The Influence of Family Dynamics on Ethnic Identity Among Adult Latinas

The literature on the development of ethnic identity within the young adult years and during childhood is plentiful. There is less research that examines how this development continues beyond young adult or college years. Research suggests that major life events experienced in adulthood could cause individuals to enter a period of identity reconstruction, yet little is known about this process. Because family and/or familism has been established as an important aspect of Latinos’ identities and lived experiences, this study seeks to examine the dimensions around family dynamics and their potential influences on ethnic identity development processes among adult Latinas. Findings indicate that Latinas often make sense of their ethnic identity when major life events associated with family dynamics occur; such as marriage, childbearing, and negotiating relationships with family members as culture is being transmitted across several generations. These findings have implications for understanding adult education students as well as considering the influence of education on the family dynamics of Latinas.     

Aggression inhibition in high‐ and low‐risk subjects for child physical abuse: effects of a child's hostile intent and the presence of mitigating information

Exposure of an aggressor to the suffering of his/her victim generally inhibits subsequent attacks [e.g. Baron, 1971a] presumably because of an empathic process. Physically abusive parents and individuals at high risk for child physical abuse are thought to present a deficit in empathy [e.g. Milner, Halsey and Fultz, 1995]. The present research was designed to investigate whether high‐risk, compared to low‐risk, subjects for child physical abuse select more aggressive responses and aggress with more intensity toward a supposed child whose behavior is adequate, inadequate or ambiguous in the presence of the child's pain cues. A second objective was to explore whether high‐risk, compared to low‐risk, subjects for child physical abuse fail to adequately integrate mitigating information and, therefore, do not inhibit their aggressive behavior following the receipt of mitigating information before or during an inadequate child behavior. Participants were engaged in an experimental task that involved attempting to teach a child how to proceed accurately through a computer‐displayed maze and were given the opportunity to send positive (pleasant sounds and happy faces) and negative feedback (mad faces and unpleasant sounds) to the child. Two hundred and fifty undergraduate students participated in the experiment. A 2 × 5 factorial design based on two levels of the participant's risk status (high, low) and five conditions based on the child's behavior and the introduction of mitigating information was employed. As expected, low‐risk, compared to high‐risk, subjects showed less aggression when mitigating information was provided. Aggr. Behav. 32:1–15, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Interaction of asthmatics and their spouses: A preliminary study of individual differences

Some asthmatics show evidence of airways reactivity triggered by strong emotions. Six case studies of married patients with severe asthma are reported. The videotaped interactions of the asthmatic and his/her spouse were coded for affect and behavior. Repeated measures of pulmonary function and affective state were recorded before and after two interaction tasks. Over the course of the experimental period, two patients' pulmonary function improved and four patients' deteriorated. In general, decreased pulmonary function was associated with more self-rated hostility and depression. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for the intra- and interpersonal factors that are important in asthma management.     

The relationship between dispositional optimism, dispositional pessimism, repressive coping and trait anxiety

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between dispositional optimism, dispositional pessimism, repressive coping and trait anxiety. The Marlowe-Crowne scale (MC) and the Bendig version of the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale (MAS) were used to select repressor and control groups (N=143, aged between 18 and 47 years), who subsequently completed a measure of dispositional optimism, the Life Orientation Test (LOT), which consists of two sets of items: optimism and pessimism. Repressors (high MC, low MAS) reported significantly lower pessimism than all other participants. When the pessimism scale was divided into high and low categories, there were significantly more repressors in the low pessimism group than the other low trait anxiety group, low anxious (low MC, low MAS). However, for the optimism scale the opposite pattern of results was found, with significantly more low anxious in the high optimism group than repressors. These results support the assertion that the pessimism and optimism scales of the LOT are not the same construct and should be measured separately.     

A method for measuring eye movements using Hall-effect devices

A system for precise recording of eye position and movements in laboratory animals, by means of Hall-effect devices, is described. The system, useful in neurophysiological and neurobehavioral studies, allows the analysis of saccadic eye movements, optokinetic- and vestibular-induced nystagmus, slow tracking movements, eye vergences, and so forth. This small, light-weight, and inexpensive system uses a set of Hall-effect devices and associated electronics to sense variations in the position of high-power magnets fixed in the eye sclera or in scleral contact lenses. The output of the Hall-effect devices is amplified by operational amplifiers, collected through an A/D converter, and analyzed in a PC computer by specific software.     

Gender roles in relation to assertiveness and eysenckian personality dimensions: Replication with a spanish population sample

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the cross-national replicability of the usual pattern of associations observed in Anglo-Saxon samples between masculinity and femininity on the one hand and difficulty and distress in assertiveness and the major Eysenckian dimensions of personality on the other hand. Participants were 925 SpanishSs (54% females; and 95.5% “European or other white”). Both the masculinity theory of psychological well-being and the notion thathigh femininity would not be implicated in self-assessed psychologicaldistress ordysfunction were supported by the data. Higher-order analysis showed that masculinity loaded highly on Positive Affect, whereas femininity had its primary loading on Constraint. Tentative support was found for the femininity-humility hypothesis advanced by P. B. Zeldow, S. R. Clark, and D. C. Daugherty in 1985.     

Understanding Vietnamese Refugee Women's Identity Development From a Sociopolitical and Historical Perspective

The authors address the lack of information about the identity development of Vietnamese refugee women. Although their age and time of arrival to the United States have a major impact on Vietnamese refugee women's identity development, a review of the historical and sociopolitical influences on the identity development of this group also plays an important role in understanding their resiliency, traditional and nontraditional frames of references, and coping mechanisms.