Subjects: Psychology >> Other Disciplines of Psychology submitted time 2024-03-13
Abstract： In an era of “litigation explosion”, Chinese judges are faced with the challenge of effectively handling the overwhelming and increasing volume of court cases. To address the dilemma of “too many cases but too few judges”, previous research on judicial practice has mainly focused on improving the efficiency of litigation procedure. However, one critical aspect that has been largely neglected is the underlying psychological response of judges to this challenge, which may play a pivotal role in the effectiveness and quality of judicial decision making. To address this gap, the current research adopted a person-centered perspective, aiming to uncover the role played by the prevalent feeling of time poverty, the feeling of not having enough time to accomplish all work-related task, among judges. We delved into the antecedents that triggered judges’ perception of time poverty, explored the consequences it had on judicial work, and unraveled the mechanisms through which time poverty influences the quality and efficiency of judicial decisions.
Based on the grounded theory method, we conducted in-depth interviews with judges recruited through a purposeful sampling method. Specifically, participants consisted of judges (N = 51) who came from various regions across North China, Central China, and Southeast China, and who worked for local People’s Courts at various levels (i.e., the primary, intermediate, and high People’s Court) with tenures ranging from one to thirty-six years, ensuring a diverse representation of perspectives and experiences. The current study constructed an integrated model that elucidated the antecedents and consequences of the perception of time poverty within the realm of the judiciary.
Findings revealed that (1) a mismatch between job demands, which was increased due to the numerous and detailed workloads and the burden of assessment requirements, and resources, which was decreased due to insufficient staffing, contributed to judges’ time poverty at work, and (2) the mismatch between job demands and resources urged the judges to speed up judicial decisions as well as to prolong their working hours, which in turn damaged the quality and effectiveness of judicial decisions.
By examining judges’ feelings of time poverty at work, the current study employed a person-centered perspective that complements the normative approach of extant legal science research and elucidated the mechanism that underlies the formation of judges’ time poverty and its judicial consequences. Findings of the current study provide theoretical insight into the challenge of case overload in China through a psychological perspective and offer practical implications for policymakers to overcome the challenge by prioritizing the feelings and needs of judges.
Subjects: Psychology >> Personality Psychology submitted time 2021-04-26
Abstract： Social mindfulness refers to the ability of an individual to sense others’ states during interpersonal interactions, his or her willingness to respect others’ choices, and his or her ability to transfer rights. Exploring the psychological structure of social mindfulness against the background of Chinese culture is important for cultivating a friendly and harmonious society. This study explored the psychological structure of social mindfulness with a lexical method. In Study 1, 59 high- and 24 low-social mindfulness words were selected by word frequency analysis and multiple rounds of discussions. After being evaluated by 43 professionals and 232 nonprofessionals, 40 social mindfulness words were selected. In Study 2, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with Sample 1 (n = 351) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with Sample 2 (n = 307) were conducted to obtain a three-factor structure for social mindfulness; these structures include kindness and respect, tolerance and understanding, and optimism and open-mindedness. Additionally, a social mindfulness lexical rating scale (SMLRS) with 18 words was formed. In Study 3, we used the same method as in Study 2 to explore the structure of social mindfulness (EFA: Sample 1, n = 377; CFA: Sample 2, n = 220) through scenario descriptions. Then, a new 17-item social mindfulness self-report scale (SMSRS) and a model with two second-order factors and four first-order factors for the internalization of social mindfulness were generated. Both the SMLRS and SMSRS have good reliability and validity and can be used as measurement tools in follow-up research. Through lexical analysis and psychometric analysis, we explored the psychological structure of social mindfulness, which contains two second-order factors and four first-order factors, in Chinese culture. In this model, the two second-order factors were agreeableness and extraversion, and the four first-order factors were kindness and respect, humility, optimism and open-mindedness, and tolerance and understanding. From a theoretical point of view, we established a vocabulary of social mindfulness, verified social mindfulness’s second-order four-factor psychological structure, provided a new empirical basis for the higher-order factor theory of personality, and enriched our knowledge of personality and social behavior against the background of Chinese culture. From a practical point of view, the definition of social mindfulness plays a positive role in moral education in the field of education, in the training of employees in the field of organization and in the construction of mentality in the sociology field.
Peer Review Status:
Awaiting Review
Subjects: Psychology >> Cognitive Psychology submitted time 2019-08-28
Abstract： Researchers have used the Multiple Object Tracking (MOT) task to study how people distribute visual attention in when they view dynamic scenes. Studies have used event-related potential (ERP) to investigate neural electrophysiological activity and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure functional localization in the human brain while people process dynamic visual information. Studies found that ERP amplitudes changed with tracking load. The difference between ERP amplitudes elicited by the probes on the targets versus distractors reflected how people were distributing attention between the targets and distractors. In other words, the ERP amplitudes reflected people's increased attention to the targets and inhibited attention to the distractors during tracking. The fMRI studies consistently found strong activation in the dorsolateral frontal cortex (DLFC) and the parietal lobe, including the anterior intraparietal sulcus (AIPS), posterior intraparietal sulcus (PostIPS), and superior parietal lobule (SPL). The IPS had a particularly strong relationship with attentional load. The level of activation in the IPS was directly related to observers’ attentional tracking performance. The evidence also suggests that the SPL might be responsible for attentional shifts and that the DLFC might be related to the sensorimotor prediction during tracking. "
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