The Unique Influences of Parental Divorce and Parental Conflict on Emerging Adults in Romantic Relationships

Parental divorce and parental conflict influence children across multiple domains, including risk of divorce in their own marriages. However, parental conflict and divorce, both separately and the interaction between the two, have not often been studied in premarital relationships, especially when considering possible mechanisms mediating these effects. In a large sample of emerging adults (N = 353), we show that when the most plausible mediating mechanisms are simultaneously considered, only relational commitment mediates the influence of parental conflict on outcomes. Parental conflict in the absence of divorce was associated with less commitment and, in turn, less relationship satisfaction and stability in emerging adult children’s romantic relationships, whereas parental conflict was unrelated to outcomes for children whose parents divorced. Implications for theory and preventive interventions are discussed.     

Inglehart's Materialism-Postmaterialism Concept: Clarifying the Dimensionality Debate Through Rokeach's Model of Social Values1

This paper addresses an ongoing debate concerning the dimensionality of Inglehart's (1971, 1977, 1981, 1990) concept of materialism-postmaterialism. According to Inglehart, this concept is unidimensional, distinct from the traditional left-right political belief continuum, and central to explaining the changes taking place in the values of advanced industrial societies. To date, the debate has sought answers in different item sets, factor analytic solutions, and rotations. This paper approaches the problem through psychological models of social values. Materialism-postmaterialism, it is argued, involves a prioritizing of values from two orthogonal value orientations which have grown out of the work of Rokeach (1973): national strength and order and international harmony and equality.     

Attitudes toward intimate partner violence in dating relationships

Prevention of intimate partner violence on college campuses includes programs designed to change attitudes, and hence, a scale that assesses such attitudes is needed. Study 1 (N = 859) cross validates the factor structure of the Intimate Partner Violence Attitude Scale-Revised using exploratory factor analysis and presents initial validity data on the scale. In Study 2 (N = 687), the obtained three-factor structure (Abuse, Control, Violence) is tested using confirmatory factor analysis, and it is shown to be concurrently related to assault in romantic relationships and to predict psychological aggression 14 weeks later. The findings are discussed in the context of how understanding and modifying attitudes assessed by the Intimate Partner Violence Attitude Scale-Revised may improve interventions aimed at reducing intimate partner violence.     

Repentance Rituals and Restorative Justice

For most of this century, debate over how criminal justice should be transacted has alternated between an emphasis on retribution versus rehabilitation. Restoration has emerged in the 1990s as a credible third alternative. The most influential definition of restorative justice is by Tony Marshall in the context of a Delphi process conducted by Paul McCold: 'Restorative justice is a process whereby all the parties with a stake in a particular offence come together to resolve collectively how to deal with the aftermath of the offence and its implications for the future'. Restorative justice means restoring victims, restoring offenders and restoring communities. Among the losses victims, offenders or communities might want restored are property loss, injury, a sense of security, dignity, a sense of empowerment, voice, harmony based on a feeling that justice has been done, and social support.     

On the Prospects for Democratic Deliberation: Values Analysis Applied to AustralianPolitics

Democratic theorists increasingly stress that democratic legitimacy rests primarily on authentic deliberation. Critics of deliberative democracy believe that this hope is unrealistic—that deliberation either will prove intractable across political differences or will exacerbate instability. This paper deploys some tools of political psychology, notably Q methodology and values analysis, to investigate the conditions under which effective deliberation is likely to occur. These tools are applied to contemporary political debates in Australia, concerned with how the Australian polity should be constituted in light of a reform agenda underpinned by a discourse we term "Inclusive Republicanism." An investigation of the character of the basic value commitments associated with discursive positions in these debates shows that some differences will yield to deliberation, but others will not. When two discourses subscribe to different value bases, deliberation will induce reflection and facilitate positive-sum outcomes. When a discourse has a value base but finds its specific goals opposed by a competitor that otherwise has no value base of its own, deliberation will be ineffective. When one discourse subscribes to a value base that another questions, but without providing an alternative, deliberation can help to bridge idealism and cynicism.     

Developmental changes in the whole number bias

Many students’ knowledge of fractions is adversely affected by whole number bias, the tendency to focus on the separate whole number components (numerator and denominator) of a fraction rather than on the fraction's magnitude (ratio of numerator to denominator). Although whole number bias appears early in the fraction learning process and under speeded conditions persists into adulthood, even among mathematicians, little is known about its development. Performance with equivalent fractions indicated that between fourth and eighth grade, whole number bias decreased, and reliance on fraction magnitudes increased. These trends were present on both fraction magnitude comparison and number line estimation. However, analyses of individual children's performance indicated that a substantial minority of fourth graders did not show whole number bias and that a substantial minority of eighth graders did show it. Implications of the findings for development of understanding of fraction equivalence and for theories of numerical development are discussed.     

Functional communication training to replace challenging behaviors across two behavioral outcomes

The purpose of the present study was to demonstrate the effectiveness of an intervention that included extinction and functional communication training for the reduction of multiply controlled, self‐injurious, and aggressive behaviors in a boy with autism, in a school setting. Analysis of behavioral antecedents and consequences suggested that self‐injury and aggression served the dual behavioral outcomes of escape from difficult tasks, and access to preferred objects. Treatment consisted of teaching the boy an alternate request, while challenging behaviors were concurrently placed on extinction. Acquisition of the alternate requests was associated with a decrease to zero levels of self‐injury and aggression across the two behavioral outcomes, which was maintained when a 5 second delay was implemented. Results indicate that challenging behaviors with different behavioral outcomes can be replaced with functionally equivalent communication. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Psychometric Investigation of the Usefulness of the Easi-III Temperament Survey in the Australian General Population

The psychometric properties of Buss and Plomin's EASI-III Temperament Survey were examined for a random sample of 290 respondents from the Australian general population. These data support the use of the emotionality, activity and sociability scales with some minor modifications, but cast doubt on the impulsivity scale. Not only did impulsivity emerge as a multidimensional construct, but its components related to other temperaments in markedly different ways. The preliminary analyses also suggested that the EASI-III could be used to measure other constructs, the most important of which are neuroticism and extraversion. The advantages offered by the EASI-III over currently available instruments are discussed: in particular, the simplicity and clarity of the items and the well-articulated sampling framework for their selection.     

Bullying and Victimization: Cause for Concern for both Families and Schools

This study examines the roles of family variables (authoritarian and authoritative parenting, family disharmony) and school variables (liking school, perceived control of bullying and school hassles) in discriminating non-bully/non-victims, victims and bullies. Participants were parents and their children aged 9–12 years (N = 610). Data were analyzed using ANOVA and discriminant function analysis (DFA). Two significant functions emerged, both of which appeared important in discriminating children according to their bullying status. Together they allowed for the correct classification of 76% of the non-bully/non-victims, 57% of victims, and 61% of bullies. The main conclusion is that family and school systems working together may provide the most effective means of intervention for bullying problems. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.