Connected and Isolated Victims of Relational Aggression: Associations with Peer Group Status and Differences between Girls and Boys

Some adolescents who are relationally victimized by gossip and ostracism have limited close connections to a peer or friendship group, but victimization also can be group-based, occurring between or within friendship groups. The purpose of this study was to test gender differences in these two forms of victimization, referred to as isolated and connected victimization, and to test associations of each form with peer status (social prominence and preference within the peer group) and aggressive behavior. We expected that associations between victimization, especially connected victimization, peer status and aggressive behavior would differ for boys and girls. Australian students (N = 335, M _age = 12.5 years) self-reported victimization, and nominated peers who were victimized, accepted, rejected, socially prominent, and unpopular. Connected and isolated forms of victimization were correlated, but differences were found in their correlations with other measures and by gender. Especially when reported by peers, adolescents higher in connected victimization were also higher in both aggression and social prominence (i.e., they were more popular and considered leaders); yet, they were also more disliked (rejected). In contrast to connected victimization, isolated victimization was associated with negative peer status only, and weakly and inconsistently associated with aggression. Finally, gender moderation was found, which showed a pattern of aggression, prominence and dislike among adolescent females who were connected victims, but this pattern was not nearly as pronounced in their male counterparts.     

Relationships beliefs and relationship quality across cultures: Country as a moderator of dysfunctional beliefs and relationship quality in three former Communist societies

Research on the correlation between relationship beliefs and quality has rarely considered the impact of culture. In this study, 206 manual workers, students, and entrepreneurs from Georgia, Hungary, and Russia completed a modified Relationship Beliefs Inventory (Eidelson & Epstein, 1982, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 50, 715) and the Abbreviated Dyadic Adjustment Scale (Sharpley & Rogers, 1984, Educational and Psychological Measurement, 44, 1045). Results indicated a significant pan‐cultural correlation between dysfunctional beliefs and relationship quality but a moderating effect for country, with dysfunctional beliefs in Hungary explaining more than four times of the variance in relationship quality than in the other countries. Findings are interpreted in light of major value and ecological differences between the three countries.     

When sentimental rules collide: "norms with feelings" in the dilemmatic context

According to a recently prominent account of moral judgment, genuine moral disapprobation is a product of two convergent vectors of normative influence: a strong negative affect that arises from the mere consideration of a given piece of human conduct and a (socially acquired) belief that this conduct is wrong (Nichols, 2002). The existing evidence in favor of this “norms with feelings” proposal is rather mixed, with no obvious route to an empirical resolution. To help shed further light on the situation, we test a previously unexamined prediction that this account logically yields in a novel dilemmatic context: when individuals are faced with a moral dilemma that pits two or more “affectively-charged” moral norms against each other, the norm underwritten by the strongest feeling ought to determine the content of dilemmatic resolution. Across three studies, we find evidence that directly challenges this prediction, offering support for a Kolhberg-style “rationalist” alternative instead. More specifically, we find that it is not the participants’ degree of norm-congruent emotion (whether situationally or dispositionally assessed) or its correlates, but rather their appraisal of the relative costs associated with various alternative courses of action that appears to be most predictive of how they resolve the experimentally induced moral conflict. We conclude by situating our studies within an overarching typology of moral encounters, which, we believe, can help guide future research as well as shed light on some current controversies within this literature.     

Reductions in anxiety and improvements in teaching associated with cue-controlled relaxation training

This study examined the efficacy of cue-controlled relaxation, taught in three 2-hour workshops, in reducing the anxiety of two elementary school teachers. Anxiety was measured using direct observation of external behavior and self-report of internal states; and the effects of anxiety reduction on selected teaching behaviors were also examined. Following training, both teachers exhibited significant reductions in motoric manifestations of anxiety and in some self-reported internal states. Both teachers showed significant increases in rewarding behavior, and they reduced disapproving behavior to zero on most days. Even though results were not maintained following the treatment program, this study demonstrated that training in the self-management of stress and tension can significantly affect the anxiety and teaching behaviors of teachers.