Psychometric Properties of the Family Support Scale with Head Start Families

Social support systems can have either a beneficial or adverse effect when a family faces stress. Hence, support perceived by family members is an important construct. We studied the psychometric properties of the Family Support Scale (FSS) with a sample of 244 low-income families of children in a Head Start program, and we conducted an exploratory factor analysis with the scale. We obtained a 5-factor solution for the FSS when assessing the family support of low-income families. The internal consistency and test-retest reliability were moderately high for the 5 proposed subscales. The factor structure obtained may prove more valid for Head Start families than structures from previous studies, although there is still a need for further psychometric study of the FSS.     

Studying Emotions in Security and Diplomacy: Where We Are Now and Challenges Ahead

The core objective of this special issue has been to shed light on emotions as (1) frames that shape interpersonal diplomatic relations, (2) as key tools that are used as part of the statecraft's toolbox, and (3) as formative/productive dynamics with real effects on human beings—that, in turn, often construct and maintain conflicts. It is therefore pertinent that we interrogate the political psychology of individual, collective, mass, and communal emotions and how these are often (mis)used in diplomacy and security narratives to legitimize politicians' decisions and practices. This concluding article provides a state of the art account of the study of emotions in International Relations (IR), sums up the main findings from all special issue contributions and constructively explores potential challenges ahead for the study of emotions in IR, especially in security and diplomacy studies. It concludes with an appeal for the development of a multiperspective approach—that is, one that combines social sciences, natural sciences, and humanities—for a nuanced study of the role of emotional work in state, diplomatic as well as security narratives and practices. This approach will in turn require methodological pluralism in how we go about, as reflexive researchers, our emotional research.     

The strength of faith and trust

While there has been considerable interest in the nature of faith and trust in recent philosophical literature, relatively little has been said about what it is for faith or trust to be psychologically stronger or weaker. Drawing on recent accounts of propositional faith by Daniel Howard-Snyder and Lara Buchak, I argue that the strength of one’s faith can vary in two distinct dimensions. The first primarily involves the extent to which one’s confidence motivates one to take risks (and secondarily involves other cognitive and emotional factors). The second involves the resilience of the first dimension of strength to possible counterevidence.     

The Effect of Perspective‐Giving on Postconflict Reconciliation. An Experimental Approach

Discussion groups are a promising tool for bridging the divide between former conflict antagonists. However, such groups do not always produce the desired outcome of improved attitudes, even when they meet the conditions generally seen as favoring positive interaction. In this article, we examine specific discussion protocols that mitigate polarization risks while fostering reconciliation. Using a randomized, controlled design, we formed a pool of 429 ex‐combatants and members of conflict‐affected communities in Colombia. Participants were asked to join heterogeneous groups and discuss their proposals for the future of Colombia. Overall, community members improved their attitudes towards ex‐combatants significantly, while ex‐combatants’ attitudes toward community members do not tend to polarize. Those participants who were randomly assigned to a perspective‐giving treatment protocol (where they were asked to refer to their personal experience and perspective) consistently improved their intergroup attitudes towards ex‐combatants, and by a proportionally higher percentage than those taking part under argumentation and no‐treatment control conditions.     

Improving Prediction of Work Performance Through Frame‐of‐Reference Consistency: Empirical evidence using openness to experience

A work‐specific measure of openness to experience was compared with the general NEO PI‐R Openness scale for predicting supervisory ratings of creative performance at work. Results at the scale and facet levels indicated that the use of a consistent and criterion‐matched frame of reference improved validity of this personality construct for the prediction of work‐related creative problem solving. Scores from the Work‐specific Openness scale significantly predicted creative work performance, whereas scores from the general measure did not. Results also showed incremental validity of the Work‐specific scale over the NEO PI‐R scale. Evidence is mounting that specifying a work context for personality measures can increase validity for predicting job performance beyond that typically observed when using general scales.     

The Exemption that Confirms the Rule: Reflections on Proceduralism and the UK Hybrid Embryos Controversy

This paper provides an interpretation of the licensing provisions envisaged under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 as a model for a rule and exemption-based procedural strategy for the adjudication of potential ethical controversies, and it offers an account of the liberal-democratic legitimacy of the procedure’s outcomes as well as of the legal procedure itself. Drawing on a novel articulation of the distinction between exceptions and exemptions, the paper argues that such a rule and exemption mechanism, while not devoid of attractions, is not immune from the criticisms often levied against procedural approaches to the management of pluralism: it either has to fall back on substantive justification in ways that are not helpful when trying to arbitrate a moral controversy, or it appears justificatorily groundless.     

ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SELF-INJURIOUS BEHAVIOR AND SELF-RESTRAINT

Many individuals who exhibit self-injurious behavior (SIB) also exhibit self-restraint. Three hypotheses about the determinants of self-restraint have been suggested: (a) Self-restraint is maintained by escape from or avoidance of aversive aspects of SIB, (b) self-restraint and SIB are members of the same functional class, and (c) self-restraint and SIB are functionally independent. This study examined a method by which the relationship between self-restraint and SIB may be investigated using functional analysis. Data were collected on the self-restraint and SIB exhibited by 5 mentally retarded males, while conditions suspected to maintain SIB were manipulated. Results suggested that self-restraint, like SIB, may be maintained by idiosyncratic contingencies. Implications of an understanding of self-restraint for the analysis and treatment of SIB are discussed, as are some general possibilities for future research.     

A cultural-contextual perspective on the validity of the MMPI-2 with American Indians

This study investigated the normative validity of the MMPI-2 with two distinct American Indian tribes. Differences occurred on 8 of the 13 basic validity and clinical scales (F, 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) between the MMPI-2 norms and both tribal samples. Elevated MMPI-2 scores of American Indians may not only reflect the possibility of psychological distress spurred by historical oppression and present adversity, but also an expression of a divergent worldview. Considering the context of the historical and social production of knowledge about American Indians, it is argued that researchers and practitioners, when interpreting MMPI-2 results for American Indians, should seriously consider their interpretive points of reference, which may be impacted by dominant cultural belief systems.