Perceived collective continuity and attitudes toward outgroups

In a series of six studies, we examined the role that perceived collective continuity (PCC) plays in intergroup attitudes. While the extant literature focuses on attitudes toward ingroups, the current studies chose to expand upon this research by concentrating on three types of outgroups (national, religious, and organizational). Results indicated that for groups perceived as neutral or positive, increased PCC was associated with more positive attitudes, while for enemy groups, increased PCC was associated with more negative attitudes. Entitativity played a mediating role such that as the outgroup was perceived as more continuous, it was also seen as more entitative. Higher entitativity led to less negative attitudes toward a past ally but more negative attitudes toward a past enemy. Results held whether past conflict and PCC were measured or manipulated, further supporting our findings. PCC has negative or positive implications for judgments of outgroups depending on intergroup history. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Validation of a Standardized Multiple‐Choice Multicultural Competence Test: Implications for Training,Assessment, and Practice

The Multicultural Counseling and Psychotherapy Test (MCPT), a measure of multicultural counseling competence (MCC), was validated in 2 phases. In Phase 1, the authors administered 451 test items derived from multicultural guidelines in counseling and psychology to 32 multicultural experts and 30 nonexperts. In Phase 2, the authors administered the top 50 discriminative items to licensed mental health professionals (N = 227) and compared MCPT scores to external indicators of MCC. Evidence was found for the construct validity and internal consistency reliability of the MCPT. El Test de Consejería Multicultural y Psicoterapia (MCPT, por sus siglas en inglés), una medida de la competencia en consejería multicultural (MCC, por sus siglas en inglés) fue validado en dos fases. En la Fase 1, los autores administraron 451 elementos del test derivados de las pautas multiculturales en consejería y psicología a 32 expertos multiculturales y 30 no expertos. En la Fase 2, los autores administraron los 50 elementos más discriminativos a profesionales licenciados de la salud mental (N = 227) y compararon los puntajes del MCPT con indicadores externos de MCC. Se hallaron evidencias de la validez del constructo y la fiabilidad de la consistencia interna del MCPT.     

Factor structure of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functions (BRIEF-P) at age three years

The preschool period is an important developmental period for the emergence of cognitive self-regulatory skills or executive functions (EF). To date, evidence regarding the structure of EF in preschool children has supported both unitary and multicomponent models. The aim of the present study was to test the factor structure of early EF as measured by the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool version (BRIEF-P). BRIEF-P consists of five subscales and three broader indexes, hypothesized to tap into different subcomponents of EF. Parent ratings of EF from a nonreferred sample of children recruited from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (N = 1134; age range 37–47 months) were subjected to confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). Three theoretically derived models were assessed; the second-order three-factor model originally proposed by the BRIEF-P authors, a “true” first-order one-factor model and a second-order one-factor model. CFA fit statistics supported the original three-factor solution. However, the difference in fit was marginal between this model and the second-order one-factor model. A follow-up exploratory factor analysis (EFA) supported the existence of several factors underlying EF in early preschool years, with a considerable overlap with the five BRIEF-P subscales. Our results suggest that some differentiation in EF has taken place at age 3 years, which is reflected in behavior ratings. The internal consistency of the BRIEF-P five clinical subscales is supported. Subscale interrelations may, however, differ at this age from those observed in the preschool group as a whole.     

Psychological type of American Evangelical missionary candidates

Sending missionaries into the field requires an enormous up-front investment on the part of the candidate as well as the sending organisation. An effective candidate selection process can limit the significant financial and emotional effects of a bad fit for a field placement. The present study seeks to analyse the typology of missionary candidates, using the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). A sample of 475 American Evangelical missionary candidates took the MBTI as part of their candidacy process. Results indicate that there were significant differences on 12 of the 16 MBTI typologies of the missionary candidates compared to the national representative sample. The ENFJ (14.1%) and ENFP (14.1%) typologies were significantly overrepresented in the sample. The personality types most underrepresented were ISTP (1.1%) and ISFP (1.7%). Comparisons with similar religious populations are discussed. Implications for how missionary candidates may adjust to field work based on type are considered.     

Interpersonal influences on goals: Current and future directions for goal contagion research

A growing body of research documents goal contagion, a phenomenon whereby people are likely to catch—to adopt and pursue for themselves—the goals they see others pursuing. Here, I situate goal contagion relative to other ideas about where goals come from and then review existing scholarship on the phenomenon itself and the processes that underlie it. I then point to four larger questions that goal contagion researchers must answer in the years to come. The first two of these questions (what levels of the self‐regulatory hierarchy are subject to contagion and what role goal contagion affords for consciousness and intention) delve deeper into the process of the phenomenon, while the second two (how goal contagion affects social relationships and how it plays into goal pursuit more broadly) highlight how researchers have largely ignored the question of how goal contagion might influence people's broader lives.     

Are Episodic Buffer Processes Intact in ADHD? Experimental Evidence and Linkage with Hyperactive Behavior

Working memory deficits are present in a substantial proportion of children with ADHD, and converging evidence links these deficits with ADHD-related behavioral and functional impairments. At the same time, working memory is not a unitary construct, and evidence is lacking regarding the role of several components of this system in ADHD. Preclinical behavioral studies are needed to fractionate the multicomponent working memory system, determine which specific subcomponent(s) are impaired in ADHD, and more importantly link these subcomponent(s) with specific ADHD-related behavioral symptoms/functional impairments. The current study reflects one piece of that puzzle, and focuses on the episodic buffer component of working memory. Across multiple testing days, a well-characterized sample of 86 children ages 8–13 (M=10.52, SD=1.54; 34 girls; 64% Caucasian/Non-Hispanic) with ADHD (n=49) and without ADHD (n=37) completed three counterbalanced working memory tests that were identical in all aspects except the key subcomponent process (phonological, visuospatial, episodic buffer). Gross motor movement during these and control tasks were measured using 4 high-precision actigraphs. There was no evidence of group differences in gender, age, SES, or IQ. Bayesian mixed-model ANOVAs indicated that the ADHD group performed significantly worse on all three working memory tests (d=1.17–1.44) and was significantly more hyperactive than controls (d=0.66–1.05) during the visuospatial and episodic buffer tests. In contrast, the ADHD and Non-ADHD groups were equivalent with regard to effects of episodic buffer demands on performance and hyperactive behavior. The most parsimonious conclusion is that the episodic buffer is likely intact in ADHD, and unrelated to ADHD hyperactivity symptoms.     

Social Support Mediates Loneliness and Human Herpesvirus Type 6 (HHV-6) Antibody Titers

The current study investigated the impact of a severe environmental stressor and the role that declining social integration played in mediating its effect on loneliness and immune status. Increased loneliness and decreased social support in the months following the stressor (storm) were significantly associated with increased HHV-6 antibody liters, reflecting poorer control over the virus. Poorer social integration mediated the relationship between loneliness and HHV-6, even after controlling for nonspecific polyclonal B-cell activation, disease status (CD3+CD4+ cell counts), living arrangements, acute social losses (bereavement), and potential disruptions in social-support resources. These findings suggest that specific elements of social support may explain the oft-noted negative effects of loneliness on the immune system, and generalized to a medically vulnerable population.     

Practice-relevant problems of psychodiagnostically oriented dispensary models

Dispensary care covers all efforts directed towards maintaining health in the sense of physical, mental and social well-being. In view of the purely organ-related standpoint, which is still sometimes encountered, problems may arise in practice which obstruct endeavours towards this aim. Screening was used to identify, among groups with levels of psychoneurological stress higher than the mean yielded by epidemiological surveys and which increase with increasing length of vocational life, subjects whose neurotic symptoms predominated among the totality of pathological findings. Possible conclusions are drawn for the further implementation of an optimized dispensary strategy at the basis.