Two studies were conducted to examine perceptions of online social media ostracism among school and university students in order to further test Williams' need threat model. In both studies, participants were randomly assigned to read a vignette describing either inclusion or exclusion on Facebook, they were asked to imagine that they were the target of this inclusion/exclusion, and to estimate how they would feel. In study 1 (N=61, Mean age=16.98), participants in the excluded condition estimated a significantly higher threat to their sense of belonging compared to their sense of self-esteem, control and meaning. Study 2 (N=172, Mean age=18.83) replicated and extended these findings by comparing school and University students' views of social media ostracism whilst controlling for their technological familiarity with Facebook. Both school and university students detected social media ostracism and anticipated impacts on their mood and psychological needs. Social media vignette interacted with educational institution demonstrating that university students perceived social media ostracism more negatively and social media inclusion more positively. Taken together, these findings suggest that whilst both school and university students perceive social media ostracism as psychologically painful, those in their first year at University, who are particularly reliant on online social media, may be more sensitive to the potential effects of exclusion and inclusion on this platform.

This study demonstrates that psychotic individuals are able to benefit from educational presentations about nutrition and a healthy lifestyle. A statistically significant improvement in test scores suggests that subjects gained an understanding of basic concepts related to food choices and fitness.

The aim of this research was to explore whether a model including psychological predictors at the individual, interpersonal and cultural level could predict romantic attitudes. Attachment style, cultural orientation, gender, and relationship length were tested as predictors for each of the six love styles conceptualized by Lee (1977). Adults from Britain (N = 56) and Hong Kong (N = 52) who were in a romantic relationship completed four self-report measures; a demographic questionnaire, The Individualism and Collectivism Scale (IC-S), The Experiences in Close Relationship Scale-Short Form (ECR-S) and The Love Attitude Scale short form (LAS). The model successfully predicted each love style and in one case (Mania) accounted for 52% of the variance in this love style. Each love attitude had a different profile, and no one predictor dominated any one style which supports Lee’s original idea that the styles are qualitatively different.

Two studies are reported which explore romance as a means of terror management for participants with secure and insecure attachment styles. Mikulincer and Florian (2000) have shown that while mortality salience increases the desire for intimacy in securely attached individuals, the insecurely attached use cultural world views rather than close relationships to cope with fear of death. Study 1 used the romantic belief scale to compare the effects of attachment style and mortality salience on the cultural aspects of close relationships and showed that the only the insecurely attached were more romantic following mortality salience. Study 2 replicated this effect and demonstrated that this difference was not simply due to lower self-esteem in the insecurely attached. The additional inclusion of the Relationship assessment questionnaire failed to provide any evidence that the securely attached were affected by the mortality salience manipulation, even on a more interpersonal measure.

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