Gender and Acculturation in Relation to Traditionalism: Perceptions of Self and Parents Among Chinese Students

The acculturation attitudes and traditionalismof Chinese university students in Toronto, Canada, wereinvestigated. Chinese men were significantly moretraditional than Chinese women in their beliefs and expectations regarding family hierarchy and thesocial roles of women and men, but they did not differin perceptions of their parents' construal of familyrelations and gender roles. Generational discrepancy between self and perceived parental values wasfound for Chinese women but not for men in the study,suggesting greater conflict with regard to traditionalgender role and cultural values for women. The acculturation attitude of separation predictedstudents' traditionalism, and marginalization predictedparents' perceived traditionalism. Gender differencesand the relevance of different modes of acculturation with regard to traditionalism are discussed inthis article.     

Why Do People Fail to Adopt Environmental Protective Behaviors? Toward a Taxonomy of Environmental Amotivation1

Individuals' reasons for their lack of motivation toward environmental protective behaviors were proposed: amotivation because of strategy, capacity, effort, and helplessness beliefs. Confirmatory factor analyses and correlations between the four types of amotivation and constructs related to the environment supported the validity of the constructs. A structural model in which helplessness beliefs could be predicted by the other sets of beliefs, and wherein strategy and ability beliefs resulted from effort beliefs, was tested. All estimated parameters were significant, with the exception of one link: amotivation because of effort beliefs did not display a significant relationship with helplessness beliefs. The importance of understanding why individuals may be amotivated and the strategies liable to help reduce their lack of motivation are discussed.     

Defensiveness, intimacy, and heterosexual attraction

A previous study by Dion and Dion (1975) revealed that highly defensive individuals were less likely to report having experienced romantic love than less defensive persons. The hypothesis that this finding might reflect differential reactions to interpersonal intimacy was directly examined in the present study using a self-disclosure paradigm. To assess subjects' defensiveness, undergraduate women first completed the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. In a second session, subjects were exposed to high and low disclosing targets of the same and opposite sex and chose discussion topics for each target. On intimacy of self-disclosure, a “reciprocity effect” occurred: subjects chose more intimate topics for high vs low-disclosing targets. However, highly defensive women gave a less favorable self-presentation to male vs female targets. They also expressed less liking for high compared to low intimate targets and males vs females than less defensive subjects. The implications of these results for heterosexual attraction were discussed.     

The impact of salient self-identities on relative deprivation and action intentions

Salient self-identities and their impact upon feelings of relative deprivation (RD) and subsequent action intentions were examined. Eight experimental conditions (Personal/Group Salience × Large/Small Intragroup Inequalities × Large/Small Intergroup Inequalities) were created utilizing a role-play design. Significant main effects for both salience and social inequalities were found to influence both RD and action intentions. In accordance with self-categorization theory, when group compared to personal identities were made salient, stronger feelings of group RD and greater likelihood of collective action intentions were reported. Alternatively, when personal compared to group identities were made salient, greater likelihood of individual actions were reported. In accordance with relative deprivation theory, when intergroup inequalities were large compared to small, stronger feelings of group RD and less likelihood of collective action were reported. Alternatively, when intragroup inequalities were large compared to small, stronger feelings of personal RD were reported.     

The Relationship Between Ability-Based Emotional Intelligence and Contextual Performance and Counterproductive Work Behaviors: A Test of the Mediating Effects of Job Satisfaction

This article investigated the mediating role of job satisfaction between four ability-based emotional intelligence (EI) dimensions and contextual performance and counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs), and controlled for Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Agreeableness. Based on data collected from 222 employees, results supported the hypothesized partial mediation model. Job satisfaction partially mediated the relationship between (a) the ability-based EI dimension, regulation of emotion, and contextual performance, and CWB-I and CWB-O; (b) the ability-based EI dimension, selfemotion appraisal, and CWB-I and CWB-O; (c) the ability-based EI dimension, use of emotion and contextual performance; and (d) between Agreeableness, Emotional Stability, and Conscientiousness and contextual performance and CWBs. Implications, limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Why Do You Regulate What You Eat? Relationships Between Forms of Regulation, Eating Behaviors, Sustained Dietary Behavior Change, and Psychological Adjustment

In 3 studies, the authors examined how autonomous and controlled forms of motivation for the regulation of eating behaviors were related to self-reported eating behaviors, and sustained dietary behavior change. Studies 1 and 2 supported the factorial structure and the psychometric properties of a scale designed to measure different forms of regulation as defined by Self-Determination Theory. A motivational model of the regulation of eating behaviors suggested that an autonomous regulation was positively associated with healthy eating behaviors whereas a controlled regulation was positively associated with dysfunctional eating behaviors and negatively associated with healthy eating behaviors. In Study 3, long-term adherence to healthier dietary behaviors in a population at risk for coronary artery disease was examined over a 26-week period. A general measure of self-determined motivation assessed at week 1 was found to be a reliable predictor of the level of self-determination for eating behaviors 13 weeks later. In turn, self-determination for eating behaviors was a significant predictor of dietary behavior changes at 26 weeks. Finally, the dietary behavior measures were related to improvements in weight and blood lipid parameters (LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides). Results are discussed in terms of their implication for the integration and maintenance of a successful healthy regulation.     

Psychiatric Hospitalization and School and Community Adjustment of Children and Adolescents with Acquired Brain Injury

There is a high prevalence of psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents who have acquired brain injury (ABI). We examined the records of 82 students with ABI who were admitted to a community-based school for education and neurorehabilitation over a three-year period to determine how many experienced one or more psychiatric hospitalizations before admission, and whether hospitalization status was related to positive school and community adjustment. Results were that 30.4% of the students had a documented history of one or more psychiatric hospitalizations. Of this group, 60.0% were able to be maintained in the community-based school program and 40.0% were discharged to other settings. When discharged, 70.0% of students entered more restrictive treatment programs (e.g., psychiatric hospital, secure residential facility, residential school). The number of psychiatric hospitalizations did not predict discharge from the community-based school and was unrelated to the type of discharge setting. Clinical and research issues concerning psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents with ABI in relation to post-acute adjustment are discussed.     

Contribution of the dorsal subiculum to memory for temporal order and novelty detection using objects,odors, or spatial locations in the rat

The contribution of the dorsal subiculum (DS) to memory for temporal order and novelty detection was assessed using a spontaneous exploration paradigm with objects (visual/tactile stimuli), odors, or spatial locations (Hunsaker, Fieldsted, Rosenberg, & Kesner, 2008). Rats with selective excitotoxic lesions of the DS were compared to sham-operated rats (SHAM) in the two exploration tests. In temporal order tests, two previously explored stimuli were presented and normal rats typically show a preference for exploring the stimulus that was first explored compared to the other stimulus. In novelty detection tests, a familiar and a new stimulus were presented and normal rats typically have a preference for exploring new stimuli. In temporal order tests, results indicated that Group SHAM explored significantly more the first than the last stimulus they met when the stimuli were odors or objects. In addition, SHAM rats predictably displayed a significant preference for the new stimulus in the novelty detection tests with objects, odors, and spatial locations. Group DS did not differ from controls on the temporal order and the novelty detection tests with objects or odors. However, on the novelty detection test with spatial locations, Group DS differed from Group SHAM. These results suggest that the DS is necessary for the memory of spatial locations but not of objects and odors.