Sex-role attitudes across two cultures: United States and India

This study tests whether students from India hold more traditional sex role attitudes compared to students from the US, whether women from either country hold more liberal sex role attitudes than males, and whether socioeconomic and demographic factors are better predictors of sex role attitudes among women of either culture. Data were obtained in 1978 from a sample of 409 undergraduate students from three Mississippi colleges in the US and 419 undergraduate and graduate students from three educational institutions in Andhra Pradesh, India. Sex role attitudes are measured by scaling developed by Scanzoni (1975). Out of a total possible score of 100, the mean values are 69.09 for the US sample and 53.62 for the Indian sample. Differences between the means for all 20 sex role attitudes are statistically significant. Results indicate that US females and Indian females had less traditional sex role attitudes than their respective counterparts. Mother role, wife role, father role, and total sex role attitude were more traditional among males in India compared to males in the US and among females in India compared to females in the US. More traditional attitudes were held by males in India with lower educated fathers and unemployed mothers. Religion was the only variable significantly related to Indian female students. In the US, traditional sex role attitudes of males were significantly related to high maternal income and residence in urban areas. More traditional sex role attitudes among US females were related to increasing age and marital status. Stepwise analysis reveals that the most powerful explanatory factors were sex and mother's occupation among Indian students and sex, father's income, and year in college among US students. What little variance was explained was explained by more variables in the US sample, and the best model predictors explained more variance in the US sample.     

Acomparison of the musical scales of the ancient Chinese bronze bell ensemble and the modern bamboo flute

We compare over a two-octave range the tonal, interval, and scale relationships of an ancient Chinese bell ensemble of the Zhou Dynasty and a modern bamboo flute. By using subjective pitches, a tonal system with simple harmonic partials (the flute) could be compared with a tonal system with complex inharmonic partials (the bell). We argue that the underlying musical scales of the bell ensemble and the flute are closely related and lie between an unequal-interval pure-system scale and the just-intonation scale. There is some evidence that a least interval of 60 or 66 cents figures in the flute scale, that both flute and bell scales include a 90-cent interval and a true (1,200-cent) octave, and that neither scale includes a 100-cent interval. Since there is a true octave, the scales cannot be cycles of fifths, and since there is no equal-temperament half-tone (100 cents), the scales cannot be equal in temperament. We conclude that the flute and Zhou bell scales are very similar if not the same. Apparently, strong cultural traditions and human perceptual constancies united to sustain a common flexible musical scale during 2,400 years.     

Alienation: A Symptomatic Reaction of Educated Unemployed Youth in India

A 21-item 4-point Alienation Scale (Kureshi & Dutt, 1979) in Hindi was administered to a randomly selected group of 400 educated youth equally divided into: (1) technically educated unemployed, (2) non-technically educated unemployed, (3) technically educated employed, and (4) non-technically educated employed. This scale aimed to ascertain in these subjects comparative degrees of feeling of alienation and its dimensions. Results of statistical comparison revealed that the technically and the non-technically educated unemployed youth, as compared to their employed counterparts, evinced relatively a greater vulnerability to the feeling of alienation and its dimensions, though the latter were also moderately susceptible in this regard. Further, it was found that the technically educated unemployed youth were more prone to alienation and its dimensions and the non-technically educated employed youth were the least affected, with the non-technically educated unemployed and the technically educated employed youth in second and third places respectively. The study also indicated a close association between different dimensions of alienation, both with each other and with the total scale scores.     

Auditory processing of brain-damaged adults under competitive listening conditions

Right CVAs, mild left CVAs, and non-brain-damaged adults received the Token Test under three conditions: quiet, white noise, and speech babble. Left CVAs performed most poorly of all groups in all conditions experiencing difficulty with subtests III, IV, and V. Right CVAs were inferior to controls on each of these three subtests in the speech babble condition only. Thus, right CVA difficulty with both memory and syntactic tasks was demonstrated in speech babble. These results are explained by the hypothesis that both hemispheres are necessary to process auditory information under complex listening conditions. Total brain capacity of right CVA patients may be overloaded if either memory load or linguistic complexity is increased in the presence of certain types of listening competition.     

Predictors of first onset and recurrence of major depression in young women during the 5 years following high school graduation

Although most depressive episodes in adulthood are recurrences of the disorder, lifetime history of major depression (MD) is often neglected in predictive models. On the basis of research and theory suggesting differential prediction of MD across the course of the disorder, the authors explored whether factors that predict a first MD onset would not predict MD recurrence. Predictors of MD were examined longitudinally in a sample of 128 young women followed for 5 years. Controlling for lifetime MD history, 5-year MD was predicted by the presence before study entry of 3 variables: having witnessed family violence before age 16, having a parent with a psychiatric disorder, and having a nonmood Axis I disorder. During the follow-up period, chronic and episodic stress predicted MD. Prior lifetime MD interacted with both chronic stress and parental psychopathology to predict MD, such that first onsets, but not recurrences, were predicted by these risk variables.     

Group therapy for refugees and torture survivors: treatment model innovations

The paper discusses varieties of group therapies with refugees and torture survivors and the logic behind enhancing traditional group therapies to fit the unique experiences of refugees and torture survivors. It discusses some lessons learned from practice and from empirical research and some recommended adaptations. Finally, it discusses the Center for Torture and Trauma Survivors' therapy group model for torture survivors and describes two of its variants: The Bashal group for African and Somali women and the Bhutanese multi-family therapy group. Group therapies, in this model, extend to community healing. One of the essential and innovative features of the model is that it focuses not only on treating individual psychopathology but also extends to community healing by promoting the development of social clubs and organizations that promote the values and culture of the graduates of the therapy group and the continuation of social support. New graduates from the group join the club and become part of the social advocacy process and of group and community support and healing. This model adds an ecological dimension to the traditional group therapy.     

Indian Psychology in Prospect

Responding to the comments on the paper “Positive Psychology and Indian Psychology in Need of Mutual Reinforcement”, the present paper provides further clarification to the meaning, substance and relevance of Indian psychology, the points of confluence and the sources of variance between it and positive psychology. It emphasizes that Indian psychology is psychology in the making that has enormous implications for broadening the scope of psychology. It goes on to suggest that humans are not mere biologically driven machines, but they are also consciousness manifesting beings. As such they need to be studied not only at the neurophysiological level but also from the perspective of consciousness as such. This opens up new doors to discover numerous hidden human potentials and how they may be harnessed for common good and individual happiness. To illustrate this, general contours of applied Indian psychology are drawn and their implications to health and wellness are outlined. This enables one to see the substantive areas for possible collaborative efforts by those working in the areas of positive psychology and Indian psychology.     

When Good Consumers Turn Bad: Psychological Contract Breach in Committed Brand Relationships

To better understand the conditions under which committed consumers continue to support their preferred brand after a transgression versus turn against the brand and the underlying theoretical process, we study the interplay between brand commitment and specific types of transgressions. Across three scenario‐based and field studies, we show that consumers have psychological contracts with brands, which dictate the terms of the relationship, and for committed consumers, violations of any aspect in (out of) the contract results in a negative (indifferent) response. Furthermore, we demonstrate that consumer trust is the underlying mechanism: committed consumers exhibit more negative responses to in‐contract transgressions as a result of their lower trust in the brand.