Existential Humanistic Therapy with Couples and its Effect on Meaning of Life and Love Attitudes

Abstract

The study aims to explain Existential Humanistic Therapy with Iranian Couples and its Effect on Meaning of Life and Love Attitudes. The population consists of all married couples who have referred to counseling centers, whom 20 couples have been sampled randomly. The sample received psychotherapy training in thirteen sessions. After collecting questionnaires, the results were analyzed by MANOVA multi-variance analysis. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of existential psychotherapy on the participants’ attitude toward meaning in life. The results show that the couples who received existential therapies search more efficiently for meaning in life and try to improve their love attitudes.     

Interpretation of ambiguous emotional information in clinically anxious children and adolescents

Cognitive theories of anxiety based on adult data predict that individuals vulnerable to anxiety should show threat - related interpretations of ambiguous material and it is proposed that this is an important maintaining factor in anxiety disorders. In the present study, interpretation of ambiguous emotional/neutral information was examined in child and adolescent anxious patients. Two groups of participants, anxious patients (n = 17) and healthy controls (n = 40), were presented with a series of homographs, each with a threatening and a neutral interpretation. For each homograph, the participants were asked to construct a sentence using the homograph. Anxious children and adolescents produced significantly more sentences consistent with threatening homograph interpretations and less consistent with neutral interpretations than did normal controls. Regression analyses revealed no relationship between age and this interpretive bias. Preliminary developmental and theoretical implications are discussed.     

Enriching the Construct Structure of L2 Reading Motivation: Learners’ Attitudes in Focus

The systematic study of second language (L2) reading motivation has been a more recent topic in L2 motivation literature. The purpose of the current study was to highlight the role of L2 reading attitudes in developing the construct of L2 reading motivation. Participants of the study included 192 Iranian EFL learners at B1 level of language proficiency corresponding to the intermediate level. The data related to L2 reading attitudes and L2 reading motivation of the participants were collected through administering the L2 reading attitude and L2 reading motivation questionnaires, respectively. The items from the two measures were mixed and then factor analyzed. The results of statistical analyses revealed that a six-factor solution was the best way to conceptualize the L2 reading motivation construct among the Iranian EFL learners. The factors included both L2 motivational (reading interest) and L2 attitudinal items. This construct of L2 reading motivation was found more effective in predicting the reading achievement of the learners when compared with the reading motivation construct lacking the L2 reading attitude items.