Darwyn E. Linder

Situational Correlates of Emotional Adjustment to Athletic Injury

Patients at a sports medicine clinic served as subjects in an investigation of the relationship between various situational variables and emotional adjustment to athletic injury. Physician-rated current injury status, perceived impairment of sport performance, and perceived social support for rehabilitation were significantly correlated with postinjury depression. Age was negatively associated with postinjury mood disturbance. In general, patients demonstrated a positive mental health profile. The results suggest that although most patients cope well with their injuries, some patients experience clinically meaningful psychological distress that is associated with certain situational factors.

Post‐exercise analgesia: Replication and extension

This study was designed to investigate whether post-exercise analgesia occurs following an ad lib exercise routine. All of the 17 male participants exercised on a regular basis. In an exercise setting (student gymnasium) they participated in 20 min of self-selected exercise, while in the neutral setting (laboratory) they rested quietly for 20 min. Pain was induced via the gross pressure device. Pain threshold and pain tolerance were measured twice, with an interval of 20 min, in both the exercise and the neutral setting. Pain threshold was stable in the exercise setting. A significant increase in pain tolerance followed the 20 min bout of exercise, indicating a post-exercise analgesic response. These results support the prediction that the analgesic effect of exercise is not limited to controlled experimental conditions, but generalizes to naturally occurring situations.

State Anxiety Following Resistance Exercise: The Role of Gender and Exercise Intensity

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of resistance exercise on state anxiety. In experiment 1, participants engaged in three 20-min bouts of resistance exercise, with intensity set as a function of perceived exertion. Results indicated that the relationship between resistance exercise and anxiety was moderated by both exercise intensityand gender. Although females reported no change in anxiety, males reported an increase in anxietyfollowing moderateand high-intensity exercise, and a decrease in anxiety following low intensity exercise. Experiment 2 was designed to replicate these findings utilizing a more precise manipulation of exercise intensity. Results indicated that the change in anxiety was again moderated by exercise intensity but was unaffected by gender. Both males and females reported increases in anxiety following 20 min of high-intensity exercise (75-85% of 1 RM), as well as significant decreases in anxiety following low-intensity exercise (40-50% of 1 RM).

Social psychology and plea bargaining: Applications, methodology, and theory.

Two experiments with male subjects were conducted to investigate the plea bargaining process. Experiment 1 used a role-playing procedure to identify variables that affect the acceptance of a plea bargain. Eighteen percent of the subjects playing the role of innocent defendants accepted the plea bargain, whereas 83% of the guilty defendants accepted. Two other main effects revealed that defendants were more likely to accept a plea bargain when relatively many charges had been filed against them and/or when the severity of punishment upon conviction was great, although internal analyses revealed that these effects were present in guilty defendants only. Experiment 2 was conducted using involved participants to provide validation for the major result of Experiment 1. Students were made to be innocent or guilty of having prior information about an exam. All were accused of having used prior information and were given an opportunity to plea bargain rather than face an ethics committee. In accord with Experiment 1, guilty students accepted the plea bargain significantly more often than innocent students. Results are discussed in terms of information differences between innocent and guilty defendants and the availability heuristic. Implications of the data for the criminal justice system are discussed, as are limitations of the present approach and suggestions for further research on plea bargaining.

Effects of actor's causal role, outcome severity, and knowledge of prior accidents upon attributions of responsibility

Ninety-six subjects read one of eight reports of an industrial accident in which a small child was injured. The severity of the consequences (mild, severe), the number of previous accidents (few, many), and the actors knowledge of previous accidents (informed, not informed) were varied in a 2×2×2 factorial design. It was hypothesized that defensively lenient attributions of responsibility would be made only when two conditions were met: (a) The actor, rather than situational factors, must be perceived as the primary causal agent. (b) The negative consequences of the accident must be severe. It was also predicted that an actor forewarned of potential dangers in a situation would be held more to blame than an actor who was unaware of any possible hazards. Both predictions were supported. It was suggested that the actors causal role in the accident situation may be a critical factor in the arousal of defensive tedencies in observers.

Misattribution Under Fear-Producing Circumstances: Four Failures to Replicate

Four studies were done in an attempt to test the misattribution explanation of earlier findings showing a connection between aversive arousal and attraction. All four studies indicated that subjects do not attribute arousal to a female confederate when a clear and salient aversive stimulus is present. Instead, subjects correctly assigned causality to the experimental situation. All four studies also failed to reproduce the original attraction finding, i.e., aversive circumstances were not found to enhance attraction for the confederate.

Effects of Pain on Motor Performance

The effects of experimentally induced pressure pain on the performance of a weight lifting task, a simple golf putting task, and a complex golf putting task were examined in male college students. It was found that pain did not affect performance of the weight lifting task, slightly hampered performance of the simple putting task, and severely hampered performance of the complex putting task. Because the adverse effects of pain increased with task complexity, the findings are consistent with the notion mat pain is a form of arousal and mat pain affects performance in a manner similar to arousal. Limitations of the present experiments and directions for future research are discussed.

Evaluations of the Personality and isocial Psychology Bulletin by its Readers and Authors

Evaluation studies of PSPB, to assess the reactions of readers and authors and to inform deci sion making regarding publication policy, were man dated when the Bulletin was designed. Data were col lected in surveys of readers and authors, and gathered from the Editors files. Most readers (83%) recom mended continued publication, and almost all authors of accepted manuscripts (98%) viewed the Bulletin as a useful publication outlet. A majority of authors of rejected manuscripts (65%) intended to submit additional manuscripts. Most features of PSPB re ceived strong endorsement from survey respondents and the results of the evaluation studies imply continued publication.