When Does Gender Count? Further Insights into Gender Schematic Processing of Female Candidates' Political Advertisements

In this study we explored viewers' responses to advertising by female political candidates. Gender schema theory provided the basis for developing a better understanding of the circumstances when voters evaluate female candidates and how cognitive representations of what women are like influence viewer responses. Results showed general support for the predictions derived from gender schema theory. That is, participants did seem to rely on gender schema in making judgments, a form of inference making known as “default processing,” when information was absent. Results also indicated that participants relied more on gender schematic processing when the advertisement elicited positive emotions and less on gender schematic processing when exposed to an attack ad. For comparison, viewers' responses to male candidates' political advertising were also examined. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of these findings for political campaigns.     

Afterward: Making Meaning After a Frightening Near-Death Experience

The routes by which individuals attribute meaning to a near-death experience (NDE) appear to be similar, whether the experience was radiant or terrifying. This article explores three such avenues in relation to frightening experiences. I argue that resisting a terrifying NDE is likely to intensify fearfulness in an individual, and also that a similar effect occurs within society when this type of experience is resisted and misunderstood. The article concludes with an approach to synthesis and suggested techniques that may be useful in integrating the experience.     

Externalizing and Internalizing Problems: Associations with Family Adversity and Young Children’s Adrenocortical and Autonomic Functioning

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - The development of child mental health problems has been associated with experiences of adversity and dysregulation of stress response systems;...     

A Community Psychology View of Environmental Organization Processes

Environmental organizations have a key role in addressing environmental degradation and promoting ecologically and socially sustainable societies. Psychosocial processes underpin their work, however, empirical studies of these processes remain underdeveloped. This paper presents the first stage of a community psychology study involving in-depth interviews with leaders in environmental organizations. Qualitative analysis revealed a framework of five types of psychosocial processes that assist environmental organizations to achieve a range of outcomes, namely: problem analysis; influencing decision-making; inter-organizational relationships; community participation and knowledge transfer. These psychosocial processes were used in substantially different ways depending on the organizations' orientation. Three key orientations towards outcomes were evident: on-ground conservation, developing innovation in specialist areas and transforming wider social institutions. The findings provide a model of the psychosocial processes involved in fostering sustainable futures and exemplify the contribution of community psychology to this critical global issue.     

THE ETHICS OF ECSTASY: Georges Bataille and Amy Hollywood on Mysticism,Morality, and Violence

Georges Bataille agrees with numerous Christian mystics that there is ethical and religious value in meditating upon, and having ecstatic episodes in response to, imagery of violent death. For Christians, the crucified Christ is the focus of contemplative efforts. Bataille employs photographic imagery of a more‐recent victim of torture and execution. In this essay, while engaging with Amy Hollywood's interpretation of Bataille in Sensible Ecstasy, I show that, unlike the Christian mystics who influence him, Bataille strives to divorce himself from any moral authority external to the ecstatic episode itself. I argue that in his attempt to remove external authority he abandons the only resources that could possibly protect his mystical contemplation from engendering sadistic attitudes.     

Differential effect of one versus two hands on visual processing

Hand position in the visual field influences performance in several visual tasks. Recent theoretical accounts have proposed that hand position either (a) influences the allocation of spatial attention, or (b) biases processing toward the magnocellular visual pathway. Comparing these accounts is difficult as some studies manipulate the distance of one hand in the visual field while others vary the distance of both hands, and it is unclear whether single and dual hand manipulations have the same impact on perception. We ask if hand position affects the spatial distribution of attention, with a broader distribution of attention when both hands are near a visual display and a narrower distribution when one hand is near a display. We examined the effects of four hand positions near the screen (left hand, right hand, both hands, no hands) on both temporal and spatial discrimination tasks. Placing two hands near the display compared to two hands distant resulted in improved sensitivity for the temporal task and reduced sensitivity in the spatial task, replicating previous results. However, the single hand manipulations showed the opposite pattern of results. Together these results suggest that visual attention is focused on the graspable space for a single hand, and expanded when two hands frame an area of the visual field.