Collaborative coping and daily mood in couples dealing with prostate cancer

Collaborative coping (i.e., spouses pooling resources and problem solving jointly) may be associated with better daily mood because of heightened perceptions of efficacy in coping with stressful events. The study examined the daily processes of collaborative coping (individuals' perceptions that the spouse collaborated), perceived coping effectiveness (ratings of how well they dealt with the event), and mood (i.e., Positive and Negative Affect Scale) across 14 days in 57 older couples coping with stressors involving the husband's prostate cancer and daily life in general. In hierarchical multivariate linear models, collaborative coping was associated with more positive same-day mood for both husbands and wives and less negative mood for wives only. These associations were partially mediated by heightened perceptions of coping effectiveness. Exploratory analyses revealed that collaborative coping was more frequent among wives who performed more poorly on cognitive tests and couples who reported greater marital satisfaction and more frequently using collaboration to make decisions. The results suggest that older couples may benefit from collaborative coping in dealing with problems surrounding illness.     

Perfectionism in school teachers: relations with stress appraisals, coping styles, and burnout

Many school teachers suffer from stress and burnout, and perfectionism is a personality characteristic that has been associated with increased stress, maladaptive coping, and burnout. Recent findings, however, show that perfectionism has both positive and negative facets. To investigate how these facets are related to stress, coping, and burnout in teachers, a sample of 118 secondary school teachers completed multidimensional measures of perfectionism, stress appraisals, coping styles, and burnout. Multiple regression analyses showed that striving for perfection was positively related to challenge appraisals and active coping and inversely to threat/loss appraisals, avoidant coping, and burnout whereas negative reactions to imperfection were positively related to threat/loss appraisals, avoidant coping, and burnout and inversely to challenge appraisals and active coping. Perceived pressure to be perfect showed differential relationships depending on the source of pressure: Whereas pressure from students was positively related to loss appraisals and pressure from students' parents was positively related to burnout, pressure from colleagues was inversely related to threat appraisals and burnout. The findings suggest that striving for perfection and perceived pressure from colleagues do not contribute to stress and burnout in teachers, whereas negative reactions to imperfection and perceived pressure from students and students' parents may be contributing factors.     

Ein psychologisch-onomasiologischer Ansatz zur Auffassung räumlicher Objektrelationen und ihrem sprachlichen Ausdruck: Inklusion und Kontakt

The human conception of spatial relations between objects from an onomasiological and psychological perspective: inclusion and contact Summary. In linguistic semantics, prepositions for spatial relations are considered highly polysemous. While in this field, a semasiological perspective, i.e. the analysis of meaning(s), is preferred, this paper offers a classification as well as a formal definition of the human conception of topological relations between objects from the perspective of onomasiology. It starts from the psychological assumption that objects are assigned both proper places and regions, the interrelations of which lead to nine distinguishable classes of relations between objects pertaining to inclusion and contact. Spatial expressions convey spatial relations on the basis of (or at least independent of) already cognized objects, they do not convey the conception of the related objects themselves. With respect to successful communication, therefore, the polysemy problem turns out to be less important. Zusammenfassung. Raumrelationale Präpositionen werden in der linguistischen Semantik als hochgradig polysem beschrieben. Der dort bevorzugten semasiologischen Bedeutungsanalyse wird aus einer onomasiologischen Perspektive eine Taxonomie der menschlichen kognitiven Auffassung topologischer Objektrelationen gegenübergestellt und formal definiert. Ausgangspunkt ist die psychologische Annahme, daß der Mensch Objekten Eigenörter und Regionen zuweist, aus deren Relationen sich neun unterscheidbare Klassen von Inklusions- und Kontaktrelationen zwischen Objekten ergeben. Da mit raumreferentiellen Ausdrücken Raumrelationen bei gegebener (oder zumindest von der verwendeten Präposition unabhängiger) Kognition der relatierten Objekte vermittelt werden und nicht die Auffassung der Objekte selbst, wird mit Blick auf eine gelingende Kommunikation das Polysemieproblem ein Stück weit 'entzaubert'.     

Estimating long-range dependence in time series: An evaluation of estimators implemented in R

Recent studies have shown that many physiological and behavioral processes can be characterized by long-range correlations. The Hurst exponent H of fractal analysis and the fractional-differencing parameter d of the ARFIMA methodology are useful for capturing serial correlations. In this study, we report on different estimators of H and d implemented in R, a popular and freely available software package. By means of Monte Carlo simulations, we analyzed the performance of (1) the Geweke—Porter-Hudak estimator, (2) the approximate maximum likelihood algorithm, (3) the smoothed periodogram approach, (4) the Whittle estimator, (5) rescaled range analysis, (6) a modified periodogram, (7) Higuchi’s method, and (8) detrended fluctuation analysis. The findings—confined to ARFIMA (0, d, 0) models and fractional Gaussian noise—identify the best estimators for persistent and antipersistent series. Two examples combining these results with the step-by-step procedure proposed by Delignières et al. (2006) demonstrate how this evaluation can be used as a guideline in a typical research situation.     

The Psychology (and Economics) of Trust

Interpersonal trust is a mental construct with implications for social functioning and economic behavior. We review contemporary theories of trust from behavioral economics and social psychology. Neoclassical economic theory considers trust in strangers to be irrational, but observed behavior reveals widespread trust and trustworthiness. Theories of social preferences and adherence to social norms have been proposed to rationalize trust. Psychological approaches investigate trusting behavior in terms of an underlying disposition, intergroup processes, and cognitive expectations. The breadth of these approaches illustrates the multi‐faceted nature of trusting behavior. The determinants of trust are related to the relevant characteristics of the individual, the situation, and their interaction.     

Is Mathematics a Domain for Philosophers of Explanation?

In this paper we discuss three interrelated questions. First: is explanation in mathematics a topic that philosophers of mathematics can legitimately investigate? Second: are the specific aims that philosophers of mathematical explanation set themselves legitimate? Finally: are the models of explanation developed by philosophers of science useful tools for philosophers of mathematical explanation? We argue that the answer to all these questions is positive. Our views are completely opposite to the views that Mark Zelcer has put forward recently. Throughout this paper, we show why Zelcer’s arguments fail.     

Does excusable ignorance absolve of liability for costs?

Excusable ignorance not only undermines moral culpability but also agent-responsibility. Therefore, excusable ignorance absolves of liability for costs. Specifically, it defeats liability that is meant to be derived from causal responsibility wherever strict liability cannot be justified. To establish these claims this paper (1) assesses the potential of arguments for liability of excusably ignorant agents and thereby demarcates the proper domain of strict liability and (2) traces the intuition that seemingly supports strict liability accounts to more general principles. The paper concludes that liability cannot be justified in cases of excusable ignorance. Finally, it (3) stresses that although excusable ignorance defeats the link from causal responsibility to liability for costs this does not imply that victims are left to fend for themselves.     

A developmental-contextual model of couples coping with chronic illness across the adult life span

A developmental-contextual model of couples coping with chronic illness is presented that views chronic illness as affecting the adjustment of both the patient and the spouse such that coping strategies enacted by the patient are examined in relation to those enacted by the spouse, and vice versa. The developmental model emphasizes that dyadic coping may be different at various phases of the life span, changing temporally at different stages of dealing with the illness as well as unfolding daily as spouses interact around dyadic stressors. In addition, couples engaged in dyadic coping are affected by broad sociocultural factors (culture and gender) as well as more proximal contextual factors (quality of the marital relationship and the specific demands of the chronic illness). The model provides a framework for understanding how couples coping with chronic illness may together appraise and cope with illness during adulthood and for determining when spousal involvement is beneficial or harmful to both patient and spousal adjustment. The developmental-contextual model to dyadic appraisal and coping has numerous research implications for the field, and the authors conclude with specific recommendations for future research.