Let your preference be your guide? Preferences and choices are more tightly linked for North Americans than for Indians

Using experimental paradigms from economics and social psychology, the authors examined the cross-cultural applicability of 3 widely held assumptions about preference and choice: People (a) recruit or construct preferences to make choices; (b) choose according to their preferences; and (c) are motivated to express their preferences in their choices. In 6 studies, they compared how middle-class North American and Indian participants choose among consumer products. Participants in both contexts construct nonrandom preferences at similar speeds. Those in Indian contexts, however, are slower to make choices, less likely to choose according to their personal preferences, and less motivated to express their preferences in their choices. The authors infer that the strong link between preferences and choices observed among North Americans is not a universal feature of human nature. Instead, this link reflects the disjoint model of agency, which prescribes that people should choose freely on the basis of their preferences. In contrast, Indian contexts reflect and promote a conjoint model of agency, according to which agency is responsive to the desires and expectations of important others and may require restraining one's preferences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved).     

Adolescents' views on war and peace in the early phases of the Iraq conflict

Adolescents' views of war and peace were assessed among 209 children aged 10-14 who attended a parochial school or its after-school religious program located in a predominantly middle-class, suburban area within commuting distance of New York City. Findings were compared to those of youth surveyed during other armed conflicts, specifically the Vietnam War, the first Persian Gulf War, and the U.S. military involvement in Latin America. The study took place in early fall 2003, and results were interpreted in light of the social climate and complex realities of post 9/11 in New York State, the Catholic Church's initial opposition to the Iraq conflict, and popular opinion. In spite of differences between the Iraq War and other conflicts, findings are remarkably similar. Although the present group is highly preoccupied with terrorism and nuclear war, even in a time of war, participants show concern for what they perceived as affecting their lives directly, rather than with conventional war. While they believe that President Bush was honest about the war in Iraq and right in sending troops, they do not glorify war. On a theoretical level, they overwhelmingly believe that wars are bad and the majority is optimistic that world peace is possible, though they realize that wars are difficult to prevent, believe that they are sometimes needed, and will occur in the future. Unlike the Catholic group surveyed by Tolley during the Vietnam War, however, participants are not as ready to die for their country, although findings show that, overall, like past groups, more boys tend to be pro-war than are girls and participants' views tend to reflect contemporary public opinions.     

Results of an Intervention for Individuals and Families with <Emphasis Type="Italic">BRCA</Emphasis> Mutations: A Model for Providing Medical Updates and Psychosocial Support Following Genetic Testing

Providing medical management updates and long-term support to families with hereditary cancer syndromes in rural areas is a challenge. To address this, we designed a one-day retreat for BRCA1/2 carriers in our region. The retreat included educational updates about medical management, genetic privacy and discrimination, and addressed psychological and family issues. Evaluations completed at the conclusion of the retreat were overwhelmingly positive with requests for a similar event in the future. The impact of this retreat on a variety of health behaviors was assessed. Eligible participants completed questionnaires before and 6 months after the retreat. Questionnaires focused on lifestyle, cancer screening and prevention practices, psychological history and distress, decision-making regarding genetic testing, and family communication issues. For individuals who completed both the pre and post retreat questionnaires, one-half made lifestyle changes and nearly two-thirds increased cancer screening, initiated chemoprevention, completed or planned to complete preventative surgery in the future. We conclude that this type of forum provides a valuable opportunity for BRCA carriers and their families to receive updated medical information, share personal experiences, provide and receive support, as well as change health behaviors.     

What matters most? The relative role of mentoring and career capital in career success

This study used a career capital framework to compare the relative role of mentoring and three other forms of career capital (human, agentic, and developmental network capital) in predicting career success. Using a three-wave longitudinal design we found that mentoring added value, above and beyond the other forms of career capital, in predicting promotions and advancement expectations. However, although mentoring mattered for career success, it represented just a part of a constellation of career resources that are embedded within individuals and their relationships. Implications for future research are discussed.     

Evaluating the invariance and validity of the structure of dysfunctional attitudes in an adolescent population

Form A of the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS-A), a self-report measure of depressive beliefs, is widely used to test Beck's cognitive model of depression. The present study is the first to evaluate the DAS-A factor structure in an adolescent population of 542 high school juniors and the first to examine a hierarchical model. Findings support the existence of a hierarchical structure consisting of two conceptually meaningful group factors (Dysfunctional Attitudes About Achievement and Dysfunctional Attitudes About Needing Approval), a method factor consisting of reverse-worded items, and a general factor, which accounts for 65% of the variance in total scores. The general factor is related to sociotropy, autonomy, and neuroticism, whereas the Dysfunctional Attitudes About Achievement and Dysfunctional Attitudes About Needing Approval factors demonstrate convergent and discriminant validity with respect to autonomy and sociotropy. The structure displays partial metric invariance in female and male students as well as in Caucasian and Non-Caucasian students.     

Frequency judgements: the problem of defining a perceptual event

In four experiments the conditions under which frequency judgments reflect the relative frequency of complex perceptual events were explored. Subjects viewed a series of 4 x 4 grids each containing seven items, which were letters and numbers in one of four typefaces. Later judgments of the relative frequency with which particular letters appeared in particular typefaces were unaffected by a warning about an upcoming frequency judgment task, but were affected by both the time available for processing the stimuli and the nature of the cover task subjects engaged in while viewing the grids. Frequency judgments were poor when exposure durations were less than 2 s and when the cover task directed subjects' attention merely to the locations of the items within the grids. Frequency judgments improved when the cover task directed subjects' attention to the identity of the stimuli, especially to the conjunction of letter and typeface. The results suggest that frequency estimation of complex stimuli may be possible only for stimuli that have been processed as phenomenal objects.     

A noninvasive method for delivering controlled doses of nicotine via cigarette smoke

A cigarette-smoke delivery system is described in which nicotine dosage was delimited by having the subject inhale a measured amount of smoke to a predetermined depth and duration of inhalation. A plastic syringe was used to “inject” a specified amount of cigarette smoke into the subject’s mouth, and an airbag containing 1 liter of air was used to provide a “chaser” with a fixed volume of inhalation for the smoke. Using plasma nicotine boost as an indicator, dose control was found to be nearly linear for the three dose levels employed; in the high-dose condition, plasma nicotine levels were moderately consistent within subjects over three successive administrations. Between-subject variability was considerably greater than within-subject variability, however, suggesting that each smoker obtained a characteristic nicotine boost that reflected individual differences in nicotine pharmacokinetics in addition to nicotine intake per se.     

Content validity: A neglected strategy for developing managerial selection tests?

There is a lack of quick, valid, and cost effective methods for selection of low-and mid-level managerial personnel. Using content-valid methods to develop managerial selection instruments may reap substantial benefits for applicants as well as for the organizations using such tools. To this end, based upon extensive job analysis, a content-valid managerial selection test was developed. Criterion-based validity collected on the new instrument suggested that an instrument developed using content-valid procedures can also show acceptable levels of criterion validity.