Moral credentialing by association: the importance of choice and relationship closeness

People express more prejudice if they have established their "moral credentials." Five studies explored the acquisition of moral credentials through associations with racial minorities, particularly close relationships that are personally chosen. Participants choosing to write about a positive experience with a Black person (Study 1) or Hispanic person (Study 2) subsequently expressed more preference for Whites and tolerance of prejudice than did other participants. In Study 3, the credentialing effect of choice was diminished when participants were given an incentive for that choice. Participants in Study 4 who wrote about a Black friend were more credentialed than those who wrote about a Black acquaintance, regardless of whether the experience was positive or negative. Study 5 suggested that participants strategically referred to close associations with minorities when warned of a future situation in which they might appear prejudiced.     

Parental Influence on Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: II. Results of a Pilot Intervention Training Parents as Friendship Coaches for Children

We report findings from a pilot intervention that trained parents to be “friendship coaches” for their children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Parents of 62 children with ADHD (ages 6–10; 68% male) were randomly assigned to receive the parental friendship coaching (PFC) intervention, or to be in a no-treatment control group. Families of 62 children without ADHD were included as normative comparisons. PFC was administered in eight, 90-minute sessions to parents; there was no child treatment component. Parents were taught to arrange a social context in which their children were optimally likely to develop good peer relationships. Receipt of PFC predicted improvements in children’s social skills and friendship quality on playdates as reported by parents, and peer acceptance and rejection as reported by teachers unaware of treatment status. PFC also predicted increases in observed parental facilitation and corrective feedback, and reductions in criticism during the child’s peer interaction, which mediated the improvements in children’s peer relationships. However, no effects for PFC were found on the number of playdates hosted or on teacher report of child social skills. Findings lend initial support to a treatment model that targets parental behaviors to address children’s peer problems.     

A comparison of mental health literacy,attitudes, and help-seeking intentions among domestic and international tertiary students

Limited research has examined distress or help-seeking knowledge and attitudes among international students. The aim of this study was to examine psychological distress, mental health literacy (MHL), and help-seeking attitudes and intentions among a sample of domestic and international tertiary students. The sample comprised 357 domestic and international tertiary students. Participants completed an online questionnaire package, with measures relating to distress, MHL, help-seeking attitudes, and help-seeking intentions. International student status was predictive of lower scores on MHL, help-seeking attitudes, and help-seeking intentions for suicidal ideation. Student group was not predictive of help-seeking intentions for emotional problems or psychological distress, but international students had lower help-seeking intentions for suicidal ideation. Educational interventions targeting MHL and help-seeking attitudes and intentions among international students may be required to improve help-seeking behaviours.     

Should President Clinton be prosecuted for perjury? The effects of preference for consistency, self-esteem, and political party affiliation

Conducted in the fall of 2000, this study investigates personality and social variables that should predict attitudes regarding the desirability of prosecuting President Clinton for perjury following the expiration of his term (in January of 2001). Prosecution was favored by High Preference for Consistency (PFC) more than Low PFC individuals, by High Self-Esteem more than Low Self-Esteem individuals, and by Republicans more than Democrats. In addition, PFC and Party Affiliation interacted: High PFCs wanted Clinton prosecuted regardless of Party Affiliation, but Low PFCs desired prosecution strongly only if they were Republicans. Overall, the results are consistent with the general self-theory principle that human beings tend to adopt attitudes and positions that restore, maintain, or enhance self-esteem.     

Deferring to Others about One's Own Mind

Pessimists about moral testimony hold that there is something suboptimal about forming moral beliefs by deferring to another. This paper motivates an analogous claim about self‐knowledge of the reason‐responsive attitudes. When it comes to your own mind, it seems important to know things “from the inside”, in the first‐personal way, rather than putting your trust in another. After motivating pessimism, the paper offers an explanation of its truth. First‐person knowledge is distinctive because it involves knowing a state of mind and finding it intelligible from one's point of view. It concludes by considering the value of this form of self‐understanding.     

Early Maternal Spatial Support for Toddlers and Math Skills in Second Grade

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study is to investigate whether maternal spatial support during two types of joint manipulative toy play tasks with 2-year-old children was longitudinally associated with math screening test scores in second grade. The interaction between spatial support and maternal education was explored as well. We also investigated predictions of a teacher rating of math performance at second grade, although these effects were less robust. Data were drawn from BONDS (The Behavior Outlook Norwegian Developmental Study), a longitudinal study of Norwegian children and their families. Participants were a subsample of 932 mothers and their 2-year-olds. Mothers were asked to help their children solve both a puzzle task and a shape-color sorting task. Mothers’ spatial support included spatial language, gestures, and placement of objects. Results showed that higher levels of spatial support during mother-child interaction tasks at 2 years of age was significantly associated with fewer math difficulties in second grade. This was the case for a puzzle task (a task associated with spatial visualization skills), but not for a shape-color sorting task (a task associated with shape and color feature discriminations). Conclusions are drawn with respect to the importance of identifying optimal parental spatial strategies associated with better math outcomes. These findings on parental facilitation of spatial skills during joint early play may be useful for future training interventions directed at parents of children at risk for poor math skills.     

“Why Can’t Boys Be #LikeAGirl?”: Sticky Essentialism and Ambivalent (De)gendering in Fathers’ Online Accounts of Children’s Gender and Sexuality

In our media-centric age, stories and commentary about children’s gender socialization are exchanged online. Yet we know quite little about how fathers interpret the gender and sexual identities of their children and share those interpretations with others via social media. In this article, I present findings from a qualitative content analysis of blog posts about children’s gender and sexuality (n?=?122) written by American and Canadian fathers (n?=?36). I apply Kane’s (2012) “gender trap” typology to analyze how dad bloggers support and/or challenge heteronormative gendered identities, behaviors, relationships, and activities for children. Most of these fathers present anxious accounts of experimenting with gender-neutral parenting, imagining their children in future roles and relationships, permitting nonconformity in girls versus boys, and connecting childrearing to broader social inequalities. I develop the concepts of sticky essentialism—to demonstrate how essentialist logics permeate fathers’ explanations for gendered childhoods, and ambivalent (de)gendering—to explain fathers’ mixed feelings toward heteronormative gender socialization and accountability. To conclude, I discuss risks and benefits of fathers blogging publicly about children’s gender and sexuality.

     

Correlations Between Handshape and Movement in Sign Languages

Sign language phonological parameters are somewhat analogous to phonemes in spoken language. Unlike phonemes, however, there is little linguistic literature arguing that these parameters interact at the sublexical level. This situation raises the question of whether such interaction in spoken language phonology is an artifact of the modality or whether sign language phonology has not been approached in a way that allows one to recognize sublexical parameter interaction. We present three studies in favor of the latter alternative: a shape-drawing study with deaf signers from six countries, an online dictionary study of American Sign Language, and a study of selected lexical items across 34 sign languages. These studies show that, once iconicity is considered, handshape and movement parameters interact at the sublexical level. Thus, consideration of iconicity makes transparent similarities in grammar across both modalities, allowing us to maintain certain key findings of phonological theory as evidence of cognitive architecture.     

Diverging Perceptions of Personal Moral Values and the Values of One's Religious Group

A popular notion in many religions is that less pious individuals are also less moral. We sought to test the self-described moral values of religious and nonreligious individuals under the framework of Moral Foundations Theory. In Study 1, we found that atheists differ from Christians in some moral domains. We also found evidence that Christians’ self-ratings are consistently lower than what they perceive to be the moral values of other Christians. This finding contradicts previous findings that suggest that Christians may inflate their positive characteristics relative to their peers in other domains. In Studies 2 and 3, we tested several alternative explanations for this finding. Preliminary evidence suggests that Christians rate their moral values lower in comparison to Christian exemplars such as religious leaders, and not from a sense of humility. In contrast, atheists may not have exemplars for such a comparison.     

Obsessive-compulsive symptoms and cigarette smoking: an initial cross-sectional test of mechanisms of co-occurrence

ABSTRACT

Tobacco addiction and obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS; intrusive thoughts or impulses that cause distress and rituals) are both mediated by compulsivity and negative reinforcement. Little evidence exists to guide theory, research, treatment, and population-based prevention of this co-occurrence. We propose a conceptual model of OCS-smoking co-occurrence in which smokers with elevated OCS capitalize on smoking to assuage OCS. This secondary analysis examined associations between OCS levels and self-reported smoking motives that are model-concordant: i) negative reinforcement—smoking for relief; ii) sensorimotor—benefits of behaviors and sensations of the tobacco self-administration ritual; and iii) habitual—smoking without conscious control. A community sample of cigarette smokers enrolled in a cessation trial (N = 458; 47.2% female; M _age = 36.9; SD = 13.6) completed pre-quit self-report measures of OCS levels and smoking motives. Regression models adjusted for sociodemographic covariates and non-OCS psychopathologies indicated that OCS level was positively associated with each model-concordant motive. OCS level was also correlated with tobacco dependence severity and greater withdrawal symptom severity experienced during previous quit attempts. Those with higher OCS report greater motivation to smoke for negative reinforcement, sensorimotor behavioral-ritualistic, habit/automaticity, and stimulation reasons. Further examination of the proposed model of OCS-smoking co-occurrence is warranted to guide theory and intervention for this population.