When Searching Hurts: The Role of Information Search in Reactions to Gender Discrimination

Two laboratory studies conducted with Dutch students explored women’s motivation to search for evidence of gender discrimination and its effects on psychological well-being. Study 1 (N?=?161) considered situational self-relevance of one’s personal outcomes (personal failure or success) on women’s motivation to collect information about gender discrimination. Study 2 (N?=?106) manipulated information search and studied its effects on well-being when information contains evidence of gender discrimination or personal failure. Results revealed that women are motivated to search for evidence of discrimination when outcomes are highly self-relevant (Study 1) or the need to search is high (Study 2). Furthermore women suffer from evidence of prejudice, but only when they are personally affected by this prejudice and evidence suggests it is pervasive.     

Sex differences in developmental trends of suicide ideation, plans, and attempts among European American adolescents

Although suicide ideation, plans, and attempts increase during adolescence, it remains unclear whether boys' and girls' risk for these outcomes peaks at different ages. We used longitudinal categorical data (never, once, 2+ times) from the Family Transitions Project (N = 1,248 rural European Americans, ages 11-19) to investigate whether yearly prevalence rates of adolescent suicidal episodes follow different patterns by sex. Multiple-group growth models revealed that peak levels of past-year ideation and plans occurred during mid adolescence for girls, but slowly increased through late adolescence for boys. We found that prevalence patterns for attempts were very similar for boys and girls, with both increasing through mid adolescence and then declining, although girls' risk declined slightly more rapidly. This information may help alert gatekeepers to developmental periods during which boys and girls are particularly vulnerable to suicide-related experiences, and also may help inform the timing of preventive efforts.     

Race and Beauty: A Comparison of Asian and Western Models in Women's Magazine Advertisements

Over the past 30 years, the literature on how women are depicted in advertising has been strongly influenced by studies conducted in the U.S. and Europe and may not fully describe the ways in which women are depicted in advertising across cultures. In this study we analyzed advertisements collected from women's fashion and beauty magazines in Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States to compare the ways in which Western and Asian models were portrayed in print advertisements. We found that although demure dress was used most often for both races, Western models were shown more frequently than Asian models in seductive dress. Western models were also posed more often than Asian models as the Seductive beauty type. Product categories also differed. Asian models were used more frequently in advertisements for hair and skin beauty products, whereas Western models dominated the clothing category. The findings suggest that Western models are used more than Asian models in advertisements which are “body” oriented, and that Western models are used in advertisements in Asia when the underlying marketing strategy is that “sex sells.”     

Mood acknowledgment and correction for the mood-congruency bias in social judgment

Past research has revealed a mood-congruency bias wherein people evaluate other individuals more positively when they are experiencing good moods than when they are experiencing bad moods. At times, however, people may attempt to prevent their transient mood states from biasing their evaluations of other people. It was proposed that the capacity to attend openly to one’s moods is an important precursor to such mood correction efforts. Two studies supported this hypothesis. People who were encouraged to attend to their feelings (Study 1), as well as people who are naturally inclined to acknowledge their feelings (Study 2), were more likely than their counterparts to prevent their positive and negative moods from biasing their judgments of a target person.     

Men's and Women's Reactions to Hypothetical Sexual Advances: The Role of Initiator Socioeconomic Status and Level of Coercion

Research on sexual coercion has revealed a beauty bias in that participants judge coercive sexual advances committed by attractive individuals as more acceptable than coercive advances committed by unattractive individuals. In this study, we examined the extent to which there exists a similar socioeconomic status bias in people's perceptions. Participants (N = 160) read 1 of 8 vignettes that depicted sexual advances and responded to several questions about the acceptability of the initiator's behavior. The coerciveness of the advance was manipulated by varying whether the touch occurred in a gentle manner with no threat or in a forceful manner with a threat of harm. Male participants always received a vignette that portrayed a woman initiating a sexual advance, and female participants always received a vignette that portrayed a man initiating a sexual advance. Socioeconomic status of the initiator was manipulated by what type of clothing he/she wore (shabby or expensive) and the car he/she drove (old or new). Results indicated that a gentle touch was more acceptable than a forceful touch, and men found sexual advances more acceptable than did women. Participants rated sexual advances by wealthy individuals as more acceptable than sexual advances by poor individuals. However, the greater acceptability of advances by wealthy individuals appeared to hold up only in the case of a gentle touch. In addition, men appeared to be more prone to the socioeconomic status bias than were women. Methodological limitations and future directions are discussed.     

Phenomenal characteristics of co‐created guided imagery and autobiographical memories

Concern has recently been raised about the potential for guided images to be mistaken for memories of actual events. According to the reality‐monitoring framework, such misattributions can occur due to the similarity of sensory and reflective memory characteristics acquired at encoding, or due to source judgement processes at retrieval. A study was conducted to examine the similarity of guided images and perceived memories at imagery encoding, and after a short delay. Participants rated the characteristics of an actual event, a natural imagery event (e.g. a fantasy), and a guided imagery experience, immediately and after a one‐week interval. For each condition, participants discussed their memory or guided imagery experience with the researcher as they reviewed or created it. Ratings indicated that guided imagery was similar to perceived memory with respect to sensory characteristics. However, the factors associated with supporting memories (contextual and temporal detail, setting familiarity, and recollection of surrounding events) were less vivid for guided imagery than for perceived events. In all cases, these patterns were stable over time. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Child Characteristics as Moderators of the Association Between Family Stress and Children's Internalizing, Externalizing, and Peer Rejection

We examined child characteristics of coping strategies, age, and gender as moderators of the association between family stressors and internalizing, externalizing, and peer rejection in a sample of 228 3rd–5th grade children. Consistent with previous research, children in the current study who experienced a higher number of family stressors were significantly less well-accepted by classmates. This association was not moderated by children's coping strategies or child age. Child gender did moderate the association between family stressors and internalizing behavior. Specifically, as the number of stressors increased, internalizing behavior decreased among girls, but not boys. The results are discussed in terms of the role of child variables in explaining the variability in children's responses to family stress.     

Reducing Psychological Distress in a Genetic Counseling Consultation for Breast Cancer

High levels of cancer specific distress have been found before and after genetic counseling for breast cancer. This study investigated the process of reducing distress during 111 genetic counseling consultations for familial breast cancer. Consultations were audiotaped, transcribed, and a detailed coding system developed to measure cues of emotional distress from the patient, and consultant (clinical geneticist or genetic counselor) behaviors before and after the cues. At least 1 emotional cue was given in 64 consultations, with a median of 1 cue per consultation. More emotional cues of distress occurred when the consultant responded empathetically to the first cue of distress. Satisfaction outcomes were largely positive regardless of the consultant's attentiveness to distress. Postconsultation depression scores were significantly reduced if more empathic responses were given, but anxiety remained the same. These results are discussed and recommendations are made for improving patient care.     

Attachment style differences in the processing of attachment–relevant information: Primed–style effects on recall,interpersonal expectations,and affect

The present study explored processing biases resulting from manipulating the temporal accessibility of relational schemas. By priming relational schemas, relationship–specific attachment styles were activated and their biasing effect on relevant information processing (namely recall for attachment–relevant words versus other words, interpersonal expectations, and affect) was examined. It was found that participants primed with a secure–style relational schema recalled more positive attachment words than those primed with an avoidant style. Although pre–priming endorsements of interpersonal expectations were influenced by global attachment style, once primed, participants showed primed–style–congruent responses. That is, primed secures showed higher endorsement of positive and lower endorsement of negative interpersonal expectations relative to the other primed style groups. Finally, primed secures reported more positive and less negative affect than the other primed style groups. Implications for understanding the way differential attachment experiences influence close relationships through life are considered.