This study tested the hypothesis that the paradoxical effect of ease of retrieval via unintentional recall is due to an effortful recall strategy. In two experiments, participants memorized a list of positive and negative behaviors that had been performed by others. Subsequently, the participants were asked to recall either one or four positive behaviors (i.e., easy vs. difficult recall). In Experiment 1, the dual task method was used to manipulate the participants’ cognitive load during the recall task. When the participants experienced recall difficulties in the no-load conditions, their judgments about others contradicted the recalled information. These effects were mediated by the unintentional recall of negative items. In the loaded conditions, this pattern was not observed. In Experiment 2, unintentional recall only facilitated memory retrieval in the participants with strong motivation (“a need for cognition”) to perform the task. These results suggest that effortful processing is used to aid memory retrieval when recall is difficult. When the recall of positive items is difficult, the associative memory is exhaustively searched, and judgments are formed based on information that is unintentionally recalled during this process.

In the present study, we examined whether assessments of psychological distance based on the observation of behavioral events affect spontaneous trait and goal inferences. The extent to which such spontaneously inferred traits influence an individual’s predictions about an actor’s future behavior was also determined. Four experiments showed that perceivers were more likely to form spontaneous trait inferences about psychologically distant actors than psychologically near actors. Conversely, perceivers were more likely to form spontaneous goal inferences about psychologically near actors than psychologically distant actors. In addition, perceivers tended to make more trait-based behavioral predictions about psychologically distant actors than psychologically near actors. These results suggest that psychological distance determines the construal levels at which behavioral events are represented, and therefore, whether goals or traits are focused on. We also discussed the context sensitivity of implicit inferences and its unconscious influence on explicit judgments.

This study investigated the factors that influence the frequency of talking in class, focusing on within- and between-level factors. Four hundred and thirty-nine junior high school students completed a questionnaire evaluating their own and others’ (i.e., people near the respondent in the classroom) normative consciousness, frequency of talking, etc. Regression analysis showed that the students’ own normative consciousness and others’ frequency of talking had negative and positive relationships, respectively, with the students’ own frequency of talking. In addition, the effects of principles (i.e., types of attitudes, such as “obedient” or “deviant”) were assessed. Hierarchical linear modeling of the students’ principles (within-level) and the proportion of each principle in each classroom (between-level) was performed. Of the within-level factors, “obedient” had a negative relationship and “deviant” had a positive relationship with the frequency of talking. As for the between-level factors, “obedient” had a negative relationship with the frequency of talking despite its low proportion (31%), and “conforming” had no relationship with the frequency of talking, even though its proportion was higher (47%) than that of “obedient”. This implies that some students influence the whole classroom’s frequency of talking.

The objective of this study is to clarify the factors affecting workers’ perceptions of threatened egotism, and the relationships between such perceptions and coping strategies in various types of narcissism. In analysis 1, several models based on the threatened egotism model were used to examine the factors affecting workers’ perceptions of threatened egotism, and the relationships between such perceptions and coping strategies. Then, these models were verified via covariance structure analysis using data gathered in Japan. As a result, it was found that models including relative self-evaluation and/or self-concept clarity exhibited lower goodness of fit than a model including none of them, and the model in which threatened egotism affected anthrophobic tendency and organizational dysfunctional behavior was adopted. Next, in analysis 2 the model was used to examine the relationships between threatened egotism and coping strategies in three types of narcissism (the self-assertion type, need for attention and praise type, and sense of superiority and competence type) via multiple group covariance structure analysis. The results showed that threatened egotism positively affected anthrophobic tendency in all types of narcissism and organizational dysfunctional behavior in the self-assertion type.

A slogan created by Kuroshio Town, “Our town doesn’t have an art museum; our beautiful beach is our art museum,” follows a notable schema, “No X, but Y is X.” This paper shows, based on Mita’s alienation theory, that this schema can serve as a powerful tool for supporting the revitalization of rural communities suffering from rapid depopulation. The theory assumes a dual layer structure, “alienation from X” in the overt layer, preceded by “alienation to X” in the fundamental layer. “Alienation from X”; i.e., misfortune caused by the lack of X, is preceded by “alienation to X”, where X functions as the only standard for satisfaction. Obtaining X via outside assistance appears to be an easy solution; however, this is often unsatisfactory because it maintains “alienation to X.” In contrast, “No X, but Y is X”, in which local people declare that there is no need to seek X because Y is a functional equivalent of X, can be one of the most effective strategies for revitalizing rural communities.

The present study examined the determinants of electricity-saving behaviors after the Great East Japan Earthquake among university students in 5 areas: Hokkaido, Tohoku, Kanto, Chubu, and Kansai. After the earthquake, Japan experienced severe electricity shortages, and Japanese citizens were asked to save electricity. Electricity saving in public spaces, such as the use of dimmer lights, was encouraged. Previous studies have shown that descriptive norms, which is the cognition or presence that most others conduct the behavior, can affect environmental behaviors (e.g., Schultz, 1999). In the present study, we examined the hypothesis that observing the electricity-saving behaviors in public spaces serve as descriptive norms. The total number of valid responses was 610. The results showed that experience of electricity saving in public spaces and perceived others’ behavior affected the subjects’ electricity-saving behavior. The changes in one’s values, seriousness perception of energy issues, experience of planned blackouts and the perception of the shortage of electricity supply also affected electricity-saving behaviors. The current study confirmed that descriptive norms impact on electricity-saving behaviors, even when the electricity supply is limited after a disaster. The effectiveness of electricity saving in public spaces on electricity-saving behaviors was discussed.

Help-seekers focus not only on their own costs, but also on potential help-givers’ costs. However, few studies have examined the factors that help-seekers use to predict help-givers’ costs. We identified relational communication as the key to help-seekers’ predictions about potential help-givers’ costs. Fifteen pairs of Japanese college students had conversations for ten minutes and then calculated potential help-givers’ costs related to seeking help and intention to seek help. The results indicated that certain relational communication patterns are significantly associated with the prediction of help-givers’ costs. For example, the complementary pattern (↑↓) was found to be related to the prediction of depressive moods in potential help-givers. In addition, the symmetrical pattern (↑↑) was demonstrated to be negatively associated with the intention to seek help. The present study suggested that help-seekers predict the costs of potential help-givers based on daily communication.