The role of importance/consequentiality appraisal in flashbulb memory formation: the case of the death of Pope John Paul II

This study investigates how flashbulb memories (FBMs) relative to the death of Pope John Paul II vary according to the persons' evaluation of the event's importance and consequences. In particular, FBMs were investigated in persons who were expected to attribute different degrees of importance/consequentiality to the event as a function of two factors: (1) religious involvement, (2) nationality (Polish, Italian, Swiss). The comparison was made with respect to the following hypothesized determinants of FBMs: surprise, emotional reaction, rehearsal, event memory and especially the attitudes towards the Pope and the appraisal of the importance and the consequences of his death. Structural equation modelling indicates that importance/consequentiality is a fundamental determinant of FBM and is influenced by antecedent personal and social characteristics reflected in the person's attitudes. Moreover, memory consistency seems to be both directly influenced by emotional intensity and indirectly through rehearsal, whereas surprise seems not a critical determinant of FBM. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hausaufgaben in der Psychotherapie

Homework assignments represent a standard intervention in psychotherapy. Homework provides the unique opportunity to emphasize patients’ responsibility for therapeutic change and to intensify the therapeutic process. Despite these high potentials systematic homework assignment is still rare in practice. Psychotherapy research has just recently focused its attention on homework as an effective therapeutic method. Meanwhile the positive effects of homework use on therapeutic outcome have been demonstrated but little is known about therapeutic strategies to enhance these effects. The present article highlights the functions of homework within the therapeutic process and discusses its theoretical mechanisms of action. The article concludes with suggestions from both an empirical and practical point of view to further assist practitioners’ use of homework assignments.     

Aggressiveness and memory: subordinate crabs present higher memory ability than dominants after an agonistic experience

A relationship between aggressiveness and memory has been proposed in several studies with different animal species. Here, we study this possibility in the crab Chasmagnathus granulatus, using the context-signal memory model (CSM) that involves an association between the learning context and a visual danger stimulus. Each experiment consisted of an agonistic phase and a memory one. During the former, matched pairs of male crabs were staged in two 10-min encounters and the dominant or subordinate condition of each member of the dyad was determined. During the memory phase, crabs were trained to acquire CSM and tested 24 h later. Results showed that the agonistic encounter, staged 48 h before the acquisition of CSM, can modulate memory according to the dominance condition of the fighter; in such a way that memory retention of subordinates results higher than that of dominants. By contrast, when the memory phase preceded the agonist one, forthcoming dominants and subordinates did not differ in their memory ability. The memory modulation would not be linked to a dominance status but to a persistent dominance relationship fully reconstructed in each encounter between the same opponents. Therefore, the crab's CSM would not depend directly on predetermined intrinsic properties, but on the outcome of the fight, which would be determined in turn by the relative aggressiveness of the fighters. The finding that the agonistic episode modulates memory opens the possibility of using this episodic interference to probe the function of diverse phases of CSM.     

Attitudes and Beliefs About Suicidal Behavior When Coming Out Is the Precipitant of the Suicidal Behavior

Young persons who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) have higher rates of nonfatal suicidal behavior than their heterosexual peers. It has been suggested that suicidal behavior may be a painful but unavoidable rite of passage for LGB youths at the coming out stage. Could this mean that suicidal behavior is considered understandable and even permissible behavior for LGB youths at this stage? In this study we explored reactions to a suicidal decision when coming out was the precipitant of the suicidal act. Specifically, we compared attitudes toward a suicidal decision after coming out and being rejected by one's parents with attitudes toward a suicidal decision after experiencing other stressors (i.e., a physical illness, a relationship loss, or an academic failure). Contrary to expectation, the decision to engage in suicidal behavior following coming out was not viewed in relatively accepting terms. Rather, it was perceived as unsound and weak. As in previous studies, physical illness was singled out as a relatively understandable motivation for suicidal behavior. In addition, we found that androgynous persons viewed the suicidal decision as more unsound than other gender-identity types, independent of precipitant. Given similar evidence from other studies, future research might explore the role of androgyny in the protection against suicidal behavior.

     

Evidence of cross‐cultural invariance of the big five personality dimensions in work settings

This article explores the cross‐cultural invariance (construct validity) of two work‐related personality inventories based upon the Five Factor Model (the HPI and the IP/5F). The results show a good convergent and discriminant validity between scales that measure the Big Five personality dimensions. A factor analysis indicates that all personality scales load on the hypothesized Big Five dimensions. Some implications of these findings for the research and practice of personality measurement in personnel selection are discussed. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Introducing the Expectations and Preference Scales for Couple Therapy (EPSCT): Development,Psychometric Evaluation,and Suggested Use in Practice and Research

While it is known that client factors account for the largest proportion of outcome variance across treatment modalities, little is known about how clients’ characteristics affect the process and effectiveness of couple therapy. To further knowledge in this area, we created a brief, practice‐friendly measure, the Expectation and Preference Scales for Couple Therapy (EPSCT). Three self‐report scales assess clients’ Outcome expectations (e.g., I expect our relationship to improve as a result of couple therapy) and role expectations for Self (e.g., I expect to listen to my partner's concerns) and Partner (e.g., I expect my partner to blame me). Three Cognitive‐Behavioral, Emotionally Focused, and Family Systems preference scales use a forced‐choice format to measure the comparative strength of respondents’ preferences for interventions broadly reflective of each approach. A large item pool was developed from relevant literature and clinical experience and refined based on face and content analyses with two panels of experienced couple therapists and researchers. Across four studies with 1,175 participants, the scales’ internal consistency reliabilities were similar and their construct validity was supported with confirmatory factor analyses and significant correlations with several established measures, including expectation measures developed for individual psychotherapy and measures of attitudes toward professional help seeking and valuing personal growth. Across all studies, participants had stronger role expectations for themselves than their partners, although gender effects differed by sample. We discuss how to use the 15‐item EPSCT in clinical practice and in future research as a predictor of couple therapy processes and outcomes.     

The Relationship between Local Identification,Urban Disorder Sensitivity,and Prejudice Toward Immigrants: The Role of Autochthony

Autochthony is the belief that a place belongs to those who were born there and that they are more entitled. Autochthony and local identification can foster sensitivity to any source of disorder that threatens local stability. The aims of this study were to determine whether: (a) local identification is associated with a higher level of sensitivity to urban disorder and a higher level of prejudice toward immigrants; (b) higher city identifiers use autochthony (entitlement for first comers) as a justification for both of these attitudes. A self‐report questionnaire was administered to 254 adult residents of Turin, Italy. Local identification was found related to autochthony and to urban disorder sensitivity, autochthony was positively associated with both urban disorder sensitivity and prejudice toward immigrants and it mediated the relationship between local identification and prejudice.     

Decisions Under Temporal AND Emotional Pressure: The Hidden Relationships Between the Unconscious,Personality, and Cognitive Styles

The existence of an unaware psychic space that influences the way we think, perceive, and decide has been known for over a century. This space, defined by Freud as the “unconscious,” contains in itself unaware psychic contents. Its sophisticated adaptive functions, implicit and unaware, allow individuals to transform an enormous amount of information into explicit behaviors, influencing their behaviors. In this article, we advance the hypothesis that there is a strong relationship between the unconscious, personality styles, and decisions under conditions of temporal and emotional pressure. The fact that an increase in the quality of a performance follows an increase in excitation, at least up to a certain threshold, clarifies the concept. Beyond this level of activation, not only are the benefits starting to diminish, but we also notice the onset of dysfunctional conditions that consist of anxiety, inner tension, difficulty in concentration, and inability to decide.     

The subjective group dynamics in negative campaigns

I relied on the subjective group dynamics framework to analyse the derogation of inparty candidates involved in negative campaigns. In an experimental study (dynamic simulation of an electoral campaign, N = 118), I found that participants downgraded the inparty candidate (both in terms of evaluation and vote choice) more when he ran a person‐based negative campaign than when he ran an issue‐based negative campaign. This effect was significant for participants with high levels of political identification only. Overall, the findings revealed that political candidates, as members of significant social groups, are not exempt from the forms of extremity in evaluations typically observed in other social groups.     

Right‐wing authoritarianism,societal threat to safety,and psychological distress

In two quasi‐experimental vignette studies, we have analyzed how societal threat to safety moderates the relation between right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA) and psychological distress. In Study 1 (Italian community sample, N = 343), we focused on depressive symptoms (measured with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale and the General Health Questionnaire). Two moderated regressions showed that the relation between RWA and both measures of depressive symptoms was positive and significant only among people exposed to a socially threatening scenario. In Study 2 (Italian student sample, N = 219), we focused on state anxiety and replicated Study 1's results. The findings indicated that, in conditions of societal threat to safety, RWA is a risk factor for psychological distress. Strengths, limitations, and possible developments of this research are discussed.