The Dependability of the Exposure Effect

A bootstrap factor analysis was used to test the validity of the Love Relationships Scale by combining the data from earlier studies (Borrello &; Thompson, 1987; Thompson &; Borrello, 1987a, 1987b) with data from an additional 51 subjects recruited for this study. The results provide insight into the structure underlying perceptions of love relationships and suggest that a g-factor phenomenon involving obsessive thoughts dominates the experience of love. The utility of bootstrap analysis in validity studies is discussed.     

A Comparison of Sexual Aggression Risk Factors Between the United States and the Philippines

Sexual violence against women is a global problem, prompting the need to investigate the risk factors among males in non-Western, non-industrialized countries. Using the expanded Confluence Model, this study examined and compared risk factors of sexual aggression between male college students in the Philippines and the United States. Using path analysis and multiple group analysis, results indicated that the expanded Confluence Model was generally invariant between countries. Direct paths from hostile attitudes toward women and impersonal sex to sexual aggression were non-significant, but indirect effects from hostile attitudes toward women, alcohol consumption, and impersonal sex to sexual aggression via the frequency of misperceiving a woman’s sexual intent were observed. Additional risk analysis indicated that the number of elevated risk factors were associated with higher self-reports of sexual aggression.     

Ethnicity matters for undergraduate majors in challenges, experiences, and perceptions of psychology

In this investigation of a national sample of undergraduate psychology majors, we directly compare the experiences and perceptions of students of color with those of European Americans. Our aim was to identify factors that might contribute to our discipline's educational pipeline, in which the relative lack of ethnic diversity is a recognized problem. We found that students of color and European American majors are similar in a number of ways but also different in others. Students of color are challenged by less encouragement from and interaction with faculty, perceive a lack of respect, and wish to see more attention to diversity in curriculum, research, faculty, and textbooks. It is not surprising that students of color were significantly less satisfied than European Americans with their studies in psychology.     

Synthetic Biology and the Translational Imperative

Science and Engineering Ethics - Advances at the interface between the biological sciences and engineering are giving rise to emerging research fields such as synthetic biology. Harnessing the...     

Memory for autobiographical facts and events: a comparison of women reporting childhood sexual abuse and non‐abused controls

Although there is evidence that many adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) have a period when they forget their abuse, existing research is equivocal about whether such individuals show other autobiographical memory impairments. The present study addressed some of the sampling and measurement problems apparent in previous studies and compared 74 women reporting a history of CSA with 60 non‐abused controls on their ability to recall facts and events from childhood. The results showed that the CSA group did not differ from the controls in the quality of their memories for autobiographical incidents. However, they were significantly less able than controls to recall specific facts about their personal history, such as significant addresses and names of significant individuals, after controlling for educational level, depression and childhood address changes. CSA group participants reporting a period of abuse forgetting appeared more impaired than those with continuous abuse memories in their recall of personal semantic facts, but were similar in their recall of autobiographical incidents. The findings suggest that experiencing a period of abuse forgetting is a more influential factor in predicting the ability to recall personal semantic facts than abuse status alone. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The influence of ethnicity,social class,and context on judgments about U.S. women

In 2 studies, the authors investigated impression formation as influenced by category-based stereotypes associated with ethnicity and social class. The participants in Study I made judgments about 1 target woman, described as interested in running for office in the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) of her children's school. The hypothetical woman was presented to the respondents along with her photograph and information about her ethnic background (Anglo-Saxon, Latina, or Jewish) and occupation (middle class or working class). In Study 2, the authors changed the context and presented a younger target woman (also varied by ethnicity and social class) to the respondents as the new girlfriend of their older brother or cousin. In both studies, judgments were assessed by the participants' responses to 45 bipolar adjectives that, in each case, yielded 8 component factors. In both hypothetical contexts, social class was a powerful trigger for a variety of negative expectations: With respect to ethnicity, the Latina women were judged to be more unsuitable for the job of PTO vice president than were the Anglo-Saxon or Jewish women. The authors discussed potential psychological and social consequences of such category-based judgments.     

Self-esteem in schizophrenia: relationships between self-evaluation,family attitudes,and symptomatology

Participants with schizophrenia (N = 59) were assessed on self-evaluation, symptomatology, and positive and negative affect (expressed emotion) from significant others. An interview-based measure of self-evaluation was used and two independent dimensions of self-esteem were derived: negative and positive evaluation of self. As predicted, negative self-evaluation was strongly associated with positive symptoms, a more critical attitude from family members was associated with greater negative self-evaluation, and analyses supported a model whereby the impact of criticism on patients' positive symptoms was mediated by its association with negative self-evaluation. The interview-based method of self-esteem assessment was found to be superior to the questionnaire because its predictive effects remained after depressed mood was accounted for.