A Mother-Instruction Program: Analysis of Intervention Procedures

A variety of techniques have been used to train parents as therapists, and while many research efforts have produced carefully controlled studies documenting behavior change, few have analyzed in detail the procedures used to produce the change. As part of a larger research program aimed at teaching mothers to alter their interaction with their children, detailed analysis of the intervention procedures was carried out. These procedures consisted of instructions given to the mothers via a “bug-in-the-ear” device while they were actively engaged in interaction with their children. Instructions were categorized according to two principles: (a) the type of statements made to mothers; and (b) the kinds of behaviors we were encouraging mothers to exhibit. Results show that the amount of interpersonal behavior change was not related to intervention statements. Intervention statements were related to specific problem behaviors indicated by mothers at inital contact, and to the age of the child. Behavior change tended to be related to the number of problem behaviors indicated by mothers but not to any one specific behavior problem. Several issues raised by this study are discussed.     

PROPOSITIONS ABOUT GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENTS: FINALLY, CONSULTATION WITH GRIEVANTS

In the past, research on grievances generally has excluded the views of grievants about the process and its consequences. This study is an analysis of self-reports of 324 grievants concerning the characteristics of a grievance-filing incident and its perceived outcomes. The results raise questions about the veracity of the industrial relations dictum that grievances should be settled at the lowest step in the process. Instead, the nature of the settlement and the type of grievance were perceived to have significant effects on outcome and attitude measures.     

Why do people sacrifice to approach rewards versus to avoid costs? Insights from attachment theory

This research provides the first empirical investigation of how attachment orientations contribute to approach and avoidance goals for engaging in sacrifice. Study 1 is a cross‐sectional study of individuals in dating relationships, and Study 2 is a 14‐day daily experience study of dating couples. Results showed that attachment anxiety was associated with a greater frequency of sacrifice and more willingness to sacrifice for approach goals (particularly self‐focused goals) and avoidance goals. Attachment avoidance was associated with a lower frequency of sacrifice, less willingness to sacrifice for approach goals (particularly partner‐focused goals), and more willingness to sacrifice for avoidance goals (both self‐ and partner‐focused). Daily sacrifice goals were also associated with the partner's attachment orientation. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Schadenfreude as a mate‐value‐tracking mechanism

This study proposed a new theoretical formulation of schadenfreude as a psychological mechanism that responds to misfortunes that lower competitors' mate value. In Study 1, participants reported schadenfreude in response to their friends' naturally occurring and hypothetical misfortunes. In Study 2, participants reported schadenfreude in response to an envied friend experiencing a hypothetical misfortune linked with female or male mate value. As predicted, females in both studies reported more schadenfreude when a same‐gender friend experienced a misfortune that lowered her physical attractiveness versus social status. Less consistent support was found for the prediction that males would report more schadenfreude when a same‐gender friend experienced a misfortune that lowered his social status versus physical attractiveness. This study suggests several directions for future research.     

The Role of Popular Music in the Construction of Alternative Spiritual Identities and Ideologies

Setting its discussion in the wider context of the decline of institutional religion among young adults, the rise of alternative spiritualities, and the mediatization of religion, the article explores the significance of popular music in the development of alternative spiritual identities and ideologies. A summary is given of leading research conducted in this field by Christopher Partridge and Graham St. John. It is argued that they demonstrate the encoding of alternative spiritual symbols and ideologies into certain forms of popular music, they fail to give an adequate account of how audiences actively make use of this music to construct alternative spiritual identities or frameworks of meaning. The article concludes that researchers in the field of religion and popular music need to draw more on theories and methods developed in ethno-musicology and the sociology of music, and suggests that the work of Tia De Nora on music in everyday life raises important questions about the qualities and context of the act of listening to music that could generate more nuanced accounts of how popular music shapes alternative spiritual identities and ideologies.