Adolescents’ Temperament and Character: A Longitudinal Study on Happiness

Personality is considered a major determinant of adults and adolescents Subjective Well-Being (SWB); mainly due to its relation to emotional reactivity, emotional intensity, and to the duration of emotional reactions. However, personality as presented above involves almost only differences in automatic emotional reactions and habits (i.e., temperament). Nevertheless, temperament together with learning experiences from different life events is responsible for what people make of themselves intentionally (i.e., character). The present study examines the relation between temperament and character to SWB at two points in time over a year in an adolescent sample (N?=?109). Adolescents reported personality (The Temperament and Character Inventory; TCI) and SWB at the beginning of the school year (T1). Subjective Well-Being was then again measured at the end of the school year (T2). Temperament (Harm Avoidance and Novelty Seeking) and character (Self-Directedness) predicted SWB at T1. However, only Self-Directedness predicted SWB at T2 and also small but significant changes in SWB at the end of the school year. The inclusion of character in SWB research is discussed.     

Workplace support, discrimination, and person-organization fit: tests of the theory of work adjustment with LGB individuals

The present study explored the links of 2 workplace contextual variables--perceptions of workplace heterosexist discrimination and lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB)-supportive climates--with job satisfaction and turnover intentions in a sample of LGB employees. An extension of the theory of work adjustment (TWA) was used as the conceptual framework for the study; as such, perceived person-organization (P-O) fit was tested as a mediator of the relations between the workplace contextual variables and job outcomes. Data were analyzed from 326 LGB employees. Zero-order correlations indicated that perceptions of workplace heterosexist discrimination and LGB-supportive climates were correlated in expected directions with P-O fit, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to compare multiple alternative measurement models evaluating the discriminant validity of the 2 workplace contextual variables relative to one another, and the 3 TWA job variables relative to one another; SEM was also used to test the hypothesized mediation model. Comparisons of multiple alternative measurement models supported the construct distinctiveness of the variables of interest. The test of the hypothesized structural model revealed that only LGB-supportive climates (and not workplace heterosexist discrimination) had a unique direct positive link with P-O fit and, through the mediating role of P-O fit, had significant indirect positive and negative relations with job satisfaction and turnover intentions, respectively. Moreover, P-O fit had a significant indirect negative link with turnover intentions through job satisfaction.     

Drivers' knowledge, attitudes, and behavior: a cross-sectional study

A cross-sectional survey was conducted by random duster sampling in the city of Tehran. Knowledge of the drivers was assessed with 6 questions about national traffic laws. Attitude was assessed on a 7-item scale of drivers' perceptions. Behavior was observed by a police officer on 13 areas of assessment. Correlations were low among these three scores. Drivers with advanced education had higher scores on behavior. Knowledge, attitude, and behavior of these drivers did not seem associated.     

Structure of the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale: Reevaluated 20 Years later

The Objectified Body Consciousness Scale (OBCS) is a prominent measure of key constructs in the body image literature. Despite the impact and popularity of the OBCS, however, investigations of its factor structure have been limited. To our knowledge, the present study is the first since the instrument’s development 20 years ago to provide a detailed evaluation of the replicability of the factor structure of OBCS data in a sample of U.S. college women, the population for which the measure was originally developed and is used most frequently. Specifically, we used confirmatory factor analyses to evaluate the structure of OBCS data and identify areas for measure refinement. Internal consistency reliability and convergent validity were also examined. A sample of 368 U.S. college women completed the OBCS along with measures of body esteem and thin-ideal internalization as convergent validity indicators. Findings revealed that OBCS Control Beliefs items were poor indicators of the factor. A two-factor structure composed of Body Surveillance and Body Shame was supported. Support for internal consistency reliability and convergent validity was also garnered. Additionally, abbreviated versions of the Body Surveillance and Body Shame subscales produced good model-data fit without sacrificing reliability or validity. These results support the use of the OBCS Body Surveillance and Body Shame subscales to assess critical aspects of body image in research and practice contexts; the abbreviated versions of these subscales can address demands for brevity in these contexts.     

Relationships of Contextual Factors and Personal Identity to Externalizing Problem Behavior Among Iranian Early Adolescents

In the present study, we evaluated a model of relations among contextual factors (family, school, and peer group), personal identity (i.e., coherence and confusion), and problem behavior among Iranian adolescents. The sample consisted of 765 Iranian adolescents and 615 primary caregivers. Results indicated that family functioning (adolescent report) was related to adolescent problem behavior (a) directly and (b) indirectly through identity confusion. Peer support on the other hand was solely indirectly related to adolescent problem behavior through identity confusion. School functioning was also significantly and negatively related to adolescent problem behavior. The present findings suggest that identity and contextual factors play important roles in steering Iranian adolescents toward or away from behavior problems. Implications for further research are discussed.     

Roles of Perceived Provider Cultural Sensitivity and Health Care Justice in African American/Black Patients’ Satisfaction with Provider

The present study tests a refined first component of the Patient-Centered Culturally Sensitive Health Care (PC-CSHC) Model—the evidence supported component that links perceived provider cultural sensitivity to patient satisfaction with provider care and identifies trust of provider as the mediator of this linkage. The refined first component of the PC-CSHC Model tested in the present study is novel in that it includes the three dimensions of provider cultural sensitivity and includes perceived provider impartiality (fairness), a core aspect of perceived health care justice, as a mediator in addition to trust of provider (the other core aspect of perceived health care justice). Study participants were 298 African American/Black primary care clinic patients with low household incomes. Mediation analyses revealed that the three dimensions of patients’ perceived provider cultural sensitivity were significant predictors of the participating patients’ reported satisfaction with their provider, and that some of these predictive relationships were partially mediated by (1) patients’ perceived provider impartiality (fairness), and (2) patients’ trust of their provider. Implications of these findings for providers’ interactions with patients, development of the PC-CSHC Model, and the roles of psychologists in facilitating patient-provider interactions are discussed.     

Interpretation of ambiguous emotional information in clinically anxious children and adolescents

Cognitive theories of anxiety based on adult data predict that individuals vulnerable to anxiety should show threat - related interpretations of ambiguous material and it is proposed that this is an important maintaining factor in anxiety disorders. In the present study, interpretation of ambiguous emotional/neutral information was examined in child and adolescent anxious patients. Two groups of participants, anxious patients (n = 17) and healthy controls (n = 40), were presented with a series of homographs, each with a threatening and a neutral interpretation. For each homograph, the participants were asked to construct a sentence using the homograph. Anxious children and adolescents produced significantly more sentences consistent with threatening homograph interpretations and less consistent with neutral interpretations than did normal controls. Regression analyses revealed no relationship between age and this interpretive bias. Preliminary developmental and theoretical implications are discussed.     

DOES "FEMINIST" PLUS "THERAPIST" EQUAL "FEMINIST THERAPIST"?

This research examined the therapy behaviors self-identified feminist therapists engaged in. Practicing therapists (N = 101) were asked to endorse various feminist self-labels and to indicate how often they engaged in a variety of feminist (as assessed by the Feminist Therapy Behaviors-Revised [FTB-R] scale; and other therapy behaviors with both women and men clients. The following results were found. First, incrementally specific feminist self-labeling by therapists improved the prediction of therapy behaviors reflecting the notion that the personal is political. Second, the most strongly identified feminist therapists were distinguished from other therapists by their attention to issues of oppression (e.g., sexism, racism, heterosexism) and socialization. Third, therapists reported engaging in FTB-R behaviors with men clients almost as much as with women clients. And finally, FTB-R and other therapy behaviors emerged as distinct, both in terms of the underlying structure of therapists' responses and in terms of the links to feminist self-labeling.