Perceived Match or Mismatch on the Gottman Conflict Styles: Associations with Relationship Outcome Variables

Gottman has proposed that there are 3 functional styles of conflict management in couple relationships, labeled Avoidant, Validating, and Volatile, and 1 dysfunctional style, labeled Hostile. Using a sample of 1,983 couples in a committed relationship, we test the association of perceived matches or mismatches on these conflict styles with relationship outcome variables. The results indicate that 32% of the participants perceive there is a mismatch with their conflict style and that of their partner. The Volatile‐Avoidant mismatch was particularly problematic and was associated with more stonewalling, relationship problems, and lower levels of relationship satisfaction and stability than the Validating matched style and than other mismatched styles. The most problematic style was the Hostile style. Contrary to existing assumptions by Gottman, the 3 matched functional styles were not equivalent, as the Validating Style was associated with substantially better results on relationship outcome measures than the Volatile and Avoidant styles.     

MOTIVES FOR PHILOSOPHIZING DEBUNKING AND WITTGENSTEIN'S PHILOSOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS

Abstract: In this article I contest a reading of Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations —a reading of it as debunking philosophy. I concede that such a reading is not groundless, but I show why it is nonetheless mistaken. To do so, I distinguish two different ways of viewing Philosophical Investigations and its concern with philosophical problems, an External View and an Internal View. On the External View, readers of the book are taken to know ahead of time what philosophical problems are. On the Internal View, readers are not taken to know this ahead of time: the task of the book is to disclose what philosophical problems are, to show them coming into being. One thing disclosed is our participatory role in philosophical problems coming to be. Learning about the nature of philosophical problems is thus learning about our own nature; metaphilosophical knowledge is in part self-knowledge. If the Internal View is correct (as I believe it is), then Philosophical Investigations does not debunk philosophy but provides a different conception of philosophy and the philosopher's task.     

Predicting AIDS-Induced Behavioral Change in the General Population of Young People

Sets of individual-psychological and sociodemographic variables for predicting self-reported AIDS-relevant behavioral change were examined. The self-completing questionnaire used in the study contained scales of knowledge and attitudes about AIDS, sex and drug abuse experience scales, and six behavioral change scales. It was anonymously administered to 2,655 young people of both sexes, 15–30 years of age, living in 18 cities and towns, regularly employed or attending school. The overall level of knowledge was high and the attitudes moderately liberal. Regression analyses showed that only a small fraction of variance in any of the six behavioral change criteria (sex, drugs, personal concern, chance of contracting the disease, desire for more knowledge, and nonfunctional practices) could be attributed to the four predictors presumed to influence the criteria directly (sex risk index, drugs risk index, knowledge, and attitudes). The prediction improved when another 10 variables with assumed indirect influence were included. Socioeconomic status and the drug abuse risk index were most predictive of behavior change. Knowledge and attitudes proved to be poor predictors. It is stressed that the social and cultural specifics in planning prevention activities must be observed.     

Life Themes and Motivations of Re-Entry Students

The purpose of this study was to describe the life themes and motivations associated with the psychosocial transition occurring among students who ranged in age from 28 to 35 years and who were re-entering a university environment. Eight women and eight men participated in structured individual interviews lasting from 1½ to 3 hours. Binomial tests showed that more participants were oriented toward their present life than were oriented toward their future life; a larger number were concerned about resolving conflicts with family, friends, and self than were concerned about future careers. Rank orderings of values by men and women reflected opposite poles of Erikson's intimacy versus isolation dichotomy and Levinson's attachment-separation dichotomy. Results are discussed in relationship to socialization to delay gratification and to development of a sense of generativity. Findings implied the need for greater attention by educators to students' interests and to mentoring relationships.     

ARE LIBERALS AND EVANGELICALS SINGING FROM THE SAME SONG SHEET?

Characterising Liberal and Evangelical theology as positions on a continuum or spectrum is common within Protestant circles. I argue that Liberals and Evangelicals do not share a common conceptual framework but embody competing and incommensurable conceptual schemes. Liberal theology then is not a distortion of true Biblical Christianity, as is often supposed, but rather is an entirely different approach to doing theology, indeed, to seeing the world. What I hope to achieve by way of this paper is to provide a context within which to better understand both Liberal and Evangelical claims, and to offer an explanation as to why the debates between the two schools are seemingly intractable. Further, I hope to encourage Liberals and Evangelicals to pursue the difficult task of understanding each other's position so that genuine dialogue can take place.     

Cognition and Social Information-Gathering Strategies Reinterpretation Assessment in Second-Guessing

Effective social decision making often depends upon gathering needed information. Since the kind and quality of information obtained depends on the tactics used to gain it, the study of information-gathering tactics is of prime importance in understanding the processes of social decision making. We focused on one facet of information-gathering—the cognitive process of second-guessing developed by Hewes and Planalp (1982). We developed and tested a theory of reinterpretation assessment that explores the relationship between second-guessing and the use of social information-gathering tactics. Four of the five principles on which this theory is based are tested empirically. They concern the effects of motivational (need for accuracy), cognitive (processing load), and practical (social effort) antecedents on the tactics employed by social actors to improve subjectively the quality of their reinterpretations of messages. Moderate support is garnered for all four principles. Some challenging anomalies result in modifications of the theory.