Covert communication in classrooms,clinics, courtrooms,and cubicles

Interpersonal expectancy effects refer to the phenomena whereby one person's expectation for another person's behavior comes to serve as a self-fulfilling prophecy. The author examines the history and diversity of this area of inquiry, showing that the expectations of psychological researchers, classroom teachers, judges in the courtroom, business executives, and health care providers can unintentionally affect the responses of their research participants, pupils, jurors, employees, and patients. Using meta-analytic procedures, the author examines (a) moderator variables associated with the magnitude of interpersonal expectancy effects and (b) mediator variables implicated in the communication of interpersonal expectations. The author considers the social importance of the magnitudes of the obtained effects and points out research still needed to clarify issues in the mediation of these effects.     

Exposure to community violence and trauma symptoms in late adolescence: comparison of a college sample and a noncollege community sample

This paper presents a comparison for two samples (college and noncollege) of older, urban African-American adolescents of correlations between two measures of exposure to community violence (victim and witness) and four types of psychological trauma symptoms (anger, anxiety, depression, and dissociation). The central issue is the generalizability of previous findings about these relationships obtained from beginning college students of traditional age. The two samples did not differ in the magnitude of either the zero-order correlations or the multiple correlations between the two types of exposure to community violence and the four types of symptoms of trauma. The conclusion is that findings regarding the relationship of exposure to community violence with psychological symptoms of trauma obtained from college students may tentatively be generalized to older adolescents who are not in college.     

Discrimination,Internalized Homonegativity,and Attitudes Toward Children of Same‐Sex Parents: Can Secure Attachment Buffer Against Stigma Internalization?

With increasing numbers of same‐sex couples raising children in the United States, discriminatory attitudes toward children of same‐sex parents (ACSSP) are of increasing concern. As with other forms of stigma and discrimination, lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals are at risk for internalizing these societal attitudes, which can negatively affect parenting‐related decisions and behaviors and the mental and physical health of their children. Secure attachment is characterized by positive views of the self as loveable and worthy of care that are understood to develop in early relationships with caregivers. Secure attachment has been associated with positive mental and physical health, including among LGB individuals and couples. This study aimed to test the potential buffering role of secure attachment against stigma internalization by examining associations among secure attachment, discrimination, internalized homonegativity (IH), and ACSSP in an online survey study of 209 U.S. adults in same‐sex relationships. Bootstrap analyses supported our hypothesized moderated mediation model, with secure attachment being a buffer. Greater discrimination was indirectly associated with more negative ACSSP through greater IH for individuals with mean or lower levels, but not for individuals with higher than average levels of secure attachment, specifically because among those with higher levels of secure attachment, discrimination was not associated with IH. These findings build on and extend past research, with important implications for future research and clinical work with LGB individuals, same‐sex couples, and their families, including potential implementation of interventions targeting attachment security.     

Leisure interest patterns and subjective stress in college students

A first study of the Leisure Interests Checklist (LIC) is reported based on a large (N = 670) normative sample of college students. Acceptable reliability was found on the total interest scores, and on both rationally- and factorially-derived LIC subscales. The BAROMAS stress scales were also studied concurrently with the same college students, and normative data are provided from that sample. Interest in very active diversions and Sports on the LIC did correlate with confidence in doing sports on the BAROMAS. Otherwise, the two instruments showed little overlap. Comparisons between ethnic and gender groupings mainly agreed with advance expectations by disclosing culturally conventional differences in response patterns. The LIC appears promising for future use in both applied and research contexts.     

Case report: Behavioral treatment of clinical abulia

Overemphasis of only conditioning factors in behavior modification may narrow treatment applicability. A case of severe dysphoria and restriction in living, which had resisted conventional psychoand chemo-therapies, is presented. Successful treatment was accomplished by broad-spectrum methods combining social-influence, cognitive restructuring, and specific goal-setting with counter-conditioning procedures. A strategy for intervention in self-perpetuating vicious cycles is exemplified, and non-learning aspects of behavior modification techniques are discussed.