Comparing the Geographic Distributions and Growth of Mormons,Adventists, and Witnesses

Mormons, Adventists, and Witnesses have all felt called to take their teachings to the world and have experienced growth. However, they have varied considerably in both their geographic spread—where they have developed a presence over time—and also in where they have been more successful numerically. The result is sharply differing profiles: Adventists are concentrated more in the developing world; Witnesses and Mormons are proportionately stronger in the developed world, but in different parts of it. Within countries, Witnesses and Mormons are more urban, while Adventists are more concentrated in rural regions; Adventists also tend to be poorer than Witnesses and especially practicing Mormons. The article explores why these differing patterns developed, expanding on a recently developed theoretical model by Cragun and Lawson that religious growth depends on the synchronization of supply and demand and their corresponding components.     

Alcohol-related Cues Promote Automatic Racial Bias

Previous research has shown that alcohol consumption can increase the expression of race bias by impairing control-related processes. The current study tested whether simple exposure to alcohol-related images can also increase bias, but via a different mechanism. Participants viewed magazine ads for either alcoholic or nonalcoholic beverages prior to completing Payne's (2001) Weapons Identification Task (WIT). As predicted, participants primed with alcohol ads exhibited greater race bias in the WIT than participants primed with neutral beverages. Process dissociation analyses indicated that these effects were due to automatic (relative to controlled) processes having a larger influence on behavior among alcohol-primed relative to neutral-primed participants. Structural equation modeling further showed that the alcohol-priming effect was mediated by increases in the influence of automatic associations on behavior. These data suggest an additional pathway by which alcohol can potentially harm inter-racial interactions, even when no beverage is consumed.     

Refining the theory of basic individual values

We propose a refined theory of basic individual values intended to provide greater heuristic and explanatory power than the original theory of 10 values (Schwartz, 1992). The refined theory more accurately expresses the central assumption of the original theory that research has largely ignored: Values form a circular motivational continuum. The theory defines and orders 19 values on the continuum based on their compatible and conflicting motivations, expression of self-protection versus growth, and personal versus social focus. We assess the theory with a new instrument in 15 samples from 10 countries (N = 6,059). Confirmatory factor and multidimensional scaling analyses support discrimination of the 19 values, confirming the refined theory. Multidimensional scaling analyses largely support the predicted motivational order of the values. Analyses of predictive validity demonstrate that the refined values theory provides greater and more precise insight into the value underpinnings of beliefs. Each value correlates uniquely with external variables.     

Resolving arguments by different conceptual traditions of realization

There is currently a significant amount of interest in understanding and developing theories of realization. Naturally arguments have arisen about the adequacy of some theories over others. Many of these arguments have a point. But some can be resolved by seeing that the theories of realization in question fall under different conceptual traditions with different but compatible goals. The arguments I will discuss fit a general pattern. A philosopher argues that one theory of realization is better than another because it provides a better explanation for a particular range of phenomena, say, accounting for common sense cases, or cases within the sciences, when in fact the theories in question are not genuine competitors. I will first describe three different conceptual traditions that are implicated by the arguments under discussion. I will then examine the arguments, from an older complaint by Norman Malcolm against a familiar functional theory to a recent argument by Thomas Polger against an assortment of theories that traffic in inherited causal powers, showing how they can be resolved by situating the theories under their respective conceptual traditions.     

Neighborhood Disorder and Children’s Antisocial Behavior: The Protective Effect of Family Support Among Mexican American and African American Families

Using data from a sample of 673 Mexican Origin families, the current investigation examined the degree to which family supportiveness acted as a protective buffer between neighborhood disorder and antisocial behavior during late childhood (i.e. intent to use controlled substances, externalizing, and association with deviant peers). Children's perceptions of neighborhood disorder fully mediated associations between census and observer measures of neighborhood disorder and their antisocial behavior. Family support buffered children from the higher rates of antisocial behavior generally associated with living in disorderly neighborhoods. An additional goal of the current study was to replicate these findings in a second sample of 897 African American families, and that replication was successful. These findings suggest that family support may play a protective role for children living in dangerous or disadvantaged neighborhoods. They also suggest that neighborhood interventions should consider several points of entry including structural changes, resident perceptions of their neighborhood and family support.     

Parenting Practices and Adolescent Internalizing and Externalizing Problems: Moderating Effects of Socially Demanding Kin Relations

Association of socially demanding kin relations, mother’s emotional support, behavioral control/monitoring, family organization and psychological control with adolescent’s internalizing and externalizing problems were assessed in 200 economically disadvantaged, African American mothers and adolescents. Demanding kin relations and mother’s psychological control were positively associated with adolescent’s internalizing problems. Demanding kin relations also moderated the association of control/monitoring, family organization, and psychological control, with internalizing. For mothers with more demanding kin relations, increased control/monitoring was associated with increased adolescent internalizing. In comparison, increased control/monitoring was associated with decreased adolescent internalizing for mothers with less demanding kin relations. Negative association of family organization with internalizing was more apparent for mothers with more compared to less demanding kin relations. Positive association of mother’s psychological control with internalizing was more apparent for mothers with more compared to less socially demanding kin relations. Demanding kin relations and mother’s psychological control were positively associated with adolescent’s externalizing problems. Mother’s emotional support and family organization were negatively associated with externalizing. Also, negative association of family organization with externalizing was more apparent for families with more compared to less demanding kin relations. The need for research on the factors associated with negative relation with kin was discussed.     

Action and coping planning with regard to dental brushing among Iranian adolescents

The aims of this study were two-fold: (i) to examine the validity of the proposed three-factor structure (intention, action-, and coping planning) in an Iranian sample of adolescents, and (ii) to assess the predictive ability of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) measures of action planning and coping planning for dental brushing. Eight hundred adolescents were randomly selected to participate in the study. 90% (721) of adolescents agreed to participate. Perceived behavioral control, action and coping planning scales and a self-report questionnaire related to dental brushing behavior were completed by the adolescents at baseline. One month later (time-point 2), the adolescents were asked to reassess their frequency of dental brushing over the four week period. Data were analyzed by a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on an original three-factor structure (intention, action plan, and coping plan). A hierarchical linear regression analysis was also performed. The CFA for the original three-factor structure showed a good fit index (χ(2)?=?637.60, degrees of freedom df?=?116), goodness-of-fit index (GFI)?=?91, and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA)?=?0.079. Adjusting for demographic variables, action- and coping planning together accounted for 7.9% of the variance associated with dental brushing behavior at one month. In conclusion, results suggest that action planning and coping planning are associated with higher frequency in dental brushing among Iranian adolescents.     

Fourteen‐Month‐Olds' Imitation of Differently Aged Models

Studies comparing adult and peer imitation are rare and have to date provided mixed results. The aim of the present study was to investigate 14‐month‐olds' imitation of different actions (novel versus familiar) performed by televised models of different age groups (peers, older children or adults). In two experiments, we investigated infants' imitative performance when observing a novel action (Experiment 1) and familiar actions (Experiment 2). The results showed that the likelihood of imitating a novel action increased as the age of the model increased. The opposite was true for familiar actions where infants imitated the peer more frequently than either the older child or the adult model. These findings are discussed in relation to infants' ability to take into account a model's characteristics such as age when imitating actions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stirring images: Fear, not happiness or arousal, makes art more sublime

Which emotions underlie our positive experiences of art? Although recent evidence from neuroscience suggests that emotions play a critical role in art perception, no research to date has explored the extent to which specific emotional states affect aesthetic experiences or whether general physiological arousal is sufficient. Participants were assigned to one of five conditions-sitting normally, engaging in 15 or 30 jumping jacks, or viewing a happy or scary video-prior to rating abstract works of art. Only the fear condition resulted in significantly more positive judgments about the art. These striking findings provide the first evidence that fear uniquely inspires positively valenced aesthetic judgments. The results are discussed in the context of embodied cognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

The six most essential questions in psychiatric diagnosis: A pluralogue part 2: Issues of conservatism and pragmatism in psychiatric diagnosis

In face of the multiple controversies surrounding the DSM process in general and the development of DSM-5 in particular, we have organized a discussion around what we consider six essential questions in further work on the DSM. The six questions involve: 1) the nature of a mental disorder; 2) the definition of mental disorder; 3) the issue of whether, in the current state of psychiatric science, DSM-5 should assume a cautious, conservative posture or an assertive, transformative posture; 4) the role of pragmatic considerations in the construction of DSM-5; 5) the issue of utility of the DSM ?C whether DSM-III and IV have been designed more for clinicians or researchers, and how this conflict should be dealt with in the new manual; and 6) the possibility and advisability, given all the problems with DSM-III and IV, of designing a different diagnostic system. Part I of this article took up the first two questions. Part II will take up the second two questions. Question 3 deals with the question as to whether DSM-V should assume a conservative or assertive posture in making changes from DSM-IV. That question in turn breaks down into discussion of diagnoses that depend on, and aim toward, empirical, scientific validation, and diagnoses that are more value-laden and less amenable to scientific validation. Question 4 takes up the role of pragmatic consideration in a psychiatric nosology, whether the purely empirical considerations need to be tempered by considerations of practical consequence. As in Part 1 of this article, the general introduction, as well as the introductions and conclusions for the specific questions, are written by James Phillips, and the responses to commentaries are written by Allen Frances.