Theoretical, Developmental & Cultural Orientations of School-Based Prevention Programs for Preschoolers

Schools are the primary environment in which to conduct prevention programs for school-age children. Educators, policy makers, and psychologist argue that prevention efforts should begin as early as possible to maximize their effectiveness. Surprisingly, there are relatively few school-based prevention programs targeted for preschoolers. Given the evidence supporting earlier rather than later prevention efforts and the fact that many children in the United States attend preschool programs, more research on the feasibility and effectiveness of prevention programs administered in preschool environments is warranted. In this article, we review the existing literature on school-based prevention programs targeted for preschool children. We examine whether school-based prevention programs are theory driven, developmentally appropriate, culturally sensitive, and aimed specifically at symptom reduction or behavior promotion. Based on the findings of this review, our aim is to identify gaps in the prevention research literature regarding programs for preschoolers and propose research to address such gaps to create more effective school-based prevention programs for young children.     

“I'm Not That Type of Person”: Managing the Stigma of Having an Abortion

Drawing on interviews with U.S. women, this article offers a social–psychological framework for understanding the stigma of having an abortion and identifies the individual stigma management strategies women use to mitigate negative intrapersonal and interpersonal consequences of abortion stigma. We also contribute to contemporary understandings of abortion stigma by theorizing how aspects of abortion stigma—such as its concealability and episodic expression—interfere with women's potential to collectively manage or dismantle abortion stigma. Finally, we discuss how our conceptual framework can be used to inform the development of a measure of the stigma experiences of women who have had an abortion, which can help improve health and well-being outcomes for women.     

A Dual Process Model of Attitudes towards Immigration: Person × Residential Area Effects in a National Sample

This research took a person × situation approach to predicting prejudice by looking at how social worldviews interact with real‐world environmental factors to predict how people respond to immigrants within their local area. Taking a Dual Process Motivational approach, we hypothesized that a higher proportion of immigrants in the local community would be associated with negative attitudes toward immigration for respondents high in dangerous world beliefs. Conversely, we hypothesized that living in a highly affluent (as opposed to socioeconomically deprived) community would be associated with negative attitudes toward immigration for respondents high in competitive world beliefs. Both hypotheses were supported using regional information derived from national census data combined with representative survey data from a large telephone sample conducted in New Zealand (N = 6,489). These findings support the proposition that individual differences interact with specific features of the environment to predict people's levels of prejudice in distinct ways.     

More of a (wo)man offline? Gender roles measured in online and offline environments

The increased availability of and access to the Internet has resulted in online psychological assessment becoming an attractive mode of collecting data. However, equivalence between online measures and their offline counterpart cannot be assumed. The aim of the current study was to examine for the first time the online and offline equivalence of a commonly employed measure of gender role orientation: the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) short-form. Participants (N = 372) completed the BSRI short-form either online (n = 244) or offline (n = 128). Equivalence was assessed through reliability measures and mean differences. Reliability analyses indicated good and comparable levels of internal consistency. There was no significant difference between femininity scores depending on mode of administration. However, masculinity scores were significantly higher when the BSRI short-form was administered offline. An additional and unexpected finding was that there was no significant difference between men and women’s masculinity scores. Explanations for the pattern of results seen are considered, including the possible role of social desirability. Future research should further consider conceptualisations of gender in the online environment. Given the findings reported here, it is recommended that researchers collecting gender role data online interpret their findings mindful of possible administration mode effects.     

Trying But Failing: Implicit Attitude Transfer Is Not Eliminated by Overt or Subtle Objectivity Manipulations

People with mental illness experience discrimination, paternalistic treatment, and avoidance. To facilitate assessment of such experiences, the authors developed the Multifaceted Stigma Experiences Scale. It assesses four dimensions of experienced stigma in interpersonal interaction: hostile discrimination, benevolent discrimination, taboo, and denial. The influence of stigma experiences on mental health was modeled in a two-wave panel with persons with mental illness (N = 367, 79% repeated response rate). Results indicate that both subtle and blatant forms of stigma constitute a barrier to recovery and may be interpreted as attempts to increase social distance and reinforce the existing social order.     

Sex differences in theory of mind: A male advantage on Happé's “cartoon” task

It is a commonly held stereotype that women show superior performance on tests of social cognition such as face processing and theory of mind (ToM) compared to men. However, such purported differences have not been empirically tested. In this study 40 healthy men and 40 women matched for age and years of education completed a well-known experimental ToM test requiring the attribution of either physical or mental states (Happé's cartoon task). Men showed superior performance compared to women, with a medium effect size, on both the mental state and physical state cartoons. It is suggested that men may use a cognitive systemising strategy during these tasks. The results emphasise the task-specific nature of sex differences in social cognition and necessitate future work to elucidate individual differences at the interface of cognitive and affective processes.     

Disappointment for others

Two studies examined when and why people experience disappointment for others. Study 1 demonstrated that participants reported disappointment for another's outcome only when the outcome had strong personal implications. Study 2 demonstrated that self-image concerns rather than empathy or resource concerns mediated the experience of disappointment for others. Collectively, these findings suggest that people experience disappointment for others when those outcomes implicate the self-image.     

Exploring the peak and end rule of past affective episodes within the exercise context

ObjectivesThe global affective evaluation (GAE) of an event influences the decision to repeat that event. Two moments are proposed to predict the GAE: the peak and end affect experienced from the event (Fredrickson, 2000). The purposes of this study were to test this peak and end rule in the context of exercise and examine the relationship between GAE and exercise behaviour.Methods41 inactive women (M = 42.7 years, SD = 10.6 years) completed a graded exercise test to determine ventilatory threshold (VT) and 20 min of treadmill exercise at an intensity either at-VT or 10% above-VT. Feeling Scale (FS) was recorded every 2 min during-exercise and 1, 5, 10 and 15 min post-exercise. GAE was measured 5 min, 15 min, 2 and 7 days post-exercise. Exercise intentions and behaviour were measured 7 days post-exercise. The individual's peak and end FS values were entered together as predictor variables in separate regression analyses with GAE from each time point as the dependent variable.ResultsPeak affect and end affect explained between 39 and 58% of the variance in GAE. Greater variance was predicted 5 and 15 min post-exercise compared with 2 and 7 days post-exercise. The independent contribution of the peak and end variables could not be determined due to multi-collinearity problems. No significant relationships existed between affective memory and intentions or behaviour.ConclusionsThe peak and end rule plays some part in predicting the affective memory of an exercise experience but other variables are likely to play a role.