The present study investigated whether physical cleansing can reduce the mindset effect in problem-solving in two experiments. Both experiments followed the same procedure. In the first stage, participants formed a mindset through the Luchins’ water-jar task (Experiment 1) or the idiom maze task (Experiment 2). The second stage is cleansing manipulation. In Experiment 1, participants were asked to clean their hands with wipes (cleansing condition) or examine the packaging of the wipes (no-cleansing condition). In Experiment 2, participants were asked to (...) watch a washing-hands video (cleansing condition) or watch an examining-pen video (no-cleansing condition). At last, all participants completed the mindset effect test problems. The results showed that the participants in the cleansing condition were less affected by the mindset than those in the no-cleansing condition, indicating that physical cleansing reduced the mindset effect. Our results provide new evidence for the clean-slate effects and support the hypothesis that physical cleansing is an embodied process of psychological separation. (shrink)

To investigate the effects of left-behind children’s empathy and coping styles on school adjustment, 605 left-behind children in the third grade from three rural elementary schools in Suzhou, Anhui Province were selected to complete the Chinese version of the Interpersonal Reaction Index Scale, the Coping Style Scale, and the School Adjustment Behavior Scale for Primary and Secondary School Students. The results showed that emotional empathy positively predicted children’s social competence, and negatively predicted children’s antisocial behavior; cognitive empathy positively predicted children’s (...) social competence; the role of positive coping styles mediated the relationship between cognitive empathy and social competence, and that between cognitive empathy and antisocial behavior; negative coping styles mediated the relationship between cognitive empathy and antisocial behavior; both positive and negative coping styles mediated the relationship between emotional empathy and social competence, and that between emotional empathy and antisocial behavior. The findings of the study are valuable for understanding the relationship between empathy and school adjustment, which also helps to enhance the school adjustment of left-behind children. (shrink)

Burnout is a serious problem in the teaching profession. Research suggests that career calling could be regarded as a protective factor against burnout; however, the mediating mechanism underlying this relationship remains to be explored. The purpose of this study was to test the mediating roles of work engagement and teachers' psychological capital. A total of 3,300 teachers completed a self-report questionnaire. Results showed that the relationship between career calling and burnout was mediated by work engagement and teacher psychological capital. These (...) findings provide insights for preventing burnout among teacher groups. (shrink)