The Norwegian version of the five factor narcissism inventory for vulnerable narcissism and the grandiose narcissism subscale of indifference: Psychometric properties of the long‐ and short‐form versions

In recent years, narcissism has been reconceptualized as a multi‐dimensional feature of human psychology. The Five Factor Narcissism Inventory (FFNI) has been proposed as a measure for two distinguishable dimensions of narcissism: Vulnerable and Grandiose (Glover, Miller, Lynam, Crego & Widiger, 2012). To investigate the role that some of these factors may have in moderating responses to cues of social exclusion, implemented in a connected laboratory experiment, we translated the subscales for Vulnerable Narcissism and the Grandiose Narcissism subscale of Indifference from English into Norwegian and included them in an online survey that was used to recruit and pre‐screen participants for the laboratory experiment. In this paper, we test the psychometric properties of these translated self‐report measures, in what amounted to be a diverse sample of the Norwegian population. We perform reliability tests and confirmatory factor analysis on the long‐ and short‐form versions of FFNI Vulnerable Narcissism and the Grandiose Narcissism subscale of Indifference. We further test the criterion validity of these measures by way of correlational analyses with other theoretically relevant measures. We conclude that the Norwegian short‐form versions of FFNI Vulnerable Narcissism and Grandiose Narcissism subscale of Indifference exhibit good psychometric properties in our data and propose that the translated scales can now be used to explore these constructs in clinical and non‐clinical populations in Norway, and can be easily adapted for use in other Scandinavian countries.     

The Role of Theistic Spirituality in Adolescent Girls' Body Esteem: A Pilot Outcome Study

A pilot outcome study explored associations between psychospiritual variables and body esteem in adolescent girls at a Roman Catholic high school by examining the influence of The Imago Dei Experience (TIDE), an intervention program the first author designed. Perception of God's loving acceptance accounted for significant variance in weight and appearance body esteem; religious crisis accounted for significant variance in weight body esteem. Lack of significant changes in body esteem from pretest to 18‐month follow‐up suggested the TIDE program may have buffered the typical increase in body dissatisfaction over that period of time for adolescent girls. The authors recommend counselors explore qualities of God image and religious crisis with adolescent girls.     

A measurement to assess transition,maintenance and satisfaction in the swinging lifestyle

Researchers studying consensual non‐monogamous relationships have traditionally used theoretical lenses that were based on heteronormative, monogamous couples’ experiences. An exception to these theoretical models was a grounded theory formed by Kimberly and Hans (2017) that explored how swinging relationships were initiated and maintained. This study further tests this theory by having 273 self‐identified swingers complete a quantitative, online measurement based on the model’s concepts and themes. Results further supported that theoretical model with two notable exceptions: participants disagreed with having high self‐esteem prior to entering the swinging lifestyle and that men (rather than women) screened potential partners. Nevertheless, therapists can use the measurement as a tool to guide dialogue with couples that are interested in or are currently participating in a non‐monogamous relationship.     

Firearm legislation and statewide suicide rates: The moderating role of household firearm ownership levels

Firearm legislation is associated with statewide suicide rates; however, prior research has often relied upon older data and categorical legislative grades while also failing to consider the nuanced role of firearm ownership. Therefore, the robust literature base on legislation and suicide has not directly examined regarding the extent to which the value of legislation hinges upon the rate of firearm ownership in a given state. The current study examined 2015 US statewide firearm legislation strength scores from Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence and 2016 statewide suicide rates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Firearm legislation strength was inversely associated with statewide overall and firearm suicide rates, but not with non‐firearm suicide rates. Firearm ownership rates moderated the association between firearm legislation strength and statewide overall suicide rates. Specifically, firearm legislation strength was inversely associated with statewide overall suicide rates at mean and high levels of firearm ownership. Findings support the potential utility of firearm legislation as part of a national effort to decrease US suicide deaths, particularly in areas with higher firearm ownership rates.     

Effects of induced sad mood on facial emotion perception in young and older adults

Older adults perceive less intense negative emotion in facial expressions compared to younger counterparts. Prior research has also demonstrated that mood alters facial emotion perception. Nevertheless, there is little evidence which evaluates the interactive effects of age and mood on emotion perception. This study investigated the effects of sad mood on younger and older adults’ perception of emotional and neutral faces. Participants rated the intensity of stimuli while listening to sad music and in silence. Measures of mood were administered. Younger and older participants’ rated sad faces as displaying stronger sadness when they experienced sad mood. While younger participants showed no influence of sad mood on happiness ratings of happy faces, older adults rated happy faces as conveying less happiness when they experienced sad mood. This study demonstrates how emotion perception can change when a controlled mood induction procedure is applied to alter mood in young and older participants.     

Enactivism,pragmatism…behaviorism?

Shaun Gallagher applies enactivist thinking to a staggeringly wide range of topics in philosophy of mind and cognitive science, even venturing into the realms of biological anthropology. One prominent point Gallagher makes that the holistic approach of enactivism makes it less amenable to scientific investigation than the cognitivist framework it seeks to replace, and should be seen as a “philosophy of nature” rather than a scientific research program. Gallagher also gives truth to the saying that “if you want new ideas, read old books”, showing how the insights of the American pragmatists, particularly Dewey and Mead, offer a variety of resources and tools that can be brought to bear on modern day enactivism. Here, I suggest that the adoption of enactivist thinking would undermine the assumptions of certain scientific positions, requiring their abandonment, rather than simply making it more difficult to conduct research within an enactivist framework. I then discuss how Mead’s work has been used previously as a “pragmatist intervention” to help resolve problems in a related 4E endeavour, Gibson’s ecological psychology, and make a case for the inclusion of radical behaviorism as another pragmatist resource for 4E cognition. I conclude with a plea for further enactivist intervention in studies of comparative cognition.

     

The development of psychological testing in China

The Chinese have been interested in assessing individual differences for thousands of years. This article traces the development of early psychological measurements in China through to the arrival of modern psychometric techniques in the early 20th century. Following the social disruption caused by the Sino‐Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War, the doctrines of the Communist Revolution and finally the Cultural Revolution forced the total abandonment of the idea of measuring individual differences. Since the end of the Cultural Revolution in the 1970s, however, the need for psychological measurement has been increasingly recognised, particularly because of needs in the fields of clinical and educational practice. As a result, there are now many university courses for training testing professionals. It is also important to have tests that are suitable to use in China. Simply to translate English‐language tests into Chinese may bias their results because of cultural differences, so tests should be revised in order to make their results equivalent, or new tests appropriate to their culture should be devised by Chinese psychologists. Psychological testing is now used in China in education, mental health, and, increasingly, in personnel selection. The expanding market economy means that effective processes for the selection of managers in business and industry are essential in China. As in many other scientific fields, the Chinese are making progress in psychometric testing and it is likely that psychological measurement of individual differences will make an important contribution to China's continued rapid economic progress in the 21st century.     

The Effects of Performance Monitoring on Emotional Labor and Well-Being in Call Centers

A study was conducted to investigate the relationship between performance monitoring and well-being. It also examined a mechanism, namely emotional labor, that might mediate the relationship between them, assessed the effect of the work context on the relationship between performance monitoring and well-being, and examined the relative effects of performance monitoring and work context on well-being. Three aspects of performance monitoring were covered, namely, its performance-related content (i.e., immediacy of feedback, clarity of performance criteria), its beneficial-purpose (i.e., developmental rather than punitive aims), and its perceived intensity. The participants were 347 customer service agents in two U.K. call centers who completed a battery of questionnaire scales. Regression analyses revealed that the performance-related content and the beneficial-purpose of monitoring were positively related to well-being, while perceived intensity had a strong negative association with well-being. Emotional labor did not mediate the relationship between monitoring and well-being in the form hypothesized, although it was related to these two factors. Work context (job control, problem solving demand, supervisory support) did not mediate the relationship between monitoring and well-being, but job control and supervisory support did moderate the relationship between perceived intensity and well-being. Relative to other study variables, perceived intensity showed stronger associations with emotional exhaustion, while job control and supervisory support tended to show stronger associations with depression and job satisfaction. Implications for theory, practice, and future research are discussed.     

A comparative study of family therapy in the treatment of opiate users in a London drug clinic

This study presents the results of a randomized treatment trial of family therapy and two control treatments for 119 outpatient opiate users. All treatments were combined with a methadone reduction programme. The control treatments were: (1) a 'standard' treatment (supportive psychotherapy) and (2) a 'low contact' intervention. Treatment outcome was evaluated six and twelve months after the initial assessment. Both the family therapy and minimal intervention groups had a significantly higher number of drug–free days at six and twelve months, compared to the standard treatment, despite receiving fewer treatment sessions. Across all treatments there was evidence for a gender difference in response to therapy in users who were in a couple relationship. In couples where both partners were using drugs women did significantly better than men. Men living with a non–drug–abusing partner fared better than men living with a drug–using partner. Across the treatment groups diminution in drug use was accompanied by improvements in psychosocial functioning. Unemployment, sharing needles and injecting drugs were predictive of poor outcome.