Music,identity, and musical ethnocentrism of young people in six Asian,Latin American,and Western cultures

Ethnomusicologists and sociologists have extensively discussed the symbolic role of music in the creation, maintenance, and expression of cultural and national identity, while the underlying social psychological processes remain unexplored. We elaborate psychological mechanisms of identity construction and identity expression through culture‐specific music preferences. We propose and test a model linking music preferences to national identity via musical ethnocentrism in six student samples from Brazil, Germany, Hong Kong, Mexico, New Zealand, and the Philippines. In each context, culture‐specific music styles were related to national identity of its listeners and musical ethnocentrism mediated these effects. This paper bridges culture‐specific and universal perspectives on music and identity by examining the underlying psychological processes in Asian, Latin, and Western cultures.     

A Peculiarity in Pearl’s Logic of Interventionist Counterfactuals

We examine a formal semantics for counterfactual conditionals due to Judea Pearl, which formalizes the interventionist interpretation of counterfactuals central to the interventionist accounts of causation and explanation. We show that a characteristic principle validated by Pearl’s semantics, known as the principle of reversibility, states a kind of irreversibility: counterfactual dependence (in David Lewis’s sense) between two distinct events is irreversible. Moreover, we show that Pearl’s semantics rules out only mutual counterfactual dependence, not cyclic dependence in general. This, we argue, suggests that Pearl’s logic is either too weak or too strong.     

Perceptual style and behavioral pattern of individuals with functional gastrointestinal disorders.

The present research examined the perceptual style and coping pattern characterizing individuals with functional gastrointestinal disorders. A matched case-control design was adopted to compare differences among the target group of individuals with functional gastrointestinal disorders (n = 40), a pain control group of individuals with rheumatism (n = 40), and the community control group of healthy individuals (n = 40). Perceptual style was measured by both monitoring and blunting responses to hypothetical stressful situations, and coping pattern was measured by the use of coping strategies in real-life stressful events. Results revealed that participants with functional gastrointestinal disorders differed from their healthy and rheumatic counterparts in having higher monitoring and lower blunting scores and using action-oriented coping strategies regardless of the controllability of stressful situations.     

A retrospective study on risk assessment and management of forensic psychiatric inpatients in Hong Kong

The Department of Forensic Psychiatry of Castle Peak Hospital is the only facility in Hong Kong that provides territory-wide forensic psychiatric services for patients with criminal involvement. This retrospective study aimed to explore whether the rehabilitation programs provided by the department could significantly reduce the risks of forensic psychiatric inpatients as measured by the Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START). START ratings of inpatients who were hospitalized in the department for more than 3 months and were discharged to the community during the period from 11 April 2015 to 31 March 2019 were analyzed. A total of 79 patients were assessed, of whom 61 (77.2%) were males. Fifty-four (68.4%) patients suffered from schizophrenia. START scores upon admission (strength score = 5.67; vulnerability score = 17.43) and upon discharge (strength score = 6.87, vulnerability score = 11.18) indicated significant reduction of risks among inpatients (p < 0.05).     

The Efficacy of a Group Triple P (Positive Parenting Program) for Chinese Parents with a Child Diagnosed with ADHD in Hong Kong: A Pilot Randomised Controlled Study

The present pilot study evaluated the efficacy of the Level 4 Group Positive Parenting Program (Triple P) with Hong Kong Chinese parents who had a child with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), using a randomised controlled trial design. It was a mixed research method involving quantitative measurement and semi‐structured focus group. Participants were randomly assigned to Triple P (n = 8) or control group (n = 9) and completed measures on child disruptive behaviours, sense of parenting efficacy and satisfaction, family stress and service needs. Outcomes were assessed at pre‐, post‐, and 3‐month follow‐up. A focus group was also conducted with the participants in the intervention group upon the programme completion. Compared with the control group, the intervention group reported a significant reduction in intensity of child behaviour problems and a significant increase in parenting efficacy at post‐intervention. The gain in reducing intensity of child disruptive behaviours maintained to 3 months after the completion of programme. Qualitative data suggested the three key elements to help both parents and children get positive changes: understanding and empathy, emotional control, and persistence in applying positive parenting strategies. The results partially provided preliminary evidence supporting the efficacy of Triple P in reducing child behaviour problems for ADHD in Chinese society.     

Boundaries of American Identity: Relations Between Ethnic Group Prototypicality and Policy Attitudes

We sought to document that the extent to which different ethnic groups are perceived as embodying the American identity is more strongly linked to antiminority policy attitudes and acculturation ideologies among majority‐group members (European Americans) than among minority‐group members (Asian Americans or Latino/as). Participants rated 13 attributes of the American identity as they pertain to different ethnic groups and reported their endorsement of policy attitudes and acculturation ideologies. We found a relative consensus across ethnic groups regarding defining components of the American identity. However, European Americans were perceived as more prototypical of this American identity than ethnic minorities, especially by European American raters. Moreover, for European Americans but not for ethnic minorities, relative ingroup prototypicality was related to antiminority policy attitudes and acculturation ideologies. These findings suggest that for European Americans, perceptions of ethnic group prototypicality fulfill an instrumental function linked to preserving their group interests and limiting the rights afforded to ethnic minorities.     

The coupling of short sleep duration and high sleep need predicts riskier decision making

Abstract

Objective: To examine how risk-related decision making might be associated with habitual sleep variables, including sleep variability, sleep duration and perceived sleep need in young adults cross-sectionally and longitudinally.

Design: 166 participants completed a 7-day protocol with sleep and risk-related decision-making measures at baseline (T1) and 12 months later (T2).

Results: Habitual short sleep duration (averaging < 6?h nightly) was identified in 11.0% in our sample. After controlling for baseline demographic factors and risk-taking measures, self-reported sleep need at T1 interacted with habitual short sleep in predicting risk taking at follow-up (F_8,139=9.575, adjusted R²=.431, p<.001). T1 greater perceived sleep need predicted more risk taking among short sleepers, but decreased risk taking among normal sleepers at T2. Variable sleep timing was cross-sectionally correlated with making more Risky choices at baseline and fewer Safe choices after loss at follow up.

Conclusions: Young adults with variable sleep timing and those with short sleep duration coupled with high perceived sleep need were more likely to take risks. The moderating effects of perceived sleep need suggest that individual differences may alter the impact of sleep loss and hence should be measured and accounted for in future studies.     

Fostering Resilience among Couples Coparenting a Young Child with Autism: An Evaluation of Together We Are Stronger

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a 4-week caregiver training program designed to promote resilience among couples raising a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Seven couples with a child between the ages of 3 and 9 completed a group-based training focused on values, communication, coparenting, and managing stress. Pre-post assessment of parenting stress, dyadic satisfaction, coparenting, life satisfaction, and hope showed that although parenting stress did not decrease, significant increases were observed in dyadic cohesion, coparenting, and hope. Implications for the development of couple-focused interventions to promote resilience among parents raising a child with ASD are discussed.     

Harming high performers: a social comparison perspective on interpersonal harming in work teams

This study developed a multilevel model of the interpersonal harming behavior associated with social comparison processes in work teams. We tested this model using temporally lagged data from a sample of student teams (Study 1) and cross-sectional data from a sample of work teams in a telecommunication services company (Study 2). In both studies, social relations analyses revealed that in teams with less cooperative goals, comparison to a higher performing team member was positively associated with interpersonal harming behavior, but only when expectations of future performance similarity to that member were low. The interactive relationship of social comparison and expected future performance similarity with interpersonal harming was buffered, however, in teams with more cooperative goals.