How Kantian Must Kantian Constructivists Be?

Kantian constructivists locate the source of normativity in the rational nature of valuing agents. Some further argue that accepting this premise thereby commits one to accepting the intrinsic or unconditioned value of rational nature itself. Whereas much of the critical literature on this “regress on conditions” argument has focused either on the cogency of the inference from the value‐conferring capacity of the will to the unconditional value of that capacity itself or on the plausibility of the initial constructivist premise, my aim is to press the argument from a different direction by asking just how Kantian the constructivist needs to be in order to support a regress on conditions argument. Specifically, I maintain that the argument succeeds only given a full‐fledged Kantian moral psychology, including a presupposition of transcendental freedom. If correct, this could have implications regarding the compatibility of Kantian ethics and philosophic naturalism.     

State of Food Deprivation as a Factor in Radiation Mortality of Rats

(Eysenck, H. J. The Structure of Human Personality. London: Methuen, 1953. Pp. 348.) Reviewed By George A. Talland.     

Visual Acuity Performance of Normal and Chronic Focal-Head Irradiated Monkeys

The study reported by Griffiths, Shantz, and Sigel (4) on children's understanding of relational terms in conservation tasks is used in a case study to illustrate a number of problematic practices in the use of psychological literature. A number of examples are given that reflect a negligent or clearly inaccurate reading of the Griffiths et al. report. Common errors made by authors in citing the published research of others are failure to examine closely the study's methodology, uncritical acceptance of authors' conclusions, and misinterpretation or confusion of the study's findings.     

Newborns of mothers with depressive symptoms are less expressive

The facial expressions of 40 newborns of mothers with depressive symptoms (n = 20) and of nondepressive mothers (n = 20) were recorded during the Brazelton Neonatal Behavior Assessment Scale and during the modeling of happy, sad, and surprised faces. Infants of mothers with depressive symptoms demonstrated inferior performance on the orientation cluster of the Brazelton scale and showed fewer interest and more precry expressions during the Brazelton. During the facial expression modeling, they showed less orientation and fewer facial expressions in response to the modeled happy and surprise facial expressions.     

An Intersectional Analysis of the Workplace Experiences of African American Female Athletic Directors

Nationally representative data indicate that adults in the United States are increasingly delaying the decision to have children or are forgoing parenthood entirely. Although some empirical research has examined the social consequences of adults’ decision to be childfree, few studies have identified explanatory mechanisms for the stigma this population experiences. Based on the logic of backlash theory and research on retributive justice, the present research examined moral outrage as a mechanism through which voluntarily childfree targets are perceived less favorably than are targets with children for violating the prescribed social role of parenthood. In a between-subjects experiment, 197 undergraduates (147 women, 49 men, 1 participant with missing gender data) from a large U.S. Midwestern urban university were randomly assigned to evaluate a male or female married target who had chosen to have zero or two children. Participants completed measures of the target’s perceived psychological fulfillment and their affective reactions to the target. Consistent with earlier studies, voluntarily childfree targets were perceived as significantly less psychologically fulfilled than targets with two children. Extending past research, voluntarily childfree targets elicited significantly greater moral outrage than did targets with two children. My findings were not qualified by targets’ gender. Moral outrage mediated the effect of target parenthood status on perceived fulfillment. Collectively, these findings offer the first known empirical evidence of perceptions of parenthood as a moral imperative.     

Payback: Effects of relationship and cultural norms on reciprocity

This experimental investigation explores differences in reciprocal norms between friends and strangers and the effects of culture on reciprocity. Based on altruistic and strong reciprocity theories, a hybrid trust‐dictator game tested the influence of relationship (i.e. friends vs. strangers), treatment (i.e. positive vs. negative) and culture (i.e. collectivistic vs. individualistic) on reciprocation. The results show that participants reciprocated more positively when treated positively in general. However, the results demonstrate intercultural differences in reciprocal norms, specifically in the negative treatment condition. Participants from the individualistic culture provided stronger punishment to the norm violator, compared to participants from the collectivistic culture. We discuss implications of the impact of relationship and culture on reciprocation with respect to the olive branch response.     

Australian Trans Men: Development,Sexuality, and Mental Health

The aim of the study reported in this article was to gain an understanding of the experiences, developmental trajectories, and mental health status of Australian trans men. Participants were 279 trans men. The majority preferred to identify as “male”; from an early age, they had experienced their gender identity as different from that normatively expected of their natally assigned sex and had undertaken practices so as to facilitate their presentation as male in accordance with their gender identity. A majority reported a diagnosis of depression or anxiety within the last 12 months and attributed suicidal ideation and self‐harm and attempted suicide to personal issues with gender identity. Going through a masculinisation process and coming out reportedly led to improved mental health. The findings highlight the need to educate mental health and health care professionals on trans issues.     

“Too Blessed to be Stressed”: A Rural Faith Community’s Views of African-American Males and Depression

Among African-Americans, the faith community has a long history of providing support to its members. Because African-American men tend to delay and decline traditional depression treatment, the faith community may be an effective source of support. The aim of this study was to determine how a rural African-American faith community describes and perceives experiences of depression among African-American males. A convenience sample of 24 men and women participated in focus groups and interview. Four themes were identified: defining depression, etiology of depression, denial of depression, and effect of masculine roles on depression experience.