Orders to Shoot (a Camera): Effects of Ostracism on Obedience

Research suggests that ostracism increases susceptibility to indirect forms of social influence (e.g., conformity). Yet, no study to date has explored whether the effects of ostracism extend to the most direct form of social influence—obedience. We investigated whether ostracized individuals would be more likely to obey a direct command to do something effortful in uncomfortable conditions. Participants (N = 62) were randomly assigned to be included or ostracized in Cyberball, or assigned to a control condition. They were then approached by the experimenter and commanded to go outside when temperatures were below 30°F and take 39 unique and creative photographs in the cold of winter. Ostracized participants were more likely to obey the experimenter’s command to be creative when taking photographs. No differences in obedience emerged between the inclusion and the control condition. We provided evidence completing the social influence “trifecta”: ostracism increases susceptibility to conformity, compliance, and now, obedience.     

A Systematic Review of Ethnoracial Representation and Cultural Adaptation of Mindfulness- and Meditation-Based Interventions

Several factors may impede ethnoracial minority inclusion in Mindfulness- and Meditation-Based Intervention (MMBI) studies, such as healthcare disparities, historical underrepresentation in clinical research, and a conceptual perspective that emphasizes the universality of Buddhist teachings. This systematic review was performed with the aim of describing MMBI studies with a significant diversity focus, defined as involving minority inclusion in sample composition, cultural adaptations of interventions, and/or planned comparisons of outcomes for different ethnoracial groups. Studies were identified through PsycINFO and MEDLINE databases from 1990 to 2016 in the United States. We reviewed 12,265 citations to include 24 MMBI diversity-focused studies. Aside from Native Alaskans, all other major US ethnoracial minority groups were included in at least one study. Most of the studies (75%) were conducted with child and youth samples; the others included only women. Most (58%) included participants selected for a health or mental health condition, but none required specific diagnoses for study inclusion. The most commonly used MMBI was mindfulness-based stress reduction (29%), and only 12.5% of all studies used a culturally adapted intervention. Only one study reported planned ethnoracial comparisons of treatment outcomes. Cohen’s d effect sizes for single-sample studies ranged from 0.10 to 0.62 and for randomized controlled trials ranged from 0.02 to 0.99. Results from this systematic review highlight the dearth of diversity focus in MMBI research. Future work should include indicators of feasibility, acceptability, and safety; address underrepresentation of ethnoracial minorities, men, and participants with clinically or functionally significant symptoms; and investigate cultural adaptations to optimize treatment effectiveness.     

Profiles of Contextual Risk at Birth and Adolescent Substance Use

This study examined whether there are subgroups of families with distinct profiles of prenatal/birth contextual risk, and whether subgroup membership was differentially related to adolescent substance use. Data from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 were used. A five-class model provided the most meaningful solution. Large Family Size (7.72%) and Low Risk (69.69%) groups had the lowest levels of alcohol, cigarette, and illegal drug use. Similar high levels for each of the three substance-related outcomes were found for Parent Substance Misuse (11.20%), Maternal School Dropout (4.66%), and Socioeconomic Disadvantage (6.72%) groups. Maternal smoking and drinking while pregnant and paternal heavy alcohol use were found to be key prenatal risk factors that tended to cluster together and co-occur with other prenatal risk factors differently for different subgroups of youth.     

Goodness Beyond Speech

The article addresses Raimond Gaita's attempt to construe the ethical in terms of a notion of speech that is tied to presence (each of us, he holds, is called to become someone ‘authentically present in speech and deed’ ( Gaita 1991 , p. 145)), a notion through which he articulates a sense both of human uniqueness – speech demands that one find one's own words – and of human fellowship: to find one's words is to achieve the depth that enables one to be taken seriously by others. The article argues, however, that the notion of speech is caught in a double bind; for it requires a spontaneity that is incompatible with the self‐presence that it also requires. In a way that Gaita cannot acknowledge, goodness is beyond speech.     

Observations on Unacknowledged Authorship from Homer to Now

In this essay brief sketches of three historical cases of unacknowledged authorship are offered to remind readers that unacknowledged authorship has been and still may be viewed in different ways given different contexts and purposes. Reflecting on these cases and many others that come to mind, it seems that the contemporary scene concerning unacknowledged authorship does not indicate a huge deterioration of research or publishing integrity. Following the brief historical journey, overviews of two contemporary cases are presented to illustrate some difficulties that editors and publishers have today that those in earlier historic periods could not have had, as well as some suggested procedures for managing such difficulties.     

Governing Through the Dao: A Non-Anarchistic Interpretation of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Laozi</Emphasis>

Within the literature, Daoist political philosophy has often been linked with anarchism. While some extended arguments have been offered in favor of this conclusion, I take this position to be tenuous and predicated on an assumption that coercive authority cannot be applied through wuwei. Focusing on the Laozi as the fundamental political text of classical Daoism, I lay out a general account of why one ought to be skeptical of classifying it as anarchistic. Keeping this skepticism in mind and recognizing the importance of wuwei in arguments for the anarchist conclusion, I provide a non-anarchistic interpretation of wuwei as a political technique that is consistent with the text of the Laozi. Having presented a plausible alternative to the anarchist understanding of wuwei, I close my discussion with a brief sketch of a positive account of the political theory of the Laozi.