Quality of life of men and women with borderline intelligence and attention deficit disorders living in community residences: a comparative study

The research studies the quality of life (QOL) of 127 men and women diagnosed as having a borderline IQ and ADHD living in two major residential programs of the Sharon region in central Israel in respect to their personal, disability, and social ecological variables. Core findings indicate that men and women differ significantly according to their educational background. Among those who studied in a regular educational environment, the main predictor of men's QOL is their monthly income, whereas the main predictor for women is their level of attention deficit symptoms. The only predictor of QOL among men who studied in a special education program is the quality of contact with their mothers, whereas no significant predictor is observed among women.     

Forgetting all else: on the antecedents and consequences of goal shielding

Six studies explore the role of goal shielding in self-regulation by examining how the activation of focal goals to which the individual is committed inhibits the accessibility of alternative goals. Consistent evidence was found for such goal shielding, and a number of its moderators were identified: Individuals' level of commitment to the focal goal, their degree of anxiety and depression, their need for cognitive closure, and differences in their goal-related tenacity. Moreover, inhibition of alternative goals was found to be more pronounced when they serve the same overarching purpose as the focal goal, but lessened when the alternative goals facilitate focal goal attainment. Finally, goal shielding was shown to have beneficial consequences for goal pursuit and attainment.     

Assimilative behavior identification can also be resource dependent: the unimodel perspective on personal-attribution phases

Three studies examine the role of situational constraint information on behavior identification. It was found that where the behavior-identification task is relatively easy assimilation of the behavior-identification to situational constraints is independent of cognitive load. However, where the behavior-identification task is relatively difficult, assimilation is undermined by load. Given that the discounting of situational constraint information, too, can be independent of load where the dispositional-inference task is easy, and is load-dependent when the task is difficult, it appears that both assimilation and discounting behave identically in regard to load. This conclusion is consistent with the judgmental unimodel whereby behavior identification and dispositional inference differ in the contents of the judgmental questions they address while sharing the underlying process whereby these questions are answered.     

Rethinking social cognition in means-ends terms: A tale of two surprises

The resurgence of motivation science in recent decades ushers in a new functionalism whereby behavior, cognition and emotion are viewed as means to specific goals. Two classic social psychological issues are analyzed from the means-ends perspective: (1) humans’ alleged need (or drive) for cognitive consistency, and (2) the notion that attitudes drive behavior. A careful conceptual analysis yields, contrary to received views, that cognitive consistency, rather than constituting a general need or goal, represents instead a means of knowledge validation. Consequently, the degree to which inconsistency is experienced as aversive depends on the desirability of the knowledge that is being invalidated. Furthermore, the notion that attitudes directly drive behavior is contested on the grounds that attitudes (i.e., liking) must transmute into wanting and wanting must transmute into a (dominant) goal for behavior to be initiated. Major theories of attitude-behavior relations are discussed from this perspective and their supportive evidence is reinterpreted in the present means-ends terms.     

Making the Best of a Bad Situation: Career Counseling Young Adults in the Aftermath of the Great Recession

Because of the changes in the economy hastened by the Great Recession, recent college graduates face unprecedented challenges finding employment in the current labor market. In this new economic era, Krumboltz's (2009) happenstance learning theory provides college career counselors with a practical framework for helping students learn how to engage in proactive career behaviors, evaluate opportunities as they arise, and initiate actions to benefit from them. A 6‐component framework is provided to guide college career counselors working with this population.     

Consistent Partial Least Squares for Nonlinear Structural Equation Models

Partial Least Squares as applied to models with latent variables, measured indirectly by indicators, is well-known to be inconsistent. The linear compounds of indicators that PLS substitutes for the latent variables do not obey the equations that the latter satisfy. We propose simple, non-iterative corrections leading to consistent and asymptotically normal (CAN)-estimators for the loadings and for the correlations between the latent variables. Moreover, we show how to obtain CAN-estimators for the parameters of structural recursive systems of equations, containing linear and interaction terms, without the need to specify a particular joint distribution. If quadratic and higher order terms are included, the approach will produce CAN-estimators as well when predictor variables and error terms are jointly normal. We compare the adjusted PLS, denoted by PLSc, with Latent Moderated Structural Equations (LMS), using Monte Carlo studies and an empirical application.     

Counselor–Advocate–Scholar Model: Changing the Dominant Discourse in Counseling

Discourse represents the languages, ideas, and images that together shape one's understanding of the world. In counseling, discourse determines clinical practice. The authors posit that dominant discourse in counseling promotes an intrapsychic status quo that discounts the relationship between individuals and their environment, which often leads to office‐bound interventions that are inadequate in addressing issues of oppression. The counselor–advocate–scholar model (Ratts & Pedersen, 2014 ) is introduced to expand current discourse to include advocacy and research to better address systems of oppression. El discurso representa los idiomas, ideas e imágenes que, en su conjunto, dan forma a nuestra comprensión del mundo. En la consejería, el discurso determina la práctica clínica. Los autores proponen que el discurso dominante en la consejería promueve un status quo intrapsíquico que no tiene en cuenta la relación entre los individuos y su medio, lo que con frecuencia lleva a intervenciones limitadas a la oficina que no resuelven de forma adecuada los problemas relacionados con la opresión. Se introduce el modelo consejero‐defensor‐investigador (Ratts & Pedersen, 2014 ) para expandir el discurso actual de forma que incluya la defensoría e investigación, y así abordar mejor los sistemas de opresión.     

Tailoring visual images to fit: Value creation in persuasive messages

The present studies aimed to extend Regulatory Fit Theory in the domain of persuasive communication by (a) using printed advertisement images without any verbal claim, instead of purely or mostly verbal messages; (b) selecting the images to fit the distinct orientations of regulatory mode rather than regulatory focus; and (c) priming regulatory mode orientation instead of relying on chronic prevalence of either locomotion or assessment orientation. We found that recipients primed with a locomotion orientation experienced fit, and were more persuaded, when exposed to “dynamic” versus “static” visual images; conversely, recipients primed with an assessment orientation experienced fit and were more persuaded when exposed to “static” versus “dynamic” images. Our findings show that the experience of fit can be induced by visual messages, resulting in positive effects in terms of attitude toward product advertisement and estimated price of advertised products. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the inferential epistemics of trait centrality in impression formation

We provide a novel, inferential, account of the trait centrality phenomenon. We suggest that a trait possesses the property of “centrality” to the extent that it is subjectively deemed to imply other traits. Five studies explore four central elements of this view. First, trait relations can be stored as unidirectional rules (“if X then Y” but not necessarily “if Y then X”). Second, the strength of individuals' lay inference rules determines the effect of traits on impressions. Third, situationally manipulating the strength of lay inference rules influences the impact of traits on impressions. Fourth, the impact of an inference rule is reduced when it is difficult to discern the inference rule and when processing resources are limited. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Peer victimization in single-grade and multigrade classrooms

Although peer victimization mainly takes place within classrooms, little is known about the impact of the classroom context. To this end, we examined whether single-grade and multigrade classrooms (referring to classrooms with one and two grades in the same room) differ in victim–bully relationships in a sample of elementary school children (646 students; age 8–12 years; 50% boys). The occurrence of victim–bully relationships was similar in single-grade and multigrade classrooms formed for administrative reasons, but lower in multigrade classrooms formed for pedagogical reasons. Social network analyses did not provide evidence that peer victimization depended on age differences between children in any of the three classroom contexts. Moreover, in administrative multigrade classrooms, cross-grade victim–bully relationships were less likely than same-grade victim–bully relationships. The findings did not indicate that children in administrative multigrade classrooms are better or worse off in terms of victim–bully relationships than are children in single-grade classrooms.