This study examined the effects of generalized self-efficacy(GSE)on causal attribution and coping behavior for negative events. Two negative events were described, and for each of them, 238 undergraduates were asked to imagine themselves being faced with the event, and rate the likelihood of six probable causes for it, how likely that they would adopt each of nine coping behaviors, their specific self-efficacy(SSE)to prevent it next time, and its seriousness. In addition, they filled a GSE scale. For each event, 166 students rated its seriousness as fairly to very serious, and were selected for further analysis. Results showed different patterns for men and women. Men with high GSE attributed the negative event more to internal and controllable causes, and less to external ones than those with low GSE. On the other hand, women with high GSE attributed it less to internal causes than those with low GSE. Both men and women with high GSE showed a higher SSE, and adopted more active coping behavior.

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The purpose of this study was to clarify the effects that self and others were said to have as buffer against stress and protector of the person's health. Health Locus of Control(HLC)was the variable on the self side, emotional support on the side of others, and they were measured with a questionnaire. Employees of a machinery manufacturing company received the questionnaire, and 219 returned a completed form. Results were as follows:Those with internal HLC were found to be healthier than the external. Of those who chose`healthy body'among their health priorities in the questionnaire, the external were healthier, while the opposite was true for those who did not. Emotional support was only partially effective in health promotion, as a direct or buffer factor. These results indicated that one's health was more strongly related to factors on the side of self than those provided by others, and suggested that in addition to strengthening employee hardiness in the workplace, securing of personnel always available for emotional support would be increasingly desirable in the future.

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This study examined reliability and validity of Wisdom-Related Knowledge Assessment, Japanese version. Spontaneous think-aloud responses to wisdom-related dilemmas, in both life-planning and life-review tasks, from 197 adult, young-and old-elderly, were scored on five criteria of wisdom:factual knowledge, procedural knowledge, life-span contextualization, value-goal relativism, and recognition and management of uncertainty. Results were as follows:1)Inter-rater agreement indicated an acceptable level of reliability. 2)As expected, five criteria of wisdom-related knowledge had moderate correlations with each other. 3)With intelligence, social intelligence, and years of education as external criteria, wisdom-related knowledge and wisdom shown in life-planning tasks was significantly related to years of education. Higher correlation coefficients for wisdom-related scales were found with social intelligence than with intelligence. These results indicated sufficient validity in life-planning tasks. And 4)some of wisdom-related knowledge and wisdom shown in life-review tasks showed correlations with intelligence or social intelligence, and therefore, demonstrated their validity to a certain extent.

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This article reviewed empirical research on empathy, with the view that it has four dimensions:empathic concern(EC), personal distress(PD), perspective taking(PT), and fantasy(FS). EC shows a positive correlation with emotionality, non-selfish concern for others, and prosocial behavior. PD shows a positive correlation with emotionality, but has a negative correlation with regulation. PT shows a positive correlation with regulation and interpersonal cognition, and prosocial behavior when a perspective-taking instruction is given, but has a negative correlation with aggression. FS shows a positive correlation with emotionality. EC, PT, and FS have positive correlations with each other. Underlying meaning was inferred for each dimension:altruistic disposition for EC;self-oriented affective response of unease to others' distress for PD;imagination and cognition of others' emotion for PT;and disposition of identifying with others for FS. Although research methods to study the origin and development of empathy have been proposed, few developmental studies have been conducted from the multidimensional perspective.

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