Do You See What I See? Effects of Group Consciousness on African American Women's Attributions to Prejudice

This study examined the effects of three types of group consciousness among African American women ( ethnic , feminist , and womanist ) on prejudice attributions and appraised personal significance ( centrality ) of a negative intergroup event. African American female college students  ( N = 123)  imagined themselves in an audiotaped scenario in which they overheard two European American male classmates make negative evaluations of them. The scenario provided no cause for the negative evaluations and no references to race or gender. Multiple regression analyses revealed that higher ethnic and womanist consciousness were related to increased prejudice attributions and greater centrality appraisals  ( p  <.05)  , while feminism had no effect. Results suggest that womanist consciousness may be more relevant than traditional feminist consciousness in predicting African American women's perceptions of prejudice.     

PRIMATES AND RELIGION: A BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGIST'S RESPONSE TO J. WENTZEL VAN HUYSSTEEN'S ALONE IN THE WORLD?

For a biological anthropologist interested in the prehistory of religion, J. Wentzel van Huyssteen's book is welcome and resonant. Van Huyssteen's central thesis is that humans' capacity for spirituality emerges from a transformation of cognition and emotions that takes place in the symbolic realm, within Homo sapiens and apart from biology. To his thesis I bring to bear three areas of response: the abundant cognitive and emotional capacities of living apes and extinct hominids; the role of symbolic ritual in the evolutionary history of Homo sapiens; and the closely intertwined nature of biology and culture in the workings of evolutionary change.     

Narcissism,Entitlement, and Questionable Research Practices in Counseling: A Pilot Study

Although reports of research misconduct and questionable research practices (QRPs) have been prevalent in the literature, very little has been written about these issues in the field of counseling. The current pilot study addresses (a) the continuous drive for evidence‐based practice in education and counseling and (b) the relationship between QRPs and individual characteristics. QRPs are reported for the sample, indicating that this does exist, at least minimally, within the field of counseling. The authors also explored the role of demographic and specific personality characteristics in explaining QRPs.     

Validation of the Preschool Anxiety Scale-Traditional Chinese (PAS-TC) in Hong Kong

Anxiety disorders are the most common type of psychiatric conditions in children. Early identification and intervention during preschool years is critical for minimizing their detrimental long-term effects. The Preschool Anxiety Scale (PAS) is a developmentally-sensitive and symptom-specific instrument that has been commonly used and widely validated in the west. The current study tested the psychometric properties of its Traditional Chinese version (PAS-TC) in Hong Kong. The study sample consisted of a total of 1317 Hong Kong parents, recruited from 12 local preschools, with preschool children aged from three to six years old. Results showed that a correlated five-factor model demonstrated a good fit for the data. PAS-TC also demonstrated acceptable reliability and satisfactory validity. Furthermore, gender but not age effects were found in Hong Kong. Additionally, similar to previous studies, items from physical injury fears were the most reported in the top-ten frequently endorsed items. Finally, the anxiety level of our Hong Kong sample was found to be between the Mainland China and western countries. Clinical implications of the above findings concerning PAS-TC are discussed.

     

Meaning making,self‐determination theory,and the question of wisdom in personality

Self‐determination theory (SDT) has advanced the most comprehensive model of motives for human flourishing in the field of personality psychology and beyond. In this article, we evaluate SDT relative to the process of meaning making, particularly from a narrative perspective, showing what SDT can and cannot explain about the construction of self‐identity and its relation to human flourishing. On the one hand, SDT explains how subjective assessments of need fulfillment drive the process of self‐determined living. The internal motives that follow such fulfillment serve as important themes in people's life stories that predict several markers of hedonic and eudaimonic well‐being. On the other hand, SDT's focus on subjective fulfillment limits what SDT can explain about how wisdom, which is a canonical good of both eudaimonia and meaning making, helps people make sense of life's more difficult or unfulfilling events. SDT may facilitate a facet of wisdom that is more subjective and experiential but not the critical facet of wisdom defined by objectively more complex structures of interpretation.     

The relationships between socially prescribed perfectionism,in‐group affect,negative urgency,and disordered eating in women

Socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP) is often considered as a key risk factor for disordered eating (DE). However, current conceptualizations of SPP largely assume that this perfectionism pressure is non‐specific (i.e., a global pressure), despite research indicating that for females experiencing DE, female‐dominated groups impose this pressure (as a perceived norm). Furthermore, this relationship may be mediated by a negative reaction to this pressure, in the form of impulsivity (or negative urgency). To date, no research has investigated whether the relationship between SPP and DE is mediated by negative urgency, nor has there been research clarifying how in‐group identification relates to DE, independent of SPP and negative urgency. To address these gaps, we assessed these variables in 147 female dieters (M_age = 25.12 years, SD = 3.08) using a cross‐sectional design. Consistent with our hypotheses, negative urgency fully mediated the link between female‐based SPP and disordered eating, while female‐based in‐group affect (identification) was predictive of disordered eating (although the latter relationship was not sustained in a multiple regression model). These findings suggest that the SPP from other women may relate to DE through increasing negative urgency, and that the link between in‐group (female) affect and DE may be better explained by SPP's link to DE.     

Lifetime Acts of Violence Assessment (LAVA) predictors of laboratory aggression

While self-report data warrants interpretive caution in applied settings, these indices serve an important role in exploratory research. The Lifetime Assessment of Violent Acts (LAVA) inventory is a brief, reliable, face-valid questionnaire for estimating the frequency, triggers, and consequences (including injuries to others) of prior acts of aggression. The LAVA also identifies the situational contexts in which prior violence was triggered and provides a basis for risk classifications based on past reactive, intimate partner, alcohol-related, and/or weapon-related violence. Scores on the LAVA indices have been linked to a range of developmental and maladjustment indicators. Associations were found between lab-provoked (Taylor Aggression Paradigm) responding and both dimensional and risk classification scores in this sample (N = 92) of college men. Participants “competed” with a fictional opponent using electric shock as a retaliatory measure for perceived provocation. The total LAVA dimensional score predicted mean shock intensity ( d = .87), baseline responding ( d = 0.90), and past sexual aggression ( d = 1.01). Shock intensities in response to high provocation were predicted ( M d = 0.57) by all but one LAVA index. Participants who reported inflicting one or more injuries on another showed more intense escalations of aggression ( d = 0.46) in response to provocation than normative counterparts. Prior injuries to another ( RR = 2.71), reactive acts of aggression ( RR = 3.73), or intimate-partner violence ( RR = 4.19) elevated the risk of one or more prior acts of self-reported sexual aggression. The limitations and potential value of self-report data were discussed in regard to aggression research.     

Whatever happened to "What might have been"? Regrets, happiness, and maturity

Although lost opportunities and mistaken expectations are unpleasant to think and talk about, these experiences may have a role to play in personality development. Drawing on research using narratives of lost possible selves, the authors review the relations of regrettable experiences to 2 important and independent aspects of maturity, happiness and complexity. Thinking about a lost possible self is related to concurrent regrets, distress, and lowered well-being; however, elaborating on a lost possible self is related, concurrently, to complexity and predicts complexity, prospectively, over time. In this article, the authors describe the role that regrettable experiences have in promoting both happiness and complexity. Finally, expanding on previous work, the authors examine potential affordances of happy maturity and suggest psychological capacities that may promote happy maturity.     

Hostile and benevolent reactions toward pregnant women: complementary interpersonal punishments and rewards that maintain traditional roles

A naturalistic field study investigated behavior toward pregnant (vs. nonpregnant) women in nontraditional (job applicant) and traditional (store customer) roles. Female confederates, who sometimes wore a pregnancy prosthesis, posed as job applicants or customers at retail stores. Store employees exhibited more hostile behavior (e.g., rudeness) toward pregnant (vs. nonpregnant) applicants and more benevolent behavior (e.g., touching, overfriendliness) toward pregnant (vs. nonpregnant) customers. A second experiment revealed that pregnant women are especially likely to encounter hostility (from both men and women) when applying for masculine as compared with feminine jobs. The combination of benevolence toward pregnant women in traditional roles and hostility toward those who seek nontraditional roles suggests a system of complementary interpersonal rewards and punishments that may discourage pregnant women from pursuing work that violates gender norms.     

Nighttime fears of children and adolescents: frequency, content, severity, harm expectations, disclosure, and coping behaviours

The present school-based study investigated the nighttime fears of 511 children and adolescents, aged 8-16 years. Participants were assessed using a structured interview about the frequency, content, severity, harm expectations, coping strategies, and disclosure of nighttime fears. Results indicated that nighttime fears are a common experience, with nearly two-thirds (64.2%) of children and adolescents reporting nighttime fears. Fear of intruders/home invasion was the most frequently reported nighttime fear. Females more frequently reported nighttime fears than males (72.9% and 54.6%, respectively) and a greater number of children reported nighttime fears compared to adolescents (79.4% and 48.8%, respectively). Nighttime fears were given moderate severity ratings, and harm expectations were most strongly associated with 'personal security' fears. Respondents reported a variety of coping strategies to manage their nighttime fears with self-control/distraction techniques being the most common. Most respondents reported disclosing their nighttime fear(s) to another person. The clinical implications of these findings and the methodological limitations are discussed.