Religion and aging

Life history data and cultural values are used to suggest ways in which personal and social beliefs influence the quality of experiences of aging. Central questions are the extent to which an individual can select beliefs that lead to a longer, more meaningful life and the special influence that religion may have in enhancing aging. Responsiveness to needs of the elderly is a necessary component of enlightened planning for the future. Secularization and industrialization have diminished roles and expectations for the elderly. Religion may be an effective means to identify these concerns and improve the quality of life of older people.     

The influence of teacher models on the career confidence and motivation of college students

Sex Roles - Changes in undergraduates' career-related confidence and motivation were tested in a sample of 107 females and 72 males during their first college year. Subjects identified their...     

Integrative bargaining in a competitive market

The behavioral decision theory literature was used to identify the determinants of negotiation success in an integrative bargaining, free-market exercise. This study provides a novel methodology for studying negotiation. Specifically, buyers and sellers were allowed to engage in negotiations with as many competitors as possible in a fixed time period. The results suggest that integrative bargaining behavior increases and the market converges toward a Nash equilibrium as negotiators gain experience. In addition, the results suggest that (1) positively framed negotiators (“What will be my net profit from the transaction?”) complete more transactions than negatively framed negotiators (“What will be my expenses on this transaction?”), (2) negotiators who are given moderately difficult profit constraints in order to be allowed to complete a transaction achieve more profitable transactions than negotiators without such constraints, and (3) both framing and the existence of constraints affect the total profitability of the negotiator.     

Bridging the representational gap in the dynamic systems approach to development

We describe the relationship between the dynamic systems approach to development and a recent approach to the dynamics of representational states – the dynamic field approach. Both approaches share an emphasis on the concepts of stability (attractor states), instability (especially bifurcations), soft-assembly and flexibility. But the dynamic field approach adds the concept of ‘activation’ to capture the strength with which behaviorally relevant information is specified. By explicitly linking these dynamic systems approaches, we allow for more direct comparisons between dynamic systems theory and connectionism. We note three current differences between these two approaches to development: (1) the notion of stability is central to how representational states are conceptualized in the dynamic field approach; (2) the dynamic field approach is more directly concerned with the sensorimotor origins of cognition; and (3) the dynamic approach is less advanced with regard to learning. We conclude that proponents of the two approaches can learn from the respective strengths of each approach. We suspect these differences will largely disappear in the next 20 years.     

SINGLE-SEX VERSUS MIXED-SEX CLASSES AND GENDER SCHEMATA IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

Positive effects for women and girls of all-female schools have been proposed, although there is relatively little clear empirical support for these beneficial results. Much of the cited research is based on elite all-female institutions or on parochial schools. This study takes advantage of the change of a private, nonparochial school from all girls to both sexes. Longitudinal data from grades 2 through 12 were collected over the course of the academic year to study the results of this transition. Stereotyping declined with age and over time in both types of class-rooms. Girls in single-sex classrooms showed some tendency to be more stereotyped in their perceptions of mixed-sex classrooms than did the girls who were actually in that setting. Thus, none of the measures showed any significant increase over time in stereotyping among girls in mixed-sex classes. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Reshaping Couple Configurations that Get in the Way of Relationship Repair and Healing

In the context of relationship trauma, partners' reactive patterns of engagement can disrupt and derail attempts at relationship correction and healing. A circumplex typology of couple patterns of engagement in relational trauma context is defined in terms of partners' underlying views of self in relation to other (VSIRO). VSIRO is conceptualized along a continuum anchored at opposite poles by inflated (self-aggrandizing) versus collapsed (self-abnegating) VSIRO, with a balanced (egalitarian) VSIRO, characterized by accountability and forbearance, as the target position. The circumplex model delineates four problematic couple configurations—a dejected couple, a taker–enabler couple, an ultimate fighting couple, and a debtor–collector couple. Where problematic engagement occurs, therapists need to reshape couple engagement toward the balanced, egalitarian position prior to relational trauma work. Clinical vignettes depict these couples and springboard an analysis of unique needs and interventions associated with each couple configuration. Reshaping couple patterns of engagement using a circumplex model of couple configurations is an essential prerequisite to effective and ethical relational trauma work.