Effect of donor resources on recipient self-esteem and self-help

A 2 (aid vs no aid) × 2 (high vs low resource potential donor) between subjects design tested the effects of aid and donor resources on recipient self-perceptions and subsequent self-help behavior. The results were characterized by interactions between the two factors. Subjects who received aid from a low resource donor perceived themselves more positively and engaged in less self-help than subjects in the no-aid low resource potential donor condition. In contrast, subjects who received aid from a high resource donor perceived themselves less positively and tended to engage in more self-help behavior than subjects in the no-aid high resource potential donor condition. The relationship between threat to self-esteem inherent in aid and subsequent self-help is discussed in terms of self-esteem theory.     

Good moments in Rational-Emotive Therapy: Some unique features of this approach

Two independent teams of judges used a general category system of good moments and an RET category system of good moments, respectively, in assessing all client statements in two audiotaped sessions conducted by Dr. Albert Ellis. A comparison of the findings from using the two category systems identified four unique features of RET. The features involved (a) unique RET good moments given by the RET literature; (b) additional general categories of good moments that are also obtained by RET; (c) unique RET methods of obtaining insight-understanding; and (d) unique RET methods of promoting behavior change.Wayne P. Nadler, Irit Sterner, and Eran A. Talitman are members of the psychotherapy research team, School of Psychology, University of Ottawa. Patricia A. Gervaize, Ph.D., is clinical research psychologist, Ottawa Civic Hospital and School of Medicine, University of Ottawa, as well as a member of the psychotherapy research team, University of Ottawa.     

Determinants of help seeking behaviour: The effects of helper's similarity,task centrality and recipient's self esteem

The present experiment was concerned with the way in which the characteristics of the helper the task and the recipient affect the willingness to seek help. In line with past theory and research it was reasoned that seeking help would be most threatening when one needs help on an ego - central task, and the helper is perceived as similar to oneself. Consequently, individuals were expected to seek least help under these conditions. Further it was expected that individuals who enjoy a high self esteem would be more sensitive to this self threat and seek less help under these self threatening conditions than would individuals who have a low self esteem. The experiment consisted of a 2 (similar versus dissimilar helper) times 2 (ego-central versus non central task) times 2 (high versus low self esteem subjects) between subjects design. Subjects worked on a difficult anagram task, and their actual help seeking behaviour served as a dependent measure. The findings support the experimental hypotheses. The conceptual and applied implications of these findings are discussed.     

The cold glow of success: Responses to social rejection as affected by attitude similarity between the rejected and chosen individuals

Studied the effects of attitudinal similarity between two males on reactions to social rejection by a female. Sixty-five male undergraduate students had met an attitudinally similar or dissimilar male confederate. Later a female confederate either chose or did not choose the male confederate as a work partner. Following that, measures designed to tap subjects affective state and self evaluations were administered. Two way interactions for affect and self evaluations (p < 0.01 and p 7lt; 0.05 respectively) indicate that, relative to a control group, only subjects whose similar male partner was chosen expressed unfavorable affect and self-evaluations. The relevance of these findings for the affective consequences of social comparison processes is discussed.     

Review

I argue in this paper that anyone who accepts the ontology of scientific realism can only accept a pragmatic theory of truth, i.e., a theory on which truth is what it is epistemically right to believe. But the combination of realism with such a theory of truth is a form of internal realism; therefore, a scientific realist should be an internal realist. The strategy of the paper is to argue that there is no adequate semantic or correspondence theory of truth compatible with a realist ontology, that a redundancy theory cannot account for the value of truth, and that the only kind of truth theory which can account for the value of truth, and is compatible with a realist ontology, is a pragmatic theory. The kind of truth theory I wish to defend is objective and naturalistic, and the ontology is realistic. My position is, therefore, one of objective, naturalistic realism.     

Intergroup helping as status relations: Effects of status stability, identification, and type of help on receptivity to high-status group's help

Integrating research on social identity processes and helping relations, the authors proposed that low-status group members who are high identifiers will be unwilling to receive help from the high-status group when status relations are perceived as unstable and help is dependency-oriented. The first experiment, a minimal group experiment, found negative reactions to help from a high-status outgroup when status relations were unstable. The 2nd and 3rd experiments, which used real groups of Israeli Arabs and Israeli Jews, replicated this finding and showed that high identifiers were less receptive to help from the high-status outgroup than low identifiers. The 4th experiment, a help-seeking experiment with real groups of competing high schools, found that the least amount of help was sought from a high-status group by high identifiers when status relations were perceived as unstable and help was dependency-oriented. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed.     

When intergroup apology is not enough: Seeking help and reactions to receiving help among members of low status groups

Relations between groups are characterized by competition and suspicion. As a consequence, members of low status groups may question the meaning of apologies offered by a high status group, especially under unstable status relations. In two experiments, the present research investigated the role of the intergroup versus interpersonal apology and the potential moderating effect of the stability of intergroup relations on low status group members' (a) help seeking (Study 1) and (b) responses to receiving help (Study 2) from a high status group. Consistent with our hypotheses, when status relations were unstable rather than stable, following a formal intergroup relative to an interpersonal apology by an Israeli official, Israeli‐Arab students sought less dependency‐oriented and more autonomy‐oriented help from an Israeli‐Jewish study coordinator (Study 1) and Jewish‐Ethiopian newcomers reacted more negatively when they read about an Ethiopian‐Jewish student receiving unsolicited dependency‐oriented help from an Israeli‐Jewish college student (Study 2). Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

A needs-based model of reconciliation: satisfying the differential emotional needs of victim and perpetrator as a key to promoting reconciliation

The authors propose that conflict threatens different psychological resources of victims and perpetrators and that these threats contribute to the maintenance of conflict (A. Nadler, 2002; A. Nadler & I. Liviatan, 2004; A. Nadler & N. Shnabel, in press). On the basis of this general proposition, the authors developed a needs-based model of reconciliation that posits that being a victim is associated with a threat to one's status and power, whereas being a perpetrator threatens one's image as moral and socially acceptable. To counter these threats, victims must restore their sense of power, whereas perpetrators must restore their public moral image. A social exchange interaction in which these threats are removed should enhance the parties' willingness to reconcile. The results of 4 studies on interpersonal reconciliation support these hypotheses. Applied and theoretical implications of this model are discussed.