A benevolent conceptualization of marital power: The case of depression

Treatment of the depressed client with low self-esteem, external locus of control, and an absent spouse often is frustrating due to the limitations of modifying the social context. An approach to the problem using a systemic view which is based on examining the notion of power and examining the problems in their context is presented. Interventions which sidestep the temptation of emphasizing self-esteem of the client and, instead, utilize client strengths and interactional dynamics within the marriage are presented.     

The client: Therapist's partner or therapist's opponent? thoughts on the question of power and cooperation in therapy

The difference in process and outcome of two therapies conducted by the author with families having a psychotic adolescent is considered. Attention is paid to the fact that in one case the client was regarded theoretically as an opponent and in the other as a partner. It is concluded that the contention thatthe therapist must decide whether to be influential or cooperative arises from a logical confusion by failing to recognize that therapy cannot be anything other than cooperation.Originally published as part of a special issue on the power metaphor guestedited by Klaus G. Deissler inZeitschrift fur systemische Therapie (1986),4, 253–257. Translated by S. Awodey.     

Humor and the coronary-prone behavior pattern

The belief is widely held that humor is related to recovery from, and perhaps an increased resistance to, coronary and other stress-related diseases. Such generalizations do not typically distinguish between benign and hostile humor. In the present research, the relationship between a measure of proneness to coronary heart disease (CHD) and appreciation of hostile and nonhostile humor is examined. In two studies, one with college students and one with patients suffering from CHD, the relationship between humor preferences and the coronary-prone (Type A) behavior pattern was examined. Each subject was given the Jenkins Activity Survey as a measure of the coronary-prone personality type, and aggressive and nonaggressive jokes to rate for funniness. Hostile humor was preferred to nonhostile humor by all groups, but among those suffering from CHD, those who could be classified as “Type B’s” preferred nonhostile humor. The results indicate that those less prone to CHD appreciate both hostile and nonhostile humor, while Type A’s seem to enjoy hostile humor only.     

Converging evidence that fear of success is multidimensional

Fear of Success (FOS) was originally conceived as a unidimensional motive. However, there is both theoretical and empirical support for the hypothesis that FOS is multidimensional. We factor analyzed the responses of 236 undergraduates to twenty-oneConcern Over the Negative Consequences of Success items and found four factors. Our four factors show considerable overlap with dimensions based on theoretical accounts of FOS etiology as well as with the factor structures obtained from two other factor analytic studies. Thus, there is converging evidence that FOS is multidimensional. The relationship between multidimensional FOS and a multidimensional approach to achievement motivation is discussed.     

Failure of acute and chronic administration of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol to affect the repeated acquisition of serial position responses in pigeons

Pigeons were trained to acquire a new four-response position sequence each day by pecking three response keys in a predetermined order. The key color varied after each correct response prior to food delivery. Acute administration of Γ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ⁹-THC) up to a dose that completely eliminated responding, had no effect on total acquisition errors, or on within session patterns of error elimination. Chronic administration of Δ⁹-THC (3–10 mg/kg/day), either before or after the session for 4–7 weeks, also did not affect these error measures, although rates of responding were markedly suppressed and at times no responding occurred Discontinuation of Δ⁹-THC administration for periods of 4–6 weeks also was without effect on errors. These experiments suggest that neither acute nor chronic Δ⁹-THC produce specific effects on the repeated acquisition of serial position responses in pigeons.     

Forms of memory failure in schizophrenia.

Effortful and automatic memory task performances were examined in 36 schizophrenic patients and 18 normal control Ss. Tasks included free recall, recognition, and frequency estimation. Patients demonstrated impairment in recall, in recognition, in semantic encoding, and in frequency estimation. Deficits were observed across tasks despite differences in attentional demands. The results suggest a basic compromise of memory function, which is consistent with recent neuroimaging evidence of structural or physiological abnormalities in frontal and temporal lobe structures in schizophrenia.     

Integration of the big five and circumplex approaches to trait structure.

To integrate the 5-dimensional simple-structure and circumplex models of personality, the Abridged Big Five Dimensional Circumplex (AB5C) taxonomy of personality traits was developed, consisting of the 10 circumplexes that can be formed by pitting each of the Big Five factors against one another. The model maps facets of the Big Five dimensions as blends of 2 factors. An application to data consisting of 636 self-ratings and peer ratings on 540 personality trait adjectives yielded 34 well-defined facets out of a possible 45. The AB5C solution is compared with simple-structure and lower dimensional circumplex solutions, and its integrative and corrective potential are discussed, as well as its limitations.     

Parental values, reinforcement, and young children's prosocial behavior: a longitudinal study.

In this study, the authors assessed the relation of parental reinforcement and parental values to young children's prosocial behaviors. Parents' dyadic interactions with their 1- to 2-year-old children were videotaped in the home on two occasions approximately 6 months apart. The children also were videotaped playing with a peer at 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 years of age. Parental reinforcement of the children's prosocial behaviors was coded, as were the children's prosocial behaviors with the peer. The frequency of girls' spontaneous prosocial behaviors decreased in the early years; modest consistency was observed for boys (but not girls) across the two parental sessions. No relation existed between the frequency of children's prosocial behaviors with their parents and their behaviors with peers. Both maternal and paternal valuing of compliance were negatively related to the mothers' use of reinforcement for children's spontaneous prosocial behaviors. Parental reinforcement of compliant prosocial behaviors was negatively related to children's compliance with a peer's request for prosocial behavior and positively related to defensive behavior with the peer. Fathers' valuing of prosocial behavior was associated with children's compliance with the peer's requests for prosocial action. Parents who valued compliance had children who exhibited low levels of compliant prosocial behaviors with the peer, possibly because of the depressed level of peer interaction.     

Implicit Personality Theory and the Five-Factor Model

The Big Five have not only been identified in ratings of knowledgeable informants, but also in ratings of strangers, in co-occurrence likelihood ratings of traits, in semantic similarity ratings of trait pairs, and in prototypicality ratings of acts for traits. This article describes the shared and distinctive characteristics of correlations among trait ratings and implicit personality theory and reviews studies that compare the structure of memory-based ratings and of on-line behavior counts. Three hypotheses suggested in the literature to account for these correlations are delineated and discussed: an accurate reflection hypothesis, a distortion hypothesis, and an overlap hypothesis. It is concluded that the distortion hypothesis, has been discredited and that an overlap model best accounts for the available evidence. This implies that traits are real and accurately perceived, provided that the judges have the necessary information.