Re‐Examining Machiavelli: A Three‐Dimensional Model of Machiavellianism in the Workplace

Machiavellianism has been studied extensively over the past 40 years as a personality characteristic that shares features with the manipulative leadership tactics Machiavelli advocated in The Prince. We introduce a new model of Machiavellianism based in organizational settings that is multidimensional, incorporating aspects not previously included in Machiavellianism scales. Our model consists of 3 factors: maintaining power, harsh management tactics, and manipulative behaviors. The results of 3 studies are summarized, discussing the development of these 3 factors and how they relate to individual‐difference and organizational variables.     

Psychopathology in mothers of children with failure to thrive

An association between maternal psychopathology and failure to thrive (FTT) has been reported previously, but no prior investigators have used both operationalized diagnostic criteria for psychopathology and a control group in their studies. Twenty-eight mothers of children with FTT and 22 mothers of normally developing control children were assessed for psychopathology by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R–Nonpatient Version (SCID-NP) and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R–Personality Disorders (SCID-II). Affective disorders, personality disorders, and the COoccurrence in an indvidual of these two types of disorders were found at higher rates in mothers of children with FTT compared to controls. These results clarify prior reports of an association between failure to thrive and maternal psychopathology and may have implications for treatment approaches to FTT.     

Interactions between depressed and nondepressed Latina mothers and their premature infants

The impact of depression upon mother–infant interaction was studied longitudinally in a sample of very low income, immigrant Latina mothers with premature, very low birth weight infants. Both maternal characteristics and infant characteristics were examined using a rating scale which measured feeding interactions. Results indicate that mothers who were depressed at one month did not interact differently with their premature infants than nondepressed mothers. In addition, infants of mothers who were depressed at one month did not interact differently with their mothers than infants of nondepressed mothers. There were no differences between groups of mothers who remained depressed across the one-year period and groups whose scores reflected no depression or changes in depression levels. These findings challenge previous assumptions about interactions between depressed mother–infant dyads. Results indicate the need to broaden study attention to include socioeconomic, cultural, and life circumstances of families that may have greater impact on child outcomes than single assessments of maternal depression. Such studies may lead to changes in the way services are delivered and the types of interventions provided to non-mainstream families. © 1997 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health     

Right amygdalar and temporofrontal activation during autobiographic, but not during fictitious memory retrieval

What distinguishes the recall of real-life experiences from that of self-created, fictitious emotionally laden information? Both kinds of information belong to the episodic memory system. Autobiographic memories constitute that part of the episodic memory system that is composed of significant life episodes, primarily of the distant past. Functional imaging was used to study the neural networks engaged in retrieving autobiographic and fictitious information of closely similar content. The principally activated brain regions overlapped considerably and constituted temporal and inferior prefrontal regions plus the cerebellum. Selective activations of the right amygdala and the right ventral prefrontal cortex (at the level of the uncinate fascicle interconnnecting prefrontal and temporopolar areas) were found when subtracting fictitious from autobiographic retrieval. Furthermore, distinct foci in the left temporal lobe were engaged. These data demonstrate that autobiographic memory retrieval uses (at least in non-brain damaged individuals) a network of right hemispheric ventral prefrontal and temporopolar regions and left hemispheric lateral temporal regions. It is concluded that it is the experiential character, its special emotional infiltration and its arousal which distinguishes memory of real-life from that of fictitious episodes. Consequently, our results point to the engagement of a bi-hemispheric network in which the right temporo-prefrontal hemisphere is likely to be responsible for the affective/arousal side of information retrieval and the left-hemispheric temporal gyrus for its engram-like representation. Portions of the neural activation found during retrieval might, however, reflect re-encoding processes as well.     

The relationship between age and depressive symptoms in two national surveys.

There is inconsistency in the literature on the relationship between age and depressive symptoms. Although a careful review shows that some of this inconsistency can be reconciled by recognizing the nonlinear relationship (Newmann, 1989), 2 additional issues remain unclear. One is that most previous studies used depression screening scales that contain somatic items that could introduce an age bias. The other is that most previous studies combined samples of men and women even though there is evidence that the sex difference in depressive symptoms varies with age. These 2 issues are addressed in this article, using analyzed data from 2 large national surveys. There is a consistent, but quite modest, nonlinear association between age, somatic, and nonsomatic depressive symptoms in both surveys. There is no significant sex difference in the age curves.     

Psychological aspects of genetic counseling. VII. Thoughts on directiveness

Directiveness and nondirectiveness in genetic counseling are poorly understood on the operational level, and information about what counselors allege they do and what actually is done in practice is lacking. Although they are often thought of as diametrically opposite approaches, when viewed as strategies of persuasion, their similarities become more apparent. Directive counselors attempt to influence the counselee's behavior, whereas nondirective ones attempt to influence the latter's thinking processes; there is need for both approaches. Directiveness may also sometimes occur because of inadequate interview skills. The case made for directiveness is discussed and critiqued, available research is reviewed, and suggestions for future studies are advanced.     

Psychological aspects of genetic counseling. VIII. Suffering and countertransference

Two common forms of countertransferential problems seen in genetic counseling, associative and projective, are described and illustrated. Both forms have the potential of reducing the quality of empathy counselors provide counselees. When counselors experience the same problems as the counselees they counsel it is virtually impossible to avoid facing countertransferential reactions which may not always promote the counselees' interests and/or redound to their benefit. Genetic counselors, like other personal counselors and psychotherapists, have a professional responsibility to be aware of, monitor, contain, and learn from their countertransferential experiences.     

Psychological Aspects of Genetic Counseling: XII. More on Counseling Skills

Three brief excerpts of genetic counseling sessions are analyzed to illustrate difficulties in applying counseling skills. Suggestions are advanced as to how genetic counselors might improve their competence in counseling practices and handle such issues as transference more effectively.