Modal Frame Correspondences and Fixed-Points

Taking Löb's Axiom in modal provability logic as a running thread, we discuss some general methods for extending modal frame correspondences, mainly by adding fixed-point operators to modal languages as well as their correspondence languages. Our suggestions are backed up by some new results – while we also refer to relevant work by earlier authors. But our main aim is advertizing the perspective, showing how modal languages with fixed-point operators are a natural medium to work with.     

Romantic relationship status biases memory of faces of attractive opposite-sex others: evidence from a reverse-correlation paradigm

Previous research has demonstrated that, presumably as a way to protect one’s current romantic relationship, individuals involved in a heterosexual romantic relationship tend to give lower attractiveness ratings to attractive opposite-sex others as compared to uninvolved individuals (i.e., the derogation effect). The present study importantly extends this research by examining whether romantic relationship status actually biases memory for the facial appearance of attractive (vs. unattractive) mates. To address this issue, we used a reverse-correlation technique (Mangini & Biederman, 2004), originally developed to get a visual approximation of an individual’s internal representation of a target category or person. In line with the derogation effect, results demonstrated that romantically involved (vs. uninvolved) individuals indeed held a less attractive memory of a previously encountered attractive mate’s face. Interestingly, they also held a more attractive memory of an unattractive mate’s face as compared to uninvolved individuals. This latter finding may suggest that romantically involved (as compared to uninvolved) individuals differentiate opposite-sex others along the attractiveness dimension less.     

Type D Personality: A Five-Factor Model Perspective

This study investigated the position of Type D (high Negative Affectivity and high Social Inhibition) within the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality. A sample of 155 healthy subjects were administered the Type D Scale and the NEO-FFI, assessing the FFM traits. Subjects also filled out the General Health Questionnaire and the Job Stress Survey. Negative Affectivity was positively correlated with Neuroticism (0.74) and negatively with Conscientiousness ( m 0.38), Agreeableness ( m 0.37), and Extraversion ( m 0.35). Social Inhibition was negatively correlated with Extraversion ( m 0.61) and Conscientiousness ( m 0.40) and positively with Neuroticism (0.50). Type D subjects reported more somatic distress ( p <0.0001), anxiety ( p <0.0001) and depression ( p <0.01) than non-Type D subjects. An alternative one-dimensional representation of the D-traits was suggested, conceptualized as a dimension ranging from neurotic introversion with relatively low conscientiousness to stable extraversion with relatively high conscientiousness. These findings are discussed in the light of the renewed interest in psychology for type versus dimensional representations of individual differences.     

The Relationship Between Relative Deprivation and the Attitudes of Rural Afrikaans-Speaking Women Toward Blacks

We investigated the relationship between different patterns of relative deprivation and attitudes toward Blacks in a random sample of 92 rural Afrikaans-speaking White women in the present and over time. The subjects experienced different patterns of relative deprivation when they compared their economic, social, and political positions to those of Blacks in the past and in the future. Significant negative relationships were found between the experience of different patterns of relative deprivation with respect to Blacks and attitudes toward Blacks.     

Balance of power and the problem of perception 1

The concept of balance of power can have considerable heuristic and explanatory power over the full range of conflict systems. But the concept requires analysis, to clarify both what it means and the conditions under which it can obtain. An empirically faithful analysis of ‘balance of power’ must take account of, among other things, the perceptions the opposing parties have of one another. These perceptions have structural and psychological determinants, and an analysis of their operations in power systems provides a necessary part of the analysis of ‘balance of power’. In terms of the frame of reference employed it is concluded that there is only one situation in which balance might obtain, though not for any length of time.     

An interactional approach to sexual dysfunctions

Abstract

This paper offers an interactional perspective as a broad and practical conceptual framework with which to understand patterns of sexual dysfunction. The theoretical model centers on the power of the sexual interaction as a critical focus for therapeutic change. The model is developed by presenting: the basic sexual interaction cycle, the individual and interactional variables that modify the sexual interaction cycle, and the creation of a continuously changing figure/ground configuration of sexual and nonsexual patterns. At various points in the discussion of the model, initial clinical strategies are derived to illustrate the applicability and advantages of an interactional perspective on sexual relationships.     

Sport participation and stress among women and men

ObjectivesIn-depth analysis of the relationship between sports participation and stress among adult women and men.Design644 women and 783 men, 20–65 years, from the SPAH Flemish-Policy-Research-Centre, reported data on participation in favourite sports and mental health.MethodGender-specific multiple MANOVAs with stress appraisal and the stress response of emotional distress as dependent variables, and participation in 15 different types of sports as independent variables, including effect sizes (Cohen’s d) per sport-type.ResultsVery little difference in perceived-stress and emotional-distress existed in women and men who participated in different sport-types, suggesting that “one-activity-fits-all recommendations” are likely inappropriate. Different sports are suitable for different individuals, and it is important that one finds the sport that suits one best. Conversely, significant associations between participation in walking and in meditation sports manifested with both stress appraisal and emotional distress among women, and significant associations between participation in ball games and in water sports manifested with emotional distress among men.ConclusionsThe paper gathered substantial comprehensive insight and connected its quantitative data to existing qualitative data, presenting stimulating theoretical arguments. Sport-type related variations in the physical activity – mental health relationship were analyzed, based on the theory of mindful movement and the complexity paradigm identifying 3 coordinates on which the physical activity – mental health complexity unravels, based on: activity domains, mental health dimensions, and individual characteristics. The mindful movement theory proposes an underlying mechanism that could explain the positive physical activity – mental health relationship, and the complexity paradigm provides basis for creating a workable definition for ther concept of mindful physical activity.     

Chronic Stressors and Adolescents’ Externalizing Problems: Genetic Moderation by Dopamine Receptor D4. The TRAILS Study

The existing literature does not provide consistent evidence that carriers of the Dopamine D4 Receptor 7-repeat allele are more sensitive to adverse environmental influences, resulting in enhanced externalizing problems, compared to noncarriers. One explanation is that the adverse influences examined in prior studies were not severe, chronic, or distressing enough to reveal individual differences in sensitivity reflected by DRD4–7R. This study examined whether the 7-repeat allele moderated the association between chronic stressors capturing multiple stressful aspects of individuals’ lives and externalizing problems in adolescence. We expected that chronic stressor levels would be associated with externalizing levels only in 7-repeat carriers. Using Linear Mixed Models, we analyzed data from 1621 Dutch adolescents (52.2% boys), obtained in three measurement waves (mean age approximately 11, 13.5, and 16 years) from the TRacking Adolescents’ Individual Lives Survey (TRAILS) population-based birth cohort and the parallel clinic-referred cohort. Across informants, we found that higher levels of chronic stressors were related to higher externalizing levels in 7-repeat carriers but not in noncarriers, as hypothesized. Although previous studies on the 7-repeat allele as a moderator of environmental influences on adolescents’ externalizing problems have not convincingly demonstrated individual differences in sensitivity to adverse environmental influences, our findings suggest that adolescent carriers of the Dopamine D4 Receptor 7-repeat allele are more sensitive to chronic, multi-context stressors than noncarriers.