Evaluating the multiple proposition strategy

Contextualism about many expressions faces a common objection: in some discourses it appears that there is no single interpretation which can explain how a speaker is justified in making her assertion and how a hearer with different information or standards is justified in negatively evaluating what the speaker said. According to the Multiple Proposition Strategy, contextualists may attempt to explain these competing features pragmatically in terms of different propositions in play. In this paper I argue against the Multiple Proposition Strategy, first focusing on epistemic modals and then generalising the results to other expressions. I show how when purportedly contextualist terms are embedded in belief reports, we get similar problems but that the Multiple Proposition Strategy does not provide a satisfactory explanation of such cases. I suggest, therefore, that we reject the Multiple Proposition Strategy in favour of a theory that explains the unembedded and embedded cases in similar ways.     

Money does not stink: Using unpleasant odors as stimulus material changes risky decision making

Odors are strong elicitors of affect, and they play an important role in guiding human behavior, such as avoiding fire or spoiled food. However, little is known about how risky decision making changes when stimuli are olfactory. We investigated this question in an experimental study of risky decision making with unpleasant odors and monetary losses in a fully incentivized task with real outcomes. Odor and monetary decisions were matched so that monetary losses corresponded to the amount of money participants were willing to pay to avoid smelling an odor. Hierarchical Bayesian analyses using prospect theory show that participants were less sensitive to probabilities when gambling with odors than when gambling with money. These results highlight the importance of taking the sensory modality into account when studying risky decision making.     

Positivism and its vicissitudes: The role of faith in the social sciences

Positivism is a subject about which much is said, yet little understood. Of central importance for the history of the social and behavioral sciences, Postivism appears in widely various guises: as logical positivism of the Vienna School, as a sort of anti-theoretical empiricism against which many theoreticians have railed, and as a doctrine of faith for the regeneration of a broken society. Concentrating on the latter, the author inquires into the development of Positivism in nineteenth-century France in the writings of Saint-Simon, Comte, and Durkheim, all of whom emphasized the role of faith in determining certainty, or, at the very least, in keeping doubt at bay. The thinking of these French Positivists is then linked with the pragmatism of William James.     

The effect of time-out (to) duration on assaultiveness in psychiatrically hospitalized children

The effect of differential time-out (TO) durations (15, 30, 45, 60, and 90 minutes) on assaultive behavior for 13 psychiatrically hospitalized children and adolescents was analyzed. For the total sample, no statistically significant difference in assault frequencies was evident. Also evident was the effect of time-out duration on time taken to become settled: the longer the time-out given, the longer the time needed to become calm.     

Extremes of self-esteem and narcissism and the experience and expression of anger and aggression

This study examined the level of self-esteem and narcissism as personality variables involved in the disposition to experience and express anger. Three hundred thirty-eight subjects were sampled across two higher education centres and one student teaching programme in the United Kingdom. It was reasoned that individuals with both high self-esteem and narcissism would report especially high tendencies to experience and express anger and aggression and that those with high self-esteem and low narcissism would report the lowest. These predictions were influenced by theories that emphasise the role of threats to high self-esteem in the production of aggression and violence. Results indicate that groups defined by their extreme scores on self-esteem and narcissism scales produced levels of anger expression in the predicted direction. The importance of considering extreme levels of self-esteem and narcissism (in conjunction with other factors) in an analysis of anger is discussed with reference to currently influential theories in the field. Aggr. Behav. 24:421–438, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

A Developmental Meta-Analysis of Peer Conflict Resolution

A series of meta-analyses examine developmental trends in peer conflict resolution. Peer conflict resolutions are most likely to involve negotiation, with coercion and then disengagement the next most likely strategies. Patterns of conflict resolution differ with age. Coercion is common among children and disengagement is rare. Negotiation is prevalent among adolescents and young adults; the former do not differ in terms of coercion and disengagement, whereas the latter tend to avoid coercion in favor of disengagement. Conflict resolutions also vary as a function of peer relationships, assessment procedures, and reporters. Negotiation prevails in all peer relationships except those with siblings; there is more negotiation among romantic partners than among friends, and more negotiation among friends than among acquaintances. Negotiation is the overwhelming strategy of choice for those presented with hypothetical disputes, but actual conflicts tend to be resolved by coercion. Observers indicate that most conflicts involve coercive resolutions, in contrast to self-reports, which suggest that negotiation prevails. Although conclusions are qualified by the limited number of studies available, follow-up moderator analyses indicate that negotiation increases and coercion declines with age across most peer relationships, assessment procedures, and reporters such that different patterns of conflict resolution during childhood give way to the same relative ordering of strategies during young adulthood.     

A Cross-National and Cross-Sectional Comparison of Men's Gender Role Conflict and Its Relationship to Social Intimacy and Self-Esteem

We hypothesized that men's nationality and age group would affect (a) their level of gender role conflict and (b) the strength of the relationship between gender role conflict and the psychological health variables of social intimacy and self-esteem. Three hundred twenty-five men (97 college-aged American, 86 middle-aged American, 82 college-aged Australian, and 60 middle-aged Australian) completed the Gender Role Conflict, Miller Social Intimacy, and Coopersmith Self-Esteem Scales. MANCOVA results revealed two significant interaction effects between (a) age group and social intimacy and (b) nationality and self-esteem. The discussion highlights a contextual interpretation of the results, limitations, and future research.     

Risk Factors for Suicidality Among Clients With Schizophrenia

Among clients with schizophrenia, suicidality is associated with extreme personal distress, an increased number of inpatient hospitalizations, increased health care expenditures, and early mortality. This study attempted to identify risk factors for current suicidality in clients diagnosed with schizophrenia (N = 223). Results indicated that severity of depressive symptoms most strongly correlated with degree of suicidality. Younger age and recent traumatic stress each significantly predicted suicidality independent of depressive symptoms. Stepwise regression procedures showed that the combination of depression, younger age, and traumatic stress might provide a general prediction model for suicidality among clients diagnosed with schizophrenia. Counseling implications of these findings are outlined.     

Evaluation of the psychometric properties of two forgiveness scales

This study examined the psychometric properties of two forgiveness scales using participants enrolled at a Midwestern Catholic university (N = 328). The Forgiveness Scale is a 15—item Likert-type scale designed to measure forgiveness toward an of-fender. The Forgiveness Likelihood Scale is a 10—item Likert-type scale designed to measure tendency to forgive across situations. Factor analyses revealed that the For-giveness Scale contains two subscales (i.e., Absence of Negative, Presence of Posi-tive) and the Forgiveness Likelihood Scale consists of a single factor. Both scales have adequate internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Both subscales of the Forgiveness Scale were significantly correlated in the expected direction with mea-sures of forgiveness, religiousness, anger, hope, religious well-being, existential well-being, and social desirability. The Forgiveness Likelihood Scale was significantly correlated in the expected direction with measures of forgiveness, religiousness, trait anger, religious well-being, and social desirability. The authors thank Sarah Danko, Anne Hovancsek, Carla Kmett, Jennifer Martin, and Colleen Ryan for their assistance. We kindly request that researchers who use the forgiveness scales evaluated in this study provide us with a summary of their psychometric data for the scales. The idea for creating the Forgiveness Likelihood Scale was based upon the Willingness to Forgive Scale (Hebl & Enright, 1993).