Table 1
The Final Items Retained on the PSMR Scale.
| CODE | ITEM |
|---|---|
| Responsibility (α = .89) | |
| R1 | I rightly feel responsible, even though others could not reasonably hold me responsible. |
| R3 | I rightly feel responsible, even though the situation was out of my hands. |
| R5 | I rightly feel responsible and I resist others’ efforts to convince me that I should not feel this way. |
| R8 | I rightly feel responsible, even though I question whether I should feel this way. |
| Failure (α = .92) | |
| F1 | I rightly feel like a failure, even though others could not reasonably consider me a failure. |
| F3 | I rightly feel like a failure, even though the situation was out of my hands. |
| F5 | I rightly feel like a failure and I resist others’ efforts to convince me that I should not feel this way. |
| F8 | I rightly feel like a failure, even though I question whether I should feel this way. |
| Regret (α = .92) | |
| RG1 | I rightly regret my actions, even though others could not reasonably consider my actions regrettable. |
| RG3 | I rightly regret my actions, even though the situation was out of my hands. |
| RG5 | I rightly regret my actions and I resist others’ efforts to convince me that I should not feel this way. |
| RG8 | I rightly regret my actions even though I question whether I should feel this way. |
Table 2
Descriptive Statistics of Dependant Variables, Mediating Variables and Covariates.
| VARIABLE | M | SD | Min | Max | Skew. | Kurt. | α |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSMR | 0.54 | 1.24 | –3.00 | 3.00 | –0.45 | –0.12 | .93 |
| Responsibility subscale | 0.95 | 1.25 | –3.00 | 3.00 | –0.86 | 0.76 | .89 |
| Failure subscale | 0.26 | 1.61 | –3.00 | 3.00 | –0.44 | –0.85 | .92 |
| Regret subscale | 0.41 | 1.52 | –3.00 | 3.00 | –0.53 | –0.52 | .92 |
| Past experience with MR | 0.76 | 1.37 | –3.00 | 3.00 | –0.62 | –0.16 | .89 |
| Identification | 1.62 | 0.80 | –3.00 | 3.00 | –0.81 | 2.50 | .88 |
| Transportation | 0.50 | 1.33 | –3.00 | 3.00 | –0.48 | –0.20 | .88 |
| Self-referencing | –0.37 | 1.54 | –3.00 | 3.00 | 0.17 | –0.83 | .87 |
| Perceived realism | 1.72 | 0.85 | –1.50 | 3.00 | –0.76 | 0.46 | .68 |
| Perceived similarity | 0.84 | 1.05 | –2.33 | 3.00 | –0.67 | 0.43 | .96 |
| Rationalization | 1.06 | 1.04 | –2.50 | 3.00 | –0.51 | 0.19 | .55 |
| Age | 35.91 | 12.01 | 19.00 | 77.00 | 1.05 | 0.46 | n/a |
Table 3
Descriptive Statistics for each Condition Separately.
| CONDITION | VARIABLE | N | M | SD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fiction | PSMR | 176 | 0.55 | 1.22 |
| Responsibility subscale | 176 | 0.95 | 1.19 | |
| Failure subscale | 176 | 0.25 | 1.63 | |
| Regret subscale | 176 | 0.44 | 1.55 | |
| Identification | 176 | 1.67 | 0.84 | |
| Transportation | 176 | 0.66 | 1.37 | |
| Self-referencing | 176 | –0.24 | 1.51 | |
| Perceived realism | 176 | 1.74 | 0.86 | |
| Perceived similarity | 176 | 0.82 | 1.08 | |
| Past MR experience | 176 | 0.74 | 1.31 | |
| Rationalization | 176 | 1.13 | 0.98 | |
| Age | 176 | 35.18 | 12.19 | |
| Nonfiction | PSMR | 176 | 0.57 | 1.27 |
| Responsibility subscale | 176 | 0.97 | 1.31 | |
| Failure subscale | 176 | 0.31 | 1.58 | |
| Regret subscale | 176 | 0.43 | 1.52 | |
| Identification | 176 | 1.58 | 0.77 | |
| Transportation | 176 | 0.34 | 1.26 | |
| Self-referencing | 176 | –0.50 | 1.56 | |
| Perceived realism | 176 | 1.69 | 0.84 | |
| Perceived similarity | 176 | 0.85 | 1.02 | |
| Past MR experience | 176 | 0.80 | 1.41 | |
| Rationalization | 176 | 0.98 | 1.08 | |
| Age | 176 | 35.65 | 11.79 | |
| Control | PSMR | 65 | 0.43 | 1.23 |
| Responsibility subscale | 65 | 0.90 | 1.25 | |
| Failure subscale | 65 | 0.13 | 1.65 | |
| Regret subscale | 65 | 0.28 | 1.44 | |
| Past MR experience | 65 | 0.70 | 1.46 | |
| Age | 65 | 38.55 | 11.90 |
Table 4
Zero-order Pearson Correlations between all Variables.
| VARIABLE | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. PSMR | — | |||||||||||
| 2. Responsibility | .79** | — | ||||||||||
| 3. Failure | .89** | .56** | — | |||||||||
| 4. Regret | .86** | .51** | .66** | — | ||||||||
| 5. Past MR experience | .73** | .59** | .66** | .60** | — | |||||||
| 6. Identification | .15** | .25** | .02 | .14* | .13* | — | ||||||
| 7. Transportation | .17** | .26** | .05 | .15** | .09 | .53** | — | |||||
| 8. Self-referencing | .16** | .20** | .07 | .15** | .12* | .40** | .59** | — | ||||
| 9. Perceived realism | .11* | .19** | .09 | .03 | .07 | .51** | .27** | .23** | — | |||
| 10. Perceived similarity | .15** | .20** | .06 | .14** | .16** | .64** | .33** | .34** | .44** | — | ||
| 11. Rationalization | .06 | .14** | –.01 | .04 | .01 | .27** | .25** | .21** | .12* | .13* | — | |
| 12. Age | –.10* | –.02 | –.12* | –.09 | –.11* | .01 | –.01 | –.02 | .14** | .05 | .03 | — |
[i] *p < .05. **p < .01.
Figure 1
The three mediation analyses. The covariates have been omitted from the graph to improve clarity. * p < .05.
Table 5
The Effect of the Three Mediators on the Three Subscales of PSMR.
| MEDIATOR | SUBSCALE | b | SE | Z | p | β |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Identification | Responsibility | 0.163 | 0.095 | 1.720 | .085 | .105 |
| Failure | –0.237 | 0.103 | –2.302 | .021 | –.118 | |
| Regret | 0.115 | 0.111 | 1.036 | .300 | .060 | |
| Transportation | Responsibility | 0.159 | 0.048 | 3.353 | .001 | .169 |
| Failure | –0.003 | 0.052 | –0.052 | .958 | –.002 | |
| Regret | 0.129 | 0.061 | 2.126 | .033 | .112 | |
| Self-referencing | Responsibility | 0.072 | 0.041 | 1.753 | .080 | .088 |
| Failure | 0.005 | 0.048 | 0.106 | .915 | .005 | |
| Regret | 0.084 | 0.049 | 1.718 | .086 | .084 |