A multilevel analysis of the interpersonal behavior of socially anxious people

We investigate the interpersonal behavior of socially anxious (SA) and non-socially anxious (NSA) individuals at three different levels of analysis, focusing on the dimensions of warmth and dominance. Study 1 examines self-reported general interaction styles, Study 2 explores behavior occurring within the context of a single interaction, and in Study 3 we focus on the performance of a single conversational act (a disagreement). Studies 1 and 2 adopt the framework of Interpersonal Circumplex Theory (IPC; Kiesler, 1983), which is well suited for studying trait-level and interaction-level social behaviors, while Study 3 is grounded in Politeness Theory (PT; Brown & Levinson, 1987), which can be used to analyze individual acts at the microstructural level. The potential mutual relevance of PT and IPC is also discussed.     

The relations between cluster indexes of risk and promotion and the problem behaviors of 6- and 7-year-old children from economically disadvantaged families

This study examined the relations between alternative representations of poverty cofactors and promotion processes and teacher reports of the problem behaviors of 6- and 7-year-old children from economically disadvantaged families (N = 159). The results showed that single-index representations of risk and promotion variables predicted child aggressive behaviors but not child anxious/depressed behaviors. An additive model of individual risk indicators performed similarly. Smaller indexes representing clusters of parent adjustment variables and family instability variables, however, differentially predicted aggressive and anxious/depressed behaviors, respectively. The results suggest the importance of promotion processes and of representing environmental adversity at varying levels of specificity for children from economically disadvantaged families.     

Current Vocational Assessment Models for Students With Disabilities

The author addresses the importance of vocational assessment for students with disabilities, discusses the legislative and governmental impetus for the development of vocational assessment programs in the schools, and presents several current vocational assessment models. The transdisciplinary vocational assessment model developed by the author, school-based models that have been developed in four states, and a traditional rehabilitation-based model are presented.     

Dating violence in the United Kingdom: A preliminary study

A small-scale study of “dating violence” in a sample of UK college students is described. Methodology involved the rating-scale used in existing US studies, with the addition of an assessment of inter-respondent reliability, which was found to be high. A high incidence of some form of violence was found, with women showing higher levels than men, thus replicating previous US findings based on victim reports. Violence in the present relationship was found to be unrelated to violence in past relationships.     

Less exploring by mouth occurs in newborns of depressed mothers

Twenty‐four newborns (M age = 12 days) of depressed and nondepressed mothers were assessed for oral perception of a nubby and smooth texture. Both groups of newborns discriminated between these textures and showed a sucking preference for the smooth texture. However, the newborns of depressed mothers spent 50% less time orally exploring the stimuli, one‐third less time exploring the more novel nubby texture, and 59% less time mouthing the smooth texture. Newborns of depressed mothers may have biological differences that affect their emotional arousal and emotional regulation (e.g., capacity for self‐soothing). © 2000 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

Why,and to What Extent,Is Sexual Infidelity Wrong?

Sexual infidelity is widespread, but it is also widely condemned, yet relatively little philosophical work has been done on what makes it wrong and how wrong it is. In this paper, I argue that sexual infidelity is wrong if it involves breaking a commitment to be sexually exclusive, which has special significance in the relationship. However, it is not necessarily worse than other kinds of infidelity, and the context in which it takes place ought to be considered. I finish the paper by looking at how the hegemonic norm of monogamy makes infidelity both more likely and more difficult to deal with.     

The Meaning and Measurement of Work Ethic: Construction and Initial Validation of a Multidimensional Inventory

This monograph presents a brief historical and conceptual review of the work ethic construct, suggests a general conceptual definition of work ethic, and reports a series of empirical studies to construct and evaluate a new multidimensional measure of work ethic. The Multidimensional Work Ethic Profile (MWEP) is a 65-item inventory that measures seven conceptually and empirically distinct facets of the work ethic construct. A series of six studies, using both student and nonstudent samples, examined the psychometric properties of the MWEP. The first study replicates previous research demonstrating the multidimensionality of the work ethic construct. The second study describes the construction and initial psychometric evaluation of the MWEP. The third study examines relations between the MWEP subscales as well as relations with measures of general cognitive ability, personality, and manifest needs. The fourth study examines the generalizability of the MWEP from a student sample to a nonstudent working sample. The fifth study provides further evidence about the generalizability of the MWEP to an organizational sample and examines the relations of the MWEP subscales to other organizationally relevant attitudinal variables (i.e., job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and job involvement). Finally, the sixth study examines the criterion-related validity of the MWEP scales in an organizational context. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Conditions under which young children can hold two rules in mind and inhibit a prepotent response

The day-night task requires saying "night" to a picture of the sun and "day" to a picture of the moon. In this investigation of why young children fail at this task, systematic variations of the task were administered to 96 children, half 4 years old and half 4 1/2 years old. Training children on the strategy of chunking the 2 rules into I ("say the opposite"), thus reducing memory load, did not help their performance. What helped was reducing the inhibitory demand by instructing them to say "dog" and "pig" (not "night" and "day") even though memory of 2 rules and inhibiting saying what the pictures represented were still required. Here the response to be activated and the response to be inhibited were unrelated. When the correct response was semantically related to, and the direct opposite of, the to-be-inhibited response, children performed poorly. Inserting a delay between stimulus and response helped even though that delay was filled with distraction. Young children apparently need several seconds to compute the answer on this task. Often they do not take the needed time; when forced to do so, they do well.