Aspirations,Attainments, and Satisfaction: Life Cycle Differences Between American Women and Men

Aspirations, along with attainments, play an important role in shaping well-being. Early in adult life women are more likely than men to fulfill their material goods and family life aspirations; their satisfaction in these domains is correspondingly higher; and so too is their overall happiness. Material goods aspirations refer here to desires for a number of big-ticket consumer goods, such as a home, car, travel abroad and vacation home. In later life these gender differences turn around. Men come closer than women to fulfilling their material goods and family life aspirations, are more satisfied with their financial situation and family life, and are the happier of the two genders. An important factor underlying the turnaround in fulfillment of aspirations for material goods and family life is probably the shift over the course of the life cycle in the relative proportion of women and men in marital and non-marital unions.     

Temporal processing characteristics of the Ponzo illusion

Many visual illusions result from assumptions of our visual system that are based on its long-term adaptation to our visual environment. Thus, visual illusions provide the opportunity to identify and learn about these fundamental assumptions. In this paper, we investigate the Ponzo illusion. Although many previous studies researched visual processing of the Ponzo illusion, only very few considered temporal processing aspects. However, it is well known that our visual percept is modulated by temporal factors. First, we used the Ponzo illusion as prime in a response priming task to test whether it modulates subsequent responses to the longer (or shorter) of two target bars. Second, we used the same stimuli in a perceptual task to test whether the Ponzo illusion is effective for very short presentation times (12 ms). We observed considerable priming effects that were of similar magnitude as those of a control condition. Moreover, the variations in the priming effects as a function of prime-target stimulus-onset asynchrony were very similar to that of the control condition. However, when analyzing priming effects as a function of participants’ response speed, effects for the Ponzo illusion increased in slower responses. We conclude that although the illusion is established rapidly within the visual system, the full integration of context information is based on more time-consuming and later visual processing.     

Lebensqualität von ärztlichen und psychologischen Psychotherapeuten

In a large empirical cross-sectional study the quality of life of medical and psychological psychotherapists ( n =71, respectively n =103) was examined as well as the influence of the different therapeutic methods used. Instruments used were the Questionnaire on Quality of Life of Physicians (Reimer and Jurkat 2003) respectively the Questionnaire on Quality of Life of Psychologists (Jurkat and Reimer 2003) as well as the SF-36 Health Survey (Bullinger and Kirchberger 1998). The majority of participants in both samples are satisfied with their life. Psychological psychotherapists are comparatively more content with their work situation and judge their own health more positively than their medical colleagues do. Both groups feel their income situation to be a loss in quality of life. A common fear is an even greater bureaucratic burden and financial deterioration. Thus it seems that psychohygienic measures and secure job perspectives may contribute to raising the quality of life of psychotherapists.     

Overgeneral memory extends to pictorial retrieval cues and correlates with cognitive features in posttraumatic stress disorder

Individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) show overgeneral memory (OGM) when retrieving autobiographical memories to word cues. We investigated whether OGM extends to picture cues and whether it is related to PTSD symptoms and cognitions. Trauma survivors with (n = 29) and without (n = 26) PTSD completed the standard Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT) and a novel picture version. Compared to the no-PTSD group, the PTSD group showed OGM in both test versions. Pictures facilitated specific memory retrieval, but this effect was no longer significant when verbal intelligence or depressive symptoms were controlled. OGM correlated with PTSD symptoms and perceived self-change; with intrusive memories, their perceived "nowness," responses to intrusions (thought suppression, rumination, dissociation), and negative interpretations of symptoms.     

Internal versus external attention in social anxiety: an investigation using a novel paradigm

Several cognitive models propose that social anxiety is associated with increased self-focused attention. Indirect evidence for this hypothesis has been provided by questionnaire studies, and by cognitive psychology paradigms that have demonstrated reduced processing of external information during feared social-evaluative situations. However, no studies have simultaneously measured on-line attention to internal and external events. A probe detection task that aimed to measure the balance of attention between internal and external stimuli was developed. High and low socially anxious individuals were instructed to detect two probes. The external probe was superimposed on pictures of faces (happy, neutral, angry) or household objects that were presented on a VDU. The 'internal' probe was a pulse to the finger which participants were led to believe represented significant changes in their physiology. Compared to low speech anxious individuals, high speech anxious individuals showed an internal attentional bias, that was specific to conditions of social-evaluative threat.     

Gender differences in a clinical sample of patients with borderline personality disorder

The aim of the study was to investigate gender differences and similarities in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) with respect to Axis I comorbidity, Axis II comorbidity, general psychopathology (Symptom Checklist 90-Revised), and dimensional personality traits (NEO-Personality-Inventory Revised [NEO-PI-R] and the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Profile Basic questionnaire [DAPP-BQ]). Fifty-seven men and 114 women with BPD were included in the study. Regarding Axis I and II disorders in an exploratory analysis, men with BPD more often fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for binge eating disorder, antisocial personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, and conduct disorder in childhood, whereas women had higher frequencies of bulimia nervosa, posttraumatic stress disorder, and panic disorder with agoraphobia. After correcting for multiple tests, only the gender differences in narcissistic and antisocial personality disorder remained significant. In the SCL-90-R profile, no significant gender differences could be identified. In the exploratory analysis of the dimensional personality traits, women showed higher rates on the NEO-PI-R main factors (Neuroticism and Agreeableness) compared to men. In the DAPP-BQ profile, men reached higher sores on the main factor, Dissocial Behavior. When correcting for multiple tests, gender differences still existed for Neuroticism and Dissocial Behavior. Our results argue for gender differences in Axis I and II comorbidity and dimensional personality traits in BPD. However, in general, more similarities than differences were shown in this study.     

The nature of intrusive memories after trauma: the warning signal hypothesis

Individuals who had experienced a range of different traumas were asked to describe the quality and content of their intrusive memories. Visual intrusions were the most common, and thoughts were uncommon. Intrusion quality varied little with type of trauma. Intrusive memories commonly consisted of stimuli that were present immediately before the traumatic event happened or shortly before the moments that had the largest emotional impact (i.e., when the meaning of the event became more traumatic). It is suggested that intrusive memories are about stimuli that through temporal association with the trauma acquired the status of warning signals, i.e., stimuli that if encountered again would indicate impending danger. This explains why intrusive memories are accompanied by a sense of serious current threat. The warning signal hypothesis may be useful in guiding therapists in identifying the moments with the largest emotional impact that will need reprocessing in treatment, and in educating patients about the nature of reexperiencing symptoms.