Type A behaviour and psychological androgyny among Greek college students

Research conducted primarily in the United States suggests that the combination of Type A behaviour, high instrumentality, and low expressiveness may place individuals at relatively high risk for coronary-artery and heart disease. The present research investigates the trans-societal generalizability of the structure, reliability, relationships among, and distributional characteristics of these measures for 117 college students in Athens, Greece. As hypothesized, the Greek students were significantly less instrumental and less expressive than the American students, and scored significantly higher on the measure of Type A. Although there were significant mean differences between these samples, the results suggest that many of the interscale relationships are comparable, supporting an etic (universal) interpretation of the findings. Nevertheless, the results suggested several emic (unique) characteristics of these measures and their interrelationships.     

Age differences in the acculturation process

Age differences were assessed in a conceptual model that seeks to explain how acculturation affects psychological well-being among Mexican Americans. The data were from a national probability sample of 859 persons of Mexican decent. It was hypothesized that low acculturation creates financial stress. Moreover, low acculturation and financial stress were in turn predicted to erode feelings of personal control and self-esteem. Finally, diminished feelings of control and low self-esteem were hypothesized to exert a negative impact on psychological well-being. When data from respondents of all ages was assessed, empirical support was found for all of the hypotheses except the linkage between acculturation and financial stress. However, few age differences emerged in the model. The authors conclude that older Mexican Americans may not be more vulnerable to the stressors associated with acculturation.     

Memories of a bicycle tour

One person's memories of a 47-day bicycle tour of Scandinavia were tested 3–4 months later. The tests assessed frequency, spatial, and temporal knowledge of events. Results indicated that frequency judgements were based on some combination of counts of discrete event memories and a general impression of the tour. Episodic memories showed clear variation as a function of where events had occurred, and judged and actual locations of episodes were strongly related. In fact, knowledge of the week in which something had happened appeared to hinge on where in a sequence of locations it was thought to have taken place. The apparent dependence of temporal judgements on spatial information is consistent with other findings in the literature indicating that temporal memories about past events are derived from a variety of other associated information, much of which is temporally referenced.     

Acquired affective-evaluative value: conservative but not unchangeable

In a previous study on Evaluative Conditioning it was found that unlike signal-learning, evaluative learning is resistant to extinction. In the present experiment we tried to replicate and corroborate this finding. In addition, we investigated the effectiveness of a counterconditioning procedure to alter acquired evaluative value. On a within-subject base (n = 30), it was found that the mere contingent presentation of neutral with (dis)liked pictures of human faces was sufficient to change the affective-evaluative tone of the originally neutral stimuli in (negative) positive direction. Next, we replicated the finding that an extinction procedure does not have any influence on the acquired evaluative value of the originally neutral stimuli, and this even in subjects fully aware of the extinction presentations. We demonstrated the effectiveness of a counterconditioning procedure to alter acquired evaluative value, and in addition, found some evidence that awareness of the counterconditioning manipulations is not a prerequisite for its effectiveness. The theoretical consequences of these findings are phrased in terms of a fundamental distinction between signal-learning and evaluative learning, and some important implications for the behavioral treatment of affective-emotional disorders are suggested.     

DEVELOPING MULTICULTURAL ETHICAL GUIDELINES FOR PSYCHOLOGY

While psychologists have recognized the importance of cultural differences in many areas, multicultural ethical guidelines for psychology are still lacking. This article will review some of the controversial issues that cultural differences raise and discuss literature published on multicultural ethics. The existing American Psychological Association Ethical Principles will be reviewed with suggestions for specific changes to meet the needs of a multicultural society.     

Reinterpreting the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator From the Perspective of the Five-Factor Model of Personality

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI; Myers & McCaulley, 1985) was evaluated from the perspectives of Jung's theory of psychological types and the five-factor model of personality as measured by self-reports and peer ratings on the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI; Costa & McCrae, 1985b). Data were provided by 267 men and 201 women ages 19 to 93. Consistent with earlier research and evaluations, there was no support for the view that the MBTI measures truly dichotomous preferences or qualitatively distinct types; instead, the instrument measures four relatively independent dimensions. The interpretation of the Judging-Perceiving index was also called into question. The data suggest that Jung's theory is either incorrect or inadequately operationalized by the MBTI and cannot provide a sound basis for interpreting it. However, correlational analyses showed that the four MBTI indices did measure aspects of four of the five major dimensions of normal personality. The five-factor model provides an alternative basis for interpreting MBTI findings within a broader, more commonly shared conceptual framework.     

The Role of Sympathy and Altruistic Personality Traits in Helping: A Reexamination

The purposes of this study were (a) to examine the role of social evaluative concerns in the self-report of sympathy and in the relation of sympathy to helping; and (b) to determine the role of "altruistic personality" traits and situationally induced vicarious emotional responses in the intention to help. Dispositional and situational self-reports of sympathy and other vicarious emotional reactions were obtained for persons who also were given the opportunity to assist a needy other. Moreover, dispositional measures of concern with social evaluation and an altruistic orientation were obtained, and a bogus pipeline manipulation was instituted for half the study participants. Both dispositional and situational self-reported sympathy were positively related to helping, as were other personality indices viewed as reflecting altruistic characteristics. The relations for the dispositional indices of sympathy were not due solely to social evaluative concerns or to other egoistic concerns. The effects on intended helping of dispositional sympathy, perspective taking, and the tendency to ascribe responsibility for others to the self appeared to be both direct and mediated by situational sympathetic responding. Finally, situational sadness did not mediate the effects of sympathetic responsiveness.     

BODILY REFORM AS HISTORICAL PRACTICE: THE SEMANTICS OF RESISTANCE IN MODERN SOUTH AFRICA

This paper seeks to explore why rituals of bodily reform play so prominent a role in movements of social reconstruction, particularly in collective action which never attains the level of explicit historical discourse. I argue that the crucial signifying role of the body here derives from its position as primary mediator between the self and the sociocultural context. In the case of a protest movement in modern South Africa, I show how the semantics of bodily affliction and reform permit participants to address and redress the historical roots of their conflict-laden experience. Here, sociocultural contradiction takes tangible shape in the ‘natural’ contradictions of the human body, and reconstitution proceeds by alike drawing upon media from the body's seemingly inexhaustible stock. But in this, the body is more than mere ‘natural alibi’ or set of unmotivated signs; it provides implements determined by an inherent, natural logic which engages in what is a reciprocally determining relationship with the semantic logic of specific sociohistorical projects.