National Attachment and Patriotism in a European Nation: A British Study

This study explores identification with one's national group using two distinct but interrelated concepts: identity content and relational orientation. Theoretical distinctions were drawn between two forms of identity content: traditional-cultural and civic, and between two forms of relational orientation: blind and constructive. The multidimensionality of both identity content and relational orientation and the relationships amongst these components were examined in a British sample: positive relationships were hypothesized between blind orientation and traditional-cultural content and between constructive orientation and civic content. Principal components analyses confirmed the hypothesized factor structures, and the resulting scales were highly reliable. Relationships amongst the resulting factors were explored using regression analyses. The overall results indicate support for the orthogonality of both the two orientation dimensions and the two content dimensions. Moreover, the hypothesized relationships between forms of orientation and content were largely supported. In conclusion, this study highlights the importance of looking at the relationship between identity content and relational orientation. The implications of these observations for theory and research are discussed with reference to using categories to "group" participants in research, citizenship education, and more general attitudes towards social change.     

Maintaining stereotypes in communication: Investigating memory biases and coherence-seeking in storytelling

When communicating, a general tendency exists for people to transmit more stereotype consistent (SC) than inconsistent (SI) information. Although some communicative factors have been shown to play a role, it is still not yet known the extent to which general memory biases (i.e. independent of communicative context) contribute to this phenomenon. To examine this issue, and to explore further mechanisms of the bias, the present paper presents quantitative and qualitative data of an experiment involving the transmission of a stereotype-relevant story through 20 four-person chains using the method of serial reproduction. An SC bias emerged when participants had an intention to communicate but not when they reproduced the story from memory with no such intention. Results also suggest that trying to tell a coherent story may be one further factor that contributes to the bias. These and other findings were discussed in terms of the role of communicative processes in maintaining stereotypes.     

Experiential Activities and Multicultural Counseling Competence Training

Counselor's multicultural counseling competence (attitudes/beliefs, knowledge, and skills) has been highlighted as an important ingredient in creating positive counseling outcomes when the clients are ethnic and racial minorities. The use of experiential activities in general, and games in particular, is presented as a potentially useful strategy to instill and enhance multicultural competence in counselor trainees. Illustrative games and guidelines for implementation are described.     

Presidential Character Revisited

This study attempts to bring a fresh perspective to the study of presidential personality. Critics of the personality approach doubt that personality really has much impact on presidential leadership, and they question whether the approach will contribute to the development of a presidential leadership theory. Critics also see problems with the conceptualization of personality variables in particular studies, such as James David Barber's much-praised, much-maligned The Presidential Character . The study proposes the use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) to analyze the relationship between presidential personality and presidential leadership. Administered to about 1.7 million people annually by psychologists, career counselors, and business managers, the MBTI makes possible the classification of each president as one of 16 personality types, and it offers predictions about many characteristics of leadership style for each type. The study concludes with an extensive MBTI analysis of President Clinton's leadership style.     

Behavioral assessment of psychiatric inpatients and normal controls across different environmental contexts

Objectively defined, publicly observable behaviors were time sampled for hospitalized psychiatric patients and normal controls in three distinct environmental contexts: lunch time, free time, and gym time. The behaviors sampled included body activity, extremity activity, proximity, social interactions, participation, visual scanning, laughing/smiling, and idiosyncratic behavior. Patient behaviors were recorded during both a drug-free baseline period and a subsequent medication period. The data suggest that consistent and reliable differences between patients and normals in most behaviors can be observed and that environmental context is an important determinant of these differences. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for assessment procedures and treatment decisions.These investigations were supported in part by State of Illinois Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Grants RD836-13 and RD622-02 to the first author. The cooperation of the Illinois State Psychiatric Institute staff is gratefully acknowledged.     

Assessment of coping strategies, social support, and general health status in individuals with diabetes mellitus

This study examined 51 individuals (30 men, 21 women) who participated in an outpatient diabetes education program. Participants with higher perceived support by friends and problem-solving coping strategies were healthier, while those exhibiting a wish-fulfillment coping style were less healthy. Perceived family social support was much greater for Type II (noninsulin-dependent) individuals than for Type I (insulin-dependent) individuals. Men perceived greater family support, were more likely to use problem-solving coping, and were healthier than women; however, both wish fulfillment and detachment coping were more prevalent in women. Perceived support from family and friends increased with education. Implications for diabetes education programs are also introduced.     

The effect of overtraining on behavioral contrast and the peak-shift

Following initial discrimination training between two wavelength stimuli and a subsequent generalization test to the wavelength dimension, Group 1 was “overtrained” for 105 days on the original discrimination. Group 2 was “overtrained” with the original positive stimulus and a new negative stimulus, a white line. Group 3 was “overtrained” with the original negative stimulus and a new positive stimulus, the white line. Each 15 days of extended training were followed by a wavelength generalization test similar to the first test. The results suggest that there is no consistent relationship between the response rate in positive stimulus immediately before the generalization test and whether or not a peak shift occurs during the test.     

The effect of the Müller-Lyer illusion on the planning and control of manual aiming movements

Two experiments used Müller-Lyer stimuli to test the predictions of the planning-control model (S. Glover, 2002) for aiming movements. In Experiment 1, participants aimed to stimuli that either remained the same or changed upon movement initiation. Experiment 2 was identical except that the duration of visual feedback for online control was manipulated. The authors found that the figures visible during movement planning and online control had additive effects on endpoint bias, even when participants had ample time to use visual feedback to modify their movements (Experiment 2). These findings are problematic not only for the planning-control model but also for A. D. Milner and M. A. Goodale's (1995) two visual system explanation of illusory bias. Although our results are consistent with the idea that a single representation is used for perception, movement planning, and online control (e.g., V. H. Franz, 2001), other work from our laboratory and elsewhere suggests that the manner in which space is coded depends on constraints associated with the specific task, such as the visual cues available to the performer.     

Gender differences in early risk factors for adolescent depression among low-income urban children

One component of a model by Nolen-Hoeksema and Girgus, who propose that risk factors for adolescent depression are more common in girls than in boys during childhood, was tested with 85 low-income, urban, African American and Latino kindergarten through fourth grade children who completed inventories of depression, stress, attributional style, gender role, and body image. Endorsing two of three predicted risk factors, girls reported slightly poorer body image and identified more strongly with a feminine gender role. Boys, however, reported a more negative attributional style. Feminine gender role was not associated with body image or negative attributional style. The applicability of the proposed model to a low-income, ethnic minority, urban population is discussed.