The role of self-criticism, dependency, and hassles in the course of depressive illness: a multiwave longitudinal study

The current study utilized a multiwave longitudinal design to examine whether dependency and/or self-criticism influence the course of depressive symptoms in a community sample of adults with a history of major depression. In addition, the authors examined whether self-esteem serves as a buffer against the development of depressive symptoms following increases in hassles in individuals possessing such traits. At Time 1, 102 participants completed measures assessing depressive symptoms, self-criticism, dependency, and self-esteem. Every 6 weeks for the next year, participants completed measures assessing depressive symptoms and hassles. High self-criticism was associated with greater elevations in depressive symptoms following elevations in hassles in low but not high-self-esteem individuals. Results with respect to dependency, however, were contrary to hypotheses. High dependency was associated with elevations in depressive symptoms following elevations in hassles in high-self-esteem individuals. In contrast, high dependency was associated with chronically elevated depressive symptoms in low-self-esteem individuals.     

Premarital sexual, child rearing, and family attitudes of Iranian men and women in the United States and in Iran

Sexual, child rearing, and family attitudes of 160 Iranian immigrants in the United States (61 men, 99 women) and 97 Iranians (55 men, 42 women) in Iran were compared. Iranians in the United States in general, and women in particular, compared with their counterparts in Iran, expressed more permissive attitudes toward premarital sex and sex education, more tolerance toward homosexuality, and a greater acceptance of marital dissolution. Iranians in both countries assigned a high value to the maternal role and to family loyalty but did not endorse unrestricted freedom for youngsters. Influences of attitudinal disparity on interpersonal and family relationships are discussed, and implications for marriage counseling and family therapy are suggested.     

Reactions to a black professional: motivated inhibition and activation of conflicting stereotypes

The motivation to form a particular impression of an individual can prompt the inhibition of applicable stereotypes that contradict one's desired impression and the activation and application of stereotypes that support it. Participants, especially those high in prejudice, inhibited the Black stereotype when motivated to esteem a Black individual (because he had praised them). Participants motivated to esteem a Black doctor also activated the doctor stereotype. In contrast, participants motivated to disparage a Black doctor (because he had criticized them) inhibited the doctor stereotype. Participants motivated to disparage a Black individual also applied the Black stereotype to him, rating him as relatively incompetent. All these effects were driven by the self-protective motives of recipients of feedback from Black evaluators; detached observers showed no such effects.     

Adulthood age differences in causal attributions for cognitive, physical, and social performance

Past research has revealed an unflattering pattern of attributions for the performance of the elderly. More specifically, poor performance by the elderly is attributed to internal and stable factors such as inability, whereas poor performance by the young is attributed to external and unstable factors such as bad luck. In the present study, 42 young (M age = 19.18 years) and 39 elderly (M age = 74.90 years) men and women made causal attributions for their own or for another person's hypothetical performance in the cognitive, physical, and social domains. When attributions for the same performance by young and elderly adults were compared, the results presented an unflattering view of the elderly, similar to the pattern in previous research. In contrast, when attributions for good versus poor performance by the elderly were compared, a more favorable picture emerged: The elderly were more likely to be given credit for their good performance than to be blamed for their poor performance. These findings give reason to question the pervasiveness of the negative view of the elderly that has been presented in previous studies.     

Power moves: complementarity in dominant and submissive nonverbal behavior

Two studies examine complementarity (vs. mimicry) of dominant and submissive nonverbal behaviors. In the first study, participants interacted with a confederate who displayed either dominance (through postural expansion) or submission (through postural constriction). On average, participants exposed to a dominant confederate decreased their postural stance, whereas participants exposed to a submissive confederate increased their stance. Further, participants with complementing responses (dominance in response to submission and submission in response to dominance) liked their partner more and were more comfortable than those who mimicked. In the second study, complementarity and mimicry were manipulated, and complementarity resulted in more liking and comfort than mimicry. The findings speak to the likelihood of hierarchical differentiation.