Investigating the mediating effects of emotional intelligence and coping on problem behaviours in adolescents

This study explored the mediating effect of emotional intelligence (EI) and coping strategies on problem behaviours in Australian adolescents. One hundred and forty‐five adolescents (60 boys and 85 girls with a mean age of 12.02 years) completed self‐report instruments of EI, stress coping strategies, and problem behaviours. The relationships between Emotional Management and Control and engagement in internalising and externalising behaviours were found to be mediated by the use of non‐productive coping strategies. Mediation models of the relationship between problem behaviours and the Understanding Emotions and Emotional Recognition and Expression dimensions were found to be only partially mediated by the engagement in problem‐focused and non‐productive coping strategies. The results are discussed in regards to how coping strategies utilised in adolescence may produce more or less adaptive patterns of coping during adulthood. The development of emotional abilities may be required to improve coping outcomes for adolescents, which in turn may produce better psychological outcomes for adolescents in the long term.     

On the common stimulus condition and explanation of the Müller‐Lyer,Poggendorff and Zöllner illusions: The basis for a class of geometrical illusions

Although the Müller‐Lyer, Poggendorff and Zöllner figures and the illusions with which they are associated– those of length, misalignment and non‐parallelism, respectively – are quite different, all three are attributable to the same basic effect, that of the difference in the apparent length of equal lines forming acute and obtuse angles. The role of this basic affect, reported originally by Müller‐Lyer but overlooked by him and others as a possible cause of the three illusions, is identified and discussed. It is suggested that the demonstration of a basic stimulus condition (acute and obtuse angles) and its associated illusion (difference in apparent length) generating a class of “higher order” geometric illusions has implications not only for a closer understanding of the three illusions under consideration but for other classes of illusory phenomena that might also share a common basis.     

Reactive aggression in psychopathy and the role of frustration: Susceptibility,experience, and control

This article is a commentary on ‘Psychopathy, frustration, and reactive aggression: The role of ventromedial prefrontal cortex’ ( Blair, 2010 ).     

Conjoint therapy and domestic violence: Treating the individuals and the relationship

Domestic violence is a common complaint encountered by counselling psychologists and other mental health professionals. Common psychological treatment practices separate perpetrators and victims into individual intervention modalities. However, there is some research that has been emerging that suggests in some cases a couples treatment approach may be a useful adjunct to existing treatments. The present paper examines research and considerations in making the decision to employ a conjoint approach to treating domestic violence issues.     

Mentoring and the impact of the research climate

In this article, we focus on the mentoring process, and we argue that the internal and external pressures extant at research universities may create a research culture that may be antithetical to appropriate mentoring. We developed a scale based on motivation theory to determine the perceived research culture in departments and research laboratories, and a mentoring scale to determine approaches to mentoring graduate students. Participants were 610 faculty members across 49 departments at a research oriented university. The findings were that a mastery-oriented research climate and an outcome-oriented research climate were manifested at the university. More importantly, each research climate had its own unique impact on how the faculty approached mentoring graduate students. A mastery research climate was related to a more supportive approach to mentoring than the outcome research climate. We concluded by suggesting that the outcome research climate may have an adverse effect on effective mentoring and on maintaining research ethics.     

Notes on a pilgrimage to science: A fly on the wall

The paper is a set of reflections on the moral culture of modern biology built around the author's experience as a participant observer in two university laboratories. I draw parallels between laboratory culture and organized religion and point out practical problems in conducting scientific research. The notion that good biologists must be atheists is questioned and failures of organized religion are noted. The paper concludes with a suggestion that research ethics should be rooted in laboratory practice and must include vigorous principles of honesty and justice. Those are not requirements imposed from outside but internal requirements of the research community.