Ambulatory emotional reactivity to negative daily life events predicts remission from major depressive disorder

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is often associated with altered emotional reactivity. However, the functional significance of altered emotional reactivity in MDD is uncertain. This study was the first to examine the predictive relationship between intensely sampled ambulatory emotional reactivity and the clinical course of MDD. Forty-six outpatients who met criteria for MDD underwent six days of experience sampling of their ambulatory reactivity to everyday negative and positive life events. After experience sampling, all outpatients received pharmacotherapy with supportive psychotherapy and were followed clinically for 18 months. At one month, less emotional reactivity to negative and positive daily events predicted higher depressive symptom severity. Importantly, patients who exhibited less negative emotional reactivity to daily negative life events were less likely to recover from MDD over the 18 month follow-up. Relationships between ambulatory emotional reactivity and MDD course were not accounted for by the duration or the severity of initial MDD symptoms. Diminished ambulatory emotional reactivity appears to be functionally significant in depression. Intensive sampling of ambulatory emotions may have utility for predicting the clinical course of MDD.     

Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany: Prisoners during the Communist Era ∗

Abstract

Commentators on religious freedom disagree on the rationale for its protection. This question of why we protect religious freedom is important because it influences the manner and scope of the protection of religious freedom by the state. The legal philosopher Timothy Macklem argues, in line with some fideistic approaches to the study of religion, that the value of ‘faith’– of belief without reason to believe – justifies the protection of religious freedom. This paper offers a critique of Macklem's account. It argues that this account is inconsistent with a correct view of the nature of reasons, that it overestimates the circumstances in which faith is valuable, that it fails adequately to consider the connections between faith and false beliefs, and that its conclusions imply a much weaker protection of religious freedom than is common in liberal states. This paper also indicates aspects of faith that are valuable, beyond those discussed by Macklem. It is hoped that it will contribute to the debate on the value of faith as well as the broader debate on the justification of religious freedom.     

Cultural influences on terror management: Independent and interdependent self-esteem as anxiety buffers

Terror management theory (TMT) proposes that self-esteem serves as a defense against the fear of death. Previous research has suggested that independent self-esteem is more salient in individualist cultures, whereas interdependent self-esteem is more salient in collectivist cultures. Thus, we hypothesized that in collectivist cultures, independent self-esteem would play a lesser role and interdependent self-esteem a greater role in terror management, compared to individualist cultures. The results support this prediction. In Study 1, personal self-esteem was negatively associated with death anxiety in samples from a Western (Austria) and Eastern (China) culture. However, both self-liking and self-competence were negatively associated with death anxiety among Austrian participants, but only self-liking (and not self-competence) was so among Chinese participants. Surprisingly, collective self-esteem was not significantly correlated with death anxiety. Yet, Study 2 showed that among Chinese participants, relational self-esteem was negatively associated with death anxiety. Study 3 examined the roles of relational versus personal self-esteem in moderating the effects of mortality salience on worldview defense. Among Chinese participants, relational rather than personal self-esteem increased the defense of worldviews centered on collectivist-Chinese values following mortality salience (Study 3a). In contrast, among Austrian participants, personal rather than relational self-esteem attenuated the effect of mortality salience on the defense of individualist-Austrian worldviews (Study 3b). Self-esteem serves a terror management function in both collectivist and individualist cultures; however, the differences between cultural worldviews determine the type of self-esteem that is more relevant to terror management processes.     

Object Relations and Interpersonal Problems in Sexually Abused Female Patients: An Empirical Study With the SCORS and the IIP

Ninety-three children from a child guidance clinic were asked to select the Rorschach card which represented their mother, their father, the card they liked best, the card they liked least, and the most frightening card. In comparing the present data with earlier findings, it was determined that no reliable selection of a parental card could be safely made. However, card X appears to represent consistently the best liked card and Card IV a negative reaction card. As in earlier studies, none of the significant results represents a majority of the group's choices for any one stimulus value.     

Individual differences in nostalgia proneness: The integrating role of the need to belong

Who is the nostalgia-prone person? The ‘sociality view’ sees an individual who frequently recalls meaningful memories rich in social content. The ‘maladaptation view’ sees an emotionally unstable, neurotic individual. In four studies, we integrated these contrasting views. We hypothesized that the link between neuroticism and nostalgia proneness arises because (a) neuroticism is associated with the need to belong and (b) the need to belong triggers nostalgia, with its abundant social content. Consistent with this hypothesis, Studies 1–2 found that the correlation between neuroticism and nostalgia proneness was eliminated when controlling for the need to belong. The need to belong predicted increased nostalgia proneness, above and beyond neuroticism. Specifically, Study 2 revealed that a deficit-reduction (rather than growth) belongingness orientation predicted increased nostalgia proneness. When the role of this deficit-reduction belongingness orientation was controlled, the positive correlation between neuroticism and nostalgia disappeared. Studies 3–4 showed that experimental inductions of a belongingness deficit augmented nostalgia, providing support for its compensatory role.     

Psychoanalysis in Austria after 1933-34

Our essay focuses on major developments of the history of psychoanalysis during the fascist and National Socialist years in Austria and sheds light on the re-establishment of psychoanalysis after World War II. With the consolidation of National Socialism in Germany in 1933 and Austro-fascism in 1934, any psychoanalytical reflection that was critical of political and cultural trends was extinguished. Vienna - once again - became the center of the psychoanalytical movement in Central Europe, taking over the role Berlin had played during the twenties. But, during the Austro-fascist system, psychoanalysis was isolated from an important part of its public. Psychoanalysts reacted by adopting an attitude of political abstinence, accompanied by self-censorship, they concentrated on training and clinical work, or they went into exile. Austria's Anschluß to the National Socialist Third Reich led to the final destruction of psychoanalysis. Nearly all Viennese analysts were affected by the anti-Jewish measures of the National Socialists and almost all of them fled the country. During the war years, a small group of people under the leadership of August Aichhorn tried to continue psychoanalytic training. Its members refounded the Viennese Psychoanalytical Society in early 1946. But, scientific traditions were broken and tendencies of anti-enlightenment, especially clerical and catholic prejudices, had continued from the time of Austrofascism and Nationalsocialism. The last chapter of our essay summarizes the research topics and the main historiographical studies done in the field.     

Vigilant Self‐regulation and Costly Punishment in Public Goods Situations

Applying regulatory focus theory to the context of social dilemma situations, the present research demonstrates that individual differences in vigilant, prevention‐focused self‐regulation predict the tendency to invest private resources to punish uncooperative interaction partners (costly punishment), a behaviour that typically has strong positive effects on the collective level of cooperation. Analyses further support the distinctiveness of the vigilance system proposed in regulatory focus theory (prevention focus) in comparison with general defensive inhibitory tendencies (measured with Carver and White's Behavioral Inhibition System scale). Results document that individual differences in prevention‐focused self‐regulation but not differences in general defensive inhibitory tendencies are positively related to costly punishment. In sum, the findings indicate that vigilant, prevention‐focused self‐regulation plays a crucial role in the context of sanctions that enforce cooperation. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Givenness, complexity, and the Danish dative alternation

In this study, we investigated the interaction between givenness and complexity on the choice of syntactic structure, via two experiments using speeded acceptability judgments. Experiment 1 showed that for the Danish dative alternation, given–new orders are only easier to process for double-object or NP constructions, whereas PP constructions are unaffected. This replicates previous findings for the English dative alternation. Experiment 2 revealed that when a long NP precedes a short NP—a suboptimal complexity relation—the effect of givenness is neutralized, whereas givenness remains influential when the complexity relation between the NPs in the sentence is optimal. This is consistent with the view that in online parsing, the actual syntactic structure-building process is primary, whereas any higher-order computations such as discourse linking are secondary. The relative complexity of the NPs in the double-object construction directly affects the structure-building process, whereas the decoding of the discourse structure is a later and less crucial phenomenon, resulting in neutralization of the givenness effect in cases in which the complexity relation is suboptimal.     

Does habit strength moderate the intention–behaviour relationship in the Theory of Planned Behaviour? The case of fruit consumption

The present study examined if habit strength moderated the influence of intention on fruit consumption in a Dutch adult sample (N?=?521, 46.3% males, mean age?=?34.50, SD?=?10.87), using the theoretical relations of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). TPB variables and habit strength were assessed at baseline. Fruit consumption was assessed with a validated questionnaire five weeks later. Three groups were created: low habit strength (n?=?180), medium habit strength (n?=?185) and high habit strength (n?=?156). Confirmatory factor analyses and multi-group path analyses were performed using AMOS 4.0. A good fit was obtained for the overall measurement model and the structural models. Multi-group path analyses showed that intention was a significant predictor of fruit consumption in the low habit (β?=?0.36, p?<?0.001) and medium habit group (β?=?0.30, p?<?0.001), but a non-significant predictor in the high habit group (β?=?0.05, p?=?0.596). Implications for information-based and motivation-based interventions are discussed.     

Adolescents’ movement towards cessation of smoking: Role and relative value of the processes of change and nicotine dependence

The present study addresses the applicability of the Transtheoretical Model's processes of change in explaining adolescents’ readiness to quit smoking. Furthermore, the association between nicotine dependence and readiness to quit was assessed both directly, as well as indirectly through the processes of change. A cross-sectional survey was conducted, identifying 1547 weekly smokers aged 14–18 years. Structural equation modelling showed that the processes of change were only marginally associated with readiness to quit. Adding nicotine dependence to the model showed a direct association between nicotine dependence and readiness to quit. Only one process of change, self-liberation (i.e. choice/commitment to change and belief in the ability to change), was found to mediate this association. Nicotine dependence appeared to be highly important in adolescents’ readiness to quit.