Human Survival
Field Guide.

SIX PUBLISHED SOURCES / FINDINGS, LIMITS AND CREATIVE APPLICATIONS Research Ledger / 02

Research informs the questions; the fictional cast remains an artistic framework.

E04 / MAKE THE CONSEQUENCES VISIBLE

Exploiting moral wiggle room: experiments demonstrating an illusory preference for fairness (2007)

Jason Dana; Roberto A. Weber; Jason Xi Kuang. Economic Theory, 33, 67-80.

doi:10.1007/s00199-006-0153-z

Finding: In modified laboratory allocation tasks, participants were less generous when the connection between their choices and another person’s outcome could remain uncertain than in a transparent baseline.

Limit: Laboratory allocation choices do not prove a hidden motive in any individual, or establish that all generosity is insincere.

Use in this guide: Analogy for the guide: name the task, its owner and its consequence. Clear agreements can make the comic gap between a helpful appearance and actual follow-through easier to discuss.

E05 / CLOSENESS INVOLVES A RESPONSE

Intimacy as an interpersonal process: The importance of self-disclosure, partner disclosure, and perceived partner responsiveness in interpersonal exchanges (1998)

Jean-Philippe Laurenceau; Lisa Feldman Barrett; Paula R. Pietromonaco. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(5), 1238-1251.

doi:10.1037/0022-3514.74.5.1238

Finding: Across two diary studies, self-disclosure and partner disclosure were associated with felt intimacy; perceived partner responsiveness partly accounted for those relationships. Emotional disclosure was especially relevant in the second study.

Limit: The studies used selected undergraduate samples and self-reports. Associations do not establish causation or a universal recipe for every relationship.

Use in this guide: Analogy for the guide: the two identical Friends become meaningful through their exchange. The image cannot tell the reader which person listens, respects a limit or follows through.

E06 / KINDNESS CAN LEAVE ROOM FOR REPAIR

Self-Compassion Increases Self-Improvement Motivation (2012)

Juliana G. Breines; Serena Chen. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38(9), 1133-1143.

doi:10.1177/0146167212445599

Finding: Participants prompted toward self-compassion after a weakness or mistake showed greater improvement-oriented motivation or effort on several measures, including motivation to make amends and time spent studying after failure, relative to the tested controls.

Limit: Short experiments measure particular motivations and actions; they do not guarantee lasting change, successful repair or anyone else's forgiveness.

Use in this guide: Analogy for the guide: a reader can acknowledge a costly habit without making it a permanent identity. The practice pairs a kinder account of the need with ownership of the next action.