2018 Publications
Exploring Egoistic versus Altruistic Motives for Helping Another in an Embarrassing
Situation
Lara K. Ault and Tammy Lowery Zacchilli
Saint Leo University
People experience pratfalls. Most individuals can recount with vivid detail situations in which their competence or appearance was compromised but only realized it later on their own, perhaps by looking in the mirror. Preventative Face-Saving (PFS) is the act of informing someone about an embarrassing predicament that person is unwittingly experiencing in order to protect that person from future embarrassment in front of a larger or more important audience (Ault & Cunningham, 1999). The present study used Structural Equation Modeling of scenario responses to test altruistic versus egoistic motivations for helping in both high and low embarrassment situations. This study compared two models of motivations for helping in embarrassing situations based on responses from 143 participants who read scenarios involving high- and low-level embarrassing predicaments in which they had the opportunity to indicate their likelihood of helping on a 1-9 scale, with 1 = not at all and 9=very likely. Results support egoistic motivations, such as one’s own embarrassment at helping and the extent to which one would want to receive help in the situation, in high embarrassment situations. Results further point to avoidance of guilt as a major motivator in this type of helping regardless of the level of embarrassment
Situation
Lara K. Ault and Tammy Lowery Zacchilli
Saint Leo University
People experience pratfalls. Most individuals can recount with vivid detail situations in which their competence or appearance was compromised but only realized it later on their own, perhaps by looking in the mirror. Preventative Face-Saving (PFS) is the act of informing someone about an embarrassing predicament that person is unwittingly experiencing in order to protect that person from future embarrassment in front of a larger or more important audience (Ault & Cunningham, 1999). The present study used Structural Equation Modeling of scenario responses to test altruistic versus egoistic motivations for helping in both high and low embarrassment situations. This study compared two models of motivations for helping in embarrassing situations based on responses from 143 participants who read scenarios involving high- and low-level embarrassing predicaments in which they had the opportunity to indicate their likelihood of helping on a 1-9 scale, with 1 = not at all and 9=very likely. Results support egoistic motivations, such as one’s own embarrassment at helping and the extent to which one would want to receive help in the situation, in high embarrassment situations. Results further point to avoidance of guilt as a major motivator in this type of helping regardless of the level of embarrassment
| Exploring Egoistic versus Altruistic Motives for Helping Another in an Embarrassing Situation |
The Role of Mood, Arousal, and Encoding Strategy in Verbal Memory
Leilani B. Goodmon, Kelsey C. Bacharz, Alyssa Parisi, and Megan Osborne
Florida Southern College
The purpose of this study was to induce different moods/arousal levels using positive or negative stimuli (auditory, visual) to determine the impact on the use of specific encoding strategies and verbal memory performance. Despite elevated moods and arousal levels in the positive conditions, there was no memory difference between participants in the positive image over the negative image condition. Furthermore, only those in the positive auditory condition exhibited a memory advantage over those in the negative auditory condition (medium effect size, only marginally significant). Importantly, participants in the positive auditory condition had the highest rates of more effective encoding strategies, while participants in the negative auditory condition had the lowest rates of more effective encoding strategies. Thus, encoding strategy appeared to mediate the effect of mood and arousal on memory. The results imply that it is important to include assessments of encoding strategies when researching the relationship between mood, arousal, and memory.
Leilani B. Goodmon, Kelsey C. Bacharz, Alyssa Parisi, and Megan Osborne
Florida Southern College
The purpose of this study was to induce different moods/arousal levels using positive or negative stimuli (auditory, visual) to determine the impact on the use of specific encoding strategies and verbal memory performance. Despite elevated moods and arousal levels in the positive conditions, there was no memory difference between participants in the positive image over the negative image condition. Furthermore, only those in the positive auditory condition exhibited a memory advantage over those in the negative auditory condition (medium effect size, only marginally significant). Importantly, participants in the positive auditory condition had the highest rates of more effective encoding strategies, while participants in the negative auditory condition had the lowest rates of more effective encoding strategies. Thus, encoding strategy appeared to mediate the effect of mood and arousal on memory. The results imply that it is important to include assessments of encoding strategies when researching the relationship between mood, arousal, and memory.
| The Role of Mood, Arousal, and Encoding Strategy in Verbal Memory |