Implications of college-age narcissism for psychosocial functioning at midlife: Findings from a longitudinal study of women

Positive and negative implications of two types of college-age narcissism on psychosocial functioning at midlife were studied in a longitudinal sample of women. Both types were scored with self-report measures when the women were, on the average, age 21. Throughout the first half of their adult life, high scorers on covert narcissism presented themselves as lacking in confidence and having low morale; high scorers on overt narcissism described themselves as wanting admiration, being independent, and being forceful. Positive outcomes associated with covert narcissism included the development of insight and of a differentiated sense of the self and, in the case of overt narcissism, entailed an involvement in high-status and creative work careers. At midlife, high scorers on covert narcissism experienced negative affect and feelings of being neglected, whereas high scorers on overt narcissism experienced family conflict and problems with impulse control. The personality characteristics associated with both types of narcissism remained stable from the early 20s to early 50s.     

Multiaxial taxonomy of fibromyalgia syndrome patients

Pain, disability, and depression are present in various degrees in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome. Cluster analysis was used in this research to ascertain the existence of subgroups of patients in a fibromyalgia sample based on these variables. Two clusters were defined: one characterized by high levels of pain, disability, and depression (n=51) and another characterized by low levels of pain, disability, and depression (n=67). Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) confirmed differences between clusters on these health status factors and a second MANOVA revealed that the subgroup with a poorer health status reported greater passive coping, helplessness, and stress, and less satisfaction with social support, than the subgroup with better health status. Logistic regression indicated that the best discriminator of subgroup membership was helplessness. These results suggest that different approaches to patient management, particularly intervention strategies aimed at reducing helplessness, may be beneficial for patients with high levels of pain, disability, and depression.     

Interpersonal functioning and depressive symptoms in childhood: Addressing the issues of specificity and comorbidity

Research has supported linkages between depression and social impairment in youngsters, but has often focused on depressive symptoms in isolation. We collected data on depressive, anxiety, and externalizing symptoms in 161 school children. Information about interpersonal competence was gathered from several sources, including children, teachers, and behavioral observations. Depressive symptoms were found to be related to difficulties in multiple areas of competence, including maladaptive social problem-solving styles, conflict-negotiation and affect-regulation deficits, and peer rejection. Comparisons of the relative contributions made by depressive and anxiety symptoms to the prediction of functioning yielded some evidence for a specific relation between depressive symptoms and impairment. Children with cooccurring internalizing and externalizing symptoms generally suffered from the most social dysfunction. If replicated in clinical samples, findings such as these may help to guide intervention efforts with depressed children.We thank Daphne Isenberg, Margie Limon, Leslie Scher, and Jennifer Silverman for their assistance in various aspects of this study. We would also like to express our appreciation to the participating children and teachers and to the UCLA Bruin Kids Day Camp.     

Examining the relationships between the socially desirable and undesirable aspects of agency and communion

Sex Roles - Two theories addressing the relationship between the socially desirable and undesirable elements of agency and communion have been proposed. In their 1979 study, Spence, Helmreich, and...     

The functional role of attention for spatial coding in the Simon effect

Summary Two experiments investigated relative spatial coding in the Simon effect. It was hypothesized that relative spatial coding is carried out with reference to the position of the focus of visual attention. The spatial code for an imperative stimulus presented exactly at the position of focal attention should be neutral on the horizontal plane, and therefore no Simon effect should be observed. However, when the imperative stimulus is presented to the left or to the right of the current position of focal attention, the spatial code should not be neutral, thus producing a Simon effect. In both experiments, focal attention was manipulated either by a peripherally presented onset precue (Experiment 1) or by a centrally presented symbolic precue (Experiment 2). Results showed that the Simon effect was substantially reduced in both experiments when a valid precue preceded the imperative stimulus just in time to conclude refocusing of attention to the position of the imperative stimulus before it was presented. However, conditions with neutral precues yielded a normally sized Simon effect. In both experiments, the Simon effect decreased as the SOA grew when the precue was valid. At least for the Simon effect, the results can be interpreted as evidence that relative spatial coding is functionally related to the position of the focus of attention.     

Understanding Workaholism: A Review of Causes and Counseling Approaches

Is workaholism an addiction or a rewarding work style and life-style that may be harmful to one's family and co-workers? This central question directed the review of definitions and causes of workaholism. Thereafter, the authors discuss the role of “Type A” and obsessive-compulsive traits on the behavior of some workaholics, review the effects of workaholism on workaholics themselves and on others, and suggest counseling approaches that might be helpful to workaholics.     

Coping with peer stressors and associated dysphoria: Acculturation differences among Chinese-American children

The purpose of this study was to explore the role of acculturation in coping with stress among 264 Chinese-American children. The results confirmed that the subjects used a variety of coping strategies including diversion, suppression, problem solving, minimization, and retaliation and that certain coping strategies influenced the dysphoria experienced as a result of peer stress. High acculturated children used retaliation significantly more often than their low acculturated counterparts and retaliation was found to be associated with less dysphoria for the high acculturated group. In contrast, low acculturated children who utilized suppression tended to report less dysphoria. Contrary to the hypothesis that general self worth would reduce the relationship between peer stressors and dysphoria, it had no bearing on the association for either acculturated group. The hypothesis that greater perceived social competence would lessen the association between peer stressors and dysphoria also failed to be supported by the data. In fact, for the high acculturation group higher social competence was actually associated with more reported dysphoria. In general, the results suggested that the adaptiveness of particular coping strategies may be influenced by acculturation level and that social competence plays a complicated role in the stress and coping process. Implications for counsellors are discussed.     

Decompositions and biplots in three-way correspondence analysis

In this paper correspondence analysis for three-way contingency tables is presented using three-way generalisations of the singular value decomposition. It is shown that in combination with Lancaster's (1951) additive decomposition of interactions in three-way tables, a detailed analysis is possible of the deviations from independence. Finally, biplots are shown to produce powerful graphical representations of the results from three-way correspondence analyses. An example from child development is used to illustrate the theoretical developments.     

Parental,child-centered attributions and outcome: A meta-analytic review with conceptual and methodological implications

Eight empirical studies which bear on the relation between parents' child-centered attributions for children's problems and parental satisfaction or child adjustment were meta-analyzed. The parental attributional dimensions of stability and globality garnered the most support as correlates of parental satisfaction and/or children's adjustment; the dimensions of intent, selfish motivation, and blame received initial support and warrant further study. Important methodological and conceptual issues were identified and improvements are suggested. The need for prospective designs aimed at determining the causal relation, if any, between parental attributions and outcome, thorough assessment of attributions and the events which impinge upon them, detailed measurement of symptom and satisfaction variables, a wider array of child diagnoses, and establishment of parental diagnoses, are emphasized.