Economic Inequality and the Pursuit of Pleasure

The present research proposes and tests the “hedonic risk hypothesis” that affective experiences of pleasure provide a common currency that people use to equate economic and hedonic inequality. As a result, economic inequality can increase risk-taking in pursuit of pleasure even in noneconomic domains. Study 1 showed that higher economic inequality at the state level was associated with people in those states spending more time pursuing pleasure. Studies 2–4 were experiments, which demonstrated that when people perceive inequality in other people’s hedonic experience, they become riskier in their pursuit of pleasure for themselves. The relationship between inequality and risk-taking in pursuit of pleasurable experiences was moderated by upward social comparisons. Both monetary and hedonic inequality caused participants to become riskier in their pursuit of pleasure. The findings suggest a psychological pathway by which systemic effects of income inequality may affect individual health and social outcomes.

The Psychological Pathway to Suicide Attempts: A Strategy of Control Without Awareness

ObjectivesThis paper aims to identify potential areas for refinement in existing theoretical models of suicide, and introduce a new integrative theoretical framework for understanding suicide, that could inform such refinements.MethodsLiterature on existing theoretical models of suicide and how they contribute to understanding psychological processes involved in suicide was evaluated in a narrative review. This involved identifying psychological processes associated with suicide. Current understanding of these processes is discussed, and suggestions for integration of the existing literature are offered.ResultsExisting approaches to understanding suicide have advanced the current knowledge of suicide in various ways. They have guided valuable research in the following areas: motivations for suicide and the psychological distress which influences suicide attempts; ambivalence about suicide; suicidal individuals’ focus of attention; and ways in which individuals who contemplate suicide differ from individuals who attempt suicide. We outline a new theoretical framework as a means to integrating all of these concepts into the three principles of control, conflict, and awareness. Within this framework, suicide is regarded as occurring due to a long standing conflict between an individual’s personal goals, culminating in an episode of acute loss of control. The new framework posits that the individual then strives to regain control through the means of suicide because of a narrowed awareness of consequences of their actions on other valued goals. This psychological mechanism of limited awareness is posited to be the common pathway by which individuals make a suicide attempt, regardless of which risk factors are present.ConclusionThis article introduces a theoretical framework that generates several hypotheses for future research, and focuses on psychological processes occurring during immediate crisis. One of the key hypotheses resulting from our predictions on how individuals progress from contemplating to attempting suicide will be tested in an ongoing program of research: Individuals who attempt suicide have a significantly reduced awareness of consequences of suicide, which would negatively impact on their important life goals, values, principles, or ideals, compared to individuals who contemplate suicide. Therapy guided by the new framework may be more flexible, immediate, and client-focused than other therapies for suicidal individuals.

The Role of Self-Perceptions of Aging for Recovery of Older Adults After a Hospital Stay

For older adults, a hospital stay can lead to loss of physical function and frailty. It is therefore important to investigate factors for recovery after hospitalization. Recent studies suggest negative self-perceptions of aging (SPA) as a potential risk factor in the context of serious health events. This ongoing longitudinal study investigates how negative SPA might contribute to worse physical recovery (assessed with the Short Physical Performance Battery) after hospital stay in a sample of 244 German adults aged 75 to 96. Preliminary mediation analysis based on available data of the first 50 participants indicate that negative SPA is related to increased fear of falling after 6 months, which predicts worse physical function one year after hospitalization (indirect effect: B = -0.70, SE = 0.41, p = .09). The results stress the importance of SPA for health recovery in old age and introduce fear of falling as a psychological pathway.

Development of a psychological pathway model linking lighting quality to well-being in indoor café environments

The aim of the study was to investigate whether indoor lighting quality would have any systematic impact on psychological well-being of people working in café environments. Earlier studies have mostly focused on the impact of lighting in typical workspace environments through laboratory settings. The present study was conducted under two different real café environments; one with daylight, another without daylight, with a total of 66 customers’ participation. Two psychological pathway models that linked customers’ self-reported lighting quality, pleasantness, aesthetic judgement of space appearance, environmental satisfaction and feelings of eye discomfort were developed. Application of structural equation modelling produced strong fits to these two models, one with daylight, another without daylight, in which quality of lighting was linked with environmental satisfaction and feelings of eye discomfort in both cafés. The results suggest that under a non-daylit café environment, providing good quality lighting can both directly and indirectly promote environmental satisfaction and decrease negative feelings of eye discomfort, while under a daylit café environment, perceived lighting quality was only indirectly linked.

What Are the Pathways Linking the Disclosure of a Degenerative Eye Condition in the Workplace and Wellbeing? A Mixed Methods Approach

While much is known about the pathways linking workplace disclosure of a stigmatised identity and negative wellbeing outcomes, little is known about the pathways to positive wellbeing outcomes. Using survey and interview data three pathways were investigated among the population of individuals with degenerative eye conditions: the alleviation of inhibition (psychological), social support (social), and the use of assistive technology (physical). The findings suggest that the psychological pathway is most prominent. The alternative pathways are only partially exhibited in the interview data. These findings can assist policymakers nuance policy aimed at enhancing labour market participation of individuals with disabilities.