Measured Increases in Male Emotional Expressiveness Following a Structured Group Intervention

This study investigated whether men age 30 to 50 are able to increase their level of affective expressiveness, as measured by both self-report and behavioral tests. Twenty-eight subjects, drawn from a pool of 42 volunteers who met the criteria for participation, were randomly selected and placed into experimental or control groups. Experimental group subjects participated in a multimodal group intervention based on Social Learning Theory principles and targeted at changing cognitive, affecfive, and behavioral components of expressiveness. Results of the analyses revealed significant group differences in expressiveness across measures. That is, men can learn to express their feelings given the proper conditions. The experimental group showed greater consistency between their self-reported and actual behavioral expressiveness than did the control group. The contrast between subjects' behavorial expressiveness and perceived frequency of expressiveness are considered. Implications for counseling are discussed.     

On Reasonableness

This essay argues that the concept of 'reasonableness'plays an important role in Scanlon's, Rawls's, and Barry's theories of justice (or morality). The relationship between moral motivation and reasonableness is critically analysed. Specifically, the paper questions whether it is plausible to impute to the agents of construction the desire 'to justify our actions to others on impartial terms'. It also argues that most of the work is done by the assumption that people are reasonable rather than by the contractarian formulation. Indeed, the paper argues, the argument could proceed entirely by making explicit and arguing for the moral assumptions embedded in the concept of reasonableness [1].     

The effects of adult attachment style on post‐transgression response

Two studies examined the relation between adult attachment styles and post‐transgression responses. Secure participants were predicted to be forgiving, preoccupied participants to be grudge oriented, fearful participants to be avoidant, and dismissing participants to be vengeful. Study 1 was nonexperimental, using a community sample of adults (N = 565). Participants wrote about a moderately severe past transgression. Results supported the predictions. In Study 2, undergraduates' (N = 134) attachment styles were manipulated by varying working models of self and other. Model of self was manipulated with false performance feedback. Model of other was manipulated by altering a confederate's availability and responsiveness during a bonding exercise. Response trends replicated Study 1 with the exception of avoidance. Dismissing individuals were the most avoidant.     

THOMAS REID ON ACQUIRED PERCEPTION

Thomas Reid's distinction between original and acquired perception is not merely metaphysical; it has psychological and phenomenological stories to tell. Psychologically, acquired perception provides increased sensitivity to features in the environment. Phenomenologically, Reid's theory resists the notion that original perception is exhaustive of perceptual experience. James Van Cleve has argued that most cases of acquired perception do not count as perception and so do not pose a threat to Reid's direct realism. I argue that acquired perception is genuine perception and as direct as original perception. Perception is grounded in a productive and developing relationship between the mind and world.     

Faith‐Based Decisions? The Consequences of Heightened Religious Salience in Social Service Referral Decisions

Previous research suggests that clergy members are often an initial contact for people seeking advice or social services and clergy often refer such individuals in need to outside agencies. Recent "faith-based initiatives" seek to engage churches and religious groups more deeply in social service delivery, potentially changing the mix of organizations to which clergy might refer people in need. In addition, public debates about faith-based social services have drawn attention to religion, often in politically divisive ways. Using semi-structured interviews and vignettes in which key characteristics of outside agencies are experimentally varied, we explore the implications of this heightened attention to religion on clergy referrals. We find that increasing the salience of religion affects clergy referral choices, with some clergy even willing to sacrifice quality care and resources for an individual in need when religious options are available as referral choices. We argue that this occurs at least in part because making religion salient in policy and referrals makes religious differences salient as well.