Dialogue Groups in the 21st Century: An Extension of Practice

Experts in group dynamics are needed to work with societal-level identity groups to facilitate productive dialogue in lieu of destructive action or stalemate. Group therapists can promote dialogue about feelings and thoughts regarding societal-level identity issues that contribute to stuck destructive intra and intergroup relationships. After an introduction to the politics of identity and the importance of societal-level groups, the theory and practice of dialogue groups will be introduced and our own dialogue group described.     

Applying a bifactor model to the functions of relational aggression: Associations with hostile attribution biases and difficulties with emotion regulation

Previous research suggests that reactive and proactive aggression likely have distinct underlying mechanisms that uniquely contribute to the perpetration of each as a result of faulty cognitive and emotional processes. Still, very little work has examined the association of the functions of relational aggression with emotion dysregulation and hostile attribution biases. In addition, it is important to examine relational aggression in its pure and co-occurring functions given that past work finds reactive and proactive aggression to occur both jointly and distinctly. Thus, the current study employed a bifactor model to distinguish between pure reactive, pure proactive, and co-occurring relational aggression in emerging adulthood (N = 647, M_age = 19.92, SD = 2.83), a developmental time period for which relational aggression is particularly prominent. To further address gaps in the relational aggression literature, indirect pathway models revealed that relational hostile attribution biases emerged as a concurrent indirect path in the relationship between emotion dysregulation and pure reactive relational aggression. Furthermore, emotion dysregulation was directly positively associated with both pure functions as well as co-occurring relational aggression, and hostile attribution biases for relational provocations were directly associated with both pure functions of relational aggression, though the association was negative for pure proactive and positive for pure reactive relational aggression. Findings highlight the potential influence of emotion dysregulation and attributing hostile intent to social situations on engaging in the different functions of relational aggression.     

REDUCTIONS IN SELF-INJURY PRODUCED BY TRANSCUTANEOUS ELECTRICAL NERVE STIMULATION

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation is used to reduce pain but also may be useful for self-injurious behavior (SIB). In the current investigation, a microcurrent electromedical device, classified as a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulator (TENS), was applied with a man with Down syndrome who displayed SIB that persisted in the absence of social contingencies. Although clinically significant results were not maintained, a clear difference in the rates of SIB during active and inactive TENS was observed.     

Identifying Causes of Disagreement Between Self-Reports and Spouse Ratings of Personality

Self-reports and spouse ratings of personality traits typically show less-than-perfect agreement, but powerful moderators of agreement have not yet been identified. In Study 1, 47 married couples completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory to describe themselves and their spouses. Extent of agreement was not consistently moderated by response sets; the age, intelligence, or education of the respondent; or the length or quality of the relationship. In Study 2 these couples were interviewed about reasons for substantial disagreements, and an audiotape was content-analyzed. Sixteen reasons were reliably coded, including idiosyncratic understanding of items, reference to different time frames or roles, and unavailability of covert experience to the spouse. Faking good, assumed similarity, and other variables prominent in the psychometric literature were relatively unimportant. Findings (1) suggest that attempts to improve the validity of self-reports and ratings may need to be refocused and (2) underscore the desirability of routinely obtaining multiple sources of information on personality.     

Stability and predictability of quality of women's marital relationships and demoralization

This longitudinal study was motivated by cross-sectional, clinical, and survey research on marital relationships and individual well-being. Perceptions of husbands' behavior toward themselves and self-reports of demoralization were collected from 51 low-income women during their children's kindergarten year and 3 years later. Longitudinal correlations of specific components and aggregated scores of perceptions of husbands' behavior and of demoralization revealed significant stability. Both initial and later marital relationship scores had higher correlations with later than with initial demoralization scores. Longitudinal correlations and multiple regression analysis supported the hypothesis that initial marital relationship would predict later demoralization. Quality of perceived marital relationship apparently has different immediate and long-term effects on components of individual adjustment. Integrated longitudinal studies of relationships and personality and their intercorrelations are needed to understand stability and change in adult personality and well-being.     

Openness to Experience and Development of Adult Identity

ABSTRACT The formation of ego identity through exploration of alternatives and formation of commitments is a central issue in the transition from adolescence to adulthood (Erikson, 1959, Waterman, 1982) In 59 adults ranging in age from 18 to 30, independent identity scales were found to be positively correlated with age The construct of openness to experience was hypothesized to account for individual differences in identity development As predicted, openness to experience was positively correlated with ratings of current and past identity exploration, and negatively related to intensity of identity commitment A comparison of two methods of measuring ego identity showed that identity rating scales provide a more differentiated assessment of psychosocial development than does the identity status scoring method     

The measurement of optimism and pessimism

Procedures employed in the development and validation of a new Optimism & Pessimism Scale are described, and information about test-retest reliability is reported. Internal consistency analyses and other data suggest that optimism and pessimism are not polar opposites and bring up questions about the intrerelatedness of the cognitive and affective realms. The magnitude of the correlation between pessimism and measures of anxiety suggests a link between this measure and the Negative Affectivity construct, and the potential relationships among optimism, pessimism, the Pollyanna Principle, and Positive and Negative Affect are discussed. Conceptually, it appears that optimism and pessimism may aid in psychological defense by helping to bind anxiety. This report was based on theses submitted separately by the second and third authors to the Division of Graduate Studies and Research of the University of Cincinnati, both in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree. For reprints of the article or copies of the Optimism & Pessimism Scale, please direct requests to William N. Dember, Department of Psychology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221.     

Worlds within worlds: a strategy for using interpretative phenomenological analysis with focus groups

There is increasing interest in applying interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to focus group data and in developing appropriate strategies for doing so. These strategies should exploit the unique features of focus groups, which provide a rich canvas of experiences not seen in individual interviews, while remaining true to the personal, phenomenological perspective of IPA. We present a four-stage approach with specific group focused analytical strategies: looking for “groupness,” clustering reoccurring group interactions, identifying interactional relationships, and incorporating group elements into an analysis. These stages are illustrated with worked examples developed while working with data from focus groups of women with gynaecological cancer discussing a yoga intervention, and explain how these can enrich our understanding of participants’ lived experiences. This approach demonstrates a suggested framework for developing IPA themes from focus group data by analysing and interpreting the group setting. We discuss links to psychological concepts, potential applications and limitations. This empirically based methodology is presented as a practical guide for other researchers grappling with this type of data.