Cognitive processing of emotional information in depression, panic, and somatoform disorder

Emotional Stroop tasks (subliminal/supraliminal exposures), implicit memory tasks (tachistoscopic word identification), and explicit memory tasks (free recall after incidental learning) with 4 word types (physical threat, positive, negative, and neutral words) were administered to patients with major depressive disorder (n=30), panic disorder (n=33), somatoform disorder (n=25), and healthy control participants (n=33). On the Stroop task, panic patients showed subliminal interferences for physical threat and negative words, depressive patients showed supraliminal interferences for negative words, and somatoform patients showed supraliminal interferences for physical threat words. No patient groups demonstrated implicit memory biases. On the explicit memory task, depressive and panic patients showed memory biases for negative words; somatoform patients showed biases for physical threat words.     

Interpersonal mistreatment in the workplace: the interface and impact of general incivility and sexual harassment

This article examined the relationships and outcomes of behaviors falling at the interface of general and sexual forms of interpersonal mistreatment in the workplace. Data were collected with surveys of two different female populations (Ns = 833 and 1,425) working within a large public-sector organization. Findings revealed that general incivility and sexual harassment were related constructs, with gender harassment bridging the two. Moreover, these behaviors tended to co-occur in organizations, and employee well-being declined with the addition of each type of mistreatment to the workplace experience. This behavior type (or behavior combination) effect remained significant even after controlling for behavior frequency. The findings are interpreted from perspectives on sexual aggression, social power, and multiple victimization.     

Relation of urinary incontinence, menopausal symptoms, and life satisfaction in middle-age Korean women

Associations of urinary incontinence, menopausal symptoms and life satisfaction of 235 middle-age Korean women (40 to 59 years) were investigated, based on responses to a self-report questionnaire. Urinary incontinence was positively correlated with menopausal symptoms (r =.24) and negatively correlated with life satisfaction (r=-.11). Life satisfaction was negatively correlated with menopausal symptoms (r = -.28). All rs indicate weak associations and account for small common variables. Even so, results suggest effective treatment of urinary incontinence and menopausal symptoms could enhance life satisfaction through promoting healthy behavior and emotional health in such middle-age women.     

THE INTERACTION OF BIASES IN THE EVALUATION OF MANAGERS IN SINGAPORE

In this study, independent samples from the same population responded to three simulated situations in which sex and other independent variables were manipulated. In the first two cases, discriminatory decisions against women managers by male respondents were clearly discerned. However, in the third case where sex as an independent variable interacted with developmental potential, the pattern of evaluative decisions changed. A high-potential female was treated as favourably as a high-potential male while the low-potential male received the lowest selection rate from the male respondents. While the finding is not altogether surprising in a meritocratic society like Singapore, the study points to the need to explore the interactive effects which sex bias may have with other attitudes in a specific social context.     

Secular and Liminal: Discovering Heterogeneity Among Religious Nones

This study examines the stability of religious preference among people who claim no religious preference in national surveys (i.e., religious nones). Using data from the Faith Matters Study, General Social Survey, and American National Election Study, we show that about 30 percent of religious nones in the first wave of the survey claim an affiliation with a religious group a year later. The percentage of religious nones remained stable in the two waves because a similar number of respondents moved in the opposite direction. Using various measures of religiosity, we show that most of these unstable nones report no significant change in religious belief or practice. We call them liminal nones as they stand halfway in and halfway out of a religious identity. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings on the controversies surrounding the rise of religious nones in recent years.