The Need to Present a Perfect Body Image: Development of a New Measure of Perfectionistic Self-Presentation

Perfectionistic self-presentation is linked to different clinical conditions and specially to eating disorders. In fact, the role that the drive to reach “perfection” and display it to others plays on eating and body image-related symptoms has long been the target of theoretical and empirical interest. However, an instrument that specifically assessed the need to present a perfect body image to others did not exist. The current study presents the development and validation of the Perfectionistic Self-Presentation Scale – Body Image (PSPS-BI), a measure designed to assess the need to present a perfect body image to others by displaying a flawless physical appearance and by occulting perceived imperfections in a public context. Three studies that included a total of 364 males and 541 females with ages between 18 to 38 years, were used to examine the structure and psychometric properties of the scale. Results showed that PSPS-BI presents two factors that measure the concealment of body imperfections and the display of body perfection. PSPS-BI revealed good internal reliability and temporal stability. Also, the PSPS-BI revealed good concurrent validity, tested with measures of perfectionism, body image flexibility, and general and eating psychopathology. Furthermore, a mediational analysis indicated that the need to present a perfect body image to others fully mediates the relationship between a general measure of perfectionistic self-presentation and drive for thinness, in both men and women. PSPS-BI showed good preliminary evidence as a reliable and accurate measure that seems to offer new possibilities to the research field of body image and eating-related difficulties.     

Comparing the Social Images of Youth In and Out of Residential Care

The literature indicates that youths in residential care have been associated with negative social images. However, there have been few studies focused on these social images, specifically, comparing them with the images of youths in normative contexts. To address this issue, we conducted two studies comparing the social images people have about youths in residential care to those they hold about youths living out of care. Both studies were conducted in Portugal: Study 1 explores these images through an open‐ended questionnaire; Study 2 examines these images with a quantitative instrument. Overall, the results indicate that the perception about youths in residential care was more negative than the perception about youths out of care. Additionally, the first study probed the effect of socioeconomic status of the youths on the social images held about them and the second examined the role of the respondents' professional contact with youth in care population on these social images. The implications of the social images people have about youth in residential care for the research and intervention towards the wellbeing of this population are discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Motor acquisition rate in Brazilian infants

This study used the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) with the aim of characterizing motor acquisition rate in 70 healthy 0–6‐month‐old Brazilian infants, as well as comparing both emergence (initial age) and establishment (final age) of each skill between the study sample and the AIMS normative data. New motor skills were continuously acquired from 0 to 6 months of age by the Brazilian infants, but their acquisition rate was non‐linear. When compared to the AIMS sample, Brazilian infants achieved lower percentiles, and their initial age to acquire skills requiring greater antigravity demand was higher. In contrast, Brazilian infants stopped exhibiting primitive patterns earlier, and their final age to acquire antigravity skills was lower. These differences in motor development are suggested to be a consequence of different parental practices and not necessarily indicate motor delay. Thus, the AIMS normative values should be adapted to cultural particularities so as to avoid that infants are misclassified as at risk for motor delay. Furthermore, an adequate assessment of motor development should consider not only the age at which a skill is emerged, but also the age at which such a skill is established in the infant's motor repertoire. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

From prejudice to discrimination: The legitimizing role of perceived threat in discrimination against immigrants

This research analyses the mediational role of threat perception in the relationship between prejudice and discrimination (opposition to immigration and opposition to naturalization of immigrants). In the first study, using representative samples in 21 European countries (N = 36 566) from European Social Survey (2002), we showed that the relationship between prejudice and opposition to immigration was more strongly mediated by realistic than by symbolic threat perceptions. In Study 2, using representative samples in two countries with different traditions of immigration (Switzerland, N = 940; Portugal, N = 1514), we showed that realistic threat more strongly mediated the relationship between prejudice and opposition to immigration, while only symbolic threat perception mediated the link between prejudice and opposition to naturalization. The theoretical implications of considering threat perceptions as factors that legitimize discrimination are discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Roman Catholic Church and Slavery in José Evaristo d'Almeida's O Escravo (The Slave)

This installment of Dialog's Theology in Film and Fiction series introduces the first Cape Verdean novel, The Slave, by José Evaristo d'Almeida (1856). This vivid story depicts a number of social and moral issues tied together within the tragic plot of the novel. The article discusses the historical relationship of the Roman Catholic Church to slavery, the colonial history of Portugal and Cape Verde, and the theological use of the Bible in this history. This discussion is applied to Almeida's novel, revealing the manifold nineteenth‐century varieties of the literary history and theology of colonialism.     

Spatial reconstruction of human motion by means of a single camera and a biomechanical model

The value of the results of the inverse dynamic analysis procedures used in the study of human tasks is dependent on the quality of the kinematic and kinetic data supplied to the biomechanical model that supports it. The kinematic data, containing the position, velocity and acceleration of all anatomical segments of the biomechanical model, result from the reconstruction of human spatial motion by means of the evaluation of the anatomic points positions that enable to uniquely define the position of all anatomical segments. Furthermore, the motion data must be kinematically consistent with the structure of the biomechanical model used in the analysis. The traditional photogrammetric methodologies used for the spatial reconstruction of the human motion require images of two or more calibrated and synchronized cameras. This is due to the fact that the projection of each anatomical point is described by two linear equations relating its three spatial coordinates with the two coordinates of the projected point. The need for the image of another camera arises from the fact that a third equation is necessary to find the original spatial position of the anatomical point. The methodology proposed here substitutes the projection equations of the second camera with the kinematic constraint equations associated with a biomechanical model in the motion reconstruction process. In the formulation the system of equations arising from the point projections and biomechanical model kinematic constraints, representing the constant length of the anatomical segments, are solved simultaneously. Because the system of equations has multiple solutions for each image, a strategy based on the minimization of a cost function associated to the smoothness of the reconstructed motion is devised. It is shown how the process is implemented computationally avoiding any operator intervention during the motion reconstruction for a given time period. This leads to an automated computer procedure that ensures the uniqueness of the reconstructed motion. The result of the reconstruction process is a set of data that is kinematically consistent with the biomechanical model used. Through applications of the proposed methodology to several sports exercises its benefits and shortcomings are discussed.     

Emotion Regulation and the Quality of Social Interaction: Does the Ability to Evaluate Emotional Situations and Identify Effective Responses Matter?

We examined self and friends' ratings of social relationship quality and everyday social interactions in 3 studies involving 544 college students in Germany, Spain, and the United States. Scores on a situational judgment test measuring strategic emotion regulation ability (SERA) were negatively related to conflict with others. SERA was more consistently and strongly related to conflict with others than to the positive dimension of relationship quality (support, companionship, and nurturance). The relationship between SERA and conflict was generally not mediated by trait positive or negative affect, and it remained significant or marginally significant controlling for the Big Five personality traits. These findings highlight the importance of the ability to evaluate emotional situations and identify effective responses to these in interpersonal emotion regulation. Furthermore, they suggest that situational judgment and flexible response selection may help people to manage conflicts more than to bond with others.