Book reviews

Religion and Globalisation. Peter Beyer, 1994 London: Sage Publications 250 pp., £12.95 pb, £37.50 hb ISBN 0–8039–8917–2

The Religious Culture of India: Power, Love and Wisdom. Friedhelm Hardy, 1994 Cambridge Studies in Religious Traditions 4, Cambridge University Press xiii + 613 pp. £55.00, US$74.95 ISBN 0–521–44181–1

Judaism and Other Faiths. Dan Cohn‐Sherbok, 1994 Basingstoke: Macmillan Press ix + 186 pp., £40.00 hb ISBN 0–312–10384–0.

Women in Religion Jean Holm with John Bowker, eds., 1994 London and New York: Pinter Publishers 181 pp., £29.50 hb, £9.99 pb ISBN 1–85567–108–5 hb, ISBN 1–85567–109–3 pb

Attitudes to Nature. Jean Holm (ed.) with John Bowker, 1994 London and New York: Pinter Publishers 172 pp., £23.50 hb, £9.99 pb ISBN 1–85567–092–5 hb, ISBN 1–85567–093–3 pb

Sacred Writings. Jean Holm (ed.) with John Bowker, 1994 London and New York: Pinter Publications 201 pp., £29.50 hb, £9.99 pb ISBN 1–85567–106–9 hb; 1–85567–107–7 pb

The Gospel of Buddha. Paul Carus, 1994 Oxford: Oneworld Publications 306 pp., £6.95 ISBN 1–85168–026–8

The New Religious Order: The Passionists and the Option for the Poor. James Sweeney CP, 1994 London: Bellew Publishing 240 pp., £35.00 ISBN 1–85725–105–9

Religions in the UK: A Multi‐Faith Directory. Paul Weller (ed), researched by Rachelle Castle and Paul Weller, 1993 Mickleover, Derby: University of Derby, in association with The Inter Faith Network for the United Kingdom 651 pp., £25.00 (incl. p&p) ISBN 0–901437–06–9     

Time,Money, or Gender? Predictors of the Division of Household Labour Across Life Stages

Drawing on a life course perspective and data gathered during three developmental periods—the transition to adulthood (age 25; n = 168), young adulthood (age 32; n = 337), and midlife (age 43; n = 309), we explored patterns of division of household labour among Canadian men and women. We also investigated associations among housework responsibility and variables representing time availability (i.e., work hours), relative resource (i.e., earning a greater share of income in a relationship), and gender constructionist perspectives (i.e., marital status and raising children) at three life course stages. Results indicated women performed more housework than men at all ages. Regression analyses revealed housework responsibility was most reliably predicted by relative income and gender at age 25; work hours and raising children at age 32; and work hours, relative income, and gender at age 43. Gender moderated the influence of raising children at age 32. Overall, the relative resource perspective was supported during the transition to adulthood and in midlife, the time availability perspective was supported in young adulthood and in midlife, and certain elements of the gender constructionist perspective were supported at all life stages. The present study contributes to the division of household labour literature by disentangling the predictive power of time, resource, and gender perspectives on housework at distinct life stages.     

Longitudinal Associations of Parental Emotion Socialization and Children’s Emotion Regulation: The Moderating Role of ADHD Symptomatology

Theory and research suggest that parents’ reactions to children’s emotions play a critical role in teaching children effective emotion regulation (ER) skills, but no studies have directly examined the role that parent emotion socialization plays in the development of ER in children with ADHD. Gaining insight into the causes of impaired ER, particularly in youth with ADHD who are known to have poor ER, has important theoretical and translational significance. The present study is the first to longitudinally examine whether emotion socialization predicts later physiological and adult-reported measures of ER in children with and without ADHD. It also sought to determine if these relations are moderated by ADHD symptoms. Participants were 61 children (31 girls, 30 boys; M = 10.67 years, SD = 1.28) with and without clinically significant ADHD symptoms. At Time 1, parent reports of emotion socialization and parent- and teacher-report of child ADHD symptoms were collected. At Time 2, child ER measures were collected based on parent- and teacher-report and physiological reactivity during an impossible puzzle and a social rejection task. Physiological measures included respiratory sinus arrhythmia and skin conductance level (SCL). Supportive parenting practices were associated with better parent-rated emotion regulation skills for all children and greater SCL reactivity for children with high ADHD symptoms. Non-supportive parenting reactions were associated with greater adult-rated emotional lability for children with high ADHD symptoms. Results highlight the importance of considering multiple aspects of ER, including physiological manifestations. Findings suggest that parents’ use of adaptive emotion socialization practices may serve as a protective factor for children’s ER development and may be particularly critical for youth with ADHD. Our findings support the use of interventions addressing parent emotion socialization to help foster better ER in children.     

Revisionist reporting

Philosophical Studies - Several theorists have observed that attitude reports have what we call “revisionist” uses. For example, even if Pete has never met Ann and has no idea that she...     

Perfectionism and the pursuit of personal goals: A self-determination theory analysis

Previous studies have shown that self-critical and personal standards forms of perfectionism are associated with progress on personal goals in opposite ways. The present study used a 5-wave prospective longitudinal design to examine what motivational factors account for the finding that self-critical perfectionism has been reliably associated with poor goal progress whereas personal standard perfectionism has been associated with good progress. Specifically, we adopted a self-determination theory perspective to examine the role of autonomy in mediating the effects of perfectionism. Our results replicated previous findings linking the two forms of perfectionism with opposite patterns of goal progress. Importantly, the results suggested that the negative goal effects of self-critical perfectionism are mediated by lower levels of autonomous goal motivation. The results also demonstrated links from personal standards perfectionism to greater autonomous goal motivation. Interestingly, the effects of self-critical perfectionism on goal progress appeared to be dynamic over time and implicated affective mechanisms. The results of the investigation point to the value of adopting a self-determination theory perspective to understand perfectionism.     

Group identity‐based self‐protective strategies: the stigma of race,gender, and garlic

We examine the importance of group membership in stigma and its role in the effectiveness of self‐protective cognitions in three experiments. In Experiment 1, men are asked to interact with an attractive female who will judge their value as a potential date, and either eat a mint or a clove of raw garlic prior to the interview. Although the stigmatized‐by‐garlic men discounted negative feedback and attributed it to their garlic breath, discounting and attributions were negatively correlated with self‐esteem. In Experiment 2, White participants were evaluated positively or negatively by a bogus partner who the participants believed had been told that the participant was either White or Black. Although participants receiving negative feedback engaged in several self‐protective cognitions, including attributing their negative feedback to racism, the strategies were uncorrelated with self‐esteem. In Experiment 3, women prepared to interact via computer with a partner who expressed sexist or non‐sexist beliefs. In the absence of feedback, self‐esteem increased when their partner was sexist. In contrast with the first two experiments, perceiving the partner as prejudiced was significantly and positively correlated with self‐esteem. Together, these experiments suggest that self‐protective cognitions find their effectiveness when stigma has a basis in group membership. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Infant crying and parent–infant interaction: Theory and measurement

Infant crying is frequently quantified as a primary dependent variable in studies where the goal is to understand and soothe infant crying within the context of the parent–infant relationship. Through a historical review and an examination of studies and measurement techniques, the utility of quantifying infant crying is discussed. Although duration and timing of infant crying may be a practical concern for families and health professionals, the effectiveness of soothing interventions may not be best examined by attempts to measure unit reductions in infant crying. Rather, developing an understanding of infant crying within the context of parent–infant relationships may have more utility. Understanding infant crying in context may provide direction to the selection of soothing interventions and to more appropriate measures of the effectiveness of such interventions. ©1999 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

Female behavior in populations of mice in the presence and absence of male hierarchy

Female aggression may be the regulator of population size in small mammals. Freely growing populations of house mice showed several differences in aggressive female behavior in the presence and the absence of a male hierarchy. Territoriality in females and not in males appeared to maintain social order and regulate population density. Certain females were seen patrolling and guarding the territory and chasing and fighting with both male and female intruders. These females did not fight amongst themselves, suggesting that they were not fighting for rank (as do the males) but for territory. Although these aggressive females produced young, the pups were neglected, and few were weaned. The non-aggressive females were the successful breeders. Aggression by the females only occurred when there was reproduction and increased densities. Assembled females with no males present never show this aggression. The occurrence of “male-type” behavior became most apparent when the males were removed at peak population densities. The removed males were then castrated and injected with testosterone cyprionate. Doses were increased by population cage, and therefore all males returned to each freely growing population were given the same dose. The males given oil placebo injections showed no return of a male hierarchy and the females showed high levels of aggression toward them. Males injected with testosterone cyprionate showed return of male aggression and fighting and mounting of females. But the new “dominant” females continued their patrols and chased males away from their territories and did not permit these males to mount. Male-male fighting consisted primarily of frontal attacks to the face and roll and tumble fights. Female-male aggression consisted primarily of attacks to the posterior region targeted at the base of the tail and the genitals of the male. The males were rarely seen attacking females and then only during mating. Females only attacked each other in defense of their territories.