Boredom proneness in anger and aggression: effects of impulsiveness and sensation seeking

The present study was a replication and extension of Rupp and Vodanovich’s (1997) work on the role of boredom proneness in anger expression and aggression. In addition to replicating their primary analyses, impulsiveness and sensation seeking were included to determine the potential impact of these variables on the relationships between boredom proneness and anger and aggression. Two hundred and twenty-four college student volunteers completed measures of boredom proneness, impulsiveness, sensation seeking, anger expression, and aggression. Findings were consistent with Rupp and Vodanovich (1997) but demonstrated more pervasive effects of external boredom proneness on aggression. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses demonstrated that the relationships between external boredom proneness and trait anger, anger expression/control, and aggression persisted even after accounting for impulsiveness and sensation seeking. Boredom due to a lack of external stimulation predicted one’s propensity to experience anger, maladaptive anger expression, aggression, and deficits in anger control.     

Reviews: Books

PSYCHOANALYSIS AND BUDDHISM: AN UNFOLDING DIALOGUE. Edited by Jeremy D. Safran. 443 pp. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2003. 19.95 (paperback). THE HOUSE OF JOSHUA. By Mindy Thompson Fullilove. 160 pp. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1999. $. MAGIC OF THE ORDINARY: RECOVERING THE SHAMANIC IN JUDAISM. By Gershon Winkler. Pp Place: North Atlantic Books, 2003. $. RAISING AMERICA: EXPERTS, PARENTS AND A CENTURY OF ADVICE ABOUT CHILDREN, by Ann Hulbert. 450 pp. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003. $27.50.. HONKY. By Dalton Conley. 207 pp. New York: Vintage Books, 2001. $12.00.     

Antecedents and Potential Moderators of the Relationship Between Attitudes and Hiring Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation

A sample of 236 undergraduates (most of whom were White women) rated resumes in which gender, masculinity/femininity, and sexual orientation were manipulated while qualifications were kept constant. Overall, participants rated lesbian and gay male applicants less positively than heterosexual male applicants, but more positively than heterosexual women. Religiosity, beliefs in traditional gender roles, beliefs in the controllability of homosexuality, and previous contact with lesbians and gay men were related to attitudes toward lesbians and gay men, which was in turn related to beliefs about employing them. Several factors were hypothesized to moderate the relationship between beliefs about employing lesbians and gay men and discrimination, although the expected relationships were not found. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Countercurrents from the West: “blue-eyed” Zen masters, Vipassanā meditation, and Buddhist psychotherapy in contemporary Korea

One surprising and yet relatively unknown aspect of contemporary Korean Buddhism is the significant influence of American and European Buddhism. Between 1989 and 2009, South Koreans witnessed well-educated “blue-eyed” monastic residents via the Korean media, and the emergence of new bestsellers by authors like Thich Nhat Hahn and Jack Kornfield, written initially for Western audiences but since translated into Korean. The new teachings from the West have inspired a sudden growth of interest in vipassanā meditation as an “alternative” to Kanhwa S?n practice, and the emergence of a new academic field: Buddhist psychotherapy. This new wave of transnational influence from the West has changed not only the way Koreans practice Buddhism but also how they perceive Buddhist history and their own identities. In addition, the perceived “prestige” of Buddhism in the West has provided a new rhetorical strategy to defend Buddhism against other religions, particularly Korean evangelical Christianity.     

The way of life of Mr. Nowhere: examining Harding’s “Objectivity and Diversity”

In the following critique of Sandra Harding’s 2015 book Objectivity and Diversity I will raise three sets of interrelated issues. One: that Harding’s arguments for re-conceptualizing the term ‘objectivity’ may not be persuasive to those who continue to cling to the ‘view from nowhere’ understanding of the term. Two: that because of this entrenchment of the view from nowhere, Harding’s rhetorical strategy of referring to traditional knowledge as ‘science’ may result in further marginalization of already marginalized groups. And Three: that not all cases of multiple and conflicted selves are necessarily cases of increased access to knowledge and increased empowerment. Thus, while I am deeply sympathetic to the arguments being made in Harding’s book, I think this new scientific self that Harding proposes at the end of her book needs to be developed and clarified further.     

Unpacking Response Contingent Positive Reinforcement: Reward Probability,but Not Environmental Suppressors,Prospectively Predicts Depressive Symptoms via Behavioral Activation

Behavioral models of depression conceptualize the development and maintenance of depressive symptoms as occurring within a system of response-contingent positive reinforcement (RCPR). Such models propose a negative cycle in which a decrease in positive reinforcement of adaptive, approach-oriented behaviors (i.e., RCPR) results in reduced behavioral activation and increased depressive symptoms, which in turn feeds back into further decreases in positive reinforcement and maintains the cycle. Previous research indicates that RCPR has two lower-order constructs, reward probability and environmental suppressors. The present study evaluated a hypothesized mediational model in which the paths from each of the two domains of RCPR to depressive symptoms are mediated by behavioral activation. The sample consisted of 150 college students (78.0% women), ranging in age from 18 to 47 years (M = 20.81, SD = 3.96), who endorsed moderate to severe depressive symptoms at a baseline (time 1) evaluation. Findings from a path analysis provide support for the mediated path between reward probability at time 1 and depressive symptoms at time 3, via behavioral activation at time 2. In contrast, environmental suppressors at time 1 demonstrated a direct impact on depressive symptoms at time 3, and this relationship was not mediated by behavioral activation at time 2. These findings provide a partial test of behavioral frameworks and provide evidence of separate pathways between domains of RCPR and depressive symptoms.