Reauthoring One's Own Life in the Face of Being HIV+: Promoting Healthier Narratives with Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy

We describe here a narrative-based psychotherapy for a woman in her 40s who had been HIV+ since the age of 21 and who suffered from posttraumatic symptoms related to having received the diagnosis. She had also suffered from self-stigma and had lost the capacity to envision a future filled with hope. Treating individuals with HIV who face posttraumatic symptoms and stigma can be challenging for the clinician. A narrative approach to therapy can be helpful for these persons, in order to overcome symptoms, build a more benevolent self-image, feel accepted by society, and promote posttraumatic growth. Current evidence indicates that such an approach is mostly lacking. We describe how we applied metacognitive interpersonal therapy—an approach rooted in narrative constructivism. By using this treatment, the patient could overcome posttraumatic symptoms, participate in social activities after years of avoidance and isolation, and recover her sense of being a person able to make plans for the future with strength and dignity. Discussion includes ideas of how to generalize some of the mechanisms that have likely been effective in this therapy to other individuals with HIV.     

Religion and the Catholic Church’s View on (Heart) Transplantation: A Recent Statement of Pope Benedict XVI and its Practical Impact

Heart transplantation is performed on approximately 4,000 patients per year worldwide and is considered the last resort for treatment of end-stage heart diseases. Due to persistent organ shortage, resources are limited, waiting periods are extensive, and patients still die while being on a waiting list for transplantation. The role of all churches and the support of the representatives of the churches are critical for the spiritual wellbeing of patients awaiting heart transplantation as well as for prospective individual organ donors and their families. The supportive role of the Roman Catholic Church and the recent statement of Pope Benedict XVI on organ donation are discussed.     

Developmental and dyadic perspectives on commitment in adult romantic relationships

We tested hypotheses concerning the developmental roots of becoming the "weak-link" (less committed) partner in adult romantic relationships and the associations between partners' absolute and relative levels of commitment and dyadic outcomes. We examined 78 target 20- to 21-year-olds who were involved in a romantic relationship and who had been studied since birth. As predicted, people who received lower-quality support from caregivers in toddlerhood or who were less able to resolve conflicts with a best friend in midadolescence were more likely to become the weak-link partner in a romantic relationship at age 20 to 21. Furthermore, lower commitment on the part of the weak-link partner coupled with greater discrepancy in commitment between partners predicted a greater likelihood that the couple would display hostility (rated by observers) during a videotaped conflict-resolution task when they were 20 to 21 years old. These findings are discussed from developmental and dyadic perspectives.     

The Impact of Early Interpersonal Experience on Adult Romantic Relationship Functioning: Recent Findings from the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation

Adopting an organizational view on social development, we have investigated how interpersonal experiences early in life prospectively predict how well individuals resolve relationship conflicts, recover from conflicts, and have stable, satisfying relationships with their romantic partners in early adulthood. We have also identified specific intervening interpersonal experiences during middle childhood and adolescence that mediate the connection between how individuals regulated their emotions with their parents very early in life and as young adults in their romantic relationships. We discuss the many advantages of adopting an organizational view on social development.     

Gender in the Gym: Evaluation Concerns as Barriers to Women’s Weight Lifting

Four studies examined why women appear to be less likely than men to lift weights, despite the documented health benefits. An archival analysis (“Study 1”) pointed to a cultural dissociation between women and strength-related exercise goals. Furthermore, a study of women in a university in the mid-Atlantic United States who envisioned lifting weights in public expressed greater evaluation concerns than those who envisioned doing aerobic exercise (“Study 2”); moreover, greater evaluation concerns seemed to deter them from weight lifting. These findings helped to shed light upon gender-differentiated patterns of gym equipment use (“Study 3a”) and reports of psychological discomfort in gyms (“Study 3b”). This work begins to illuminate the sociocultural context of women’s avoidance of certain types of exercise.     

Correspondence of children's anticipated vocations, perceived competencies, and interests: Results from an Italian sample

Relations among anticipated vocations, self-assessments of competence, and interests in sample of 190 Italian children were examined. Children were asked what activities they liked, those they thought they were good at, and what job they expected when they grew up. The responses were coded into RIASEC Holland codes and agreement across the three questions was examined using kappa statistics. Results indicated that there was no relation between anticipated occupations and either interest or perceived competence. Thus, these anticipated occupations appear to be based on unrealistic criteria and the validity of studying such early expressions of interest is questionable. Conversely, results demonstrated a correspondence between interest and competence and this correspondence was similar for boys and girls and increased with age.     

The identity of Brexit: A cultural psychology analysis

In this paper, we propose a culturalist interpretation of the outcome of the Brexit referendum. This interpretation is grounded on the analysis of the U.K.'s cultural milieu, which is part of a more general study of the cultural milieus of several European countries. Specific to the United Kingdom, our analysis is based on a questionnaire carried out on a representative sample of U.K. respondents stratified by sociodemographic variables and geographic region (NUTS1). Responses to the questionnaire were subjected to multidimensional analysis—a combination of multiple correspondence analysis and cluster analysis. Findings about the multicountry analysis show how cultural milieus are characterized by five basic, embodied, affect‐laden, generalized worldviews (defined as “Symbolic Universes”). Four out of five symbolic universes consist of a way of interpreting reality by a specific anchorage (i.e., the ethical norm, the institutional order, the emotional experience interpersonal bond, and the belongingness). One symbolic universe can be viewed as the anomic reaction to the failure of those anchorages. Focusing on Brexit, by means of a discriminant analysis, it is showed how the incidence of the symbolic universes (and of the underpinning basic dimensions of meaning within the 12 U.K. macroregions') enables to identify differentially the macroregions with high proportion of “leave” at the Brexit referendum against those with low proportion. More specifically, the high “leave” macroregion are characterized by higher relevance of cultural forms anchored on local identity/belongingness. Findings are discussed within the wider aims of the project and its implications for a cultural psychology informed policymaking.     

Measuring generalised expectancies for negative mood regulation in China: The Chinese language Negative Mood Regulation scale

Negative mood regulation expectancies (NMRE) represent people's confidence that they can alleviate their negative affect or induce a positive emotional state through thought or action. NMRE predict coping behaviour and mood outcomes for individuals under stress. Since 1990, much research documents the reliability and validity of the English language Negative Mood Regulation (NMR) scale as a measure of NMRE. The current research reports two studies developing a Chinese language translation of the NMR (NMR‐C) scale that goes beyond literal translation to be a culturally sensitive measure of NMRE in China. In Study 1, 713 college students from both a major city and a rural setting in China were surveyed. Data support the resulting 32‐item NMR‐C's reliability (alpha = .88) and validity. The NMR‐C showed both direct and indirect links to depression and anxiety; coping mediated the indirect effect. In Study 2, 331 prison police officers in three Chinese provinces participated. NMRE buffered the effect of high role pressure, moderating the relationship between prison police role stress and job engagement. Results of the two studies support the reliability and validity of the Chinese language NMR scale and parallel results found with measures of NMRE in the West and in other Asian countries.     

Social buffering in rats: prolactin attenuation of active interaction

Stress may result when the present environment is interpreted as threatening, and stress is known to increase the prolactin-secretory response. In the present study, rats (N=83) were exposed to a conditioned-fear paradigm (environment paired with footshock), and on testing day, rats were exposed to the experimental chamber without shock while alone (Alone n=16), with an object (Object n=17), with a euthanized conspecific (Euthanized n=16), or with a social partner (Social n=19). The control group (Control n=15) was exposed to the experimental chamber but was never shocked. The Control group had significantly lower levels of prolactin than the Alone, Object, and Euthanized groups; however, the Control group's levels of prolactin were not significantly different than that of the Social group, which was significantly lower than that for the Alone group. Social interaction decreased fear independent of the distraction provided by a stimulus in the chamber. Active touch appeared to be crucial for social buffering to occur.