“I Didn’t Expect to Learn as Much as I Did”: Rewards of Caregiving in Young Adulthood

While much attention is given to unpaid caregivers in midlife, there is a notable gap in the literature regarding young adults in family caregiving roles. Although two out of 5 family caregivers are between the ages of 18 and 40, we know relatively little about these younger relatives providing support to ill and disabled family members. Understanding the experiences of this under-researched population is critical to effective social service provision for this new wave of caregivers. In addition, the challenges associated with caregiving are well documented, yet examining the positive aspects of caregiving is necessary to provide a balanced picture of caregiving. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the gains experienced by family caregivers in young adulthood. In-depth telephone interviews were conducted with a diverse sample of 22 individuals who were (or had previously been) caregivers while in young adulthood. Analysis of the data resulted in identification of four themes concerning gains experienced by young adult caregivers: a strengthening of family relationships, character growth, personal satisfaction in the care provided, and material benefit. This study sheds some understanding on rewards experienced by a subgroup of family caregivers who has received little attention—young adult caregivers.     

Metaphoric advertisement comprehension: The role of the cerebral hemispheres

Currently little is known about how implicit processes (i.e., cognitive processes that consumers are unaware of) are utilized as consumers read metaphoric advertisements. The field of cognitive neuroscience can help marketers better understand consumers' implicit processing by examining how each cerebral hemisphere uniquely contributes during metaphoric advertisement comprehension. A right hemisphere advantage has been demonstrated during metaphoric language processing; however, it is unclear how each hemisphere of the brain processes metaphors used in advertisements. This study combines the fields of marketing and cognitive neuroscience to investigate the hemispheric processing of metaphoric advertisements. Through the use of the divided visual field paradigm, participants read metaphor, literal, or neutral slogans and responded to related target words presented to either the left visual field‐right hemisphere or the right visual field‐left hemisphere. As predicted, there was a right hemisphere advantage, compared to the left hemisphere, for metaphoric slogans. Additionally, greater facilitation was evident in the right hemisphere for literal slogans compared to metaphoric slogans. Metaphoric messages were also remembered better than literal ones. These findings provide an in‐depth account of how consumers implicitly process messages, suggesting an important role of the right hemisphere during the comprehension of both metaphoric and literal messages. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Don't sit so close to me: unconsciously elicited affect automatically provokes social avoidance

Behavior may be automatically prompted by cues in our social environment. Previous research has focused on cognitive explanations for such effects. Here we hypothesize that affective processes are susceptible to similar automatic influences. We propose that exposure to groups stereotyped as dangerous or violent may provoke an anxiety response and, thus, a tendency to move away. In the present experiment, we subliminally exposed participants to images of such a group, and found that they displayed greater avoidance in a subsequent interaction. Critically, this effect was explained by their increased sensitivity to threat-related information. These findings demonstrate an affective mechanism responsible for nonconscious priming effects on interpersonal behavior.     

Simple arithmetic processing: Individual differences in automaticity

This study investigated individual differences in the ability to automatically access simple addition and multiplication facts from memory. It employed a target-naming task and a priming procedure similar to that utilised in the single word semantic-priming paradigm. In each trial, participants were first presented with a single digit arithmetic problem (e.g., 6+8) and were then presented with a target that was either congruent (e.g., 14) or incongruent (e.g., 17) with this prime. Response times for congruent and incongruent conditions were then compared to a neutral condition (e.g., X+Y, with target 14). For the high skilled group, significant facilitation in naming congruent multiplication and addition targets was found at SOAs of 300 and 1000?ms. In contrast, for the low skilled group, facilitation in naming congruent targets was only observed at 1000?ms. Significant inhibition in naming incongruent multiplication and addition targets at 300?ms, and addition targets at 1000?ms, was found for the high skilled group alone. This advantage in access to simple facts for the high skilled group was then further supported in a problem size analysis that revealed individual differences in access to small and large problems that varied by operation. These findings support the notion that individual differences in arithmetic skill stem from automaticity in solution retrieval and additionally, that they also derive from strategic access to multiplication solutions.     

Personality,interests, and career indecision: a multidimensional perspective

Researchers have consistently linked neuroticism to career indecision; however, other personality traits have been inconsistent predictors despite sound theoretical arguments. Similarly, little research has examined a trait‐based analysis of the relationship between vocational interests and career indecision. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the structure of career indecision and to examine the prediction of this construct as both a unidimensional and multidimensional construct. Results suggest that career indecision is multifaceted and that both personality and vocational interests are more strongly related to career indecision than has been suggested by past research. Furthermore, consideration of this multidimensional nature can explain past inconsistencies in the relationships between indecision and personality.     

A Reinforcement Account of Altruism

The Psychological Record - The foundation of modern behavior science is the selection of behavior by its consequences. So, behavior that benefits an organism should be maintained (through...     

Childhood physical and sexual abuse and lifetime number of suicide attempts: a persistent and theoretically important relationship

BACKGROUND: Research to date has indicated that childhood abuse is associated with suicide, though little research has examined the unique contribution of specific types of abuse to suicidal behavior. We predict that childhood physical and violent sexual abuse will have a greater effect on suicide attempts than molestation and verbal abuse. METHODS: The National Comorbidity Survey data were used to test these predictions while controlling for a number of psychiatric and psychosocial variables. RESULTS: As expected, childhood physical and violent sexual abuse showed similar effects on lifetime suicide attempts, which were stronger than the effects of molestation and verbal abuse. LIMITATIONS: This was a cross-sectional, retrospective study, so true causality cannot be shown. Some measurement limitations exist. Additionally, effect sizes were small but still significant. CONCLUSIONS: While all forms of childhood abuse are troubling and create risk for future psychopathology and suicidality, the present study indicates that childhood physical and violent sexual abuse should be seen as greater risk factors for future suicide attempts than molestation and verbal abuse.     

DO FEMINIST IDENTITY STYLES MODERATE THE RELATION BETWEEN PERCEIVED SEXIST EVENTS AND DISORDERED EATING?

Feminist consciousness is theorized to be a powerful resource against the detrimental effects of sexism. The present study examined whether feminist identity styles moderated the relation of perceived lifetime and recent sexist events to disordered eating for 256 college women. Using hierarchical moderated regression, we found two styles of feminist identity (i.e., synthesis and active commitment) buffered the relation between perceived sexist events and disordered eating; the three remaining styles of feminist identity did not moderate this relationship. For women low on synthesis and active commitment, both perceived lifetime and recent sexist events positively predicted disordered eating. In contrast, for women high on synthesis and active commitment, neither perceived lifetime nor recent sexist events predicted disordered eating. Our results substantiate extant theory that sexist events contribute more to the psychological distress of nonfeminist women than of feminist women.     

The Social Nature of Perception and Action

ABSTRACT— Humans engage in a wide range of social activities. Previous research has focused on the role of higher cognitive functions, such as mentalizing (the ability to infer others' mental states) and language processing, in social exchange. This article reviews recent studies on action perception and joint action suggesting that basic perception–action links are crucial for many social interactions. Mapping perceived actions to one's own action repertoire enables direct understanding of others' actions and supports action identification. Joint action relies on shared action representations and involves modeling of others' performance in relation to one's own. Taking the social nature of perception and action seriously not only contributes to the understanding of dedicated social processes but has the potential to create a new perspective on the individual mind and brain.