Round numbers as goals: evidence from baseball, SAT takers, and the lab

Where do people's reference points come from? We conjectured that round numbers in performance scales act as reference points and that individuals exert effort to perform just above rather than just below such numbers. In Study 1, we found that professional baseball players modify their behavior as the season is about to end, seeking to finish with a batting average just above rather than below .300. In Study 2, we found that high school students are more likely to retake the SAT after obtaining a score just below rather than above a round number. In Study 3, we conducted an experiment employing hypothetical scenarios and found that participants reported a greater desire to exert more effort when their performance was just short of rather than just above a round number.     

Inclusive cultural empathy for successful global leadership

Empathy is reported in the research literature as a necessary factor in counseling and psychotherapy, but psychologists have historically interpreted empathy through an exclusively individual focus. Most of the research on empathy has been predicated on a definition of empathy as occurring when one person vicariously experiences the feelings, perceptions, and thoughts of another. In Western cultures, the study of empathy focuses exclusively on the individual, whereas in traditional non-Western cultures, empathy more typically involves an inclusive perspective focusing on the individual and significant others in the societal context. This article explores the reframing of "empathy," based on an individualistic perspective, into "inclusive cultural empathy," based on a more relationship-centered perspective, as an alternative interpretation of the empathic process. Psychologists are both the problem and the solution to this dilemma, and the authors call upon the field to take leadership in applying this "inclusive cultural empathy" model.     

In Search of Meaning: A Preliminary Typology of Gay Male Spiritual Identity Development

Reconciliation of the conflict between religious identity and sexual orientation has been related to a number of psychological challenges (Lease, Horne, & Noffsinger‐Frazier, 2005; Schuck & Liddle, 2001), and little is known about the convergence of spiritual identity, distinctly defined as separate from religious identity, and sexual orientation identity. This qualitative inquiry investigated the process by which 7 Caucasian gay men from a variety of religious backgrounds constructed spiritual identities outside the realm of institutionalized religion. From the findings, the authors hypothesize a typology of spiritual development influenced by religions of origin. Limitations of the study, implications, and future directions in research are also addressed.     

North America's Native Peoples: A Social Justice and Trauma Counseling Approach

This article understands North America's indigenous peoples in the context of social justice. The authors discuss the role of legislation in shaping cultural contexts of indigenous people and influencing mental health issues in Native American communities. Trauma counseling with Native Americans is explored. Este artículo entiende a los habitantes indígenas de norteamérica en el contexto de la justicia social. Los autores discuten el papel que juega la legislación en la formación de los contextos culturales de los pueblos indígenas y la influencia que ejerce en los problemas de salud mental en las comunidades de Americanos Nativos. Se explora la terapia de trauma con Americanos Nativos.     

Applications of Group Career Counseling Techniques in Asian Cultures

In this article, applications of group career counseling techniques to Asian cultures are discussed. The article first identifies how group-oriented cultures differ from individually oriented cultures, reasons that group career counseling is especially appropriate for group-oriented cultures, and relevant issues in group career counseling with Asian populations. Interventions that illustrate the use of group career counseling with Asian clients are prescribed.     

Predicting adolescent peer problems and antisocial activities: the relative roles of aggression and dysregulation

This study examined the relative roles of aggression and other dysregulated behaviors in the prediction of adolescent peer problems and antisocial behavior. The social adjustment of 145 boys studied first in Grades 3-6 was assessed again 4 years later in Grades 7-10. At each time, peer ratings of aggressive, hyperactive-disruptive, withdrawn, and irritable-inattentive behaviors were collected. Aggression and withdrawal showed stability and were linked to peer difficulties in elementary school and in adolescence, but these behaviors indicated significant risk for adolescent rejection, victimization, and antisocial activity primarily when accompanied by irritable-inattentive behaviors. Results are discussed in terms of the potential role that difficulties regulating negative affect may play in the genesis of the particular constellation of irritable-inattentive behaviors studied here and the developmental significance of aggressive or withdrawn problem profiles that are or are not accompanied by these behavioral indicators of dysregulation.     

The Evolutionary Roots of Morality in Theological Perspective

Theological ethics can interpret the relation between evolution and morality in at least three ways. The reductionist approach holds that morality emerges because it is adaptive. The independent approach maintains that morality develops without registering the influence of evolution. Finally, the interdependence position holds that morality reflects the influence of evolution to the extent that the latter shapes human emotional capacities and predispositions, for example, those regarding reciprocity and kin preference. The third approach is more suitable for theological ethics, which attends to ways in which natural desires can be ordered to serve morality, for example, to be habituated to virtue, and to ways in which we must strive to curb or minimize their disruptive effects on human communities.     

The “Salad Bowl” is Big Enough for Us All: An Argument for the Inclusion of Lesbians and Gay Men in Any Definition of Multiculturalism

The author argues for an inclusive definition of multiculturalism and that gay men and lesbians must be part of any definition of multicultualism.