Can television help to decrease stigmatization among young children? The role of Theory of Mind and general and explicit inserts

ABSTRACT

Past research has considered how exposure to certain media content affects children’s Theory of Mind (ToM). It is possible, however, that ToM also moderates the effects of exposure to televised narratives on children’s behavior. Previous work found that special inserts, designed to help children understand an inclusion message, were somewhat effective in promoting children’s comprehension of the moral lesson. Such inserts, however, may be most effective in promoting inclusion among children lowest in ToM, who would theoretically be least likely to engage in prosocial behaviors. To test this possibility, we use data collected from four- to six-year-old children in the Netherlands (N = 66). We randomly assigned children to one of three conditions: a control, a treatment condition with general information inserts, and a treatment condition with explicit moral lesson inserts. Results indicate that children’s prosocial intentions mediate the relationship between condition and stigmatization, but only among children in the explicit condition lowest in ToM. This suggests that explicit inserts can help children low in ToM to learn from inclusion narratives. Comprehension of the moral lesson did not mediate this relationship. We integrate these findings with existing research, discussing overall conclusions in the context of child development.     

Virtual Reality as a Selfobject Function: Towards Reclaiming Unlived Potentialities

ABSTRACT

In this article, I illustrate how virtual reality may promote reclaiming unlived potentialities, unconscious or disavowed. Using Kohut’s concept of the Virtual Self, I suggest that virtual aspects of the self, its potential capability, are unconscious (or unknown) until met by someone or something that promotes their transformation into a conscious state of mind and supports their realization. In this sense, the virtual experiences of the self are drawn from the preconscious. Three vignettes demonstrate the transformative potential of virtual experiences when they are perceived as recognizing, and responsive to, the Self’s needs. Two vignettes are drawn from ancient myths and illuminate how the virtual zone has inspired transformation and expansion of self awareness already in ancient times. A third vignette is presented to illustrate how, at the advent of social media, disavowed and dissociated needs are channeled into cyberspace as communications that are unconsciously geared to reclaim unlived potentialities. Cyber reality converses with conventional reality and, thus, is appreciated as a mode of psychic advance toward a new kind of self consciousness.     

The framing of Sikhs in Canadian media in the 1980s: The power of the media and the conflicts between religion in the public sphere and an assumed national identity

ABSTRACT

This article examines the presentation of Sikhs in Canadian media in the 1980s. It argues that Sikhs are mostly presented as threats to Canadian society and this media framing of Sikihs mostly follows Indian media frames of Sikhs as violent anti-state terrorists. Much of this media framing, however, does not discuss the actual circumstances in India, nor does it allow for the voices of Sikhs to be heard unless they are presented as violent.     

Friendship,Depression, and Suicide Attempts in Adults: Exploratory Analysis of a Longitudinal Follow‐Up Study

Social support is thought to protect against the risk of suicidal behavior in young people and late life, but less is known about the role of friendship in adults. We explored the effect of friendship on suicide attempt risk during 1‐year follow‐up of 132 adults presenting with major depressive episode (MDE). Items from the Social Adjustment Scale–Self‐Report were used as an index of frequency and quality of recent friendship contacts. Survival methods tested associations of friendship with risk of suicide attempt, recurrent MDE, and related outcomes during follow‐up. Impaired friendship predicted greater risk of suicide attempt in an unadjusted Cox model. This association was stronger for quality (p = .009) than frequency (p = .081) of friendship contacts. In the adjusted model, the effect of friendship on suicide attempts was largely explained by self‐reported depression severity. Friendship has a potentially bidirectional relationship with depression, and its effect on suicidal behavior appears to occur through its relationship with depression. Future research should examine the effect of antidepressant treatment on friendship and be designed to test mediation models of relationships between friendship, depression, and suicidal behavior.     

Factor Composition of the Suicide Intent Scale

An exploratory analysis of the Suicide Intent Scale was performed on a sample of 98 psychiatric inpatients who had made suicide attempts. The factor analysis was performed using a method for polychotomous data, and resulted in a two-factor solution. The Lethal Intent factor contained items pertaining to the subjective level of lethal intent, while the Planning factor contained items largely related to objective planning for the attempt. Preliminary analysis of these factors suggest that the Suicide Intent Scale can be used to evaluate two separate aspects of suicidal behavior.     

Developmental changes in application of the majority rule in group decisions

This study examined age-related changes in the child's application of the principle of majority rule in group decisions. Following a problem posed by Moessinger (1981), we enquired whether children routinely apply the majority rule when the majority consists of a shifting (variable) set of members across decisions, and alternate between majority and minority when the majority and minority is fixed, i.e. consists of the same individuals each time. In Geneva, Moessinger found that 8-year-olds failed to discriminate between fixed and shifting majorities, while most 13-year-olds (75 per cent) did so. An altered replication was conducted in Australia modifying Moessinger's procedure to control for extraneous variables such as ‘set’ and the need for variety in choice. It was found that on the task 7 per cent of 8-year-olds, 20 per cent of 10-year-olds, 32 per cent of 12-year-olds, and 39 per cent of 14-year-olds discriminated on a behavioural criterion between fixed and shifting majorities. Ten per cent of 8-year-olds, 40 per cent of 10-year-olds, 52 per cent of 12-year-olds, and 55 per cent of 14-year-olds made the discrimination on Moessinger's cognitive ‘reason’ criterion. The results show that development of the conceptual distinction between fixed and shifting majorities is gradual and continuous.