The relationships among the general attitude and belief scale,other dysfunctional cognition measures,and depressive or bulimic tendencies

This study assessed the relationships between the General Attitude and Belief Scale (GABS) and measures of 1) irrational beliefs derived from Ellis' older and newer theorizing, 2) reasoning errors based on Beck's theory, and 3) affective and behavioral disorder, specifically depression and bulimia. Female undergraduates (n=160) completed the GABS, Irrational Beliefs Scale, Irrational Beliefs Test, Rational Behaviors Inventory, Dysfunctional Attitude Scale, Cognitive Error Questionnaire and the Beck Depression Inventory, Center for Epidemiologic Studies — Depression Scale, and Bulimia Test. Results supported the internal consistency and construct validity of the GABS; progressively higher correlations were obtained with measures more similar to the GABS theoretically.Dr. Eleanor H. Wertheim is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Psychology, La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. Zeffie Poulakis is associated with the Department of Psychology at La Trobe University where she completed her honours degree, B.B.Sc. (Hons).The authors thank Christine Brown for helping to recruit subjects and administer measures.     

The meaning of bad news in HIV disease: Counselling about dreaded issues revisited

HIV disease is a slow, progressive immunological disorder. As there is neither a cure nor a vaccine, morbidity and mortality arising from HIV infection will continue to challenge health care providers, including those who counsel these patients. Psychological preparation for ‘bad news’ and support for those whose health is deteriorating is an important task in HIV counselling. This paper describes what may be considered bad news for people living with HIV, how to prepare them for unwelcome changes in their medical condition and how to give bad news, should the need arise.     

Effectiveness of research guidelines in prevention of scientific misconduct

In response to a series of allegations of scientific misconduct in the 1980’s, a number of scientific societies, national agencies, and academic institutions, including Harvard Medical School, devised guidelines to increase awareness of optimal scientific practices and to attempt to prevent as many episodes of misconduct as possible. The chief argument for adopting guidelines is to promote good science. There is no evidence that well-crafted guidelines have had any detrimental effect on creativity since they focus on design of research studies, documentation of research findings, assignment of credit through authorship, data management and supervision of trainees, not on the origin and evolution of ideas. This paper addresses a spectrum of causes of scientific misconduct or unacceptable scientific behavior and couples these with estimates of the potential for prevention if guidelines for scientific investigation are adopted. The conclusion is that clear and understandable guidelines should help to reduce the chance that flawed research will escape from our institutions. However, they cannot be relied upon alone to prevent all instances of scientific misconduct and should be regarded rather as one means of bolstering the integrity of the entire scientific enterprise.     

Race Relations on Prime Time Television Reconsidered: Patterns of Continuity and Change

This study was designed to assess the changes that have occurred in the portrayals of black people and cross-racial relationships in prime-time television broadcasting during the past decade. By replicating the content analysis procedures used by Weigel, Loomis, and Soja (1980), this investigation provided a consistent basis for comparing two similar samples of television content drawn, respectively, from 1978 and 1989. Results of this comparison indicated that, although black appearances and cross-racial interactions were no more frequent in the 1989 sample of product commercials, the black presence in prime-time programming had increased substantially. As compared to 1978, the proportion of time that one or more black characters were on the screen more than doubled, while the frequency of cross-racial interactions more than tripled in the 1989 sample. Nevertheless, ratings of qualitative dimensions of these cross-racial interactions suggested that relationships between blacks and whites on television continued to be portrayed as cooperative but emotionally detached, particularly when the relationships occurred outside of the work place.     

And the Winner is… Awards for the Integration of Science and Practice in Psychology

Psychotherapists from all fields perform difficult and challenging work, trying to help their clients gain insight into their problems and make lasting changes in their thoughts and behaviors. Unfortunately, too often the work of a psychotherapist is minimized, neglected, or disregarded. Where departmental or conference awards may be presented regularly, public recognition for evidence-based and clinically-relevant published work is lacking. The present paper aims to acknowledge the most valuable recent accomplishments in the field of mental health assessment and treatment. Nominations were accepted for works published during 2017, papers of enduring value, and most valuable psychologist, and votes were cast by a panel of judges. These valuable contributions are recommended for all psychotherapists who hope to improve their work with clients.     

Auditory word comprehension impairment in acute stroke: relative contribution of phonemic versus semantic factors

Auditory word comprehension was assessed in a series of 289 acute left hemisphere stroke patients. Participants decided whether an auditorily presented word matched a picture. On different trials, words were presented with a matching picture, a semantic foil, or a phonemic foil. Participants had significantly more trouble with semantic foils across all levels of impairment.     

Measuring Hong Kong Undergraduate Students’ Attitudes Towards Transpeople

Hill and Willoughby’s (Sex Roles, 53:531–544, 2005) Genderism and Transphobia Scale (GTS), originally developed in Canada, was examined with a Hong Kong sample. Undergraduate students, 82 female and 121 male (total n?=?203), completed a Chinese version of the instrument. Overall scores and factor structure of the Hong Kong sample were compared with Hill and Willoughby’s Canadian data. Gender differences in transphobia were investigated, both in terms of the participants’ gender as well as the gender of the gender variant persons to whom GTS items referred. Transphobia was higher in Hong Kong than in Canada. The factor structure for Hong Kong differed from Canada. Five factors were identified (with a gender effect on Factors II and V). They were: I, Anti Sissy Prejudice; II, Anti Trans Violence; III, Trans Unnaturalness; IV, Trans Immorality; and V, Background Genderism. Hong Kong men were more transphobic than women. Gender variance in men was viewed less favourably than in women.     

Examination of a multi-factorial model of body-related experiences during pregnancy: the relationships among physical symptoms, sleep quality, depression, self-esteem, and negative body attitudes

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate relationships among women's body attitudes, physical symptoms, self-esteem, depression, and sleep quality during pregnancy. Pregnant women (N = 215) at 15–25 weeks gestation completed a questionnaire including four body image subscales assessing self-reported feeling fat, attractiveness, strength/fitness, and salience of weight and shape. Women reported on 29 pregnancy-related physical complaints, and completed the Beck Depression Inventory, Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. In regressions, controlling for retrospective reports of body image, more frequent and intense physical symptoms were related to viewing the self as less strong/fit, and to poorer sleep quality and more depressive symptoms. In a multi-factorial model extending previous research, paths were found from sleep quality to depressive symptoms to self-esteem; self-esteem was found to be a mediator associated with lower scores on feeling fat and salience of weight and shape, and on higher perceived attractiveness.     

The emotions least relevant to politics? Queering autonomous activism

Studies of emotion and activism have often attempted to uncover ‘the emotions most relevant to politics’ (Goodwin et al., 2001). This suggests that only certain feelings are productive for activism, while other emotions have less relevance for activist theory and practice. In this paper I ask if the notion of politically ‘relevant’ emotions helps perpetuate a distinction between what is considered political and what is not. This paper builds upon a case study in which I interviewed self-identified queer-activists about their experiences of autonomous activism. These interviews reveal how the everyday emotions surrounding the ‘personal’ politics of sexuality/intimacy are often seen as either less important, a distraction from, or entirely irrelevant to ‘real’ political issues. Ultimately, I want to challenge attempts to neatly separate our intimate lives from the public sphere of activism. I argue that it can never just be a matter of politics and emotion, but also the politics of emotion (Ahmed, 2004). Therefore we should not just assume that emotions matter for resistance - without first realizing the importance of resisting these hierarchies of emotion.