豊沢 純子

This study examined the conceptual structure and motivational effects of growth mindsets based on the perspective of character strengths. An internet survey was conducted with 1,000 workers (500 males and 500 females; age range 20–59 years, M = 40.1 years, SD = 10.7 years). Participants were presented with 25 strengths (i.e., intelligence and 24 character strengths) and were asked to rate their perceived competence, growth mindset, and improvement intention for each strength. The exploratory factor analyses on perceived competence, growth mindset, and improvement intention identified five common factors: wisdom, willpower, temperance, transcendence, and groupness. Moreover, regression analyses indicated that a growth mindset was more strongly related to improvement intention than perceived competence. Furthermore, regression analyses found domain-specific effects of growth mindsets on improvement intention. Thus, the intention to improve a particular strength was more closely related to that particular growth mindset than to other growth mindsets. The theoretical and educational implications are aired in the discussion section.

Grit refers to a non-cognitive trait that is characterized by perseverance and passion for long-term goals. In this study, we developed a Japanese version of the Grit Scale and examined its reliability and validity. A confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the Japanese version of the Grit Scale had two factors corresponding to the original version (study 1, 2, and 3). The results indicated that the scale has high reliability (study 1 and 3). Grit was positively correlated with conscientiousness (study 2 and 3) and self-control (study 3). Nonetheless, grit demonstrated predictive validity of longitudinal persistence and success measures over conscientiousness, self-control, and intellectual ability (study 3). These results are consistent with previous studies and support the reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Grit Scale.

<p> 本研究は，小学校低学年を対象に危険予測と対処行動を学ぶ防災教育を実施した。2つの小学校の2年生281名がマルチメディア教材を用いた授業に参加し，身近な生活場面（下校中，寝ている時等）で地震が発生する際の危険と身の守り方を具体的に考えるための学習を行った。また，保護者と一緒に通学路と寝室の危険を考える課題に取り組んだ。発達段階を考慮し，評価は数値による主観的な評定と自由記述に対して行った。その結果，概して学習効果が確認された。危険だけでなく行動の仕方を具体的に学ぶこと，保護者と連携した学習を行うことの重要性が示された。</p>

This study applied life history theory to eating behavior and examined the relationship between SES (Socio-Economic Status) and impulsiveness toward discounted food. Five hundred web-survey participants answered a questionnaire about impulsiveness toward discounted food, SES (childhood SES, current SES, food-specific poverty experience), cognition of discounted food (health effects, taste, attraction, limitations), and demographic factors (sex, age, household income). The result of hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that childhood SES, food-specific poverty experience, attraction, limitations, and sex had an effect on impulsiveness toward discounted food. In addition, participants who experienced food-specific poverty had negative cognition regarding health effects, taste, and attraction, but nevertheless purchased discounted food impulsively. The necessity to verify the validity of the measurement of childhood SES and the effectiveness of intervening in negative beliefs were discussed.

This study examined the relationship between speed and accuracy in police calls for service, verbal behavior (listener, communicator), and communication structure (adjacency pairs, turn-taking). Forty participants were randomly assigned to either the role of reporter or police officer, and asked to communicate based on a scenario of snatching by using the mobile phone. The results showed that verbal behavior were positively correlated with accuracy and negatively correlated with speed. Communication structure were positively correlated with accuracy and not correlated with speed. However, adjacency pairs were positively related with speed accuracy. The way of intervention to facilitate forming adjacency pairs was discussed.

This study examined the effect of educational intervention on ability of self-control. Ten participants in a correspondence upper secondary school took a class about ability of self-control and were asked to engage self-control training that they straighten themselves up for two months. Before and after the training, the participants were asked to indicate intentions of eight types of self-control behaviors. Result indicated that post rating of self-control intention was higher than pre rating of it. Moreover, there found positive correlation between amount of training and increase of self-control intention. These results suggest a possibility that longitudinal training of self-control may be effective in increase of the intentions of self-control behaviors.

This study examined the effects of need for "richness in life" on the need for residential environment. Two-hundred and fifty house wives participated in the study and answered the questions to assess the important conditions for enabling "richness in life" and requirement for residential environment to enable the richness in life. A factor analysis for the enabling conditions of richness revealed the seven-factor structure (richness in family relationship and well-being, abundance of material resource, stability and prosperity of work, good interpersonal relations, luxury, and fashionable life style), thus suggested the complexity of the conception for richness. Furthermore, a structural equation analysis revealed that the factors representing the materialistic aspect of richness increase the need for exterior and amplitude of the housing, whereas the factors representing the interpersonal aspect of richness increase the need for the conditions of residential locations. Discussion argued that future studies should include the variables to account for the way people actualize the psychological need for "richness in life" by adopting certain requirements in residential environment.

This study adopted the perspective of CEST (Epstein, 1994), and examined whether the Japanese version of REI (Naito, Sakamoto, and Suzuki, 2000), which measures rational and experiential thinking styles, was related to performance in a ratio-bias paradigm (Study 1), and the Linda problem (Study 2). Study 1 revealed that rational thinking style was inversely related to nonoptimal responses in the ratio-bias paradigm, while experiential thinking style was unrelated to it. These results were consistent with the results of Pacini and Epstein (1999). Study 1 also suggested the possibility that the ratio-bias paradigm was not adequate for identifying the function of the experiential system. Study 2 revealed that rational thinking style was inversely related to nonoptimal response in the Linda problem, while experiential thinking style was positively related. These results demonstated the utility of the Japanese version of REI for examining individual differences on judgment, as well as the necessity of using a task which can clearly identify the functions of both systems.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether leisure activities influence on the cognitive functions in middle aged and elderly people. Eight hundred and twenty rural community residents (age ranged from 39 to 88) participated in the study. They answered a questionnaire regarding 28 leisure activities, (e.g., walking, gardening, handicrafts, and reading) and subjects rated the frequency of the leisure activities on the rating scales ranged from 1 (almost never) to 5 (more than once a week). Five hundred and two of them participated in cognitive tests with their consent. The cognitive tests consisted of 3 kinds of letter fluency tests (Ito et al. 2002), digit cancellation tests (Hatta et al. 2001), and tests of immediate and delayed recall of a 25 word-sentence (Wechsler's Memory Scale). A factor analysis was conducted to explore the interrelationship among leisure activities and correlational analyses were also conducted to examine the relations between leisure activities and cognitive functions that reflect the activities of the prefrontal area. There were positive correlations between some leisure activities (watching video-tapes, listening to music, reading, visiting art galleries, flower arrangement, tea ceremony, calligraphy, traveling, driving) and the cognitive functions. It was suggested that some leisure activities could improve the cognitive functions.