Coping and Disputing with Neighbors1

A model based on the disputing process is discussed in the context of annoyances with neighbors. Results of a telephone survey (n= 198) which examined the cognitive and behavioral reactions of respondents to neighbor annoyances are presented. Most respondents handled neighbor annoyances through cognitive coping mechanisms. The intensity of annoyance and the cognitions reported in response to the annoyance, were related to whether respondents actively reacted to the annoyance (complained or disputed).     

Phonology in the Lexical Processing of Chinese: Priming Tone Neighbors

Using both visual-visual and auditory-visual priming lexical decision tasks, this study investigated phonological processing in reading logographic Chinese. Compound words sharing segmental templates but differing in lexical tones were used as primes and targets while their relative frequency was manipulated. It was found that tone neighbours did not prime each other significantly and the SOA of 100 msec in visual-visual priming. When the SOA was increased to 357 msec, or when primes were presented auditorily, the processing of target words was significantly delayed by their tone neighbours. Larger inhibitory effects were observed for low frequency targets with high frequency primes. It was argued that although phonological information is automatically activated and this activation affects access to semantics in reading Chinese,phonological mediation is not the only or the main ~urce of constraints on semantic activation.     

Friends,Neighbors, and Boundaries

Michaels (2000) reviewed some basic assumptions in the ecological approach in the light of recent experimental findings. Other reviews have also recently appeared (e.g., Stoffregen, 2000; Stoffregen &; Bardy, in press). Here, it is suggested that some assumptions underlying the ecological approach are actually restrictive. The consequences of relaxing them are discussed as well as the contribution that phenomenological methods might make.     

Countries Mimicking Neighbors: The Spatial Diffusion of Governmental Restrictions on Religion

Conceptualized as efforts to deny religious freedoms, previous research explains the presence of governmental restrictions on religion by isolating national governments, asserting that the primary determinant is a country's internal structural characteristics. These approaches overlook why the levels of governmental restriction on religion are spatially clustered and increasing in distinct patterns. Utilizing spatial analysis and data from the Religion and State Project, this article demonstrates that governmental restrictions on religion are spatially clustered, not independent from neighboring countries, and that increases in a country's level of restrictions reflect similar changes in bordering countries. Spatial clustering emerges through the diffusion of policies, where national governments mimic their neighbor's policies and practices even when accounting for internal structural characteristics. The article concludes that while a country's internal structure is clearly a predictor of policies, national governments are not isolated from neighbors where the level of restrictions are susceptible to external influence.     

Life Satisfaction and Economic Position Relative to Neighbors: Perceptions Versus Reality

I examine the relationship between economic position relative to local neighbors and life satisfaction in rural Bangladesh. In particular, I exploit a novel household level census of three villages that includes the geospatial coordinates of every household and a perception measure of economic position relative to neighbors. This allows for exploring the sensitivity of the aforementioned relationship to (1) different objective definitions of neighborhood, and (2) the type of positional measure used, objective or perceived. I find that a higher perceived position improves life satisfaction while objective position has no statistically significant effect. This difference stems from a very low correlation between the objective and perceived positional measures. The low correlation can be explained by individual specific heterogeneity in definitions of neighbor. However, observable socioeconomic and demographic variables cannot explain the difference.     

Neighbors,relatives, and friends: Finding constructive approaches to religious others

The way we approach, describe and interpret the faiths of others impact significantly on the relationship between different religious traditions. This article develops resources from Christian theology to show how it provides important elements for the development of constructive relationships. It also offers some comments on the present proposals put forward by the ELCA. By emphasizing how religious traditions orient and transform believers, it points to how practices can appear as meaningful across traditional borders. To develop constructive relationships with religious others is, fundamentally, a way to practice belief in God as love.     

Social Support in Seventh-Day Adventists and Their Neighbors

Certain structural and functional aspects of social networks and support were compared among 157 middle-aged male Seventh-day Adventists and male neighbors of the same age range. The Adventist men were 11.2% more likely to be married (p<0.05), had 15% more trusted friends (p<0.10) and 31% more trusted relatives (p<0.005) than their neighbors. Of the Adventists and neighbors, 74% and 52% respectively reported feeling frequently cared for by others (p<0.001). At least weekly church attendance was practiced by 84% of the Adventists and 30% of the neighbors (p<0.001). It is speculated that some of the favorable mortality experience of Adventists may be causally related to these increased levels of social support.     

Neighborhood Disorder, Fear, and Mistrust: The Buffering Role of Social Ties with Neighbors

This paper proposes that individuals who report that they live in neighborhoods characterized by disorder—by crime, vandalism, graffiti, danger, noise, dirt, and drugs—have high levels of fear and mistrust. It further proposes that an individual's alliances and connections with neighbors can buffer the negative effects of living in a neighborhood characterized by disorder on fear and mistrust. Results from a representative sample of 2482 Illinois residents collected by telephone in 1995 support the propositions. Living in a neighborhood with a lot of perceived disorder significantly affects mistrust and the fear of victimization, adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics. Perceived neighborhood disorder and social ties significantly interact: informal social ties with neighbors reduce the fear- and mistrust-producing effects of disorder. However, formal participation in neighborhood organizations shows little buffering effect.     

Intravention: Third-Party Intervention with Clout

This study examined the dispute-resolution behavior of the "intravenor," a distinct third-party role in organizational dispute resolution. Unlike a mediator, whose involvement in the dispute is at the whim of the disputants, the intravenor can control the outcome of the dispute. Unlike an arbitrator, who is compelled to dictate the outcome of the dispute, the intravenor may or may not impose an outcome. The experiment reported here examined the impact of four variables on third party behavior: The third party′s role (intravenor versus mediator), the third party′s beliefs about the disputants reaching agreement (cooperative versus uncooperative disputants), the third party′s self-interest in the outcome, and the third party′s concern about the disputants′ outcome (interest in the disputant′s mutual welfare). The results suggest that intravention spawns a distinctive pattern of third-party behavior: Intravenors imposed outcomes in 66% of the cases, but more when they viewed the disputants as uncooperative than cooperative. Only 44% of the imposed outcomes reflected the disputants′ underlying interests, but this was greater when the intravenor had high compared to low concern for the disputants′ aspirations. Intravenors were more likely than mediators to use forceful, pressure tactics, and were more confident and saw themselves as more influential. Taken together, the results provide the basis for an integrated model of third-party intervention in organizational dispute resolution.     

Early Parenting Intervention: Family Risk and First-time Parenting Related to Intervention Effectiveness

The effects of cumulative risk and parity on the effectiveness of a home based parenting intervention were tested in a randomized controlled trial with 237 families with 1- to 3-year-old children screened for high levels of externalizing behavior. The intervention was aimed at enhancing positive parenting and decreasing externalizing behaviors. The results showed that cumulative risk was not associated with either change in child externalizing behaviors or change in positive parenting. When intervention effectiveness was compared for primiparas (i.e., first-time mothers) versus multiparas (i.e., mothers with more than one child), we found that intervention mothers of first-born children displayed an increase in their use of positive discipline strategies as compared to first-time mothers in the control group, whereas a similar effect for multiparas was absent. Among multiparas we found an intervention effect on sensitivity, with control group mothers showing an increase in sensitivity, whereas the intervention group showed a constant level of sensitivity over time. These results suggest that parity may be a moderator of intervention effectiveness. Implications for investigating moderators of intervention effectiveness are discussed.     

Longitudinal Effects of Reading Intervention on Below Grade Level,Preadolescent, Title I Students

Some claim that good and poor readers continue their trajectories despite intervention. This quasi-experimental study examined whether the READ 180 program helps general education, below-grade-level, Title I preadolescent readers improve. Participants included 82 students, grades 4–8, in public Title I elementary and middle schools. Results showed that below grade-level readers improved after intervention and attained grade-level status. Differences remained between participants and their nonintervention peers during follow-up testing. However, when examining growth trajectories, a reversal in performance between the two groups was manifested. The below-grade-level students’ mean growth between years 1 and 2 after intervention was actually greater than that of their on-grade-level peers with no intervention. The performance trajectory narrowed over time after successful intervention.     

Mediation: An Intervention Strategy for Counselors

Conflict resolution is a rapidly expanding field, one in which counselors need to be more knowledgeable. An overview of conflict resolution and mediation concepts is presented with a comparison to therapeutic counseling interventions. Applications are provided for various areas such as family mediation, community disputes, and mediation in public education. Implications for counseling and the role of the counselor are discussed.     

Population-Wide Parenting Intervention Training: Initial Feasibility

A population-level approach to deliver parenting and family support is a necessary but neglected approach needed to reduce the high prevalence of emotional/behavioral problems in children, decrease inadequate and potentially abusive parenting practices, and to provide improved parenting support to all parents within a specified population. We examined the initial feasibility of a large-scale professional training regimen to prepare existing service providers to implement an evidence-based preventive intervention in the realm of parenting and family support. Data from the U.S. Triple P System Population Trial are used to illustrate how a parenting and family support intervention can be successfully disseminated to a large, multidisciplinary workforce. We discuss lessons learned from this dissemination effort as well as implications for population-based approaches to child and family well-being.