Perceived Responder Legitimacy and Group Identification Predict Cooperation and Compliance in a Mass Decontamination Field Exercise

Emergency responders' failure to communicate effectively during decontamination following a chemical or biological incident has been associated with increased public anxiety and reduced public compliance. In this study we applied the social identity approach to evaluating a field exercise that involved mass decontamination. Questionnaires were collected from 115 volunteers, who participated in the exercise as simulated casualties. Volunteers' perceptions of effective responder communication predicted increased self-reported compliance with decontamination, mediated by perceived responder legitimacy and identification with other group members. Developing effective communication strategies using a social psychology perspective could improve the way in which incidents are managed.     

Can the LTSI Predict Transfer Performance? Testing intent to transfer as a proximal transfer of training outcome

Law enforcement personnel (n = 235) were administered the Learning Transfer Systems Inventory (LTSI) and a transfer measure after completing leadership development training. Although most studies using the LTSI have focused on validation efforts in different linguistic settings, this study is one of the few to examine the relationship between the LTSI factors and a proximal transfer outcome score (as measured by intent to transfer). Motivation to transfer, transfer design, and transfer performance expectations had the strongest relationship with intent to transfer, and the motivation subscales (motivation to transfer, performance expectations, and outcome expectations) accounted for the largest amount of unique variance in intent to transfer.     

Maternal Guilt and Shame: The Role of Self-discrepancy and Fear of Negative Evaluation

Guilt and shame are emotions commonly associated with motherhood. Self-discrepancy theory proposes that guilt and shame result from perceived discrepancies between one’s actual and ideal selves. Fear of negative evaluation by others may enhance the effects of self-discrepancy especially for shame, which involves fear of others’ reproach. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between self discrepancy, guilt, shame, and fear of negative evaluation in a cross-sectional, self report study of mothers. Mothers of children five and under (N = 181) completed an on-line survey measuring guilt, shame, fear of negative evaluation, and maternal self-discrepancies. Guilt and shame were related to maternal self-discrepancy and fear of negative evaluation. In addition, fear of negative evaluation moderated the relationship between maternal self-discrepancy and shame such that mothers who greatly feared negative evaluation had a very strong relationship between these variables. Maternal self-discrepancy and shame were not related among mothers who had low fear of negative evaluation. The results are discussed in terms of the detrimental effects of internalizing idealized standards of perfect motherhood.     

Development and Validation of a Quantitative Measure of Intensive Parenting Attitudes

Intensive mothering (IM) attitudes have been considered the dominant discourse of motherhood, but have only been assessed qualitatively The goal of this study was to develop a quantitative scale to assess these ideologies, their construct validity, and their relationship to relevant constructs (i.e., work status and division of household labor). An on-line questionnaire was given to 595 mothers asking 56 questions assessing different aspects of IM attitudes as well as several validation measures. An Exploratory Factor Analysis on 315 randomly selected mothers yielded a 5 factor solution. A Confirmatory Factor Analysis on the remaining 280 mothers demonstrated good fit. The five factors expressed the ideas that (1) women are inherently better at parenting than men (Essentialism), (2) parenting should be fulfilling (Fulfillment), (3) children should be cognitively stimulated by parents (Stimulation), (4) mothering is difficult (Challenging), and (5) parents should prioritize the needs of the child (Child-Centered). Scales had adequate reliability and construct validity compared to the Parental Investment in the Child questionnaire, the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale, and Beliefs about Maternal Employment. The Essentialism, Fulfillment, and Challenging scales were positively related to having more responsibility for child care and household chores. Stay-at-home mothers had higher scores on Essentialism and lower scores on Stimulation than both part-time and full-time working mothers supporting the notion that both working and non-working mothers have intensive parenting ideologies that are manifested in different ways.     

Childhood Psychological Trauma and First‐Year College Students' Substance Dependence

First‐year college students (N= 143) completed the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory‐3 and a questionnaire about childhood traumatic experiences. As the number of traumatic experiences increases, so does the likelihood of substance use in college.     

A Rasch Analysis of the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory–3

Rasch analysis of the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory–3 (SASSI‐3; F. G. Miller & Lazowski, 1999 ) indicated that the SASSI‐3 meets fundamental measurement properties; however, the authors of the current study recommend the elimination of nonfunctioning items and the improvement of response options for the face valid scales to increase functioning and ease of use.     

Perceptions of the Impact of Refugees on Host Communities: The Case of Liberian Refugees in Ghana

This paper analyses the effects of the presence of Liberian refugees on cost of goods/services and business activities, pressure on resources/facilities, social vices and environmental activities based on perceptions (although attempts have been made to buttress the perceptions with information from focus group discussions) of hosts and refugees. The analysis included gender and type of occupation from within and among the groups. The aim was to ascertain whether the presence of refugees are viewed as having positive, negative or mixed impacts. Data are from 10 focus group discussions and 120 household surveys undertaken in April 2007. Results show that although there are gender and occupational differentials, host communities contend that refugees have increased the costs of goods and services, brought pressure on facilities, increased social vices and deteriorated environmental resources. However, refugees are viewed as a source of income and market, and trade partners, who have brought a lot of infrastructural developments. Thus, one can describe refugee presence as having mixed impacts.     

A corpus of consonant–vowel–consonant real words and nonwords: Comparison of phonotactic probability, neighborhood density, and consonant age of acquisition

A corpus of 5,765 consonant–vowel–consonant sequences (CVCs) was compiled, and phonotactic probability and neighborhood density were computed for both child and adult corpora. This corpus of CVCs, provided as supplementary materials, was analyzed to address the following questions: (1) Do computations based on a child corpus differ from those based on an adult corpus? (2) Do the phonotactic probability and/or the neighborhood density of real words differ from those of nonwords? (3) Do phonotactic probability and/or neighborhood density differ across CVCs that vary in consonant age of acquisition? The results showed significant differences in phonotactic probability and neighborhood density for the child versus adult corpora, replicating prior findings. The impact of this difference on future studies will depend on the level of precision needed when specifying probability and density. In addition, significant and large differences in phonotactic probability and neighborhood density were detected between real words and nonwords, which may present methodological challenges for future research. Finally, CVCs composed of earlier-acquired sounds differed significantly in probability and density from those composed of later-acquired sounds, although this effect was relatively small and is less likely to present significant methodological challenges to future studies.     

Sharing specific “We” autobiographical memories in close relationships: the role of contact frequency

Sharing memories in conversations with close others is posited to be part of the social function of autobiographical memory. The present research focused on the sharing of a particular type of memory: Specific memories about one-time co-experienced events, which we termed Specific We memories. Two studies with 595 total participants examined the factors that lead to and/or are influenced by the sharing of Specific We memories. In Study 1, participants reported on their most recent conversation. Specific We memories were reportedly discussed most often in conversations with others who were close and with whom the participant had frequent communication. In Study 2, participants were randomly assigned either to increase or to simply record the frequency of communication with a close other (parent). Increases in the frequency of reported sharing of Specific We memories as well as closeness to the parent resulted. Mediation analyses of both studies revealed causal relationships among reported sharing of Specific We memories and closeness. We discuss the relevance of these results for understanding the social function of autobiographical memory.