Defining and Exploring Modesty in Jewish American Women

Whether culture-based modesty may be a barrier to women’s health care has been a longstanding question. Numerous studies have noted that, in certain cultures, modesty is considered a barrier to mammography screening and breast feeding. Though modesty has been noted as an inherent aspect of the lived experience of many cultures, no extant measures or clear definitions were found. Jewish women, some having strict rules regarding modesty, were sampled to understand their definition of modesty. These perspectives were objectively analyzed using Q methodology. We found that although some perspectives on modesty may be accounted for by culture, there are others that are not.     

Stereotype Threat and Attributional Ambiguity for Trans Women

In this paper I discuss the interrelated topics of stereotype threat and attributional ambiguity as they relate to gender and gender identity. The former has become an emerging topic in feminist philosophy and has spawned a tremendous amount of research in social psychology and elsewhere. But the discussion, at least in how it connects to gender, is incomplete: the focus is only on cisgender women and their experiences. By considering trans women's experiences of stereotype threat and attributional ambiguity, we gain a deeper understanding of the phenomena and their problematic effects. ¹      

Modesty without Illusion

The common image of the fully virtuous person is of someone with perfect self-command and self-perception, who always makes correct evaluations. However, modesty appears to be a real virtue, and it seems contradictory for someone to believe that she is modest. Accordingly, traditional defenders of phronesis (the view that virtue involves practical wisdom) deny that modesty is a virtue, while defenders of modesty such as Julia Driver deny that phronesis is required for virtue. I offer a new theory of modesty—the two standards account—under which phronesis and modesty are reconciled. Additionally, since the two standards account involves reflection on moral ideals, I provide an account of the proper nature of moral ideals.     

Attributional style in aggressive adolescent boys

Past research suggests that aggressive children misattribute hostile intentions to peers during ambiguous provocative interactions. This study sought to extend the analysis of attributional differences between aggressive and nonaggressive boys to a sample of court-involved adolescents and their perceptions of interactions involving both peers and adults. Three groups of youngsters (nonoffenders, nonaggressive offenders, and aggressive offenders) participated in a structured interview and provided causal attributions for interpersonal problems commonly faced by teenagers. Results indicated that offenders were more likely than nonoffenders to attribute blame to others in ambiguous problem situations. Among offenders, external, person-centered blame attributions were significantly related to aggressiveness. This relationship was found only in ambiguous situations, and the correlation between such person-centered attributions and aggressiveness was higher in adult-oriented interactions than in peer-oriented ones. Overall, the results suggest that aggressiveness among offenders is associated with an attributional style that is characterized by the tendency to attribute blame for problems in ambiguous interactions to global, dispositional characteristics of others.     

Asian Variability in Performance Rating Modesty and Leniency Bias

The influence of human factors on team performance was investigated in "medical emergency driven groups" composed of medical professionals treating a sudden cardiac arrest in a high fidelity simulator setting. The group composition is unique, but realistic, in that it is not constant. Three phases are distinguished: In Phase 1, 3 nurses are present; in Phase 2, a resident joins; and in Phase 3 a senior doctor joins. It was hypothesized that directive leadership behavior would enhance group performance. This was supported with regard to the directive leadership behavior of the nurse first on bedside in Phase 1, and for directive leadership of the resident in Phase 2—but only with regard to behavior occurring in the first 30 sec after entering the group, which reflects the need for quick action in this time-sensitive task. For Phase 3, we expected not only directive leadership but also indirect guidance by "structuring inquiry" of the senior doctor to enhance performance. This was confirmed for structuring inquiry. Results indicate that to enhance group performance training should go beyond "technical" training that concentrates on medical necessities. Rather, it should include aspects of group coordination, emphasizing that coordinating behavior should be adapted (a) to the situation and (b) to professional role requirements.     

Attributional style predicts causes of negative life events on the Attributional Style Questionnaire

The causes cited by 218 participants for the hypothetical positive and negative life events on the Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ) and the dimensional ratings of the causes were examined to determine the match between the dimensional and categorical definitions of attributional style. Optimists (n = 105) and pessimists (n = 113) used different types of causes to explain the negative ASQ events, but not the positive events. However, optimists' and pessimists' causal explanations shared a number of features. The findings suggest that attributional styles depend, in part, on the event being explained and demonstrate that the ASQ events elicit specific types of causes.     

Attributional Style Predicts Causes of Negative Life Events on the Attributional Style Questionnaire

Abstract

The causes cited by 218 participants for the hypothetical positive and negative life events on the Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ) and the dimensional ratings of the causes were examined to determine the match between the dimensional and categorical definitions of attributional style. Optimists (n = 105) and pessimists (n = 113) used different types of causes to explain the negative ASQ events, but not the positive events. However, optimists' and pessimists' causal explanations shared a number of features. The findings suggest that attributional styles depend, in part, on the event being explained and demonstrate that the ASQ events elicit specific types of causes.     

Attributional Discrepancies and Bias in Cross-Cultural Interactions

Cross-cultural interactions are often confounded by differing interpretive frameworks through which meaning is attributed. The construction of an intercultural sensitizer revealed that the consequences of culturally mediated discrepant attributions may be confusion, misunderstanding, and conflict among interactants. Sources of attributional discrepancy and bias that contribute to failure in cross-cultural interactions are described. Critical incidents from A Navajo Intercultural Sensitizer (Salzman, 1991) are analyzed in the light of these common sources of error.     

Predictors of Attributional Style Change in Children

A number of studies have supported the hypothesis that negative attributional styles may confer vulnerability to the development of depression. The goal of this study was to explore factors that may contribute to the development of negative attributional styles in children. As hypothesized, elevated levels of depressive symptoms and hopelessness at the initial assessment predicted negative changes in children's attributional styles over the 6-month follow-up period. In addition, elevated levels of verbal victimization occurring between the 2 assessments, as well as that occurring in the 6 months preceding the initial assessment, prospectively predicted negative changes in children's attributional styles over the follow-up. Further, initial depressive symptoms and verbal victimization during the follow-up continued to significantly predict attributional style change even when the overlap among the predictors was statistically controlled. Contrary to the hypotheses, however, neither parent-reported levels of overall negative life events nor parents' attributions for their children's events predicted changes in children's attributional styles.     

小学儿童谦虚行为的发展研究

谦虚行为是一种中国特有的亲社会行为,在有关儿童道德判断的跨文化研究领域具有比较特殊的意义.本研究通过实验室实验对311名7、9、11岁小学儿童的谦虚行为进行了有益的探索.结果发现,儿童的谦虚行为不仅与年龄因素有关,而且还会受到社会情境因素的影响.     

Attributional Biases in Sexually Coercive Males1

A social cognitive framework was applied to sexually coercive behavior. Sixty-two male undergraduates completed a self-report measure of sexually coercive behavior, as well as several questionnaires assessing trait aggression, the encoding of sexual behaviors, attributions of hostile intent, and traditional attitudes toward women. Results demonstrate a relationship between the encoding of sexual behaviors and committing sexually coercive behaviors. A tendency to encode ambiguous dating behaviors as admissions of sexual intent related strongly to initiating sexually coercive behavior, while none of the variables examined were strongly related to persisting in sexually coercive behavior. Similar effects were found when controlling for all of the other variables. Implications for intervention designs are discussed.     

Attributional and social comparison processes in depression

In this study we examined the consequences for depressed and nondepressed individuals of receiving comparison feedback regarding their causal understandings of an event. Specifically, the effects of similar, dissimilar, or no-comparison feedback on depressed and nondepressed subjects' evaluations of the comparison other and on their feelings about themselves were investigated. Because the reduction of uncertainty about one's conception of social reality is a major motive underlying social-comparison processes, we expected that depressed individuals, who are assumed to have experienced heightened uncertainty associated with frequent exposure to uncontrollable life events, would be more motivated to engage in social comparison and would be more sensitive to social-comparison feedback. Results generally were consistent with this reasoning. The implications of the results in terms of the development and maintenance of depression were discussed.