Resistance to Group or Personal Insults in an Ingroup or Outgroup Context

This experiment was designed to evaluate the effect of different types of insults in different social contexts on the victim's resistance to the attack. In a teaching exercise, which was purportedly measuring their intelligence, students were insulted for their incompetence by their teacher in various situations: when alone, in front of an ingroup member, or in front of an outgroup member. In half the cases this personal insult was augmented by one impugning the competence of the student's academic ingroup as well. Direct resistance showed a complex pattern of results, reflecting concerns about managing an impression of group loyalty and personal detachment. Measures of indirect resistance showed higher levels in the public, as opposed to the private contexts, and were conceptualised as reflecting esteem deflation. These results thus amplify and extend into the logic of a collectivist culture hypotheses (Felson, 1978) about aggression as impression management.     

Triangulation mobility of auto‐theft offenders

This research paper presents an examination of the journey to and from crime for auto‐theft offenders in the UK. For 852 offences, ‘wheel’ distances are calculated for triangles formed by offenders' home location, theft location, and vehicle disposal location. The study demonstrates typical isosceles mobility triangles; distances travelled to and from home locations are roughly equal, whereas distances between theft and disposal points were shorter. Distances travelled by offenders under 17 years old and offences involving drug and drink were shown to be shorter than comparison groups. Prolific offenders tend to travel further, although there is significant variation in this subgroup. Explanations and implications are discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Religiosity and Ethical Ideology of Physicians: A Cross-Cultural Study

In this study of ethical ideology and religiosity, 1,255 physicians from Canada, China, Ireland, India, Japan and Thailand participated. Forsyth’s (1980) Ethical Position Questionnaire and Rohrbaugh and Jessor’s (J Pers 43:136–155, 1975) Religiosity Measure were used as the survey instruments. The results demonstrated that physicians from India, Thailand and China reported significantly higher rates of idealism than physicians from Canada and Japan. India, Thailand and China also scored significantly higher than Ireland. Physicians from Japan and India reported significantly higher rates of relativism than physicians from Canada, Ireland, Thailand and China. Physicians from China also reported higher rates of relativism than physicians from Canada, Ireland and Thailand. Overall, religiosity was positively associated with idealism and negatively associated with relativism. This study is the first to explore the differences between ethical ideology and religiosity among physicians in an international setting as well as the relationship between these two constructs. Both religiosity and ethical ideology are extremely generalized, and the extent to which they may impact the actual professional behaviour of physicians is unknown. This paper sets up a point of departure for future research that could investigate the extent to which physicians actually employ their religious and/or ethical orientation to solve ambiguous medical decisions.     

Decomposing filial piety into filial attitudes and filial enactments

In an attempt to explore the attitude-behaviour relationship, the present study examined the mixed findings from research on filial piety by differentiating filial attitudes from filial behaviours. The Filial Behaviour Scale was developed to tap the behavioural manifestations of filial piety, and its nomological network was established in two Chinese contexts, Hong Kong and Beijing. In addition to filial attitudes, we used values, social beliefs, and self-construals to explain filial behaviours. The results of hierarchical regression analysis showed that the value factor of conservation and the social axiom of reward for application predicted filial behaviour above and beyond filial attitudes; an interdependent self-construal moderated the effect of cultural group on filial behaviour. Gender and regional differences in filial piety were also examined. Males were found to score higher on filial attitudes, but not significantly higher on filial behaviours. Regional differences existed in filial behaviours, but not in filial attitudes, with Mainland Chinese displaying a higher level of filial behaviours than their Hong Kong counterparts. These identified differences suggest the importance of differentiating filial attitudes from filial behaviours in future attempts to understand Chinese filiality.     

Family Experience of Safe: A New Intervention for Families of Children with a Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder

Systemic Autism-related Family Enabling (SAFE) is a new intervention for families of children with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). SAFE responds to international and national recommendations for improved care and the reported needs of families. SAFE draws from Family Therapy techniques, Attachment Narrative Therapy and known preferences of individuals with autism. Twenty two families of a child with a diagnosis of ASD severity level 1 or 2 were recruited. The families attended five 3-hour sessions. Family members completed the Helpful Aspects of Therapy Questionnaire (HAT) after each session. Analysis of the HAT data revealed that adults and children experienced SAFE to be helpful which was elaborated in terms of the following themes: therapist as helping reflection, increased understanding, feeling closer, more confident to reflect and problem solve, improved communication and feeling less alone and isolated. The findings are discussed to consider how SAFE can be improved and implemented to offer support for families. SAFE is a good candidate to fill a gap in autism related care.