Effective Challenge Regulation Coincides with Promotion Focus-Related Success and Emotional Well-Being

Beyond a hedonic model of the good life—approach pleasure and avoid pain—evidence is accumulating across species that well-being depends on potentially painful goal pursuit processes, like effort, engagement, and discovery. We hypothesized that daily challenges may provide a unique opportunity to fulfill such processes and that challenges would be more relevant within the promotion (gain-focused) than prevention (nonloss-focused) motivational system. Accordingly, we predicted that: (1) individuals who tend to be successful versus unsuccessful in achieving promotion-type goals would be better at managing daily challenges; and (2) challenge dysregulation would undermine promotion-related well-being (depressive symptoms) more than prevention-related well-being (anxiety symptoms). Across three studies, we find evidence in support of these hypotheses. Notably, as we find consistent evidence that too many and too few challenges may be damaging to mental health, we conclude that effective challenge regulation—not minimization—is likely to be a necessary component of optimal well-being.     

Women’s Ideals for Masculinity Across Social Contexts: Patriarchal Agentic Masculinity is Valued in Work,Family, and Romance but Communal Masculinity in Friendship

The present study explores women’s ideals for masculinity in different social contexts (work, family/romance, and friendship) and compares how traditional (agentic) and non-patriarchal (communal) masculinity are valued in each context. Survey data were collected from one international (N = 159) and three South African samples (Ns = 86, 100, 161) of women. Results show that although women value patriarchal ideals for masculinity, agentic and communal versions of masculinity are valued differently across contexts. Specifically, traditional agentic versions of masculinity were most valued in the contexts most important to the long-term production of viable identity (family/romance and work). It was only in friendship that non-patriarchal communal masculinity was consistently idealized over traditional agentic masculinity. The results are discussed in relation to hegemonic masculinity (HM) and system justification theory (SJT). Congruent with SJT, women idealized versions of masculinity that may not be in their own or their group’s best interests, but in line with HM, the results emphasized the fluidity of masculinity and that the same individual can simultaneously idealize different versions of masculinity depending on the context. Because stereotypes are both explanations for the status quo and warrants for behaving in one way or another, these collective ideals for masculinity and contextual boundaries may be important obstacles to achieving gender equity.     

Cooperative social coordination and aggression: II. Effects of sex and housing among three strains of intact laboratory rats differing in aggressiveness

Pairs of laboratory rats were rewarded with sugar solution for cooperating by means of synchronized shuttling in a rectangular chamber. Learning and performance were compared in males and females of three strains--S3, Charles River, and Wistar--ordered in terms of decreasing levels of aggressiveness. In addition, same-sex pairs of each strain were housed either together or individually. When housed together, males and females of all strains eventually cooperated at comparable levels, with rates of acquisition across strains inversely related to their aggressiveness. Individual housing, in contrast, was associated with severe deficits in males of the S3 and CR strains linked to violent fighting and prolonged freezing by animals who had previously been defeated. All other individually housed groups, including males of the Wistar strain and females of all strains, were able to cooperate, including S3 females whose violent fighting was not associated with immobility by defeated animals. In general, the majority of groups were able to cooperate despite differences in aggressiveness associated with sex, strain, and housing. Possible processes in this accommodation are discussed.     

Brain and behavioral inhibitory control of kindergartners facing negative emotions

Inhibitory control (IC) – one of the most critical functions underlying a child's ability to self‐regulate – develops significantly throughout the kindergarten years. Experiencing negative emotions imposes challenges on executive functioning and may specifically affect IC. In this study, we examined kindergartners' IC and its related brain activity during a negative emotional situation: 58 children (aged 5.5–6.5 years) performed an emotion‐induction Go/NoGo task. During this task, we recorded children's performance and brain activity, focusing on the fronto‐central N2 component in the event‐related potential (ERP) and the power of its underlying theta frequency. Compared to Go trials, inhibition of NoGo trials was associated with larger N2 amplitudes and theta power. The negative emotional experience resulted in better IC performance and, at the brain level, in larger theta power. Source localization of this effect showed that the brain activity related to IC during the negative emotional experience was principally generated in the posterior frontal regions. Furthermore, the band power measure was found to be a more sensitive index for children's inhibitory processes than N2 amplitudes. This is the first study to focus on kindergartners' IC while manipulating their emotional experience to induce negative emotions. Our findings suggest that a kindergartner's experience of negative emotion can result in improved IC and increases in associated aspects of brain activity. Our results also suggest the utility of time‐frequency analyses in the study of brain processes associated with response inhibition in young children.     

Self-Disclosure in Psychotherapy

No abstract available for this article.     

Posttraumatic Symptoms, Functional Impairment, and Coping among Adolescents on Both Sides of the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict: A Cross-Cultural Approach

This study assessed the effects of the ongoing violence on the mental health of Palestinian and Israeli youths. Parallel instruments were developed and adapted, as part of a collaborative project, in order to assess, in each society: (1) differential rates of exposure to the conflict, (2) the association between exposure and the severity of posttraumatic symptoms (PTS), and (3) the inter‐relationships among PTS, functional impairment, somatic complaints, and coping strategies. Participants were 1,016 Israeli and 1,235 Palestinian adolescents. A self‐report questionnaire assessed exposure. PTS was measured using the UCLA PTSD Reaction Index, functional impairment and somatic complaints were measured with the DISC, and coping strategies were assessed with Brief Cope. In both societies, greater exposure to conflict‐related violence was associated with more PTS and more somatic complaints, with girls reporting more distress than boys. A total of 6.8 per cent of the Israeli students and 37.2 per cent of the Palestinian students met criteria for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In both societies, but more pronounced in the Palestinian Authority, adolescents reported significant levels of functional impairment, mainly in the area of school functioning. Students with PTSD reported more somatic complaints as well as greater functional impairment. The results show the serious psychological impact of the ongoing violent conflict on Israeli and Palestinian students and point to the need to develop appropriate school‐based interventions to address their mental health needs. Cette étude évalue les effets de la violence continuelle sur la santé mentale des jeunes palestiniens et israéliens. Des instruments analogues ont été développés et adaptés, dans le cadre d’un projet de collaboration, afin d’évaluer dans chaque société: (1) les différences de taux d’exposition au conflit, (2) l’association entre l’exposition et la sévérité des symptômes post‐traumatiques (PTS) et (3) les interrelations entre les PTS, les troubles fonctionnels, les plaintes somatiques et les stratégies de faire‐face. 1016 adolescents israéliens et 1235 adolescents palestiniens ont participéà cette étude. Un questionnaire auto‐administré mesure l’exposition au conflit. Les PTS sont mesurés par l’utilisation de l’UCLA PTSD Reaction Index, les troubles fonctionnels et les plaintes somatiques sont approchés par le DISC, et les stratégies de faire‐face par le Brief Cope. Dans les deux sociétés, une plus grande exposition au conflit et à ses violences est associée à des PTS plus importants et à plus de plaintes somatiques, les filles manifestant plus de détresse que les garçons. Un total de 6.8% des étudiants israéliens et 37.2% des étudiants palestiniens répondent à des critères du Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Dans les deux sociétés, mais de façon plus prononcée dans l’Autorité palestinienne, les adolescents rapportent des niveaux significatifs de troubles fonctionnels, principalement dans le domaine du fonctionnement scolaire. Les étudiants avec PTSD manifestent plus de plaintes somatiques, il en va de même pour les troubles fonctionnels. Les résultats montrent le sérieux impact psychologique d’un conflit violent et continuel sur les étudiants israéliens et palestiniens et signale le besoin de développer des interventions scolaires appropriées à leurs besoins en matière de santé mentale.