The Role of Postformal Cognitive Development in Death Acceptance

This research is the first to test the relation between postformal complex thought (PFT) and death acceptance. College students (N = 225) completed the PFT questionnaire (Cartwright et al., J Adult Dev, 2009), the Need for Cognition scale (Cacioppo et al., J Personality Assess 48:3, 1984), and Klug’s Death Acceptance Scale, comprised of death integration and confrontation scales (Klug and Sinha, Omega 18:229–235, 1987). A series of hierarchical regression analyses showed PFT made a significant contribution to death acceptance over the contributions of other cognitive and demographic variables, as predicted. Further, PFT made a significant contribution to death integration but not to death confrontation. These results are consistent with contemporary theories of adult cognitive development and PFT.     

Reliability and Validity of the Complex Postformal Thought Questionnaire: Assessing Adults’ Cognitive Development

Three studies investigated the psychometric properties of the complex postformal thought (PFT) questionnaire (Sinnott, unpublished scale, 1998; Sinnott and Johnson 1997), which is a measure of adult cognitive development. The scale was found to be moderately reliable (α = .63). To assess construct validity, a comparison of participants’ performance on the PFT scale to their performance on the Need for Cognition scale was conducted, which indicated the PFT scale is valid measure of complex thought. Factor analysis reduced the scale to three factors, which correspond to important components of PFT: Multiple Elements, Subjective Choice, and Underlying Complexities. Implications for understanding the nature of adult cognitive development and the usefulness of this new measure for research in this area are discussed.     

Is Loneliness the Same as Being Alone?

The cognitive discrepancy model predicts that loneliness occurs when individuals perceive a difference between their desired and actual levels of social involvement. Using data from a sample of high school sophomore students, the present investigation was designed to go beyond previous research that has tested this model by examining the predicted nonlinear relationships between desired and actual social contact and feelings of loneliness. Analyses indicated that support for the cognitive discrepancy model of loneliness was found only for measures of close friendships. Specifically, the discrepancy between the students' ideal number and actual number of close friends was found to be related in a nonlinear fashion to feelings of satisfaction with close friendships and loneliness after control for the number of close friends. Implications of these findings for theoretical models of loneliness are discussed.     

Friendship Values and Cross-Category Friendships: Understanding Adult Friendship Patterns Across Gender, Sexual Orientation and Race

The present research used an intersectional analysis in examining whether women and men who have, versus do not have, cross-category friendships differ in what they value as important in a close friendship. Parallel analyses were conducted to examine cross-orientation and cross-race friendships across gender and identity status (minority and majority), with age as a covariate for all analyses. Participants were 1415 adult women and men, ranging in age from 18-80, residing in the United States, who completed a friendship profile questionnaire by reporting basic demographic information about themselves and their close friends. Participants’ importance ratings of six different friendship values were utilized to interrogate existing friendship patterns. Three general friendship values (trust and honesty, respect friend as person, there when needed) and three cross-identity salient friendship values (similar lives & experiences, similar values, nonjudgmental) were considered. Individuals with and without cross-category friendships did not significantly differ in their ratings for any of the three general friendship values. Individuals with cross-orientation and cross-race friendships placed less importance on similar lives & experiences than those with no such friendships. Other cross-identity salient friendship values were uniquely related to cross-orientation and cross-race friendship patterns. Although women rated all six friendship values as more important than did men, women and men displayed similar friendship value patterns across cross-category friendships and identity. These findings are discussed in the context of feminist intersectional theory.     

Does Motivation Affect Emerging Adults’ Intelligence and Complex Postformal Problem Solving?

It has been suggested by some past research that there is a relationship between postformal thought and intelligence. Also, prior research suggests that motivated individuals tend to perform better on measured tasks, such as taking tests. The two distinct studies reported here first test the hypothesis that, supposing that IQ and postformal thought tap into some similar cognitive operations, individuals would use some similar patterns of responses in showing both intelligence and reported postformal operations. The participants in this research were two separate samples of 41 emerging adult undergraduate students from Towson University who chose to sign up through the research pool website. In the first study materials consisted of a consent form, demographic questionnaire, a use of postformal thought survey, and the WASI abbreviated test. In the second study a pretest and posttest reported motivation survey were added. In the first study no significant relations were found between the reported use of postformal thought and the WASI IQ scores. In the second study there was a significant correlation between motivation and intelligence and between motivation and an individual’s reported level of postformal thought. However, there was no significant relationship found between postformal thought and intelligence, even with motivation controlled. Further studies of the cognitive mechanisms underlying IQ and postformal complex problem solving may help determine the cognitive skills needed to differentially succeed at each of these skills.     

Reasoning on social dilemmas varying in emotional saliency: an adult developmental perspective

The purpose of this study was to provide age-comparative evidence of social cognitive reasoning in adulthood, as mediated by the emotional saliency of tasks tapping postformal reasoning. Specifically, the tasks focused on the ability to resolve discrepant accounts of the same event sequence. It was assumed that less mature thinking may be more evident in reasoning contexts in which emotional factors play a major role. A postformal coding scheme was used to assess levels of reasoning in an interpersonal context. Tasks were administered to 60 subjects--adolescents and young and middle-aged adults. Measures of formal operations, ego level, and verbal ability were also administered. An interaction was found between age and degree of emotional saliency of the task for reasoning level. Specifically, adolescents performed less well on tasks higher in degree of emotional saliency. In addition, developmental differences in postformal reasoning as a function of age and ego level were found.     

Cognitive Developmental Theory and Spiritual Development

Traditional conceptions of cognitive development have failed to account for changes in adult cognition as well as more subjective and intuitive features of human experience. This paper reviews recent theories and research in cognitive development and spirituality with the aim of providing connections between the two domains. Neo-Piagetian and postformal theories of cognitive development suggest that advances in cognition are domain-specific, dependent on individual experience, and can occur at any point in the lifespan. However, theories of spiritual development have not adequately addressed these points. Thus, a novel account of spiritual development is presented that addresses these features with respect to individuals' changing conceptions of their relation to an External Power.     

Social behavior and off-target verbosity in elderly people

This study investigated social behavior in older adults with varying levels of off-target verbosity (OTV). After screening 455 adults in Phase 1, 198 individuals were selected to participate in both a get-acquainted conversation and an experimental cues situation and to complete social and cognitive measures. Higher OTV participants had lower cognitive inhibitory scores, talked more, were less interested in their partners, and focused more on themselves. Their conversational partners were less satisfied. Age and cognitive functioning were not related to OTV scores or conversational style for low- and mid-range participants. Although high-OTV individuals talked less when exposed to social cues signalling boredom, they spoke more relative to other participants. Self-reported social behavior had little relation with OTV and conversational style, but higher OTV individuals were less accurate in judging videotaped social interactions. Gender differences in conversational behavior are also discussed.     

Social anxiety and self-protective communication style in close relationships

People with higher social anxiety tend to reveal less information about themselves in interactions with strangers, and this appears to be part of a self-protective strategy adopted in situations in which the risk of negative evaluation is judged to be particularly high. This research examined whether a similar style of communication may be adopted by people with higher social anxiety in their close relationships, and whether it may be associated with decrements in the quality (support, depth, conflict) of these relationships. Over 300 people from the community completed a series of online questionnaires measuring social anxiety and depression, and disclosure in and quality of their close friendships and romantic relationships. After controlling for levels of depression, social anxiety was associated with a paucity of disclosure in both romantic relationships and close friendships in females, but not males. There was an indirect association between higher social anxiety and lower relationship quality (lower support, with a trend towards greater conflict) via lower self-disclosure in women's romantic relationships, but not their close friendships. Addressing disclosure in the context of close relationships may assist socially anxious women to develop more fulfilling and harmonious close relationships.     

The Relationship Between Attachment Style and Postformal Thought

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between attachment styles and postformal thought ability and to test the comparability of three methods of testing for postformal thought. In a sample of 119 participants, postformal thought levels and attachment styles were assessed using postformal thought questionnaires and an attachment style scale. It was predicted that individuals with secure attachment styles would exhibit higher levels of postformal thought ability than individuals with anxious–ambivalent or avoidant attachment styles. It was also predicted that the three postformal tests would have equivalent results. Results indicated that attachment and postformal thought were not related and that the three measures of postformal thought were equivalent. Results are discussed in terms of the relationship between attachment styles and individuals’ abilities to perform complex problem-solving tasks and/or dilemmas.     

A theoretical analysis of sex differences in same-sex friendships

An investigation of sex differences in same-sex friendships was conducted in terms of the intersection and social penetration model of relationship development, and Bem's theory of sex role orientation. The results indicated that there were significant sex differences in the nature of the same-sex friendships studied. In the terminology of Levinger's (Toward the Analysis of Close Relationships, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1980, 16, 510–544) intersection model, female same-sex friendships indicated greater involvement. In the terminology of Altman and Taylor's (Social Penetration: The Development of Interpersonal Relationships, New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1973) social penetration model, female friendships demonstrated greater depth. Overall, the female friendships were of longer duration than those of the males. The differences in involvement and depth were found within each designated level of friendship (causal, good, and close). However, the difference in involvement was moderated by the sex role orientation of the participants, in that the sex difference was greater between sex-typed individuals than between androgynous individuals. An examination of questionnaire subscale intercorrelations indicated that females tended to seek friends to whom they could relate in many different areas, while males tended to develop different relationships to meet different needs.     

共同冗思的概念、测量和理论解释

共同冗思指个体在双向关系中过度讨论个人问题的行为。共同冗思对个体产生适应权衡效应,即它不仅与积极的友谊属性有关,还与抑郁和焦虑等内化问题相关。以往研究主要分析共同冗思的性别差异、发展特点及其在不同亲密关系中的表现。结果发现共同冗思的适应权衡效应在女性群体中比在男性群体中更为突出,在青少年群体中比在儿童群体中更为突出。研究者主要从同伴传染、压力生成、共情痛苦以及生理机制等角度解释共同冗思与内化问题的关系。友谊等亲密关系中的共同冗思对个体适应的负面影响难以察觉,它可以作为个体抑郁和焦虑等内化问题的危险信号。后续研究可以从考察共同冗思的人格以及环境影响因素等角度深化对该主题的理解。     

The Friendships of Young Children with Developmental Delays: A Longitudinal Analysis

This longitudinal study examined the social interactions of children with mild developmental (cognitive) delays with friends across the early childhood and early elementary years. Results revealed increases in many forms of social exchange with effect sizes in the moderate range, but no changes in sustained interactive play. Social interaction patterns, difficulties in identifying friends to participate in the study, and concerns evident in children's peer and friendship networks suggest the general absence of reciprocal friendships. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that children's limited peer-related social competence constrains all aspects of their development of friendships. Despite these problems, the potential benefits of interventions designed to support relationships at this stage of friendship development for children with delays were noted.     

Postformal thinking and creativity among late adolescents: a post-Piagetian approach

This study investigated the relationship between cognitive development levels and creative performance among late adolescents from a post-Piagetian perspective. Participants were 386 college students, ranging in age from 19 to 26 years. The Social Paradigm Belief Scale was employed to measure the three cognitive styles of late adolescence: formal, relativistic, and dialectical thinking. The Divergent Thinking Test (DTT) was used to measure creative performance. Dialectical and relativistic thinking were positively correlated with creative performance, whereas formal thinking was negatively correlated. Planned contrasts revealed that postformal thinkers scored higher than formal thinkers in all dimensions of creativity, and additional MANOVA analysis exhibited a similar pattern. Multiple discriminant analysis showed that the linear combination of the six dimensions of creativity recognized in the DTT discriminated between formal and postformal thinkers, which supported our findings about the relationship between postformal thinking and creativity. Future research directions and implications for creativity pedagogy are discussed.     

Formal operations and postformal reasoning: A replication

The relationship between formal operations and postformal reasoning was examined by using the Shayer (1978) chemicals problem to assess formal operations and the Commons, et al. (1982) four-story problem to measure postformal reasoning. The subjects were 35 undergraduate social science and humanities students. None of the subjects who were classified as concrete operational or transitional on the chemicals task showed postformal reasoning. The hypothesis that full format operations are a necessary condition of post-formal reasoning and the expectation that subjects showing full formal operations are more likely than others to exhibit postformal reasoning was not supported.     

Friendships of Indonesian,South Korean,and U.S. college students

The friendships of college students in the United States (n= 61), Indonesia (n= 56), and South Korea (n= 35) were assessed to evaluate the H. C. Triandis, R. Bontempo, M. J. Villareal, M. Asai, and N. Lucca (1988) hypothesis that the friendships of individuals in collectivist cultures are more intimate and less extensive than those in individualistic cultures. Students rated the qualities of their friendships, reported the identity and characteristics of friends, and recorded details of their social interactions using the Rochester Interaction Inventory. The friendship characteristics of South Korean students were generally consistent with the H. C. Triandis et al. (1988) hypotheses, whereas those of the Indonesian students were not. It appears that friendships in some collectivist cultures, including Indonesia, display characteristics of extensive social contacts with others in conjunction with limited intimacy with specific individuals.     

Development and yearning: Cognitive aspects of spiritual development

Spirituality is important to humans but gets little attention in experimental studies of life span cognitive development. One way to integrate such studies is to examine cognitive aspects of spiritual development using complex postformal Piagetian models. Four possible points of interface within postformal models are: developmental stages; elements of emotion and will; multiperson cognition; and forms taken by the processes used. Testable hypotheses are outlined and some possible difficulties to be expected within such research are discussed.     

Social Anxiety Disorder and Social Support Behavior in Friendships

Relationship quality is a strong predictor of health outcomes, and individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD) report increased interpersonal impairment. However, there are few studies testing the effect of SAD on friendships and it is thus unclear whether there are behavioral differences that distinguish friendships in which a target individual has SAD from friendships in which the target individual does not have SAD. We tested for differences in the provision and receipt of support behaviors as a function of having a SAD diagnosis and accounting for comorbid depressive symptoms. Participants with SAD (n = 90) and their friends engaged in support conversations that were coded using the Social Support Interaction Coding System. Structural equation modeling revealed some differences between participants and friends when accounting for depression. Specifically, friends of participants with SAD and comorbid depression engaged in fewer positive helper behaviors than the friends of participants who did not have SAD or comorbid depression. Additionally, dyads in which the primary participant had SAD engaged in more off-task behaviors. Results suggest that SAD does not result in global interpersonal impairment, but that receipt of positive support behaviors from friends may differ as a function of SAD and comorbid depression. Interpersonal interventions aimed at increasing adaptive friendships and aspects of CBT that target subtle avoidance (e.g., safety behaviors) may be useful in facilitating more satisfactory relationships for these individuals.     

Friendship closeness inventory: development and psychometric evaluation

This study developed a psychometrically sound measure of closeness in Australian men's (n = 59) and women's (n = 77) same-sex friendships, the Friendship Closeness Inventory. Subscales were developed to measure both masculine and feminine styles of closeness in three domains of Emotional Closeness, Behavioural Closeness, and Cognitive Closeness. The inventory was subjected to reliability checks which supported the reliability of each scale, and factor analyses which supported the 3-factor design. Correlations among ratings on subscales suggested that the affective, behavioural, and cognitive dimensions are distinguishable but related components of friendship. Group comparisons indicated that women rated themselves closer to their same-sex friends on the affective dimension than men. Researchers have suggested that sex-role socialisation may partly account for sex differences in self-ratings of emotional expressiveness in friendships. There were no significant differences between men's and women's ratings on the behavioural and cognitive aspects of friendships. The cognitive element may need further exploration in further scale development as it measures only one aspect of cognitive closeness: the perceived influence of friends. Pending further validation, the inventory appears potentially useful for research exploring affective, behavioural, and cognitive elements of young men's and women's friendships.     

Social Anxiety Among Adolescents: Linkages with Peer Relations and Friendships

This study examined the utility of modifying the Social Anxiety Scale for Children—Revised (SASC-R) for use with adolescents, and examined associations between adolescents' social anxiety (SA) and their peer relations, friendships, and social functioning. Boys (n = 101) and girls (n = 149) in the 10th through 12th grades completed the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A) and measures of social support, perceived competence, and number and quality of their best friendships. Factor analysis of the SAS-A confirmed a three-factor structure: Fear of Negative Evaluation, Social Avoidance and Distress in General, and Social Avoidance Specific to New Situations or Unfamiliar Peers. Girls reported more SA than boys, and SA was more strongly linked to girls' social functioning than boys'. Specifically, adolescents with higher levels of SA reported poorer social functioning (less support from classmates, less social acceptance), and girls with higher levels of SA reported fewer friendships, and less intimacy, companionship, and support in their close friendships. These findings extend work on the SASC-R to adolescents, and suggest the importance of SA for understanding the social functioning and close friendships of adolescents, especially girls.