Cross-ethnic networks, self-reception system, and functional integration of refugees from the former Yugoslavia in Rome

The character of the immigrant policy context in Italy has caused refugees from the former Yugoslavia in Rome to organize themselves spontaneously and to create a self-reception system that facilitates their functional integration. The Italian policy context allows refugees to approach their situation in exile in an active way because it does not offer them a dependent role. Emphasizing the importance of providing refugees with a framework for an active reconstruction of life, however, should not be understood as an apologia for the absence of strategy for integration as well as legal, financial, and institutional means to facilitate this process.     

Before and After the German Reunification: Changes in Observers' Commentaries on Achievements in a Natural Experiment1

East Germany (EG) and West Germany (WG) had been divided by the inner-German frontier for more than 4 decades. In 1989, the frontier fell, and in 1990, East and West Germany were reunified. To study differences in attributional patterns as a consequence of this political change, the attributions of WG TV-sport commentators during the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Games were analyzed for their frequency and antecedents. Results show an increase in internal and stable attributions after success in contrast to failure attributions; the former to a greater extent in 1992. In 1988 and in 1992, the positive achievements of EG athletes were attributed more often to internal causes than were the positive achievements of WG athletes. In 1992, attributions for EG athletes were more likely to be stable than in 1988.     

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL REALITY OF LINGUISTIC SEGMENTS RECONSIDERED

LARSEN, S. F. The psychological reality of linguistic segments reconsidered. Scand. J. Psychol. , 1971, 12, 113–118.–Experiments using the so-called click-technique (Fodor & Bever, 1965) and testing the hypothesis that linguistic constituents are the units of speech perception are shown to rest on logically inadequate analysis of the data. Therefore the hypothesis was submitted to another test in the present experiment, and it was not substantiated. At the same time a predictiondirectly testing the basic postulate of the click-technique, viz., that auditory perceptual units resist interruptions by clicks, was clearly disconfirmed. However, due to insufficient precision of the postulate, results obtained by this technique seems uninterpretable at present.     

Generalised Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain as a Rational Reaction to a Life Situation?

While the biomedical model is still theleading paradigm within modern medicine and healthcare, and people with generalised chronicmusculoskeletal pain are frequent users of health careservices, their diagnoses are rated as having thelowest prestige among health care personnel. Anepistemological framework for understanding relationsbetween body, emotions, mind and meaning is presented.An approach based on a phenomenological epistemologyis discussed as a supplement to actions based on thebiomedical model.Within the phenomenological frame of understanding,the body is viewed as a subject and carrier ofmeaning, and therefore chronic pain can be interpretedas a rational reaction to the totality of a person'slife situation. Search for possible hidden individualmeanings in painful muscles presupposes meeting healthpersonnel who view the person within a holistic frameof reference.     

Cultural–historical knowledge and personal experience in appreciation of literature

Appreciation of literature (understanding beyond literal comprehension and inference) is hypothesized to depend on readers' application of knowledge derived from personal experiences, a cognitive process called personal resonance. The influence of cultural differences in personal experience on appreciating a literary work was studied through retrospective reports about remindings that occurred while reading. A Hungarian short story in which geographical and temporal location were left open was read by Danish (culturally distant) and Hungarian (culturally proximate) subjects. Cultural proximity was found to influence considerably readers' location and overall evaluation of the story as well as the nature of remindings during the reading process. The culturally proximate Hungarian readers exhibited a higher level of personal resonance: they had more vivid remindings and were reminded of more complete events (as opposed to decontextualized event elements), particularly more personally experienced events. The personal relevance, pleasantness, and aggressiveness of the evoked memories were important determinants of readers' overall evaluation of the story, but with very different patterns in the two cultural groups.     

A 32-society investigation of the influence of perceived economic inequality on social class stereotyping

There is a growing body of work suggesting that social class stereotypes are amplified when people perceive higher levels of economic inequality—that is, the wealthy are perceived as more competent and assertive and the poor as more incompetent and unassertive. The present study tested this prediction in 32 societies and also examines the role of wealth-based categorization in explaining this relationship. We found that people who perceived higher economic inequality were indeed more likely to consider wealth as a meaningful basis for categorization. Unexpectedly, however, higher levels of perceived inequality were associated with perceiving the wealthy as less competent and assertive and the poor as more competent and assertive. Unpacking this further, exploratory analyses showed that the observed tendency to stereotype the wealthy negatively only emerged in societies with lower social mobility and democracy and higher corruption. This points to the importance of understanding how socio-structural features that co-occur with economic inequality may shape perceptions of the wealthy and the poor.     

Bidirectional Effects between Parenting and Aggressive Child Behavior in the Context of a Preventive Intervention

Over time, developmental theories and empirical studies have gradually started to adopt a bidirectional viewpoint. The area of intervention research is, however, lagging behind in this respect. This longitudinal study examined whether bidirectional associations between (changes in) parenting and (changes in) aggressive child behavior over time differed in three conditions: a child intervention condition, a child + parent intervention condition and a control condition. Participants were 267 children (74 % boys, 26 % girls) with elevated levels of aggression, their mothers and their teachers. Reactive aggression, proactive aggression and perceived parenting were measured at four measurement times from pretest to one-year after intervention termination. Results showed that associations between aggressive child behavior and perceived parenting are different in an intervention context, compared to a general developmental context. Aggressive behavior and perceived parenting were unrelated over time for children who did not receive an intervention. In an intervention context, however, decreases in aggressive child behavior were related to increases in perceived positive parenting and decreases in perceived overreactivity. These findings underscore the importance of addressing child-driven processes in interventions aimed at children, but also in interventions aimed at both children and their parents.     

Predicting sugar-sweetened behaviours with theory of planned behaviour constructs: Outcome and process results from the SIPsmartER behavioural intervention

Objective: Guided by the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and health literacy concepts, SIPsmartER is a six-month multicomponent intervention effective at improving SSB behaviours. Using SIPsmartER data, this study explores prediction of SSB behavioural intention (BI) and behaviour from TPB constructs using: (1) cross-sectional and prospective models and (2) 11 single-item assessments from interactive voice response (IVR) technology.

Design: Quasi-experimental design, including pre- and post-outcome data and repeated-measures process data of 155 intervention participants.

Main Outcome Measures: Validated multi-item TPB measures, single-item TPB measures, and self-reported SSB behaviours. Hypothesised relationships were investigated using correlation and multiple regression models.

Results: TPB constructs explained 32% of the variance cross sectionally and 20% prospectively in BI; and explained 13–20% of variance cross sectionally and 6% prospectively. Single-item scale models were significant, yet explained less variance. All IVR models predicting BI (average 21%, range 6–38%) and behaviour (average 30%, range 6–55%) were significant.

Conclusion: Findings are interpreted in the context of other cross-sectional, prospective and experimental TPB health and dietary studies. Findings advance experimental application of the TPB, including understanding constructs at outcome and process time points and applying theory in all intervention development, implementation and evaluation phases.     

Development and initial validation of the comprehensive early childhood parenting questionnaire (CECPAQ) for parents of 1–4 year-olds

Parenting is a multifaceted task and the way in which parents fulfill this task plays an important role in children’s growth and development, especially in early childhood. Conceptualization and assessment of parenting behavior is elementary for research on child and family development and would fill a gap in clinical work, as there is a lack of questionnaires simultaneously assessing multiple parenting behaviors specific for early childhood. Therefore the Comprehensive Early Childhood Parenting Questionnaire (CECPAQ) was designed; a parent report measure of commonly occurring behaviors in five domains of parenting (i.e., support, stimulation, structure, harsh discipline, and positive discipline) central to early childhood. Data were collected from 1139 mothers and 526 fathers of 1–4 year-old children. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed a five-factor structure (composed of 54 items). The five parenting domains were found to have good internal consistency and temporal stability. Preliminary evidence of validity of the CECPAQ was demonstrated by moderate relationships with measures of parental stress and child problem behavior. It is concluded that the CECPAQ is a promising measure of self-perceived parenting behavior for parents of 1–4 year-old children.     

The vertical nature of dominance-submission: Individual differences in vertical attention

Dominance-submission has been linked to verticality in studies of metaphor, judgment, and online processing. In all cases, dominance has been associated with higher locations in vertical space, whereas submission has been associated with lower locations in vertical space. The present studies sought to extend this class of vertical metaphors to individual differences in spatial attention. Two studies were conducted. In both, dominance-submission was assessed as an individual difference variable and covert spatial attention tasks were used to assess biases in vertical selective attention. As predicted, dominant individuals were faster to respond to higher spatial probes, whereas submissive individuals were faster to respond to lower spatial probes. These results reinforce a vertical theory of dominance-submission, importantly extending it to individual differences and basic processes of selective attention. Findings are discussed in relation to theories of embodiment, metaphor, personality, and attention.