Marital Status and Gender Similarity in Marital Therapy

This analogue study was designed to examine the effects of therapists' marital status and therapist and participant sex on participants' perceptions of therapist and expectations for therapy. Each partner of 20 couples presenting for marital therapy at four outpatient counseling centers independently completed one of four protocols. The protocols differed only on the therapist's marital status and sex. Results revealed that neither therapist marital status nor therapist sex had an effect on participants' perceptions of therapists or therapy expectations. Female participants, however, perceived therapists as more trustworthy, attractive, and expert and had higher expectations for therapy than did male participants.     

Engagement and Interaction: A Comparison Between Supported Employment and ATCs

The interaction and engagement patterns of 13 supported employees and 38 regular Adult Training Centre (ATC) attenders were compared. Data were obtained through direct observation within 13 employment sites and a representative sample of ATC organised activities. Results indicated that individual involvement was significantly higher in employment, compared to ATCs, but that the ATC group experienced significantly more social interaction, mainly due to higher levels of task specific dialogue between individuals and the service staff within ATCs. A breakdown of with whom interactions occurred revealed that individuals in ATCs tended to interact more often with care staff than anyone else. Individuals tended to interact more often during work with their non-disabled co-workers and a substantial proportion of time was spent interacting with the public. These findings suggest that the supported employment option yields advantages for individuals in some key aspects of community integration, compared to ATCs.     

Createativity and Mood: Towards a Model of Cognitive Mediation

Empirical and biographical evidence reveals that the highly creative are more likely to experience mental health problems; most commonly depression and particularly within artistic fields. Cognitive theories of creative thinking suggest that artistic creativity may be associated with a divergent style of thinking, which is distinguished by specific differences with respect to logical appraisal skills. As similar patterns of appraisal are frequently found in those experiencing depression, it is suggested that appraisal may be a mediating feature between creativity and affect. This hypothesis is tested in the present study. Creativity, cognitive appraisal patterns and mood were measured in 104 undergraduate students (N = 36 art and 68 science) by standardised assessments. In keeping with predictions, art students were found to be more creative, experienced lower mood, and displayed greater degrees of distortion and bias in their appraisals.     

AN INDEX TO HUMAN COMMUNICATION RESEARCH, 1974–1983

The articles appearing in HCR during the preceding nine years (from Fall 1974 through Summer 1983) have been indexed by authors' names as well as key words to indicate the primary content area(s) addressed in each article. One or two key words were usually selected from the title of the article. If the title did not seem to provide words that adequately described the primary subject matter, key words were selected from the abstract, the article itself, or, on rare occasions, words chosen by those compiling the index.     

RELATIONAL MESSAGES ASSOCIATED WITH NONVERBAL BEHAVIORS

Based on the assumptions that relational messages are multidimensional and that they are frequently communicated by nonverbal cues, this experiment manipulated five nonverbal cues -eye contact, proximity, body lean, smiling, and touch - to determine what meanings they convey along four relational message dimensions. Subjects (N= 150) observed 2 out of 40 videotaped conversational segments in which a male-female dyad presented various combinations of the nonverbal cues. High eye contact, close proximity, forward body lean, and smiling all conveyed greater intimacy, attraction, and trust. Low eye contact, a distal position, backward body lean, and the absence of smiling and touch communicated greater detachment. High eye contact, close proximity, and smiling also communicated less emotional arousal and greater composure, while high eye contact and close proximity alone conveyed greater dominance and control. Effects of combinations of cues and sex-differences are also reported.