Cancer Metaphors: Taiwan and the United States

The Cancer Metaphors Test, a measure of the imagery of cancer, was administered to a sample of 138 Taiwanese college students and 167 United States college students, equated on age and gender, and presumed not to be different on academic achievement and socioeconomic level. A factor analysis of the Taiwanese protocols replicated the factor structure previously found on the CMT for United States respondents. Significant differences were obtained on two of the four CMT factors, with Taiwanese students scoring higher on both Terminal Pessimism and Future Optimism. Such differences are discussed in terms of differential coping strategies.     

Attitudes toward suicide among highly creative college students

Two groups of college students (n = 58 each) were identified through a combination of teacher nominations and creativity test scores, were labeled as creative or control, and matched on gender, age, college major, and vocabulary level. Their attitudes towards suicide were assessed using the Suicide Opinion Questionnaire (SOQ). Seven of the eight SOQ scales statistically differentiated the two groups, with creative subjects showing greater agreement of endorsement on the Mental Illness, Right to Die, Normality, and Aggression scales, and greater disagreement on the Cry for Help, Religion, and Moral Evil scales. The results suggest considerable attitudinal differences towards suicide between highly creative subjects and their control peers, with creative students perceiving suicide in more liberal and less judgmental terms.     

Development and Initial Psychometric Evaluation of the Semi-Structured Emotion Regulation Interview

Emotion regulation (ER) strategy use has been identified as a transdiagnostic predictor of the development, maintenance, and recovery from several forms of psychopathology. However, the ER strategy use literature relies primarily on self-report measures that have several important limitations. This article describes the development and initial psychometric evaluation of a novel clinician-administered measure of ER strategy use, the Semi-Structured Emotion Regulation Interview (SERI; Lee, Weathers, &; Sloan, 2016 Lee, D. J., Weathers, F. W., &; Sloan, D. M. (2016). The Semi-Structured Emotion Regulation Interview (SERI). Unpublished instrument. [Google Scholar]). The SERI was developed in a construct validation framework with emphasis on a multistage content validity process. The SERI assesses frequency and efficacy (i.e., proximal change in the targeted emotion) of 9 strategies in regulation of a specified emotion type and intensity (e.g., severe anxiety) during the past 30 days. Undergraduates (N = 68) completed a battery of self-report measures and a subsequent interview. Frequency and efficacy of each strategy was assessed separately with respect to regulation of moderate and severe anxiety and anger. Each of the assessed strategies demonstrated excellent discriminant validity. Associations between SERI and self-report measures of ER strategy use varied by target emotion type and intensity for some strategies, but not others. Implications and suggestions for future research are described.     

Measuring effective functioning in the elderly: an application of Erikson's theory

This study seeks to assess effective functioning within Erikson's epigenetic theory of development, in a sample of 143 Elderhostel participants who were administered the Inventory of Psychosocial Balance (IPB) and the California Psychological Inventory (CPI) Self-Realization (Sr) scale. A correlational analysis indicated no major systematic sex differences, but significant intercorrelations between the IPB scales and the Self-Realization scale. Multiple regression analyses indicated that in men, Trust is the most important variable, with Generativity and Intimacy yielding negative weights, whereas for women, Identity is the major component, with Industry, Autonomy, Generativity, and Trust yielding negative weights. The results support the utility of the IPB as a vehicle to study psychosocial development in the elderly.     

A Personality Measure of Erikson's Life Stages: The Inventory of Psychosocial Balance

The development and initial validation of the Inventory of Psychosocial Balance (LPB), designed to assess all eight Eriksonian psychosocial stages, is described. A pool of 208 items that survived a clinical analysis was administered to 528 subjects and then factor analyzed. The resulting eight factors parallel the eight stages and account for 72.34% of the total variance. Subsequent administrations of the IPB to various samples indicate adequate internal consistency and high test-retest reliability; significant correlations with the California Psychological Inventory (CPI) Social Maturity Index; consistent Q-sort portraits of high-scoring and low-scoring women; negligible correlations with test taking response styles, intelligence, and measures of psychopathology; and moderate developmental trends.     

Creativity in Three Samples of Photographers: A Validation of the Adjective Check List Creativity Scale

The creativity of photographers was investigated in three samples: photography students (n = 17), neophyte photographers (n = 46), and experienced photographers (n = 49). All participants completed the Adjective Check List (ACL), scored for Domino's creativity (Cr) scale; these scores were correlated with various indexes of creativity, including self- and peer-ratings, ratings of portfolios, and course grades. The findings support the validity of the ACL Cr scale as a measure of creativity.