On broadening the cognitive, motivational, and sociostructural scope of theorizing about gender development and functioning: comment on Martin, Ruble, and Szkrybalo (2002)

In their article on gender development, C. L. Martin, D. N. Ruble, and J. Szkrybalo (see record 2002-18663-003) contrasted their conception of gender development with that of social cognitive theory. The authors of this commentary correct misrepresentations of social cognitive theory and analyze the conceptual and empirical status of Martin et al.'s (2002) theory that gender stereotype matching is the main motivating force of gender development. Martin et al. (2002) based their claim for the causal primacy of gender self-categorization on construal of gender discrimination as rudimentary self-identity, equivocal empirical evidence, and dismissal of discordant evidence because of methodological deficiencies. The repeated finding that gendered preferences and behavior precede emergence of a sense of self is discordant with their theory. Different lines of evidence confirm that gender development and functioning are socially situated, richly contextualized, and conditionally manifested rather than governed mainly by an intrinsic drive to match stereotypic gender self-conception.     

Mediated priming in the cerebral hemispheres

The present experiment investigates hemispheric differences in mediated priming. Theories of lexical representation have argued for an asymmetrical coding between the right and left hemispheres ([Beeman, 1998]), claiming that the right hemisphere is more diffusely represented compared to the left hemisphere. Thus, the right hemisphere activates a larger semantic field compared to the left hemisphere. Mediated (two-step) priming is an ideal task to examine this representational claim, because of the distant nature of the prime-target pairs. Results showed no difference in the magnitude of priming (both mediated and direct) between the right and left hemispheres. These results suggest that the lexical representation of the two hemispheres is equivalent, not asymmetrical as Beeman suggests.     

The role of central and peripheral vision in postural control duringwalking

Three hypotheses have been proposed for the roles of central and peripheral vision in the perception and control of self-motion: (1) peripheral dominance, (2) retinal invariance, and (3) differential sensitivity to radial flow. We investigated postural responses to optic flow patterns presented at different retinal eccentricities during walking in two experiments. Oscillating displays of radial flow (0° driver direction), lamellar flow (90°), and intermediate flow (30°, 45°) patterns were presented at retinal eccentricities of 0°, 30°, 45°, 60°, or 90° to participants walking on a treadmill, while compensatory body sway was measured. In general, postural responses were directionally specific, of comparable amplitude, and strongly coupled to the display for all flow patterns at all retinal eccentricities. One intermediate flow pattern (45°) yielded a bias in sway direction that was consistent with triangulation errors in locating the focus of expansion from visible flow vectors. The results demonstrate functionally specific postural responses in both central and peripheral vision, contrary to the peripheral dominance and differential sensitivity hypotheses, but consistent with retinal invariance. This finding emphasizes the importance of optic flow structure for postural control regardless of the retinal locus of stimulation.     

Day-to-day variability in nap duration predicts medical morbidity in older adults

Objective: The objectives for the present study were to (a) examine within-person variability of nap duration and (b) assess how variability in nap duration is related to the number of health conditions in a sample of older adults. For highly variable behaviors such as sleep, it is important to consider fluctuations within the person instead of solely comparing averages of behaviors across persons. Method: Data were drawn from a previous study examining sleep in 103 community-dwelling older adults. Subjective estimates of napping behavior were obtained from sleep diaries and objective estimates of napping behavior were obtained using actigraphy. Both measures were collected for 14 consecutive days. The sampled data were aggregated in terms of (a) average daily time spent napping and (b) average within-person fluctuations in daily nap duration. The health measure consisted of the number of self-reported health conditions. Results: Both the objective and subjective measures revealed that there was considerable day-to-day fluctuation in nap duration and that variability in nap duration, not mean duration, uniquely predicted the number of health conditions, b = .03, b* = .26, t(100) = 2.71, p = .01. Conclusions: Duration of napping in older adults is a highly variable behavior, fluctuating as much within- as between-persons. Furthermore, variability in nap duration from day to day is predictive of greater medical morbidity, suggesting that clinicians should assess for inconsistencies in nap behavior in addition to duration, frequency, and timing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Color categories and color appearance

We examined categorical effects in color appearance in two tasks, which in part differed in the extent to which color naming was explicitly required for the response. In one, we measured the effects of color differences on perceptual grouping for hues that spanned the blue-green boundary, to test whether chromatic differences across the boundary were perceptually exaggerated. This task did not require overt judgments of the perceived colors, and the tendency to group showed only a weak and inconsistent categorical bias. In a second case, we analyzed results from two prior studies of hue scaling of chromatic stimuli (De Valois, De Valois, Switkes, & Mahon, 1997; Malkoc, Kay, & Webster, 2005), to test whether color appearance changed more rapidly around the blue-green boundary. In this task observers directly judge the perceived color of the stimuli and these judgments tended to show much stronger categorical effects. The differences between these tasks could arise either because different signals mediate color grouping and color appearance, or because linguistic categories might differentially intrude on the response to color and/or on the perception of color. Our results suggest that the interaction between language and color processing may be highly dependent on the specific task and cognitive demands and strategies of the observer, and also highlight pronounced individual differences in the tendency to exhibit categorical responses.     

System justification and the defense of committed relationship ideology

A consequential ideology in Western society is the uncontested belief that a committed relationship is the most important adult relationship and that almost all people want to marry or seriously couple (DePaulo & Morris, 2005). In the present article, we investigated the extent to which the system justification motive may contribute to the adoption of this ideology. In Studies 1 and 2, we examined whether a heightened motive to maintain the status quo would increase defense of committed relationship values. In Study 3, we examined the reverse association, that is, whether a threat to committed relationship ideology would also affect sociopolitical system endorsement. As past research has found that the justification of political systems depends upon how much these systems are perceived as controlling, in Study 4 we tested whether the defense of the system of committed relationships would also increase when framed as controlling. Results from Studies 1-4 were consistent with our hypotheses, but only for men. In Study 5, using cross-cultural data, we sought to replicate these findings correlationally and probe for a cause of the gender effect. Results from more than 33,000 respondents indicated a relationship (for men) between defense of the sociopolitical system and defense of marriage in countries where the traditional advantages of men over women were most threatened. In Studies 6 and 7, we investigated when this gender difference disappears. Results revealed that when we measured (Study 6) or manipulated (Study 7) personal relationship identity rather than relationship ideology, effects also emerge for women.     

The development of the Social Bullying Involvement Scales

This study reports findings of a newly developed measure of social bullying based on Underwood's [2003] framework of social aggression. The Social Bullying Involvement Scales (SBIS) consist of four scales measuring the extent to which children experience social victimization, engage in social bullying, witness social bullying, and intervene in social bullying. The sample consisted of 636 participants (311 females and 325 males, age range 11-16 years; 71% White). Confirmatory factor analysis supported a revised version of Underwood's framework for each of the four participant role scales. Internal consistencies for each scale ranged from .93 to .97. Results revealed that social victimization was related to an increase in anxiety, depressive, and externalizing behaviors. Social bullying was associated with an increase in general externalizing behaviors only. Social witnessing was moderately correlated with depression scores. Intervening in social bullying was not linked with psychological maladjustment or externalizing behaviors. The SBIS provides a comprehensive measure of social victimization, social bullying, social witnessing, and social intervening.     

Emotion Dysregulation and Eating Disorder Symptoms: Examining Distinct Associations and Interactions in Adolescents

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - Emotion dysregulation has been posited as a key transdiagnostic factor of mental health difficulties, including eating disorders. However, how...     

The impact of pressured information management on boys' and girls' psychological functioning

This study involving 463 adolescents examined the impact of pressured information management with mothers on boys' and girls' subsequent psychological functioning. This novel concept of pressured information management involved both pressured secrecy and disclosure and was defined as the degree to which adolescents feel they have no choice but to engage in these strategies. While pressured secrecy was especially aversive for girls, yielding associations with both depression and anxiety, it was related to stress only in boys. Pressured disclosure was less detrimental, and in fact, had a positive influence on girls' anxiety over time. Alternate models for these effects were considered but not supported by the data. Together, these findings highlight the importance of considering teens' reasons for engaging in different information management strategies and suggest adolescents who feel they have no choice but to keep secrets or disclose information to mothers may experience psychological consequences that are gender-specific.