A Psychometric and Cross-National Examination of a Belief in a Just World Scale

The study examined the psychometric properties of Dalbert, Montada, and Schmitt's (1987) English version of their 6-item belief in a just world scale using a sample of 253 Canadian management undergraduates. This study found strong support for the homogeneity of the scale, the independence of the scale from the influence of social desirability, and the concurrent validity of the scale as seen in significant correlations with Rubin and Peplau's (1975) 20-item just world scale. Cross-national comparisons show that this Canadian sample scored significantly higher than did the European and Hawaiian samples reported by Dalbert and her colleagues.     

Familial Association and Frequency of Learning Disabilities in ADHD Sibling Pair Families

In a sample of 235 families with at least two children with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), the frequency and familial association of learning disabilities (LD) were assessed. Familiality was examined both between sibling pairs and between parents and their children. Two methods for defining LD, a discrepancy-based and a low-achievement model, were employed to examine the occurrence of LD in this sample. The specific types of LD examined included Reading Disability (RD), Math Disability (MD), and Writing Disability (WD). The prevalence rates were highest for RD, followed by WD then MD. The two definitions of LD yielded similar prevalence rates but identified different groups of children with vastly different IQ scores. Strong familial association was demonstrated for RD both between sibling pairs and between parents and children, with weaker association for WD. There was evidence of nonrandom mating for LD among parents, but not for ADHD or for ADHD + LD. Despite the high comorbidity of ADHD and LD among parents, the presence of ADHD in the parents did not predict child LD supporting independent familial factors underlying ADHD and LD.     

Competition in stereotyped domains: Competition,social comparison,and stereotype threat

The current work examines a novel and specific way in which competition can hurt the performance of negatively stereotyped individuals: by evoking stereotype threat. In four experiments, we demonstrate that women's underperformance in math when primed with competition was due to feeling worried about confirming negative stereotypes about women's math ability (i.e., stereotype threat), that the activation of negative performance stereotypes for women primed with competition was due to increased group‐level social comparisons (i.e., comparing the self with men and women), and that priming competition led men to perform more poorly than women in a domain where they are negatively stereotyped (i.e., verbal ability). This research suggests that priming people with competition in contexts where they are negatively stereotyped leads to greater social comparison, activation of negative stereotypes, and concern about confirming these stereotypes, thereby decreasing stereotyped individuals' performance in the stereotyped domain. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Suicide among police in a federal force

Suicide among police has gained the attention of numerous police forces over the past two decades. The great variation in reported police suicide rates and caveats concerning such statistics are addressed. The paper reports the results of a study of suicide among members (n = 35) of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RMCP) between 1960 and 1983. The average annual rate (14.1 per 100,000) of suicide in this force was approximately half that of the comparable general population, and the most common means of suicide was by service revolver (77% of cases). Recommendations are made for suicide prevention and postvention actions in police forces. Finally, the need for reliable, long-term police suicide data bases is stressed.