Perfectionism, beliefs, and adjustment in dating relationships

Two studies examined the extent to which dimensions of perfectionism are associated with indices of relationship beliefs, behaviors, and dyadic adjustment. In Study 1, 69 students in dating relationships completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS) and a multidimensional measure of relationship beliefs. In addition, partici-pants completed self-report measures of positive and negative relationship behaviors, and global measures of liking and loving. In Study 2, 91 students in dating relation-ships completed a battery of measures including the MPS and scales assessing perfec-tionism cognitions and perfectionistic self presentation. They also completed mea-sures of dyadic adjustment and limerence (i.e., intense, obsessive low with fears of rejection). Collectively, the findings indicated that individuals with high levels of self-oriented perfectionism and other-oriented perfectionism have stronger relationship beliefs in the areas of communication, trust, and support, suggesting that these perfec-tionists have high relationship standards in these particular areas. Although social prescribed perfectionism had little association with specific relationship beliefs, so-cially prescribed perfectionism was associated with a tendency to display destructive relationship responses (i.e., exit, neglect, and insensitivity), lower dyadic adjustment, and various aspects of limerence, including obsessive preoccupations and emotional dependence on the dating partner. Perfectionistic self-presentation and perfectionism cognitions were also linked with aspects of limerence. The results suggest that inter-personal aspects of perfectionism are associated with self-defeating tendencies in dating relationships. This research was supported, in part, by grant #410-93-1256 from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada awarded to the authors. The authors wish to thank Lisa Davidson for her assistance with the data analyses in Study 1. Requests for reprints should be addressed to Gordon L. Flett, Department of Psychology, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M3J 1P3.     

Changes in health-promoting behavior following diagnosis with HIV: prevalence and correlates in a national probability sample.

Diet, exercise, smoking, and substance use patterns affect the course of illness and quality of life for people with HIV. In interviews with a national probability sample of 2,864 persons receiving HIV care, it was found that most had made health-promoting changes in one or more of these behaviors since diagnosis. Many reported increased physical activity (43%) and improved diet (59%). Forty-nine percent of cigarette smokers quit or cut down; 80% of substance users did so. Desire for involvement in one's HIV care and information seeking-positive coping were the most consistent correlates of change. Other correlates varied by health practice but included health status, emotional well-being, demographics, and attitudes toward other aspects of HIV care. Most people with HIV improve their health behavior following diagnosis, but more might be helped to do so by targeting these behaviors in future interventions.     

Ejaculate disruption in two species of voles (Microtus): on the PEI matching law.

We permitted male prairie and montane voles (Microtus ochrogaster and M. montanus) five thrusts, without ejaculation, with a female at variable times after a 1st male ejaculated. In both prairie and montane voles, there were fewer sperm, in relation to control conditions, in the female's tract 1 hr after ejaculation if the female received thrusts immediately or 15 min after the ejaculate. There was no such effect after a 50-min delay. There was no significant decrease in litter production in prairie voles caused by thrusts delivered either immediately or after a 15-min delay. Sperm transport in these species is susceptible to disruption for a longer period than in deer mice or rats. The proposal that the postejaculatory interval protects a male from disrupting its own sperm transport (the PEI matching law) appears not to hold for these species.     

Developmental issues in psychotherapy research

Research on psychosocial interventions with children requires attention to developmental principles such as age-specific competence, maturational shifts, increasing cone of relevant contacts, and socioeconomic context of biological stages. Research strategies that include such variables should lead to ecologically sound investigations and the correct selection of outcome variables. A consideration of the specificity of treatment and controlled design alone are not sufficient to guide the study of the psychological treatment of developing organisms and persons.     

Differences in affiliative behavior, pair bonding, and vaginal cytology in two species of vole (Microtus ochrogaster and M. montanus)

Prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) and montane voles (M. montanus) display marked differences in social organization in the field. Trios of 1 male and 2 females were studied in a large enclosure for a 10-day period. Prairie voles spent 59% of the observation time in side-by-side contact, whereas montane voles spent only 7% of the time in contact. Vaginal smears indicated female-female suppression of estrus in prairie voles; female montane voles appeared to cycle in the presence of males. Male prairie voles preferentially paired and nested with 1 of the females, and vaginal estrus generally followed pair formation by 2 days. Male montane voles did not spend time preferentially with either female, even after mating. These results suggest that the contrasting mating systems of these species result from differences in the propensity for affiliative behavior and social bonding rather than from mate availability or female receptivity.     

The relaxation word of the day: A simple technique to measure adherence to relaxation

A new procedure of assessing adherence to home practice of relaxation is presented. The technique involved the subject identifying one of four possible relaxation words of the day at the end of a taped relaxation session. The method was employed to assess the relationship between adherence to relaxation and decline of blood pressure during a 10-session/8-week relaxation program involving 17 hypertensive subjects. No statistically significant relationship was found on either a short-term or a long-term basis. An advantage of the assessment technique is that it appears easily integrated into the overall therapeutic objective for relaxation therapy; a disadvantage is that the subject needs to comply not only with the relaxation schedule but also with the monitoring procedure.This research study was funded by NIH Grant HL27159.     

Effects of arousal on human visual dominance

Human attention research has found that vision controls attention when competing against other sensory modalities, for example, audition, proprioception, taction. Similarly, animal learning experiments have demonstrated visual attentional control when animals are positively motivated but auditory control when aversively motivated. The experiments with animals suggest a way of attenuating visual dominance in humans. Three experiments using human subjects explored the degree of visual versus auditory control exhibited in the presence of different arousal states. In Experiments 1 and 2, an electric shock and a threat of electric shock, respectively, to the subject’s finger resulted in auditory attentional control In Experiment 3, a tactile stimulus resulted in attenuated visual control. The results of these experiments are discussed in relation to the evolutionary advantage conferred by such attentional strategies.     

Food-reinforced inhibition of conditioned salivation in dogs.

Twelve dogs salivated to a tone that was followed by food, but not to a noise for which there was an added response dependency. The noise was followed by food if and only if they did not salivate. The addition of this response dependency vitiated the classically conditioned response to the noise. A yoked-control group of 6 dogs receiving the same sequences of stimuli and food salivated to both the tone and noise stimuli.