Mass and Shading Effects on Masculine-Feminine Judgments on the Rorschach

College students were used to test the hypotheses that judgment of an achromatic Rorschach Inkblot as ‘masculine’ is a function of largeness of mass, and darkness of shading, and judgment of one as ‘feminine’ is a function of smallness of mass and lightness of shading. It was also predicted that the sex of the judge does not influence these judgments.

The standard inkblots and mass and shading control blots were used with the semantic differential and a masculine-feminine sort technique.

The results generally supported the hypotheses tested with the ‘shading hypotheses’ receiving the strongest support. The results were related, with reservation, to the “father” and “mother” hypotheses of cards IV and VII.     

Derivation and Implications of MMPI Cluster Groups in Clinically Depressed Inpatient Females

The purpose of this study was to subclassify clinically depressed patients based on a cluster-analytic examination of the MMPI. Subjects were 79 female inpatients with major depression. A cluster analysis of the MMPI validity and clinical scales resulted in three clusters labeled psychotic (287 MMPI profile), hostile (24 MMPI profile), and histrionic (32 MMPI profile) depression. The psychotic group exhibited the greatest depression as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The psychotic and hostile groups, however, did not differ on other associated aspects of depression, such as negative cognitions, nonassertiveness, or personality style. The hostile group reported the fewest physical difficulties and the most excessive alcohol use. The groups, however, did not differ on other aspects of depression history or presentation such as family history of depression or previous hospitalizations. A repeated measures ANOVA for the three cluster groups on the BDI at admission, discharge, and 6 months after discharge indicated that all groups showed improvement at discharge but that only the hostile depressive group continued to show improvement at the 6-month follow-up.     

Repeated Self-Regulation and Asymmetric Hemispheric Activation

Numerous recent studies have investigated repeated self-regulation to uncover the processes involved in self-regulatory behavior over time. Results from most of these studies are consistent with a depletion process in which self-regulatory effectiveness declines over time due to resource depletion. The present research examined an additional factor that may also be involved in repeated self-regulatory exertion, namely, differential hemispheric activation. Five studies examined this issue, focusing on self-control tasks requiring avoidance or vigilance. Studies 1 to 3 indicated that these tasks resulted in greater relative right hemispheric activation. Studies 4 and 5 indicated that, consistent with this pattern of differential activation, initial vigilance self-control resulted in better subsequent performance on a spatial self-regulatory task but worse performance on a verbal self-regulatory task. These findings provide additional insight into the dynamics of self-regulatory behavior across tasks, suggesting the combination of tasks examined may influence the pattern of results obtained.     

Too Many Blacks,Too Many Whites: Is There Racial Balance?

Racial conflict between African Americans and Whites has been observed to occur most frequently at two critical points: when African Americans make up approximately 30% of a given group or when African Americans make up approximately 50% of a given group. These two critical ratios are referred to as the J and (inverted) U patterns of racial conflict, respectively. To date, most of the data supporting either the J or U models have been derived from large demographic studies that do not directly assess individual perceptions. Thus, little is known about the individual reactions of members from either racial group to varying percentages of group racial composition. This small-group experiment examined the responses of African-American and White subjects to their inclusion in four-person groups of varying racial compositions. Three racial configurations were created and included the following percentages of African Americans: 25%, 50%, and 75%. The results support the U model of racial conflict. Moreover, the U model fit the data equally well for African Americans and Whites.     

Physiological and subjective effects of Catharsis: A case report

Abstract

The present case report describes the spontaneous occurrence of catharsis in a tense and depressed young woman who participated in a research study designed to investigate ways of increasing the accessibility of emotional memories. During the research she became extremely distressed and showed both somatic and cognitive components of catharsis. Prior to this, subjective and physiological indices of anxiety and tension were evident and marked differences in bilateral finger temperature indicated the presence of pronounced laterality effects. Following catharsis both subjective and physiological measures revealed a substantial reduction in tension and the previously observed laterality effects virtually disappeared. This case report thus describes a rare portrayal of the subjective and physiological effects of catharsis and documents the positive, beneficial nature of the effects observed.     

The Concept of Responsibility: Introduction and Translation

Adrian Hastings, The Church in Africa 1450–1950. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1994, xiv+706 pp., 8 maps, $ 45.00 (paperback) ISBN 0 19 826399 6.

Elizabeth Isichei, A History of Christianity in Africa. Grand Rapids, MI, Eerdmans, 1995, xi+420 pp., $ 24.00 ISBN 0 8028 08433.

Paul Giord (ed.), The Christian Churches and the Democratisation of Africa. Studies of Religion in Africa: Supplements to the Journal of Religion in Africa, No. 12. Leiden, Brill, 1995, xi+301 pp., $ 101.50 ISBN 9004103244.

Paul Giord, African Christianity: Its Public Role. Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1998, viii+368 pp., $ 39.95 (hardback) ISBN 0 253 33417 9, $ 22.95 (paperback) ISBN 0 253 21204 9.

Kwame Bediako, Christianity in Africa: The Renewal of a Non-Western Religion. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 1995, xii+276 pp., £18.00 (paperback) ISBN 0 7486 0635 4; New York, Orbis Books, 1995, $ 25.00 (paperback) ISBN 1570750483.     

Doing What Comes Naturally: Recent Work on Thomas Aquinas and the New Natural Law Theory

John Finnis, Aquinas: Moral, Political, and Legal Theory. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1998, xxi+385 pp., $55.00 (hardback) ISBN 0 19 87808 42, $18.95 (paperback) ISBN 0 19 878085 0.

Robert P. George, In Defense of Natural Law. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1999, 343 pp., $65.00 (hardback) ISBN 0 19 82677 11, $19.95 (paperback) ISBN 0 19 92429 92     

Personal mastery predicts pain,stress, fatigue,and blood pressure in adults with rheumatoid arthritis

Among individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), stress-associated disease flare can severely impact well-being. Psychological factors such as personal mastery may buffer an individual from the negative effects of those flares. We tested the hypothesis that a high sense of personal mastery would prospectively predict stress reactivity. Measures of pain, perceived stress, fatigue, and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were collected before, during, and after two interpersonal stressors conducted on 73 individuals with RA. Factor analysis of the personal mastery scale yielded two independent factors: a 5-item “fatalism” component and a 2-item “control” component. Individuals with high fatalism scores reported overall greater joint pain at baseline and those scoring high on control exhibited lower MAP, and reported less stress and fatigue at baseline. After controlling for baseline differences, those high in control exhibited greater MAP increase during stress, and less drop in pain when compared to those low in control. These results suggest that individuals high in control may be more susceptible to the effects of acute stress; however, the overall beneficial aspects of high control outweigh the acute negative effects. Personal mastery may play a role in the experience of pain, stress, and fatigue for people with RA.     

Understanding the impact of HIV diagnosis amongst gay men in Scotland: An interpretative phenomenological analysis

Objectives: Although a wide literature details the psychological impact of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) diagnosis, it predates the introduction of effective treatment for HIV (i.e. anti-retroviral therapies, ARTs). This article explores the psychological impact of HIV diagnosis in post-ART accounts. This is important, given the recent policy developments which focus upon increasing HIV testing and thus diagnoses.

Design: This study presents a qualitative exploration of the experiential accounts of HIV-positive gay men living in Scotland. A total of 14 HIV-positive gay men took part in open-ended interviews.

Methods: Interpretative phenomenological analysis was employed to identify recurrent themes across the interviews.

Results: Our analysis focuses upon the participants’ struggles in adjusting to their HIV status. Diagnosis was a deeply shocking and unexpected experience. Stigma and fear of prejudice dominated their accounts. HIV was understood, variously, as a shameful, fatal and life-changing condition. Overall, within these accounts there was little sense of HIV normalisation.

Conclusions: In Scotland, where HIV prevalence is low, and where no accessible HIV-positive sub-culture exists, there is on-going psychological distress and morbidity amongst gay men testing HIV positive. As HIV-related policy increasingly focuses on increasing rates of antibody testing, there is a need to reduce the psychosocial costs associated with HIV-positive diagnoses.