War experiences and emerging rights claims in postwar former Yugoslavia: The role of generalized conflict exposure and collective anomie

Violent conflicts have often been observed to generate social environments in which human rights violations are more easily tolerated and legitimized. However, recent research has documented cases in which communities exposed to violence react with increased condemnations of human rights violations. In this article, we focus on the distinction between generalized and particularized violence. Our findings show that, in the postwar ex-Yugoslavia context, when local communities have been exposed to violence that was generalized across different ethno-national groups, they strongly condemn human rights violations. Multilevel structural equation models show that the relationship between generalized victimization and the condemnation of human rights violations is mediated by a collective sense of anomie. The processes that move from collective exposure to violence to the collective reaffirmation of human rights are more likely to unfold in communities where violence transcended group boundaries than in communities where particular groups were disproportionately affected by the violence.     

Recognition and mental manipulation of body parts dissociate in locked-in syndrome

Several lines of evidence demonstrate that the motor system is involved in motor simulation of actions, but some uncertainty exists about the consequences of lesions of descending motor pathways on mental imagery tasks. Moreover, recent findings suggest that the motor system could also have a role in recognition of body parts. To address these issues in the present study we assessed patients with a complete damage of descending motor pathways (locked-in syndrome, LIS) on the hand laterality task, requiring subjects to decide whether a hand stimulus in a given spatial orientation represents a left or a right hand. LIS patients were less accurate than healthy controls in judging hand laterality; more importantly, LIS patients’ performance was modulated by spatial orientation of hand stimuli whereas it was not affected by biomechanical constraints. These findings demonstrate a dissociation between spared hand recognition and impaired access to action simulation processes in LIS patients.     

Biological Bases of Maternal Attachment

In recent years, there has been growing interest in investigating the processes affecting caregiving behavior. Recent studies of human and nonhuman primates have suggested that hormones can account, at least in part, for changes in caregiving motivation during pregnancy and the postpartum period and for variability in caregiving motivation and behavior among individuals. Although hormones may not be the primary determinants of caregiving, future research cannot afford to overlook the contribution that biological processes can make to normative and pathological attachment and parenting.     

Empowering Mimicry: Female Leader Role Models Empower Women in Leadership Tasks Through Body Posture Mimicry

Sex Roles - In two studies we investigated the behavioral process through which visible female leader role models empower women in leadership tasks. We proposed that women tend to mimic the...     

5-HT1a receptor antagonists block perforant path-dentate LTP induced in novel, but not familiar, environments

Numerous studies suggest roles for monoamines in modulating long-term potentiation (LTP). Previously, we reported that both induction and maintenance of perforant path-dentate gyrus LTP is enhanced when induced while animals explore novel environments. Here we investigate the contribution of serotonin and 5-HT1a receptors to the novelty-mediated enhancement of LTP. In freely moving animals, systemic administration of the selective 5-HT1a antagonist WAY-100635 (WAY) attenuated LTP in a dose-dependent manner when LTP was induced while animals explored novel cages. In contrast, LTP was completely unaffected by WAY when induced in familiar environments. LTP was also blocked in anesthetized animals by direct application of WAY to the dentate gyrus, but not to the median raphe nucleus (MRN), suggesting the effect of systemic WAY is mediated by a block of dentate 5-HT1a receptors. Paradoxically, systemic administration of the 5-HT1a agonist 8-OH-DPAT also attenuated LTP. This attenuation was mimicked in anesthetized animals following application of 8-OH-DPAT to the MRN, but not the dentate gyrus. In addition, application of a 5-HT1a agonist to the dentate gyrus reduced somatic GABAergic inhibition. Because serotonergic projections from the MRN terminate on dentate inhibitory interneurons, these data suggest 5-HT1a receptors contribute to LTP induction via inhibition of GABAergic interneurons. Moreover, activation of raphe 5-HT1a autoreceptors, which inhibits serotonin release, attenuated LTP induction even in familiar environments. This suggests that serotonin normally contributes to dentate LTP induction in a variety of behavioral states. Together, these data suggest that serotonin and dentate 5-HT1a receptors play a permissive role in dentate LTP induction, particularly in novel conditions, and presumably, during the encoding of novel, hippocampus-relevant information.     

Personality and Optimal Experience in Adolescence: Implications for Well-Being and Development

Past research has repeatedly identified relations between optimal experience—or flow—and well-being across the lifespan. In the attempt to identify the conditions favoring this experience, some studies took into account personality traits. While most of them operationalized flow in terms of intensity, we presently focused on perceived occurrence versus absence of flow. Specifically, we investigated the relations between flow occurrence, hedonic and eudaimonic well-being, activities associated with flow, and personality in adolescence. A group of 408 Italian teenagers (mean age = 17.31; SD = 1.13) were administered Flow Questionnaire, Satisfaction with Life Scale, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, Psychological Well-being Scales, and the Big Five Questionnaire. Participants reporting optimal experience in their lives were compared with those not reporting it. Results showed that adolescents experiencing flow reported higher satisfaction with life, hedonic balance, and psychological well-being than their counterparts. Findings from logistic regression analyses further showed that openness to experience was the sole personality factor predicting flow occurrence, and that no personality factors were predictive of type of activities adolescents associated with flow. Findings point to the promotion of optimal experience among adolescents through the support of curiosity and openness to new experiences in engaging opportunities for action. They further call for the development of an integrated model taking into account both individual predispositions and social and cultural factors in well-being promotion.     

Parental Attitudes,Attachment Styles,Social Networks,and Psychological Processes in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

In this study the authors used a cross-cultural approach to examine parental attitudes, attachment styles, social networks, and some of the psychological processes involved in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Fifty-two children (aged 4–11 years) took part in the study: 30 Italians (15 with ASD and 15 controls) and 22 Cubans (11 with ASD and 11 controls). Findings indicated significant differences between the two cultural groups in terms of the structure of the children's social network and parental attitudes toward their children. However, the mother–child attachment relationship and cognitive and emotional functioning of the study participants were independent of culture.     

The impact of Gacaca tribunals in Rwanda: Psychosocial effects of participation in a truth and reconciliation process after a genocide

Victims (N = 200) of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and prisoners (N = 184) accused of genocidal acts reported their genocide‐related emotions and outgroup perceptions before and after their participation to Truth and Reconciliation Gacaca trials. So did control groups of victims (N = 195) and prisoners (N = 176) not yet exposed to Gacaca. The data supported Durkheim's model of social rituals as cultural tools for transforming emotions, reasserting norms, and enhancing cohesion. Specifically, participation entailed the general reactivation of resignation negative emotions, the enhancement of shame among prisoners, and the decrease of shame among victims, whereas the opposite pattern occurred for antagonist emotions. Participation also enhanced social integration by reducing perceived outgroup homogeneity, decreasing ingroup self‐categorization, and increasing positive stereotypes among both victim and prisoner participants. Moreover, the increase in genocide‐related emotions resulting from participation was associated to positive changes outcomes, suggesting that the increase of negative emotions is an important mechanism at work in collective events of this type. Enhancement of the perception of a positive emotional climate (solidarity and trust) was limited to perpetrator participants. Together, these findings show that Durkheim's model can be extended to restorative justice trials involving both victims and perpetrators. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Measuring implicit attitudes of 4-year-olds: the preschool implicit association test

The Preschool Implicit Association Test (PSIAT) is an adaptation of an established social cognition measure (IAT) for use with preschool children. Two studies with 4-year-olds found that the PSIAT was effective in evaluating (a) attitudes toward commonly liked objects (flowers = good) and (b) gender attitudes (girl = good or boy = good). The gender attitude PSIAT was positively correlated with corresponding explicit attitude measures and also children’s actual sex. The new implicit and explicit measures of gender attitudes demonstrated discriminant validity; each predicted variance in children’s gendered play activities beyond that predicted by the other. Discussion describes potential uses of the PSIAT to investigate development of societally significant attitudes and stereotypes at younger ages than are achievable with currently available methods.     

Parental attitudes, attachment styles, social networks, and psychological processes in autism spectrum disorders: a cross-cultural perspective

In this study the authors used a cross-cultural approach to examine parental attitudes, attachment styles, social networks, and some of the psychological processes involved in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Fifty-two children (aged 4-11 years) took part in the study: 30 Italians (15 with ASD and 15 controls) and 22 Cubans (11 with ASD and 11 controls). Findings indicated significant differences between the two cultural groups in terms of the structure of the children's social network and parental attitudes toward their children. However, the mother-child attachment relationship and cognitive and emotional functioning of the study participants were independent of culture.