Distress in response to emotional and sexual infidelity: evidence of evolved gender differences in Spanish students

The authors studied gender differences in response to hypothetical infidelity in Spanish students. Using a forced-choice methodology, the authors asked a sample of 266 participants to indicate which kind of infidelity would be more distressing: emotional or sexual. Men were significantly more distressed by sexual infidelity than were women, and women were significantly more distressed by emotional infidelity than were men. Results supported the hypothesis that particular infidelity types, which resemble adaptive problems that human beings faced in the past, contribute to the psychology of jealousy. The results are consistent with previous cross-cultural research.     

Autoshaping and automaintenance: a neural-network approach

This article presents an interpretation of autoshaping, and positive and negative automaintenance, based on a neural-network model. The model makes no distinction between operant and respondent learning mechanisms, and takes into account knowledge of hippocampal and dopaminergic systems. Four simulations were run, each one using an A-B-A design and four instances of feedfoward architectures. In A, networks received a positive contingency between inputs that simulated a conditioned stimulus (CS) and an input that simulated an unconditioned stimulus (US). Responding was simulated as an output activation that was neither elicited by nor required for the US. B was an omission-training procedure. Response directedness was defined as sensory feedback from responding, simulated as a dependence of other inputs on responding. In Simulation 1, the phenomena were simulated with a fully connected architecture and maximally intense response feedback. The other simulations used a partially connected architecture without competition between CS and response feedback. In Simulation 2, a maximally intense feedback resulted in substantial autoshaping and automaintenance. In Simulation 3, eliminating response feedback interfered substantially with autoshaping and automaintenance. In Simulation 4, intermediate autoshaping and automaintenance resulted from an intermediate response feedback. Implications for the operant-respondent distinction and the behavior-neuroscience relation are discussed.     

Age-graded Sexualities: The Struggles of Our Ageing Body

This article focuses on the relevance of age vis-à-vis the body and sexuality in society. The author discusses how the symbolization of the body by differences of age displays an intertwining of social and sexuality issues. The central idea is that the constructions of age involve different notions of status related to the ageing body that are problematic in our sexuality because they form complex power relationships, creating boundaries, segmenting sexual expressions and committing individuals to spaces, identities and lifestyles. That is to say, as individuals use methods to capitalize on their sexuality, they produce varying meanings and ways of experiencing age. The notion of age-grading, an anthropological category to explain the connection between the notions of ageing body and society, will be discussed with the aim of clarifying how age shapes our sexuality. This paper is meant to encourage further debate, not to provide a finished discussion.     

Identifying effective mental health interventions for American Indians and Alaska Natives: a review of the literature

The pursuit of evidence-based practice (EBP) within the mental health professions has contributed to efficacious clinical intervention for individuals struggling with mental health problems. Within the context of the EBP movement, this article reviews the treatment outcome literature for mental health interventions directed specifically toward American Indians and Alaska Natives experiencing psychological distress. Fifty-six articles and chapters pertaining to the treatment of Native Americans with mental health problems were identified, though the vast majority of these did not systematically assess outcomes of specified treatments for Native American clients under scientifically controlled conditions. Of just nine studies assessing intervention outcomes, only two were controlled studies with adequate sample sizes and interpretable results relative to the identification of EBP among American Indians and Alaska Natives. The advantages and limitations of EBP for treatment of Native American mental health problems are discussed.     

Trait emotional intelligence and leadership self-efficacy: their relationship with collective efficacy

In this article, a leadership model is presented, with which to investigate the relationship of trait emotional intelligence (trait EI), leadership self-efficacy and leader's task self-efficacy with collective task efficacy and group performance. The sample was made up of 217 undergraduate students, randomly assigned to work teams of 1 leader and 2 followers that were requested to perform a production task. An adapted version of the Schutte Self-Report Inventory (SSRI; Schutte et al., 1998) was used to measure trait EI. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized relationships. Results indicated that task self-efficacy was a mediator between leadership self-efficacy and collective task efficacy; the latter, in turn, was the best predictor of group performance. No significant relationship was found between trait EI and collective task efficacy although, unexpectedly, trait EI was positively associated with leadership self-efficacy. Implications of the results are discussed.     

Temperamental dimension and anxiety problems in a clinical sample of three- to six-year old children: a study of variables

In the last few years, many researchers have studied the presence of common dimensions of temperament in subjects with symptoms of anxiety. The aim of this study is to examine the association between temperamental dimensions (high negative affect and activity level) and anxiety problems in clinical preschool children. A total of 38 children, ages 3 to 6 years, from the Infant and Adolescent Mental Health Center of Girona and the Center of Diagnosis and Early Attention of Sabadell and Olot were evaluated by parents and psychologists. Their parents completed several screening scales and, subsequently, clinical child psychopathology professionals carried out diagnostic interviews with children from the sample who presented signs of anxiety. Findings showed that children with high levels of negative affect and low activity level have pronounced symptoms of anxiety. However, children with anxiety disorders do not present different temperament styles from their peers without these pathologies.     

Assessing workplace bullying: Spanish validation of a reduced version of the Negative Acts Questionnaire

The aim of the present study was to validate a reduced Spanish version of the Negative Acts Questionnaire (NAQ; Einarsen & Raknes, 1997). This instrument, which has been widely used in various studies, was developed to measure workplace bullying. Two samples, the first comprising 352 employees from 11 organizations, and the second comprising victims of bullying who were recruited from 15 Spanish associations against bullying, participated in the study. Exploratory factor analysis conducted with the data from the first sample revealed a two-factor solution that accounted for 63.3% of the total variance. The data from the second sample were used for confirmatory factor analyses to compare three structure models of the NAQ (one factor, two independent factors, and two correlated factors). The results indicate that the correlated two-factor model provided the best fit to the data (chi2/df = 2.1, CFI = .93, GFI = .95, RMR = .04, RMSEA = .06, AIC = 215.4). Reliability analysis showed that this 14-item Spanish version had high internal consistency. Significant correlations between the NAQ and its dimensions and diverse health and perceived stress scales were found, which provided evidence of construct validity. Taken conjointly, the results of this study support the use of the Spanish version of the reduced NAQ in future research.