Reactions to the family of the suicide

The present study investigated reactions to the survivors of a family member's suicide. One hundred and twenty seven adults, members of a large urban Protestant church, responded to a newspaper account of a suicide in which the following factors were systematically varied: sex of the suicide, causal locus of the suicide, and whether the cause was prior or immediate to the suicide. The design was a 2 (sex of respondent) x 2 (sex of suicide) x 2 (locus of cause internal or external to the individual) x 2 (temporally remote cause or immediate cause). Results indicated a slight tendency for males to be somewhat more socially accepting of the surviving spouse of a suicide. There was also a significant interaction between sex of respondent x sex of the suicide, such that respondents indicated they would feel less tension in talking with the surviving family of a suicide of the same sex.     

Scientific Meetings of the Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis-Passion in Girls and Women: Toward a Bridge Between Critical Relational Theory of Gender and Modern Conflict Theory

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis -     

Clients' pretreatment counseling expectations as predictors of the working alliance

Because research suggests that counseling expectations are malleable and that alliance ratings predict clinical outcomes, the relationship between this pretreatment client characteristic (expectations) and the quality of the alliance early in treatment deserves further attention. This study examined the relationships between 57 clients' pretreatment role expectations and 3rd-session client-rated alliance in a naturalistic setting. Prior to intake, clients completed the Expectations About Counseling-Brief Form (H. E. A. Tinsley, 1982), and clients completed the Working Alliance Inventory-Short Form Revised (R. L. Hatcher & J. A. Gillaspy, 2006) following the 3rd therapy session. Results indicate that clients' expectations for personal commitment predicted the task, bond, and goal dimensions of the alliance. Expectations for facilitative conditions and counselor expertise did not predict clients' perceptions of the alliance. Clinical implications and research directions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).     

The Structure of Character

In this paper, I defend a local account of character traits that posits traits like close-friend-honesty and good-mood-compassion. John Doris also defends local character traits, but his local character traits are indistinguishable from mere behavioral dispositions, they are not necessary for the purpose which allegedly justifies them, and their justification is only contingent, depending upon the prevailing empirical situation. The account of local traits I defend posits local traits that are traits of character rather than behavioral dispositions, local traits that are necessary to satisfy one of their central purposes, and local traits whose justification is dependent upon theoretical rather than empirical considerations.     

Does stress run through the leash? An examination of stress transmission between owners and dogs during a walk

Animal Cognition - Humans and dogs have co-evolved for over 10,000 years. Recent research suggests that, through the domestication process, dogs have become proficient at responding to...     

An obscure rider obstructing science: the conflation of parthenotes with embryos in the Dickey-Wicker amendment

In 1996 Congress passed the Dickey-Wicker Amendment (DWA) as part of an appropriations bill; it has been renewed every year since. The DWA bans federal funding for research using embryos and parthenotes. In this paper, we call for a public discussion on parthenote research and a questioning of its inclusion in the DWA. We begin by explaining what parthenotes are and why they are useful for research on reproduction, cancer, and stem cells. We then argue that the scientific difference between embryos and parthenotes translates into ethical differences, and claim that research on parthenotes is much less ethically problematic. Finally, we contextualize the original passage of the DWA to provide an explanation for why the two were possibly conflated in this law. We conclude by calling for a public discussion on reconsidering the DWA in its entirety, starting with the removal of parthenogenesis from this prohibition of National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding.     

Children's occupational sex-typing

Preschool and elmentary school children responded to questions measuring sex-typing of attribution (who would like this job), service preference (who the child would choose to do this job), and personal job choice (would the child like to do this job) dimensions for each of nine jobs, and stated a free-choice job preference. A subsample completed a cognitive classification measure. With age through second grade attribution and service preference sex-typing increased; generally, the match scores between the three aspects and census reality increased; the use of sex-typed categories in service preference decreased. For some aspects, girls were less sex-typed than boys; for others, each sex showed own-sex bias. Age, not classification skill, accounted for more variance in the sex-typing measures.This research was supported in part by an Indiana University Grant-in-Aid for dissertation research awarded to the first author. A shorter version of this article was presented as a paper at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Toronto, 1978. The authors would like to thank the children, parents, and school personnel in all five cooperating schools, including Central Elementary School, David Satter, Principal; Children's Corner Cooperative Nursery School, Sue Yamaguchi, Director; Christian Center Day Care Preschool, Monroe County United Ministries, James Fisbo, Executive Director, Jean K. Lloyd, Preschool Director; St. Charles School, Kathleen Fleming, Principal.     

The value of emotionally expressive visual art in medical education

This paper approaches the topic of visual art in medical education from a philosophical perspective, drawing on arguments from epistemology, philosophy of science, aesthetics, and contemporary ethical theory. Several medical ethicists have noted that the traditional clinical paradigm may increase the epistemic and emotional distance between patient and physician in part by focusing on the physical body and medical technology. Some of these same writers recommend a new approach to patients based on empathy and increased attention to suffering. After reviewing these arguments, supporting examples, and recommendations, I explain how visual art that expresses or symbolizes the emotional response to illness could be used to introduce an additional paradigm into medical education. This would be a paradigm based on empathetic attention to patients' emotional experiences in illness. My own argument is that this additional way of perceiving and relating to patients may reduce the distance between patient and physician and may allow physicians to better meet the ideal of treating the patient as a person.     

Racism experiences and psychological functioning in African American college freshmen: is racial socialization a buffer?

Previous research has documented the negative effects of racism on the psychological health of African Americans. However, consideration of racial socialization as a potential buffer against racism experiences has received limited attention. The present study investigated whether two types of parental racial socialization messages reduced the impact of racism on psychological functioning in a sample of 247 African American college freshmen (M=18.30). Results indicated that students who reported more racism experiences also had poorer levels of psychological functioning as indicated by higher levels of psychological stress and psychological distress. Parental messages emphasizing the use of African American cultural resources to cope with racism reduced the impact of racism on psychological stress only. Cultural pride messages predicted less psychological distress while messages emphasizing the use of cultural resources predicted greater psychological distress. However, neither message type moderated the relationship between racism experiences and psychological distress. These results suggest that racial socialization messages have complex relations to psychological functioning in African American college students.