Transtheoretical model and condom use in HIV-positive youths.

The purpose of the study is to test constructs of the Transtheoretical Model for predicting unprotected intercourse in HIV-positive youths (ages 16-25 years). Questionnaires and interviews about sexual behavior, stage of change, self-efficacy, substance use, emotional distress, and social support were obtained from 60 HIV-positive youths. Path analysis, with standard errors determined by methods appropriate to small samples, suggested that self-efficacy completely mediated the relationship between stage of change and unprotected intercourse acts. Social support specific to reducing risk was associated with increased self-efficacy. Emotional distress and low general social support were not associated with decreased condom use. The path between substance use and decreased condom use approached significance. Results highlight the potential of prevention interventions that simultaneously boost self-efficacy and social support specific to practicing safer sex as well as those that reduce substance use.     

The Frog in Kierkegaard’s Beer: Finding Meaning in the Threat-Compensation Literature

Much existential philosophical theorizing and experimental psychological research is consistent with the notion that people experience arousal when committed beliefs are violated, and this prompts them to affirm other committed beliefs. People depend on meaning frameworks to make sense of their experiences, and when these expected associations are violated, the offending anomaly is often either assimilated into the existing meaning framework, or their meaning framework is altered to accommodate the violation. The meaning maintenance model proposes that because assimilation is often incomplete and accommodation demands cognitive resources, people may instead respond to anomalies by affirming alternative meaning frameworks or by abstracting novel meaning frameworks. Empirical evidence and theoretical implications are discussed.     

The Effect of Communication Change on Long‐term Reductions in Child Exposure to Conflict: Impact of the Promoting Strong African American Families (ProSAAF) Program

African American couples (n = 331) with children, 89% of whom were married, were assigned to either (a) a culturally sensitive couple‐ and parenting‐enhancement program (ProSAAF) or (b) an information‐only control condition in which couples received self‐help materials. Husbands averaged 41 years of age and wives averaged 39 years. We found significant effects of program participation in the short term on couple communication, which was targeted by the intervention, as well as over the long term, on self‐reported arguing in front of children. Long‐term parenting outcomes were fully mediated by changes in communication for wives, but not for husbands. For husbands, positive change depended on amount of wife reported change. We conclude that wives' changes in communication from baseline to posttest may be more pivotal for the couples' long‐term experience of decreased arguing in front of children than are husbands' changes, with wives' changes leading to changes in both partners' reports of arguments in front of children.     

Jung's views on causes and treatments of schizophrenia in light of current trends in cognitive neuroscience and psychotherapy research I. Aetiology and phenomenology

Jung's writings on schizophrenia are almost completely ignored or forgotten today. The purpose of this paper, along with a follow‐up article, is to review the primary themes found in Jung's writings on schizophrenia, and to assess the validity of his theories about the disorder in light of our current knowledge base in the fields of psychopathology, cognitive neuroscience and psychotherapy research. In this article, five themes related to the aetiology and phenomenology of schizophrenia from Jung's writings are discussed:1) abaissement du niveau mental; 2) the complex; 3) mandala imagery; 4) constellation of archetypes and 5) psychological versus toxic aetiology. Reviews of the above areas suggest three conclusions. First, in many ways, Jung's ideas on schizophrenia anticipated much current thinking and data about the disorder. Second, with the recent (re)convergence of psychological and biological approaches to understanding and treating schizophrenia, the pioneering ideas of Jung regarding the importance of both factors and their interaction remain a useful and rich, but still underutilized resource. Finally, a more concerted effort to understand and evaluate the validity of Jung's concepts in terms of evidence from neuroscience could lead both to important advances in analytical psychology and to developments in therapeutic approaches that would extend beyond the treatment of schizophrenia.     

The Imperceptible Work of God: Pamela Sue Anderson’s Re-visioning Gender in Philosophy of Religion: Reason,Love and Epistemic Locatedness

This essay offers a response to Pamela Sue Anderson’s book, Re-visioning Gender in Philosophy of Religion. It focuses on three key aspects of Anderson’s work: first, her concern with the often imperceptible reality of gender exclusions; secondly, her discussion of ineffability in dialogue with Adrian Moore’s work and thirdly, her defence of realism in response to Grace Jantzen. These themes constitute a welcome articulation of rationality within a feminist framework, whilst opening up rationality to the validity of non-propositional truths. The essay ends by suggesting that Anderson does more to work out new conceptualizations of the divine, arguing that her work and that of Jantzen are not so far apart on this point as might first appear.     

Luck Attributions and Cognitive Bias

Philosophers have developed three theories of luck: the probability theory, the modal theory, and the control theory. To help assess these theories, we conducted an empirical investigation of luck attributions. We created eight putative luck scenarios and framed each in either a positive or a negative light. Furthermore, we placed the critical luck event at the beginning, middle, or end of the scenario to see if the location of the event influenced luck attributions. We found that attributions of luckiness were significantly influenced by the framing of the scenario and by the location of the critical event. Positively framing an event led to significantly higher lucky ratings than negatively framing the same exact event. And the closer a negative event was placed toward the end of a scenario, the more unlucky the event was rated. Overall, our results raise the possibility that there is no such thing as luck and thereby pose serious challenges to the three prominent theories of luck. We instead propose that luck may be a cognitive illusion, a mere narrative device used to frame stories of success or failure.