Patterns in parent–child conversations about animals at a marine science center

Parent-child conversations are a potential source of children's developing understanding of the biological domain. We investigated patterns in parent-child conversations that may inform children about biological domain boundaries. At a marine science center exhibit, we compared parent-child talk about typical sea animals with faces (fish) with talk about atypical sea animals without faces (e.g., sea stars), in particular with respect to anthropomorphic talk and use of animate pronouns. Parents talked about psychological states and used animate pronouns more often for typical than atypical animals; children showed a similar pattern for pronouns but did not differ in their property talk between typical and atypical animals. It was clearly parents who initiated the use of psychological properties and animate pronouns for typical animals. These patterns suggest that parent-child conversations draw boundaries between typical and atypical animals and could support children's inclination to anthropomorphize.     

Knowing your face: A componential analysis of self-perceived facial attractiveness

Facial attractiveness (FA) is a highly agreed upon and socially important characteristic, but contemporary research has not fully investigated individuals’ enhancement of their FA. We used the social relations model (SRM) to analyze data from 187 participants. In face-to-face groups of four, participants rated their own and others’ FA. We assessed the degree of FA enhancement using unconfounded measures of both self-insight and social comparison. Results indicated African Americans and men enhanced more than Caucasians and women. Race effects were mediated by psychological adjustment, while gender effects were related to meta-perceptions. Men tended to view themselves through a “frog prince” lens, such that they accurately predicted others’ lesser views of them but persisted in overly positive self-perceptions of FA. Findings suggest further consideration of SRM measures, meta-perceptions, and a focus on sample diversity in the study of self-enhancement.     

Increasing the probability of finding an interaction in work stress research: A two‐wave longitudinal test of the triple‐match principle

Research into work stress has attempted to identify job resources that can moderate the effects of job demands on strain. The recently developed triple‐match principle (TMP) proposes that job demands, resources, and strain can be conceptualized as being composed of cognitive, emotional, and physical dimensions. When a psychological imbalance is induced by job demands, individuals activate corresponding resources to reduce the effects of the demands. A closer match occurs when the resources are processed in the same psychological domain as the demands. The further away from a match, the less likely an interactive effect will become. Put simply, the likelihood of finding an interactive effect between job demands and job resources is greatest when demands, resources, and strain are based on qualitatively similar dimensions (i.e. cognitive, emotional, and physical). For example, emotional support from colleagues is likely to buffer the effects of emotional demands on emotional exhaustion. The TMP was tested in a sample of 179 Australian police officers in a two‐wave longitudinal study. The likelihood of finding an interactive effect was related to the degree of match between job demands, job resources, and strain with 33.3% of triple‐match interactions significant, 22.2% when there was a double‐match, and 0.0% when there was no match. These findings lend support to the TMP as a guiding framework, for research, to explore possible interactive effects in work stress research, and for practice, to inform interventions matching resources to occupational demands, to offset strain.     

Exploring urban students' constructions about school, work, race, and ethnicity

This qualitative study is an exploration of 32 urban high school students' narratives about the connection between school, work, and societal expectations of their future success related to their racial and ethnic background. The sample varied along 2 contextual dimensions: participation in a psychoeducational intervention (Tools for Tomorrow) and developmental status (i.e., half the sample were 9th-grade students and the other half were 12th-grade students). Using consensual qualitative research, the narratives revealed 3 major domains: future orientation; students' perceptions of society's expectations based on race and ethnicity; and students' perception of the role of their race and ethnicity in future success. Results reveal that the majority of students endorse a connection between school and work, believe that society holds low expectations for them based on their racial and ethnic background, and cannot predict their future success based on their background.     

One Approach to a Counseling and Spirituality Course

The authors describe the design of and student reaction to a counseling and spirituality course offered to full‐time resident counselor education students at the University of Virginia, a secular university. The course was offered as a blended Internet‐based and seminar course. The Internet components were the result of student feedback from previous distance Internet courses. Positive student reactions to both the content and the method were reported. The students viewed the Internet discussion of spiritual and religious issues as a positive feature of the course. Their most common suggestion was to have more seminar meetings to discuss the issues raised in required Internet postings.     

A POSTMODERN APPROACH TO WOMEN'S USE OF VIOLENCE: DEVELOPING MULTIPLE AND COMPLEX CONCEPTUALIZATIONS

We review the research on intimate partner abuse and, in particular, the articles in this issue, from within a feminist and postmodern framework. Research on women's use of violence is reviewed in terms of how researchers have constructed and measured violence and have conceptualized intimate partner violence (IPV) and gender. What and how we measure determines what we find ( McHugh & Cosgrove, 2005 ). We call for new conceptualizations of intimate violence and for more complex constructions of gender. We offer a postmodern perspective on gender and IPV arguing that interpersonal violence always involves gender, that approach and method influence results, and that men and women use violence in both similar and different ways.     

Understanding Gender and Intimate Partner Abuse

This issue represents our efforts to apply a feminist or gender lens to the research on violence in intimate relationships and to forward our understanding of gender and interpersonal violence. The paper introduces the articles in this special issue on “Understanding Gender and Intimate Partner Violence” within a framework of theoretical and methodological issues in feminist research. The current articles are viewed as contributing to our understanding of gender and interpersonal violence: by investigating patterns of interpersonal violence; by examining interpersonal violence with the context of lifespan and culture; by positing or testing theoretical models for gender and interpersonal violence; and by arguing for methodological or conceptual advances in the field.     

The Pursuit of College in Adulthood: Reclaiming Past Selves or Constructing New?

This study examines the identity processes that are implicated when adults return to college, including the possibility that they may be reclaiming past selves from adolescence or constructing new selves at this particular juncture. In this study, 70 nontraditional-aged community college students were surveyed about their educational pathways, with a focus on their career and educational plans and actions when finishing high school through the current time. In addition, a diverse subset (n = 14) was interviewed. Results suggested four identity processes, two that involved past career selves from adolescence when constructing future pursuits (reclaim past, reject past before constructing new) and two that did not (construct new, expand current). Participants with prior college experience as adolescents were more likely to report well-developed past selves, but they more frequently rejected rather than reclaimed due to lack of perceived feasibility. Future research involving adult identity development is discussed.