The influence of gender‐stereotyped perfumes on leadership attribution

The classification of perfumes as ‘women's’ and ‘men's’ fragrances is based on certain gender stereotypes. In two experiments, female and male participants were asked to assume the role of a manager. In Experiment 1, they read an application for the position of a junior manager written by a male or female job applicant. Application papers were prepared with a typically masculine perfume, a typically feminine perfume or no perfume at all (control group). In Experiment 2, participants conducted a job interview with a female or male applicant (a confederate) who had applied the respective perfume or no perfume. Persons with a typically masculine perfume were ‘employed’ with a higher degree of certainty compared to persons with a typically feminine perfume. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Testimony work with Bosnian refugees: living in legal limbo

Mental health professionals working with refugees are often confronted with traumatised survivors who are living in legal limbo. Complicated asylum procedures or provisions of only 'temporary' protection trigger existential fears, reexperiencing of trauma and feelings of hopelessness and deep despair and can actively contribute to further destabilise survivors. Mental health centres have to reconceptualise their provided services for these clients. The paper introduces a testimony project for traumatised Bosnian refugees in Frankfurt, Germany, who were living in legal limbo for many years. The testimony method was used in combination with supportive therapy and informed advocacy to try to reduce the survivors' feelings of humiliation and demoralisation which for them were at the centre of their survival. By giving testimony, survivors benefited psychologically and became better able to cope with the difficult present. Feelings of self-worth and dignity could be regained and a trusting relationship between the survivor and the listener facilitated the therapeutic process. The testimony material documented human rights abuses both in the country of origin and in exile, helped us to perform informed advocacy for this group and informed a larger public on the psychological costs of refugee resettlement policies.     

The Use of the Devereux Scales of Mental Disorders in the Assessment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Conduct Disorder

The present study was designed to gather validity data on the Devereux Scales of Mental Disorders (DSMD) for distinguishing among children and adolescents with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD; N = 32), Conduct Disorder (CD; N = 34), or no clinical diagnosis (NC; N = 65). Three types of indicators were compared: (a) DSMD scale, composite, and total scores, (b) the number of ADHD or CD-related items endorsed, and (c) diagnostic efficiency statistics (e.g., sensitivity, positive and negative predictive power). The clinical groups did not differ significantly from each other, but both were significantly higher than the NC group on all DSMD scales. Moreover, there were significant differences between the ADHD and the CD groups on the number of respective ADHD and CD-related items endorsed. A cut-off of seven to eight items yielded the best discrimination between the two diagnostic groups. Diagnostic efficiency statistics indicate that the DSMD may be effective at differentiating between similar disruptive behavior disorders.     

Perceived teasing experiences in body dysmorphic disorder

Individuals with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) are excessively concerned about imagined or slight defects in their appearance (e.g., asymmetrical facial features). Cognitive-behavioral models of BDD propose that several factors, including dysfunctional appearance-related beliefs and life experiences, such as teasing, contribute to the avoidance behaviors or rituals (e.g., mirror checking, grooming) characteristic of BDD. Previous research has demonstrated an association between perceived teasing and body dissatisfaction. In the current study, we examined whether individuals with BDD (n = 16) report to have been teased more often than do mentally healthy controls (n = 17). The group comprising individuals with BDD reported more appearance- and competency-related teasing than did control participants. This study provides preliminary evidence for the association between perceived teasing and BDD.     

Development of temporal patterning and vocal hesitations in spontaneous narratives

Narratives were told aloud by 12 boys and 12 girls at each of seven age levels in response to nine cartoon pictures. Speech rate increased with age, due to corresponding decreases in both legnth and frequency of unfilled pauses (UPs), although the two measures were themselves uncorrelated. Parenthetical remarks (PRs) increased with age, while repeats (Rs) decreased. Location of UPs (81% before function words) was stable over age levels. Comparisons with other experiments are made. Interrelationships of speaking and thinking are discussed in terms of the cognitive and linguistic functions of length and frequency of UPs, respectively. Theories that neglect multiple psychological determinants of speech behavior and/or concentrate on only one level or unit of encoding are rejected as inadequate.     

The influence of verbal specifications on ratings of relative properties of pictures

Summary Sixty subjects were shown pictures each containing two objects (A and B). The objects were unobtrusive with respect to relative properties such as long — short, big — small, etc. The pictures were preceded by sentences referring either to objects A and B or only to object A. Object A was dimensionally specified: The same object was called, e.g., long for one and short for a different subject. Ratings during a later test (without presentation of the pictures) revealed that not only were objects A remembered according to the verbal specification provided during the presentation but ratings of objects B also changed in line with the specification of A. This was true even when object B had not been mentioned verbally during the presentation. In this way, verbal specifications had an effect beyond the referential bond. It is concluded that models based on the assumption that the semantic interpretation of an event depends on the application of syntactic rules — rules indicating, e.g., to which object an adjective refers — lack an important clue.     

When Fluency Signals Truth: Prior Successful Reliance on Fluency Moderates the Impact of Fluency on Truth Judgments

Repeated statements are more frequently judged to be true. One position relates this so‐called “truth effect” to metacognitive experiences of fluency, suggesting that repeated statements are more frequently judged to be true because they are processed more fluently. Although most prior research focused on why repetition influences truth judgments, considerably less is known about when fluency is used as information. The present research addresses this question and investigates whether reliance on fluency is moderated by learning experiences. Specifically, we focus on changes in the reliance on fluency over the course of time. A series of experiments reveals that fluency is more likely to be used in truth judgments when previous reliance on fluency has resulted in valid judgments, compared with when previous reliance on fluency was misleading. These findings suggest that reliance on fluency in judgments is a finely tuned process that takes prior experiences with fluency‐based judgments into account. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Was It One of Us? How People Cope with Misconduct by Fellow Ingroup Members

How do group members cope with misconduct by members of their own group? Strong evidence for a positive bias in people's evaluations of their own group and its members suggests that an ingroup perpetrator is likely to be treated more leniently than an outgroup perpetrator. However, research has also demonstrated a “Black Sheep‐Effect”, such that ingroup members who deviate negatively from relevant ingroup norms are evaluated and punished even more harshly than outgroup deviants. Both reactions – positive ingroup bias and the Black Sheep Effect – may serve the same goal, namely maintaining positive regard for the ingroup. In this paper, we present several moderators that have been shown to affect responses to negative ingroup deviance. We propose a model that incorporates and organizes these moderators in order to predict whether negatively deviant ingroup members will receive especially lenient or rather harsh and negative evaluations from their fellow ingroup members.