Images of the disciplining of psychology, 1890–1940

Over the course of psychology’s first several decades, the language used to convey the subject matter gradually shifted from being free and literary to being strictly constrained and disciplined by increasingly focused theoretical demands. The project described here, “Disciplining Psychology,” aimed to depict this transformation by generating images of the faces of three highly influential psychologists—William James, Sigmund Freud, and B. F. Skinner. Each image is composed of the words used in one of each individual’s most important books. The tightening of the disciplinary vocabulary is revealed in the differences among the three arrays of words themselves, but I have also striven to reflect it in the aesthetic aspects of each image. The method used here could easily be extended to a wider array of authors, texts, and psychological topics.     

Anxiety sensitivity moderates the painful effects of feeling burdensome to others

Perceived burdensomeness (PB), the perception of being a burden to others, is associated with pain and physical symptoms. Anxiety sensitivity (AS), the fear of arousal-related sensations, arising from beliefs that the sensations may have adverse personal consequences (physical, cognitive, and social), may increase risk for pain responding, particularly in anxiety-provoking (e.g. socially threatening) contexts. Accordingly, individuals high in AS may have a stronger pain response when experiencing PB than those low in AS. Undergraduate participants (n = 262) completed the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI-3), and then were randomly assigned to re-live an experience when they were either burdensome to others (burdensome condition) or contributed equally to a group (control condition). Both social and physical self-reported pain were assessed post-manipulation. Those high in AS reported significantly higher pain ratings in the burdensome condition than the control condition; for those low in AS, pain did not change across conditions. In particular, being fearful of the physical repercussions of anxiety (AS physical concerns) while also feeling burdensome to others was associated with greater physical pain. AS may exacerbate the already painful effects of feeling burdensome to others, and may have important implications for the development of future suicide- and pain-related interventions.     

Can contesting orientations predict grittier,more self-controlled athletes?

Grit and self-control are highly desired qualities of character in the sport arena. This two-study investigation used a new theoretical approach, contesting theory, to examine whether contesting orientations could predict these characteristics among intercollegiate athletes. Contesting theory identifies two distinct modes of cognitively processing the meaning and purpose of contesting, one rooted in a contest-is-partnership metaphor and the other a contest-is-war metaphor. Study 1 (N = 799) found that contesting orientations added incremental utility beyond demographic and control variables to the prediction of the two dimensions of grit (perseverance and consistency). Specifically, the partnership orientation positively predicted higher grit scores. Study 2 (N = 1179) replicated the findings of Study 1 with only minor variations and also demonstrated that contesting orientations add to the prediction of self-control. Results are discussed in terms of the practical implications for sport practitioners and, more broadly, the value of contesting theory to positive psychology.     

Contextualizing the History of Yoga in Geoffrey Samuel’s The Origins of Yoga and Tantra: A Review Symposium

International Journal of Hindu Studies -     

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 Restructured Form in National Guard soldiers screening positive for posttraumatic stress disorder and mild traumatic brain injury

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 Restructured Form (MMPI-2 RF) was administered to 251 National Guard soldiers who had recently returned from deployment to Iraq. Soldiers were also administered questionnaires to identify posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). On the basis of responses to the screening instruments, the National Guard soldiers who produced a valid MMPI-2 RF were classified into four groups: 21 soldiers who screened positive for PTSD only, 33 soldiers who screened positive for mTBI only, 9 soldiers who screened positive for both conditions, and 166 soldiers who did not screen positive for either condition. Results showed that the MMPI-2 RF was able to differentiate across the groups with the MMPI-2 RF specific problem scale Anxiety adding incrementally to MMPI-2 Restructured Clinical scales in predicting PTSD. Both MMPI-2 RC1 (Somatic Complaints) and MMPI-2 RF head pain complaints predicted mTBI screen but did not add incrementally to each other. Of note, all of the MMPI-2 RF validity scales associated with overreporting, including Symptom Validity-Revised (FBS-r), were not significantly elevated in the mTBI group. These findings support the use of the MMPI-2 RF in assessing PTSD in non-treatment-seeking veterans. This further suggests that a positive screen for mTBI alone is not associated with significant emotional disturbance.     

If you want to know, consider asking: how likely is it that patients will hurt themselves in the future?

Although self-harming behavior is a common and costly problem for psychiatric inpatients released from the hospital, standardized tools that assess patients' risk for self-harm are rarely used in clinical settings. In this study of dually diagnosed psychiatric inpatients (N = 147), we assessed the utility of patients' self-perceptions of risk in predicting self-harm in the community. Patients' self-perceptions of risk predicted self-harm 8 weeks after discharge from the hospital (Lag 1; area under the curve [AUC] = 0.75). Self-perceptions of risk at the 8-week interview also predicted self-harm 2 months later (Lag 2; AUC = 0.72). Self-perceived risk added predictive utility above and beyond scores on a measure of depression and seemed to capture changes in risk state over time. The results suggest that inpatients can accurately perceive their own risk and therefore may be important collaborators in the risk management process.     

Providers’ Perceptions and Practices Regarding <Emphasis Type="BoldItalic">BRCA1/2</Emphasis> Genetic Counseling and Testing in African American Women

We examined healthcare providers’ perceptions of genetic counseling and testing in African American women at moderate to high-risk of carrying a BRCA1/2 mutation. We conducted 20 in-depth interviews with genetic counselors (n = 5), medical oncologists (n = 8), obstetrician/gynecologists (n = 2) and surgeons (n = 5). Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed and independently coded by two individuals using a content analysis approach. Seven themes emerged relevant to providers’ perceptions of African American women’s use of BRCA1/2 genetic services: access factors, cultural beliefs and preferences, effects of testing, patient motivators for genetic counseling and testing, patient-provider communication, reasons for provider referral, and reasons for patient refusal. Providers identified individual- and system-level barriers to African American women’s use of genetic services, including lack of follow-up after referrals to genetic specialists and challenges to obtaining financial coverage for under- and uninsured high-risk women. Results have implications for physician and patient education regarding appropriate referrals to and uptake of genetic services in at-risk African American women.     

Skin Bleaching and the Prestige Complexion of Sexual Attraction

This article focuses on the sexual attraction motive for skin bleaching in Jamaica. Some captive Africans on plantations in Jamaica altered their complexion. These Africans modeled the British in the colony who bleached their skin to protect the “superior,” “sexy,” and ideal white skin from the “impurities” of interracial sex and the tropical climate. The beauty and sexual attraction accorded to light skin was also evident in skin bleaching newspaper ads in the 1950s. The ads told women that acquiring light complexion through skin bleaching would make them sexually attractive to men. The persistence of colorism and its most blatant expression—skin bleaching—is also evident in contemporary Jamaica as expressed in some dancehall songs which praise skin bleachers, and the explanatory narratives of skin bleachers that bleaching makes them pretty and sexually attractive to potential spouses. Similar themes are reflected in the criticism that the browning Dancehall Queen Carlene was deemed sexually attractive and choreographically talented only because of her brown physicality. Some spouses request that their partner acquire the bleached physicality because they find it sexually attractive similar to many male clients in “massage parlors” who only request female sex workers who bleach their skin.