Gender differences in coping: A further test of socialization and role constraint theories

To further test role constraint and socialization theories of gender differences in coping, two studies were conducted to examine coping strategies in individuals occupying similar roles. The relations between coping strategy frequency and effectiveness and between coping strategy use and psychological functioning also were examined. Predominantly Caucasian female and male college students participated in the studies. Results indicated support for both socialization and role constraint theories. Effectiveness and frequency of coping strategy use were moderately correlated. Gender differences in cognitive appraisal varied with dispositional vs. situational assessment. The need for a more integrated model to explain gender differences in coping and implications for existing theories are discussed.     

Outcomes of inpatient group psychotherapy associated with dispositional and situational affiliativeness

Before and after participating in an intensive three-week program of group psychotherapy, 33 recently rehospitalized male veterans (mean age=42) completed the Symptom Check List-90R and the Profile of Mood States. Prior to this program they also completed a trait affiliativeness measure and later rated their subsequent group therapy sessions for situational affiliativeness. The outcome measures indicated medium to large effect size benefits, which consistently associated positively with both separate and joint measures of trait and situational affiliativeness. The results encourage greater clinical attention to affiliativeness, a construct central to interpersonal theories of personality.This article is based upon a dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. by the senior author.The authors express appreciation for the interest and cooperation of Drs. Bruce Vreeland, Larry Schwartz, Robert Munley, and Hope Conte and the patients of the Veterans Administration Medical Center, Battle Creek, Michigan.     

Telling stories: metaphors of the Human Genome Project

Scientists of the Human Genome Project tend to rely on three metaphors to describe their work, each of which implicitly tells much the same story. Whether they claim to interpret the ultimate “book,” to fix a flawed “machine,” or to map a mysterious “wilderness,” they invariably cast the researcher as one who dominates and exploits the Other. This essay, which explores the ways such a story conflicts with feminist values, proposes an alternative.     

AN EXPERIENTIALLY DERIVED BASE-RATE ERROR IN HUMANS

Abstract— Two experiments tested college students in a delayed matching-to-sample procedure designed to explore how multiple competitive sources of control interact in determining choice behavior. The primary sources of potential control were the frequency with which each of two colors was correct (base rates) and the accuracy of a sample in predicting the correct choice (accuracy rate). In one experiment, subjects ignored the base rates, and therefore made nonoptimal choices. These results mimicked the well-known base-rate error found in verbal responses to questions. In a second experiment, manipulations to increase subjects' motivation did not alleviate the error significantly. Together, these results suggest that the base-rate error may represent a broad behavioral pattern not restricted to verbal arenas. The results are compared with previous attempts to reconcile behavioral and cognitive lines of experimentation.     

THE PRICE OF EXPERTISE:

Abstract— When shown a idled container, people often fail to appreciate that the surface of the liquid contained within should remain horizontal with respect to the ground. This study investigated how amenable this bias is to experience in relevant everyday situations. Surprisingly, liquid surfaces that waitresses and bartenders considered natural deviated even more from horizontal than was the case for comparison groups. This finding is, to our knowledge, the only documented case in which performance declines with experience. We suggest that practical experience promotes a functionally relative perspective, in which the orientation of the liquid's surface is evaluated relative to that of its container as opposed to being related directly to the surrounding environment. The container-relative perspective, in turn, evokes a perceptual bias that is responsible for the systematic errors observed on this task.     

Book reviews

Gott ist schön und Er liebt die Schönheit: God is Beautiful and He Loves Beauty. Alma Giese and J. Christoph Bürgel, 1994. Bern, Peter Lang. 474 pp., hb. n.p., ISBN 3–906750–90–6.

The Concept of Islamic International Criminal Law. Farhad Malekian, 1994. London, Graham & Trotman. 213 pp., £55.00, $92, ISBN 1859660851.

Religion in Europe: contemporary perspectives. S. Gill, G. D'Costa, and U. King (Eds), 1994. Kampen, Kok Pharos. 213 pp., pb., Fl 49.90, ISBN 90–390–0508–7.

Religious Freedom and the Position of Islam in Western Europe. W. A. R. Shadid and P. S. van Koningsveld, 1995. Kampen, Kok Pharos. 229 pp., pb., Fl 64.90, ISBN 90–390–0065–4.

Christianity in the Arab World. HRH Crown Prince El Hassan Bin Talal, 1994. Amman, Arabesque. 120pp., hb.

Holymen of the Blue Nile: the making of an Arab‐Islamic community in the Nilotic Sudan 1500–1850. Neil MHugh. Evanston Illinois, Northwestern University Press. 280pp., hb., $54.95, ISBN 0–8101–1069–5.