The impact of violations on uncertainty and the consequences for attractiveness

This investigation aimed at extending past research on expectation violations by arguing that violations vary both in valance and in their influence on uncertainty and that the combination of valence and uncertainty states conjointly influences judgments of a violator's social attractiveness. In explaining the predicted variance in uncertainty following violations, a distinction is proposed between congruent violations (i.e., behaviors that are more intense instantiations of a previously displayed message) and incongruent violations (i.e., behaviors that are opposite in meaning from previously displayed messages). Five models for explaining violation effects are contrasted. Results (a) confirm that violations differ in their impact on uncertainty, (b) generally support the validity of the proposed distinction between congruent and incongruent violations, and show that the inclusion of uncertainty and valence in models of violation outcomes accounts for greater variance in social attraction than either one separately.     

Social Identity,Groups, and Post‐Traumatic Stress Disorder

As with the identification and labelling of many mental health problems, the adoption of PTSD within DSM can be said to arise from contemporaneous social and political contexts: specifically the return to the United States of many war‐affected veterans from Vietnam ( Scott, 1993 ). The specific circumstances of the recognition of PTSD within DSM‐III have led several commentators to discuss it in terms of social construction (e.g., Summerfield, 2001 ). The current review argues that the orientation of theory and research aimed at understanding PTSD has been particularly informed by Western individualistic constructions of social phenomena. Our review calls for a blending of approaches to understanding post‐traumatic stress by considering the social structures and contexts in which it is expressed and in particular by considering how a group‐level analysis can inform incidence, diagnosis, and expression of post‐traumatic symptoms.     

Association of maternal interaction with emotional regulation in 4- and 9-month infants during the Still Face Paradigm

This study used the Still Face Paradigm to investigate the relationship of maternal interaction on infants' emotion regulation responses. Seventy infant-mother dyads were seen at 4 months and 25 of these same dyads were re-evaluated at 9 months. Maternal interactions were coded for attention seeking and contingent responding. Emotional regulation was described by infant stress reaction and overall positive affect. Results indicated that at both 4 and 9 months mothers who used more contingent responding interactions had infants who showed more positive affect. In contrast, mothers who used more attention seeking play had infants who showed less positive affect after the Still Face Paradigm. Patterns of stress reaction were reversed, as mothers who used more attention seeking play had infants with less negative affect. Implications for intervention and emotional regulation patterns over time are discussed.     

Perceived Child Rearing Practices as Predictors of University Students' Satisfaction with their Sexual Relationships

The aim of this study was to determine the effects that perceived child-rearing practices have on the sexually intimate relationship satisfaction of a sample of 130 male (n=62) and female (n=68) fourth year South African university students. Participants completed the Parenting Bonding Instrument (Parker, Tupling, & Brown, 1979), Stevens Relationship Questionnaire (Stevens & Stevens, 1994) and the Sexual Knowledge Questionnaire (Louw, 2000) to measure perceived parent-child attachment, respondents' sexually intimate relationships and level of sex education. Hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to investigate the influence of perceived child rearing practices on sexually intimate relationship satisfaction. The results suggest that parent-child attachment explained a significant percentage of the variance in intimate relationship in young adulthood.     

The Effects of Maternal Disaster Exposure on Adolescent Mental Health 12 Years Later

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - Natural disasters adversely impact children’s mental health, with increased parent or child exposure and subsequent parental distress...     

Detriangulation of Absent Fathers in Single-Parent Black Families: Techniques of Imagery

The projection of the mother's unresolved feelings about an absent father onto one or more of her children-often the eldest son expected to assume the role of parental child-is an obstacle frequently encountered in therapy with single-parent Black families. Acknowledgment and resolution of these feelings by the mother is an important step toward reestablishing generational boundaries and improving communication between mother and children. It is suggested that the empty chair procedure and the use of family photographs are two interventions that can be used within the context of structural and/or transgenerational family therapies to help the mother separate her feelings about the absent father from her feelings about her children. Models for the use of both approaches and the potential benefits of each is presented. The successful outcome of either technique may depend, however, on variables in the family's history and the stage of therapy during which the techniques are introduced.     

Modelling consumer entertainment software choice: An exploratory examination of key attributes,and differences by gamer segment

• From virtually nowhere 20 years ago to sales of US$9.5 billion in 2007, the video game industry has now overtaken movie industry box‐office receipts in terms of annual sales, and blockbuster video games can out perform blockbuster movies for opening‐week sales. This dramatic growth is likely to continue in coming years. Yet there has been little scholarly attention to consumers within the industry. This research fills this gap by providing a comprehensive study of consumer behaviour in the gaming industry, using the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB); a widely used, robust and reliable consumer research instrument. The study elicits key salient attributes for the major constructs in the TPB model – attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control – and shows how these key constructs affect purchase intention. To avoid aggregation error in analysing overall market data, this study segments the market and examines differences in perspective by gamer type. We therefore examine differences in these key salient attributes by gamer type to understand consumer motivations better.
• As the first systematic study to examine consumer behaviour issues in the gaming industry, this study provides useful insights to consumers' behaviour in a large, growing industry. Consumer perceptions and behaviour toward entertainment software is complex and this study is not the final word, but it is the first available empirical evidence and can thus move forward the discussion from speculation to replication, extension, and alternative approaches. For managers in this industry, this study demonstrates how a comprehensive model can be applied to entertainment software.

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.