When rejection stings: how self-esteem constrains relationship-enhancement processes

Three experiments examined how needs for acceptance might constrain low versus high self-esteem people's capacity to protect their relationships in the face of difficulties. The authors led participants to believe that their partner perceived a problem in their relationship. They then measured perceptions of the partner's acceptance, partner enhancement, and closeness. Low but not high self-esteem participants read too much into problems, seeing them as a sign that their partner's affections and commitment might be waning. They then derogated their partner and reduced closeness. Being less sensitive to rejection, however, high self-esteem participants affirmed their partner in the face of threat. Ironically, chronic needs for acceptance may result in low self-esteem people seeing signs of rejection where none exist, needlessly weakening attachments.     

When Me versus You Becomes Us versus Them: How Intergroup Competition Shapes Ingroup Psychology

Throughout evolutionary history, intergroup competition has been an influential part of social life. Although the topic has received substantial empirical attention among social psychologists, the majority of that work has focused on how ingroup and outgroup members regard one another. Only recently have researchers begun examining how intergroup rivalry changes that way that ingroup members perceive and relate to one another. New findings suggest that a variety of within‐group processes are influenced by the presence of a rival outgroup. In general, altruistic cooperation and prosocial motives increase among ingroup members when their group competes against another. The relationship between leaders and followers also shifts in response to intergroup rivalry: rather than wielding their power for selfish purposes, leaders prioritize the needs of their group. On the flip side, followers’ choice of leader changes, preferring males during times of intergroup competition but females in the absence of competition. Given the substantial impact of intergroup competition on ingroup processes, future research should continue to deepen the field’s knowledge of this topic. Additionally, the scope of research should be broadened to capture the effect of intergroup competition on ingroup dynamics, such as performance and group outcomes.     

A Gender Analysis of Theories of Coping with Stress

In this article, various feminist theories are used to critique selected psychological theories of coping with stress, a reformulated coping theory is outlined, and recommendations for future research are made. To date, theories of coping often portray women as less able copers than the samples of men with whom they are compared. A reformulated theory, based on different women's experiences, explicitly examines the role of social forces (sexism, racism) and access to power as variables in the coping process rather than solely focusing on the individual. Selected examples of research that contribute to such a revision are given. Revised theories and methodologies will encourage the more accurate appraisal of women's coping abilities and generate information vital to the creation of more inclusive and representative theories of coping.     

Frequency ratios and the discrimination of pure tone sequences

We examined the effect of frequency ratios on the discrimination of patterns of alternating pure tones (ABABA). Listeners heard a repeating pattern presented in transposition (same frequency ratios between successive tones, different absolute frequencies) and were required to indicate when the pattern changed (different frequency ratios and absolute frequencies). Changes from patterns with simple frequency ratios to those with more complex ratios were more readily detected than were changes from complex ratios to simpler ratios.     

Gender Differences in Experiences with Couples Treatment for IPV

Evidence suggests that conjoint treatment can be effective for certain violent couples in certain situations (Finkel in Rev Gen Psychol 11:193–207, 2007; LaTaillade et al. in J Cogn Psychother 20:393–410, 2006; Fals-Stewart et al. in J Consult Clin Psych 73:239–248, 2005; Stith et al. in J Marital Fam Ther 29(3):407–426, 2003). However, not as much is known about which aspects of conjoint treatment make a difference, nor if male and female participants experience these elements of treatment differently. Knowing which components of couples’ treatment clients perceive as helpful—and whether their perceptions differ by gender—will allow us to redefine models with an eye toward making them more effective. In this study we used qualitative methods to examine the aspects of a particular couples’ treatment program (Stith and McCollum in Aggress Violent Beh 16(4):312–318, 2011) that clients found useful while also considering the differences between men’s and women’s responses. Fourteen couples, in which the male had been identified as the primary aggressor, were interviewed multiple times to gain their perspectives about components of the program they found helpful and their suggestions for program improvement. Themes are analyzed by gender. Implications for treatment and future research are provided.     

Simulation of Preference Information in an Interactive Reference Point‐Based Method for the Bi‐Objective Inventory Routing Problem

In the research area of multiple criteria decision making, very few publications exist that explicitly design the simulation of a decision maker (DM) in an interactive approach. For this reason, we outline some methods widely used in the literature to identify common assumptions of simulating the DM's responses and the required input preference information. Our paper aims at covering the identified gap by introducing experimental concepts. Such concepts are used for theoretical analyses of a combined search‐and‐decision‐making procedure. Simulating the DM is a fruitful idea because the algorithm can be tested without integrating a human decision maker. Finally, we conduct experiments based on the proposed settings for a multiobjective inventory routing problem, which is a relevant and challenging logistic problem. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

African American women's sexual satisfaction as a dimension of their sex roles

African American women's sexual satisfaction in heterosexual relationships was examined as a dimension of their sex roles. Responses to questions about sexual behaviors and interactions they preferred in primary relationships were selected from a larger study of a stratified random sample of 126 African American women. Three factors were identified: sexual responsiveness, sexual expression, and sexual interest and enthusiasm. The factors are described as profiles that may enhance or limit women's male-female sexual relationships. The implications of African American women's sexual satisfaction as an important dimension to understand in today's AIDS related sexual climate is discussed within a socio-cultural context.A modified version of this paper was presented at the American Anthropological Association, November 1987, Chicago, Illinois. The research was funded by The Center for Prevention and Control of Rape, NIMH Grant, R01 MH33603 and through a Research Scientist Career Development Award to the first author, K01 MH00269.     

Predictors of Secondary School Completion Among Refugee Youth 8 to 9 Years After Resettlement in Melbourne,Australia

Being able to attend school and achieve an education is one of the most desired opportunities among resettled refugee young people. However, turning educational aspirations into reality is not straightforward. There is a large body of research documenting the barriers associated with educational achievement among refugees who resettle as teenagers, both in Australia and internationally. No studies, however, have identified the factors that predict completion of secondary school among resettled refugee youth over time. This paper reports the predictors of completion of secondary school among a cohort of 47 refugee youth resettled in Melbourne, Australia. Eight to 9 years after resettlement, 29 (62 %) had completed secondary school and 18 (38 %) had left school prior to completing year 12. Age on arrival and experiences of discrimination in Australia were significant predictors of secondary school completion. Older refugee youth (on arrival) and those who reported experiences of discrimination over the first 8 to 9 years in Australia were significantly less likely to complete secondary school. This longitudinal study confirms that, as a group, refugee youth are particularly at risk of not completing secondary school education, which can have an impact on their wellbeing and long-term socio-economic standing in their settlement country. Our study provides further evidence of the negative impact of discrimination on the educational outcomes of disadvantaged young people.     

Stocks and losses, items and interference: A reply to Oberauer and Süß (2000)

Results of a recent study of spatial working memory are presented in support of the claim by Jenkins and her colleagues (Jenkins, Myerson, Hale, &; Fry, 1999) that secondary tasks produce larger interference effects in individuals with higher simple spans than in individuals with lower simple spans. Because spans and interference effects were assessed independently, this study refutes the claim by Oberauer and Süß (2000) that the relation between span and interference effect size is merely an artifact of regression to the mean. In contrast with the present findings, Oberauer and Süß did not find evidence of larger interference effects in higher span individuals, but the reason for this may be straightforward: The secondary tasks that they used did not produce significant interference. Recent findings by Logie and his colleagues indicate that phonological similarity and word length effects are larger in individuals with higher word spans (Logie, Della Sala, Laiacona, Chalmers, &; Wynn, 1996). These results, those of Jenkins, Myerson, et al. (1999), and the results reported here suggest that, across individuals, the absolute effect size for many manipulations that decrease memory span is an increasing function of simple span.