Adherence to Asian Cultural Values and Cultural Fit in Korean American Undergraduates' Help‐Seeking Attitudes

Differences in and relationships of Asian cultural values, cultural congruity, perception of the university environment, and help‐seeking attitudes for 1st‐and 2nd‐generation Korean American undergraduates (N = 228) were examined. Women reported significantly higher cultural congruity and more positive help‐seeking attitudes than did men. Asian values adherence negatively predicted help‐seeking attitudes for women and 2nd‐generation students only. Implications for Korean American undergraduate support services are discussed, and suggestions are presented for future research.     

Can a Lineup Procedure Designed for Child Witnesses Work for Adults? Comparing Simultaneous,Sequential, and Elimination Lineup Procedures

A study (N = 165) was conducted to examine whether the elimination lineup, an identification procedure developed for children to reduce their false‐positive responding, was effective for adult witnesses. Although the sequential lineup is available to help reduce adults’ false‐positive identifications, having different procedures for child and adult witnesses poses difficulty for the police and justice system. One procedure for all witnesses would be ideal. Simultaneous, sequential, and elimination procedures were compared. The elimination procedure produced a comparable correct rejection rate to the sequential procedure. Both the elimination and sequential procedure produced a higher correct rejection rate than did the simultaneous procedure. Correct identification rates were comparable across the 3 lineup procedures.     

How Do Therapists Understand Their Client’s Problem and Its Resolution: Objectification in Theories of Change

Images and metaphors help to structure the therapist’s belief system in two ways. First, images represent strategies used by therapists in order to simplify the most abstract theoretical concepts. Second, images provide a system according for organizing the information about a client and anticipate the patterns of client change. Within the theoretical frameworks of social representations and of goal directed action theory, the present study explores the metaphorical aspects linked with therapeutic knowledge. This study aims to reconstruct the social representations that therapists use to objectify their theoretical model. The present research relies on a qualitative methodology. The results show that therapists from different orientations rely on different metaphors although, in certain conditions, they tend to share a more general representational system. Implications for psychotherapy training and clinical practice are considered.     

Factor Validity of the Beck Hopelessness Scale in Italian Medical Patients

The aim of the present study was to assess the factor structure of the Italian version of the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) in a large sample of patients with medical conditions, comparing four different models proposed previously in the literature. Participants were 514 Italian adult patients with diagnoses of chronic daily headache, type 1 (insulin-dependent) or type 2 diabetes mellitus, epilepsy, open-angle glaucoma, human immunodeficiency virus infection, and women admitted for childbirth to a Department of Fetal–Maternal Medicine. All the patients were administered the BHS during routine visits. Confirmatory factor analyses were used to compare four models using several fit indices. The one-construct two-method model (i.e., the BHS measures one substantive hopelessness construct plus artifacts due to negative–positive item polarity) had the best fit indices and was more parsimonious than other models. The BHS seems to be a unidimensional measure of hopelessness, although there may be artifacts due to item polarity (i.e., positively and negatively worded items). Hopelessness scores differed in patients with particular medical diseases, with higher scores in conditions such as chronic daily headache and diabetes, and lower scores in patients positive for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and with open-angle glaucoma or epilepsy.     

Job design,opportunities for skill utilization,and intrinsic job satisfaction

Arguably, job designs that provide for high levels of employee control also provide increased opportunities for the development and exercise of skill. Perceived skill utilization has consistently been found to be amongst the strongest predictors of job-related affective well-being, yet is frequently neglected in studies of work redesign. In this article, a theoretical framework linking the key job characteristics of perceived control and perceived cognitive demand to perceived skill utilization and intrinsic job satisfaction is presented. Results from one cross-sectional study and one longitudinal study are reported that support the mediational influence of perceived skill utilization on the perceived job control?–?job satisfaction relationship only. The relationship between perceived job demand and perceived skill utilization was mixed but no mediating effect was evident. It is argued that the level of both perceived demand and perceived control dictates the nature of the joint influence of both job characteristics on perceived skill utilization and work attitudes such as job satisfaction.     

Communion and Liberation: a Catholic movement in a multilevel governance perspective

In this article we focus on how changes in political structure influence religion. Communion and Liberation (CL) is widely known in Italy as a very important Catholic movement whose political power has been significantly increasing in the last 15 years. It is an example of a movement deeply rooted at the local level, where its activities range from grassroots meetings to business activities and service provision. In the sociological literature, CL has been studied either by focusing on its political ideology, or as a religious movement. Introducing a specific focus on the political system allows us to highlight the close relationships between the recent changes in the Italian political system and the reasons for the local success of CL. Indeed, it has been a process of mutual adaptation and influence. The political success of a Catholic movement in a Western democracy is relevant to understanding the changing role of religion in the political arena. Christian movements can play a role of substitution for traditional political movements in countries where traditional parties have become particularly weak and not capable of inspiring enthusiasm among citizens. But the story of CL in Lombardy suggests also that something is changing in the relationship between national and local politics. CL is able to play on different territorial horizons by using local, regional and national political spheres to promote its policies, mainly in the welfare sector. This is an important signal of a capacity both to adapt to a changing political system and to influence these changes. In this paper we focus on the relationships between CL and Italian politics in the Second Republic (1993 to the present day) by analysing CL representation of its political role as well as by pointing out the political opportunity structure in which its success has taken place.     

Cannabis use and the risk behavior syndrome in Italian university students: are they related to suicide risk?

The aim of this study was to examine the association of cannabis use with risky behaviors and suicide risk in university students. A convenience sample of 246 students was recruited from four universities in Rome during the 2004 academic year. Participants completed the Zung scales for anxiety and depression, the Suicide Score Scale, and an ad hoc questionnaire assessing risky behaviors. The findings indicated a widespread use of cannabis among students and its association with risky behaviors, anxiety and depression, and suicide risk. A regression tree analysis resulted in 3 splits indicating that the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale is a good predictor of suicide risk, discriminating individuals at lower risk from those at higher risk. Individuals at higher risk for suicide could also be discriminated by self-reported lifetime drug use. Limitations of the study are related to the small sample size and use of a convenience sample.     

Environmental,Social, and Psychological Experiences of Asian American Undergraduates: Examining Issues of Academic Persistence

A total of 160 Asian Americans (55 Chinese, 13 Filipino, 27 Japanese, 32 Korean, 15 Pacific Islander, and 18 Vietnamese) completed a series of standardized instruments assessing their environmental, social, and psychological experiences as undergraduates. The purpose of this study was threefold: to provide a composite of student experiences; to investigate the interrelationships of comfort in the university environment, social support, and self‐beliefs; and to examine the influence of these constructs on the academic persistence decisions of Asian American undergraduates. Overall, social support variables were the strongest predictors of academic persistence. Research‐derived implications for university personnel and professional counselors are provided.     

Phenomenological Metaphysics as a Speculative Realism

The debate between speculative realism and phenomenology has become quite heated over the past years. The matter of contention is the possibility of a metaphysics that can provide knowledge of reality as it is in itself. The speculative realists accuse phenomenology of denying this possibility, confining knowledge to the sphere of subjectivity. What has been overlooked in this debate is the similarity between the speculative project of Quentin Meillassoux and a Husserlian metaphysics. This article looks at these positions from a reconciliatory point of view. After outlining the debate, conceding the problematic nature of realism for phenomenology to the speculative realists, it will be shown that there is a place for a realist metaphysics within phenomenology. After showing the similarities between Meillassoux’s philosophy and a phenomenological metaphysics, and the legitimacy of qualifying the latter as a speculative realism, the conclusion will reflect on the modal notions at play in them.     

The factor structure underlying three self-report multicultural counseling competence scales

This study examined the extent to which 3 self-report multicultural scales were measuring the predominant 3-factor conceptualization of multicultural counseling competence as consisting of multicultural attitudes/beliefs, knowledge, and skills. Results of a confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the 3-factor model was not fully supported. An exploratory factor analysis identified a 2-factor structure (i.e., self-perceived multicultural counseling skills and multicultural counseling attitudes/beliefs) underlying these instruments. Implications of the findings for clinical practice, training, and research are discussed.