When social networking is not working: individuals with low self-esteem recognize but do not reap the benefits of self-disclosure on Facebook

The popular media have publicized the idea that social networking Web sites (e.g., Facebook) may enrich the interpersonal lives of people who struggle to make social connections. The opportunity that such sites provide for self-disclosure-a necessary component in the development of intimacy--could be especially beneficial for people with low self-esteem, who are normally hesitant to self-disclose and who have difficulty maintaining satisfying relationships. We suspected that posting on Facebook would reduce the perceived riskiness of self-disclosure, thus encouraging people with low self-esteem to express themselves more openly. In three studies, we examined whether such individuals see Facebook as a safe and appealing medium for self-disclosure, and whether their actual Facebook posts enabled them to reap social rewards. We found that although people with low self-esteem considered Facebook an appealing venue for self-disclosure, the low positivity and high negativity of their disclosures elicited undesirable responses from other people.     

Co-rumination mediates contagion of internalizing symptoms within youths' friendships

Peer contagion of internalizing symptoms was examined within youths' friendships over 6 months. Children (Grades 3 and 5) and adolescents (Grades 7 and 9) paired in 274 reciprocal same-sex friendship dyads completed measures of depressive and anxiety symptoms, co-rumination, and self-disclosure. Depression contagion was present for all youth, and anxiety contagion was found in the sample of girls and older boys. Although normative self-disclosure did not mediate the contagion effects, co-rumination mediated the depression contagion effect for adolescents and the anxiety contagion effect in the sample of girls and older boys. Implications for interventions with youth at risk for developing internalizing symptoms are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Toward a diversity hypothesis: Multidimensional effects of intergroup contact

The long-standing and important contributions of the contact hypothesis in reducing prejudice in intergroup situations is augmented by the introduction of the diversity hypothesis. The diversity hypothesis argues that the positive consequences of diversity will occur when the following four conditions are met: (a) full participation occurs across all levels of society for membres of diverse ethnic, racial, and cultural groups; (b) the degree of participation approximates an appropriate index of representation for racial and ethnic groups; (c) common purpose across these levels of diversity is created; and (d) cultural identity is valued. The empirical evidence for these conditions and implications for the organizational advantages of diversity are discussed.     

Human capital and objective indicators of career success: The mediating effects of cognitive ability and conscientiousness

The purpose of the current study is to examine the mediating processes through which human capital (e.g. education and work experience) contribute to objective indicators of career success (e.g. salaries and promotions). We are particularly interested in the ways in which cognitive ability and conscientiousness help explain the process through which human capital gets translated into performance effectiveness and tangible career attainments. Results from meta‐analytical structural equation modelling show that individuals' cognitive ability and conscientiousness mediate the effects of both education and organizational tenure on in‐role and extra‐role job performance. Ultimately, both in‐role and extra‐role job performance positively influence employees' salaries and promotions. The article concludes with implications for theory development and management practice.     

The Motor System Computes Well but Remembers Poorly

The psychological approach to human voluntary movements advocated by F. Mechsner (2004) can be aligned with the view that motor commands are generated afresh but are not retrieved from memory. This movement-generation hypothesis gains indirect support in the findings Mechsner reviewed and obtains more direct support from the results of studies of memory for movement and computational modeling of motor planning.     

Roles of Genetic Counselors in South Africa

Genetic counseling is a growing health profession in South Africa. Training (set up in 1988) and registration are in place, but job creation remains challenging. The aim of the present study was to investigate the roles played by genetic counselors in the provision of genetic services, in South Africa. A questionnaire comprising items on the types of roles they performed was constructed and counselors were asked to make the log-books, in which they recorded their daily counseling activities, available. A check list was drawn up so that relevant information could be collected systematically from these log-books. Then departmental statistics were accessed from the two universities providing genetic services and genetic counselor training. Structured interviews were conducted with the genetic counselors (16 of 23 participated), and data were collected from their completed questionnaires, log-books and the departmental statistics, for the years 2007 and 2008. These data were analyzed and the findings showed that the counselors counseled about one third (39 %) of all the cases seen at genetic clinics per annum, and the total numbers were increasing. They counseled for 57 different genetic disorders, and their clients represented the range of local ethnic groups. They also had educational, research, marketing and administrative roles. They expected to expand these roles and advance the profession in future. Genetic counselors are versatile, playing several significant roles. As these become better recognized, demand for their services should increase, jobs should be created and the service expanded.     

Demonstration of the g · b x u = 0 edge dislocation invisibility criterion for electron channelling contrast imaging

Dislocations with a large edge component do not exhibit a full loss of diffraction contrast in the transmission electron microscope unless the conditions g b = 0 and g b x u = 0 are simultaneously met. Because of a similarity between transmission electron microscopy (TEM) diffraction contrast and electron channelling contrast in the scanning electron microscope, the same contrast rules would be expected to apply for electron channelling contrast imaging (ECCI). Using the characteristic edge dislocations formed in annealed FeAl, it is demonstrated that the same extinction conditions apply for TEM diffraction contrast and ECCI.     

Effects of informative peripheral cues on eye movements: Revisiting William James’ “derived attention”

Two experiments examined effects of peripheral information on the latency of saccadic eye movements. In Experiment 1, simple target stimuli were presented to the left or right visual field. Prior to each target, a pair of cue letters was presented for 40msec bilaterally. The relative location of the letters (W-S or S-W) was related to target location, but participants were not informed of this contingency. After a brief practice period, saccadic latencies were faster for targets at the likely location, as indicated by the letter pair. This derived peripheral cueing effect was related to participants' awareness of the relation between cue type and target location. Experiments 2A and 2B employed monocular viewing in order to compare performance across the nasal and temporal visual fields. The effect observed in Experiment 1 was confined to the nasal visual field. In a reflexive orienting condition, the effect of a unilateral letter cue was larger in the temporal visual field. It is concluded that the neurocognitive processes responsible for derived peripheral cueing are distinct from those involved in either reflexive or voluntary orienting.     

Within-person covariation of agentic and communal perceptions: Implications for interpersonal theory and assessment

Interpersonal theory identifies agency and communion as uncorrelated (orthogonal) dimensions, largely evidenced by research examining between-person analyses of single-occasion measures. However, longitudinal studies of interpersonal behavior demonstrated the within-person association of agency and communion is not orthogonal for many individuals, and between-person differences in these associations relate to adjustment. We applied a similar approach to investigate the association of interpersonal perceptions. 184 university students completed a 7-day event-contingent study of their interpersonal experiences. Using multilevel regression models, we demonstrated that agentic and communal perceptions were positively associated, and the strength of this within-person association was moderated by between-person scores of dependency and narcissism. We discuss the benefits of incorporating within-person interpersonal associations (termed interpersonal covariation) into interpersonal theory and assessment.     

How Adolescents’ Mental Health Predicts Their Physical Health: Unique Contributions of Indicators of Subjective Well-being and Psychopathology

Studies among youth have established a link between mental health and physical health, and highlight the importance of attending to these relationships to provide a more complete picture of functioning. However, most previous investigations have limited their focus to examining the relationship between physical health and either particular aspects of psychopathology or particular aspects of subjective well-being. The current study serves as a first examination that includes both positive (subjective well-being [SWB]) and negative (psychopathology) indicators of mental health in relation to physical health functioning, assessed via self-report measures completed by a sample of 401 early adolescents from the general population. Mental health indicators accounted for 30% of the variance in physical health ratings, and 4 of the 5 mental health indicators were unique predictors of physical health. Positive affect, a component of SWB, explained the most unique variance in physical health, followed by the other components of SWB. Results support the importance of attending to positive indicators of mental health when determining the link with physical health among youth. Implications for a research and practice focus on comprehensive wellness among youth are discussed.