Determinants of social integration in the community: an exploratory analysis of personal,interpersonal and situational variables

This article aims to explore the effects of personal, interpersonal, and situational variables on social integration in the community. Structural equation analyses from two‐wave panel data (N = 536) of adult participants living in an urban area showed that personal determinants (perceived stress and depressive mood), and situational determinants (undesirable life events) were statistically related to a decrease in social integration in the community. Interpersonal determinants (emotional, guidance, and instrumental support) were positively associated with an increase in social integration in the community. Implications of these and other findings are discussed. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Human genome research in an interdependent world.

This has been the year of agenda-setting conferences for the ambitious ELSI (ethical, legal and social issues) program of the Human Genome Project (HGP). But of the dozen or more major meetings of this sort held across the country, the one held at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD, June 2-4, 1991, was distinctive in several respects. As its name implies, "Human Genome Research in an Interdependent World" was a global look at the issues raised by gene mapping and sequencing. Unlike previous conferences, however, this meeting looked beyond a comparative analysis of clinical and domestic legal issues, and concentrated on topics that may require responses on a truly international level if they are to be successfully resolved....[Capron served as general chairman of the conference]     

The role of personality in crowding research

An analysis of variance was carried out on Ss who were tested with a letter-cancellation task under four experimental conditions, two levels each of crowding and disconfirmation of expectancy. Eight types of Ss were distinguished based on sex and high or low scores on E and N. The crowding situation and disconfirmation of expectancy was found to affect extraverts significantly more than introverts, as predicted by the Brebner-Cooper model. It was confirmed that personality is an important variable in crowding research.     

Effects of personal causation and perceived control on responses to an aversive environment: The more control,the better

A laboratory experiment was conducted to investigate the effects on reactions to aversive noise of three types of personal control: control over the initiation of noise, control over its termination, and combined control over both initiation and termination. On an attention-to-detail measure which occurred concurrently with noise stimulation, subjects' error rates decreased linearly as degree of control increased. Likewise, on a post-noise measure of task persistence, subjects' performance rates increased linearly across the three conditions as degree of control increased. Results were discussed in terms of Seligman's theory of learned helplessness and deCharms' theory of personal causation, and the motivational effects of personal control were emphasized.     

Human crowding and store messiness: Drivers of retail shopper confusion and behavioral intentions

With today's cut‐throat competition, brick and mortar retailers are engaging in various in‐store elements like ambience, visual design, and social factors to entice consumers. However, these environmental stimuli if not used properly can lead to retail shopper confusion that can negatively influence shopper behavioral intentions. Drawing on the theoretical argument that information overload facilitates retail shopper confusion, two experimental studies are conducted. The findings of both studies suggest a main effect of human crowding and store messiness for each dimension of retail shopper confusion—irritation, inefficiency, and helplessness. Mediating role of retail shopper confusion between human crowding, store messiness, and shopping behavioral intentions is also examined. Interactive impact of human crowding and store messiness suggests store messiness to be more problematic. The moderating role of shopping motivations (task vs. recreational) is also examined that suggests the negative effect of retail shopper confusion for consumers pursuing recreational shopping motivations. These findings across the two studies offer a new perspective that recommend the importance of organized retail store environments. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Human embryonic stem cell research: an intercultural perspective

In 1998, researchers discovered that embryonic stem cells could be derived from early human embryos. This discovery has raised a series of ethical and public-policy questions that are now being confronted by multiple international organizations, nations, cultures, and religious traditions. This essay surveys policies for human embryonic stem cell research in four regions of the world, reports on the recent debate at the United Nations about one type of such research, and reviews the positions that various religious traditions have adopted regarding this novel type of research. In several instances the religious traditions seem to have influenced the public-policy debates.     

Examining personal control beliefs as a mediating variable in the health-damaging behavior of substance use: an alternative approach.

Substance use continues to be a concern for researchers and health professionals alike. One of the most extensive areas of research on health-related behaviors such as smoking and drug use has been on personal control beliefs. Since many health actions (both facilitative and deleterious) depend on voluntary behaviors, and many health-related prevention and intervention programs are predicted on an assumption of controllability, this is an important area to consider. This article is a review of some of the literature and presents an alternative approach that entails using area-specific and domain-specific methods to examine the role that control beliefs play in the health-damaging behavior of substance use.     

Psychoanalysis and infant research: attempt at an integration with reference to methodologic differences

Infant research addresses the question of how subjective structures are objectively established during early development and what biological and psychological preconditions must be met. By contrast, psychoanalytic-developmental research explores how the child processes what it experiences within its relationships. Despite these differences in topic and method, the two research programs complement one another and can be related to each other on the basis of a psychoanalytic theory of socialization.     

Psychodynamic and systemic paradigms: An attempted integration in the light of personal experience with groups

Conclusion Our purpose is not to confuse psychoanalysis with systems theory: Karen Horney defined herself as a psychoanalyst, while the theory of autopoietic systems remains a systems theory. With the exception of the basic matrices that determine the identity of each current of thought, it seems possible to point out interesting points of contact among different anthropological views. They appear to converge on some points that are not to be overlooked, though they may take off from premises that are very different from each other. These are recent working hypotheses, which I have presented as a theme of research that needs to be verified scientifically. If these hypotheses can be rigorously verified in such a way as to avoid superimpositions, the theories would be enriched reciprocally, opening up interesting prospectives of scientific research. This is our wish.     

Interventions for children of divorce: toward greater integration of research and action.

A number of child-, family-, and system-focused interventions have been designed to prevent or reduce the negative effects of divorce on children. This article critically evaluates these intervention efforts by examining (a) their relation to basic research on the processes proposed to mediate children's postdivorce adjustment and (b) evaluation studies assessing the effectiveness of various programs. Although interventions address some of the factors proposed to mediate children's adaptation to divorce, the interplay between interventions and basic research on children's postdivorce adaptation is limited. Moreover, some intervention efforts appear to be beneficial, but most lack empirical documentation of their efficacy. This analysis leads to several recommendations for basic and applied research and for improving the response of the mental health field to the problems experienced by many children from divorcing families.     

Unrealistic optimism and perceived control: role of personal competence

This work analyzed the effects of unrealistic optimism in the interaction between the emotional valence of future events, the perception of control over these events, and the person with whom one compares oneself. It was hypothesized that, if the person of comparison is judged as very competent, a pessimistic bias should be produced. Likelihood of four different types of events (positive and controllable, positive and uncontrollable, negative and controllable, and negative and uncontrollable) were rated by 133 university students (22 men and 111 women) for themselves, for an average student, for their best friend, and for a bright friend. A pessimistic bias was observed on the relative likelihood of the events when the comparison was made between oneself and a competent and bright friend, when events were perceived as controllable, especially positive ones. Not enough is known, however, to provide meaningful interpretation at present; that must await further data and theoretical development.     

The eukolos-dyskolos dimension: locus of control and personal satisfaction

It is first asked how Hofst?tter's (1986) personality dimension dyskolos-eukolos could be validated without directly using self-assessments of subjective well-being. It is argued that internal and external locus-of-control beliefs could be tied to this construct. A study with 264 respondents shows that internal beliefs lead to well-being ratings that are higher in every life aspect than those associated with ratings of external beliefs. The effects are only marginally greater for control beliefs directly related to the different life aspects. It is hypothesized that internal control beliefs and high satisfaction are both generated by experiences of behavior that is both successful and causally self-attributed.