Perceptions of cotherapists as a function of therapist sex roles and observer sex roles

These two studies examined how therapist sex-role behaviors and subject sex roles influence perceptions of cotherapists conducting marital therapy. As hypothesized, ratings of therapist competence, strength, and impact varied directly with verbal dominance. Contrary to expectations, this effect was not stronger for female therapists than for male therapists. However, verbally dominant females were seen as less in charge than verbally dominant males. Reversal of traditional instrumental and expressive sex-role styles was more salient for male therapists than for females. Nontraditional therapist sex-role styles were seen as providing a greater learning experience than traditional styles. As predicted, androgynous subjects rated male and female therapists equal in competence and strength, and were equally comfortable with each. Sex-typed males and females demonstrated a preference for the female therapist, rating her higher in competence and strength. These studies suggest that cotherapists' attention to the models they present should encompass sex-role behaviors and styles.An earlier draft of this article was presented as a paper at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Toronto, August 1978.     

Perceptions of sex-role stereotyped dimensions in cotherapists with an examination of experimenter effects

Observers' impressions of sex-role stereotyped dimensions of videotyped pairs of male and female cotherapists were examined in two conditions of dominance: male-dominant pairs and female-dominant pairs. Sex of experimenter effects were also studied. Results indicated that sex-role stereotyping was a function of behavior, not biological sex. Support was found for the conceptualization of masculinity and femininity as independent dimensions. Observer sex differences indicated less favorable impressions with same-sex dominance. Sex of experimenter effects were not found, but may subtly influence results in sex-role research.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 50th annual meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Philadelphia, PA. April 1979. The author wishes to thank Barbara B. Bunker, Norman Epstein, and Joseph Masling for their support and thoughtful suggestions concerning this project.     

Effects of sex role stereotyping among European American students on domestic violence culpability attributions

Effects of European American students' sex role stereotyping and domestic violence participants' race and relationship intimacy were examined for culpability attributions. In addition to a man's responsibility rating and a sentencing measure, five factors were identified from the dependent measures; these were Sympathy with Man, Incident as Abusive, Generalness of Incident, Seriousness of Incident, and Man as Abuser. Results indicated that sex role stereotyping was influential in culpability attributions, as those with traditional orientations showed a favorable bias toward the man, particularly a married man. Traditionalists provided a shorter sentence for the man and thought the incident less abusive when the woman was African American, in comparison to egalitarians. Both egalitarians and traditionalists expressed more sympathy toward the man when the woman was African American and married. Although we had anticipated higher culpability ratings for women involved in interracial relationships, we found that the European American man was thought less responsible when the woman was African American, but no differences emerged when the woman was European American. It is suggested future research examine the specific content of various stereotypic subtypes of actors involved in domestic violence and how these stereotypic subtypes bias culpability attributions.Appreciation is extended to an anonymous reviewer for helpful comments on an earlier version of this article.Portions of this research were presented at the 1994 biennial meeting of the American Psychology-Law Society, Santa Fe, NM.     

Book reviews

Religion in Europe: Contemporary Perspectives SEAN GILL, GAVIN D'COSTA & URSULA KING, eds, 1994 Kampen: Kok Pharos 213 pp., £22.50 ISBN 90–390–0508–7

Religion in Contemporary Europe JOHN FULTON & PETER GEE, eds, 1994 Lewiston, Queenston, Lampeter: Edwin Meilen Press 181 pp., £39.95 ISBN 0–7734–9028–0

Pluralisme religieux et Laïcités dans l'Union européenne ALAIN DIERKENS, ed., 1994 Brussels: Editions de l'Université de Bruxelles (Problèmes d'histoire des religions, No. 5) 176 pp., 700 Belgian francs, 129 French francs ISBN 2–8004–1097–3

Religion and the Transformations of Capitalism: Comparative Approaches RICHARD H. ROBERTS, ed., 1995 London: Routledge xi + 347 pp., £60.00 ISBN 0–415–11917–0

The Sociology of Religion: Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives MALCOLM B. HAMILTON, 1994 London: Routledge 238 pp., £13.99 ISBN 0–415–02187–1 (hb), 0–415–10659–1 (pb)

American Congregations Volume 1: Portraits of Twelve Religious Communities JAMES P. WIND & LAMES W. LEWIS, eds, 1994 Chicago/London: University of Chicago Press xi + 712 pp., US$34.95 ISBN 0–226–90188–6

Volume 2: New Perspectives in the Study of Congregations ix + 292 pp., US$22.50 ISBN 0–222–90188–20

A History of the Quaker Movement in Africa ANE MARIE BAK RASMUSSEN, 1995 London: British Academic Press 190 pp., £34.50 (hb) ISBN 1–85043–904–4

Ceremony and Ritual in Japan: Religious Practices in an Industrialized Society JAN VAN BREMEN & D. P. MARTINEZ, eds, 1995 London: Routledge 286 pp., £40.00 ISBN 0–415–11663–5

Choose Peace: A Dialogue between Johan Galtung and Daisaku Ikeda J. GALTUNG & D. IKEDA, 1995 London: Pluto Press 172 pp., £40.00 (hb), £13.95 (pb) ISBN 0–7453–1039–7 (pb), 07453–1040–0 (hb)

The Toronto Blessing—Or Is It? STANLEY PORTER & PHILIP RICHTER, eds, 1995 London: Darton, Longman & Todd 130 pp., £6.95 ISBN 0–232–52130–1

Sex, Slander, and Salvation. Investigating the Family/Children of God JAMES R. LEWIS & J. GORDON MELTON, eds, 1994 Stanford, CA: Center for Academic Publications xi + 288 pp., £5.99 ISBN 0–9639501–2–6

Christians in the Holy Land MICHAEL PRIOR & WILLIAM TAYLOR, eds, 1994 London: World of Islam Festival Trust 235 pp., £10.00 ISBN 0–905–035–32–1

City of Wrong: a Friday in Jerusalem M. KAMEL HUSSEIN, translated by KENNETH CRAGG, 1994 Oxford: Oneworld Publications 234 pp., £7.95 ISBN 1–85168–072–1

>Faith in Dialogue Number One: Faiths in Britain Together CHRISTOPHER LAMB, ed., 1995 61 pp., £2.00

Faith in Dialogue Number Two: Jewish and Christian Mysticism RABBI PROFESSOR DAN COHN SHERBOK, 1995 20 pp., £1.00

Faith in Dialogue Number Three: Jewish Views of Jesus HYAM MACCOBY 20 pp., £1.00 London: Centre For Inter‐Faith Dialogue ISSN 13585045

Jewish & Christian Mysticism: An Introduction DAN COHN‐SHERBOK & LAVINIA COHN‐SHERBOK, 1994 New York: Continuum viii +186 pp., £15.99 ISBN 0–85244–259–9

Sabbath and Synagogue. The Question of Sabbath Worship in Ancient Judaism HEATHER A. MCKAY, 1994 Leiden: E. J. Brill xiii + 279 pp., Nlg. 125,00, US$71.50 ISSN 0927–7633

The Road to Canterbury: A Modern Pilgrimage SHIRLEY DU BOULEY, 1994 London: Harper Collins 245 pp., £15.99 (hb) ISBN 0–00–627693–8     

Survival skills and ethics training for graduate students: A graduate student perspective

Graduate students in the sciences must develop practical skills geared toward scientific survival and success. This is particularly true now, given the paucity of research funds and jobs. Along with more elementary skills, research ethics should be an integral part of students’ scientific training. Survival skills include research skills, communication skills, general efficiency, and preparation for post-graduate work. Ethics training covers guidelines for use of animal and human subjects, data treatment, disclosure, credit issues, conflicts of interest, and response to misconduct. The objective of this paper is to describe, from a graduate student’s perspective, the need for survival and ethics training in graduate programs and to raise both faculty and student awareness of the possibilities for explicit instruction of these skills. Many survival skills and ethical practices will be learned without explicit direction and some are already part of standard training; but, this is not the case for all students or for all skills, so specific instruction is a necessity. Research faculty can use their own experience to help students to develop the proficiencies they will need to succeed.     

Determinants of stability in the perception of subjective contour

The present study constituted an initial experimental effort to examine the fragmentation characteristics of subjective contours within the photopic and upper 5cotopic ranges of illumination. Four stimulus factors known to influence the visibility of subjective contours—target luminance, inducing area size and contrast, and contour orientation—were examined. Results indicated that subjective contours are indeed unstable perceptual phenomena. On the average, fragmentation or fading occurred after only 15 sec of observation, and some farm of stimulus outage was present for 28% of the viewing time of each stimulus. Fragmentation latency was significantly shorter and total time in fragmentation longer for diamond than for square contours, and total time in fragmentation varied inversely with inducing-area size. Fragmentation tendedto occur in whole units rather than in isolated elements, a result reminiscent of the fading of real Contours under impoverished viewing conditions.     

Stereoscopic perception with brief exposures

In this report we describe the results of an experiment in which we demonstrated that a powerful and compelling stereoscopic experience is elicited with very brief (< 1 msec) stimulus durations. The observers were highly successful in recognizing briefly flashed, stereoscopic, random-dot surfaces in the absence of monocular contours. The results are shown to be closely related to the range of depths for any stimulus form; however, the recognition thresholds were nonmonotonic as a function of disparity. Previous investigators have disagreed about the existence of a temporal threshold for stereopsis. We believe that prior findings suggesting that stereopsis cannot occur at short exposure durations are probably due to inadequate control of fixation disparity. Therefore, there is poor dichoptic image registration when a stereoscopic stimulus is presented. The present results also raise difficulties for any theory of stereopsis that requires eye movements.     

A Description of the Continuum of Eating Disorders: Implications for Intervention and Research

Many authors have proposed the notion of an eating disorder continuum to aid in the understanding of similarities and differences among various types of eating disturbances and disorders. The purpose of this article is to present an eating disorders continuum and to describe groups on the continuum by highlighting differences among the groups on behavioral, cognitive-attitudinal, and self-esteem issues. The relationship of the continuum to the developmental course of eating disorders is discussed. Prevention, early intervention, and treatment programs for various groups on the continuum are presented. Recommendations for future research on the continuum of eating disorders are provided.     

Attributions about spouse abuse: It matters who the batterers and victims are

The present study examined college students' (86% white) reactions to scenarios of three types of domestic violence situations. Subjects read a brief newspaper report of a battering incident and afterwards rated the situation and participants on a variety of scales. The scenario described either a (1) husband battering his wife, (2) wife battering her husband, or (3) gay male battering his lover. In addition, there was or was not an apparent verbal provocation by the victim. Results showed the harshest evaluation of a batterer who was not provoked. A greater responsibility was placed on the victim in the battered husband scenario, which generally was taken less seriously than the battered wife case. Results suggest the need to examine a diversity of battering situations and variables in order to fully understand attributions made about such situations.     

Improving the quality of careers guidance: Towards an understanding of the development of personal models

The process by which careers officers develop personal models of guidance through the interaction of theoretical knowledge with their experiences of training and practice is examined. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 careers officers. Questions were asked about the training and development of careers officers in the practice of careers guidance and counselling with young people. The responses are considered in relation to theories of careers choice, careers counselling and guidance, models of counselling, and the supervisory role in the development of individual practice. Some recommendations are made for improvements to training and supervision for careers guidance.