Featured review article

The self as research instrument

The I in Science: Training to Utilize Subjectivity in Research. Judith R. Brown. Oslo/Boston: Scandinavian University Press, 1996.     

Harvey Cushing,M.D., in His World

Harvey Cushing, M.D. (1869–1939), is the acknowledged father of the discipline of neurosurgery who inspired others to join him in this new field. He was a prolific researcher in the area of human growth disturbances. And he was among the most literary of doctors having won the Pulitzer Prize for his two-volume biography of his mentor and teacher William Osler, M.D. A driven man, he both inspired and intimidated others. This essay explores Cushing’s character and background along with his relationship to Osler. It seeks to understand why and how he may be considered a great figure in spite and because of his demanding and often problematic character. It further seeks to place Cushing in the context of the transition of American society and American medicine in the latter decades of the nineteenth and early decades of the twentieth century. Portions of this essay were originally delivered as part of a Grand Rounds presentation for the Department of Neurosurgery at the New York Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Center.     

Positive mood + action = negative mood + inaction: effects of general action and inaction concepts on decisions and performance as a function of affect

General action and inaction concepts have been shown to produce broad, goal-mediated effects on cognitive and motor activity irrespective of the type of activity. The current research tested a model in which action and inaction goals interact with the valence of incidental moods to guide behavior. Over four experiments, participants' moods were manipulated to be positive (happy), neutral, or negative (angry or sad), and then general action, inaction, and neutral concepts were primed. In Experiment 1, action primes increased intellectual performance when participants experienced a positive (happy) or neutral mood, whereas inaction primes increased performance when participants experienced a negative (angry) mood. Including a control-prime condition, Experiments 2 and 3 replicated these results measuring the number of general interest articles participants were willing to read and participants' memory for pictures of celebrities. Experiment 4 replicated the results comparing happiness with sadness and suggested that the effect of the prime's adoption was automatic. Overall, the findings supported an interactive model by which action concepts and positive affect produce the same increases in active behavior as inaction concepts and negative affect.     

Nostalgic recollections of high and low narcissists

Two functions of nostalgia are consistently documented in the literature: self-positivity and social connectedness. These reflect agency and communion, respectively. Such dimensions are polarized no more than in narcissists, who are high in agency and low in communion. In three studies we tested whether high and low narcissists differ in the content of nostalgic recollections, whether they become nostalgic about different objects, and whether nostalgia serves different functions for them. High (versus low) narcissists made more agentic references in their narratives and manifested nostalgic proclivity toward agentic objects. Furthermore, nostalgia served a self-positivity function, but not a social connectedness function, for high (versus low) narcissists. Findings highlight the relevance of personality—narcissism, in particular—for the experience of nostalgia.     

Subtle priming of shared human experiences eliminates threat-induced negativity toward Arabs, immigrants, and peace-making

Many studies demonstrate that mortality salience can increase negativity toward outgroups but few have examined variables that mitigate this effect. The present research examined whether subtly priming people to think of human experiences shared by people from diverse cultures increases perceived similarity of members of different groups, which then reduces MS-induced negativity toward outgroups. In Study 1, exposure to pictures of people from diverse cultures engaged in common human activities non-significantly reversed the effect of MS on implicit anti-Arab prejudice. In Study 2, thinking about similarities between one's own favorite childhood memories and those of people from other countries eliminated MS-induced explicit negative attitudes toward immigrants. In Study 3, thinking about similarities between one's own painful childhood memories and those of people from other countries eliminated the MS-induced reduction in support for peace-making. Mediation analyses suggest the effects were driven by perceived similarity of people across cultures. These findings suggest that priming widely shared human experiences can attenuate MS-induced intergroup conflict.     

Differential susceptibility and the early development of aggression: interactive effects of respiratory sinus arrhythmia and environmental quality

The purpose of the current study was to predict the development of aggressive behavior from young children's respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and environmental quality. In a longitudinal sample of 213 children, baseline RSA, RSA suppression in response to a film of crying babies, and a composite measure of environmental quality (incorporating socioeconomic status and marital adjustment) were measured, and parent-reported aggression was assessed from 18 to 54 months of age. Predictions based on biological sensitivity-to-context/differential susceptibility and diathesis-stress models, as well as potential moderation by child sex, were examined. The interaction of baseline RSA with environmental quality predicted the development (slope) and 54-month intercept of mothers' reports of aggression. For girls only, the interaction between baseline RSA and environmental quality predicted the 18-month intercept of fathers' reports. In general, significant negative relations between RSA and aggression were found primarily at high levels of environmental quality. In addition, we found a significant Sex × RSA interaction predicting the slope and 54-month intercept of fathers' reports of aggression, such that RSA was negatively related to aggression for boys but not for girls. Contrary to predictions, no significant main effects or interactions were found for RSA suppression. The results provide mixed but not full support for differential susceptibility theory and provide little support for the diathesis-stress model.     

I Believe I Am So Called: Reflections on a Vocation in Medical Education

This essay is concerned with the fulfillment of ordination commitments through a pastoral role in medical education and review of medical research with human subjects. Stylistically, it combines memoir with the genre known as “creative non-fiction.” Its major issues have to do with the identity formation and transformation of the author, the function and ethics of institutional review boards, the teaching of medical ethics to medical students, and courses involved in the doctor–patient relationship and in palliative care intended to increase the sensitivity and self-awareness of physicians-in-becoming. This essay was presented in its initial form at the Annual Fellows Meeting of the Society for Values in Higher Education in 2010.