We investigated the association between cultural worldviews and climate change risk perceptions, support for climate friendly policies and climate change mitigation behaviours in a large Chinese sample. Items from Dake's cultural theory scales and Kahan's cultural cognition scale were presented to a Qualtrics online panel consisting of 515 Mandarin-speaking residents of Beijing. A series of factor analyses revealed that the combined item sets were best represented by four-dimensions: hierarchism, individualism, egalitarianism and fatalism. Mediation analysis revealed that respondents with egalitarian and non-fatalist worldviews perceived greater risk associated with climate change, which in turn predicted greater support for policies to manage climate change and increased mitigation behaviour. In addition, respondents who scored high on individualism were less likely to support climate change policies, but this effect was not mediated by risk perceptions. Overall, our results suggest cultural worldviews may influence policy support both directly and indirectly through risk perceptions.

The experience of environmental stress and attitudes towards climate change was explored for 1226 students at the University of the South Pacific, the foremost tertiary institution serving the independent nations of the Pacific. Students sourced information regarding climate change from media including television, radio, and newspapers; the community (typically via their village, church, and extended family); the University and their friends; and in addition to regional agencies such as the Pacific Community. Most students concluded that they could not believe all of the informations provided by these sources. The findings demonstrate that most students-the future elite of the region-rank global environmental change as the highest future risk. Although nearly all respondents believed that climate change was happening, more than half of respondents believed that the risk was exaggerated and only one-third believed that science would find an answer, suggesting a lack of trust in scientific sources of information. Results also showed that these attitudes varied across demographic factors such as age, region, and gender. The understanding of contemporary attitudes towards global environmental change among a cohort that is likely to include future national leaders in the Pacific Islands region presents unique opportunities for long-range planning of intervention and support strategies. Of particular note for effective intervention and support is the breadth and trustworthiness of various information sources including Pacific Island leaders.

This study examined the role of affect, smoking expectancies and mode of cognition in predicting cigarette use in a sample of 185 Australian adults. Mediation analysis indicated that the relationship between respondents' affective associations about smoking and their cigarette use was partially mediated by smoking expectancies. The present results also indicated that preferred mode of cognition (rational vs. experiential) moderated the relationship between affective associations and cigarette use. Affect was a significant predictor of cigarette use for all respondents except those with a strong, exclusive preference for rational cognition. No evidence was found to support the hypothesis that preferred mode of cognition moderated the relationship between smoking expectancies and cigarette use. The results of the study are discussed in the context of Epstein's (1994) cognitive experiential self theory and Slovic, Finucane, Peters, and MacGregor's (2002) affect heuristic model.

Human decision-making is thought to involve the interplay of two distinct information processing systems: a rational (logical) system and an experiential (intuitive) system (Epstein, 1994). Moreover, the ability to engage in rational processing is believed to be constrained by working memory capacity (WMC) (Feldman Barrett, Tugade, & Engle, 2004). Accordingly, preference for rationality, but not preference for experientiality, was expected to mediate the relationship between WMC and performance on cognitive tasks that require logical reasoning. Path analysis using AMOS 18, with data from 269 non-paired twins, confirmed this mediation hypothesis. Higher WMC was predictive of stronger preference for rationality, which, in turn, was predictive of better syllogistic reasoning, lower susceptibility to gambling biases, and lower superstitiousness and categorical thinking. As expected, WMC was unrelated to preference for experiential processing, and higher experientiality predicted poorer performance on the syllogistic reasoning task, higher susceptibility to gambling biases and greater superstitiousness.

Decisions to pursue risky sexual encounters, despite the clear potential negative consequences, have long intrigued researchers. A host of explanations have been proposed (e.g., the effects of sexual arousal and/or substance intoxication on decision-making, an imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory mechanisms in sexual response). However, the role of working memory capacity in sexual decision-making has received relatively little attention. The current study investigated whether working memory capacity (WMC) moderates the relationship between arousal and sexual aggression. Fifty-nine male volunteers viewed 20 consensual and 20 non-consensual images of heterosexual interaction while their physiological arousal levels were recorded using skin conductance response. Participants also completed an assessment of working memory capacity, Towse's Sentence Completion Task (Towse, Hitch, & Hutton, 2000) and a date-rape analogue task (developed by Bernat, Calhoun, & Adams, 1999) for which they had to identify the point at which an average Australian male would cease all sexual advances in response to verbal and/or physical resistance from a female partner. Participants who were more aroused by and spent more time viewing the non-consensual sexual imagery nominated significantly later stopping points on the date-rape analogue task. Consistent with our predictions, the relationship between arousal and nominated stopping point was strongest for participants with lower working memory capacity. For participants with high working memory capacity, arousal was unrelated to nominated stopping point. Results of the current study support the role of working memory capacity as a moderator of the relationship between arousal and sexual decision-making/behavior. Deficits in working memory capacity have been shown to be related to other types of dysregulated behavior (e.g., problematic alcohol use, aggression), suggesting that problems with attentional control make it challenging for individuals to both look beyond immediate rewards and gratification and to consider the often very real likelihood of significant negative outcomes in the future. This may be especially true with stimuli that are highly salient and very rewarding (e.g., sex), leaving these individuals vulnerable to engaging in sexually risky behavior. Future research could explore further whether high working memory capacity may serve as a protective factor by directing decision-making toward less risky behavior even when a person is highly aroused. Results should be replicated on clinical populations. Limitations and additional future directions are discussed.

This study applied Cognitive Experiential Self Theory to investigate the role of smoking expectancies and experiential associations with cigarette use in predicting smoking cessation in a sample of 155 Australian adults. Two discrete changes in the cessation process were investigated. The first involved a cognitive transition from not intending to quit smoking to intending to quit, and the second involved a behavioral transition from intending to quit to successful cessation. Multinomial logistic regression analyses suggested that experiential associations played no role in the transition from not intending to intending to quit, but moderated the effects of three types of smoking expectancies (negative consequences, positive reinforcement, and negative reinforcement) on the transition from intending to quit to successful cessation. The facilitative effects of smoking expectancies on cessation were substantially attenuated in participants who possessed more positive experiential associations with smoking.

This study assessed the factor structure, internal consistency, and concurrent validity of a revised instrument, the Composite Codependency Scale (CCS), a 19-item measure designed to assess codependent traits. Exploratory factor analysis of the CCS, using data from 301 adults from the general population and 49 attending members of Codependents Anonymous (CoDA), yielded three factors: self-sacrifice, interpersonal control, and emotional suppression. The scale and its subscales exhibited good internal consistency. Consistent with the tenets of the codependency model, higher codependency scores were significantly associated with higher levels of depression, anxiety, stress, and familial dysfunction and lower levels of narcissistic tendencies, self-esteem, and emotional expressivity. Furthermore, the revised measure effectively discriminated members of CoDA from those in the general population.

This study assessed the factor structure, internal consistency, concurrent and predictive validity of the perceived vulnerability scale (PVS), a new 22-item measure designed to assess individual differences in perceived vulnerability to aging-related outcomes in older adults. It also investigated the extent to which two types of existential beliefs moderated the deleterious effects of perceived vulnerability on depressive symptoms and wellbeing. Data from 391 participants aged 50–90 years completed the PVS and validating measures at the onset of the study (t₀) and 233 of these original participants completed the PVS and additional measures three years later (t₁). Concurrent validity analyses showed that perceived vulnerability was associated with higher levels of trait anxiety and perceived stress. Predictive validity analyses revealed that perceived vulnerability at t₀ was significantly associated with increased depressive symptoms and decreased physical and psychological wellbeing at t₁, and these relationships were attenuated in individuals with certain types of existential beliefs. Results suggest that the PVS is a reliable and valid tool for assessing perceived vulnerability in older adults. The measure should be of use to researchers and practitioners interested in better understanding the relationship between dysfunctional beliefs and psychological wellbeing in an aging population.

This study of adults (n = 269) and adolescents (n = 308) applied latent profile analysis to preference for rational and/or experiential cognition, coupled with working memory capacity (WMC). A 4-profile solution comprising rationally dominant, experientially dominant, dual preference, and disengaged groups was retained for both adult and adolescent samples. Our solution indicated that high WMC was associated with both preference and ability to engage in rational processing. Profile membership significantly discriminated both adults and adolescents on several reasoning tasks and measures of cognitive biases. Overall our results indicate that cognitive processing styles and WMC can be combined to create a typology that distinguishes between four types of thinkers who significantly differ in their performance on reasoning tasks.

This study applied the affect heuristic model to investigate key psychological factors (affective associations, perceived benefits, and costs of wood heating) contributing to public support for three distinct types of wood smoke mitigation policies: education, incentives, and regulation. The sample comprised 265 residents of Armidale, an Australian regional community adversely affected by winter wood smoke pollution. Our results indicate that residents with stronger positive affective associations with wood heating expressed less support for wood smoke mitigation policies involving regulation. This relationship was fully mediated by expected benefits and costs associated with wood heating. Affective associations were unrelated to public support for policies involving education and incentives, which were broadly endorsed by all segments of the community, and were more strongly associated with rational considerations. Latent profile analysis revealed no evidence to support the proposition that some community members experience internal "heart versus head" conflicts in which their positive affective associations with wood heating would be at odds with their risk judgments about the dangers of wood smoke pollution. Affective associations and cost/benefit judgments were very consistent with each other.