A comparison of perceptions of counselling in Ireland and the United States

The present study compared 50 Irish and 50 US graduate and undergraduate psychology and counselling students on the ways they rated counsellors, counselling, and group counselling on a semantic differential. Males were also contrasted to females on these concepts. A 2 2 2 2 2 MANOVA was used for the data analysis where the independent variables were country, class, and gender, and the dependent variables were the evaluative and potency scales of the semantic differential for counsellors, counselling, and group counselling. The Irish sample rated the potency of counselling significantly higher as did women. Counselling graduates evaluated group counselling and counsellors significantly higher than psychology undergraduates.     

Racial discrimination and racial socialization as predictors of African American adolescents' racial identity development using latent transition analysis

The present study examined perceptions of racial discrimination and racial socialization on racial identity development among 566 African American adolescents over 3 years. Latent class analyses were used to estimate identity statuses (Diffuse, Foreclosed, Moratorium, and Achieved). The probabilities of transitioning from one stage to another were examined with latent transition analyses to determine the likelihood of youth progressing, regressing, or remaining constant. Racial socialization and perceptions of racial discrimination were examined as covariates to assess the association with changes in racial identity status. The results indicated that perceptions of racial discrimination were not linked to any changes in racial identity. Youth who reported higher levels of racial socialization were less likely to be in Diffuse or Foreclosed compared with the Achieved group.     

Identifying Beliefs and Cognitions Underpinning Commuters' Travel Mode Choices

Interventions to reduce car use have shown limited success, in part due to limitations in models of transport choices. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) has provided a useful predictive model of car use but the specific beliefs that underpin TPB‐specified cognitions are less well understood. In this study, 229 university employees responded to a questionnaire and then reported their commuting choices 1 week later. Intention and perceived behavioral control (PBC) predicted car use (R² = .79). Intention was predicted by attitude, subjective norm, PBC, and moral norm (R² = .56). Beliefs could not be differentiated into attitudinal and PBC constructs, but seven beliefs predicted TPB cognitions. A similar model was tested for public transport use. The results identify key targets for future interventions.     

Dispositional Attachment Orientations,Contextual Variations in Attachment Security,and Compassion Fatigue Among Volunteers Working With Traumatized Individuals

In the present article, we report a series of studies examining the links between attachment orientations and compassion fatigue among volunteers working with traumatized individuals. Participants were volunteers in several trauma‐related organizations, ranging in age from 18 to 69 years. In Study 1 (N = 148), we examined associations between self‐reports of attachment insecurities and compassion fatigue. In Study 2 (N = 54), we used a diary design to assess attachment‐related differences in emotional reactions to actual helping encounters over a 2‐month period. In Study 3 (N = 108), we examined the effects of the experimental enhancement of attachment security (security priming) on reactions to a hypothetical helping encounter. As expected, attachment insecurities, either anxiety or avoidance, were associated with heightened compassion fatigue. Moreover, security priming reduced compassion fatigue in response to a hypothetical helping encounter. These findings underscore the relevance of attachment theory for understanding and preventing compassion fatigue.     

Conflicting centres within the Russian state: disjuncture and contradiction in Burjat newspaper discourse

This article examines the role the public imagination of the state has in maintaining the current political status quo in Burjatija, an east Siberian Republic. Based on a quantitative and interpretative analysis of Burjatija??s local newspapers, it uses the ??centre-versus-periphery?? paradigm to identify varying representations of the Republic??s territorial community in government legitimization discourse, before discussing their assimilation into popular newspaper discourse. Multiple narratives of Burjatija and the Russian Federation exist in these newspapers, incorporating various centres and peripheries. I end by discussing the nature of the state these newspapers reveal, and the function the dissemination of alternative centres and peripheries has within it.     

Investigating the nature and time-course of the modality shift effect between vision and touch

It is well known that stimuli grab attention to their location, but do they also grab attention to their sensory modality? The modality shift effect (MSE), the observation that responding to a stimulus leads to reaction time benefits for subsequent stimuli in the same modality, suggests that this may be the case. If noninformative cue stimuli, which do not require a response, also lead to benefits for their modality, this would suggest that the effect is automatic. We investigated the time-course of the visuotactile MSE and the difference between the effects of cues and targets. In Experiment 1, when visual and tactile tasks and stimulus locations were matched, uninformative cues did not lead to reaction time benefits for targets in the same modality. However, the modality of the previous target led to a significant MSE. Only stimuli that require a response, therefore, appear to lead to reaction time benefits for their modality. In Experiment 2, increasing attention to the cue stimuli attenuated the effect of the previous target, but the cues still did not lead to a MSE. In Experiment 3, a MSE was demonstrated between successive targets, and this effect decreased with increasing intertrial intervals. Overall, these studies demonstrate how cue- and target-induced effects interact and suggest that modalities do not automatically capture attention as locations do; rather, the MSE is more similar to other task repetition effects.