Self-affirmation versus self-consistency: a comparison of two competing self-theories of dissonance phenomena

High or low self-esteem individuals participated in a role-playing paradigm in which a friend stood them up for a dinner date. The participants received either a good explanation from the friend for the missed date (sufficient justification) or a poor explanation (insufficient justification). As predicted by self-affirmation theory (Steele, 1988), but not self-consistency theory (Aronson, 1999), low-esteem participants derogated the friend more than high-esteem participants under both insufficient and sufficient justification. Also supporting self-affirmation theory, sufficient/low-esteem participants reported more offense for being stood-up than sufficient/high-esteem participants. Discussion centers on the role of self-esteem in dissonance processes and on the need for more research that focuses on dissonance/self-threats that result from the behavior of other(s) rather than one’s own behavior.     

The conflicting choices of alternating selves

Participants made choices after the salience of their social identities was manipulated. Choices assimilated to the salient identity, whether that identity stemmed from a person’s role (e.g., student, family member) or culture (e.g., Chinese, American). Thus, the preferences that participants expressed depended on the identity that happened to be salient at the moment of choice, with participants expressing preferences when one identity was salient that conflicted with the preferences they would express were another identity salient. These effects only arose for those who held and identified with the evoked identity. Studies further revealed that such identity-congruent choices influence post-choice satisfaction and regret: participants were less satisfied with their prior choices when the identity salient during post-choice evaluation or consumption was different from the identity salient during choice, compared to when the “choosing” and “consuming” identities were the same. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

Evaluation of a Career Development Skills Intervention With Adolescents Living in an Inner City

The authors evaluated the effectiveness of an intervention with adolescents living in an inner city that was based on the Integrative Contextual Model of Career Development (Lapan, 2004). Adolescent participants reported greater efficacy and positive self‐attributions and greater skills in person‐environment fit; social, prosocial, and work readiness; the garnering of emotional and instrumental support; and self‐regulated learning. Adolescents who participated in a more traditional career counseling model only reported greater emotional support than did adolescents not receiving career counseling.     

Do haphazard reviews provide sound directions for dissemination efforts?

Comments on The dissemination and implementation of evidence-based psychological treatments: A review of current efforts (see record 2010-02208-010) by Kathryn R. McHugh and David H. Barlow. The lead article in the February–March issue by McHugh and Barlow (2010) emphasized the need for “dissemination and implementation of evidence-based psychological treatments.” The authors identified a number of intervention programs as evidence based and in need of dissemination. One is multisystemic therapy (MST). They claimed that this program is among “the most successful dissemination efforts...pursued by treatment developers” (p. 79). McHugh and Barlow’s (2010) discussion of the implementation of MST in Hawaii is troubling, because it neglected to mention concerns about the perceived lack of cultural sensitivity of the MST program in that state.     

Including the Religious Viewpoints and Experiences of Muslim Students in an Environment that is Both Plural and Secular

This paper sets out the context and some main lines of argument about the education of Muslim children in England, including concern over low attainment, over segregation and violent extremism. Three approaches to inclusion of Muslims in mainstream educational settings are identified. The paper describes and assesses the identity-based approach to inclusion common to many English schools using a distinction between permissive and affirmative stances to analyse practice. It proceeds to argue for an epistemology-based approach that makes room for students’ experiential and theological perspectives on the content of their learning.     

Event-related brain potentials and the efficiency of visual search for vertically and horizontally oriented stimuli

Reports that visual search is more efficient for vertically than for horizontally shaded objects suggested that search is influenced by a priori knowledge about the source of light. In this study, we examined search for targets defined by the orientation of luminance gradients and measured event-related brain potentials (ERPs). In Experiment 1, we examined search for stimuli that comprised gradual luminance differences. Response times showed the expected orientation anisotropy effect. ERP amplitudes in the P1 latency range were slightly more positive in response to horizontally oriented stimuli, whereas P3 amplitudes were more positive in response to nonsingleton vertically oriented stimuli. Experiment 2 compared search for stimuli that comprised gradual versus step differences in luminance. All the anisotropies that we observed in Experiment 1 could be replicated in Experiment 2. Moreover, these anisotropies were not dependent on the type of the luminance gradient. This finding is inconsistent with the view that search efficiency is influenced by a priori knowledge about the source of light. The behavioral and electrophysiological data are consistent with a context model of visual search. We propose that contextual modulation reduces redundancy and contributes to computing the saliency of visual information by implementing divisive normalization and multiplicative filtering.     

Is there a burden attached to synaesthesia? Health screening of synaesthetes in the general population

Synaesthesia has long been considered a benign alternative form of perception most often associated with positive rather than negative outcomes. The condition has been associated with a variety of cognitive and perceptual advantages, including benefits in memory, processing speed, and creativity. It is not currently recognized in the DSM‐IV. Recently, however, several studies have raised the question of a possible link between synaesthesia and clinical conditions. Here, we present the first large‐scale screening of the general population in which we (1) objectively identified grapheme‐colour synaesthetes and (2) elicited information from our participants about a range of clinical conditions. We compared the prevalence rates of these conditions in synaesthetes versus non‐synaesthetes to establish whether any conditions were found at a higher rate among synaesthetes. In our initial study, screening 3,742 people (95 synaesthetes and 3,647 controls), we found initially that grapheme‐colour was significantly comorbid with two conditions (anxiety disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder). In our second study, screening a new population of 120 synaesthetes and 166 non‐synaesthetes, we replicated our finding that grapheme‐colour synaesthesia is comorbid with anxiety disorder. At the same time, we also addressed a methodological concern that likely elevated rates of OCD in Study 1. We consider the aetiology of synaesthesia to determine whether there may be a shared genetic or neurological basis with anxiety disorder, and we question the status of synaesthesia within a mental health framework.     

Disquiet in the consulting room: everything/nothing that is said here is confidential

Writing from experiences in the consulting room in private practice in Australia, the author refers to the layered complexity of a conflict of ethical duty which has legal and social implications. The paper explores how the ethics that are congruent with creating a safe vas bene claustrum can be diametrically opposed to the social and legal structures and processes on which we all rely. It is suggested that within the vas, analysts and analysands engage in a shared process of emotionally connected, layered, symbolic thinking. Subpoenas directed at analysts are seeking concrete evidence that will stand up in court. The paper argues that this is a category error based on ignorance and misconceptions of what analytic work entails. The intrusion of a subpoena into the vas has the potential to cause havoc in the mental health and the lives of already vulnerable, possibly traumatized and isolated individuals. It can undermine a fundamental human right and undermine the profession of psychotherapy as a whole. The paper proposes that analysts have an ethical obligation to protect the work contained within the vas from these category errors and to educate other professionals as to why we cannot provide the kind of evidence that the courts require.