Self-concepts of hospitalized and day-care psychiatric patients

The authors administered questionnaires to 44 hospitalized and 55 day-care psychiatric patients in Hong Kong. The groups were similar in sex, age, and education. The hospitalized participants, compared with the day-care participants, showed significantly higher self-concepts in general as well as in the particular aspects of social and personal aspirations. The findings indicate that support at the community level is important to help the psychiatric patients' transition from hospital care to day care.     

Development and validation of a scale to measure perceived control of internal states

One of the key developments in the psychological literature on control has been the growing recognition of the multidimensional nature of the control construct. Recent research suggests that perceived control of internal states may be just as important as perceived control of external events. The Perceived Control of Internal States Scale was developed to provide a measure of the degree to which people feel they have control of their internal states (emotions, thoughts, physical reactions). I report the results of 2 studies (N= 689), supporting the reliability, construct, and incremental validity of the scale. The buffering effects of perceived control for people facing major life events was also explored, with higher levels of perceived control being associated with less physical and psychological symptoms of strain.     

Interpersonal dependency and personality pathology: variations in Rorschach Oral Dependency scores across Axis II diagnoses

Although several investigations have examined the relationship of Rorschach Oral Dependency (ROD; Masling, Rabie, & Blondheim, 1967) scores to Axis I diagnosis, there has been very little research assessing variations in ROD scores across Axis II personality disorders (PDs). In this study, ROD scores were compared in 5 PD groups (borderline PD inpatients, borderline PD outpatients, avoidant-dependent PD outpatients, narcissistic PD outpatients, and antisocial PD outpatients), and 2 non-PD comparison groups (psychotic disorder inpatients and college students). Borderline PD inpatients had significantly higher ROD scores than borderline PD outpatients, antisocial PD outpatients, and college students; no other between-group differences were found. We discuss implications of these results for research on dependency and Axis II psychopathology and offer suggestions for future studies.     

Direction of human motor responses by men and women to aversive stimulation

The frequency of extensions and flexions of the arms of 12 men and 12 women (ages 20-30 years) responding to a neutral tone or to an electric shock was recorded. Subjects had to choose between pushing or pulling a lever upon receipt of an acoustic signal which was paired or unpaired with an electric shock. They were instructed to perform either long duration movements, allowing for on-line control of the execution, or short duration movements with prior specification of amplitude. Regardless of duration of movements, the aversive signal increased the frequency of extensions and intraindividual variability of choices of the men but decreased the frequency of extensions and intraindividual variability of choices of the women. These findings show that stimuli such as pain or fear automatically elicit patterns of terminal motor states corresponding to fight or flight, initiating processes of preparation of spatially oriented movements which are automatic and sex-typed and impair the use of the terminal cues for simultaneous preprogrammed voluntary movements.     

Attitudes about antidepressants: influence of information about weight-related side effects

Antidepressant drugs are frequently prescribed for women and have various side effects, including potential effects on body weight. This experiment examined the effects of information about the weight-related side effects of antidepressants on women's attitudes toward the drugs. 60 college women were randomly assigned to read about one of two drugs, fluoxetine (Prozac) or imipramine (Tofranil). Participants were either told or not told about veridical weight-related side effects, namely, weight loss for Prozac and weight gain for Tofranil. As hypothesized, weight-gain information lowered the personal acceptability of Tofranil, and weight-loss information enhanced the acceptability of Prozac. Although research with clinical populations is required, undergraduate women's decisions about the use of antidepressant medications may be influenced by societal body-image ideals.     

The biological week and broader time structures (chronomes): in memory of Gunther Hildebrandt

Data illustrating the biological week and chronomes are presented in recognition of extensive work of G. Hildebrandt.     

Pregnant women's social status, stress, self-esteem, and their infants' sex ratio at birth

A reported association of social status of parents with infants' sex ratio at birth and of psychological stress (score on Beck Depression Inventory) with sex ratio were not supported by our analysis, but the possibility of an association between scores on the Rosenberg Self-esteem scale and sex ratio at birth for a sample of 385 pregnant women showed that women who have given birth to boys scored lower on self-esteem during pregnancy than those who have given birth to girls. Some explanations are reviewed to discuss this unforeseen association.     

Comparative analysis of different correction methods for measuring Rod-and-Frame Test performance

A comparative analysis was conducted of five different methods for scoring the Rod-and-Frame Test to examine the convergent validities of each of the five methods with performance on the Embedded Figures Test for a sample of 408 13- to 16-yr.-olds. The scoring methods included the absolute error, the algebraic error, the absolute value of the algebraic error, the frame effect, and an assessment of relative field dependence. Correlations obtained among the five methods and the Embedded Figures Test indicated different patterns for boys and girls. In general, the method which employed the absolute value of the algebraic error yielded the strongest convergent validity coefficients with scores on the Embedded Figures Test and Group Embedded Figures Test for boys (.62 and -.54, respectively), although, for girls, the absolute algebraic error and absolute error both yielded coefficients of .50 with Embedded Figures Test scores and -.46 with Group Embedded Figures Test scores.     

Rejoinder to Irwin's (2000) "age and sex differences in paranormal beliefs: a response to Vitulli, Tipton, and Rowe (1999)"

Issues in making an independent test of Irwin's alternative interpretation of Vitulli, Tipton, and Rowe's data are presented.     

Stability and factor structure of the Jackson Personality Inventory--Revised

The Jackson Personality Inventory--Revised comprises 15 bipolar scales and five cluster scores concerning an individual's interpersonal patterns of interaction, cognitive styles, and value orientation. Recent reviews of this revised version raise questions about test-retest stability as well as the factor structure on which cluster scores are based. 74 men and 33 women (29-63 years of age, M = 42.3) completed the inventory while participating in a continuing education program. Of these 45 participated in a second session 13 wk. later. Test-retest correlations are significant, with 12 of the 15 scales having correlations > or = .75. Intercorrelations among all subscales indicate that the Jackson subscales for the most part remain distinct from each other ranging from .01 to .59. A Principal Components Analysis with a varimax rotation yielded three factors that parallel the NEO big five, i.e., Openness, Neuroticism, and Extroversion and replicated previous factor structure found for both versions of the Jackson inventory. The fourth and fifth factors here were labeled Trustworthy and Organization; however, the composition of these factors across several studies appears to be unstable, suggesting optimal certainty when interpreting the clusters of subscales associated only with Openness, Neuroticism, and Extroversion. Further research may help clarify the instability associated with the other factors of this inventory.