On the Relationship between Aggressive Imagery and Thought Disturbance in Rorschach Responses

Two studies were conducted to test the general hypothesis that the expression of aggression in fantasy to one stimulus reduces the probability of occurrence of aggression fantasy to a following stimulus. In both studies the results were contrary to the hypothesis, i.e., probability of an aggression fantasy response did not change to later stimuli. Further, intensity of aggression response increased as a function of the ordinal position of the fantasy eliciting stimulus and the fantasy of aggression pull of a given stimulus was significantly influenced by the sequence of preceding stimuli. Discrepancies between these results and those of other studies are discussed in terms of aroused versus base levels of aggression drive.     

Reactions to AIDS and Other Illnesses: Reported Interactions in the Workplace

Previous research on the public's response to AIDS has been concerned with attitudes and knowledge in relation to the disease itself. The present study investigated American students' willingness to interact in the workplace with AIDS patients and compared this with their reactions to cancer and hepatitis patients. The effects of perceived control over the cause of the disease were also examined. Exposure to the diseases was manipulated with written scenarios. Results demonstrated that the type of illness affected a willingness to interact with individuals—AIDS patients were reacted to least positively, followed by hepatitis, and cancer patients. Perceived control over the cause of the disease did not affect reactions.     

The Relationship Between Forgiveness and Borderline Personality Symptomatology

The relationship between forgiveness and borderline personality symptomatology has been rarely studied. Using a consecutive cross-sectional sample of 307 internal medicine outpatients and a survey methodology, we examined correlations between the Forgiveness Scale and borderline personality symptomatology as measured by the borderline personality disorder scale of the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-4 and the Self-Harm Inventory. Numerous forgiveness subscales as well as the composite Forgiveness Scale score demonstrated statistically significant relationships with both measures for borderline personality symptomatology, such that individuals with this personality pathology demonstrated lower scores on these forgiveness subscales. Findings indicate that among individuals with borderline personality symptomatology, there are numerous aspects of forgiveness that are significantly lower than in individuals without this symptomatology.     

Comedy as Correction: Humor as Perspective by Incongruity on Will & Grace and Queer as Folk

This essay examines the television programs Will & Grace and Queer as Folk through the lens of a comic frame to argue for each show’s potential to change our social culture. Because television culture is oriented to heterosexual and Christian perfection (i.e. heterosexuality and Christianity as normative identities), gays, lesbians and Jews are rendered Other and thereby tragically framed. By reading Queer as Folk and Will & Grace together and employing the Burkean notion of perspective by incongruity, this article argues that neither show’s characters exist within the tragic binary of victim/villain. Rather, the use of humor offers the necessary perspective by incongruity to comically correct the tragic frame of heterosexual and Christian perfection.     

The Impact of Perceived Corporate Citizenship on Organizational Cynicism,OCB, and Employee Deviance

This study examines the effects of corporate citizenship at the individual employee level. Four distinct contributions beyond the existing literature are offered. First, the relationship between perceived corporate citizenship (PCC) and employee organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is further clarified. Second, the negative job behavior of employee deviance is considered as an outcome. Third, the attitude of organizational cynicism is positioned as a mediator of the relationships between PCC and the job related behaviors of OCB and employee deviance. Fourth, we disaggregate the PCC measure and explore its relationships with organizational cynicism, OCB and employee deviance. Findings illustrate that the four separate dimensions of PCC have differential relationships with the outcome variables.     

Handedness in a virtual haptic environment: Assessments from kinematic behavior and modeling

This study evaluated hand asymmetries in performance of a dexterous, controlled task under haptic feedback. Participants punctured a virtual membrane with a pushing or pulling movement, using the left or right hand. For pulling movements, the dominant (right) hand exhibited faster average stopping latency and shorter skidding distance. When the kinematic data were fit to a three-phase model previously applied to this task (Klatzky et al., 2013), the right hand exhibited faster force decay attributable to biomechanical factors. Analyses of the aggregated performance measures and model parameters showed that the left and right hands are associated with two different distributions, supporting handedness effects. Furthermore, while the majority of participants expressed right-hand dominance, which was consistent with their self-reported hand preferences, others showed partial or no dominance. This approach could potentially be extended to quantify and differentiate individuals with difficulties in manual behavior due to abnormal motor control (e.g., dyspraxia), progressive deterioration (e.g., Parkinson's syndrome) or improvement (neural regrowth after transplant).