Cross-cultural Variation in the Importance of Psychological Characteristics: A Seven-country Study

The Psychological Importance (PI) of personality traits is defined as the degree to which they provide information useful in understanding and predicting behaviour. University students from 7 countries (Chile, China, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Portugal, and the United States) rated the PI of each of the 300 items of the Adjective Check List along a 5-point scale. PI was shown to be a meaningful (i.e. reliable) concept in each country. Comparisons of PI ratings between pairs of countries indicated correlations ranging from 0.23 to 0.73, with a mean of 0.49 among the 7 countries. A variety of additional analyses indicated that six of the seven countries tended to group themselves into two clusters: (1) China, Nigeria, and Pakistan; and (2) Chile, Norway, and the United States. In the second cluster, trait importance had a curvilinear relationship to trait favourability (i.e. both good and bad traits may be important) whereas in the first cluster trait importance and favourability had a linear relationship (i.e. only good traits may be important). The findings were suggestive of substantial cross-cultural differences in the importance assigned to psychological traits.     

The effects of interactive staff training on staff programing and patient aggression in a psychiatric inpatient ward

Interactive staff training (IST) uses principles of organizational psychology to help line-level staff members design and implement social learning programs for severely mentally ill inpatients. IST is a training package that includes assessment of staff perceptions regarding programatic needs, selection of appropriate social learning strategies to meet these needs, appointment of a program committee from within the ward to champion development of the social learning strategy, and participative decision making about aspects of the social learning strategy. Staff on an extended care ward at a state hospital participated in IST for 15 months as part of a pilot study of its effects. Ongoing examination of ward programing showed that IST significantly increased staff and patient participation in rehabilitation programing and decreased the rate of physical restraints and aggression-related. Changes in staff attitudes about rehabilitation programing were noted on a subsample of IST participants. Implications for more controlled research into IST are discussed.     

Psychometric Properties of Two Bicultural Attitude Scales: An Update

The purpose of this paper is to report evidence of psychometric properties of two Bicultural Attitude Scales (BASs) developed by the author. The paper provides evidence of the reliability and validity of the two versions of the BAS (i.e., Parents version and Children versions) based on two studies. The first study was conducted on a sample of 66 Bangladeshi immigrant parents (33 mothers and 33 fathers) living in the USA. The measuring instrument was the Parents version of the BAS. Results showed a high factorial validity structure of the scale—the values ranged from .62 to .96—and high internal consistency reliability of the scale—the alpha coefficient was .80. The second study was conducted on a 412 Bangladeshi ethnic minority young adults (40 % women and 60 % men). Children version of the BAS was used in this study. The study revealed significantly high factorial validity—factor loading values ranged from .34 to .65—and a significantly high internal consistency reliability of the scale—the alpha coefficient was .86.     

Attachment in Context: The Role of Demographic Factors Among Indonesians from Three Ethnic Groups

This study examined attachment in Indonesia, one of the fourth most populous countries in the world. We applied the Indonesian version of the Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ) on 1313 Indonesians from three ethnically diverse samples (404 Bataks, 430 Minangkabau, and 479 Javanese). We assessed demographic factors which consist of the roles of the living-with-family experience (M = 19.58 years), age (M = 24.34 years old), sex (man = 43.4 %), and ethnicity in attachment dimensions development. Pearson’s correlation analyses revealed negative correlations between the living-with-family experience as well as age and the two attachment dimensions, Need for approval and confirmation by others and Preoccupation with relationships. Group comparison analyses found significant differences for the five scales of ASQ among sex and ethnic groups. We also found a significant main effect of age and ethnicity on some of the ASQ scales.     

An exploratory study of the facets of Type A personality and scores on the Machiavellian Behavior (MACH-B) Scale

The relationship of two facets of Type A personality, Achievement Striving and Impatience-Irritability, with Mach-B scores was investigated. Mach-B scores were not correlated with Achievement Striving and were positively correlated (r = .37; p < .01) with Impatience-Irritability in a sample of 51 hospital employees including physicians (n = 12), nurses (n = 12), administrative staff (n = 13), and custodial services employees (n = 14).     

Ensoulment and the prohibition of abortion in Islam

This article identifies ways in which philosophical ideas of personhood influence rulings concerning abortion. The terms ‘life’, ‘soul’ and ‘spirit’ are clarified through a comparative study of authoritative Shi&art10;a texts. There is a consensus that ensoulment occurs at four months, when the spirit causes the emergence of potentiality for rational thought. This stage marks a significant change in the status of the foetus, and abortion after this stage is prohibited except in extreme circumstances when the mother's life is threatened. Recent rulings by Shi&art10;a scholars on abortion at earlier stages are interpreted in terms of potentiality for ensoulment. The distinction between active and passive potentiality for ensoulment clarifies the reasons why jurists hold different views on whether the prohibition of abortion applies before the stage of implantation. The relevance of this discussion to some methods of contraception is indicated.     

Conceptualizing and Measuring Youth–Adult Partnership in Community Programs: A Cross National Study

Youth participation in program and community decision making is framed by scholars as an issue of social justice, a platform for positive youth development and effective citizenry, and a strategy for nation building. Recent literature reviews have consistently identified youth–adult partnership (Y–AP) as an effective type of youth participation across highly diverse contexts. These same reviews, however, note that indicators of Y–AP have not been conceptualized and validated for measurement purposes. The present study addresses this limitation by developing a brief measure of Y–AP that is explicitly grounded in current theory, research, and community practice. The measure was administered to youth in the United States, Malaysia, and Portugal (N = 610). Validation was assessed through factor analysis and tests of factorial, discriminant, and concurrent validity. Results confirmed the two predicted dimensions of the Y–AP measure: youth voice in decision making and supportive adult relationships. These two dimensions were also found to be distinct from other measures of program quality: safety and engagement. As predicted, they also significantly correlated with measures of agency and empowerment. It is concluded that the measure has the potential to support community efforts to maximize the quality of youth programs.