Influences of test expectations on memory-processing strategies

In a series of four experiments, recall and recognition performance were examined following recall and recognition instructions. It was found that recall-instructed subjects produced significantly better performance than recognition-instructed subjects on tests of ordered and free recall of words, particularly on the early part of the list (Experiments 1 and 2). The results of two further experiments suggest that this is mediated by differences occurring at input, and is due to increased rehearsal by subjects expecting a recall test (Experiments 3 and 4).     

Genetic analyses of focal aspects of infant temperament.

The authors explored the genetic and environmental underpinnings of individual differences in temperament with a sample of 604 3- to 16-month-old infant twins and their parents. Mothers completed Rothbart's Infant Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ), and a subsample of 140 9-month-old twins participated in behavioral assessment of temperament in the laboratory as well. For IBQ Smiling and Laughter and Duration of Orienting, both additive genetic and shared environmental effects were needed to best represent the data. Shared environmental effects fully accounted for cotwin similarity for IBQ Soothability, and conversely, additive genetic effects fully accounted for cotwin similarity for the IBQ Distress to Limitations, Distress to Novelty, and Activity Level scales. With the subsample, the authors fit a multivariate model to mother report, father report, and lab measures of stranger distress and found that genetic influences were most important for the covariation among these measures.     

Emotion and aggression in the psychopathic personality

This paper presents an integrative conceptual framework for understanding relationships between psychopathy and aggression, and reviews the extant relevant literature in relation to this framework. Issues pertaining to conceptualization and subtyping of aggression are reviewed with reference to contemporary emotion theory, and recent research on the emotional and temperamental underpinnings of criminal psychopathy is described. It is argued that different forms of aggression may be related to disparate facets of psychopathy, and that these relationships may be mediated by common dispositional factors. Methodological limitations of existing studies are identified, and suggestions for future research are offered.     

Perceptions of women related to food choice

Male and female subjects (predominately white) provided impression ratings of body shape, personality traits, and total caloric consumption for a female target based on her preference for a low fat or high fat diet. Results showed that meal type significantly affected impression ratings: the target who preferred low fat foods was viewed more favorably than the one who preferred high fat fare. Compared with male subjects, female subjects perceived the target who preferred a high fat diet to be significantly less conscientious. Males were significantly more accurate than females in their caloric estimations of targets' total daily consumption. The results will be discussed in terms of the social pressure on women to restrict not only their weight to acceptable levels, but their food consumption as well.Portions of this paper were presented at the meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Providence, Rhode Island, April 14–17, 1994.The authors wish to thank Justina Bradley, Loraina Ghiraldi, and two anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments on an earlier version of this paper. Melissa Van Brocklin's help during the data collection was also greatly appreciated.     

Mentoring,job satisfaction,gender, and the legal profession

We examine the prevalence of mentoring among lawyers and the effect mentoring has on their employment situations, with special attention to gender differences. The data come from a 1989 cross-sectional survey of 1132 Georgia lawyers (80% white and 18% black). No significant difference in having mentors was found across racial categories. Results initially show female lawyers are more likely than males to have mentors, but this is due to gender differences in type of law practice and position in them; among associate-level lawyers in law firms there is no gender difference in having a mentor. Having a mentor improves lawyers' job satisfaction; and the size of this benefit is the same for both sexes.A revision of a paper presented at the 1992 annual meeting of the Southern Sociological Society, New Orleans, Louisiana, April 12.     

The effects of social belonging and kindness on stress and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal experiment

Because the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has introduced significant stressors to people's lives, more research on self-directed strategies to cope with pandemic-related stress is needed. In the current longitudinal experiment (N = 614), we investigated the emotional benefits of two self-directed strategies—belonging affirmation and recalling kindness—during the Delta (October 2021) and Omicron (February 2022) waves of the pandemic. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three activity conditions (belonging affirmation, recalling kindness, or control), which they performed weekly for 4 weeks. Contrary to our pre-registered hypothesis, belonging affirmation and recalling kindness did not promote greater well-being overall; however, belonging affirmation led to well-being improvements indirectly via increases in positive emotions. Furthermore, the benefits of belonging affirmation were moderated by pandemic wave. That is, during the Omicron wave, but not the Delta wave, belonging affirmation led to improved life satisfaction, positive emotions, and connectedness, decreased loneliness and negative emotions, and marginally reduced perceived stress and anxiety. These results provide preliminary evidence for the well-being benefits of belonging affirmation and suggest the importance of evaluating coping strategies throughout different stages of a long-term stressor.     

When confessing sin feels good

This paper draws on a qualitative study of how young people engaged in two youth ministries in the Church of Norway reflect on sin and shame in relation to their existential dilemmas . The authors analyze this practice through the lens of Hartmut Rosa's concept of resonance, arguing that there is consonance between how young people in the study express shame and the Lutheran understanding of sin as being curved in on oneself. Both sin and shame prevent the subject from being open to the world, thus constituting resistance to resonance. Yet, the practice of confessing sin may be a remedy to this closing in on oneself, as confession affords a resonant space, countering feelings of existential inadequacy caused by both sin and shame. Bringing the concept of vulnerability into the discussion, the paper further argues that confessing sin may prove healing and liberating also for experiences of shame as long as it does not violate the subject's ability to speak with her own voice or involve harmful god-images or harmful power dynamics.