Narcissism,self-esteem,and the phenomenology of autobiographical memories

Across two studies, we investigated the influence of narcissism and self-esteem along with gender on phenomenological ratings across the four subscales of the Autobiographical Memory Questionnaire (AMQ; impact, recollection, rehearsal, and belief). Memory cues varied in valence (positive vs. negative) and agency (agentic vs. communal). In Study 2, we used different memory cues reflecting these four Valence by Agency conditions and additionally investigated retrieval times for the autobiographical memories (AMs). Results were consistent with the agency model of narcissism [Campbell, W. K., Brunell, A. B., & Finkel, E. J. (2006). Narcissism, interpersonal self-regulation, and romantic relationships: An agency model approach. In E. J. Finkel & K. D. Vohs (Eds.), Self and relationships: Connecting intrapersonal and interpersonal processes. New York, NY: Guilford], which characterises narcissists as being more concerned with agentic (self-focused) rather than communal (other-focused) positive self-relevant information. Narcissism predicted greater phenomenology across the four subscales for the positive-agentic memories (Study 1: clever; Study 2: attractive, talented) as well as faster memory retrieval times. Narcissism also predicted greater recollection and faster retrieval times for the negative-communal AMs (Study 1: rude; Study 2: annoying, dishonest). In contrast, self-esteem predicted greater phenomenology and faster retrieval times for the positive-communal AMs (Study 1: cooperative; Study 2: romantic, sympathetic). In both studies, results of LIWC analyses further differentiated between narcissism and self-esteem in the content (word usage) of the AMs.     

Interculturality and Early Attachment: A Comparison of Urban/ <Emphasis Type="Italic">Non-Mapuche</Emphasis> and Rural/<Emphasis Type="Italic">Mapuche</Emphasis> Mother-Baby Dyads in Chile

It is well known in the field that culture and context play an important role in child rearing and parenting practices. However, many studies do not address the cultural dimension of attachment, although evidence indicates that aspects of early attachment differ across cultures. With the goal of comparing the quality of mother–baby interactions, this study analyzed attachment behaviors and maternal sensitivity in two settings: urban/non-Mapuche and rural/Mapuche in Chile. The sample was composed of 34 mother-baby dyads (17 urban/non-Mapuche and 17 rural/Mapuche) with 12-month-old children. During a feeding episode, the attachment style of the interaction was assessed with the Attachment during Stress scale, and maternal sensitivity was evaluated with the Child-Adult Relationship Experimental Index-Toddlers (CARE-Index). The groups differed in their interaction attachment style and in affective and proximity modalities: Urban/non-Mapuche mothers tended to have secure and ambivalent attachment styles, and rural/Mapuche mothers tended to have avoidant styles. When educational level is controlled, ethnicity group can explain the differences in mothers’ attachment styles. The findings of the study and their implications are discussed.     

Research Productivity, Gender, Family, and Tenure in Organization Science Careers

In a sample of 162 associate professors of organization science, women in more research-oriented departments had published significantly more during their assistant professor periods than did those in less research-oriented departments, whereas this effect was not observed for men. In more research-oriented departments, men were more likely to have had families (partners and/or dependents) in their assistant professor periods than were women. Patterns in the data suggest that women published more than men in more research-oriented departments but less than men in less research-oriented departments. Findings are discussed in light of person–organization fit theories, gender theories, academic productivity, and gender differences research.     

Peak shift but not range effects in recognition of faces

University students were trained to discriminate between two gray-scale images of faces that varied along a continuum from a unique face to an average face created by morphing. Following training, participants were tested without feedback for their ability to recognize the positive face (S+) within a range of faces along the continuum. In Experiments 1 and 4, the range of stimuli presented during testing was manipulated. In Experiment 2, participants viewed different ranges of faces during an adaptation period that followed training and preceded testing. In all experiments, generalization functions revealed peak shifts or area shifts (fewer “yes” responses to novel faces on the negative side of the S+), but no systematic effects of the test or adaptation range. Peak shift was found both for upright and inverted faces and occurred even if the orientation of the face was reversed between training and test. Using similar methods, either an area shift or range effect (but not both together) was demonstrated for line tilt stimuli (Experiment 3), and the appearance of these effects depended on instructions. It appears that peak shift and area shift are robust across many different kinds of stimuli, but range effects may not readily occur with complex multidimensional stimuli.     

A Structural Equation Model for the School Reinforcement Survey Schedule: Italian and American Early Adolescents

The School Reinforcement Survey Schedule (SRSS) was administered to 2,828 boys and girls in middle schools in the United States and an Italian translation was administered to 342 boys and girls in middle schools in Northern Italy. An exploratory factor analysis using half the American data set was performed using maximum likelihood estimation with a promax rotation. This analysis produced a structural equation model with six interpretable latent variables. This analysis was confirmed by results demonstrating a good fit with the other half of the American sample and separately with the Italian sample. Scores for the six latent variables were constructed and information about the distribution of scores was obtained. Multiple comparisons of the means were performed by gender, within each national sample, for each of the six latent variables. American and Italian girls report obtaining greater enjoyment from a wider variety of school activities compared to American and Italian boys.     

Writing ourselves in Waikawa: Bitter (sweet) waters

In this paper the authors, three migrant academics, involved in counselling education, use a process of collective biographical memory work (CBMW) to explore the influence of landscape in forming new identies in new lands. Our aim was to extend the investigation of subjectification, transgression and relationship to include the non-human, nature and landscape. Our transitions were made at various ages and stages from the United Kingdom to Aotearoa New Zealand and are caught up in the post-colonial struggle of how to be with Other. The project is based on the premise that people’s relationships with the places of their existence and the ecosystems that surround them matter, and that this is especially so for migrants. However, we note that the influence of place is often subsumed in sociocultural interpretations. In this paper we foreground the human–nature relationship through a collection of shared, embodied, memories of landscapes, in order to explore the influence of the non-human spaces in which we have lived on our re-subjectification. We offer this piece as an example of ‘transient convergence’ [Anderson, J., 2009. Transient convergence and relational sensibility: beyond the modern constitution of nature. Emotion, Space and Society 2, 120–127], reflecting our belief that our lives depend upon building a more respectful relationship with our planet.     

When children are witnesses: The effects of context,age and gender on adults' perceptions of cognitive ability and honesty

The goals of the present study were to examine how context impacts perceptions of children, and the extent to which context interacts with a child's age and gender to alter adults perceptions of children. Specifically, we examine how perceptions of honesty (i.e. knowing the difference between truth and lie, being trusted by adults, being reliable, and honest) and cognitive ability (i.e. having a good memory for events and being able to attend and concentrate) are the same or different in the context of a child sexual abuse case (CSA) than when no context is provided. First, the results revealed few significant findings with regard to either juror or child gender. The analyses did reveal several context effects, with attention, trusted, reliable and honesty each producing higher ratings, and therefore better perceived memories, in the CSA condition than the no context condition. Also, ratings of all the dependent variables varied by age and 4 out of the 5 higher order interactions involved child age. Importantly, we found that ratings of honesty and cognitive abilities were not linear with age but, typically, ratings increased with age but then leveled out or started decreasing after 8 years‐of‐age. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The south beach study: Bystanders' memories are more malleable

People's reports are affected by what others say. The current study compared memory conformity effects of people who interacted with a confederate, and of bystanders to that interaction. A second goal was to observe if memory conformity occurs in a naturalistic setting. A male confederate approached a group of people at the beach and had a brief interaction. About a minute later a research assistant approached the group and administered a target‐absent lineup to each person in the group. Memory conformity was observed. Bystanders were twice as likely to conform as those who interacted with the confederate. Forensic investigators should take into consideration the role a person plays in an event when assessing eyewitness evidence. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Structure and measurement of depression in youths: applying item response theory to clinical data

Our goals in this article were to use item response theory (IRT) to assess the relation of depressive symptoms to the underlying dimension of depression and to demonstrate how IRT-based measurement strategies can yield more reliable data about depression severity than conventional symptom counts. Participants were 3,403 children and adolescents from 12 contributing clinical and nonclinical samples; all participants had received the Kiddie Schedule of Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Aged Children. Results revealed that some symptoms reflected higher levels of depression and were more discriminating than others. Furthermore, use of IRT-based information about symptom severity and discriminability in the measurement of depression severity was shown to reduce measurement error and increase measurement fidelity.