Reproducing gender in counseling and psychotherapy: Understanding the problem and changing the practice

In this article I argue that the concept of gender is misunderstood by the majority of psychologists. Increasingly the term “gender” is mindlessly replacing the term “sex,” obfuscating decades of theory and research that elucidated gender as a complex social-psychological variable rather than a bifurcated individual-difference variable tied to biological sex. As a consequence, gender is largely ignored as an “active” variable in counseling research and practice. Current theory and research on gender as they apply to counseling and psychotherapy are first described. Then ways in which gender processes are often reproduced in counseling and psychotherapy and factors contributing to this practice are illuminated. Finally, areas particularly vulnerable to reproducing gender are described and some examples provided of the reproducing, and the disrupting, of gender processes in counseling.     

Externalism, the environment, and thought-tokens

In “Contents just are in the head” (Erkenntnis 54, pp. 321–4.) I have presented two arguments against the thesis of semantic externalism. In “Contents just aren’t in the head” Anthony Brueckner has argued that my arguments are unsuccessful, since they rest upon some misconceptions regarding the nature of this thesis. (Erkenntnis 58, pp. 1–6.) In the present paper I will attempt to clarify and strengthen the case against semantic externalism, and show that Brueckner misses the point of my arguments.     

Reconsidering the Relation between Regret and Responsibility

Recently Connolly, Ordóñez, and Coughlan challenged the view that regret is partly determined by perceived responsibility for the regretted outcome [Connolly, T. Ordóñez, L. D., & Coughlan, R. (1997). Regret and responsibility in the evaluation of decision outcomes.Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 70, 73–85]. In a series of experiments they manipulated whether actors arrived at an outcome through their own decision or through a “computer assignment” over which they had no influence. This decision agency manipulation did not affect their “regret measure.” We show in two experiments that this null-effect is due to the fact that regret was measured by means of a general happiness assessment. In the present research we replicated the basic design of their experiments and also found no effects of decision agency on the happiness assessment. However, the results showed the predicted effects of decision agency when regret was directly measured. Moreover, a measure of disappointment seemed to indicate the opposite effect: People are more disappointed when a negative outcome is caused by a computer assignment than when caused by their own choice. The role of regret and disappointment in decision making is discussed.     

When Dreams Become Reality

In three experiments, we found that after a subtle suggestion, subjects falsely recognized words from their own dreams and thought they had been presented during the waking state. The procedure used in these studies involved three phases. Subjects studied a list of words on Day 1. On Day 2, they received a false suggestion that some words from their previously reported dreams had been presented on the list. On Day 3, they tried to recall only what had occurred on the initial list. Subjects falsely recognized their dream words at a very high rate—sometimes as often as they accurately recognized true words. They reported that they genuinely “remembered” the dream words, as opposed to simply “knowing” that they had been previously presented. These findings, which suggest that dreams can sometimes be mistaken for reality, have significant implications for the practice of psychotherapy.     

Deciding Whether to Complete or Terminate an Unfinished Project: A Strong Test of the Project Completion Hypothesis

The primary purpose of this research was to subject Conlon and Garland's (1993; Garland & Conlon, 1998) project completion hypothesis to a stronger test than it has faced in the past. We conducted an experiment in which we manipulated the degree of completion, sunk-cost amount, and anticipated sales price for a hypothetical real estate development project. The sales price information allowed participants to calculate the economic value of the project. Participants were also held “accountable” in the sense that they had to explain the reasoning behind their decisions to the experimenter. Together, the sales price information and accountability stipulation created an inducement to engage in an economically rational decision process. In spite of this inducement, participants were unduly affected by the project's closeness to completion. In fact, when the project was close to being finished, they often recommended completing the project even when it was economically unwise to do so. While the effects of the project completion manipulation were surprisingly strong, the sunk-cost manipulation had virtually no effect. Implications of these results and directions for future research are discussed.     

Idiosyncratic matching and choice: When less is more

In three studies, reliance on “goodness-of-fit” criteria exerted an influence on assessments of pay-TV packages that challenged normative standards relating to the principle of dominance. Studies 1 and 2 showed that the addition of one or more non-favored channels to a package of favored ones resulted in lower consumer interest, and the subtraction of one or more non-favored channels from a mixed package resulted in greater consumer interest, even when the relevant offering price remained unchanged. Study 3 demonstrated the specific relevance of perceived idiosyncrasy to this phenomenon. Thus, participants responded more positively to a given price reduction for relinquishing a channel they did not like when they believed that their preference ordering was idiosyncratic rather than one shared by their peers. These findings, buttressed by additional data collection to rule out some alternative interpretations and permit within-subject as well as between-subject comparisons, extend the theoretical and practical implications of previous research on the non-normative use of personal “goodness-of-fit” criteria in evaluating the attractiveness of products and programs.     

The personality assessment system: A radical hypothesis

Two stories are presented. The first story is about a clinical practitioner developing an assessment method beginning with a connection of test “signs” with behavior, and proceeding to a system that could mystify observers. The second story is about the application of scientific methods to explain how the system could work. Together the stories are an example of practice informing science, and science informing practice. The basic hypothesis used is that much of what we call personality is “caused” by differential aptitudes as modified by long-term learning. It is also assumed that people would prefer to use those aptitudes they feel are their better ones and avoid those in which they feel weaker.     

Consistency in interpretation of probabilistic phrases

It is occasionally claimed in both applied decision analysis and in basic research that people can better use and understand probabilistic opinions expressed by nonnumerical phrases, such as “unlikely” or “probably,” than by numbers. It is important for practical and theoretical reasons to evaluate this claim. The available literature indicates that there is large variability in the mapping of phrases to numbers, but provides no indication as to its cause. This study asks (a) whether the variability can be attributed to how people interpret the phrases per se, rather than to how they use the number scale and (b) whether the variability is due primarily to between-subject or to within-subject factors. In order to answer these questions, 32 subjects ranked and compared 19 probability phrases on each of three occasions. The results show that individuals have a relatively stable rank ordering of the phrases over time, but that different individuals have different rank orderings. Practical and methodological implications of these data are discussed.     

Modification of the startle reflex in a community sample: do one or two dimensions of psychopathy underlie emotional processing?

Recent research on psychopathy has begun to explore two dimensions that possibly underlie psychopathy–one related more to emotional and interpersonal traits, and another related more to antisocial behaviors. A community sample of adults was assessed for psychopathy using Hare's (1991) Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). Eyeblinks elicited by startle probes were recorded while participants viewed pictures of emotionally-laden stimuli. Consistent with previous research, participants scoring high on PCL-R Factor 2 (“antisocial”) showed no affective modification of startle if they also scored high on PCL-R Factor 1 (“emotional detachment”). When the factor scores were analyzed together as continuous variables in a regression analysis, however, affective modification of startle was negatively related to Factor 1 but positively related to Factor 2. The results thus provide further support for a two-factor model of psychopathy.     

Omission bias in vaccination decisions: Where’s the “omission”? Where’s the “bias”?

Several studies have reported that parents are often reluctant to vaccinate their own or other people’s children, even when the balance of health risks and benefits clearly favors vaccination. This reluctance has been interpreted as a manifestation of “omission bias”, a general tendency to prefer inactive to active options even when inaction leads to worse outcomes or greater risks. The research raises significant public health concerns as well as worries about human decision biases in general. In this paper we argue that existing research on vaccination decisions has not convincingly demonstrated any general reluctance to vaccinate nor has it made the case that such a tendency, if found, would constitute a bias. We identify several conceptual and methodological issues that, we argue, cloud interpretation of earlier studies. In a new questionnaire-based study (Experiment 1) we examined the vaccination decisions of undergraduate students (N=103) and non-student adults (N=192). In both groups a clear majority chose to vaccinate when disease and vaccination risks were balanced. Experiments 2 and 3 identify several problems associated with the measures used in earlier studies, and show how these problems could have led to the misleading appearance of majority anti-vaccination preferences. In our data, vaccination intentions appear to be less a function of generalized preferences for action or inaction than they are of the regret respondents expect to feel if vaccination or non-vaccination were to lead to a poor outcome. Regret-avoiding choices led some respondents to favor vaccination, others to oppose it. In two follow-up studies, few respondents mentioned action or inaction per se in explaining their choices. We conclude that there is no convincing evidence that a generalized “omission bias” plays any important role in vaccination decisions.     

Developing a self-report method for investigating adolescent road user behaviour

The aim of the present study was to develop a self-report questionnaire to provide a classification of aberrant road user behaviour in adolescent children. An Adolescent Road user Behaviour Questionnaire (ARBQ) was developed, comprising 43 items requiring respondents to rate the frequency with which they engaged in specific examples of road-using behaviour. The questionnaire was completed by 2433 children aged 11–16. Factor analysis showed that responses to the 43 items were best fitted by a three-factor solution. Factor 1 comprised items relating to “unsafe road crossing behaviour”, factor 2 comprised items related to “dangerous playing in the road”, and factor 3 comprised items which as a group were termed “planned protective behaviour”. A revised 21-item ARBQ was produced by selecting the items that loaded most strongly on the three factors. The 21-item instrument had good internal reliability. The effects of demographic variables on ARBQ scale scores were investigated. This study provided a tool that could be used in the future by researchers investigating adolescent road user safety. Possible avenues for future research include applying the ARBQ to the study of adolescents’ road accident involvement, and the study of the psychological variables that predict the ARBQ scales.     

Groupthink, Bay of Pigs, and Watergate Reconsidered

Irving Janis's concept of groupthink can be seen in the context of our on-again-off-again love affair with groups. Group decisions have often been seen as offering the benefits of collective wisdom, but may also lead to disastrous consequences. Groupthink then focuses on the negative effects of erroneous group decisions. Two major examples of groupthink are reexamined and compared: the disastrous Bay of Pigs decision by the elite advisory group of President Kennedy, and the advisory groups of President Nixon, which led to the Watergate disaster and at unsuccessful attempts to cover up. In both, it is suggested there was a “runaway norm,” escalation and polarization with the norm being to exceed other members of the group in taking more extreme and unrestrained actions against an “enemy.” While Janis seems to suggest that groupthink will ultimately lead the group to fail in its ultimate endeavors, we need to consider the frightening possibility that in the case of the Nixon group, the group actions came close to being successful.     

Locus of control and the perception of freedom in an agent of reinforcement

Internals and externals observed a staged videotape presentation that portrayed a “teacher” and a “learner” engaging in a 20-item anagrams task. For externals, any variability (10, 50, and 90% schedule) in the reinforcing behavior of the “teacher” (agent of reinforcement) resulted in significantly greater perceived freedom than when no variability (0 and 100% schedule) occurred in behavior. For internals, perceived freedom was a negative linear function of the amount of reinforcement administered. Internals indicated that they could influence the behavior of the “teacher” in all reinforcement conditions, whereas externals indicated that they could influence only the “teachers” in the variable reinforcement conditions. It was concluded that greater freedom is attributed to a person whose behavior is perceived as congruent with the person's inner disposition.     

Curriculum, Critical Common-Sensism, Scholasticism, and the Growth of Democratic Character

My paper concentrates on Peirce’s late essay, “Issues of Pragmaticism,” which identifies “critical common-sensism” and Scotistic realism as the two primary products of pragmaticism. I argue that the doctrines of Peirce’s critical common-sensism provide a host of commendable curricular objectives for democratic Bildung. The second half of my paper explores Peirce’s Scotistic realism. I argue that Peirce eventually returned to Aristotelian intuitions that led him to a more robust realism. I focus on the development of signs from the vague and indeterminate to the determinate and universal. The primary example will be the evolution of the very idea of number. I believe we will never arrive at the end of number history because we can never fully contain creativity. I draw similar conclusions for the idea of curriculum. Whether or not there is an end to the evolution of signs in Peirce is a matter of debate. I incline toward the opinion there is not, though I am unsure. I conclude by arguing that rationality itself is but the form and structure of poetic creation and that we should embrace paradox and even contradiction rather that become caught in totalizing and totalitarian end of history stories.     

Two components of need for approval score and their relationship to cheating following success and failure

Subjects completed a simulated “intelligence test” on which they were given bogus feedback indicating that they had either met college norms or had failed substantially to meet norms. Immediately following was a period in which subjects could modify their scores and believe that their modification would go undetected. The relationship of need for approval to “cheating” and amount of “cheating” was analyzed. The results supported an “avoidance” interpretation of approval motivation. Two separate components of need for approval score were identified and found to be differentially related to avoidance behavior for men and for women.     

Point of view in personal memories

A structural aspect of personal memories was examined in four studies. In some memories, one has the perspective of an observer, seeing oneself “from the outside.” In other memories, one sees the scene from one's own perspective; the field of view in such memories corresponds to that of the original situation. The existence of “observer” and “field” memories was confirmed in Study 1, using a recall questionnaire. In Study 2, the similarity structure of a specified set of eight to-be-recalled situations was established: the significant dimensions were “emotionality” and “self-awareness.” Study 3 related these dimensions to the observer-field distinction; situations involving a high degree of emotion and selfawareness were most likely to be recalled with an observer perspective. Recall set was varied in Study 4: a focus on feelings (as opposed to objective circumstances) produced relatively more field memories. Studies 3 and 4 also showed that events reported as more recent tend to be recalled in the field mode. Thus a qualitative characteristic of personal memories—the perspective from which they are experienced—is apparently related to characteristics of the original event, to the individual's purpose in recalling that event, and to the reported recall interval.     

Personality, anxiety and functional dysphonia

Psychological factors are considered for the predisposition and perpetuation of functional dysphonia. In the present study 61 patients with functional dysphonia were compared with 61 healthy controls, matched by age, sex, and occupation with respect to Cloninger’s personality model, mood, and anxiety.The patients with functional dysphonia presented significantly higher scores than the healthy controls with respect to “harm avoidance” (HA); depressive symptoms; symptoms of unspecific and general anxiety; symptoms of specific anxiety concerning “health”, “illness”, and “extraversion versus introversion”. No significant differences were found in “novelty seeking” (NS), “reward dependence” (RD), “persistence” (PE), or in state-anxiety and anxiety of social situations. These results were found considering univariate and multivariate analyses and confirm the relationship of psychological factors such as personality traits, mood, and anxiety on one hand and conversion disorder in general and functional dysphonia in particular on the other hand. This important relationship should be considered in the diagnostic and therapeutic interventions of functional dysphonia.     

Sexual and nonsexual marital aggression: Legal considerations, epidemiology, and an integrated typology of perpetrators

In this paper, the legal history of marital rape and the current status of “marital rape allowances” to sexual assault statutes are reviewed. The prevalence of marital rape and its comorbidity with nonsexual violence, as well as the physical and psychological sequelae found to be specifically associated with sexual aggression in marriage is reviewed. Our current limited theoretical understanding of the relationship between sexual and nonsexual violence in marriage is extended by integrating marital rape and marital violence batterer typology research. Specifically, we offer a four-type batterer typology integration (i.e., family-only, dysphoric/borderline, generally violent/antisocial, and sexually obsessive batterers) that fully describe husbands that are only nonsexually violent, both physically and sexually violent, or only sexually violent. Theoretical and practical implications of this integration are identified. Future research directions are outlined, and the need for greater clinical attention to the phenomena of sexual violence in marriage is highlighted.     

Take The First: Option-generation and resulting choices

Experimental decision-making research often uses a task in which participants are presented with alternatives from which they must choose. Although tasks of this type may be useful in determining measures (e.g., preference) related to explicitly stated alternatives, they neglect an important aspect of many real-world decision-making environments—namely, the option-generation process. The goal of the present research is to extend previous literature that fills this void by presenting a model that attempts to describe the link between the use of different strategies and the subsequent option-generation process, as well as the resulting choice characteristics. Specifically, we examine the relationship between strategy use, number and order of generated options, choice quality, and dynamic inconsistency. “Take The First” is presented as a heuristic that operates in ill-defined tasks, based on our model assumptions. An experiment involving a realistic (sports) situation was conducted on suitable participants (athletes) to test the predictions of the model. Initial results support the model’s key predictions: strategies producing fewer generated options result in better and more consistent decisions.