8 [End Page 232]The third line of the verse, "From the beginning not a thing is", is regarded by some scholars, especially some Japanese writers, as the most important doctrine Huineng contributed to Zen Buddhism.9 It is believed that the focus on the original nothingness, or original purity, of Buddha nature distinguishes Huineng's doctrine of sudden enlightenment from those of his predecessors. Okada argues that the Zen notion of original nothingness was the major source that awakened Onitsura to the necessity of haikai reform and led him to the conclusion that "without makoto there would be no haikai."10Okada's study is enlightening in examining Onitsura's early views of poetry. It is not, however, very convincing to say that this Zen verse alone was responsible for the formation of Onitsura's makoto. For one thing, the poet's own writings suggest that Onitsura realized the significance of Huineng's words after he had become aware of the true way of haikai. In the same preface cited above, Onitsura writes:Only after I became awakened to the true way of haikai did I begin to understand the significance of Master Huineng's words "not a thing is." I see [that] many poets in the haikai circles nowadays have ignored the true way of haikai while arguing endlessly over the old and new styles. I feel sorry for them.11It is clear from Onitsura's words here that he borrowed the Zen term mainly to criticize the mannerism among the haikai poets of his time. He was calling for the haikai poets to put aside their prejudice about the stylistic differences and open their minds... (shrink)

The present study examined the effect of distant temporal distance on creative thinking and the underlying motivation mechanism. We tested our hypotheses in four studies. In Studies 1-4, participants in the distant temporal distance opposed to the proximal temporal distance performed better on a series of creative thinking tasks: the Alternate Uses Task (Study 1), the Chinese Remote Associates Test (Study 2), the Toy Design Task (Study 3) and the Ad Evaluation Task (Study 4). Moreover, Studies 2 and 3 found (...) that promotion motivation mediated the beneficial effect of distant temporal distance on the performance of the two creative thinking tasks. In conclusion, distant temporal distance facilitated creative thinking, and promotion motivation mediated this beneficial effect. (shrink)

This study investigated the mediating roles of self-acceptance and self-esteem in the relationship between body image dissatisfaction and impulse buying, and tested the moderating effect of gender on the relationships. A sample of 374 college students and graduate students participated in the study. Results revealed that body image dissatisfaction positively associated with impulse buying; self-esteem plays a mediating role between body image dissatisfaction and impulsive buying; a serial indirect pathway emerged; the mediation path from self-acceptance to self-esteem was stronger for (...) female than that from male. The results underscore the importance of identifying the mechanisms that moderate the mediated path between body image dissatisfaction and impulse buying among students. These findings point to the potential implications about how to reduce impulse buying through improving body image satisfaction. (shrink)

Background Patient dignity is sometimes neglected in intensive care unit (ICU) settings, which may potentially cause psychological harm to critically ill patients. However, no instrument has been specifically developed to evaluate the behaviors of dignified care among critical care nurses. Aim This study aimed to develop and evaluate ICU Dignified Care Questionnaire (IDCQ) for measurement of self-assessed dignity-conserving behaviors of critical care nurses during care. Methods The instrument was developed in 3 phases. Phase 1: item generation; phase 2: a two-round (...) Delphi survey and a readability pilot study; phase 3: cross-sectional survey with model estimation. The questionnaire was evaluated by item analysis, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, assessment of internal consistency reliability, and test-retest reliability. The investigation was conducted using a convenience sample of 392 critical care nurses from 6 cities in Zhejiang Province, China, of which 30 participated in the test-retest reliability survey 2 weeks later. Ethical considerations The study was approved by ethics committee. All participants provided written informed consent before the survey. The questionnaire survey was anonymous. Results The results showed acceptable reliability and validity of the IDCQ. The 17-item final version questionnaire was divided into 2 dimensions: absolute dignity and relative dignity. These two factors accounted for 62.804% of the total variance, and model fitting results were acceptable. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the questionnaire was 0.94, and the test-retest intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.88 after 2 weeks. Conclusions This study developed a brief and reliable instrument (IDCQ) to assess dignified care in ICU nursing. It can help critical care nurses identify their behaviors in maintaining patient dignity and discover their deficiencies. It may also serve as a clinical nursing management tool to help reduce patient disrespect experience in ICU. (shrink)

The present study examined the longitudinal association among the Big Five personality traits, maladaptive cognitions, and Internet addiction during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 481 Chinese university students were surveyed three times by using the Chinese version of the Big Five Personality Traits Scale, Maladaptive Cognitions Scale, and Internet Addiction Scale. The results of a cross-lagged panel analysis highlighted that extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness were negatively associated with maladaptive cognitions and Internet addiction, whereas neuroticism was found to be (...) positively associated with maladaptive cognitions and Internet addiction across time; associations among the Big Five personality traits, maladaptive cognitions, and Internet addiction were dynamic and bidirectional; and maladaptive cognitions played mediating roles in extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, and Internet addiction across time. The Big Five personality traits, maladaptive cognitions, and Internet addiction predicted each other across time, and maladaptive cognitions were likely to be the key mediating factor in the associations between the Big Five personality traits and Internet addiction, which supported and expanded the Davis’ cognitive–behavioral model. (shrink)