Unmitigated communion and health among adolescents with and without diabetes: the mediating role of eating disturbances

The authors examined the implications of unmitigated communion--a focus on others to the exclusion of the self--for psychological and physical health among adolescents with (n = 132) and without (n = 131) diabetes times/during a 1-year period. Unmitigated communion predicted greater psychological distress and lower levels of competence cross-sectionally and longitudinally, controlling for sex, pubertal status, and communion. Health status moderated some longitudinal relations, such that relations held only for adolescents with diabetes. In addition, unmitigated communion was associated with poor metabolic control and predicted a deterioration in metabolic control over the year for adolescents with diabetes. Unmitigated communion also was associated with disturbed eating behavior cross-sectionally and longitudinally, and disturbed eating behavior explained some of the relations of unmitigated communion to psychological but not physical health outcomes.     

Comorbidity of specific and generalized social anxiety in Spanish adolescents

The comorbidity of the social anxiety disorder, including the specific and generalized subtypes, and other psychopathological problems in adolescents is explored. For this purpose, 961 Spanish young people were evaluated (mean age = 15.63 years) by means of various self-reports that measure sociodemographical variables, competences and clinical indexes. Those with social anxiety were divided into two groups: specific and generalized. The results indicated that the adolescents with social anxiety had a higher percentage of comorbidity in the indexes that refer to anxiety and avoidance in social situations, than did the young people with other psychopathologies. The group of generalized social anxiety had a higher percentage of comorbidity than the specific social anxiety group in the majority of the clinical problems measured by the YSR/11-18 and MMPI-A. Only in eleven of the evaluated clinical indexes was the difference in comorbidity between the two groups of social anxiety significant, and the percentage of comorbidity was lower in the first group.     

Cross-national stereotypes of locus of control in university students1

Stereotypes of locus of control were studied in male and female university students from eight countries (Canada, France, West Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, United States). The subjects took the Rotter Internal-External Locus of Control (I-E) Scale in standard fashion (“own” scores) and then in the role of students similar to themselves in their own country (attributed own) and in selected other countries (attributed other). Using the difference between “own” scores and “attributed” scores as the operational measure of stereotype, the results indicate (1) that scores attributed to students in a given country bear little relationship to those students “own” scores, thereby suggesting the presence of stereotypes of locus of control; (2) students in most countries attribute greater externality to the average student in their own country compared to themselves; (3) countries vary in the degree to which they stereotype other countries with the U.S. students significantly attributing greater externality to other countries and Japanese students significantly attributing greater internality to other students; (4) countries vary in the degree to which they are stereotyped with German students perceived as most internal and Italian students as most external; (5) the U.S.S.R. and U.S.A. are perceived differently on content subscales of the I-E Scale although their overall attributed scores do not differ.     

How Women’s Nonconscious Association of Sex with Submission Relates to Their Subjective Sexual Arousability and Ability to Reach Orgasm

Common cultural stereotypes promote women’s submission to men, especially within intimate heterosexual relationships. Mirroring these stereotypes, women possess nonconscious associations between sex and submission (Sanchez, Kiefer & Ybarra, 2006). Moreover, women’s sex-submission associations predict greater reports of engagement in submissive sexual behavior (Sanchez et al., 2006). In the present research, we again found that women associate sex with submission at a nonconscious level. Study 1 showed that women’s nonconscious sex-submission associations predict reduced subjective arousability. Study 2 further demonstrated that these associations predict impaired ability to reach orgasm among women. These findings suggest that sex-submission associations may adversely affect women’s sexual functioning.     

Is David Lykken's theory of crime likely?

Lykken proposed a model of antisocial behaviour based on the criminal's temperamental difficulties. Personality traits stressed by this model are impulsivity, fearlessness, and sensation seeking. The present study compares one sample taken from the general population with a sample of prison inmates on these traits. The results indicate that prison inmates score higher than the general population on sensation seeking and fearlessness, whereas their scores on impulsivity are lower. Some implications are discussed.     

The Role of Accent on the Credibility and Effectiveness of the Salesperson

The study focuses on assessing the impact of a salesperson's accent on people's perception of his effectiveness, including credibility, competence, friendliness, and intentions to buy. One hundred and forty-six students listened to tape recordings of three presenters speaking with Greek-accented English and three presenters speaking with standard American accent. The message was a hypothetical sales pitch for a VCR. The results indicate that, for an American audience, a sales pitch in standard American accent evoked more favorable judgments on all measured dimensions than Greek-accented English.     

Comparative Study Between the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Value–Belief–Norm Model Regarding the Environment,on Spanish Housewives' Recycling Behavior

Environmental behaviors have been analyzed from different theoretical models. The theory of planned behavior emphasizes the attitudinal aspects associated with behavior, while the value–belief–norm model regarding the environment focuses on the importance of moral components when setting environmental behaviors in motion. The objective of this study was to analyze both models, comparing both their degree of fit and their predictive power regarding recycling behavior. To do so, we used a sample made up of 154 Spanish housewives. The results indicated that despite the fact that the theory of planned behavior is a general model for predicting and explaining behavior, it has a greater degree of fit and greater capacity to predict recycling behavior than the value–belief–norm model regarding the environment.     

Self‐judgment and reputation monitoring as a function of the fundamental dimensions,temporal perspective,and culture

Social acceptance and the development of one's competencies and status are fundamental aspects of the human experience, but the former (communion) should take precedence over the latter (agency) in self‐judgment. Study 1 results indicated that (i) people across two cultures judged themselves as possessing higher communion than agency characteristics; (ii) communion self‐judgments were more consistent across temporal perspective; and (iii) level of self‐enhancement across cultures was similar for communion but different for agency. In Study 2, people across culture reported being more troubled and demonstrated a greater desire to repair their reputation when they imagined others perceived them as lacking in communion compared with agency. These findings support the idea that social life pressures people to view themselves as possessing communion traits and to ensure that others have this perception as well. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.