The Costs of Accepting Gender Differences: The Role of Stereotype Endorsement in Women's Experience in the Math Domain

Two studies were designed to examine the costs of stereotype endorsement for women's self-perceptions, career intentions, and susceptibility to stereotype threat in the math domain. Study 1, a survey of women majoring in math-related fields, revealed that women who believe that status differences between the sexes are legitimate were more likely to endorse gender stereotypes about women's math abilities, which in turn predicted more negative self-perceptions of math competence and less interest in continuing study in one's field. In Study 2, women who tended to endorse gender stereotypes were found to be more susceptible to the negative effects of stereotype threat on their math test performance. The implications of these results for research on stereotype endorsement and women's math achievement are discussed.     

Reducing contingent self-worth: A defensive response to self-threats

Previous research shows that people with high self-esteem cope with threats to the self by reducing the extent to which their self-worth is contingent on the threatened domain (Buckingham, Weber, & Sypher, 2012). The present studies tested the hypothesis that this is a defensive process. In support of this hypothesis, Study 1 (N = 160), showed that self-affirmation attenuates the tendency for people with high self-esteem to reduce their contingencies of self-worth following self-threat. Furthermore, Study 2 (N = 286), showed that this tendency was more prevalent among people with defensive self-esteem than among those with secure self-esteem. The present studies imply that reducing contingent self-worth after self-threat is a defensive process. We discuss implications for theories of contingent self-worth.     

Development of the Collectivist‐Sensitive Trait Forgivingness Scale

Mounting evidence suggests that experiences of forgiveness vary across cultures. However, culturally sensitive conceptualizations of forgiveness lack empirical support, in part because psychometrically sound instruments designed to capture unique aspects of forgiveness in non‐Western cultures are rare. For this reason, we developed the Collectivist‐Sensitive Trait Forgivingness Scale (TFS‐CS), which is designed to measure trait forgivingness within societies characterized by a blend of individualistic and collectivistic worldviews. In Study 1 (N = 597), exploratory factor analysis revealed a 16‐item three‐factor structure of third‐party forgiveness, collectivistic forgiveness, and interpersonal resentment among South Africans. In Study 2 (N = 897), the three‐factor model replicated in an independent South African sample. Findings also offered preliminary evidence supporting the construct validity of the TFS‐CS. Overall, these studies support a conceptualization of trait forgivingness with similarities and differences relative to Western models and highlight the importance of appreciating the influence of culture when measuring forgiveness.     

Effects of emotional content on working memory capacity

Emotional events tend to be remembered better than neutral events, but emotional states and stimuli may also interfere with cognitive processes that underlie memory performance. The current study investigated the effects of emotional content on working memory capacity (WMC), which involves both short term storage and executive attention control. We tested competing hypotheses in a preregistered experiment (N?=?297). The emotional enhancement hypothesis predicts that emotional stimuli attract attention and additional processing resources relative to neutral stimuli, thereby making it easier to encode and store emotional information in WMC. The emotional impairment hypothesis, by contrast, predicts that emotional stimuli interfere with attention control and the active maintenance of information in working memory. Participants completed a common measure of WMC (the operation span task; Turner, M. L., &; Engle, R. W. [1989]. Is working memory capacity task dependent? Journal of Memory and Language, 28, 127–154) that included either emotional or neutral words. Results revealed that WMC was reduced for emotional words relative to neutral words, consistent with the emotional impairment hypothesis.     

Economic Disadvantage at the Intersections: Contemporary Stereotypes in the Headlines

Effective multiculturally competent treatment of economically disadvantaged clients requires an awareness of the stereotypes and biases that these clients and their families face in contemporary culture—stereotypes that are so pervasive that they can subtly influence counselors’ thinking about poor and working‐class individuals. In this article, the authors apply an intersectional perspective to profile current stereotypes and biases that exist regarding low‐income groups at the intersections of race, religion, and immigration status. Implications for educators and counselors are suggested. Un tratamiento efectivo y multiculturalmente competente de clientes e conómicamente desfavorecidos requiere una conciencia de los estereotipos y prejuicios que estos clientes y sus familias enfrentan en la cultura contemporánea; estereotipos tan arraigados que pueden influir sutilmente en la forma de pensar de los consejeros sobre las personas pobres y de clase trabajadora. En este artículo, los autores aplican una perspectiva interseccional para perfilar estereotipos y prejuicios actuales que existen acerca de grupos de bajo nivel económico en las intersecciones entre raza, religión y estatus migratorio. Se sugieren implicaciones para educadores y consejeros.     

Using experiential optimization to build lexical representations

To account for natural variability in cognitive processing, it is standard practice to optimize a model’s parameters by fitting it to behavioral data. Although most language-related theories acknowledge a large role for experience in language processing, variability reflecting that knowledge is usually ignored when evaluating a model’s fit to representative data. We fit language-based behavioral data using experiential optimization, a method that optimizes the materials that a model is given while retaining the learning and processing mechanisms of standard practice. Rather than using default materials, experiential optimization selects the optimal linguistic sources to create a memory representation that maximizes task performance. We demonstrate performance on multiple benchmark tasks by optimizing the experience on which a model’s representation is based.

     

The Suitability of an Inhibitory Learning Approach in Exposure When Habituation Fails: A Clinical Application to Misophonia

Recent findings have led to a reconceptualization of the mechanisms that account for the efficacy of exposure-based treatments. Termed the “inhibitory learning model,” this approach emphasizes new learning when confronted with previously avoided stimuli rather than merely the cessation of fear or aversive emotional responding. In this paper, we propose the applicability of the inhibitory learning model for conditions and contexts in which simple exposure does not produce habituation. We illustrate this application from an in-progress randomized controlled treatment trial for adults with misophonia. Misophonia is a condition marked by strong aversive reactions to specific sounds. It is a difficult to treat and understudied syndrome. All participants in the trial received exposure, either before or after a stress management module of treatment. Exposure treatment emphasized altered expectancies for the target sounds as well as deliberate practice in hearing sounds on the individually developed hierarchy. Inhibitory learning strategies were employed to increase treatment adherence and commitment, shape patient behavior during exposures, manufacture negative prediction errors, increase perceived control over reactions, and promote learning that generalized to functional improvements. The findings are discussed in the context of future applications of the inhibitory learning model for psychopathology associated with avoidance.     

General Strain Theory,Religiosity, and Delinquency among Young Latino Americans

Utilizing general strain theory and drawing from contemporary racial stratification literature and the sociology of religion, I contend general strain theory is salient among young Latinos. Additionally, I hypothesize religiosity is negatively correlated with delinquency, and attenuates the effects of strain on negative emotions and those of negative emotions on delinquency. Moreover, I hypothesize the impact of religiosity is more salient for foreign born than native born Latino youth. I test these hypotheses using data from the first two waves of Add Health. Results generally provide support for my hypotheses. The implications of these results and directions for future studies are discussed.     

A Kinetic Sculpture Intervention for Individuals Grieving the Deaths of Family Members

This article presents a creative intervention called kinetic sculpture for loss adaptation in grief counseling. This intervention is supported by professional literature regarding Bowenian family systems and creativity in counseling. The deaths of family members may generate much uncertainty for clients regarding functioning of their family systems. Kinetic sculpture allows clients to create visual examples of family equilibrium before, in the midst of, and after the deaths of family members. Insight gained from engaging in this intervention can aid clients in making aspirational plans for their own adaptations to loss. In this article, we present step-by-step instructions for creating the kinetic sculpture, make recommendations for process questions to accompany the intervention, and apply the kinetic sculpture in a case example.     

Exploring social television,opinion leaders,and Twitter audience reactions to Diane Sawyer's coming out interview with Caitlyn Jenner

With increasing visibility in both fictional and nonfictional media, transgender individuals have become a staple of the media landscape. Nonetheless, the general public has been slow to warm to transgender individuals and the rights of this community of people. The present study explored the audience reception to Caitlyn Jenner's coming out interview with Diane Sawyer. Examining Twitter conversations as part of a social television experience, this paper focuses on the types of words and phrases used in response to the interview, the themes that were present in the conversation, and the opinion leaders who helped to shape the discussion. Co-occurrence of themes was also explored. Results indicated an overwhelmingly positive response from live tweeters watching Jenner's coming out interview, led by a small but influential group of celebrities and media personalities such as Oprah Winfrey and Perez Hilton. Top themes included support, gender, journey to truth, family drama, and bravery. The results are positioned within an exploration of the social nature of television viewing and reception of transgenderism by mainstream audiences.