PERSONAL ATTITUDES OR STRUCTURAL FACTORS? A CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF BREASTFEEDING DURATION

A personal attitudes model (i.e., infant feeding choices are based on personal attitudes primarily) and a structural factors model (i.e., feeding choices are shaped by the structural contexts of women's lives, as much as personal attitudes) of women's breastfeeding behavior were tested by surveying a longitudinal sample of 548 mostly European American women recruited for the Wisconsin Maternity Leave and Health Project. Personal attitudes (enjoyment of breastfeeding, gender-role attitudes, and work and family salience) accounted for half as much variance in breastfeeding duration for women who were employed outside the home compared to those who were not. For women employed outside the home, both structural variables (length of maternity leave and workplace flexibility) and personal attitudes predicted duration. These results have implications for how we construct the issue of women's breastfeeding decisions.     

Body Objectification,MTV, and Psychological Outcomes Among Female Adolescents1

In response to the American Psychological Association's Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls, the present study explored the role of sexually objectifying media—in this case, music television—in a host of psychological consequences among a community sample of adolescents girls (M age = 13 years). Objectification theory posits that the consequences of sexual objectification involve the process of self‐objectification. As such, we hypothesized that music television consumption would first and foremost be associated with self‐objectification, which would, in turn, predict a number of body‐related consequences. The findings support a model in which self‐objectification mediates a direct relation between music television viewing and body esteem, dieting, depressive symptoms, anxiety, and confidence in math ability.     

CAN META-ANALYSIS MAKE FEMINIST TRANSFORMATIONS IN PSYCHOLOGY?

Meta-analysis is a statistical method for literature reviewing. Metaanalyses of gender differences in verbal ability, spatial ability, mathematics performance, helping behavior, and sexuality illustrate the ways in which this technique can illuminate research on gender differences. Meta-analysis can make feminist transformations in psychology by: (a) challenging long-standing beliefs in gender differences, (b) demonstrating the extent to which gendered behavior is context-dependent and the product of gender roles, (c) examining the intersection between gender and race/ethnicity, and (d) providing powerful data to counter assertions of difference and female inferiority that proliferate in the popular media.     

Abdominal muscle response to a simulated weight-bearing task by elite Australian Rules football players

The aim of this study was to examine the automatic recruitment of the deep abdominal muscles during a unilateral simulated weight-bearing task by elite Australian Rules football (AFL) players with and without low back pain (LBP). An observational cross-sectional study was conducted using ultrasound imaging to measure the thickness of the internal oblique (IO) and transversus abdominis (TrA) muscles. Thirty-seven elite male AFL players participated. Repeated measures factors included 'force level' (rest, 25% and 45% of body weight), 'leg' (dominant or non-dominant kicking leg) and 'side' (ultrasound side ipsilateral or contralateral to the leg used for the weight-bearing task). The dependent variables were thickness of the IO and TrA muscles. The results of this study showed that thickness of the IO (p<.0001) and TrA (p<.0001) muscles increased in response to 'force level'. During the task, the thickness of the IO muscle on the contralateral side of the trunk relative to the leg being tested, increased more in participants with current LBP (p=.034). This pattern was more distinct on the non-dominant kicking leg. Altered abdominal muscle recruitment in elite athletes with low back pain may be an attempt by the central nervous system (CNS) to compensate for inadequate lumbo-pelvic stability.     

Habit strength moderates the strength of within-person relations between weekly self-reported and objectively-assessed physical activity

ObjectivesPhysical activity (PA) habit strength influences how people control their PA and may also influence how people encode, store, or recall their PA. This study evaluated whether individual differences in PA habit strength moderated the magnitude of within-person associations between weekly self-reported PA and step counts.DesignLongitudinal.MethodAfter an initial assessment of PA habit strength, university students wore pedometers for four weeks and completed four self-reports of weekly mild, moderate, and strenuous PA.ResultsOn average, people's weekly step counts and self-reported PA across time were weakly-to-moderately associated, but there was substantial variability in the magnitude of these associations across people. People with strong PA habits had weaker within-person associations between deviations from their average self-reported PA and step counts than those with weak PA habits.ConclusionsThese results may indicate that PA habit strength influences the sensitivity of self-report PA measures to change in objectively-measured PA.     

The dark side of career preference: dark side traits,motives, and values

Over 2000 people completed two validated questionnaires: one measuring “dark side” personality traits and the other a measure of values and preferences that indicates the type of work that an individual would like to do and is best suited for. Dark side variables (and demographics) accounted for between 11% (science) and 46% (affiliation) variance in specific vocation related values. Factor analysis suggested three overall value/vocation factors (enterprising, traditional, and social) and three dark side variables (moving against, away from, and toward others). The three dark side factors predicted around a third of the variance in favoring enterprising and social occupations. Implications for vocational guidance and limitations of the study are considered.     

An investigation into the effects of meditation with children in a Catholic primary school

This article reports on some findings of a small research project that examined the role of meditation in enhancing the relational lives of children, in particular, their relationship with God. It begins by discussing the literature on relevant research studies that investigate different aspects of meditation. The research method in the project was a case study that involved one Catholic primary school in the Melbourne Archdiocese. Different data collecting strategies were utilised, and this article presents and discusses the analysis and findings from one data source – the analysis and interpretation of a drawing activity which was designed to follow one of the weekly meditation exercises that had been observed by the researchers. Finally, the implications of the findings for education and, in particular, religious education are presented.     

Facilitation of receptive and productive foreign vocabulary learning using the keyword method: The role of image quality

Ellis and Beaton (1993a) reported that the keyword method of learning enhanced memory of foreign vocabulary items when receptive learning was measured. However, for productive learning, rote repetition was superior to the keyword method. The first two experiments reported here show that, in comparison with rote repetition, both receptive and productive learning can be enhanced by the keyword method, provided that the quality of the keyword images is adequate. In a third experiment using a subset of words from Ellis and Beaton (1993a), the finding they reported, that for productive learning rote repetition was superior to the keyword method, was reversed. The quality of keyword images will vary from study to study and any generalisation regarding the efficacy of the keyword method must take this into account.