Does Perceived Realism Really Matter in Media Effects?

Memory, perceived realism, and emotional responses to documentary and fictional film excerpts were investigated experimentally using adult participants. Documentary stimuli were perceived as more factual than their fiction counterparts at both semantic and syntactic levels. However, contrary to expectations, memory for visual and verbal information and the intensity of emotional reactions were greater overall for fiction films. Films whose content corresponded to well-known social themes and film genres also had a greater influence on memory and emotions. In general, it appears that perceived factuality does not have as compelling an influence on adults as it does on younger viewers. Results are interpreted in terms of the differences between cinematic attributes of documentary and fiction films and between the cognitive processes activated by these two film genres and by different themes.     

Beneficence: Does Agglomeration Matter?

When it comes to the duty of beneficence, a formidable class of moderate positions holds that morally significant considerations emerge when one's actions are seen as part of a larger series. Agglomeration, according to these moderates, limits the demands of beneficence, thereby avoiding the extremely demanding view forcefully defended by Peter Singer. This idea has much appeal. What morality can demand of people is, it seems, appropriately modulated by how much they have already done or will do. Here we examine a number of recent proposals that appeal to agglomeration. None of them, we argue, succeeds.     

Does Gender Matter in Personality Psychology?

In this essay, we assess whether gender is important to personality in the eyes of mainstream personality psychologists and in the eyes of feminist psychologists. We discover that these two perspectives are in fact widely divergent. Most research on personality published today in top‐tier ‘mainstream’ personality journals does not take gender seriously. Moreover, frequently‐used textbooks on personality – whether focused on theories or themes – pay little attention to issues of gender. In contrast, most research on personality published in journals focused on the psychology of women and gender treats gender as an important feature of personality. In that research, gender is fully theoretically integrated into the research, testable hypotheses are developed, and analyses include considerable attention to gender. The current segregation of perspectives on the relevance of gender to personality strikes us as deeply problematic for progress in developing a complete picture of personality in context.     

The Gender Gap in Delinquency: Does SES Matter?

Some researchers argue that the gender gap in delinquency will vary by socioeconomic status (SES); others argue instead for similarity in the gender gap in delinquency across SES. An important shortcoming of the existing research is the paucity of studies that disaggregate the data on delinquent outcomes to consider the possible impact of socioeconomic status on both the extent of overlap in predictors of females' and males' delinquency, and the extent to which these predictors help to explain the gender gap in delinquency. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study addresses the shortfalls in empirical research by examining the gender gap for the juvenile population as a whole as well as across specific SES groupings, focusing on these key mediators of delinquency: grades, parental attachment, and delinquent peers. Data support the argument for similarity in the gender gap across SES, though the effect of predictors varies.     

Parental Psychological Control and Adjustment Among Detained Youth: Does Perceived Containment Matter?

Journal of Child and Family Studies - Parental psychological control is linked to adjustment difficulties, but the links to specific adjustment outcomes and factors that contribute to these links...     

Does Handedness Determine Which Hand Leads in a Bimanual Task?

Right- and left-handers (n = 16 in each group) were tested on a bimanual circle task that required drawing either in the same direction (parallel) or in a mirror symmetrical coordination mode with the two hands. The authors' primary purposes were to examine the effect of circle direction on within-hand and between-hands variables and to determine whether the relation between hand lead and coordination mode (parallel or mirror symmetrical) differs for left- and right-handers. A strong relation was found between lead hand and movement condition, which depended on the direction of the movements and whether the task was parallel or mirror symmetrical. The pattern of results was similar for left-and right-handers on parallel tasks, but group differences were found with respect to mirror symmetrical tasks. At odds with the general claim that the dominant hand leads, the present results indicated that hand dominance does not generally determine which hand leads.     

Designing Organizations: Does Expertise Matter?

From an organizational cognition standpoint, we approach organizational design as an ongoing creative sensemaking process. This study examined the role of expertise in the cognitive problem-solving patterns underlying design processes and the resulting organizational forms. The simulated problem elicited the mental models applied by naives, novices, and experts in designing an organization. The thinking-aloud protocol analysis revealed quantitative and qualitative expert/nonexpert differences in problem-solving strategies, the time spent on problem representation, and the justifications and difficulties expressed in the course of the design process. In addition, our results showed that naives created organizations consistent with mechanistic structures, while novices and experts created organizations consistent with organic structures. We discuss the implications of these findings for the understanding of the cognitive basis of organizational design and the development of effective training programs.     

Does Proximity Matter in Promoting Interfaith Dialogue?

This paper explores the role of physical proximity of places of worship in facilitating interfaith dialogue. The research focuses on a religious cluster within the Greater Toronto Area, which emerged due to incremental zoning changes over time. Using key informant interviews as the method and Allport’s contact hypothesis as the guiding theoretical framework, it explores the effects of proximity and contact (interaction or encounters) on intergroup relations. The findings suggest that physical proximity is not a strong factor in facilitating interfaith dialogue initiatives. However, proximity does seem to have an effect in creating a space for interactions and encounters to occur, which can lead to attitudinal shifts concerning the religious “other.”     

Does Maintenance Treatment Matter?

This study examined the effects of a two-year maintenance treatment assessed at 1 and 2 years following Parent–child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). Sixty-one of 100 clinic-referred children (M age?=?4 years, 4 months) originally diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) completed the standard treatment and were then randomized to PCIT maintenance treatment (MT) or to an assessment-only follow-up condition (AO). Rating scale and observational measures from fathers, mothers, and children were collected before and after standard treatment and at one- and two-year follow-up assessments. Maintenance treatment involved monthly telephone contacts from the original therapist focused on relapse prevention based on principles of PCIT. At the two-year follow-up, MT families showed few changes from post-treatment, as expected. However, the expected decrements for AO control families were not seen. Few differences between MT and AO were found at either follow-up assessment, and there were no significant differences in the rates of change during follow-up. The maintenance of gains among AO families may have resulted from the continuous enhancement of standard treatment or from inadvertent reinforcement for maintenance provided by the assessments of change alone.     

Wage Differentials in the United States: Does Religious Participation Matter?

Using data on non‐Hispanics from the 2005 Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), this article examines the within‐religion association between religious participation and wages for mainline Protestants, conservative Protestants, and Catholics, the three major religious groups in the United States. While previous studies have examined this relationship for women only and using ordinary least squares (OLS), this article further analyzes gender differences and differences along the wage distribution using a quantile regression (QR) approach. The results indicate that high participation in religious services is associated with lower wages among mainline Protestant women and men, and among Catholic men. Among Catholic women, those who are not participating in religious activities earn higher wages relative to those who participate on a weekly basis. Furthermore, this advantage is more pronounced at high wages, as the QR estimates show. These results suggest the importance of defining religious participation in a manner that allows the detection of nonlinear effects. In addition, the findings speak to the importance of religion in the lives of individuals and may benefit policies dealing with male‐female wage differentials.     

Does Global Inequality Matter?

Global economic and political inequalities are in most respects greater today than they have been for decades. From one point of view inequality is a bad thing simply because it involves a deviation from equality, which is thought to have value for its own sake. But it is controversial whether this position can be defended, and if it can, whether the egalitarian ideal on which the defense may depend applies at the global level as in individual societies. Setting aside directly egalitarian reasons for concern about global inequality, this paper explores several reasons for concern that derive from nonegalitarian values – primarily those associated with poverty and material deprivation, humiliation, the impact of inequality on the capacity for self-control and self-government, and the unfairness of political decision-making procedures with large economic inequalities in the background.     

Does Teaching Experience Matter?

49 pairs of counselors with and without teaching experience were asked to rate their relationships with others and their ability to perform certain school-related and guidance tasks. The pairs were obtained from throughout the United States. Counselor educators were asked to identify pairs who had graduated from their institution, were of the same sex, and were working in approximately the same situation. Ratings were then obtained using a mailed questionnaire. The major findings were: (1) After counselors had been on the job for 8 weeks or more they perceived no difference in their relationships with others in the school. (a) Counselors with teaching experience had significantly higher ratings of their ability to perform 4 of the 6 routine school tasks listed. (3) No significant differences were found in ratings of their ability to perform guidance tasks with the exception of providing vocational information. Counselors with teaching experience had higher ratings in this area.     

Electoral Politics and Immigration in Canada: How Does Immigration Matter?

The conventional wisdom about the relationship between immigration and national electoral politics in Canada, albeit based on limited research, is that immigration is non-partisan and does not feature prominently during election campaigns. This paper examines the last two federal elections, in 2004 and 2006, employing a multi-pronged approach to party platform, media and survey analysis, in order to determine if immigration is discussed and, if so, how. It finds a political debate does take place but is not easily discernible using traditional research methods. This discourse is framed in terms of alternatives of inclusion, and not exclusion, something facilitated by the complexity of the Canadian immigration programme and the geographical and political landscape, and appears to be especially evident during more competitive elections.     

Does Looking at the Positive Mean Feeling Good? Age and Individual Differences Matter

In this paper, we link age differences in gaze patterns toward emotional stimuli to later mood outcomes. While one might think that looking at more positive emotional material leads to better moods, and looking at more negative material leads to worse moods, it turns out that links between emotional looking and mood depend on age as well as individual differences. Though older people can feel good by looking more at positive material, in some cases young adults actually feel better by engaging visually with the negative. These age effects are further moderated by attentional abilities. Such findings suggest that different age groups may use looking differently, and this may reflect their preferences for using distinct emotion regulatory strategies. This work also serves as a reminder that regulatory efforts are not always successful at improving mood.     

School Competence among Adolescents in Low-Income Families: Does Parenting Style Matter?

In the present study, we investigated parenting styles and self-perceived school competence among low-income adolescents in Norway. The purpose of the study was threefold: (1) to identify differences, if any, in self-perceived school competence between low-income ethnic Norwegians and low-income ethnic minorities; (2) to determine differences, if any, in the perception of parenting styles between the groups; and (3) to determine if parenting styles predict self-perceived school competence in the two groups. The sample consisted of 253 adolescents 12–18 years of age; 130 adolescents were ethnic Norwegians, and 123 were from ethnic minorities. Self-perceived school competence was measured using the Scholastic Competence subscale of Harter’s Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents. Perception of parenting style was measured with the following three scales: support, monitoring and neglect. An independent-samples t-test revealed that ethnic minorities reported higher levels of self-perceived school competence than did ethnic Norwegians. No significant difference between the groups in their perception of parenting styles was observed. Support and monitoring were positively correlated with school competence, whereas neglect was negatively correlated with school competence. When all three parenting styles were entered separately into standard multiple regression analyses for the two groups, a high degree of perceived neglect significantly predicted low self-perceived school competence in both groups. This finding indicates how schools and policy makers can explore the types of support that families may need to adopt better upbringing styles.     

Parent Involvement in Early Intervention for Disadvantaged Children: Does It Matter?

This study investigated the association between parent involvement in early intervention and children's later school competence. Parents (N = 704) of children participating in the Chicago Longitudinal Study were interviewed retrospectively about their school involvement in preschool and kindergarten. Parents reported on the activities in which they participated and their frequency of program participation. Results indicated that even after controlling for family background, the number of activities in which parents participated in preschool and kindergarten was significantly associated with higher reading achievement, with lower rates of grade retention at age 14 (eighth grade), and with fewer years in special education. The frequency of parent involvement was only marginally associated with reading achievement but was associated with lower rates of grade retention and fewer years in special education. A confirmatory analysis indicated that teacher ratings of parent involvement in first and second grade were significantly associated with higher reading achievement in eighth grade, lower grade retention rates, and lower rates of special education placement through eighth grade. Findings support the benefits of parent involvement in early childhood programs.     

Identity Style and Well-Being: Does Commitment Matter?

A case is made for the role that identity processing styles and identity commitment may play in personal well-being. I argue that research on identity commitment is of interest in its own right and it may also serve to clarify some of the relationships found between identity processing styles and outcome variables. Results from 2 studies are used to illustrate 3 ways in which commitment and processing styles may combine to influence outcome variables: a direct-effects model, a mediated-effects model, and a moderated-effects model. Speculations are advanced regarding different types of identity commitments and the functions they may serve in enhancing well-being and everyday functioning.