The present study investigated how self-esteem affects stock market participation through risk preferences and behavioral biases such as loss aversion and regret. A total of 360 males (graduate and above) of the age group 25–40 years from northern part of India participated in the study. Conceptual framework was formulated and tested using AMOS 20.0. Loss aversion was measured by lottery choice task experiment and the level of regret was measured by a regret inducing situation followed by decision regret scale. The extent of stocks preference and risk preferences of the individuals was studied by eliciting information regarding their investments using a questionnaire. The results supported our proposed hypotheses. Mediation analysis proved that the impact of self-esteem on stock market participation not only operates through risk preferences of the investors but also through loss aversion and regret.

This study investigated whether source information attached to texts influences multiple-text comprehension about genetically modified (GM) foods—a controversial science topic. Participants in the experiment read two texts from two sources: an expert and/or a layperson. When the two texts presented different attitudes toward GM foods (Experiment 1), expert information facilitated intra-text comprehension. Moreover, expert information was better integrated with other information; when expert information was presented first, later information was less integrated with participants’ understanding, and when expert information was presented last, it was more integrated. When the two texts presented common attitudes (Experiment 2), a similar pattern of effects was observed, but the effects were weaker than those in Experiment 1. Thus, expert source information has the potential to affect the comprehension of scientific information, and careful planning is required for effective risk communication.

It is well established that the phonological system captures the quasiregularity of phoneme sequences. For example, repetition performance is better for nonwords composed of phoneme combinations that occur frequently in one’s native language. Although phoneme sequences are necessarily accompanied by suprasegmental aspects (e.g., accent patterns), the influence of suprasegmental aspects has not been investigated extensively. This study examined the influence of Japanese pitch-accent pattern on nonword repetition. Exploration of nonwords provides an opportunity to investigate phonological factors largely without lexical and semantic influences. We conducted immediate and delayed nonword repetition experiments, manipulating phonotactic frequency and pitch-accent type. Two experiments revealed that nonwords presented with atypical accent patterns showed more frequent phonemic and accent pattern errors than nonwords with more typical accent patterns. The results indicate that the phonological system captures a range of sublexical phonological characteristics found in each language through linguistic experiences and is not limited to coding phonemic sequences alone. We suggest that although there is diversity in functioning of phonological systems driven by linguistic variability, such diversity stems from universal learning mechanisms in language processing systems.

Couples cope with their stress as a unit rather than two isolated individuals. Couples coping were well examined by the Dyadic Coping Inventory (DCI) in European and American population, but not in Asian population. We aim to examine the applicability of DCI in Japanese married couples. Participants were 44 heterosexual couples in Japan. They answered the DCI and marital satisfaction. Results supported the applicability of DCI generally and showed several partner effects. The partner effects of DCI were discussed from the perspective of perceived social support.