Creativity in Context; The Courage in Therivel’s GAM/DP

The desire to quantify and categorize creativity so that we can easily identify the individual characteristics which serve as its precursors is one which authors have been attempting to successfully complete for some time. In this light, William Therivel’s High Creativity Unmasked, discusses how his GAM/DP theory accounts for highly creative people from history as well as a rationale for the rise and fall of creativity in selected cultures throughout history. By examining the latest published work on how Genetic Endowment, Assistances, Misfortunes and Divisions of Power, and how they relate to creativity, Therivel proposes unique rationales for the rises and declines of cultures. This paper examines how creativity and courage work together and in some cases side by side, to explain more fully the role of creativity in culture. This article examines some of Therivel’s examples and provides alternate explanations for the phenomena he ascribes to the decline of creativity. In addition, the complexity of both creativity and courage are discussed, both in the current context, and in the next steps for research and theoretical discussion.     

Confidence at the group level of analysis: A longitudinal investigation of the relationship between potency and team effectiveness

Our longitudinal field study investigated the relationship between team potency and team effectiveness. The sample for this study was drawn from 71 change management teams from an automotive firm in the USA. Team potency ratings were obtained from team members. Team effectiveness ratings were obtained from team members, team leaders and external raters. Results indicated that team effectiveness and team potency are reciprocally and longitudinally related (p< .01).     

Validation of the Multidimensional Blood/Injury Phobia Inventory: Evidence for a Unitary Construct

The Multidimensional Blood/Injury Phobia Inventory (MBPI) was developed from a theoretical framework to characterize a broad range of feared stimuli and phobic reactions associated with this pathology. The MBPI consists of 40 items that cross 4 types of stimulus content (injections, hospitals, blood, injury), 5 types of phobic responses (fear, avoidance, worry, fainting, disgust), and a self versus other focus. This study reports on administration of the MBPI to 558 undergraduates, 9 of whom had blood/injury phobia. The instrument had a Cronbach's alpha of .91 and demonstrated good concurrent validity, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. One large factor emerged in an unrotated principal components analysis, suggesting that blood/injury phobia is a unitary psychometric construct. Exploratory factor analyses revealed a 6-factor solution defined by stimulus content domains and fainting, each of which may be important to consider clinically when assessing the unique concerns of treatment-seeking individuals.     

What Does Successful Aging Sound Like? Profiling Communication About Aging

We draw on the recently developed communicative ecology model of successful aging (CEMSA) to examine how adults communicate about aging and how these communication patterns relate to experiences of successful aging. Using latent class analysis across 2 datasets collected in New Zealand and the United States, we identify 3 distinct classes of agers (disengaged, engaged, and bantering) defined by different profiles of communication behavior. Across samples, an engaged profile was generally associated with the most positive experiences of aging, whereas a disengaged profile was associated with the least positive experiences, although these differences were surprisingly small. Our results highlight the diverse ways in which individuals communicatively engage with the process of aging and experience aging as positive and successful.     

Agonistic interpersonal striving: social-cognitive mechanism of cardiovascular risk in youth?

The social competence model (SCM) of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk identifies combinations of goal-oriented strivings, expressive behaviors, and social skill deficits that contribute to persisting interpersonal difficulties and chronic health-damaging stress in youth. SCM hypotheses were tested on 187 Black and White adolescents who completed the Social Competence Interview (SCI) and later underwent ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) monitoring. Cluster analyses of stress narratives assessed via SCI identified 3 predicted stress profiles: agonistic (interpersonally focused), transcendent (self-development focused), and avoidant. Group comparisons using social, hemodynamic, and ABP data supported the SCM hypothesis that youths who exhibit the agonistic striving profile display diminished social competence, negative social impact, and heightened cardiovascular responding during a stress interview, and elevated ABP during normal social interactions, thus suggesting higher risk of CVD.     

Discovering how urban poverty and violence affect health: development and validation of a Neighborhood Stress Index.

Health problems of the urban poor have been attributed to psychosocial effects of environmental stress. Testing such models requires an ability to measure neighborhood characteristics that make life stressful. The City Stress Inventory (CSI) uses self-report to assess perceived neighborhood disorder and exposure to violence. Data from an interracial sample of urban adolescents show the CSI to be internally consistent, stable, and correlated with census indices of social disadvantage. Validity for stress research is indicated by correlations with trait depression, anger, hostility, self-esteem, and mood changes during a debate with an unfamiliar peer. The CSI can be completed by persons with an 8th-grade education.     

The emerging relationship of psychology and the Internet: proposed guidelines for conducting Internet intervention research

The Internet is rapidly developing into an important medium of communication in modern society, and both psychological research and therapeutic interventions are being increasingly conducted using this new communication medium. As therapeutic interventions using the Internet are becoming more prevalent, it is becoming increasingly important to conduct research on psychotherapeutic Internet interventions to assist in the development of an appropriate standard of practice regarding interventions using this new medium. In this article, we examine the Internet and the current psychological uses which are being initiated using this medium. Ethical concerns related to the psychological use of the Internet are discussed, and guidelines are proposed for the conduct of Internet intervention research.