Developmental and dyadic perspectives on commitment in adult romantic relationships

We tested hypotheses concerning the developmental roots of becoming the "weak-link" (less committed) partner in adult romantic relationships and the associations between partners' absolute and relative levels of commitment and dyadic outcomes. We examined 78 target 20- to 21-year-olds who were involved in a romantic relationship and who had been studied since birth. As predicted, people who received lower-quality support from caregivers in toddlerhood or who were less able to resolve conflicts with a best friend in midadolescence were more likely to become the weak-link partner in a romantic relationship at age 20 to 21. Furthermore, lower commitment on the part of the weak-link partner coupled with greater discrepancy in commitment between partners predicted a greater likelihood that the couple would display hostility (rated by observers) during a videotaped conflict-resolution task when they were 20 to 21 years old. These findings are discussed from developmental and dyadic perspectives.     

I will help you because we are similar: Quality of contact mediates the effect of perceived similarity on facilitative behaviour towards immigrants

This research aimed to analyse interpersonal behaviour towards immigrants by exploring related psychosocial variables such as intergroup similarity and quality of intergroup contact. A new interpersonal behavioural tendencies scale was developed. In Study 1, Spanish participants reported their willingness to take different actions towards a Moroccan (i.e. a devalued target, n = 132) or an Ecuadorian (i.e. a valued target, n = 138), perceived intergroup similarity and quality of intergroup contact. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis identified the expected dimensions: active facilitation (AF), passive facilitation (PF), passive harm (PH) and active harm (AH). Participants reported less similarity, less pleasant contact, less AF and less PF, and more PH with respect to Moroccans relative to Ecuadorians. Quality of contact mediated the effect of perceived similarity on interpersonal behaviour (especially facilitative behaviour) towards immigrants. Study 2 (N = 134) confirmed that this mediation effect also applied to Romanian immigrants, and tested a serial mediation pathway, in which perceived similarity affected symbolic threat, which in turn affected quality of contact, which finally affected behaviour. Changing perceived intergroup similarity might be a way of improving the quality of contact with minority groups, and this would be expected to increase pro‐social behaviour towards such groups.     

Reducing perceived social loafing in virtual teams: The effect of team feedback with guided reflexivity

The aim of this study was twofold. The first aim was to study the effect of an intervention combining team feedback and guided reflexivity on virtual teams' affective outcomes. The second was to examine the mediating role of perceived social loafing in this relationship. An experimental laboratory study was carried out with 54 teams randomly assigned to an experimental condition or a control condition. Results showed that this intervention had an effect on satisfaction with the result, but not on group cohesion and satisfaction with the team. Moreover, perceived social loafing fully mediated the effect of this intervention on group cohesion and partially mediated its effect on satisfaction with the team and the result.     

Relationships between Ambivalent Sexism and the Five Moral Foundations in Domestic Violence: Is it a Matter of Fairness and Authority?

Ambivalent sexism has served to justify and maintain patriarchy and traditional gender roles characterized by inequality and male domination in the intimate partner violence (IPV) literature; according to the Moral Foundation Theory (MFT) there are two specific moral foundations related to inequality and domination: fairness and authority. We connect these separate fields arguing that sexist attitudes can be related to specific patterns of endorsement of the five moral foundations. Our hypothesis is that ambivalent sexism in men convicted of violence against the partner may be rooted in at least these two moral foundations, and that at least these two moral foundations may also serve to predict intention to change the violent behavior against the partner. Controlling for political orientation, the results show that benevolent sexism correlates positively with the authority foundation; and hostile sexism correlates negatively with the fairness foundation. Both foundations contribute to explaining the two dimensions of ambivalent sexism (benevolent and hostile) and only the fairness foundation predict intention to change the violent behavior against the partner. New treatment approaches could be designed to increase moral concerns about fairness and to reduce moral concerns about authority in people who, at least, have once used violence against their partners.     

The Role of Existential Beliefs Within the Relation of Centenarians’ Health and Well-Being

The purpose of this study was to explore the role of existential beliefs in mediating the influence of health on centenarians’ well-being. A total of 80 centenarians (mean age 101.1; SD = 1.3; 81.3 % women) with no/minor cognitive impairment were included. The OARS questionnaire for diseases and functional capacity (ADL, IADL), the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the existential beliefs subscale were used for data collection. The findings suggest that existential resources are a crucial element for mitigating the impact of health constraints in subjective well-being in this population. Appropriate models of intervention for very old age that recognize the importance of religion, spirituality, and meaning of life are to be considered.     

Emotional Detachment of Partners and the Sanctity of the Relationship with the Analyst as the Most Powerful Curative Factor

The relationship between partners and the analyst is considered the most basic means for healing in contemporary psychoanalytic theories and analyses. It also holds as one of the most fundamental phenomenon’s of psychoanalysis, so it comes as no surprise that it has always been deliberated over as an object of great interest as well as immense controversy. This same relationship, mutually co-created by the analyst and each individual and partner in analysis, represents also the core of sanctity and sacred space in contemporary psychoanalysis.     

Ability emotional intelligence and its relation to aggression across time and age groups

Emotional Intelligence (EI) has been associated with several indicators of psychosocial adjustment, including aggressive behavior, but the relevant research has been mostly cross‐sectional, focused on adults, and limited to trait EI measures (García‐Sancho, Salguero & Fernández‐Berrocal, 2014; Mayer, Roberts & Barsade, 2008 ). The present work explored the relationship between Ability Emotional Intelligence (AEI) and aggression in both adults and adolescents using cross‐sectional and longitudinal designs. We conducted two studies. Study 1 aimed to provide preliminary evidence about the relationship between AEI and aggression in adults. As literature has shown personality traits act as a strong predictor of aggression, study 1 also examined the potential incremental validity of AEI beyond personality traits in 474 undergraduate students (M = 22.76, SD = 5.13). The results indicated AEI explains a significant amount of unique variance for physical aggression, but not for verbal aggression after controlling personality traits. Study 2 aimed a longitudinal analysis of the relationship between EI and aggression in 151 adolescents (M = 14.74, SD = 0.84). AEI predicted physical aggression over time, but it did not predict verbal aggression. Results from both studies suggest a negative and significant relationship between AEI and physical aggression, however contrary our expectations, it did not for verbal aggression. These results highlight the important explanatory role of emotional abilities in physical aggressive conducts and the implications of these findings are discussed.     

Between Remembering and Forgetting the Years of Political Violence: Psychosocial Impact of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Peru

This article analyzes the association between knowledge of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), evaluation of TRC's achievements, experience of victimization, attitudes toward remembering and forgetting past political violence, perceptions of socioemotional climate (SEC), belief in forgiveness and attitudes toward violence in Peru based on a study conducted in three Peruvian cities with different rates of victimization due to political violence during 1980–2000 (n = 1200). Results showed that a positive attitude toward remembering the past of political violence was predominant and related to a positive evaluation of TRC's achievements. Attitude toward remembering also has an ambivalent collective effect increasing both positive and negative SECs, and it is less accepted by victims of political violence. On the other hand, attitude toward forgetting is less accepted by participants, and it also has an ambivalent effect by increasing positive and negative SECs. Attitude toward forgetting has more societal costs, since it is related to attitudes toward violence and decreased knowledge and a positive evaluation of TRC. In general, findings suggest that remembering traumatic events has an emotional cost, but also it is shown that remembering seems to be more beneficial for society in the long‐term than forgetting.     

Development and validation of an Argentine set of facial expressions of emotion

Pictures of facial expressions of emotion are used in a wide range of experiments. The last decade has seen an increase in the number of studies presenting local sets of emotion stimuli. However, only a few existing sets contain pictures of Latin Americans, despite the growing attention emotion research is receiving in this region. Here we present the development and validation of the Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Expresiones de Emociones Faciales (UNCEEF), a Facial Action Coding System (FACS)-verified set of pictures of Argentineans expressing the six basic emotions, plus neutral expressions. FACS scores, recognition rates, Hu scores, and discrimination indices are reported. Evidence of convergent validity was obtained using the Pictures of Facial Affect in an Argentine sample. However, recognition accuracy was greater for UNCEEF. The importance of local sets of emotion pictures is discussed.