Moving toward interdisciplinary dialogue in mentoring scholarship: An introduction to the Special Issue

The study of mentoring spans a wide range of disciplines including psychology, organizational behavior, education, and social work, among others. However, until recently there has been little interdisciplinary dialogue among mentoring scholars. In this Special Issue we attempt to lay the groundwork for interdisciplinary research on mentoring by examining this phenomenon through the lens of youth mentoring, academic mentoring, and workplace mentoring. In this introduction we outline the aims of this Special Issue, provide a common definition of mentoring to guide the reader through the articles that follow, summarize the knowledge gained from the included articles, and offer insight into what we believe are important next steps for developing a multidisciplinary perspective on mentoring.     

How should we revise diagnostic criteria for substance use disorders in the DSM-V?

This article reviews literature on the validity and performance characteristics of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) diagnostic criteria for substance use disorders (SUDs) and recommends changes in these criteria that should be considered for the next edition of the DSM (DSM-V). Substantial data indicate that DSM-IV substance abuse and substance dependence are not distinct categories and that SUD criteria are best modeled as reflecting a unidimensional continuum of substance-problem severity. The conceptually and empirically problematic substance abuse diagnosis should be abandoned in the DSM-V, with substance dependence defined by a single set of criteria. Data also indicate that various individual SUD criteria should be revised, dropped, or considered for inclusion in the DSM-V. The DSM-V should provide a framework that allows the integration of categorical and dimensional approaches to diagnosis. Important areas for further research are noted.     

Defining racism safely: The role of self-image maintenance on white Americans’ conceptions of racism

We suggest that the need to maintain a positive self-image motivates White Americans to conceive of racism as a phenomenon rooted in individuals instead of institutions. They do so because an institutional conception of racism, more so than an individual conception of racism, raises their awareness of White privilege, a concept threatening to Whites’ self-image. In support of this idea, Experiment 1 found that a self-affirmation manipulation increased Whites’ willingness to conceive racism in institutional terms. Experiment 2 found that a self-image threat lowered Whites’ willingness to conceive racism in institutional terms. In neither experiment did the self-image maintenance manipulation affect Whites’ conceptions of individual racism, suggesting that the individual conception of racism may be a less ego-threatening way for Whites to conceive of racism.     

Rats’ anticipation of current and future trial outcomes in the ordered RNR/RNN serial pattern task

In the ordered RNR/RNN serial pattern task, rats often reduce their running speeds on trial 2 less within the RNR than within the RNN series. Initially, investigators (Capaldi, 1985; Capaldi et al., 1983) considered this trial 2 differential speed effect evidence for rats’ anticipation of inter-trial outcomes within each series. Later findings, however, suggest that this effect reflects some generalization of the ordinal position of trial 3 (Burns et al., 1986) or its similar runway cues during trial 2 (Capaldi et al., 1999). To test these generalization hypotheses, we made trial 2 more distinct from trial 3 in each series by forcing rats to alternate runways in a T-maze only on the last trial rather than on trial 2 in each series in Experiment 1, or by forcing rats to alternate runways between trials rather than to run down the same runway on all trials within each series in Experiment 2. Although enhancing the distinctiveness between these trials reduced the trial 2 differential speed effect, extensive training failed to eliminate it. Therefore, this residual difference between trial 2 speeds could reflect rats’ anticipation of trial 3 outcomes during trial 2 as originally proposed by Capaldi (1985) Experiment 3 was designed to determine whether we could enhance rats’ final trial outcome expectancies during trial 2 by making different trial 2 choices distinctive cues for each trial 3 outcome. The trial 2 speed effect was greater when rats were forced to alternate over all trials only within one of the series than when they were sometimes forced to do so in either series. Post-training probe tests revealed that both series position and the relevant within-series runway events contributed to this enhanced anticipation of trial 3 outcomes.     

Conflict, Identity, and Tolerance: Israel in the Al-Aqsa Intifada

This paper explores the impact of the Al-Aqsa Intifada on tolerance orientations of the Israeli Jewish public. We rely upon five surveys carried out between January 2000 and June 2002 to study in a real-life setting the amount and nature of change in political tolerance due to the conflict and the mechanisms behind it. Building on theory and research on intergroup relations in social psychology and political tolerance in political science, we focus upon threat and ingroup identification as the two primary factors in the social psychological processes resulting from conflict and leading to intolerance. We set the trends and explore mediation and interaction processes in the impact of this round of conflict on political tolerance.     

Anti-egalitarians for Obama? Group-dominance motivation and the Obama vote

The election of the first Black president was a watershed moment in American race relations, and many Obama voters saw their choice as affirming and furthering the dream of racial equality. However, the present study provides evidence that Obama also garnered votes from an unlikely source: those wishing to maintain racial disparities. Data from a longitudinal study of the election suggest that, while some anti-egalitarian voters opposed Obama due to his perceived “foreignness,” others voted for him in order to underwrite the hierarchy-enhancing claim that US racism has been eliminated. Anti-egalitarianism was only associated with an increased tendency to vote for Obama among individuals who claimed that his victory signals the end of racism.     

Personality vulnerability to stress-related sleep disruption: Pathways to adverse mental and physical health outcomes

This study examined the associations among neuroticism (N), conscientiousness (C), and sleep quality in the context of a life transition. The interactive effects of N and C on the association between sleep quality and mental and physical well-being were also examined. Seventy-seven college freshmen (mean age = 19.5) completed personality measures at the beginning of the academic year, and measures of sleep quality, daily hassles, functional status, depression, and self-assessed health approximately 2 months later. N was negatively and C was positively related to sleep quality, and daily hassles mediated these associations. Poor sleep predicted greater depressive symptoms and poorer functional status for high-N/low-C participants, but not for other N and C profiles. Results suggest that conscientiousness moderates the extent to which high-N individuals are vulnerable to the adverse effects of poor sleep.     

Reactions to and Desire for Prognostic Testing in Choroidal Melanoma Patients

To determine if choroidal melanoma patients want cytogenetic prognostic information. Ninety-nine choroidal melanoma patients completed a questionnaire regarding their opinions about receiving prognostic information. The perceived usefulness of prognostic information was evaluated in patients who had undergone cytogenetic testing. Depressive symptoms, quality of life, and interest in supportive counseling during test receipt were assessed. Ninety-seven percent of respondents reported that they would have wanted prognostic information at the time of their treatment and 98% of respondents reported that supportive counseling should be offered when prognostic information is given. Patients who had received a more favorable prognostic result were more likely to endorse the usefulness of cytogenetic testing than were patients who had received a less favorable prognostic result. Psychological status did not vary significantly as a function of cytogenetic test result. Prognostic information was important to patients with choroidal melanoma, even in the absence of prophylactic measures which might improve prognosis.     

Absolute Versus Tentative Interpretations: Mediating Effects of Client Locus of Control

An analog design was used to investigate the mediating effects of client locus of control (i.e., an internal focus or external focus) on perceptions of counselor style of interpreting events (i.e., absolute or tentative interpretations) on measures of perceived session depth and smoothness, and perceived counselor expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness. One hundred and thirty-four undergraduate college students, crossed on level of locus of control, were randomly assigned to one of two treatment conditions, and then completed measures of perceived session depth and smoothness, as well as perceived counselor expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness. Results indicated a significant interaction effect on perceived counselor trustworthiness. Implications for college counselors are provided.