Self-Compassion and Predictors of Criminality

The main focus of this article is to conduct an exploratory investigation of self-compassion, a positive indicator of mental health, as a predictor of violence and criminality within a sample of prisoners. Correlation and regression analyses were used to explore the relationship that self-compassion has with self-control, self-esteem, and social connectedness. Associations between self-compassion and the subscales of self-control were also examined. Results from both correlational analysis and regression indicate that self-compassion is correlated with all 3 variables. Correlations revealed that self-compassion was related to all 6 subscales of self-control. Regression, however, revealed that impulsivity was the only predictor of self-compassion. Further analysis revealed problems with multicollinearity. Implications and limitations of these results are discussed.     

Bringing Psychological Safety to the Field of Human Development: An Introduction

Human development is characterized by individual agency to create change, to a greater or lesser extent depending on contextual circumstances. This special issue focuses on psychological safety as a construct that may help developmentalists understand the way that individual and contextual factors come together to limit or support agency to shape one’s development. This introduction to the issue on psychological safety frames this construct and the included articles through the lens of relational developmental systems theory. Specifically, authors explore psychological safety as a construct at the intersection of individual context. They use multiple methods and draw across disciplines to explore psychological safety in adolescence, during the transition to parenthood, in the workplace, and at the organizational level. Overall, findings suggest that additional research and practical focus on psychological safety may increase the likelihood that individuals may enact their agency to engage in opportunities and experiences that support human development.     

Differential effects of assisted cycling therapy on short-term and working memory of adolescents with Down syndrome

Persons with Down syndrome (DS) suffer from prefrontal cortex dysfunction and deficits in executive functions. The current study examined the effects assisted cycling therapy (ACT) on short-term (STM) and working memory (WM) in adolescents with DS. During ACT, the cadence of participants on a stationary bicycle was augmented with an electrical motor to 180% of the voluntary cadence. Participants completed eight weeks of ACT (n?=?17), eight weeks of voluntary cycling (VC) at their own preferred cadence (n?=?16), or eight weeks of no cycling (np?≥?.149) and working memory improved only in the ACT group (Hedge’s g?=?1.66; p?=?.003). The results indicate that assisted high-cadence cycling (i.e. ACT) produces superior neural benefits in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex compared to VC.     

Multicultural Counseling Competencies: An Exploratory Factor Analysis

The author examined the underlying factors of the Association of Multicultural Counseling and Development's (AMCD) Multicultural Competencies. One hundred fifty‐one professional counselors who are members of the American Counseling Association responded to a survey that included items reflecting AMCD's multicultural competencies and Explanatory Statements. An exploratory factor analysis revealed 5 multicultural competencies factors: Awareness, Knowledge, Definitions of Terms, Racial Identity Development, and Skills.     

Comparison and Analysis of Selected English Interpretations of the Tao Te Ching

In the last 150 years, the ambiguous and enigmatic 81 chapters of the Tao Te Ching have been translated, interpreted and adapted into the English language more than 100 times. The Tao and its subtle philosophy is currently being actively assimilated into mainstream western culture as evidenced by the popularity and volume of Taoist works. The purpose of this study was to analyse this phenomenon. First, a database of English translations of the Tao Te Ching was established. This database documents the vast number of Tao Te Ching translations in print from 1868 to the present. Second, specific chapters of selected English translations of the Tao Te Ching were compared using holistic and content analysis. The holistic methods focused on the overall semantic connotation of the selected chapters. The specific (linguistic) analysis methods entailed the use of a computerised content analysis program (hyperRESEARCH for Macintosh). Through these inquiries, a specific understanding of the cross-cultural relationship between East and West was investigated.     

Do older individuals have difficulty processing motion or excluding noise? Implications for safe driving

This study aimed to determine if difficulties extracting signal from noise explained poorer coherent motion thresholds in older individuals, particularly women. In four experimental conditions the contrast of the signal and noise dots used in a random dot kinematogram was manipulated. Coherence thresholds were highest when the signal dots were of a lower contrast than the noise dots and lowest when the signal dots were of a higher contrast than the noise dots. In all conditions the older group had higher coherence thresholds than the younger group, and women had higher thresholds than men. Significant correlations were found between coherence thresholds and self-reported driving difficulties in conditions in which the signal dots had to be extracted from noise only. The results indicate that older individuals have difficulties extracting signal from noise in cluttered visual environments. The implications for safe driving are discussed.     

The Role of Perspective Taking and Empathy in Children's Machiavellianism,Prosocial Behavior,and Motive for Helping

Fourth- and fifth-grade children (N = 117) were categorized into high- and low-empathy and affective-perspective-taking (APT) groups based on their scores on the Bryant (1982) empathy scale and a modified version of the Rothenberg (1970) and Silvern, Waterman, Sobesky, and Ryan (1979) APT measures. Children in the low-empathy/high-APT group had significantly higher Machiavellianism scores on Braginsky's (1970) measure than did children in the other empathy/APT groups. Highly empathic children were rated by their teachers as more helpful under certain circumstances and cited other-oriented reasons for their own helping behavior more frequently than did less empathic children.     

When Beliefs Lead to (Im)Moral Action: How Believing in Torture's Effectiveness Shapes the Endorsement of Its Use

Does believing in torture's effectiveness shape the endorsements of its use? Using a multimethod approach across six studies, we provide converging evidence that efficacy beliefs can help increase understanding of individual differences and situational influences on torture support. Studies 1a and 1b found that torture opinions contained more efficacy‐based language than other types of harm and that people relied more on torture efficacy than torture's inherent morality when conveying their views. Study 2 assessed predictors of torture favorability including effectiveness and other key covariates, revealing that efficacy beliefs strongly predicted torture favorability—an association that retained its predictive validity above and beyond individual differences known to influence torture support. Mediation analyses further showed that efficacy beliefs explained key associations with torture support. Studies 3 and 4 used moral dilemmas requiring decisions about torture versus other harm. Results showed that individuals who believed harm would be effective were more likely to endorse its use; this was especially evident for torture judgments. Study 5 replicated the torture‐efficacy effect while also revealing efficacy effects for other interrogation techniques, thus suggesting the effect is driven more by the instrumental objective of torture than harm or moral violations. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.