The Effects of Stereotyping on Impression Formation: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Viewing Religious Persons

We examined the effects of stereotyping on impression formation when encountering people dressed to represent a religious faith. We used stimulus photographs of eight male and female models dressed casually and a second photograph of one male and one female model in religious attire that was placed beside the control photos of models dressed casually. from each set of photographs, subjects selected a photo of the person with whom they would associate the various positive personality traits suggested by our stimulus questions. Subjects were students from a U.S. Catholic school, a U.S. public school, and a Malaysian Muslim school. All the subjects attributed more of the positive traits to photos of the models who were religiously attired than to photos of those who were casually dressed, but subjects from U.S. schools attributed more of the positive traits to the photos of religiously dressed models than did the subjects from the Malaysian school.     

Couple and family therapists’ experiences with Telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic: a phenomenological analysis

In designing this study, we aimed to obtain a rich, phenomenological understanding of the experiences of couple and family therapists who transitioned their practice to telehealth due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Twelve experienced therapists from the U.S., Spain and Australia were interviewed in depth about their experiences of this transition, particularly how they developed and maintained therapeutic alliances in a virtual context with couples and families suffering pandemic-related hardships. The qualitative analysis identified 40 themes reflecting participants’ initial impressions of telehealth and their positive and negative reactions and adjustments to practicing remotely. Upon overcoming some initial wariness about providing services virtually, many participants described advantages to this way of working with families. Indeed, participants were creative in adjusting to this novel therapy modality, finding new ways to connect emotionally with their clients, to work meaningfully with children, to assess in-session dynamics, and to ensure their clients’ privacy and safety. Notably, several participants commented on the relatively slower development of alliances with new cases and the challenge of repairing split alliances between family members. Many of these difficulties were described as due to having minimal access to their clients’ raw emotions and the inability to use typical systemic interventions, such as moving family members around physically. Participants also reflected on being a “participant observer” to the upheaval caused by the pandemic, a distressing experience they shared with the families in their care.

     

How can careproviders most help patients during a disaster?

This article reviews careproviders' most difficult emotional challenges during disasters and provides approaches for responding optimally to them. It describes key approaches that careproviders may pursue to best help patients and others during a catastrophe. It raises unanswered questions regarding when, if ever, careproviders should provide active euthanasia to patients who are incompetent, and when, if ever, careproviders should give their own food and water to patients or others who may otherwise soon die without them.     

A possible application of care-based ethics to people with disabilities during a pandemic

Should people with exceptionally profound disabilities be given an equal chance of surviving a pandemic, even when their care might require a greater use of limited medical resources? How might an ethics of care be used to shape a policy regarding these patients?