The Benefits of Transcending Self-Interest: Examining the Role of Self-Transcendence on Expressive Suppression and Well-Being

Research has taken a dim view of regulating emotions via expressive suppression. However, the impact of suppression may vary according to individuals’ interpersonal orientation. In two studies, we examined the effects of suppression under self-transcendent and self-interest orientations. Results revealed that (1) in everyday life, although dispositional suppression was related to lower psychological well-being, the costs associated with suppression were buffered among individuals with a self-transcendence orientation (Study 1); and (2) among individuals primed with a self-transcendence orientation, suppression of negative emotions in an interpersonal conflict situation led to lower levels of anger-related emotions and higher levels of perceived relational quality compared to emotional expression; however, among individuals primed with a self-interest orientation, suppression led to higher levels of anger-related emotions and lower levels of perceived relational quality compared to expression (Study 2). Together, results from the present study highlight the role of interpersonal orientation in moderating the effects of suppression on well-being.     

Perception of Native English Reduced Forms in Adverse Environments by Chinese Undergraduate Students

Previous research has shown that learners of English-as-a-second-language (ESL) have difficulties in understanding connected speech spoken by native English speakers. Extending from past research limited to quiet listening condition, this study examined the perception of English connected speech presented under five adverse conditions, namely multi-talker babble noise, speech-shaped noise, factory noise, whispering and sad emotional tones. We tested a total of 64 Chinese ESL undergraduate students, using a battery of listening tasks. Results confirmed that the recognition of English native speech was more challenging for Chinese ESL learners under unfavorable listening conditions, in comparison to a noise-free listening condition. These findings carry significant implications for the importance of training and assessments on connected speech perception across various listening environments.     

Social status,everyday interpersonal processes,and coronary heart disease: A social psychophysiological view

Lower socioeconomic position is associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease. This robust gradient is found across levels of socioeconomic position and after controlling access to health care and traditional biological and behavioral risk factors. Thus, previous theory and research has examined the role of other, relatively static psychosocial factors (e.g., social isolation and negative emotional traits) that may account for this association. Utilizing an interpersonal perspective on psychosocial risk (Smith & Cundiff, 2011 ; Smith, Gallo, & Ruiz, 2003 ; Smith, Glazer, Ruiz, & Gallo, 2004 ), this review examines the role of recurring interpersonal experiences and their physiological effects as a pathway linking socioeconomic position and coronary heart disease. Specifically, we focus on proximal interpersonal experiences that may not only explain the increased prevalence of more chronic psychosocial vulnerabilities in lower socioeconomic environments and individuals but may also link those psychosocial vulnerabilities to the momentary physiological mechanisms (i.e., stress responses) that directly contribute to coronary heart disease. Recurring experiences of reduced support and increased conflict in important personal relationships, work stress, multiple aspects of interactions with higher‐status others, the effects of negative stereotypes about lower socioeconomic groups and individuals, greater use of suppressive strategies for emotion regulation and greater negative consequences for more direct and expressive social behavior, and greater engagement in perseverative cognition all plausibly combine to perpetuate psychosocial risk and produce overall greater physiological burden at lower levels of socioeconomic position.     

The Differential Influence of Lexical Parameters on Naming Latencies in German. A Study on Noun and Verb Picture Naming

The present study investigates the effects of word category (nouns versus verbs) and their subcategories on naming latencies in German, with a focus on the influence of lexical parameters on naming performance. The experimental material met linguistic construction criteria and was carefully matched for age of spontaneous production, frequency, and name agreement. Additional lexical parameters (objective age-of-acquisition, word length, visual complexity, imageability) were obtained. The results demonstrated a clear effect of word category on naming latencies. This effect was supported by two different observations. First, there was evidence for category and subcategory effects in naming: nouns were named faster than verbs, and intransitive verbs were named faster than transitive verbs. Second, while objective age-of-acquisition (naming age) turned out to be an important predictor of reaction times for both word categories, naming latencies for nouns and verbs were affected differentially by other lexical parameters. The results are discussed with respect to current controversies on the noun-verb-asymmetry.     

Unambiguous generalization effects after treatment of non-canonical sentence production in German agrammatism

Agrammatism is-among others, characterized by a deficit in producing grammatical structures. Of specific difficulty is the utilization of complex, non-canonical sentence structures (e.g. object-questions, passives, object-clefts). Several studies have documented positive effects when applying a specific treatment protocol in terms of increasingly correct production of target complex sentence structures with some variance in generalization patterns noted across individuals. The objective of this intervention study was to evaluate an intervention program focussing on the production of non-canonical sentences. Hypotheses about the occurrence of treatment effects were formulated on the basis of syntactic complexity, referring to the amount of syntactic phrase structures necessary to generate specific German sentence structures. A multiple single case study with seven agrammatic participants was applied, each participant receiving training in the production of object-relative-clauses and who-questions. The investigation was designed to unambiguously evaluate for each individual, structure specific and generalized learning effects with respect to the production of object-relative-clauses, who-questions and passive sentences. Results showed significant improvements for all sentences types. This outcome is considered within methodological issues of treatment studies. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.     

When Social Situations Take a Turn for the Worse: Situational and Interpersonal Risk Factors for Sexual Aggression

This study conducted an up-to-date assessment of situational and interpersonal risk factors for sexual aggression. Two hundred undergraduate women from a medium sized college on the US west coast completed the Sexual Experiences Survey (SES) and a questionnaire developed by the authors. Participants who reported sexual victimization on the SES answered a series of questions about their most severe experience, as well as a representative, nonaggressive date. Participants who reported no sexual victimization answered questions only about a representative date. Risk factors were identified by comparing victimized participants’ sexually aggressive dates to nonvictimized participants’ dates, and victimized participants’ non-sexually aggressive dates to nonvictimized participants’ dates. Results revealed distinct situational and interpersonal differences between sexually aggressive and nonaggressive social interactions.     

Decisions About Testing and Termination of Pregnancy for Different Fetal Conditions: A Qualitative Study of European White and Pakistani Mothers of Affected Children

The aim of this study is to explore reasons for and against prenatal testing and termination for a range of conditions in women from two different ethnic backgrounds. A total of 19 Pakistani and European women in West Yorkshire, UK, who either had a child with a genetic condition or had terminated a pregnancy for one, completed a questionnaire about their attitudes regarding prenatal testing and termination for 30 different fetal conditions and were interviewed about their reasons for their responses. There were more similarities than differences between the Pakistani and European white women. The most important factor in most women’s decisions about termination of pregnancy was their perception of the quality of the life of a child with the genetic condition, in particular, whether the child would be “suffering.” This was described as either physical suffering, as a result of medical treatment, or as emotional suffering, as a result of psychological and/or social factors. These findings highlight the need for detailed information about the potential quality of life for the child and the child’s family to enable parents to make informed choices, particularly the extent to which the child is likely to suffer, the nature of such potential “suffering” and the extent to which the child could lead a “normal” life. The findings also challenge stereotypes about cultural differences in attitudes about termination of pregnancy.     

Normality and impairment following profound early institutional deprivation: a longitudinal follow-up into early adolescence

Longitudinal analyses on normal versus impaired functioning across 7 domains were conducted in children who had experienced profound institutional deprivation up to the age of 42 months and were adopted from Romania into U.K. families. Comparisons were made with noninstitutionalized children adopted from Romania and with nondeprived within-U.K. adoptees placed before the age of 6 months. Specifically, the validity of the assessment, the degree of continuity and change in levels of functioning from 6 to 11 years, and the factors in the pre- and postadoption environment accounting for heterogeneity in outcome were examined. Pervasive impairment was significantly raised in children experiencing institutional deprivation for > or =6 months of life, with a minority within this group showing no impairment. There was no additional significant effect of duration of deprivation beyond the 6-month cutoff, and few other predictors explained outcome. The pattern of normality/impairment was mainly established by 6 years of age, with considerable continuity at the individual level between 6 and 11 years. The findings are discussed in terms of the possibility of a sensitive period for development.