Effects of opportunity to reciprocate and self-esteem on help-seeking behavior

The present investigation explored the link between an individual's self-esteem and willingness to seek help under conditions in which future reciprocity is, or is not, expected Based on past research on (a) the effects of perceived opportunity to reciprocate on help seeking, and (b) the effects of self-esteem on help-seeking and receiving, it was expected that relative to low self-esteem individuals, high self-esteem individuals would be more committed to the norm of reciprocity in interpersonal helping, and be more reluctant to seek help which cannot be reciprocated Two studies were conducted In the first it was observed that the higher the level of self-esteem the more the expressed commitment to the norm of reciprocity as measured by scores on an especially designed scale The second study assessed actual help-seeking behavior, and found that least help was sought by high self-esteem individuals who did not foresee an opportunity for future reciprocity The conceptual and applied implications of these findings are discussed     

Between- versus within-family factor analyses of cognitive abilities

Confirmatory factor analyses of the 15 cognitive abilities tests from the Hawaii Family Study of Cognition were conducted on between-family (BF) means and within-family (WF) differences for 370 AEA (Americans of European ancestry) and 116 AJA (Americans of Japanese ancestry) sibling pairs. Difference chi-square significance tests, goodness-of-fit indices, and congruence coefficients for the estimated loadings on four specific cognitive abilities factors and on the second-order general intelligence factor nearly all indicated that the between-family factor structures were not significantly different from the within-family structures for both AEA and AJA siblings (the AEA and AJA structures were also not significantly different). The similarity of the BF and WF structures suggests that the genetic and environmental influences underlying cognitive abilities are “intrinsic” in nature, that is, not just due to between-family differences in culture, status, values, and fortuitous cross-assortative mating.     

Childhood fantasy play relates to adult socio-emotional competence

Childhood fantasy play and creation of imaginary companions are thought to confer socio-emotional benefits in children, but little is known about how they relate to socio-emotional competence in adulthood. A total of 341 adults (81 males) aged 18 and above (M = 31.47, SD = 12.62) completed an online survey examining their fantasy play as a child, their childhood imaginary companion status, and their adult socio-emotional competence. Adults who reported higher levels of childhood fantasy play were found to be significantly more prosocial, empathetic, and emotionally intelligent than their counterparts after controlling for demographic factors. Recall of a childhood imaginary companion, however, was significantly related only to higher scores for perspective-taking and did not explain unique variance in any adult competence measure. Findings suggest that engagement in fantasy play during childhood may be a precursor to later socio-emotional competence, while benefits previously associated with imaginary companions specifically may not extend into adulthood.     

Grading the ‘cultural literacy’ project

The essay examines the argument advanced by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., for instituting ‘cultural literacy’ as a fundamental priority of schools. A number of confusions and equivocations in Hirsch's reasoning are identified, and the propensity of his project to indoctrinate is exposed. Among the features of Hirsch's argument shown to be troubling are his shifting construal of ‘language’, his inconsistency about the requirements of cultural literacy, and his uncritical relation to traditional images of the American past and present. The upshot is to raise the question why Hirsch's project has elicited wide support and praise.     

Hispanics in Ivy: Assessing identity and perceived threat

Membership in social groups is an important aspect of the self-concept, as a number of theorists such as Tajfel (1981) have recognized, and ethnic identity is a major exemplar of such groupings. In the present research, we focus on the particular case of Hispanic identity and the degree to which that identity may be threatened for first-year Hispanic students who enter a predominantly Anglo university. Forty-five Hispanic students (17 female, 28 male) at two Ivy League universities were interviewed early in their first year to assess Hispanic identity, collective self-esteem (Luhtanen & Crocker, 1988), and perceived threats to Hispanic identity. In addition, we considered the degree to which strength of cultural background relates to self-esteem and to perceptions of threat. The majority of students claimed Hispanic as an important identity. Strength of cultural background generally acted as a buffer to perceived threat, particularly for men. Cultural background was also related to collective self-esteem for men but not for women, even though Hispanic identity was more important for women than men. The results attest to the importance of both gender and ethnicity to self-definition and self-esteem, as well as to the complexity of the relationships among these variables.We thank Tracey Revenson as well as the members of the Identity Research Seminar at the CUNY Graduate Center for their comments on an earlier version of this paper.     

Referenzsemantik in der Partnermodellierung

How can we explain that an assertion on something perceived can be understood in the same manner by somebody who cannot perceive that scene? This problem bases the interest in computational linguistics in how listener modeling could possibly be harmonized with reference semantics. Mental images substituting real perception appear as a way out. The architecture of the listener model has to be adapted to the creation and use of such pictorial data structures. Furthermore, the relation between the latter and a verbal (i. e., propositional) representation must be understood. The resulting architecture of a listener model with reference semantics can be employed to solve communicational problems from three general classes in a better way, as is demonstrated by an example implementation.     

Evaluation of a “mental effort” hypothesis for correlations between cortical metabolism and intelligence

Previous research indicates that low scores on the Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (RAPM) test are associated with increased cortical glucose utilization during problem solving. We hypothesized that previous results may reflect the neurophysiological consequences of patterns of effort requirements; that is, high-effort expenditure from lower aptitude participants (for whom the problems are hard) and low-effort expenditure from higher aptitude participants (for whom the problems are easy). In this experiment, positron emission tomography (PET) data were gathered on participants (N = 28) who solved easy and hard problems that were tailored to the participants' own ability levels, thereby eliminating aptitude group differences in effort requirements. Contrary to previous results, high aptitude was associated with high cortical glucose use. Average aptitude participants showed diminished glucose use in the hard condition. A significant Group X Condition X Hemisphere Effect was also noted, with greater right hemisphere activation in the hard condition for the high-aptitude group. These results demonstrate that the relation of cerebral glucose use and cognitive ability is sensitive to participant and task selection.     

Judgments and definitions of sexual harassment by high school students

This study considers how high school students perceive incidents of possible sexual harassment toward students and how they define sexual harassment. Thirty-five male and 38 female high school seniors (44% Asian-American; 40% white, non-Hispanic; 6% Indian-American; 4% African-American; 3% Hispanic; and 3% other ethnic groups) evaluated scenarios that varied the type of sexual harassment, the status of the initiator (either teacher or student), and the gender composition of the dyad (either male toward female or female toward male). As predicted, type of harassment influenced ratings of severity. Compared to male respondents, female respondents rated the scenarios as more severe. Teachers were judged more critically than students. Differences in status were more apparent at less severe levels of harassment. In defining harassment, students relied on four factors: the behavior itself, the target's reaction to the behavior, the perpetrator's intentions, and the relationship that existed between the two people. Overall, the findings underline the importance of examining high schools as a locale for harassment.This study was originally conducted by the first author as a Westinghouse Science project at Stuyvesant High School, with the guidance of the second and third authors.