Women's Magazine Fiction: A Content Analysis of the Roles,Attributes, and Occupations of Main Characters

A content analysis of the fiction stories in seven national women's magazines revealed that the primary problem for most of the main characters is romantic. Most of the characters are atractive, single, white Americans younger than 45. They live in the city, have zero to two children, are middle class, and college educated, and they have careers or jobs. Less than half of them are able to solve their own problems, and occupations are assigned sterotypically by gender. The conclusion drawn is that the fiction in these magazines is, in many ways, as traditional as has been found in the past.     

The Belief in Equality Inventory and Leadership Behavior: A Construct Validation

The belief-in-equality construct is defined as the belief that general ability and potential are widely distributed throughout the human population, rather than being limited to an elite minority. Data from a 21-item belief-in-equality inventory and from two construct-validation tasks were gathered using a liberal-arts undergraduate sample of 201 students. Of the two validation tasks, one indicated strong construct validity ( p < .015), however, the second one produced correctly patterned but insignificant results. The results showed that leaders with a high belief in equality put more funds into training their subordinates and had a tendency to delegate more authority to them than leaders with a weak belief in equality.     

Relations between Muslims and non‐Muslims in the thought of Western‐educated Muslim intellectuals

This article surveys some recent publications in English which approach the subject of relations between Muslims and non‐Muslims from different perspectives. The material is viewed in the context of both the Islamic classical scholarly heritage and the impact of current global realities, such as Muslim migration to the West and the internationalization of Western scholarship. In descending order of conservatism, the writings of Ismail al‐Faruqi, Fazlur Rahman, Mahmoud Ayoub and Mohammed Talbi are described and analysed with reference not only to their actual opinions but also to their methodology and the implications for future trends in Islamic scholarship.     

Children's capacity to agree to psychological research: knowledge of risks and benefits and voluntariness

A series of studies investigated the capacity of children between the ages of 7 and 12 to give free and informed consent to participation in psychological research. Children were reasonably accurate in describing the purpose of studies, but many did not understand the possible benefits or especially the possible risks of participating. In several studies children's consent was not affected by the knowledge that their parents had given their permission or by the parents saying that they would not be upset if the children refused. In contrast, other studies found that children were much more likely to stop their participation if the experimenter said explicitly that she would not be upset if they stopped. We suggest that experimenters should pay more attention to describing the possible risks and benefits of participation in research, and that they should also make it clearer to children that they are free to stop once they have begun.     

The development of aggression in toddlers: A study of low-income families

The effort by developmental psychopathologists to understand the etiology of antisocial behavior has resulted in several significant findings. First, aggressive behavior is highly stable from early childhood into adolescence and adulthood. Second, parental factors including rearing practices and parental psychopathology, are correlated with childhood behavior problems. It was the aim of the present study to examine the correlates and stability of aggressive behavior in a sample of toddlers from low income families. Eight-nine mother-child dyads (52 boys and 37 girls) were observed in laboratory assessments when the child was 18- and 24-months old. Frequency and pervasiveness of aggression were coded from videotapes. Familial criminality, maternal depressive symptomatology, child noncompliance, and difficult child temperament were examined as contributors to the prediction of aggression in toddlers. Stability of aggression was moderate, especially for aggression occurring in low-stress situations. While there were few sex differences in the frequency and stability of aggression, there were marked differences in the correlates and predictors of aggression. Gender-specific, interactional models of the development of aggression are proposed.This study was supported by grants to Daniel Shaw and Joan Vondra from the following organizations within the University of Pittsburgh: the Mental Health Clinical Research Center for Affective Disorders, the Office of Child Development, the School of Education in conjunction with the Buhl Foundation, and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Portions of this paper were presented at the Meeting for the Society for Life History Research, Philadelphia, April 1992. The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution of Julie Alley, Jodi Chusta, and Kevin Cosley for their invaluable assistance in behavioral coding. Special thanks is given to the mothers and children who participated in this research.     

Children's responses to stories with male and female characters

The sex of the main character was varied in six children's stories which were then read by fourth, sixth and eighth graders. The children answered four questions about the stories. Both boys and girls responded more positively to the questions “Would you like to be (character's name?)” and “Would you like to do the things (character's name) did?” when the main character was a male. Boys preferred stories about males, and this preference increased with grade level. A preference for stories about females was marginally significant only for the older girls. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Interaction of genetics and separation in canine hyperkinesis and in differential responses to amphetamine

A model of childhood hyperkinesis, using the Telomian-beagle hybrid dog, is described, demonstrating the interactions of genetics and separation in the development of this syndrome and in the favorable responses of some of these dogs to amphetamine. This work represents the collaboration of three laboratories, utilizing chiefly methods of inhibitory training. Inducing separation distress enhanced the resistance to inhibitory training and the favorable responses to amphetamine.     

Women in families: feminist therapy and family systems*

Current family therapy has as its basis the concept of the family as a system. Systems theory has developed a set of explanations that are frequently functional in nature; they are often applied as though they assume that within a system a common goal is worked towards as in biological systems. For example, the concept of homeostasis is used in much the same way as Cannon (1929) used it to describe the mechanisms of stability within biological systems such as body temperature regulation. Here all the components of the system co-operate to maintain body temperature within certain limits. This functional assumption of a common aim amongst components of a system to achieve balance should be compared with a pluralist systems analysis which does not assume such commonality of goals. For example, a pluralist analysis could highlight the conflict inherent amongst different subsystems when one subsystem has more power than the other. At a theoretical level it can be seen that family systems theory has restricted itself to a limited set of assumptions about the explanatory concepts it uses. An analysis of women's psychology which has emerged through the developments of feminist therapy can enrich the theory and practice of family therapists.