Is Being Emotionally Inexpressive Cool?

Despite a recognition that consumers want to be cool and value cool brands, the literature has only just begun to delineate what makes things cool. Writing by scholars, quotes by celebrities, and norms in fashion advertising are consistent with the view that people become cool by being emotionally inexpressive. The relationship between emotional expression and coolness, however, has not been empirically tested. Our research uses an experimental approach to examine whether being emotionally inexpressive makes people seem more or less cool than smiling. In contrast to the belief that being inexpressive is cool, we find that in noncompetitive contexts—an endorser in a clothing advertisement and an athlete interacting with fans—being inexpressive makes people seem cold rather than cool. On the other hand, in competitive contexts—such as an athlete facing his opponent—being inexpressive makes people seem cool by making them appear dominant. Our results have important implications for marketers, advertisers, and consumers trying to cultivate a cool image.     

Associations between miscellaneous symptoms and symptom dimensions: an examination of pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in children and adults is a heterogeneous disorder associated with significant psychosocial impairment. Although factor analytic studies have identified symptom dimensions, these analyses do not capture the varied miscellaneous symptoms that fail to load on a specific dimension despite being functionally related. The present study sought to extend the findings of previous research in adults to a sample of youth with OCD (n=131). Logistic regression analyses were used to examine the predictive value of each of the four symptom factors (contamination symptoms, obsessions and checking, symmetry and ordering, and hoarding) to the miscellaneous OCD symptoms. The vast majority of miscellaneous symptoms (17 of the 18 symptoms) were associated with one or more symptoms factors (i.e., contamination symptoms, obsessions and checking, symmetry, and ordering). Hoarding was not related to any miscellaneous symptom. In addition to improving our understanding about the clinical presentation of pediatric OCD, findings also have important assessment (e.g., understanding which miscellaneous symptoms relate to certain dimensions) and treatment implications (e.g., hierarchy development).     

The construction of counselling psychology in Britain: A discourse analysis of counselling psychology texts

Counselling psychology is a relatively recent arrival on the professional psychological scene in Britain. This paper examines the ways in which this new branch of professional psychology has been constructed by the counselling psychology community. Articles which embodied this construction process from the 1990 and 1996 volumes of the journal Counselling Psychology Review were subjected to discourse analysis. The main themes of the 1990 articles concerned the construction of identity and legitimation, achieved largely through representations of similarity with and difference from related professions at a general level, whereas in the 1996 articles, the emphasis was on more fine-grained constructions of similarity and difference. Implications for the future construction of counselling psychology are considered.     

Factor analysis of variability measures in eight independent samples of children and adults

Variability in strategy use has been measured and conceptualized in several ways. The present study sought to determine whether a sample of variability measures could be reduced to a smaller number of factors that the individual measures had in common. Factor analysis of five commonly used variability measures was performed separately on data from eight independent samples of children and adults. The results revealed that the variability measures could be reduced to one of two general types of variability: strategy diversity, which refers to the sheer number of strategies used, and strategy change, which refers to the number of trial-by-trial changes in strategy use. Support for this two-factor model of variability was found for all samples of children and adults. Moreover, each type of variability had distinctive relations with cognitive performance that varied with age. In general, strategy diversity was positively related to recall for children but not adults, whereas strategy change was negatively related to recall for adults but not children. Based on this evidence, three recommendations for researchers studying strategy variability are described.     

The Neighbor Between Rosenzweig and Lacan

Death is the persistent kernel of a human life in both Jacques Lacan’s psychoanalytic theory and Franz Rosenzweig’s theology. Lacan’s reformulation of the Freudian drive conceives of death as the annihilating force behind each person’s desire. Accordingly, the other assumes death’s absolute impenetrability. Rosenzweig likewise insists that perpetual acknowledgement of death must individuate a human life; however, his theology of revelation allows for the disclosure of the absolute Other in a commandment to love. Two ethics proceed from these two figures of death: a Lacanian ethics of distance and a Rosenzweigian ethics of communitarian love. Finally, I consider whether a Rosenzweigian posture toward the neighbor must be predicated on a transcendent faith.     

Gender Differences in Contextual Predictors of Urban,Early Adolescents' Subjective Well‐Being

Gender differences in predicting subjective well‐being (SWB) were examined in 168 urban adolescents. School satisfaction predicted life satisfaction for boys; for girls, family satisfaction predicted life satisfaction and neighborhood satisfaction predicted negative affect. Self‐esteem predicted positive affect for both genders, but friends satisfaction and ethnic identity failed to predict SWB. Se examinaron las diferencias de género al predecir el bienestar subjetivo (SWB, por sus siglas en inglés) de 168 adolescentes urbanos. La satisfacción escolar predijo la satisfacción vital en los chicos; en las chicas, la satisfacción familiar predijo la satisfacción vital, y la satisfacción en el vecindario predijo los sentimientos negativos. La autoestima predijo sentimientos positivos en ambos géneros, pero la satisfacción con los amigos y la identidad étnica no fueron predictores del SWB.