Showing papers by "Roy F. Baumeister published in 2010"

Acetaminophen Reduces Social Pain Behavioral and Neural Evidence

Abstract: Pain, whether caused by physical injury or social rejection, is an inevitable part of life. These two types of pain-physical and social-may rely on some of the same behavioral and neural mechanisms that register pain-related affect. To the extent that these pain processes overlap, acetaminophen, a physical pain suppressant that acts through central (rather than peripheral) neural mechanisms, may also reduce behavioral and neural responses to social rejection. In two experiments, participants took acetaminophen or placebo daily for 3 weeks. Doses of acetaminophen reduced reports of social pain on a daily basis (Experiment 1). We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure participants' brain activity (Experiment 2), and found that acetaminophen reduced neural responses to social rejection in brain regions previously associated with distress caused by social pain and the affective component of physical pain (dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, anterior insula). Thus, acetaminophen reduces behavioral and neural responses associated with the pain of social rejection, demonstrating substantial overlap between social and physical pain.

Conscious thought is for facilitating social and cultural interactions: how mental simulations serve the animal-culture interface.

Abstract: Five empirically based critiques have undermined the standard assumption that conscious thought is primarily for input (obtaining information from the natural environment) or output (the direct control of action). Instead, we propose that conscious thought is for internal processing, to facilitate downstream interaction with the social and cultural environment. Human consciousness enables the construction of meaningful, sequential thought, as in sentences and narratives, logical reasoning, counting and quantification, causal understanding, narratives, and the simulation of events (including nonpresent ones). Conscious thought sequences resemble short films that the brain makes for itself, thereby enabling different parts of brain and mind to share information. The production of conscious thoughts is closely linked to the production of speech because the human mind evolved to facilitate social communication and information sharing, as culture became humankind's biological strategy. The influence of conscious thought on behavior can be vitally helpful but is mostly indirect. Conscious simulation processes are useful for understanding the perspectives of social interaction partners, for exploring options in complex decisions, for replaying past events (both literally and counterfactually) so as to learn, and for facilitating participation in culture in other ways.

Family as a salient source of meaning in young adulthood

Abstract: Five studies demonstrated the role of family relationships as an important source of perceived meaning in life. In Study 1 (n ¼ 50), 68% participants reported that their families were the single most significant contributor to personal meaning. Study 2 (n ¼ 231) participants ranked family above 12 likely sources of meaning. Studies 3( n ¼ 87) and 4 (n ¼ 130) demonstrated that participants’ reports of their closeness to family (Study 3) and support from family (Study 4) predicted perceived meaning in life, even when controlling for several competing variables. Study 5 (n ¼ 261) ruled out social desirability as an alternative explanation to the proposed relationship between family and meaning. We conclude that for young adults, family relationships are a primary source of meaning in life and they contribute to their sense of meaning.

Personal Philosophy and Personnel Achievement: Belief in Free Will Predicts Better Job Performance

Abstract: Do philosophic views affect job performance? The authors found that possessing a belief in free will predicted better career attitudes and actual job performance. The effect of free will beliefs on job performance indicators were over and above well-established predictors such as conscientiousness, locus of control, and Protestant work ethic. In Study 1, stronger belief in free will corresponded to more positive attitudes about expected career success. In Study 2, job performance was evaluated objectively and independently by a supervisor. Results indicated that employees who espoused free will beliefs were given better work performance evaluations than those who disbelieve in free will, presumably because belief in free will facilitates exerting control over one’s actions.

Trade-Offs and Depletion in Choice

Abstract: Four experiments examine why choices deplete executive resources. The authors show that the resolution of trade-offs is a driver of depletion effects arising from choice, and the larger the trade-offs, the greater is the depletion effect. The authors also find that choice difficulty not related to trade-offs does not influence the depleting effect of the choices. Finally, the authors find that though people can intuit some depletion effects, they do not intuit that choices or trade-offs within choices might be depleting and therefore fail to predict that larger trade-offs are more depleting.

Advanced social psychology: The state of the science

Abstract: Social psychology is a flourishing discipline. It explores the most essential questions of the human psyche (e.g., Why do people help or harm others? How do influence professionals get us to do what they want, and how can we inoculate ourselves against their sometimes-insidious persuasion tactics? Why do social relationships exert such powerful effects on people's physical health?), and it does so with clever, ingenuitive research methods. This edited volume is a textbook for advanced social psychology courses. Its primary target audience is first-year graduate students (MA or PhD) in social psychlogy, although it is also appropriate for upper-level undergraduate courses in social psychology and for doctoral students in disciplines connecting to social psychology (e.g., marketing, organizational behavior). The authors of the chapters are world-renowned leaders on their topic, and they have written these chapters to be engaging and accessible to students who are just learning the discipline. After reading this book, you will be able to understand almost any journal article or conference presentation in any field of social psychology. You will be able to converse competently with most social psychologists in their primary research domain, a use skill that is relevant not only in daily life but also when interviewing for a faculty position. And, most importantly, you will be equipped with the background knowledge to forge ahead more confidently with your own research.

Choice, Free Will, and Religion

Abstract: Although free will has been defined in multiple, conflicting ways, the present approach analyzes it as a psychological capacity subsuming self-control, effortful choice, planning, and initiative. These capabilities are useful for making human social life and culture possible, but they depend on a limited resource and therefore often fall short of optimal levels. Religion may be helpful to individuals and society in part because it supports both the exercise of free will and the belief in it.

Free Will and Consciousness: How Might They Work?

Abstract: This volume is aimed at readers who wish to move beyond debates about the existence of free will and the efficacy of consciousness and closer to appreciating how free will and consciousness might operate. It draws from philosophy and psychology, the two fields that have grappled most fundamentally with these issues. In this wide-ranging volume, the contributors explore such issues as how free will is connected to rational choice, planning, and self-control; roles for consciousness in decision making; the nature and power of conscious deciding; connections among free will, consciousness, and quantum mechanics; why free will and consciousness might have evolved; how consciousness develops in individuals; the experience of free will; effects on behavior of the belief that free will is an illusion; and connections between free will and moral responsibility in lay thinking. Collectively, these state-of-the-art chapters by accomplished psychologists and philosophers provide a glimpse into the future of research on free will and consciousness.

Is There Anything Good About Men?: How Cultures Flourish by Exploiting Men

Abstract: Have men really been engaged in a centuries-old conspiracy to exploit and oppress women? Have the essential differences between men and women really been erased? Have men now become unnecessary? Are they good for anything at all?In Is There Anything Good About Men?, Roy Baumeister offers provocative answers to these and many other questions about the current state of manhood in America. Baumeister argues that relations between men and women are now and have always been more cooperative than antagonistic, that men and women are different in basic ways, and that successful cultures capitalize on these differences to outperform rival cultures. Amongst our ancestors---as with many other species--only the alpha males were able to reproduce, leading them to take more risks and to exhibit more aggressive and protective behaviors than women, whose evolutionary strategies required a different set of behaviors. Whereas women favor and excel at one-to-one intimate relationships, men compete with one another and build larger organizations and social networks from which culture grows. But cultures in turn exploit men by insisting that their role is to achieve and produce, to provide for others, and if necessary to sacrifice themselves. Baumeister shows that while men have greatly benefited from the culture they have created, they have also suffered because of it. Men may dominate the upper echelons of business and politics, but far more men than women die in work-related accidents, are incarcerated, or are killed in battle--facts nearly always left out of current gender debates.Engagingly written, brilliantly argued, and based on evidence from a wide range of disciplines, Is There Anything Good About Men? offers a new and far more balanced view of gender relations.

Some Good NewS About RumiNAtioN: tASk-FocuSed thiNkiNG AFteR FAiluRe FAcilitAteS PeRFoRmANce imPRovemeNt

Abstract: Is there an adaptive side to rumination? We tested whether rumination that is focused on correcting past mistakes and active goal achievement could produce positive outcomes; this is in contrast to rumination that focuses on the implications of failure (i.e., state rumination) and task-irrelevant rumination. In all studies, participants received failure feedback on an initial task. A second task similar to the first provided an opportunity for improvement. Studies 1 and 2 manipulated type of ruminative thought such that it was action-focused, state-focused, or task-irrelevant. Action-focused rumination led to performance improvement relative to the other two conditions. Experiment 3 allowed participants to ruminate naturalistically. The more that participants' rumination contained action-focused thoughts, the more their performance improved. Hence, rumination can yield benefits if it focuses on correcting errors and goal attainment.

Attraction and rejection

Abstract: Few experiences are more all-consuming than intense interpersonal attraction or intense interpersonal rejection. Most of us can readily remember attraction and rejection experiences that dominated our life for a while. Regarding attraction, perhaps we recall the mental preoccupation with our fi rst love or the strong desire to form a friendship with a fellow collegiate dorm resident. Regarding rejection, perhaps we recall the time when we were ostracized by everybody at a party or the time when the love of our life left us for another partner. As these examples illustrate, attraction involves an individual’s positive evaluation of others and the desire to approach them, whereas rejection involves others’ negative evaluation of an individual and the tendency to exclude him or her. Th e present chapter reviews the scientifi c work on attraction and rejection, beginning with attraction.

Does emotion cause behavior (apart from making people do stupid, destructive things)?

Abstract: The authors challenge the traditional view that emotion directly causes behavior, as represented in the claim that someone did something “because he was angry.” Essentially, this is the view that “the impetus for the behavior is contained in the emotion,” a premise that still leaves a miraculous gap between feeling the emotion and enacting the behavior. As an alternative, the authors advance the view that “conscious emotion tends to come after behavior and operates as a kind of inner feedback system.” The authors bolster their argument against the traditional view with evidence that emotions are not specific enough to serve as impetus for specific behaviors, that emotions seem to have more impact on cognition than on behavior, and that emotional influences on behavior tend to disappear unless people believe that their actions will affect their emotional state.

A Theory of Limited Metabolic Energy and Premenstrual Syndrome Symptoms: Increased Metabolic Demands During the Luteal Phase Divert Metabolic Resources From and Impair Self-Control

Abstract: Numerous studies suggest that premenstrual syndrome (PMS) may be linked to impaired self-control since many of the symptoms of PMS are indicative of impaired self-control. Evidence links PMS to increased difficulty controlling emotions, attention, and fine motor movements; increased intake of alcohol, drugs, nicotine, caffeine, and food; impaired work performance, and increased stress, aggression, criminal behavior, interpersonal conflicts, and passivity. Empirical research demonstrates that self-control is metabolically expensive and, as such, can be impaired when metabolic energy (i.e., glucose) is low or processed ineffectively. The expression of PMS is tightly linked to the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, a time in which considerable metabolic energy is allocated to the ovaries. This increased ovarian metabolic demand could, therefore, divert energy away from, and thereby impair, other processes during this phase of the menstrual cycle. Here, we propose a novel theory in which PMS symptoms are partly attributable to the diversion of metabolic energy to the ovaries and away from processes that benefit self-control.

Ego depletion and the limited resource model of self-control

Abstract: People break diets, procrastinate in the face of looming deadlines, imbibe too much alcohol the night before a midterm, struggle to save money, and lash out at loved ones and family members. They do all these things despite their best intentions not to. Why do people engage in such personally, interpersonally, and socially destructive behaviors? This chapter suggests that a major reason why people fail at self-control is because it relies on a limited resource. We define self-control as the capacity to alter one's responses; it is what enables people to forego the allure of short-term pleasures to institute responses that bring long-term rewards. One of the core functions of self-control may be to facilitate culture, which often requires that people curtail selfishness for the sake of effective group functioning. The first part of the chapter gives an overview of how self-control operates, including the possible biological basis of self-control. It covers a substantial body of literature suggesting that self-control operates on a limited resource, which becomes depleted with use. The second part of the chapter reviews the benefits of good self-control and the costs of bad self-control across a large variety of domains, such as consumption, self-presentation, decision making, rejection, aggression, and interpersonal relationships.

Understanding free will and consciousness on the basis of current research findings in psychology

Abstract: This chapter takes the view that consciousness and free will are real and effective phenomena. Empirical findings in psychology are used to understand how they function. Free will is said to be a form of action control, including planning and volition. Consciousness, meanwhile, is the brain making input for itself to facilitate cross-communication across different segments of brain and mind.

Chapter 12. Attraction and rejection

Abstract: Few experiences are more all-consuming than intense interpersonal attraction or intense interpersonal rejection. Most of us can readily remember attraction and rejection experiences that dominated our life for a while. Regarding attraction, perhaps we recall the mental preoccupation with our fi rst love or the strong desire to form a friendship with a fellow collegiate dorm resident. Regarding rejection, perhaps we recall the time when we were ostracized by everybody at a party or the time when the love of our life left us for another partner. As these examples illustrate, attraction involves an individual’s positive evaluation of others and the desire to approach them, whereas rejection involves others’ negative evaluation of an individual and the tendency to exclude him or her. Th e present chapter reviews the scientifi c work on attraction and rejection, beginning with attraction.