Access to institutional resources as a measure of social exclusion: relations with family process and cognitive development in the context of immigration

Few studies have examined how experiences associated with being an undocumented immigrant parent affects children's development. In this article, the authors apply social exclusion theory to examine how access to institutional resources that require identification may matter for parents and children in immigrant families. As hypothesized, groups with higher proportions of undocumented parents in New York City (e.g., Mexicans compared to Dominicans) reported lower levels of access to checking accounts, savings accounts, credit, and drivers' licenses. Lack of access to such resources, in turn, was associated with higher economic hardship and psychological distress among parents, and lower levels of cognitive ability in their 24-month-old children.     

The measurement of body-image dissatisfaction–satisfaction: Is rating importance important?

Some researchers have argued that evaluative body image may be better assessed by measures that weight dissatisfaction–satisfaction ratings by their subjective importance to individuals. The Body Areas Satisfaction Scale (BASS) is a frequently used, standardized assessment of evaluative body image, albeit one that does not use differential item weights. This investigation, with 410 female and male college students, examined whether an importance-weighted revision of the BASS would have incremental validity relative to the original version in the prediction of multiple criterion variables. Results confirmed the reliability and validity of unweighted and weighted versions. However, the validity of weighted versions did not surpass that of the original BASS. The extremity of individuals’ satisfaction and dissatisfaction ratings appears inherently to reflect the importance placed on physical attributes for self-evaluation. Moderated regression analyses offered only weak support for the interaction of average satisfaction and average importance ratings beyond their main effects. The simpler, unweighted BASS is an acceptable assessment of evaluative body image.     

Psychopathy and violence: the importance of factor level interactions

The power of scales based on the Psychopathy Checklist (PCL; R. D. Hare, 1980) for prediction of violent behavior is well established. Although evidence suggests that this relationship is chiefly due to the impulsive and antisocial lifestyle component (Factor 2), the predictive power of psychopathy for violence may also reflect the multiplicative effects of this component with interpersonal and unemotional traits (Factor 1). The determination of the extent to which psychopathy subcomponents interact to predict violence has theoretical and practical implications for PCL-assessed psychopathy. However, the relationship between violence and the interactive effects of psychopathy subcomponents remains largely undetermined. The authors used prospective and cross-sectional designs to examine the independent and interactive effects of the factors of PCL-assessed psychopathy in 2 samples: (a) 199 county jail inmates and (b) 863 civil psychiatric patients. The Factor 1 x Factor 2 interaction predicted violence in both samples, such that the predictive power of Factor 2 was attenuated at lower levels of Factor 1.     

Measuring motivation multidimensionally: development of the Assessment of Individual Motives-Questionnaire (AIM-Q)

We report the development of the Assessment of Individual Motives-Questionnaire (AIM-Q), a new instrument based on an evolutionary psychology theory of human motivation. It provides multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) assessment of individual differences on 15 motive scales. A total heterogeneous sample of N = 1,251 participated in eight studies that evaluated the homogeneity, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and MTMM convergent and discriminant validities of the AIM-Q's three methods. These studies generally support the overall strategy of assessing individual differences in multiple evolutionary-based motives with multiple methods. Additional validity studies are underway and, when validated further, the AIM-Q may offer a promising option for evolutionary psychologists and behavioral geneticists wanting to incorporate individual differences into their research but have had to use existing self-report measures of personality, which were not designed for such a purpose. It may also offer clinical and counseling psychologists an additional approach to personality measures for the prediction of behavior.     

Construct validity of the five facet mindfulness questionnaire in meditating and nonmeditating samples

Previous research on assessment of mindfulness by self-report suggests that it may include five component skills: observing, describing, acting with awareness, nonjudging of inner experience, and nonreactivity to inner experience. These elements of mindfulness can be measured with the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). The authors investigated several aspects of the construct validity of the FFMQ in experienced meditators and nonmeditating comparison groups. Consistent with predictions, most mindfulness facets were significantly related to meditation experience and to psychological symptoms and well-being. As expected, relationships between the observing facet and psychological adjustment varied with meditation experience. Regression and mediation analyses showed that several of the facets contributed independently to the prediction of well-being and significantly mediated the relationship between meditation experience and well-being. Findings support the construct validity of the FFMQ in a combination of samples not previously investigated.     

Do Applicants and Incumbents Respond to Personality Items Similarly? A Comparison of Dominance and Ideal Point Response Models

This study used an ideal point response model to examine the extent to which applicants and incumbents differ when responding to personality items. It was hypothesized that applicants' responses would exhibit less folding at high trait levels than incumbents' responses. We used sample data from applicants (N=1,509) and incumbents (N=1,568) who completed the 16 Personality Questionnaire Select. Differential item (DIF) and test functioning (DTF) analyses were conducted using the generalized graded unfolding model, which is based on ideal point model assumptions. Out of the 90 items, 50 showed DIF; however, only 11 were in the hypothesized direction. DTF was significant for 3 of the 12 scales; 2 were in the hypothesized direction.