New Sexism in Couple Therapy: A Discursive Analysis

The persistence of gender inequality in postindustrial societies is puzzling in light of a plethora of changes that destabilize it, including shifts in economy, legislation, and the proliferation of feminist politics. In family relations, such persistence manifests as a disconnect between couples aspiring to be more egalitarian yet continuing to enact traditional gender roles and hierarchies. There is an emerging consensus that gender inequality persists because of people's continued reliance on sexist ideology or gendered assumptions that constitute women as innately distinct from and inferior to men. Sexist ideology changes its form to accommodate to changing socio‐economic conditions. Contemporary forms of sexism are old ways of legitimizing male power articulated in new and creative ways, often by incorporating feminist arguments. To effectively recognize and address “new sexism,” scholars and practitioners require new, innovative research frameworks. Our objective in writing this article is two‐fold. First, we seek to advance discursive (i.e., focused on language in use) approaches to the study of sexism. Second, we present the results of a discursive analysis of “new” sexist discourse in the context of couple therapy. The study provides preliminary evidence that, despite endorsing egalitarian norms, couples studied continue to rely on gender binaries and remain entrenched in old‐fashioned patterns of gender inequality. Implications of these results for the practice of couple therapy and for future research are discussed.     

Facial emotion recognition,guilt and sub-clinical psychopathic traits: an exploration of mediation effects

Psychopathic traits are associated with a variety of emotional difficulties, including poor facial emotion recognition (FER) and reduced capacity to experience guilt. However, the potential mechanisms through which FER and low guilt-proneness are related to the development of psychopathic traits are not well understood. Using a non-clinical sample (N?=?747), this study investigated the relationship between psychopathic traits, FER ability and guilt-proneness by exploring two alternative mediation models investigating: (a) the mediating effect of FER ability on the relationship between psychopathic traits and guilt-proneness, and (b) the mediating effect of psychopathic traits on the relationship between FER ability and guilt-proneness. FER ability did not significantly mediate the relationship between psychopathic traits and guilt-proneness. However, psychopathic traits did partially mediate the relationship between FER and guilt-proneness for the sad, angry, fearful and disgusted expressions. These findings suggest that psychopathic traits are related to a disruption in typical affective processing and the development of pro-social moral self-conscious emotions.     

Explanatory schema and the process of model building

Synthese - In this paper, we argue that rather than exclusively focusing on trying to determine if an idealized model fits a particular account of scientific explanation, philosophers of science...     

Maternal depression and infant temperament characteristics

One hundred-thirty-nine women participated in this longitudinal study from the third trimester of pregnancy through 8-months postpartum. Women completed depression scales at several time points and rated their infant's characteristics and childcare stress at 2- and 6-months postpartum. Mothers' reports of infant temperament were significantly different for depressed and non-depressed mothers, with depressed mothers reporting more difficult infants at both measurement points. These differences remained after controlling for histories of maternal abuse or prenatal anxiety, which occurred more often in the depressed mothers. There were no significant differences in childcare stress or perceived support between the groups. Infant temperament and childcare stress did not change over time. Recommendations for practice include consistent ongoing evaluations of the "goodness of fit" within the dyad and exploring interventions for depressed mothers that provide guidance about interactions with their infants and the appropriateness of the infant behaviors.     

Perfectionism and Depression Among Low-Income Chronically Ill African American and White Adolescents and Their Maternal Parent

Most research on perfectionism is based on convenience samples of university students or clinically distressed samples, and therefore relatively less is known about the development and implications of perfectionism for other groups. In this study, we examined perfectionism and depression in low-income African American (n = 39) and White (n = 55) adolescents with chronic illnesses (most with diabetes, asthma, and/or hypertension) and their primary parents. We specifically examined the association between parent and child perfectionism, and the link between perfectionism and depression in both groups. The African American adolescents reported significantly more maladaptive perfectionism than did the White adolescents, and the African American parents reported significantly higher scores on depression than did the White parents. Correlations and regression analyses revealed similarities and differences in perfectionism-depression associations that might be explained in light of cultural differences and the unique physical and emotional challenges faced by youth with chronic illnesses. The word “parent” in this study is used to represent a parent or other adult who was identified as a primary caregiver for the adolescent.     

Potential performance theory (PPT): Describing a methodology for analyzing task performance

Based on potential performance theory (PPT), a methodological paradigm is developed that allows for individual-level analyses. The proposed methodology distinguishes among observed performance, strategy, and consistency, with the idea that changes in observed performance can be caused by changes in strategy or consistency. Equations are presented that allow the computation of strategy and consistency scores for groups and individuals, with the goal of enabling researchers to find the reasons why performance improves or does not improve. More specifically, people may (1) develop better strategies, (2) use them more consistently, (3) both, or (4) neither. It is even possible to have strategy—consistency trade-offs, as individuals focus on one at the expense of the other. Data obtained from an experiment illustrate these possibilities.     

Acquisition and Manifestation of Prejudice in Children

Three major categories of prejudice have been identified in this article: Conscious/Intentional, Conscious/Unintentional, and Unconscious/Unintentional. Prejudice plays a large role in the development of our children, and through exposure to and understanding of the development of prejudice, the strength that it holds can be understood and diminished.     

Some developmental characteristics of adult psychotherapy groups

This paper highlights some developmental characteristics of adult psychotherapy groups and the relationships among them. It argues that members of a therapy group will experience and have an opportunity to resolve within the group itself normal developmental conflicts of adult life such as learning to establish intimate relationships. In addition, members will reexperience unresolved developmental conflicts of childhood and adolescence that frequently prevent adequate resolution of adult developmental tasks, and have an opportunity to rework them. Lastly, because of the essential isomorphism of therapy groups, members' developmental conflicts will be experienced and dealt with when the group-qua-group is dealing with parallel developmental struggles in its own life.