Rising up to the 'challenge'? The interactive role of need for closure and situational appraisals on information processing

We discuss the role of linguistic metaphors as a cognitive frame for the understanding of genetic information processing. The essential similarity between language and genetic information processing has been recognized since the very beginning, and many prominent scholars have noted the possibility of considering genes and genomes as texts or languages. Most of the core terms in molecular biology are based on linguistic metaphors. The processing of genetic information is understood as some operations on text – writing, reading and editing and their specification (encoding/decoding, proofreading, transcription, translation, reading frame). The concept of gene reading can be traced from the archaic idea of the equation of Life and Nature with the Book. Thus, the genetics itself can be metaphorically represented as some operations on text (deciphering, understanding, code-breaking, transcribing, editing, etc.), which are performed by scientists. At the same time linguistic metaphors portrayed gene entities also as having the ability of reading. In the case of such “bio-reading” some essential features similar to the processes of human reading can be revealed: this is an ability to identify the biochemical sequences based on their function in an abstract system and distinguish between type and its contextual tokens of the same type. Metaphors seem to be an effective instrument for representation, as they make possible a two-dimensional description: biochemical by its experimental empirical results and textual based on the cognitive models of comprehension. In addition to their heuristic value, linguistic metaphors are based on the essential characteristics of genetic information derived from its dual nature: biochemical by its substance, textual (or quasi-textual) by its formal organization. It can be concluded that linguistic metaphors denoting biochemical objects and processes seem to be a method of description and explanation of these heterogeneous properties.

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Emotion information processing as a new component of emotional intelligence: Theoretical framework and empirical evidence

European Journal of Personality ◽

10.1177/08902070211007672 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 089020702110076

Author(s):

Marina Fiori ◽

Shagini Udayar ◽

Ashley Vesely Maillefer

Keyword(s):

Emotional Intelligence ◽

Information Processing ◽

Incremental Validity ◽

Stressful Situation ◽

Factorial Structure ◽

Ability Emotional Intelligence ◽

Processing Component ◽

Overall Performance ◽

The Relationship

The relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and emotion information processing (EIP) has received surprisingly little attention in the literature. The present research addresses these gaps in the literature by introducing a conceptualization of emotional intelligence as composed of two distinct components: (1) EIK or emotion Knowledge component, captured by current ability emotional intelligence tests, related to top-down, higher order reasoning about emotions, and which depends more strongly on acquired and culture-bound knowledge about emotions; (2) EIP or emotion information Processing component, measured with emotion information processing tasks, requires faster processing and is based on bottom-up attention-related responses to emotion information. In Study 1 ( N = 349) we tested the factorial structure of this new EIP component within the nomological network of intelligence and current ability emotional intelligence. In Study 2 ( N =111) we tested the incremental validity of EIP in predicting both overall performance and the charisma of a presenter while presenting in a stressful situation. Results support the importance of acknowledging the role of emotion information processing in the emotional intelligence literature and point to the utility of introducing a new EI measure that would capture stable individual differences in how individuals process emotion information.

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Residential Mobility and Trust: The Moderating Role of Cognitive Need for Closure

Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology ◽

10.1177/1834490920974759 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 ◽

pp. 183449092097475

Author(s):

Na Zhao ◽

Kaiqiang Xu ◽

Ling Sun

Keyword(s):

Residential Mobility ◽

Interpersonal Trust ◽

Negative Association ◽

Trust Game ◽

Trust Building ◽

Control Group ◽

Need For Closure ◽

Stable Group ◽

Moderating Role

This study examined the link between residential mobility and interpersonal trust building. Study 1 revealed a negative association between residential mobility and trust by measuring personal residential-mobility history. Study 2 demonstrated that participants who were momentarily primed with mobility showed a lower investment than participants in the control group in a trust game. The results of Study 3 showed that need for closure moderated the link between residential mobility and trust-building intention. Specifically, lower need-for-closure people had a significantly lower trust tendency in the mobility group than in the stable group. These findings illuminate the underlying influence of need for closure in the link between residential mobility and trust.

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Effort investment in uncontrollable situations: The moderating role of motivation toward closure

Motivation and Emotion ◽

10.1007/s11031-021-09868-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 45 (2) ◽

pp. 186-196

Author(s):

Paulina Szwed ◽

Małgorzata Kossowska ◽

Marcin Bukowski

Keyword(s):

Blood Pressure ◽

Experimental Studies ◽

The Other ◽

Need For Closure ◽

Extra Effort ◽

Moderating Role ◽

Energy Conservation Principle ◽

Principle Of Energy Conservation ◽

Investment Behaviour

AbstractAccording to the principle of energy-conservation principle, effort investment is usually reduced in situations that are perceived as uncontrollable. This is because when success is recognized as impossible, any effortful actions are no longer justified. However, we predicted that individual differences in uncertainty tolerance, i.e., the need for closure (NFC), may moderate effort investment in uncontrollable situations. We tested this prediction in two experimental studies in which we exposed participants with differing levels of NFC to uncontrollable events, and indexed effort through the assessment of systolic blood pressure (SBP) responses. As predicted, in the uncontrollability (vs. controllability) condition, effort investment decreased significantly among low- but not high-NFC participants. Since gaining certainty and achieving closure is not a critical epistemic goal for low-NFC individuals, exerting extra effort to gain certainty is therefore no longer justified. On the other hand, high-NFC participants do not withhold their efforts, as they are highly motivated to obtain certainty. These results may help to account for contradictory findings in effort-investment behaviour and add substantively to the literature concerning motivation toward closure.

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