Does Psychological Flourishing Have the Potential to Mitigate Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors? A Preliminary Analysis of the Protective Influence of Flourishing.

AIM: The purpose of this article was to examine whether psychological flourishing, a multi-dimensional construct of well-being, has the potential to play a preventative role in suicidal and nonsuicidal thoughts and actions. METHODS: This two-part study utilized cross-sectional survey data from college students across the United States, assessing levels of psychological distress, loneliness, and psychological flourishing. Frequencies of suicidal ideation, intent, previous suicidal attempts, and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) were also assessed. Data collected in 2019 were used for Study 1 (n = 38,679) and data collected in 2020 were used for Study 2 (n = 50,307). RESULTS: Psychological flourishing is significantly inversely related to suicide and NSSI risk when controlling for loneliness and psychological distress. There were two-way interactions between flourishing and distress, whereby under conditions of high distress, the inverse effect of flourishing on suicidal ideation, intent, and attempts and NSSI was more pronounced. These results were consistent across both studies. Subgroup analyses revealed similar results regardless of participants' race, sexual orientation, and gender identity. CONCLUSION: Inverse associations between flourishing and self-injurious thoughts and behaviors suggest that flourishing may buffer risk of suicide and NSSI, and these findings may have important implications for developing evidence-based therapeutic interventions. Additional research, including longitudinal and clinical work, is warranted.

Does personality "Trump" ideology? narcissism predicts support for Trump via ideological tendencies.

Former US President Donald Trump's 2016 election victory defied expectations. Trump was an unconventional candidate, and his presidency was true to form. What accounts for his popularity? Integrating work on narcissism with the dual-process motivational model of ideology, we propose that individuals higher in narcissism are more likely to adopt right-wing authoritarian and social-dominance oriented attitudes, which lead them to embrace socially and economically conservative policy positions, respectively. Thus, they are receptive to Trump's anti-immigration stance, a centerpiece of his political messaging from the campaign trail to the White House. The present study (N = 302) yielded results consistent with this analysis: Right-wing authoritarianism and social-dominance orientation mediated the association between narcissism and Trump support, via social and economic conservatism and immigration attitudes. The study represents an initial test of a potentially generative framework on which future research can elaborate.

Did the COVID-19 pandemic help or hurt Donald Trump's political fortunes?

The COVID-19 pandemic likely had an effect on the outcome of the 2020 US presidential election. Was it responsible for the defeat of incumbent President Donald Trump? The present study makes an initial attempt at, and provides a model for, understanding the pandemic's influence on Trump support. The study employed a mixed experimental and correlational design and surveyed separate samples of adults (N = 1,763) in six waves beginning March 23, 2020 and ending June 1, 2020. Participants were randomly assigned to report their Trump support either before or after being reminded of the pandemic with a series of questions gauging their level of concern about it. Results revealed complex and dynamic effects that changed over time. Depending on survey wave, the pandemic seems to have lowered Trump support among Democrats, while (marginally) raising it among independents. Republicans' reactions also changed over time; of particular note, Republicans who were more concerned about the pandemic reported higher Trump support after being reminded of the pandemic in its early stages, but this effect reversed by the time the economy began reopening (coinciding with a dip in Trump's approval ratings). Although the correlational results in the present study did not converge neatly with the experimental results, the combined experimental and correlational approach has the potential to increase researchers' confidence in the causal effects of salient national and international events on political attitudes.

Echoes of the Past: Recognizing Co-occurring Alcohol Use Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in the American Veteran Population.

PURPOSE: The aim of this editorial is to explore and highlight the importance of identifying both the alcohol use disorder (AUD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the veteran population. REVIEW: Determining if the patient has military experience can assist in both an accurate and complete assessment. Being aware of the patient's military service time can help better understand some of the presenting physical and mental complaints that may incorrectly be attributed to substances. Although not all veterans had trauma exposure while in the military, asking about PTSD may help identify additional issues needing attention. Having a PTSD diagnosis increases the likelihood that there is an underlying substance use disorder. Veterans with PTSD have a 65% likely comorbidity with alcohol use (Smith, Goldstein, & Grant, 2016). CONCLUSION: Recognition of PTSD as a co-occurring disorder with AUD can begin the dialogue to address treatment of both disorders to optimize recovery.

Did Hurricane Sandy influence the 2012 US presidential election?

Despite drawing on a common pool of data, observers of the 2012 presidential campaign came to different conclusions about whether, how, and to what extent "October surprise" Hurricane Sandy influenced the election. The present study used a mixed correlational and experimental design to assess the relation between, and effect of, the salience of Hurricane Sandy on attitudes and voting intentions regarding President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney in a large sample of voting-aged adults. Results suggest that immediately following positive news coverage of Obama's handling of the storm's aftermath, Sandy's salience positively influenced attitudes toward Obama, but that by election day, reminders of the hurricane became a drag instead of a boon for the President. In addition to theoretical implications, this study provides an example of how to combine methodological approaches to help answer questions about the impact of unpredictable, large-scale events as they unfold.

Dying scenarios improve recall as much as survival scenarios.

Merely contemplating one's death improves retention for entirely unrelated material learned subsequently. This "dying to remember" effect seems conceptually related to the survival processing effect, whereby processing items for their relevance to being stranded in the grasslands leads to recall superior to that of other deep processing control conditions. The present experiments directly compared survival processing scenarios with "death processing" scenarios. Results showed that when the survival and dying scenarios are closely matched on key dimensions, and possible congruency effects are controlled, the dying and survival scenarios produced equivalently high recall levels. We conclude that the available evidence (cf. Bell, Roer, & Buchner, 2013; Klein, 2012), while not definitive, is consistent with the possibility of overlapping mechanisms.

Dying to remember, remembering to survive: mortality salience and survival processing.

Processing items for their relevance to survival improves recall for those items relative to numerous other deep processing encoding techniques. Perhaps related, placing individuals in a mortality salient state has also been shown to enhance retention of items encoded after the morality salience manipulation (e.g., in a pleasantness rating task), a phenomenon we dubbed the "dying-to-remember" (DTR) effect. The experiments reported here further explored the effect and tested the possibility that the DTR effect is related to survival processing. Experiment 1 replicated the effect using different encoding tasks, demonstrating that the effect is not dependent on the pleasantness task. In Experiment 2 the DTR effect was associated with increases in item-specific processing, not relational processing, according to several indices. Experiment 3 replicated the main results of Experiment 2, and tested the effects of mortality salience and survival processing within the same experiment. The DTR effect and its associated difference in item-specific processing were completely eliminated when the encoding task required survival processing. These results are consistent with the interpretation that the mechanisms responsible for survival processing and DTR effects are overlapping.

Toward an Integrative Theory of Psychological Defense.

According to theories of "psychological defense," humans are motivated to protect themselves against various types of psychological threat, including death awareness, uncertainty, and other inherently anxiety-provoking experiences. Protective mechanisms include strengthening close relationships; maintaining appraisals of self-worth, accomplishment, and agency; and cultivating meaningful views of the world. Thus, defensiveness theories incorporate research from many areas of psychology (e.g., information-processing biases, attitudes, and interpersonal and intergroup relations), to help explain why people think, feel, and act in the diverse ways that they do. Currently, the study of psychological defense is hindered by contradictory empirical results and a proliferation of theories that make very similar predictions. This article examines a cross-section of defensiveness theories and research, highlighting conclusions that can be drawn and areas where conceptual and research problems linger. It suggests that the field needs methodological innovation (e.g., more reliable and valid manipulations and measures of unconscious constructs, more diverse methodological approaches), a more complete and reliable body of data, and some fresh new ideas from psychological scientists across disciplines.

Creatureliness priming reduces aggression and support for war.

Terror management theory (TMT) posits that humans distance themselves from, or elevate themselves above, other animals as a way of denying their mortality. The present studies assessed whether the salience of aggressive tendencies that humans share with other animals make thoughts of death salient and whether depicting human aggression as animalistic can mitigate aggressive behaviour and support for aggression. In Study 1, participants primed with human-animal similarities (i.e., human creatureliness) exhibited elevated death-thought accessibility (DTA) after hitting a punching bag. In Studies 2a and 2b, creatureliness priming caused participants to hit a punching bag with less frequency, perceived force, and comfort. In Study 3, participants primed to view violence as animalistic exhibited increased DTA and reported less support for war against Iran. These studies suggest that portraying violence as creaturely may reduce the intensity of aggressive actions and support for violent solutions to international conflicts.

Adaptive memory: the survival scenario enhances item-specific processing relative to a moving scenario.

Nairne, Thompson, and Pandeirada (2007) found that retention of words rated for their relevance to survival is superior to that of words encoded under numerous other deep processing conditions. They suggested that our memory systems might have evolved to confer an advantage for survival-relevant information. Burns, Burns, and Hwang (2011) suggested a two-process explanation of the proximate mechanisms responsible for the survival advantage. Whereas most control tasks encourage only one type of processing, the survival task encourages both item-specific and relational processing. They found that when control tasks encouraged both types of processing, the survival processing advantage was eliminated. However, none of their control conditions included non-survival scenarios (e.g., moving, vacation, etc.), so it is not clear how this two-process explanation would explain the survival advantage when scenarios are used as control conditions. The present experiments replicated the finding that the survival scenario improves recall relative to a moving scenario in both a between-lists and within-list design and also provided evidence that this difference was accompanied by an item-specific processing difference, not a difference in relational processing. The implications of these results for several existing accounts of the survival processing effect are discussed.

He loves her, he loves her not: attachment style as a personality antecedent to men's ambivalent sexism.

The authors present an integrative account of how attachment insecurities relate to sexism. Two studies showed that attachment avoidance predisposes men to endorse hostile but to reject benevolent sexism (BS), whereas attachment anxiety predisposes men toward ambivalent (both hostile and benevolent) sexism. The authors also tested predicted mediators, finding that men's social dominance orientation (a competitive intergroup ideology) mediated the avoidance to hostile sexism link. In addition, romanticism (an idealized interpersonal ideology) mediated attachment insecurity to BS links: (a) Avoidant men tended to reject romanticism (i.e., were cynical about romance) and, in turn, were likely to reject BS, whereas (b) anxious men tended to endorse romanticism (i.e., were idealistic about romance) and, in turn, likely to endorse BS. The authors conclude that men's sexism stems in part from dispositional attachment working models, both directly and through the interpersonal and intergroup ideologies they generate.

Nothing concentrates the mind: thoughts of death improve recall.

It seems likely that awareness of one's mortality is in some respects advantageous (e.g., because it helps individuals forestall death), but little research has explored the psychological mechanisms that might confer such an advantage. Recent research has shown that processing stimuli in terms of survival relevance enhances memory relative to a host of deep-processing conditions, so it is plausible that human memory has been selected to operate more efficiently when death thoughts (e.g., survival concerns) are activated. If so, then the mortality salience as a general psychological state should be sufficient to increase recall; the present experiments show this to be the case. The enhancing effect of mortality salience on recall occurred for both incidental and intentional learning tasks, relative to a variety of comparison conditions, and did not appear to be mediated by affect or arousal. Follow-up analyses revealed the effect to be mediated by the complexity of participants' elaborations about mortality. Potential theoretical implications are discussed.

Death and science: the existential underpinnings of belief in intelligent design and discomfort with evolution.

The present research examined the psychological motives underlying widespread support for intelligent design theory (IDT), a purportedly scientific theory that lacks any scientific evidence; and antagonism toward evolutionary theory (ET), a theory supported by a large body of scientific evidence. We tested whether these attitudes are influenced by IDT's provision of an explanation of life's origins that better addresses existential concerns than ET. In four studies, existential threat (induced via reminders of participants' own mortality) increased acceptance of IDT and/or rejection of ET, regardless of participants' religion, religiosity, educational background, or preexisting attitude toward evolution. Effects were reversed by teaching participants that naturalism can be a source of existential meaning (Study 4), and among natural-science students for whom ET may already provide existential meaning (Study 5). These reversals suggest that the effect of heightened mortality awareness on attitudes toward ET and IDT is due to a desire to find greater meaning and purpose in science when existential threats are activated.

Going for broke: mortality salience increases risky decision making on the Iowa gambling task.

Research on gambling, and risk taking in general, has focused primarily on approach-related motivations. The current study examined the avoidance of existential anxiety as a possible source of risky decision making and behaviour. The authors hypothesized that participants reminded of their own mortality would consequently make riskier decisions (and therefore perform more poorly) on the Iowa gambling task. Results confirmed this prediction. Implications of the finding that existential concerns undermine efficient decision making are considered.

Uncovering an Existential Barrier to Breast Self-exam Behavior.

The present research applies an analysis derived from terror management theory to the health domain of breast examination, and in doing so uncovers previously unrecognized factors that may contribute to women's reluctance to perform breast self-examinations (BSEs). In Study 1, when concerns about mortality were primed, reminders of human beings' physical nature (i.e., creatureliness) reduced intentions to conduct BSEs compared to reminders of humans' uniqueness. In Study 2, women conducted shorter exams on a breast model (an experience found to increase death-thought accessibility) when creatureliness was primed compared to a uniqueness and no essay condition. In Study 3, after a creatureliness prime, women performed shorter BSEs when a placebo did not provide an alternative explanation for their discomfort compared to when it did. Advances for theory and breast self-exam promotion are discussed.

It's for your own good: benevolent sexism and women's reactions to protectively justified restrictions.

Three studies examined women's reactions to ostensibly protective restrictions. In Study 1, only benevolently sexist women accepted a protectively justified (hypothetical) prohibition against driving on a long trip, but only when imposed by a husband (not a coworker). In Study 2, when women's actual romantic partners opposed their participation in a practicum counseling dangerous men, most reacted positively to a personalized protective justification ("I am concerned for your safety"), but only benevolently sexist women reacted positively when no justification was given. In Study 3, only benevolently sexist women accepted an explicitly group-based protective justification ("It is not safe for any woman") for a partner's imagined opposition to an internship that involved interviewing criminals. By fusing benevolence with dominance, protective paternalism can lead women (especially those who are high on benevolent sexism) to accept restrictions.

Ambivalence toward the body: death, neuroticism, and the flight from physical sensation.

Based on terror management theory, the authors suggest that ambivalent reactions to the human body are partially rooted in the association of the physical body with inescapable death and that individuals high in neuroticism are particularly vulnerable to such difficulties. Three experiments demonstrated that priming thoughts about one's death leads individuals high in neuroticism to flee from physical sensations, including pleasurable ones. In response to mortality salience, highly neurotic individuals spent less time submerging their arm in ice-cold water and using an electric foot massager but did not avoid stimulation in nontactile modalities (i.e., listening to music). The discussion highlights the role of existentially motivated self-repression in inhibitions surrounding the body.

Dying to be thin: the effects of mortality salience and body mass index on restricted eating among women.

Following terror management theory, the authors suggest women's striving to attain a thin physique is fueled in part by existential concerns. In three studies, women restricted consumption of a nutritious but fattening food in response to reminders of mortality (mortality salience; MS). When conducted in private (Study 1), this effect was found among women but not men; when replicated in a group setting in which social comparison was likely (Studies 2 and 3), only women who were relatively less successful attaining the thin ideal (i.e., high body mass index; BMI) restricted eating after MS. In Study 3, MS caused high BMI women to perceive themselves as more discrepant from their ideal thinness; this perceived failure mediated the effects of MS and BMI on eating behavior. Findings are discussed from a self-regulatory framework, which considered in the context of pressures for women to be thin, can shed light on health risk behavior.

Attachment, self-esteem, worldviews, and terror management: evidence for a tripartite security system.

On the basis of prior work integrating attachment theory and terror management theory, the authors propose a model of a tripartite security system consisting of dynamically interrelated attachment, self-esteem, and worldview processes. Four studies are presented that, combined with existing evidence, support the prediction derived from the model that threats to one component of the security system result in compensatory defensive activation of other components. Further, the authors predicted and found that individual differences in attachment style moderate the defenses. In Studies 1 and 2, attachment threats motivated worldview defense among anxiously attached participants and motivated self-enhancement (especially among avoidant participants), effects similar to those caused by mortality salience. In Studies 3 and 4, a worldview threat and a self-esteem threat caused attachment-related proximity seeking among fearful participants and avoidance of proximity among dismissing participants. The authors' model provides an overarching framework within which to study attachment, self-esteem, and worldviews.