When Racism Gets Personal: Toward Relational Healing

SUMMARY

In a culture that stratifies human differences, it is inevitable that anxiety about difference would be the source of much suffering. The power distortions that lie at the root of this suffering are manifest in relationships, from the most tangential to those that are deeply intimate. Moreover, the anxieties endemic to a race-based culture have the potential to thwart our most earnest efforts to make and maintain good connection. To adopt the feminist perspective, that the personal is political, is to acknowledge that no relationship can remain unscathed when power and value are differentially accorded based on racial group membership.

Three examples from clinical practice will be used to illustrate how racial anxiety impedes movement toward authenticity, mutuality, and empowerment in intimate relationships. In these examples, three biracial women who identify as black navigate the racial stratifications that contaminate the inevitable conflicts in their relationships with parents, mentors, and lovers. Because of the multilayered anxieties stemming from living and loving in a racially stratified culture, conflicts, which might otherwise be the source of growth and deeper connection, become rigidified and immobilizing. In addition to examining the debilitating impact of racial anxiety, the presentation will highlight the relational processes that facilitate healing, resilience, and mutual empowerment.     

The code of the street and romantic relationships: A dyadic analysis

Since its publication, Elijah Anderson's (1999) Code of the Street thesis has found support in studies connecting disadvantage to the internalization of street‐oriented values and an associated lifestyle of violent/deviant behavior. This primary emphasis on deviance in public arenas has precluded researchers from examining the implications of the code of the street for less public arenas, such as intimate relationships. In an effort to understand if and how the endorsement of the street code may infiltrate such relationships, this study examines the associations between the code of the street and relationship satisfaction and commitment among young adults involved in heterosexual romantic relationships. Using a dyadic approach, the study finds that street code orientation, in general, negatively predicts satisfaction and commitment, in part due to increased relationship hostility/conflict associated with the internalization of the code. Gender differences in these associations are considered and discussed at length.     

Life Matters: Exploring the Influence of Games and Mental Skills on Relatedness and Social Anxiety Levels in Disengaged Adolescent Students

LifeMatters is a 10-session life skills program implemented with youth that uses mental skills training and games to meet the three basic psychological needs of relatedness, autonomy, and competence. Forty disengaged students (20 experimental, 20 control) 16–17?years of age from a YMCA vocational school completed self-report measures before and after the intervention period. The school focuses on services for adolescents who find it difficult to gain an education through mainstream education due to behavioral and developmental issues. Mixed between-within subjects analyses of variance showed that there was a significant decrease in social anxiety, Wilks’s λ?=?.84, F(1, 26)?=?5.07, p?=?.03, partial?η²?= .16, and a significant increase in relatedness Wilks’s λ = .87, F(1, 26) = 4.2, p = .05, partial η² = .14, over time for the experimental group compared to the control group. Analyses of covariance showed no significant difference between the two groups in change on social anxiety levels, F(1, 25)?=?1.34, p?=?.26, partial η²?=?.05, when controlling for relatedness, and no significant difference between the two groups in change in relatedness levels, F(1, 25) = 1.34, p = .26, partial η² = .05, when controlling for social anxiety. This study provides insight into the potential effectiveness of using games and mental skills training to increase relatedness and decrease levels of social anxiety in disengaged students.

Lay Summary: LifeMatters is a life skills program combining mental skills training and physically active games. Disengaged students who took part in the program reported lower levels of social anxiety and higher levels of relatedness compared to students who did not take part.     

Sleep problems,anxiety and cognitive style in school‐aged children

The associations between sleep problems, anxiety, anxiety sensitivity and attributional style were examined in self‐report data from 79 children aged 8–11 years. Total anxiety score was associated with different types of sleep problems (bedtime resistance, sleep anxiety and nightmares). Conversely, total sleep problem score was associated with different sub‐scales of anxiety (from r(78) = 0.15, p = NS to r(79) = 0.47, p < 0.01). Symptoms of anxiety correlated significantly with anxiety sensitivity, but not with attributional style. After controlling for other symptoms of anxiety, school phobias (Beta = 0.26, p < 0.05), the mental incapacitation concerns scale of anxiety sensitivity (Beta = 0.26, p < 0.05), and attributional style (Beta = −0.31, p < 0.01, R² = 0.45) predicted sleep problems. These results suggest that anxiety is associated with a range of sleep problems, and that sleep problems are associated with different types of anxiety. Furthermore, certain cognitive styles are associated with both anxiety and sleep problems and may be good candidates for further research into the association between sleep problems and anxiety in children. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Attachment style and long‐term singlehood

This study examined how long‐term single people satisfy their attachment and sexual needs. A community sample of single and coupled adults (N = 142) located in the United States completed measures of attachment style, attachment figures, loneliness, depression, anxiety, quality of relationships with parents, and sexual behavior. In a structured interview, they answered questions about their childhoods and managing attachment, support, and sexual needs. Quality of childhood relationships with parents as well as use of attachment‐related words was coded. Single participants were as likely as coupled ones to exhibit attachment security and rely on attachment figures, although compared to coupled participants, they reported higher levels of loneliness, depression, anxiety, sexual dissatisfaction, and troubled childhood relationships with parents.     

Intimacy Behaviors and Relationship Satisfaction for Cohabitors: Intimate Sacrifices Are Not Always Beneficial

Guided by interdependence theory, the authors examined how relationship satisfaction is explained by intimate behavior sacrifices in a sample of cohabitors (N = 200). Specifically, it was predicted that characteristics of intimate behavior sacrifices, such as ease and partner appreciation should alter the association of sacrifice frequency and relationship satisfaction. The pattern that emerged demonstrates lower satisfaction for cohabitors when they frequently made intimate sacrifices and their partners were less appreciative of the sacrifices. When making frequent, but less appreciated, intimacy sacrifices for their partner, cohabitors may struggle with intimacy behaviors that are partner oriented.     

The nature of stress experienced by lesbians and gay men

Abstract

This study examined both the meanings and sources/causes of stress from the perspectives of lesbians and gay men (n=30), using a series of focus groups. The findings suggest that stress is considered a part of life itself, and is perceived to contain both negative (e.g. detrimental effects on health and overall functioning, unfairness, out-of-control), and positive (e.g. a motivator, growth-facilitator) elements. The sources/causes of stress (i.e. stressors) identified include stress experienced from the “coming out” process, stress in family relations and intimate relationships, conflict over one's sexuality given society's homophobic and heterosexist attitudes toward lesbians and gay men, as well as stress from financial and work-related issues. More importantly, this study suggests that culture/ethnicity, gender, and aging, which are interconnected with one's sexual identity, play an important role in shaping the experiences of stress among lesbians and gay men.     

The Costs of Hiding and Faking Emotions: The Case of Extraverts and Introverts

The present study examined the moderation effects of extraversion on the relationships between hiding and faking emotions, perceived satisfaction from intimate relationships, and reported physical health concerns. Four hundred and four Israeli participants, who were all involved in intimate relationships at the time of the study, responded to the Extraversion scale from the Big-Five Inventory, the DEELS to measure hiding and faking emotions, the SELF to assess physical health concerns, and the short version of the ENRICH to evaluate perceived satisfaction with intimate relationships. The mean age was 32.3 years (SD = 8.2); and the average length of time as a couple was 7.8 years (SD = 8.2). Of the participants, 198 were married (48.5%). The findings indicate that the effect of hiding negative emotions was stronger for perceived satisfaction with intimate relationships and physical health concerns than that for faking positive emotions. Extraverts who showed a higher frequency of hiding their negative emotions were significantly less satisfied with their relationships than introverts and they also tended to report more concerns with their physical health. These results were not found when extraverts reported a high frequency of faking positive emotions. These results are discussed in the context of the trait-behavior-concordance model and stress the importance of distinguishing faking from hiding.     

Death anxiety and sexual risk-taking: different manifestations of the process of defense

College students(n = 162) completed measures of death anxiety and sexual risk-taking, with a thought listing procedure in-between. Those who completed the death anxiety measure first (Death Salient condition) reportedgreater willingness to engage in high-risk sexual behavior than the Non-Death Salient group. This result was consistent with the hypothesis that evoking death anxiety would produce denial-based defensive activity. Also, Death Salient participants reporting more death thoughts were lower on risk-taking, as predicted. Interestingly, Death Salient participants reporting stressful thoughts about issues unrelated to personal mortality (displacement) were also less willing to engage in high-risk sexual behavior. The results are discussed in relation to a new, avowal-based model of the process of psychological defense.     

Women's attraction to benevolent sexism: Needing relationship security predicts greater attraction to men who endorse benevolent sexism

Benevolent sexism prescribes that men should cherish and protect women in intimate relationships. Despite the romantic tone of these attitudes, prior research indicates that benevolent sexism undermines women's competence, ambition, and independence. Ambivalent sexism theory proposes that benevolent sexism is able to incur these costs because the promise of a chivalrous and protective partner offers women security in their intimate relationships. We tested this key proposition by examining whether women who intensely need relationship security—women higher in attachment anxiety—are more attracted to men who endorse benevolent sexism. Highly anxious women (N = 632) rated men described as endorsing benevolent sexism as relatively more attractive, and reported greater preferences for partners to hold benevolently sexist attitudes. These results advance understanding regarding the underlying reasons women find benevolent sexism appealing and identify who will be most vulnerable to the potential costs of benevolent sexism.     

Death anxiety and sexual risk-taking: different manifestations of the process of defense

College students(n = 162) completed measures of death anxiety and sexual risk-taking, with a thought listing procedure in-between. Those who completed the death anxiety measure first (Death Salient condition) reportedgreater willingness to engage in high-risk sexual behavior than the Non-Death Salient group. This result was consistent with the hypothesis that evoking death anxiety would produce denial-based defensive activity. Also, Death Salient participants reporting more death thoughts were lower on risk-taking, as predicted. Interestingly, Death Salient participants reporting stressful thoughts about issues unrelated to personal mortality (displacement) were also less willing to engage in high-risk sexual behavior. The results are discussed in relation to a new, avowal-based model of the process of psychological defense.     

The Treatment of the Young Delinquent by J. Arthur Hoyles

On the rationale that group psychotherapy focuses on interaction processes in close relationships, our study sought to investigate the hypothesis that small group therapy would be effective in enhancing intimate friendship in a dyadic relationship. The study group consisted of 102 elementary school students who had been referred for counseling help. Matched by age, sex, and similarity of problem, each pair of students was divided into an experimental group (N = 55) and a control group (N = 47). The experimental group contained eight small treatment groups and the control group contained seven matching small groups, leaving one special education group with no control. The results support our hypothesis that group psychotherapy positively affects intimate friendship of girls and boys. They further suggest the boys' need for such an experience, since without it they markedly deteriorate in intimate friendship. Implications for the group leader are derived from the correlations between gains in intimate friendship and group intimacy.     

Meaning gained versus meaning lost: The effects of meaning salience on anxiety and depression during the coronavirus pandemic

People who have meaningful lives generally experience less anxiety and depression. Meaning salience, or the awareness of the meaning in one's life, is believed to partially explain this relationship. However, in times of isolation, what might be most salient to people are the meaningful aspects of their lives that have disappeared. This study seeks to understand how making gained versus lost meaning salient affects anxiety and depression. Participants either wrote for 5 minutes about how their life gained meaning (n = 29) or lost meaning (n = 30) due to the coronavirus restrictions, or about music (i.e., the control condition; n = 32). Those who wrote about gained meaning experienced less momentary anxiety than those who wrote about lost meaning. In addition, meaning salience moderated the relationship between meaning and both anxiety and depression. Those who wrote about gained meaning appeared to exhibit a positive relationship between meaning in life (MIL) and both anxiety and depression, while those who wrote about lost meaning exhibited negative relationships. In all, this suggests that meaning salience is not always positive and that researchers and practitioners should consider how making positive meaning salient may be more beneficial than a general focus on MIL.     

A Clinical-Empirical Model of Personality: Life after the Mischelian Ice Age and the NEO-Lithic Era

ABSTRACT A theory of personality should lead to both accurate prediction and interpretive understanding. Aside from its empirical uses, a personality theory should provide a grammar that allows personality psychologists to infer meaning from overt behavior with more sophistication than a layperson, and the best laboratory for testing the interpretive utility of a personality theory remains the clinic. With respect to the appropriate data for constructing and evaluating theories of personality, an overreliance on questionnaire data is problematic for several reasons: It assumes that understanding people requires no training, it mistakes research on the conscious self-concept for research on personality, it conflates implicit and explicit knowledge, it fails to address defensive biases, and it lacks interrater reliability. Consideration of both empirical and clinical data points to three questions that define the elements of personality necessary for a comprehensive assessment of an individual: (a) What psychological resources–cognitive, affective, and behavioral dispositions–does the individual have at his or her disposal? (b) What does the person wish for, fear, and value, and how do these motives combine and conflict? (c) How does the person experience the self and others, and to what extent can the individual enter into intimate relationships?     

Fathers' versus mothers' social referencing signals in relation to infant anxiety and avoidance: a visual cliff experiment

Infants use signals from others to guide their behavior when confronted with novel situations, a process called ‘social referencing’ (SR). Via SR, signs of parental anxiety can lead to infant anxiety. Little is known about differences in the effect of paternal and maternal SR signals on child anxiety. Using a visual cliff paradigm, we studied whether SR processes between fathers and their infants differed from mothers and their infants. Eighty‐one infants aged 10–15 months were randomly assigned to conduct the visual cliff task with their father (n = 41) or mother (n = 40). The infant was placed on the shallow side of the cliff and the parent, standing at the deep side, was instructed to encourage the infant to cross. Results showed that although mothers showed more intense facial expressions of encouragement than fathers, no differences occurred in how fast, and with how much anxiety, infants crossed the cliff with fathers and mothers. However, path analyses showed that paternal, but not maternal, expressed anxiety was positively associated with infant expressed anxiety and avoidance. For infants who participated with their mother, infants' anxious temperament was negatively associated with infant avoidance of the cliff. Infant anxious temperament moderated the link between paternal expressed anxiety and infant avoidance: the higher the level of infant anxious temperament the stronger the positive association between paternal expressed anxiety and infant's avoidance of the cliff. Lastly, parental encouragement was unrelated to infant expressed anxiety and avoidance. Our results suggest that SR processes between fathers and their infants differ from those between mothers and their infants.     

Psychometric Properties of the Gaze Anxiety Rating Scale: Convergent,Discriminant, and Factorial Validity

Fear and avoidance of gaze are two features thought to be associated with problematic social anxiety. Avoidance of eye contact has been linked with such undesirable traits as deceptiveness, insincerity, and lower self-esteem. The Gaze Anxiety Rating Scale (GARS) is a self-report measure designed to assess gaze anxiety and avoidance, but its psychometric properties have only been assessed in one preliminary study. We further investigated psychometric properties of the GARS by assessing convergent and factorial validity. We obtained a two-factor solution: gaze anxiety and avoidance across situations (1) in general (GARS-General) and (2) related to dominance communication (GARS-Dominance). The GARS-General factor related more strongly to social anxiety than the GARS-Dominance, and convergent validity of the factors was supported by expected relationships with personality and social anxiety variables. Our results indicate that the GARS subscales are psychometrically valid measures of gaze aversion, supporting their use in future study of the relationship between social anxiety and eye contact behavior.     

Relations Among Children's Coping Strategies and Anxiety: The Mediating Role of Coping Efficacy

The current study tests a model that depicts the relationships among coping strategies (active, distraction, avoidance, and support seeking) and anxiety symptoms. SEM is used to test if the relationship between these variables is mediated by coping efficacy. A large sample of Canadian children (N = 506) aged 8 to 11 years (boys = 249, girls = 245, unknown gender = 12) participated in the study. Results showed that coping efficacy is a partial mediator of the relations between active coping strategies and anxiety symptoms, however support was not found for it to be an effective mediator for other coping strategies. This study contributes to the understanding of childhood anxiety by highlighting the importance of the relationship between anxiety and the methods children use to cope with stress and how perceptions of their coping abilities influence this relationship.     

Attachment to groups: Relationships with group esteem,self-esteem,and investment in ingroups

We apply a model of interpersonal attachment style to the group domain, examining how attachment to ingroups relates to self-views, group esteem, and ingroup investment. In Study 1 (N = 306), participants completed measures of self-esteem, group esteem, group attachment insecurity, and investment. Study 2 (N = 316) implemented a within-subjects experimental design in which participants completed the same measures as in Study 1 with regard to ingroups they held in high versus low esteem. In both studies, the negative relationship between group esteem and group attachment avoidance was stronger among participants with higher self-esteem, and the negative relationship between self-esteem and group attachment anxiety was stronger for more esteemed ingroups. Over and above group esteem, group attachment anxiety was positively and avoidance negatively related to investment in ingroups. We integrated frameworks spanning group dynamics and close relationships to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of how individuals perceive their relationships with ingroups.     

Imagine that: examining the influence of sport‐related imagined contact on intergroup anxiety and sexual prejudice across cultures

The purpose of this study was to examine (a) the relationship among sport‐related imagined intergroup contact, intergroup anxiety, and sexual prejudice, and (b) how these relationships varied across cultures. Students enrolled at major public universities in South Korea (n = 100) and the United States (n = 100) participated in an experiment in which they imagined playing basketball and then engaging in a conversation with a gay man or with a friend. They then responded to a post‐experiment questionnaire. South Koreans' intergroup anxiety significantly decreased when they imagined contact with a gay man, but the same was not necessarily the case for Americans. Intergroup anxiety mediated the relationship between imagined contact and sexual prejudice for Americans, but not for Koreans.