Exploring client contribution in a cognitive intervention for test anxiety

Aim: To study client contributions in cognitive therapy. Specifically, to study ways of making an intervention against test anxiety work, based on interviews with 32 test‐anxious university students. Method: Interviews after their first examination following the intervention were analysed using a thematic analysis. Results: Although most participants reacted positively to the intervention, concerns emerged that adopting positive self‐statements might be deceptive. Concerns about the untruthfulness of positive self‐statements led clients to generate several possible resolutions, namely, to examine flaws in negative self‐statements, to realise that there is more than one realistic way to construe things, to consider the evidence in the form of reduced anxiety, to consider manageable steps, and to seek interpersonal validation of positive self‐statements. Conclusions: The results offer concrete resolutions developed by clients that might be useful for other clients who have reservations about positive self‐statements.     

The experience of bullying in Great Britain: The impact of organizational status

This study explores some epidemiological features of bullying in Great Britain by means of a large-scale, nationwide survey, focusing on the differences in experience with regard to organizational status. Few differences were found for the experience of self-reported bullying between workers, supervisors, middle, or senior managers. The prevalence of bullying, duration of experience, status of perpetrator, whether the experience was shared with others or not, were similar across these organizational status groups. However, different factors may account for the experience of self-reported bullying for each of the organizational status groups. More discrepancies emerged when the behavioural experience of bullying was compared across groups. Workers and supervisors were more frequently exposed to negative acts than managers. They were also more likely to have been exposed to derogatory or exclusionary behaviour, whereas managers more frequently reported exposure to extreme work pressure. Moreover, when the results were adjusted for the possible impact of gender, a number of discrepancies between the organizational status groups emerged. The interaction between status and gender was explained by reference to cultural differences between men and women, the phenomenon of the ''glass-ceiling'' and the interaction between such factors and the prevailing socio-economic situation.     

Exploration of Jewish Ethnic Identity

Despite a growing amount of research on the topic of ethnic identity, Jews, and the important aspects of a Jewish identity, have not been included in the multicultural and psychological literature. Using consensual qualitative research (C. E. Hill et al., 2005), the authors sought to gain an understanding of Jewish ethnic identity in 10 American young adults, ages 20–27, who identified as Conservative Jews. Six themes were identified: (a) perception of Jewish identity based in multiple influences, (b) personalization of a Jewish identity, (c) reinforcers of a Jewish identity, (d) challenges in holding on to Jewish identity, (e) critical incidents necessitating the expression of one's Jewishness, and (f) critical incidents necessitating the denial of one's Jewishness.     

Perceiving college peers’ alcohol consumption: temporal patterns and individual differences in overestimation

Objective: This study examines temporal patterns and individual differences of overestimation in alcohol norm perception within a social network.

Design: Hundred psychology freshmen indicated biweekly during their first semester the drinks they consumed, the perceived average of their peers’ consumption, and with whom they were acquainted. At baseline, trait self-control was assessed.

Main outcome: The moderation of alcohol consumption overestimation by time and individual characteristics was explored.

Results: Results show that students overestimated alcohol consumption of their acquainted peers by 1.22 drinks (p?<?.001). For time periods at which peers reported high consumption, overestimation decreased. Additionally, individuals reporting high alcohol consumption (b?=??0.25, p?<?.001) and low self-control (b?=?0.27, p?=?.010) showed higher overestimation.

Conclusions: Students overestimate the alcohol consumption of peers not fully accounting for changes in peer-reports. Furthermore, individual differences suggest informational and motivational processes underlying overestimation.     

The role of self-regulation in derogating attractive alternatives

The present research addresses the question of how romantically involved individuals are able to shield their ongoing romantic relationship from the temptation of attractive alternative partners. Specifically, two studies examined, and supported, the prediction that self-regulation promotes romantically involved individuals’ tendency to derogate attractive others as potential partners. Heterosexual participants responded to pictures of attractive and unattractive opposite-sex others by indicating their interest in these others as potential partners. In both studies the possibility for self-regulation exertion was manipulated (by means of self-regulation depletion in Study 1, and time-pressure in Study 2). When self-regulatory resources were relatively high, romantically involved participants exhibited less interest in attractive opposite-sex others than non-involved participants. However, when self-regulatory resources were low, interest in attractive opposite-sex others did not differ between romantically involved and non-involved participants.