Smoking in College Women: The Role of Thinness Pressures, Media Exposure, and Critical Consciousness

There are strong social pressures for U.S. females, particularly those of European heritage, to achieve and maintain an extremely low body weight. These pressures are reflected in a variety of media sources, including advertising. We argue that valuing thinness, exposure to thinness-depicting media, and lacking skepticism about tobacco advertisements have adverse effects on young women's decisions about smoking, particularly smoking for weight control. We tested these hypotheses in a study of 188 female undergraduates, both never-smokers and daily smokers. Believing that smoking controls weight, exposure to thinness-depicting media, and low levels of skepticism about tobacco advertising were associated with being a smoker. Among smokers, believing that smoking controls weight, internalizing thinness pressures, and low levels of feminist consciousness were associated with smoking for weight control. Results are discussed with the aim of encouraging public health anti-smoking campaigns targeted at women, and smoking cessation programs that are responsive to the needs of weight-concerned female smokers.     

Middle Aging in Women: Patterns of Personality Change from the 30s to the 50s

This three-sample study focused on changes in four key features of women's personalities (identity, generativity, confident power, and concern about aging) over the course of middle age. Based on women's retrospective and concurrent feelings about their lives in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, scales were developed and validated for the four themes. We found that identity certainty, generativity, confident power, and concern about aging all were experienced as more prominent in middle age (the 40s) than in early adulthood (the 30s). We also found that these elements of personality were rated even higher in the 50s than the 40s. Scores seemed to be a function of age more than historical period or particular experiences in social roles. Scores on identity certainty, generativity, and confident power were positively related to well-being, while concern about aging was negatively related to well-being.     

The Changing Self: Using Personal Documents to Study Lives

ABSTRACT In this paper we describe a technique for coding expressions of preoccupation with aspects of the adult self in personal documents and retrospective autobiographical writings In particular we explore the value of this approach by analyzing themes of identity, intimacy, and generativity expressed in Vera Brittain's diary and correspondence, written during her adolescence in World War I, and in her retrospective autobiographical account of that period in her life Analyses aim to use Erikson's theory of personality development to describe her psychological experience at the time and to compare that account with the later one     

Loss of Religious or Spiritual Identities Among the LGBT Population

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals are at risk of having negative experiences with religion because of mainstream religions’ non‐LGBT‐affirming stance. Negative religious experiences can lead to religious or spiritual (R/S) struggles and loss of R/S identity to maintain sexual identity. The authors describe R/S abuse, R/S struggle, and how these can result in loss of R/S identity in LGBT individuals. They provide a case study and discuss counseling implications and areas for future research.     

GROWING UP AND GROWING OLDER: FEMINISM AS A CONTEXT FOR WOMEN'S LIVES

Social science research shows that contemporary women endorse feminist goals at rates similar to women in the 1970s. However, generations may differ in some aspects of their relationship to feminism. This study of 333 university alumnae examined expressions of feminism across three generations. We provide the first empirical evidence to support Stewart and Healy's (1989) prediction about the impact of social events experienced in childhood; only the youngest cohort recalled holding feminist beliefs as children. Additionally, each cohort identified feminist influences from the period coinciding with their own identity-forming adolescence as most important, although feminism was related to other beliefs in a similar way for each cohort. The Women's Movement appears to be internalized differently depending on developmental life stage.     

Can Prayer Increase Charitable Giving? Examining the Effects of Intercessory Prayer,Moral Intuitions,and Theological Orientation on Generous Behavior

This study was designed to investigate the effects of intercessory prayer, moral intuitions, God concept, and theological orientation on generous behavior in the form of charitable giving. Christian participants (N = 313) were assigned to engage in either intercessory prayer or a secular reflection over a 2-week period on the hardships faced by either Christians (religious ingroup) or Muslims (religious outgroup) in Myanmar/Burma being persecuted by the Buddhist majority. Contrary to hypotheses and previous research, multiple regression analyses revealed that the prayer condition was associated with less monetary generosity than a nonreligious control condition. Ingroup versus outgroup status of the target of prayer/reflections was not a significant predictor of charitable giving. Moral intuitions related to the harm/care and fairness/reciprocity foundations as well as traditional God concept moderated the effects of prayer.     

A Psychometric Evaluation of the Behavioral Inhibition Questionnaire in a Non-Clinical Sample of Israeli Children and Adolescents

This study examined the psychometric properties of a Hebrew version of the Behavioral Inhibition Questionnaire (BIQ) in a non-clinical sample of Israeli children and adolescents. We produced a Hebrew translation of the BIQ and collected 227 responses to it from parents of children aged 4–15. Some respondents in the larger sample also completed the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) questionnaire (n?=?91) and the Conners’ Abbreviated Parent-Teacher (CONNERS) questionnaire (n?=?39), in addition to the BIQ. Lastly, 21 children of BIQ respondents (aged 8–14) completed a self-report version of the questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to assess how well the established six correlated factor model of the BIQ applied to the sample data. The Hebrew BIQ demonstrated good internal consistency (Chronbach’s α?=?.94, n?=?227) and 3 month test–retest reliability, (r?=?.95, p?<?.001, n?=?21). It also showed both convergent validity, as scores on the BIQ were correlated with the SCARED (r?=?.66, p?<?.01. n?=?91), and discriminant validity, as BIQ scores were not correlated with the CONNERS (r?=?.24, n?=?39). Finally, mother reports of BI were significantly correlated to child reports of BI via the BIQ (r?=?.60, p?<?.01, n?=?21). Thus, through this preliminary study we demonstrated that the Hebrew version of the BIQ is an effective tool for screening for BI among Israeli children, making it a useful instrument for future research.