Effortful control and externalizing problems in young adults

The present study evaluates the relationship between effortful control (EC) and externalizing psychopathology in young adults. EC, the capacity to delay immediate impulses in favor of long-term goals, has been robustly linked to externalizing behaviors in children and adolescents. However, such data is limited in adults, and mechanisms underlying this relationship have yet to be evaluated. We hypothesized that the effect of low EC on greater externalizing problems would be mediated by elevated psychological distress. In total 236 undergraduate students completed the EC subscale of the Adult Temperament Questionnaire, the Brief Symptom Inventory, and the Externalizing Spectrum Inventory (ESI). The ESI was found to have four factors representing Callous Aggression, Impulsive Urgency, prosocial control, and Substance Abuse. The degree to which low trait EC manifested in increased Callous Aggression, Impulsive Urgency and decreased prosocial behavior was mediated by elevated psychological distress. However, EC was not related to Substance Abuse. These data indicate that EC plays an important role in shaping psychological and social adjustment in adulthood.     

Perceptual specialization and configural face processing in infancy

Adults’ face processing expertise includes sensitivity to second-order configural information (spatial relations among features such as distance between eyes). Prior research indicates that infants process this information in female faces. In the current experiments, 9-month-olds discriminated spacing changes in upright human male and monkey faces but not in inverted faces. However, they failed to process matching changes in upright house stimuli. A similar pattern of performance was exhibited by 5-month-olds. Thus, 5- and 9-month-olds exhibited specialization by processing configural information in upright primate faces but not in houses or inverted faces. This finding suggests that, even early in life, infants treat faces in a special manner by responding to changes in configural information more readily in faces than in non-face stimuli. However, previously reported differences in infants’ processing of human versus monkey faces at 9 months of age (but not at younger ages), which have been associated with perceptual narrowing, were not evident in the current study. Thus, perceptual narrowing is not absolute in the sense of loss of the ability to process information from other species’ faces at older ages.     

Narrative Discourse and Theory of Mind Development

The authors examined experimentally whether exposure to social discourse about concepts related to mental states could promote changes in children's theory of mind understanding. In 2 studies, 3- to 4-year-old children were assigned to either a training or a no training control condition. All children were administered several theory of mind measures at pretest and 2 posttests. Training was not effective in improving performance in Study 1 (n = 37); but in Study 2 (n = 54), modifications of the training procedure led to significant improvements on measures of false belief and deception from pretest to 1st posttest. The findings support the influence of social discourse on children's theory of mind development.     

The Growth and Significance of Daily Variations in Infant Behavior

The authors asked 55 second-generation Chinese American adolescents (M age = 16.8 years) and 58 European American adolescents (M age = 17.0 years) to complete self-report measures of stress levels, use of coping strategies, psychological outcomes, and grades. Chinese American adolescents reported higher levels of everyday life event stress (e.g., stress from schoolwork), more depression, and higher grade point averages. Problem-focused and avoidance-coping behaviors moderated the effect of stress on negative adjustment for Chinese American youth but not for European American youth. Path analysis showed that avoidance coping behavior partially mediated the stress-to-negative adjustment relationship for Chinese American youth but not for European American youth. Stress was associated with lower grades in Chinese American youth, but the authors found no association for European American youth.     

The Influence of Person Traits on Lawyer Selection Among British Adults

The present study examined selection criteria for lawyers among British adults, which begins to overturn a dearth of studies examining this issue among legal professions. A total of 122 participants were asked to rate eight lawyers dichotomized along lawyer origin (Britain versus South Asia), gender (women versus men), and age (younger versus older). A mixed-design analysis of variance showed that there was a main effect of lawyer origin, with British lawyers preferred over the South Asian counterparts. There were also a number of significant interactions between lawyer variables, as well as participant gender and age. The effect sizes of these interactions were generally smaller (η_p ² = .07?.24) than the main effect lawyer origin (η_p ² = .54). Limitations and practical implications are discussed in conclusion.     

Mechanisms of change in cognitive behaviour therapy for panic disorder: The role of panic self-efficacy and catastrophic misinterpretations

The efficacy of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for panic disorder with or without agoraphobia (PD) is well-established; however, little is known about the underlying change processes of clinical improvement during therapy. According to cognitive theories, CBT for PD primarily works by changing catastrophic misinterpretations of bodily symptoms and panic attacks. However, panic self-efficacy, i.e. the perceived ability to cope with panic attacks, has also been suggested as an important change mechanism in CBT for PD. The aim of the study was to investigate if change in catastrophic misinterpretations and panic self-efficacy mediated change in the level of anxiety during the course of thirteen sessions of group CBT for PD. Forty-five participants completed weekly self-report measures of the possible cognitive mediators and the level of anxiety throughout therapy. The results indicated that within-person change in panic self-efficacy in one session, but not in catastrophic misinterpretations, predicted within-person level of anxiety symptoms the following week. However, in a reversed analysis, prior change in level of anxiety symptoms also predicted change in panic self-efficacy the following session. These results support panic self-efficacy as a mediator of change in CBT for PD, although a reciprocal causal relationship between panic self-efficacy and level of anxiety seems to be implied.     

Threatened identities and interethnic interactions

This chapter adopts a social identity threat perspective to examine dynamics of interethnic interactions. We first review relevant literature regarding the conditions under which both White and ethnic minority individuals are likely to experience social identity threat within the specific context of interethnic interactions. We focus on the threat of being perceived as stereotypical of one's ethnic group, considering situation- and person-level factors that trigger the experience of such threat during interethnic interactions. Next, we offer a framework for understanding how individuals cope with social identity threat during interethnic interactions, proposing three main classes of responses: avoidance, outgroup devaluation/derogation, and behaviour modulation/regulation. We review factors that are likely to influence the adoption of one of these responses, and then consider potential implications that each type of response may have for individuals' experiences during interactions, the development of interethnic friendships, and the attenuation of prejudice.     

The Effect of Relationships on Decision-Making Processes of Women in Harare,Zimbabwe

A preliminary study aimed at investigating the potential impact of relationships on decision-making process and autonomy of women was conducted in Harare, Zimbabwe. The majority of women surveyed (87.6%) were prepared to consult their husbands, whereas only 46.6% said they would consult their relatives prior to participation in health research. Only 6.2% and 11.3% were prepared to keep their participation secret from their husbands their relatives, respectively. Overall, 58.6% were rated as autonomous, 22.5% partially autonomous, and 18.9% were rated as not autonomous. Age, educational level, employment status, and marital status of respondents were significantly associated with autonomous decision-making process.     

Environmental Behavior of Visitors to a Science Museum

ABSTRACT

Increasingly, informal science and environmental education institutions are addressing conservation messaging and environmental behavior in programming, exhibits, and interpretation. Yet, little is known about what pro-environmental behaviors visitors are currently undertaking, what characteristics those environmental behaviors may have in common, and what differences might exist among visitor populations. This study investigated environmental behaviors and attitudes of visitors (N = 689) to an informal science museum, including separate foci on members and nonmembers based on previous work suggesting differences between the two groups. To improve research, policy, and educational interventions that address environmental behavior, researchers have long sought to uncover relationships among unique environmental behaviors. To this end, the authors explored whether five commonly recommended pro-environmental behaviors shared underlying characteristics that could be used to group those behaviors. They uncovered some dissimilarity in self-reported environmental behaviors among members and nonmembers. Although no single shared construct underlying the behaviors was evident, the authors did find, for nonmember visitors, a suite of three traditional environmental behaviors and, for members, a suite of four contemporary environmental behaviors. They discuss implications for practice and future research.