Hormonal contraceptive congruency: Implications for relationship jealousy

Research shows that women who use hormonal contraceptives (HCs) differ in their mate preferences from women who have regular cycles. It has been proposed that when a partnered woman either begins to use or ceases to use HCs, she may experience changes in her relationship since her preferences become incongruent with those prevalent at the time of her partner choice. This has not yet been directly tested. Here, in doing this, we aim to specifically test whether current and past HC use contributes to present levels of relationship jealousy. We find a significant interaction in levels of jealousy based on current HC use and HC use at the start of the relationship. When current HC use is incongruent with that at the start of the relationship, women report significantly higher levels of jealousy. Results are among the first to suggest that both current and past HC use may influence relationship dynamics.     

Resilience in Remarried Families

The present study aims to identify those resilience factors that enable remarried families to withstand and rebound from the disruptive challenges they face. A parent and a child from 38 families independently completed seven questionnaires and answered an open-ended question. The following resilience-associated factors were identified: (1) supportive family relationships, (2) affirming and supportive communication, (3) a sense of control over outcomes in life, (4) activities and routines that help the family to spend time together, (5) a strong marriage relationship, (6) support from family and friends, (7) redefining stressful events and acquiring social support, and (8) spirituality and religion within the family.     

Cognitions associated with initial medical consultations concerning recurrent breathing difficulties: A community-based study

Abstract

A two-stage community survey identified 568 respondents reporting recurrent breathing difficulties over a one-year period. Subsequent interviews allowed comparison of (i) 21 respondents who had never consulted a doctor about frequent wheezing (i.e., on more than 30 days) or serious breathing difficulties (i.e., disrupting everyday activities) over the past year with (ii) a randomly selected group of 22 who had seen their doctor concerning breathing difficulties in the past year. These groups were found to be similar with respect to demographic and lung function measures. An extended health belief model framework including causal attributions for breathing difficulties and consulting self-efficacy was used to explore cognitions which might distinguish between the two groups. Logistic regression suggested that lower perceived relative severity of symptoms (in relation to other problems). attribution of wheezing to smoking and lower self-efficacy in relation to explaining breathing difficulties to a doctor distinguished between those who did and did not consult. Health education implications. including initiatives to encourage medical help-seeking amongst those with recurrent, frequent or serious breathing difficulties are discussed.     

Creative Thinking in Adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

A widened attentional focus, that is typically associated with ADHD, has been postulated to be accompanied by enhanced creative ability. However, creativity has been only limitedly examined in ADHD. Performance across several creativity measures were investigated in three groups: adolescents with ADHD, those with conduct disorder, and a healthy control sample. The ADHD group exhibited selective cognitive advantages and disadvantages by demonstrating an enhanced ability in overcoming the constraining influence of examples, but a reduced capacity to generate a functional invention during an imagery task. These findings are interpreted with reference to inhibitory control mechanisms and the contextual modulation of creative cognition.     

Aristotle on God as Principle of Genesis

Aristotle holds that there must be multiple forms of human being and those forms constitute a genos, this paper argues. Aristotle advances his claim by arguing that the strength of a polis rests on the existence of a spectrum of useful essential differences among its citizens. The paper rejects the notion that eîdos is a homonym, and argues that it signifies `form,' not `species.' Its theses are based on analysis of passages in the Ethics, Metaphysics, Politics and other works. The argument of the paper is compatible with `individual' or `particular' forms. The paper also proposes a solution to the issue of `natural slavery.'     

Computer‐based systems and organizational decision making: An architecture to support organizational innovation

Decision Support Systems (DSS) have been developed to support the computational, judgmental, and negotiation decisions typically encountered by organizational decision makers. Software for generating ideas has also become available. However, these systems typically operate on the individual or small group level, not on the broader organizational level. Also, their focus is usually on the decision‐making process while neglecting the product. This article first develops a framework relating decision types to current DSS. It then proposes an architecture for integrating these component systems to support innovation at an organizational level and to support assessment of the creative product as well as the process.     

Psychological correlates of university students' academic performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis

A review of 13 years of research into antecedents of university students' grade point average (GPA) scores generated the following: a comprehensive, conceptual map of known correlates of tertiary GPA; assessment of the magnitude of average, weighted correlations with GPA; and tests of multivariate models of GPA correlates within and across research domains. A systematic search of PsycINFO and Web of Knowledge databases between 1997 and 2010 identified 7,167 English-language articles yielding 241 data sets, which reported on 50 conceptually distinct correlates of GPA, including 3 demographic factors and 5 traditional measures of cognitive capacity or prior academic performance. In addition, 42 non-intellective constructs were identified from 5 conceptually overlapping but distinct research domains: (a) personality traits, (b) motivational factors, (c) self-regulatory learning strategies, (d) students' approaches to learning, and (e) psychosocial contextual influences. We retrieved 1,105 independent correlations and analyzed data using hypothesis-driven, random-effects meta-analyses. Significant average, weighted correlations were found for 41 of 50 measures. Univariate analyses revealed that demographic and psychosocial contextual factors generated, at best, small correlations with GPA. Medium-sized correlations were observed for high school GPA, SAT, ACT, and A level scores. Three non-intellective constructs also showed medium-sized correlations with GPA: academic self-efficacy, grade goal, and effort regulation. A large correlation was observed for performance self-efficacy, which was the strongest correlate (of 50 measures) followed by high school GPA, ACT, and grade goal. Implications for future research, student assessment, and intervention design are discussed.