Religion and Subjective Well-Being: Western and Eastern Religious Groups Achieved Subjective Well-Being in Different Ways

Culture can moderate which variables most influence subjective well-being (SWB). Because religion can be conceptualized as culture, religious differences can be considered cultural differences. However, there have been few studies comparing how different religious groups evaluate SWB at any given time. This study is among the first to investigate this issue. The present study compared Buddhists, Taoists, Christians, and atheists. In addition to demographic items, 451 Chinese adults completed Chinese version of the Socially Oriented Cultural Conception of SWB Scale. Religious belief was distributed as follows: 10 % Christian, 20 % Buddhist, 25 % Taoist, and 43 % atheists. As predicted, the socially oriented cultural conception of SWB was found to be highest among Buddhists, followed in order by Taoists, atheists, and Christians. It was concluded that the various religious groups achieved SWB in different ways.     

Modeling error variance in job specification ratings: the influence of rater, job, and organization-level factors

The authors modeled sources of error variance in job specification ratings collected from 3 levels of raters across 5 organizations (N=381). Variance components models were used to estimate the variance in ratings attributable to true score (variance between knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics [KSAOs]) and error (KSAO-by-rater and residual variance). Subsequent models partitioned error variance into components related to the organization, position level, and demographic characteristics of the raters. Analyses revealed that the differential ordering of KSAOs by raters was not a function of these characteristics but rather was due to unexplained rating differences among the raters. The implications of these results for job specification and validity transportability are discussed.     

Taxonicity of anxiety sensitivity: an empirical test among youth

Taxometric coherent cut kinetic analyses were used to test the latent structure of anxiety sensitivity (AS) among 371 youth. Anxiety sensitivity was indexed by the 18-item Childhood Anxiety Sensitivity Index (CASI; Silverman et al., J. Clin. Child Psychol. (1991), 20, 162-168). Two sets of manifest indicators of AS were constructed using the CASI: (1) three item-parcel manifest indicators: disease concerns, unsteady concerns, and mental illness concerns; and (2) nine single-item indicators representing each of these three facets of AS. Results from standard and short-scale MAXCOV procedures, internal consistency tests, analyses of simulated Monte Carlo data, and MAMBAC external consistency tests indicated that the latent structure of anxiety sensitivity among youth was taxonic. Estimated base rate of the observed AS taxon ranged between 13.6 and 16.5%. The present findings are discussed in terms of theoretical implications for the study of AS and vulnerability for anxiety psychopathology.     

Compensatory Response to Anticipated Densities1

The coping processes associated with crowding stress were conceptualized as dynamic sequences of personal or situational adjustments and readjustments directed toward maintaining desired frequencies of social contact. By studying ongoing coping processes as subjects prepared for anticipated crowding, evidence of social withdrawal as a response to crowding was obtained. In addition, findings suggested that these processes were sensitive to change in the situation, seeking or avoiding interaction as anticipated group size changed. Subjects who were subsequently told that they would be interacting in small groups rather than in larger groups reported less crowding and discomfort than subjects whose anticipation of large group interaction was maintained. Furthermore, subjects whose expectations of large group interaction were disconfirmed increased facial regard for others following disconfirmation, indicating a greater willingness to interact. These findings were discussed as evidence of optimization processes governing desired levels of social contact, intimacy, and personal space.     

Effectiveness of a Comprehensive Worksite Stress Management Program: Combining Organizational and Individual Interventions

A comprehensive worksite stress management program consisting of self-management training and a stressor reduction process was evaluated in a pre-post, treatment-control design in four comparable facilities. Results showed that over a 3-month period those individuals attending self-management training improved on emotional well-being measures. Organizational data suggested that their work-units' productivity increased and absenteeism decreased over the same period. Results support the value of combining self-management training and stressor reduction to produce positive individual and organizational outcomes.     

Psychoanalytic supervision and the larger truth

If one asks, then, what is the larger truth in supervision and where is it to be found, the answer is that it is to be found in the history and character of the student; in the intersubjective encounter between the student and the supervisor; in the secret use of supervision by the student as he creatively searches for himself. However one chooses to define truth or to speak to a theory of supervision, it is important to note that supervision is not purely an educational activity nor a therapeutic one. It lies somewhere in between and therefore requires some unique theoretical formulations.     

A titration procedure for generating escape behavior

In a grid-shock escape paradigm using time-out as reinforcement, both fixed-ratio and variable-interval performances were established directly from a continuous reinforcement schedule with rats and guinea pigs. A procedure was developed that employed a stepwise decrease in reinforcement time for all responses except the terminal response. Acquisition and long-term maintenance data were obtained from Ss trained on this titrated negative-reinforcement procedure.     

Three questions about experimental extinction

The Psychological Record -     

Associations Between Clinic-Referred Boys and Their Fathers on Childhood Inattention-Overactivity and Aggression Dimensions

The question asked in this study of 70 clinically referred 6- to 12-year-old boys with behavior problems was whether or not childhood inattention-overactivity and aggression are transmitted specifically from biological fathers to sons. Fathers' self-reported childhood inattention-overactivity on a retrospectively valid measure was exclusively associated with parents' ratings of their sons' current attention problems on the Mothers' Operational Measure for Sub-grouping (MOMS), the Revised Child Behavior Checklist (RCBCL), and an approximated DSM-IV inattention dimension. Fathers' self-reported childhood aggression was not associated with ratings of their sons' aggression on the MOMS or DADS (a parallel instrument for fathers), nor on DSM-III oppositional or conduct disorder dimensions, but it was exclusively associated with RCBCL ratings of sons' aggressive and delinquent behavior. None of the nonspecific correlations (father inattention-overactivity with son aggression or father aggression with son inattention-overactivity) was significant.