Identity status measurement across contexts: variations in measurement structure and mean levels among White American, Hispanic American, and Swedish emerging adults

We conducted this study to examine measurement equivalence and mean differences in identity status across 3 ethnic/cultural contexts: White American, Hispanic American, and Swedish. We used the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status II (EOM-EIS-II; Bennion & Adams, 1986), a commonly used instrument in the identity status literature. We conducted analyses to ascertain the extent to which the EOM-EIS-II functioned equivalently in 3 ethnically/culturally different samples. The internal structure of the measure was consistent across contexts. When we statistically controlled effects of age and gender, mean differences tended to be largely cross-cultural at the observed level of analysis but to be both cross-ethnic and cross-cultural at the latent level of analysis. This divergence in findings was found despite the limited age range represented in each of the samples. We therefore concluded that measurement error may have played a role in these differences and that data gathered using the EOM-EIS-II should be analyzed using latent variable methods. We discuss results in terms of using the EOM-EIS-II with diverse populations.     

Socially desirable responding on the web: investigating the candor hypothesis

The investigation presented here explores the hypothesis that participants are less likely to respond in a socially desirable fashion on self-report questionnaires completed on the Web relative to those completed in the laboratory--the candor hypothesis. A battery of social desirability questionnaires (i.e., Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding [Paulhaus, 1984], Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale [Crowne & Marlowe, 1964], Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised Lie Scale [Eysenck & Eysenck, 1994]) was administered to 3 groups: 2 groups consisted of undergraduate participants who were randomly assigned to complete the measures either in the laboratory (n = 60) or on the Web (n = 60), and 1 group consisted of self-selected participants who visited our experimental Web page and completed the measures online (n = 284). This design allowed us to assess the role of Web administration while controlling for differences in sample type, an oft-neglected issue in the Web literature. Results do not support the claim that administering self-report measures over the Web results in a decrease in socially desirable responding. Furthermore, these findings highlight the problems associated with confounding sample and medium. Implications for the use of Web as a research tool are discussed.     

Unpacking psychological inequalities in organisations: Psychological capital reconsidered

In this paper, we argue that psychological capital is unequally distributed among people from different social classes, ethnic backgrounds and genders. Confronting the limitations of the current, individualistic perspective on psychological capital, we offer a re-conceptualisation of the construct from a critical, interdisciplinary perspective, placing it at the intersection of sociology and psychology. We discuss the various mechanisms through which social inequalities may cause differential access to psychological capital for members of low- and high-status social groups and show how this differential access to psychological capital results in and exacerbates social inequalities. By doing this, we postulate a recursive theory on psychological capital that both recognises the formative effect of socio-organisational structures on one's psychology and vice versa.     

Insight in frontotemporal dementia: conceptual analysis and empirical evaluation of the consensus criterion "loss of insight" in frontotemporal dementia

The objective of this study was to suggest a new formulation of the core research diagnostic consensus criterion "loss of insight" in frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Eight patients with FTD (diagnoses made by interviews, medical and neuropsychological examination, CT scan, and regional cerebral glucose metabolism measured by positron emission tomography (PET) participated in the study). The results indicated that insight was present in three out of eight patients, and that insight appears to be a heterogeneous concept. Two types of insight emerged: Emotional insight associated with frontotemporal functions, and cognitive insight, related to posterior cognitive functions. These results suggest that loss of insight should not serve as a core criterion on FTD, but serves well as a supportive criterion of the disease.     

Body images of patients with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and female control subjects: a comparison with male ideals of female attractiveness

Body images of female patients with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa were assessed against females without eating disorders and compared with male ideals of female attractiveness. A computer program was applied to examine body images of 62 patients with anorexia nervosa, 45 patients with bulimia nervosa, and 40 female and 39 male control subjects. Body size overestimation was most distinct in the two patient groups. Self-ideal discrepancy was highest in bulimia nervosa. Estimation of the society's ideal female body in all three female groups did not differ from men's perception of the most attractive female body. Congruence of ideals of female attractiveness in patients, female, and male control subjects and described differences between patients and female controls support the theory that body image disturbance is a problem of processing self-referential information regarding body image rather than a problem of processing body image related information per se.     

Reciprocal language style matching in psychotherapy research

Successful coordination of language, that is language style matching (LSM; Gonzales, Hancock, & Pennebaker, 2010) indicated by interdependent use of function words, might be of particular relevance to the psychotherapy process. Empirically, two previous psychotherapy studies indicate that LSM may provide a deeper understanding of the quality of the therapeutic alliance. Theoretically, this process of implicit linguistic coordination may be conceptualised as interpersonal synergy (Riley, Richardson, Shockley, & Ramenzoni, 2011). To illustrate the potential of LSM in psychotherapy research, patterns of LSM per 5 min segments and reciprocal LSM per speaking turn were assessed in a seven‐session treatment demonstration of a narcissistic client. First, LSM predicted observed frequency of ruptures but did not predict observer‐rated working alliance in the corresponding 5 min segments. Second, LSM in these 5 min segments showed a quadratic trajectory of change within session and a stable pattern between sessions. Reciprocal LSM per speaking turn showed that within the majority of this treatment, the client followed the therapist's language style; however, this influence appeared to be bidirectional during the time of a physical altercation in session five. LSM may thus provide a novel way to study some of the more elusive aspects of the therapeutic interaction.     

The maintenance of fluency after intensive in-patient therapy: Long-term follow-up

Maintenance of fluency after intensive in-patient treatment was studied in eight male stammerers. Reasons for success and failure are discussed in relation to objective and subjective data collected at the final follow-up interview.     

Mentalisierungsdefizite bei stationären Patienten

Background

Fonagy (2009) considers the improvement of mentalization, understood as an element of structural change, as a global goal of psychotherapeutic treatment. Yet until now there is little knowledge about the mentalizing skills in clinical populations.

Material and methods

We examined the mentalizing skills in 201 patients on admission for complex psychotherapeutic inpatient treatment with the “Reading the mind in the eyes”-Test (RMET). We explored if there are diagnosis-related differences in the RMET and compared our findings to published data on the RMET in clinical and normal populations.

Results

Compared to normal populations our sample scored significantly lower in the RMET, however, no diagnosis-related differences were found.

Conclusions

Although our data are preliminary, psychotherapeutic inpatient treatment should consider the patients reduced mentalizing skills.     

Characteristics and organization of the worst moment of trauma memories in posttraumatic stress disorder

It has been proposed that the organization of the worst moment in traumatic memories (“hotspots”) is of particular importance for the development of PTSD. However, current knowledge regarding the organization and content of worst moments is incomplete.In the present study, trauma survivors with (n = 25) and without PTSD (n = 54) were asked to indicate the worst moment of their trauma and to give a detailed narrative of the traumatic event. The worst moment and the remaining narrative were analyzed separately with regard to organization and emotional content.Results indicated that worst moments of trauma survivors with PTSD differed from the remaining narrative and from worst moments described by trauma survivors without PTSD in that they were characterized by more unfinished thoughts, more use of the present tense and lower levels of cognitive processing. However, hypotheses regarding differentiating emotional content were not supported. Implications for our theoretical understanding of PTSD and potential therapeutic interventions are discussed.