Culture and the distinctiveness motive: constructing identity in individualistic and collectivistic contexts

The motive to attain a distinctive identity is sometimes thought to be stronger in, or even specific to, those socialized into individualistic cultures. Using data from 4,751 participants in 21 cultural groups (18 nations and 3 regions), we tested this prediction against our alternative view that culture would moderate the ways in which people achieve feelings of distinctiveness, rather than influence the strength of their motivation to do so. We measured the distinctiveness motive using an indirect technique to avoid cultural response biases. Analyses showed that the distinctiveness motive was not weaker-and, if anything, was stronger-in more collectivistic nations. However, individualism-collectivism was found to moderate the ways in which feelings of distinctiveness were constructed: Distinctiveness was associated more closely with difference and separateness in more individualistic cultures and was associated more closely with social position in more collectivistic cultures. Multilevel analysis confirmed that it is the prevailing beliefs and values in an individual's context, rather than the individual's own beliefs and values, that account for these differences.     

A Millennial Misconception: Prophets as prognosticators

A preoccupation with predicting the second coming of Christ and the end of the world has led premillennialists to regard the Hebrew prophets primarily as prognosticators who foretold events which would take place hundreds of years after their own time. This article explores the background to and the legacy of this misconception. After noting the premillennialist understanding of prophecy, it considers the perceived relationship between the Jewish people and the end-time in Christian fundamentalist thought. The dangers associated with such a distorted view of Scripture are highlighted in the final part.     

Effects of endogenous spatial attention on the detection and discrimination of spatial frequencies

Two experiments were designed to explore the relationship between visual attention and spatial-frequency processing using a cuing paradigm. In both experiments, the targets were a sharp-edged line segment with high spatial frequencies present and a blurred line segment with only low spatial frequencies present. In each trial an endogenous cue appeared at fixation indicating the probable location, left or right, in which a stimulus would appear. In experiment 1, a typical cuing effect was found with simple reaction times (RTs) for detecting the stimuli being faster when they appeared at a cued (ie attended) compared to an uncued (ie unattended) location. In experiment 2, choice RTs were measured, with participants indicating whether the sharp-edged line segment or the blurred line segment was presented in each trial. In this case, when it was necessary to process the spatial-frequency content of the stimuli, RTs were significantly faster at the attended location only for the sharp-edged line segment. For the blurred line segment without high spatial frequencies, RTs did not differ for attended and unattended locations. The results indicate that endogenous spatial attention interacts differently with high-spatial-frequency and low-spatial-frequency selective mechanisms depending on whether the task is to detect a stimulus or identify it on the basis of its spatial-frequency content.     

Avoidance behavior in panic disorder: the moderating influence of perceived control

The relations among anxiety sensitivity, perceived control, and agoraphobia were examined in 239 patients diagnosed with panic disorder (PD). Most patients exhibited agoraphobia accompanying their PD (98% situational avoidance; 90% experiential avoidance; and 80% endorsed interoceptive fear and avoidance). Anxiety sensitivity and perceived emotional control were associated with agoraphobia, and perceived threat control was found to moderate the relationship between anxiety sensitivity and agoraphobia. Lower levels of perceived control were associated with a stronger relationship between anxiety sensitivity and agoraphobia. Results were consistent for self-reported and clinician-rated agoraphobia. Implications for the role of perceived control in agoraphobia development and treatment are discussed.     

Fitting a Thurstonian IRT model to forced-choice data using Mplus

To counter response distortions associated with the use of rating scales (a.k.a. Likert scales), items can be presented in a comparative fashion, so that respondents are asked to rank the items within blocks (forced-choice format). However, classical scoring procedures for these forced-choice designs lead to ipsative data, which presents psychometric challenges that are well described in the literature. Recently, Brown and Maydeu-Olivares (Educational and Psychological Measurement 71: 460–502, 2011a) introduced a model based on Thurstone’s law of comparative judgment, which overcomes the problems of ipsative data. Here, we provide a step-by-step tutorial for coding forced-choice responses, specifying a Thurstonian item response theory model that is appropriate for the design used, assessing the model’s fit, and scoring individuals on psychological attributes. Estimation and scoring is performed using Mplus, and a very straightforward Excel macro is provided that writes full Mplus input files for any forced-choice design. Armed with these tools, using a forced-choice design is now as easy as using ratings.     

Family of Origin Coaching for Clinicians in a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service

The role of the therapist as a person rather than only as a technician has become increasingly important in family therapy since the post-modern turn. Despite this there is a paucity of research exploring supervision models that focus on self-reflection, as opposed to clinical competence. This study documents the experience of a Family of Origin Coaching group, conducted with six clinicians and one supervisor working in a child and adolescent mental health service. A participatory action framework was used, with data analysed using grounded theory. A variety of benefits were reported, including personal development, an enhanced empathy towards clients and an ability to better cope with stressful team dynamics. Family of Origin coaching has the potential to yield benefits for clinicians as a compliment to traditional supervision. Issues of confidentiality and safety need to be addressed carefully, especially during times of organisational change or stress.     

An Uncontrolled Examination of a 5-Day Intensive Treatment for Pediatric OCD

This study examined the feasibility of a 5-day intensive treatment for pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Fifteen children with OCD received a week-long treatment based on exposure and response prevention (ERP). The intervention also emphasized teaching children and parents how to conduct ERP independently at home. All families completed the week-long treatment and symptoms improved significantly as measured by self- and parent-report forms, as well as the Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, F(2, 22) = 45.67, p < .05. Total CY-BOCS scores decreased significantly from pretreatment (M = 28.00, SD = 4.24) to posttreatment [M = 16.00, SD = 6.0, F(1, 11) = 34.38, p < .05] and from posttreatment to 5-month follow-up [M = 11.5, SD = 7.3; F(1, 11) = 12.94, p < .05]. This level of improvement was consistent with other intensive treatments for pediatric OCD. The study suggests that the 5-day program is a promising treatment for children with OCD who do not have access to local providers.     

Involvement of shared resources in time judgment and sequence reasoning tasks

Previous research suggests that time perception is supported by the same attentional resources involved in sequence processing. The present experiment was designed to clarify this connection by examining the relation between timing and reasoning tasks that involved either sequencing or non-sequencing judgments. For the timing task, subjects produced a series of 5-s intervals. For the reasoning tasks, subjects judged whether pairs of statements describing common actions either (a) were presented in the correct temporal order (sequencing), or (b) described similar actions or objects (similarity). Subjects performed the timing and reasoning tasks both separately and concurrently in a series of 3-minute trials. Comparisons of single-task and dual-task performance assessed interference patterns between concurrent tasks. Both reasoning tasks interfered with timing by making temporal productions longer and more variable. Timing had differential effects on the two reasoning tasks. Concurrent timing caused sequencing judgments to become slower, less accurate, and less sensitive relative to sequencing-only conditions. In contrast, similarity judgments were either unaffected or affected to a lesser degree by the concurrent timing task. These results support the notion that timing and sequencing are closely related processes that rely on the same set of cognitive resources or mechanisms.     

Traditionality and the Discriminating Effect of Expectations of Occupational Success and Occupational Values for Women within Math-Oriented Fields

Success expectations and vocational values have been identified as important features of women's career pursuits. Also, examination of differences among women pursuing traditionally and nontraditionally open fields has proven illuminating. Nonetheless, the women compared in such studies often pursued fields requiring vastly different competencies, interests, and training. This study investigated possible differences between women majoring in math-oriented fields in a traditionally closed area, engineering, and those in a traditionally open area, math education, with respect to success expectations in such fields and to the importance of various vocational outcomes. Success expectations for traditional and nontraditional occupations distinguished between the two groups, as did values for a number of vocational outcomes. In understanding women's career choices, the findings support the role of success expectations, the little studied role of outcome desirability, and the value of examining within-group occupational orientations within fields differing in traditionality but requiring similar skills, training, and interests.