Candidate Vulnerability and Exposure to Counterattitudinal Information: Evidence From Two U.S. Presidential Elections

Politically motivated selective exposure has traditionally been understood through the lens of long‐standing attitudes and beliefs, but the role of environment in shaping information exposure practices merits further consideration. Citizens might respond to the political environment in their information‐seeking behavior for numerous reasons. Citizens who believe their position is politically vulnerable have specific cognitive and affective needs that may make them uniquely attuned to counterattitudinal information. In the context of a presidential election, this means that as the defeat of a supported candidate appears more likely, attention to counterattitudinal content will increase. Data collected in the 2008 and 2012 U.S. Presidential elections support this prediction, although this relationship was observed primarily among supporters of the Republican candidate in both elections.     

Maternal fatigue and burnout: From self-forgetfulness to environmental expectations

ObjectiveThe main objective of this study is to explore, through a qualitative approach, maternal and family expectations that could be related to maternal fatigue and exhaustion. The secondary objective is to identify aspects that could be specific to a specific age group.MethodA total of fourteen French mothers aged 28 to 42 (mean age 32 ± 4.3 years), with at least one child under 10 years of age, participated in a Focus Group. Mothers were grouped into two groups according to the age of their child(ren): 1) with children between 0 and 1 year of age; 2) with children between 1 and 10 years of age. Several themes were discussed: mothers’ sacrifices and efforts, maternal fatigue and exhaustion, maternal, family and social expectations, and means of prevention. A thematic analysis and a classification analysis were carried out.ResultsThe thematic analysis revealed that exhaustion is partly related to expectations and family and social remarks. The classification analyses showed that mothers’ discourse can be classified into three classes: the first class called “Self-forgetfulness and its consequences” (38.1%); the second class called “The mother as the main manager of the family's daily life” (39.2%) and the third “Social pressure” (22.7%).DiscussionThis exploratory study shows that maternal exhaustion has its origin in the tasks and responsibilities often associated with maternal role as well as in the pressure exerted by family and friends. Although differences exist between mothers in the two groups, several factors appear to be independent of the age of the children. Prevention strategies are discussed in this article.     

School psychology in the U.S.S.R.

Soviet psychologists perform various tasks and provide useful psychological services for pupils and educators. This article describes the general characteristics of education and the preparation and research of psychologists in the U.S.S.R. Also discussed are current practices and emerging trends relating to the establishment of school-based psychological services as well as future developments that may lead to the enhancement of the profession of school psychology in the Soviet Union.     

Environmental psychology in the U.S.S.R.

A preliminary version of this paper was presented at the 19th National Convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, Boston, November, 5, 1987.     

Informed Consent Revisited: Japan and the U.S.

Informed consent, decision-making styles and the role of patient–physician relationships are imperative aspects of clinical medicine worldwide. We present the case of a 74-year-old woman afflicted with advanced liver cancer whose attending physician, per request of the family, did not inform her of her true diagnosis. In our analysis, we explore the differences in informed-consent styles between patients who hold an “independent” and “interdependent” construal of the self and then highlight the possible implications maintained by this position in the context of international clinical ethics. Finally, we discuss the need to reassess informed-consent styles suitable to the needs of each patient regardless of whether he or she resides in the United States or in Japan.     

Attention to context: U.S. and Japanese children's emotional judgments

A growing number of studies suggest cultural differences in the attention and evaluation of information in adults (Masuda & Nisbett, 2001; Markus & Kitayama, 1991; Hedden, Ketay, Aron, Markus, & Gabrieli, 2008). One cultural comparison, between Westerners, such as Americans, and Easterners, such as the Japanese, suggest that Westerners typically focus on a central single object in a scene while Easterners often integrate their judgment of the focal object with surrounding contextual cues. There are few studies of whether such cultural differences are evident in children. This study examined 48 monolingual Japanese-speaking children residing in Japan and 48 monolingual English-speaking children residing in the U.S.A. (40 to 60 month-olds) in a task asking children to complete a picture by adding the proper emotional expression to a face. The key variable was the context and shift in context from the preceding trial for the same pictured individual. Japanese children were much more likely to shift their judgments with changes in context whereas children from the United States treated facial expression in a more trait-like manner, maintaining the same expression for the individual across contexts.     

Informed consent revisited: Japan and the U.S

Informed consent, decision-making styles and the role of patient-physician relationships are imperative aspects of clinical medicine worldwide. We present the case of a 74-year-old woman afflicted with advanced liver cancer whose attending physician, per request of the family, did not inform her of her true diagnosis. In our analysis, we explore the differences in informed-consent styles between patients who hold an "independent" and "interdependent" construal of the self and then highlight the possible implications maintained by this position in the context of international clinical ethics. Finally, we discuss the need to reassess informed-consent styles suitable to the needs of each patient regardless of whether he or she resides in the United States or in Japan.     

Suicide in the U.S. Army: epidemiological and periodic aspects

An overview of suicide in the U.S. Army is presented in two sections: (1) the epidemiology of U.S. Army suicides, based on biennium reports, and (2) the temporal aspects of those suicides compared with the data for the United States as a whole. A brief historical review documents some of the changes in contemporary military suicide rates compared to those of the past century. The cycles in the number of suicides by day of the week, day of the month, and the month of the year for the U.S. Army are computed and contrasted with those reported for the U.S. resident population.     

Exploring Maternal Representations During Pregnancy in Normal and At‐Risk Samples: The Use of the Interview of Maternal Representations During Pregnancy

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the potentiality of the Interview of Maternal Representations during Pregnancy‐Revised Version (IRMAG‐R; M. Ammaniti & R. Tambelli, 2010) in exploring maternal representations in at‐risk and nonrisk conditions. Maternal representations were assessed during the last trimester of pregnancy in 411 nonrisk women and in 255 depressed and/or psychosocially at‐risk women. The results showed a prevalence of Integrated/Balanced representations in nonrisk women and a higher frequency of Not Integrated/Ambivalent representations in at‐risk women. Data obtained confirm that the IRMAG‐R is a valid instrument for exploring maternal representation during the last trimester of pregnancy in both the absence and presence of risk conditions.     

The Role of Recruit Division Commanders in Graduation From U.S. Navy Recruit Training

We investigated the importance of the role of drill instructors (RDCs) on training and retention of new sailors (N = 34,000). Based on social support and group cohesion literatures, we hypothesized that social support from RDCs would influence completion rates of entry-level Navy training and retention intention of new sailors. We found that perceptions of social support from RDCs had a significant positive relationship with eventual graduation from basic training; encouragement to remain in the Navy was particularly strongly related to graduation when the source of the encouragement was RDCs. Further, those who attrited from training were especially likely to perceive RDCs as encouraging them to leave the Navy. We discuss the implications of our findings in terms of theory, research and practice.     

Quality of care and cost containment in the U.S. and U.K.

Many activities of doctors in the acute hospital sector do not improve patient outcome because they are inappropriate. Curtailing interventions that are unnecessary (because the patient is not bad enough) or are unsuccessful (because the condition is too advanced) could both save resources and improve care. Rational rationing depends on knowledge about the expected benefits of various technologies when used in different clinical circumstances.     

School psychology in the U.S.: A quantitative survey

Thirty-two states and the District of Columbia responded to a survey on their school psychology services programs in the period 1966–1974. Ratios of workers to students averaged 1 to 21,900 in the base period, improving to 1 to 8,100 by school year 1974–1975. Rates of growth and rankings are given by state, as well as projected goals for responding states.