Creativity,Originality, and Appropriateness: What do Explicit Instructions Tell Us About Their Relationships?

Originality is a necessary part of creativity, but creative things are more than just original. They also solve a problem, or more generally are somehow fitting or appropriate. Yet previous research found an inverse relationship between ratings of originality and ratings of appropriateness. The present investigation employed a different methodology — it focused on the generation of ideas instead of judgments about them — to reexamine the relationships between originality, appropriateness, and creativity. Undergraduate students (N = 170) from two large universities received either realistic or unrealistic divergent thinking tasks. These were given with one of four types of instructions. These asked them to give (a) as many ideas as possible (which is the standard type of instruction for these kinds of tests), (b) only original ideas, (c) only appropriate ideas, or (d) only creative ideas. Brief definitions of originality, appropriateness, or creativity were also provided. Comparisons of the four groups indicated that there were significant differences between the different kinds of tasks, with the realistic set eliciting more appropriate ideas than the unrealistic, but the unrealistic tasks eliciting more original and varied (flexible) ideas. There was an interaction indicating that the magnitude of the impact of the instructions varied across tasks. Correlational analyses indicated that the correlation between the originality and appropriateness scores was the lowest among all possible inter‐index relationships (only 7% shared variance). Future research and practical implications are explored.     

Sex differences in estimates of multiple intelligences

This paper reports on two studies, each concerned with sex differences in the estimates of Gardner's ‘seven basic types of intelligence’. In the first study, 180 British adults were asked to estimate their own intelligence on the seven intelligence factors. Only one (mathematical/logical) showed a significant sex difference, with males believing they had higher scores than females. Factor analysis of these seven scales yielded three interpretable higher‐order factors. There was a similar sex difference on only one factor (mathematical/spatial intelligence), which showed males rating themselves higher than females. In the second study, 80 student participants completed the same seven estimates of intelligence, plus a standard sex‐role inventory, in order to separate sex and sex role in the self‐estimation of intelligence. A series of sex×sex‐role ANOVAs showed some effects, particularly for mathematical, musical, and spatial intelligence, but nearly always for sex and not sex role. Results suggest that previous studies which found consistent sex differences in self‐estimates of overall intelligence (‘g’) may have over‐exaggerated the issue as the difference is clearly confined to a limited number of factors of intelligence. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effects of feedback on the gender differences in the performance in a chronometric mental-rotation test

ABSTRACT

Gender differences favouring males are often found in mental-rotation tests and are usually smaller in chronometric than in psychometric test. The individual feedback in the chronometric test could be an explanation for the comparable performance of males and females. To test this hypothesis, 102 undergraduate students (60 females, 42 males) participated in a chronometric mental-rotation study with or without feedback. A subsample of 41 participants was asked to report their confidence about their performance in the test. In reaction time, males outperformed females and participants in the feedback condition reacted faster than participants without feedback. A significant interaction of gender and condition was found. Only females had an advantage in the feedback condition in reaction time while there was no difference for males. Males reported higher scores of confidence. Feedback seemed to help females especially to react faster. Confidence levels are discussed as reasons for differences between conditions and genders.     

Race,Gender, and Perceptions of Peer Delinquency: A Within-Subject Analysis

ABSTRACT

We generated a within-subject analysis that assessed whether changes in delinquency from the same youth were associated with changes in the degree to which the youth perceived the delinquency of their peers across three waves of data. We hypothesized that the effect of within-person changes in perceptions of peer delinquency on changes in delinquency across time should be greatest among young black males. The results revealed that a within-person change in the youths’ perceptions that their peers were engaging in greater delinquency increased offending across time. They also showed that young black males were more likely than young white males and young black and white females to increase their level of delinquency, within-person and across time, when they perceived an increase in their peers’ levels of delinquency. We conclude that scholars may generate deeper theoretical insights and policies that are more efficacious when they reveal the causes of crime that are universal and those that uniquely affect a specific group.     

Relationships between stuttering,depression, and suicidal ideation in young adults: Accounting for gender differences

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation and living with stuttering while accounting for time, sex, and health-related confounders.MethodThe data for this study come from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, a nationally representative survey study that has followed 13,564 respondents over the course of 14 years. Responses to the question “Do you have a problem with stuttering or stammering?” at two time points were used to establish stuttering and non-stuttering groups. Regression analysis, propensity score matching, and structural equation modeling were used.ResultsCompared to their fluent counterparts, males and females reported significantly elevated symptoms of depression. Although symptoms of depression among males who stutter were stable over time, depressive symptoms among females who stutter increased with age. Compared to males who do not stutter, males who stutter were significantly more likely to report feelings of suicidal ideation. There were no differences in suicidal ideation between females who do and do not stutter.ConclusionsSpeech-language pathologists should be aware of the associations between stuttering and depressive symptoms, as well as the increased risk for suicidal ideation among males who stutter. Clinicians should be knowledgeable about symptoms of depression and suicidal ideation and be familiar with processes to refer as needed.     

Southern College Students' Cheating Behaviors: An Examination of Problem Behavior Correlates

ABSTRACT

Understandings of cheating behavior by college students have focused on identifying rates at which students cheat and the identification of demographic characteristics. This paper focuses on demographic and other problem behaviors associated with cheating. Male and female samples from 12 southern colleges/universities are examined separately. Results show that males who cheat are more likely to be involved in four of seven other problem behaviors; females who cheat are likely to be involved in only one of seven other problematic behaviors. These findings suggest that cheating may be part of a larger problem behavior orientation for males but not females.     

Social agents,achievement goals,satisfaction and academic achievement in youth sport

ObjectivesThis study examined the contribution of motivational climate created by mothers, coaches, and best friends in the explanation of variance of athletes’ achievement goals, sport satisfaction and academic performance.DesignCross-sectional; participants completed self-reports assessing achievement goals in sport, perceptions of goals that are endorsed by mother, coach and best friend, satisfaction in sport and academic achievement.MethodsParticipants were 863 current Greek athletes (488 males, 372 females, 3 did not provide gender) aged 14.5±.60 (n=420) and 11.5±.60 (n=443).ResultsFactor, reliability and correlation analyses supported the psychometric properties of the instruments. All socialization agents had unique contribution to the explained variance of athletes’ achievement goals in sport. Mastery goals and perceptions corresponded positively to satisfaction in sport and they had low positive relationship with academic performance. Perceptions of performance approach goals endorsed by significant others had low negative relationship with academic performance and they were unrelated to sport satisfaction.ConclusionsMastery oriented climates should be established in sport, family, and peer contexts because all social contexts seem responsible for the formation of athletes’ achievement goals, emotions, and behaviours.     

Self-control,parenting, and problem behavior in early childhood: A multi-method,multi-informant study

BackgroundEarly childhood self-control and parenting are suggested to play key roles in the development of child problem behavior. The current study aims to 1) replicate earlier work by examining the unique and combined effects of child self-control and parenting on child problem behavior and 2) extend earlier work by including both mother and father reports.MethodsData were used from 107 Dutch families: mothers, fathers, and their two-year old child. Child self-control was measured using both father’s and mother’s reports of effortful control and with an observed behavioral task (i.e., gift-in-bag task). Similarly, parenting (i.e., emotional availability and discipline) and child problem behavior (i.e., externalizing and internalizing problems) were measured by using both father’s and mother’s reports.ResultsChild self-control reported by fathers and mothers, but not observed self-control, was related to fewer externalizing and (mother-reported) internalizing problems. Paternal emotional availability showed a modest association with fewer child externalizing problems, maternal emotional availability was related to fewer internalizing problems. Finally, there was an interaction between father- (but not mother) reported self-control and paternal emotional availability in the prediction of child internalizing problems. No main or interaction effect was revealed for discipline.ConclusionFindings confirm prior work on self-control, parenting, and child problem behavior. Most importantly however, the current study adds to the literature by highlighting the need for additional research including maternal as well as paternal data. Specifically, insight in the unique role of fathers may shed light on aspects of child adjustment not covered by mother reports alone.     

Thai Transgenders in Focus: Demographics,Transitions and Identities

ABSTRACT

Data was analysed for a sample of 195 Thai transgendered females (i.e., male-to-female (MtF) transgenders) who had completed a questionnaire covering, inter alia, demographics, transition histories and sexual/gender identities. Mean age was 25.4 years.

For demographic data, we found that our participants were often among the youngest in their family, that females played a prominent role in their lives (often rearing them without any male help), and that around one in five brothers (natural or step) were also transgendered.

With regard to transition histories, we found that many participants had transitioned very early in life, beginning to feel different to other males, and identifying as non-male by middle childhood. By adolescence many were living a transgendered life. Many took hormones, beginning to do so by a mean age of 16.3 years, and several from as early as 10 years. Many underwent surgeries of various kinds, on average in the twenties, with one undergoing SRS as early as 15 years.

As to identity, most of our participants thought of themselves simply as phuying (women), with a smaller number thinking of themselves as phuying praphet song (a ‘second kind of woman’). A small number thought of themselves as kathoey (a more general Thai term embracing a variety of gender non-conformities). While most participants would prefer to be a woman, there were a few who seemed comfortable being transgendered. A few foresaw that they would not be living a transgendered life into old age. The vast majority expressed a sexual attraction to men.     

Partial knowledge in the development of number word understanding

A common measure of number word understanding is the give‐N task. Traditionally, to receive credit for understanding a number, N, children must understand that N does not apply to other set sizes (e.g. a child who gives three when asked for ‘three’ but also when asked for ‘four’ would not be credited with knowing ‘three’). However, it is possible that children who correctly provide the set size directly above their knower level but also provide that number for other number words (‘N + 1 givers’) may be in a partial, transitional knowledge state. In an integrative analysis including 191 preschoolers, subset knowers who correctly gave N + 1 at pretest performed better at posttest than did those who did not correctly give N + 1. This performance was not reflective of ‘full’ knowledge of N + 1, as N + 1 givers performed worse than traditionally coded knowers of that set size on separate measures of number word understanding within a given timepoint. Results support the idea of graded representations (Munakata, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 5, 309–315, 2001.) in number word development and suggest traditional approaches to coding the give‐N task may not completely capture children's knowledge.     

Mother–Child Book‐Sharing and Children's Storytelling Skills in Ethnically Diverse,Low‐Income Families

The present study examined book‐sharing interactions between mothers and their 4‐year‐old children from African American (n = 62), Dominican (n = 67), Mexican (n = 59) and Chinese (n = 82) low‐income U.S. families, and children's independent storytelling skills one year later. Mothers' book‐sharing style was analysed in terms of how much storyline information they provided (story components), the extent to which they asked children about the story (dialogic emphasis) and which features of the story they highlighted (story content). African American mothers referred to more story components than did Dominican mothers, and Mexican mothers surpassed Dominican and Chinese mothers. Mothers of all groups were low in dialogic emphasis; they predominantly narrated rather than asked about the story, although Mexican mothers asked relatively more questions than did African American and Dominican mothers. In terms of content, compared with other groups, African American mothers were most likely to emphasize ‘individual goals’, and Chinese mothers were most likely to emphasize ‘negative consequences’. Latino mothers were more likely to emphasize ‘emotions’ than were Chinese mothers. Children's storytelling styles partially mirrored those seen in their mothers. Mothers' dialogic emphasis related to children's contributions to book‐sharing, which in turn predicted children's later independent storytelling skills. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Latent variables underlying the memory beliefs of Chartered Clinical Psychologists,Hypnotherapists and undergraduate students

In courts in the United Kingdom, understanding of memory phenomena is often assumed to be a matter of common sense. To test this assumption 337 UK respondents, consisting of 125 Chartered Clinical Psychologists, 88 individuals who advertised their services as Hypnotherapists (HTs) in a classified directory, the Yellow Pages^TM, and 124 first year undergraduate psychology students, completed a questionnaire that assessed their knowledge of 10 memory phenomena about which there is a broad scientific consensus. HTs’ responses were the most inconsistent with the scientific consensus, scoring lowest on six of these ten items. Principal Components Analysis indicated two latent variables – reflecting beliefs about memory quality and malleability – underlying respondents’ responses. In addition, respondents were asked to rate their own knowledge of the academic memory literature in general. There was no significant relationship between participants’ self reported knowledge and their actual knowledge (as measured by their responses to the 10-item questionnaire). There was evidence of beliefs among the HTs that could give rise to some concern (e.g., that early memories from the first year of life are accurately stored and are retrievable).     

Skin cancer: Assessing perceived risk and behavioural attitudes

Abstract

Measures of attitude concerning exposure to the sun, and judgements of risk and other beliefs concerning skin cancer and four other problems (stomach cancer, deafness, AIDS and sunstroke) were obtained from a questionnaire completed by 176 university students. Subjects also estimated the incidence of each problem using one of three response formats. The highest incidence estimates were obtained when subjects were asked to guess at an absolute number, and the lowest when they used a scale which differentiated between lower frequencies, while grouping higher frequencies into a single response category. The effect of the response scale format, however, did not generalize to other ratings of personal risk. Subjects' ratings of their personal risk, compared with their peers, showed an optimistic bias over the five problems as a whole, particularly for AIDS, but not reliably so in the case of skin cancer. Optimism was inversely related to the amount of thought given to each problem. Men and women did not differ overall in their optimism regarding their own risk of skin cancer. However, differences as a function of gender and optimism were found on various behavioural attitudes. The results are discussed in relation to a tendency of disregard base-rates in subjective risk judgements, unrealistic optimism, and implications for health education.     

Friendly fire: Longitudinal effects of exposure to violent video games on aggressive behavior in adolescent friendship dyads

Research on gaming effects has focused on adolescence, a developmental period in which peer relationships become increasingly salient. However, the impact of peers on the effects of violent gaming on adolescents has been understudied. This study examined whether adolescents’ exposure to violent video games predicted their own and their friend's aggression one year later. Among 705 gaming adolescents, 141 dyads were identified based on reciprocated best friend nominations (73.8% male, M_age = 13.98). Actor‐Partner Interdependence Models indicated that adolescent males’ (but not females’) exposure to violent games positively predicted the aggression of their best friend 1 year later. This effect appeared regardless of whether the friends played video games together or not. The study illustrates the importance of peers in the association between violent gaming and aggression.     

Expecting More in Relationships – Implications of Relational Entitlement

Abstract

Sense of relational entitlement refers to what individuals’ believe they “should” expect from their romantic partner. When expectations are both unrealistic and not met by one’s partner, there is a potential for adverse consequences. Researchers surveyed 195 female participants between the ages 18-60. The study examined the influence of one’s sense of relational entitlement with varying conflict strategies. The findings revealed that extreme forms of one’s sense of relational entitlement was associated with conflict strategies like verbal aggression, and control & domination. Thus, one’s sense of relational entitlement appears to play a significant role in how individuals handle conflict.     

The four P’s of purpose among College Bound students: People,propensity, passion,prosocial benefits

Abstract

College preparation programs, such as College Bound, aim to increase low-income students’ preparation for achieving future goals. Yet, little research has examined the nature of these students’ future goals and purposes from their own perspectives. In this study, in-depth interviews with 10 adolescents (six males and four females) participating in College Bound were analyzed using a qualitative approach informed by grounded theory. Four interrelated themes related to the development of youth purpose emerged: (a) people; (b) propensity; (c) passion; and (d) prosocial benefits. These themes were further categorized across two major dimensions: influences (i.e. capability and motivation) and sources of such influences (i.e. intrinsic and extrinsic). Moreover, ways in which students’ unique social contexts contributed to their experiences of purpose are discussed. Findings inform an understanding of the development of purpose in underrepresented youth, as well as provide insights for programs designed to promote their positive development and post-secondary school success.     

Expanding understandings of the body,food and exercise relationship in distance runners: A narrative approach

ObjectivesAdditional forms of theorizing and methodologies are warranted to expand understandings of the body, food and exercise relationship in physically active individuals.DesignA narrative approach grounded in social constructionism was used to explore the meaning-making process around this relationship in male and female distance runners.MethodNarratives around the body, food and exercise were elicited from nine recreational male and female distance runners (n = 5 males, 4 females). The sociocultural construction of meaning was explored through a thematic and dialogic/performance analysis of 17 in-depth interviews (2 interviews per person, with one exception) (see Riessman, 2008).ResultsFindings indicated that male and female runners drew upon one of two running narratives – ‘just do it’ and ‘just do it better’ – in constructing meanings around the body, food and exercise. Meanings shifted based upon the gendered narratives and cultural discourses. The specific narratives and meanings within them had implications for the runners' experiences and behaviors around their bodies, food and exercise in empowering/healthy and/or disempowering/unhealthy ways.ConclusionsThis study highlights the complexity of the body, food and exercise relationship in male and female distance runners, demonstrating that athletes' eating and exercising practices are socially and culturally formed in and through particular narratives and cultural discourse. These findings also add to the genre of cultural sport psychology research and a growing body of qualitative literature on disordered eating in the physical activity realm.     

Testosterone,Risk Taking,and Religiosity: Evidence from Two Cultures

Miller and Stark (2002) argued that worldwide tendencies for males to be less religious than females must have a physiological foundation. In the same year, Stark (2002) proposed that males are more prone to risk taking than females (thereby becoming less religious) due to their higher testosterone levels. The present study was undertaken to assess the merits of these proposals using questionnaire data obtained from Malaysian and U.S. college students. Seven religiosity traits were factor analyzed into a single factor, two risk‐taking traits were averaged into a single variable, and five traits were factor analyzed into two factorial measures of androgens. The usual gender differences in religiosity and risk taking were confirmed. However, contrary to Miller and Stark's suggestion, risk taking was not found to be inversely correlated with religiosity. Regarding the two androgen factors, most of the findings were inconsistent with Stark's proposal that negative correlations would be found. Aside from females being more religious and less prone to take risks than males, most of the other theoretical ideas offered by Miller and Stark were not supported by findings from this study.     

Effects of sex,status, and mating cues on expected aggressive responses

The effect of sex, status, and mating cues on expected aggression was examined via three scenario‐based studies in which participants imagined themselves in a situation with a same‐sex instigator of a provocation. Participants were randomly assigned to receive a scenario, which included one of two levels of status of instigator (high, low), one of two levels of attractiveness of the instigator (unattractive, attractive), and one of two levels of provocation (apology, insult). Sex and dispositional aggressivity were also included in a full factorial design. Based on evolutionary psychology ideas, we anticipated that status and attractiveness would differentially influence expected aggression for men vs. women. Participants in Experiment 1 were instructed to imagine that they were alone, whereas participants in Experiments 2 and 3 imagined themselves in a situation that included mating‐related primes. In general expected aggression was greater for aggression‐prone participants and under conditions of provocation and/or a high‐status instigator. Experiments 2 and 3 found that, in the context of mate competition, sex differences in the effects of instigator provocation, status, and attractiveness emerged: greater aggressivity now only predicted more aggression for males but not females who were insulted; aggression was highest for females confronting an unattractive, high‐status instigator and for males confronting an attractive, high‐status instigator; females were more likely to aggress against a high‐status instigator, regardless of being in a steady relationship or a first date situation, but males were only more likely to aggress against a high‐status instigator in a first date situation. Aggr. Behav. 35:259–273, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Unrealistic beliefs of clinical couples: Their relationship to expectations,goals and satisfaction

Abstract

Forty-seven marital therapy couples completed inventories measuring unrealistic beliefs about self and unrealistic beliefs about marital relationships. In addition, they completed questionnaire measures of their expectations and goals for therapy and their levels of marital satisfaction. As hypothesized, the clients' unrealistic beliefs, particularly those regarding relationships, were negatively associated with their estimated chance for improvement in therapy, desire to improve rather than terminate the relationship, preference for marital versus individually oriented treatment, and overall marital satisfaction. These results are consistent with the theoretical rationale for cognitive therapy with clinical couples and suggest specific targets for intervention in this process. Directions for future research are discussed.