Experiences of Altruism in the Therapeutic Relationship: Perspectives of Counselors‐in‐Training and Their Clients

The purpose of this phenomenological investigation was to explore experiences of altruism in the therapeutic relationship to better understand how counselors‐in‐training (CITs) and their clients mutually perceived the construct in sessions. Findings from interviews with clients (n = 14) included emotional–relational characteristics and cognitive–behavioral aspects of altruism by their counselors. Findings from interviews with CITs (n = 10) included explorations of the role of altruism in counseling, overall experiences of altruism in counseling sessions, and experiences of altruism with specific clients. Implications for practice and research are discussed.     

Can imagined intergroup contact change (internal) dialogues on differences between ingroup and outgroup?

Several positive functions have been ascribed to integrative internal dialogues (IDs), which are based on mutual openness to a partner's viewpoint and a readiness to consider his/her arguments in order to potentially modify one's own stance. As the technique of imagined intergroup contact (IIC) favorably influences attitudes towards outgroup members, it was hypothesized that IIC would have a beneficial impact on IDs with an outgroup member when the dialogue is focused on differences between ingroup and outgroup. In the experiment, 151 people (80 women) participated. It revealed that after IIC, both the dialogue author's confrontational attitude and the interlocutor's integrative attitude decreased. Thus, IIC made participants less inclined to gain an advantage over their imagined outgroup interlocutors and more inclined to give them freedom in IDs. However, the effect was significant only when the author's involvement in ID was high or medium.     

Violence Exposure and Sexual Risk Behaviors for African American Adolescent Girls: The Protective Role of Natural Mentorship and Organizational Religious Involvement

African American adolescent girls are at increased risk of being exposed to community violence and being diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection. Fewer studies, however, have examined the protective roles of natural mentorship and organizational religious involvement as potential moderators that could lessen the effects of violence exposure on health risk behavior. Data from 273 African American ninth grade girls were used to test hypothesized independent and moderated‐moderation models. Results suggest that natural mentorship and religious involvement were protective for girls who reported at least one mentor and moderate to high levels of religious involvement. Our findings may be relevant for community stakeholders and organizations that directly interact with religious institutions and community programs that focus on outreach to African American adolescent girls.     

Overcoming the “Holy Hush”: A Qualitative Examination of Protestant Christian Leaders’ Responses to Intimate Partner Violence

Described as a “holy hush,” past research has noted a general silence about and reluctance to address intimate partner violence (IPV) in religious congregations. To explore this, we interviewed 20 Protestant Christian religious leaders about how they understood and responded to IPV. Based on a thematic content analysis, our study revealed some of the challenges, tensions, and complexities that may be barriers to leaders speaking about and responding to IPV, and also the ways religious leaders in our sample attempted to overcome these challenges. For example, results revealed religious leaders understood violence on a gradation from less to more severe, and linked a need for and type of response to the level of violence. Throughout, religious leaders expressed a tension between their leadership role and responding to IPV. Furthermore, religious leaders acknowledged their need for greater training and connections to service providers, however, they reported not currently being connected to other IPV resources or organizations in the community. We discuss how the findings illuminate challenges and tensions for religious leaders in responding to IPV and how some leaders in this study were navigating these tensions to respond. We also discuss how findings may inform future research and the development of trainings and protocols for religious leaders and congregations on responding to IPV, promoting survivor safety, and fostering a greater understanding of IPV. Implications for collaboration with other community‐based IPV organizations are also discussed.     

Socially Valued Roles,Self‐Determination,and Community Participation among Individuals Living with Serious Mental Illnesses

Decades after deinstitutionalization, individuals living with serious mental illnesses remain isolated, socially disengaged, and devalued members of communities. Burgeoning research and services need conceptual clarity to improve such social conditions. This qualitative inquiry used grounded theory and participatory approaches to conduct an in‐depth exploration of community participation for individuals living with serious mental illnesses based on key stakeholder perspectives (n = 45). Results revealed that community participation is a multifaceted construct with layers of meaning for individuals living with serious mental illnesses. Overarching themes are contextualized in Self‐Determination Theory and presented with deidentified illustrations. Implications for services, research, and policy are discussed.     

Reducing a Male Bias in Language? Establishing the Efficiency of Three Different Gender-Fair Language Strategies

Sex Roles - Different strategies of gender-fair language have been applied to reduce a male bias, which means the implicit belief that a word describing an undefined person describes a man. This...     

Collective Narcissism: Political Consequences of Investing Self‐Worth in the Ingroup’s Image

This article proposes a new theoretical framework for the reviewed state‐of‐the‐art research on collective narcissism—the belief that the ingroup’s exceptionality is not sufficiently appreciated by others. Collective narcissism is motivated by the investment of an undermined sense of self‐esteem into the belief in the ingroup’s entitlement to privilege. Collective narcissism lies in the heart of populist rhetoric. The belief in ingroup’s exceptionality compensates the undermined sense of self‐worth, leaving collective narcissists hypervigilant to signs of threat to the ingroup’s position. People endorsing the collective narcissistic belief are prone to biased perceptions of intergroup situations and to conspiratorial thinking. They retaliate to imagined provocations against the ingroup but sometimes overlook real threats. They are prejudiced and hostile. Deficits in emotional regulation, hostile attribution bias, and vindictiveness lie behind the robust link between collective narcissism and intergroup hostility. Interventions that support the regulation of negative emotions, such as experiencing self‐transcendent emotions, decrease the link between collective narcissism and intergroup hostility and offer further insights into the nature of collective narcissism.     

Similarity to prototypical heavy drinkers and non-drinkers predicts AUDIT-C and risky drinking in young adults: prospective study

Objective: The aim of the present study was to explore whether constructs within the Prototype Willingness Model (PWM) predicted risky drinking as measured by AUDIT-C, drinking harms and unplanned drunkenness in a sample of UK young adults. Previous studies exploring the PWM often do not use validated measures of alcohol consumption, and the outcomes of risky drinking are underexplored. Design: An online prospective study design with 4 week follow-up was employed and 385 young adults completed the study (M age?=?21.76, SD?=?3.39, 69.6% female; 85.2% students). Main outcome measures: Intentions to get drunk, AUDIT-C, drinking harms experienced in the last 4 weeks, and unplanned drunkenness in the last 4 weeks. Results: Heavy and non-drinker prototype similarity predicted AUDIT-C, drinking harms and unplanned drunkenness when controlling for past behaviour and reasoned action pathway constructs. Intentions and willingness both mediated the relationship between prototype perceptions and AUDIT-C. Conclusion: This study supports the use of the PWM in the prediction of AUDIT-C, drinking harms and unplanned drinking in a UK sample. Prototype perceptions influenced behaviour via both reasoned and reactive cognitions. Targeting similarity to heavy and non-drinker prototypes should be the focus of future interventions in this population.