Perceived Fairness,Marital Conflict,and Depression: A Dyadic Data Analysis

This study explored associations among perceived fairness, marital conflict, and depression. Data for this study included married participants (n = 401 couples) from the Marriage Matters Panel Survey of Newlywed Couples. This study tested three autoregressive cross-lagged models and hypothesized that fairness would precede marital conflict, and continued conflict would lead to greater depression. The final model found that wives' Time 1 perceived fairness was associated with their husbands' conflict at Time 2, and that husbands' perceived fairness at Time 2 was associated with their wives' depression at Time 3. Findings suggest some support for addressing perceived fairness with couples.     

The Role of Meditation in Addiction Recovery

The authors examined the role of meditation as an important component in addiction recovery. Successful addiction recovery is often related to an individual's ability to develop and use a repertoire of coping behaviors, including the ability to maintain an ongoing awareness of one's vulnerability. These learned behaviors serve as reliable alternatives to the routine behavior patterns of individuals who are addicted, which, in the past, have led to often‐repeated destructive outcomes. The authors contend that incorporating meditation into the lifestyle of individuals recovering from addiction provides a consistent means of preparing for inevitable, addiction‐related life challenges and a coping skill that can help maintain equilibrium in living with ever‐present peril.     

Elder Abuse and Neglect: Considerations for Mental Health Practitioners

Elder abuse and neglect are prevalent throughout the U.S. and are often unrecognized and untreated. It is projected that by the year 2030, the number of older adults (age 60 and older) will double, thereby increasing the likelihood that mental health practitioners will encounter instances of elder abuse and neglect. The authors address the symptoms, risk factors, consequences, current laws, interventions, and relevant prevention strategies related to these issues.     

Meaning in the Lives of Caregivers of Individuals with Parkinson's Disease

This study explores the contribution of finding meaning in general and finding meaning specific to caregiving as potentially important explanatory variables in predicting well-being in caregivers of individuals with Parkinson's disease. Fifty-eight caregivers of individuals diagnosed with Parkinson's disease were provided self-report questionnaires to assess well-being and meaning (general and specific). Results showed a significant proportion of the variance of positive affect (PASS) and negative affect (DYS) related to well-being, as assessed by the Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist – Revised. Purpose and Existential Vacuum (two subtests of the Life Attitude Profile – Revised used to assess general meaning) predicted well-being. Purpose predicted 41.8% of the variance related to PASS; Existential Vacuum predicted 30.8% of the variance related to DYS. Meaning related specifically to caregiving (Finding Meaning Through Caregiving Scale) did not explain any additional variance. Our results suggest that finding meaning, beyond meaning specifically associated with caregiving, is the key to understanding well-being among caregivers of individuals with Parkinson's disease. The positive construct of finding meaning in general can empower researchers and professionals working with caregivers to better understand the variability in caregiver outcomes as well as assess and intervene more effectively.     

The Return of Ethnocentrism

The concept of ethnocentrism was introduced by Gumplowicz in the 1870s, popularized by Sumner in the 1900s, and first investigated psychometrically by Adorno and colleagues in the 1940s. It has become a fundamental concept in the social sciences, but over the last several decades, its popularity and usage in political and social psychology have decreased. Recent events, such as the growing popularity of ethno-nationalist and populist leaders and policies, show that ethnocentrism as a phenomenon has been resurging around the world. In addition, given its important explanatory power, an increasing number of political psychologists have started again to use the concept. This article presents an analysis of ethnocentrism reconceptualized as a hierarchical construct emanating from a strong sense of ethnic group self-centeredness and self-importance. It discusses the prevalence of ethnocentrism around the world, its conceptualization and measurement, and its theoretical underpinnings, supporting them with novel empirical research conducted with two abbreviated measures of ethnocentrism. The article argues that ethnocentrism ultimately stems from the need to strengthen one's own ethnic group at the expense of anyone who and anything that can weaken it.     

Definition Inclosed: A Reply to Zhong

In ‘Definability and the Structure of Logical Paradoxes’ (Australasian Journal of Philosophy, this issue) Haixia Zhong takes issue with an account of the paradoxes of self-reference to be found in Beyond the Limits of Thought [Priest 1995. The point of this note is to explain why the critique does not succeed. The criterion for distinguishing between the set-theoretic and the semantic paradoxes offered does not get the division right; the semantic paradoxes are not given a uniform solution; no reason is provided as to why the naïve denotation relation is ‘indefinite’ (other than that its definiteness leads to contradiction); and the account of the denotation relation given clearly misses the mark, even by consistent standards.