The anatomy of sorrow: a spiritual,phenomenological, and neurological perspective

There is considerable controversy, both within and outside the field of psychiatry, regarding the boundaries of normal sadness and clinical depression. Furthermore, while there are frequent calls for a "pluralistic", comprehensive approach to understanding depression, few writers have tried to integrate insights from the spiritual, philosophical, and neurobiological literature. The author proposes that such a synthesis is possible, and that our understanding of ordinary sorrow and clinical depression is enriched by drawing from these disparate sources. In particular, a phenomenological analysis of sorrow and depression reveals two overlapping but distinct "lifeworlds". These differ in the relational, temporal, dialectical, and intentional realms. Recent brain imaging studies are also beginning to reveal the neurobiological correlates of sorrow and depression. As we come to understand the neurobiology of these states, we may be able to correlate specific alterations in "neurocircuitry" with their phenomenological expressions.     

Windows executable software for the progressive demasking task

The progressive demasking (PDM) task is a perceptual identification task using degraded stimulus presentation procedures, but with the advantage of providing response time (RT) measures on each trial. Participants simply press a response button whenever they recognize a word. In this article, we present newly developed, easy-to-use freeware for PDM. Considering the difficulty of programming such a paradigm with standard experimental software, we developed a program based on high-level C libraries to be executed on Windows XP computers. The program execution is millisecond accurate forRT measurements and generates the fewest possible display duration errors.     

Self-Evaluation Bias of Social Comparisons in Ethical Decision Making: The Impact of Accountability

The purpose of this paper is to examine how accountability and judgment biases that occur in social comparisons may be related to ethical decision making. Using Jones' (1991 ) model as the theoretical framework to investigate this phenomenon, we found that self-enhancing individuals (i.e., those who thought they were more ethical in comparison to their peers) demonstrated higher responsiveness to increases in accountability than did self-effacing individuals (i.e., those who thought they were less ethical in comparison to their peers). We discuss these findings and outline the implications for future ethics research. Further, we provide practical guidance to those who administer ethics compliance programs on effective ways of facilitating ethical behavior in organizations.     

Overproduction timing errors in expert dancers

The authors investigated how expert dancers achieve accurate timing under various conditions. They designed the conditions to interfere with the dancers' attention to time and to test the explanation of the interference effect provided in the attentional model of time processing. Participants were 17 expert contemporary dancers who performed a freely chosen duration while walking and executing a bilateral cyclic arm movement over a given distance. The dancers reproduced that duration in different situations of interference. The process yielded temporal overproductions, validating the attentional model and extending its application to expert populations engaged in complex motor situations. The finding that the greatest overproduction occurred in the transfer-with-improvisation condition suggests that improvisation within a time deadline requires specific training.     

Rewarding seniority: exploring cultural and organizational predictors of seniority allocations

The author investigated how organizations in the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, and Germany use seniority in their decisions about rewarding employees. The author asked employees from several organizations to indicate how often their organizations use seniority when making decisions about pay raises, promotions, and dismissals. Results indicated that organizations with egalitarian cultures, economically successful organizations, and public-sector organizations use seniority more often in such decisions. Furthermore, uncertainty avoidance predicted greater use of seniority. The findings are discussed in light of the potential of seniority to maintain and control conflict inherent in open systems and the aging workforce in Western societies.     

Less power or powerless? Egocentric empathy gaps and the irony of having little versus no power in social decision making

The authors investigate the effect of power differences and associated expectations in social decision making. Using a modified ultimatum game, the authors show that allocators lower their offers to recipients when the power difference shifts in favor of the allocator. Remarkably, however, when recipients are completely powerless, offers increase. This effect is mediated by a change in framing of the situation: When the opponent is without power, feelings of social responsibility are evoked. On the recipient side, the authors show that recipients do not anticipate these higher outcomes resulting from powerlessness. They prefer more power over less, expecting higher outcomes when they are more powerful, especially when less power entails powerlessness. Results are discussed in relation to empathy gaps and social responsibility.     

Distinguishing Between Conceptualizations of Attachment: Clinical Implications in Marriage and Family Therapy

Authors described four distinct conceptualizations of the construct of attachment and identified clinical implications associated with each. Three of the conceptualizations, which are influenced by the work of Bowlby and Ainsworth, seem to have some empirical support; these conceptualizations are compatible with systemic and social constructionist approaches to family therapy. The other conceptualization— Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD)—contradicts the extensive body of literature associated with the Bowlby/Ainsworth traditions and tends to pathologize children. Therefore, family therapists interested in attachment are encouraged to maintain conceptual clarity in their clinical work and are further encouraged to rely on clinical conceptualizations and interventions that are consistent with the work of Bowlby and Ainsworth.     

Deconstructing Differentiation: Self Regulation, Interdependent Relating, and Well-Being in Adulthood

This study examined underlying similarities between the Personal Authority in the Family System Questionnaire (PAFS; Bray, Williamson, & Malone, 1984a) and the Differentiation of Self Inventory (DSI; Skowron & Friedlander, 1998). Generalized least-squares factor analysis yielded two related factors, Self Regulation and Interdependent Relating, accounting for 60% of the variance in the solution. Greater Self Regulation—comprised of DSI scales characterized by less emotional reactivity and the ability to take an I position in relationships—and Interdependent Relating—marked by greater personal authority, intergenerational intimacy and less intergenerational fusion on the PAFS and less emotional cutoff on the DSI—predicted well-being among both women and men. Implications for family therapy and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Is Business Mistreating America's Model Minority?

Business institutions are expected to treat customers of diverse backgrounds without bias. This study explores the relative satisfaction of Asians following service episodes at fast food establishments in the United States as compared to non-Asians. The study findings indicate Asians are less satisfied with both the personal service and the service settings in which fast food is provided them. The causes for the differences identified remain unclear. The results may bring to light a need to place greater emphasis on enabling businesses to become more culturally competent in terms of this growing minority group within the United States.