Effects of short-term crowding on aggression in captive groups of pigtail monkeys (macaca nemestrina)

Agonistic behaviors of 14 groups of pigtail monkeys were monitored under 2 spatial conditions, normal living space and half that amount of space. Aggression occurred less frequently in the crowded than in the relatively less crowded condition. The results of this study resemble those of some analogous research on human children, and they suggest that nonhuman primate models of crowding stress and aggression may be especially appropriate.     

Do you two know each other? Transitivity, homophily, and the need for (network) closure

The authors investigate whether need for closure affects how people seek order in judging social relations. In Study 1, the authors find that people who have a high need for closure (NFC) were more likely to assume their social contacts were connected to each other (i.e., transitivity) when this was not the case. In Studies 2 and 3, the authors examine another form of order in network relations--racial homophily--and find that high-NFC participants were more inclined to believe that 2 individuals from the same racial category (e.g., African American) were friends than two racially dissimilar individuals. Furthermore, high-NFC individuals were more likely to make errors when judging a racially mixed group of people; specifically, they recalled more racial homophily (racially similar people sitting closer together) than had actually appeared.     

Leadership style and regulatory mode: Value from fit?

In this article, we consider the relationship between regulatory orientation and transformational leadership. Specifically, we propose that the effectiveness of transformational leadership depends on followers’ regulatory mode—the manner in which they pursue goals. Based on regulatory fit theory ([Higgins, 2000] and [Higgins, 2002]), we hypothesize that transformational leadership will be more effective in increasing motivation and eliciting positive evaluations from people with more of a locomotion mode (those who focus on movement from one state to another) rather than people with more of an assessment mode (those who make comparisons and judgments before acting). We find support for these ideas using data collected from a survey of executives and two original experimental designs, one in which regulatory mode is measured as a chronic disposition and the other in which it is situationally induced.     

An exploration of an integrated counselling and coaching approach with distressed young people

This mixed methods study explored the effectiveness and experience of an integrated counselling and coaching approach with young people. An effectiveness study allocated 80 young people aged between 13 and 25 years from four Youth Information Advice and Counselling Services centres in England to two groups: an integrated counselling and coaching group, based on the Personal Consultancy (PC) model, and a humanistic counselling group. Self-report measures of distress were administered at baseline and endpoint. Findings of the quantitative analysis showed that although baseline distress levels between groups were equivalent, post-intervention levels were significantly lower in the integrated group. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of qualitative experiences from five young people from the integrated group explored possible reasons for these results. Five master themes emerged: making sense of past, present and/or future, developing a sense of agency, management of affect, enhancing interpersonal relationships and development of self. Findings indicated that young people responded well to the integrated treatment; attending to intra-psychic issues alongside their developmental challenges seemed to have a beneficial effect on their sense of agency in particular. In conclusion, PC may be an effective means of reducing distress in young people.     

Brief Report: Promoting Postformal Thinking on the Job: A Protocol for Interpersonal Conflict Resolution Training

In this paper, we discuss the relevance of training in the constructive resolution of interpersonal conflicts that occur at work. Research indicates that such conflicts may be a source of stress for adults, particularly young adults who have just entered the workforce. We present a training protocol in constructive conflict resolution that has been adapted for application to work-related conflicts. Most conflict resolution training protocols for use in the workplace focus on resolving company-wide problems. We do not know of any that focus on individual conflicts between employees, while emphasizing skills that may offer some benefits for the development of postformal thinking. Postformal thinking has been postulated as relevant to becoming an expert in one’s chosen profession. We present this protocol to stimulate ideas on how to further develop and refine training efforts for working adults in conflict resolution.     

Cumulative culture and future thinking: Is mental time travel a prerequisite to cumulative cultural evolution?

Cumulative culture denotes the, arguably, human capacity to build on the cultural behaviors of one's predecessors, allowing increases in cultural complexity to occur such that many of our cultural artifacts, products and technologies have progressed beyond what a single individual could invent alone. This process of cumulative cultural evolution underlies human cultural success and has enabled us to reach and inhabit some of the most inhospitable environments on this planet. Why humans, but not other animals, have exhibited a cultural explosion has caused much deliberation. The human propensity to imitate, teach, “mind-read” and cooperate have all featured prominently in accounts of the prerequisites for cumulative culture. However, this may not represent the complete picture. In this article we consider whether there exists a link between future thinking, specifically prospective mental time travel, and the observed distribution of cumulative culture.     

An Emergent Theory of Altruism and Self‐Interest

Beliefs about altruism and self‐interest of 25 participants were examined through a grounded theory methodology. Altruism was defined as the promotion of needs of others and self‐interest as the promotion of needs of self. Data sources included interviews, focus group, journal analysis, artifacts, and a measure of altruism. The relationship between altruism and self‐interest emerged and was composed of 12 themes. Themes described a dynamic theory that was systemic, values oriented, and interactional.     

Experiential Activities in Family Therapy: Perceptions of Caregivers and Youth

Novel and creative therapeutic modalities have been developed in an effort to increase motivation in family therapy for adolescents and families. Many of these approaches incorporate experiential activities or “family play”, which provides a supplemental approach to traditional talk therapy. Incorporating experiential activities into family therapy sessions has been shown to increase engagement and enhance participation in therapy. Therefore, to understand how families view experiential activities within family therapy, we interviewed nineteen adolescents (age 12–17) and their parents/caregivers who were receiving family therapy augmented with experiential activities. We asked a series of open-ended questions to understand the families’ experiences concerning how they initially felt about participating in family therapy and their perceptions of the experiential activities. The activities involved experiential interactions and skill-building exercises that elicited active participation from all family members and encouraged further discussions. Topics of these activities focused on problem areas the family had identified, such as anger management, problem-solving, improving communication, substance use, expressing feelings, coping, etc. Results showed that most caregivers and youth found the experiential activities helpful in creating positive family interactions and developing communication skills. Caregivers and adolescents noted that the activities increased their desire to participate in family therapy sessions and they were more motivated to engage in the treatment process. Clinicians using the methods discussed in this intervention should be aware of the study’s limitations. Implications for clinical practice and research are discussed.