What is an “appropriate” migrant? Impact of the adoption of meritocratic worldviews by potential newcomers on their perceived ability to integrate into a Western society

The acceptance of migrant populations and the definition of an “appropriate” migrant are controversial issues in many countries. The present research focuses on the ideological determinants of how newcomers are evaluated by a host population in a Western country with a strongly rooted meritocratic ideology. We carried out two studies to examine how the expression of meritocratic beliefs by a male potential migrant affects the way he is evaluated by the host population. We measured the host population's perception of the potential migrant's ability to integrate into society, his tendency to adopt the host country's culture, and the general desirability of his world vision for all newcomers. We also noted the host population's judgments of the target's agency and communality. The results showed that a potential newcomer who expresses a strong (vs. weak) belief in a just world (Study 1) or an internal (vs. external) locus of control (Study 2) is evaluated more favorably by the host population. In addition, judgments of the target's integration capacity were only mediated by his perceived agency. We discuss these results in the light of work on the meritocratic ideology and intercultural relations. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Revisiting backward recall and benchmark memory effects: a reply to Bireta et al. (2010)

When participants are asked to recall lists of items in the reverse order, known as backward recall, several benchmark memory phenomena, such as the word length effect, are abolished (Bireta et al. Memory & Cognition 38:279–291, 2010). Bireta et al. (Memory & Cognition 38:279–291, 2010) suggested that in backward recall, reliance on order retention is increased at the expense of item retention, leading to the abolition of item-based phenomena. In a subsequent study, however, Guérard and Saint-Aubin (in press) showed that four lexical factors known to modulate item retention were unaffected by recall direction. In a series of five experiments, we examined the source of the discrepancy between the two studies. We revisited the effects of phonological similarity, word length, articulatory suppression, and irrelevant speech, using open and closed pools of words in backward and forward recall. The results are unequivocal in showing that none of these effects are influenced by recall direction, suggesting that Bireta et al.’s (Memory & Cognition 38:279–291, 2010) results are the consequence of their particular stimuli.     

Metacognitive therapy in treatment-resistant depression: a platform trial

Patients with treatment-resistant depression received up to 8 sessions of metacognitive therapy (MCT) targeting attentional control, rumination, worry, and metacognitive beliefs. A baseline period was followed by weekly sessions with follow-up assessments at 6 and 12 months post treatment. Large and statistically significant improvements occurred in all symptom measures at post treatment and were maintained over follow-up. Two out of 3 process measures significantly improved at post treatment and all of these measures were improved at follow-up. Treatment was associated with similar response rates on the BDI and Hamilton rating scale. Using liberal criteria 80% of completers were classified as recovered at post treatment and 70% at follow-up on the BDI. In the intention to treat sample 66.6% were recovered at post treatment and 58.3% at follow-up. More stringent criteria showed 60% recovery rates at post treatment and at 12 m. The results suggest that MCT could be a brief and effective treatment and they provide a precedent for more definitive randomized controlled trials.     

Out of sight, out of mind: the presence of forensic evidence counts more than its absence

Recent evidence suggests that decision makers in criminal procedures are susceptible to biases. We previously found support for the presence of a feature positive effect (FPE, i.e., people attach more meaning to present than to absent information) in legal-decision making. In this study, we tried to uncover the mechanisms behind the FPE. Taking a cue from the literature on situation models in language comprehension, we investigated whether a FPE manifests itself in the memorization and use of forensic evidence. Students read a case file about a fistfight as well as additional evidence. The forensic evidence was manipulated such that a FPE on guilt estimation and conviction rate could be assessed. While subjects read additional forensic evidence, their eye movements were recorded to explore the presence of FPE in online processing. Afterwards, subjects were asked to decide on the suspect's guilt. They had to recall all information they remembered from the case file and indicate which parts of information they considered relevant to this decision. The results provided evidence for the occurrence of FPE in memorization and use of information and can be explained by the theoretical construct of situation models.     

Perceptual simulation in developing language comprehension

We tested an embodied account of language proposing that comprehenders create perceptual simulations of the events they hear and read about. In Experiment 1, children (ages 7–13 years) performed a picture verification task. Each picture was preceded by a prerecorded spoken sentence describing an entity whose shape or orientation matched or mismatched the depicted object. Responses were faster for matching pictures, suggesting that participants had formed perceptual-like situation models of the sentences. The advantage for matching pictures did not increase with age. Experiment 2 extended these findings to the domain of written language. Participants (ages 7–10 years) of high and low word reading ability verified pictures after reading sentences aloud. The results suggest that even when reading is effortful, children construct a perceptual simulation of the described events. We propose that perceptual simulation plays a more central role in developing language comprehension than was previously thought.     

Perceived Risk Following Melanoma Genetic Testing: A 2-Year Prospective Study Distinguishing Subjective Estimates from Recall

A major goal of predictive genetic testing is to alert people to their risk before illness onset; however, little is known about how risk perceptions change following genetic testing and whether information is recalled accurately over time. In the United States, a CDKN2A/p16 mutation confers 76 % lifetime risk of melanoma. Following genetic counseling and test reporting, subjective risk estimates and recall of counselor-provided risk estimates were assessed 5 times over the next 2 years among 60 adult members of 2 extended CDKN2A/p16 kindreds. No sustained changes from baseline in risk perceptions were reported. Unaffected carriers (n?=?15) consistently reported significantly lower subjective risk estimates (46 %) than they were actually given (76 %, p?<?0.001) or recalled having been given (60 %, p?<?0.001). Noncarriers’ (n?=?27) risk estimates decreased following results disclosure, but rebounded, with both subjective and recalled estimates subsequently exceeding what they were told by the counselor (both ps?<?0.001). Affected carriers’ (n?=?18) risk estimates for developing a new melanoma corresponded well to counselor-provided information (p?=?0.362). For all 3 patient groups, results were consistent across multiple risk measures and remained similar when demographic, phenotypic, and baseline behavioral contributors to melanoma risk were statistically controlled. These findings are consistent with other studies of risk perception, but additional studies of more diverse populations are needed to understand the reasons behind both the persistence of initial risk estimates and their divergence from information provided by the counselor during genetic counseling. Additionally, determining whether holding subjective risk perceptions that differ from counselor-provided information ultimately affects adherence to management recommendations will help guide the presentation of risk information in genetic counseling practice.     

Conscious Parenting: A Qualitative Study on Swedish Parents’ Motives to Participate in a Parenting Program

Triple P is a parenting program that aims to prevent behavioral, emotional, and developmental problems in children. Because Triple P is a new parenting program in Sweden, it is important to see how parents felt about the intervention. The aim of this study was to find out why parents of preschool children chose to participate in Triple P in Sweden, what they thought of the Triple P curriculum, and how the program related to their parenting philosophy in general. This is a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with seven mothers and three fathers who participated in Triple P. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and were analysed using Malterud’s method of Systematic Text Condensation. Parents chose to participate in Triple P for several reasons: they wanted to learn more about the intervention; they had specific problems that they sought help for; or they felt encouraged to participate due to advertisements and recommendations from friends. Of the Triple P curriculum, the participants especially enjoyed the “directed discussion” technique, the positive reinforcement sections, and the instructions on how to communicate effectively with their child by staying calm, close, and maintaining eye contact. It was important for many of the parents to feel validated and respected, and they liked having discussions with the preschool teacher rather than being told what to do. Parents in this Swedish sample generally liked and selectively used the strategies they learned from participating in Triple P, depending on how well these fit with their own parenting experiences and philosophy.     

Mothers’ and Adolescents’ Perceptions of Family Environment and Adolescent Social-Emotional Functioning

Research has emphasized the importance of the relationship between family functioning and adolescent behavioral development. The present study examines family environment and social-emotional functioning of primarily minority adolescents, viewed from both adolescents’ and mothers’ perspectives. Participants were a school-based sample of adolescents with and without risk for emotional and behavioral disabilities and their mothers (N = 86 dyads). Results suggested an association between the mothers’ views of their adolescent children’s problem behaviors and the adolescents’ self-ratings of risk-taking behaviors across 5 years. Overall, mothers of the at risk youth receiving special education services reported higher ratings of youth problem behaviors, but results also indicated that mothers of the at risk adolescent boys not receiving special education services perceived greater depressive symptoms in their children and more family conflict in their homes. Mothers of youth at risk but not receiving special education services experienced higher levels of stress associated with being a parent than mothers of the not-at-risk adolescents. The parent measures of adolescent behavior and depressive symptoms, family conflict, and parental stress were not predictive of the social-emotional functioning of these adolescents in the multilevel models. Implications of these findings for early identification and family focused intervention programs are discussed.     

Conservatives Anticipate and Experience Stronger Emotional Reactions to Negative Outcomes

The present work examined whether conservatives and liberals differ in their anticipation of their own emotional reactions to negative events. In two studies, participants imagined experiencing positive or negative outcomes in domains that do not directly concern politics. In Study 1, 190 American participants recruited online (64 male, M_age = 32 years) anticipated their emotional responses to romantic relationship outcomes. In Study 2, 97 Canadian undergraduate students (26 male, M_age = 21 years) reported on their anticipated and experienced emotional responses to academic outcomes. In both studies, more conservative participants predicted they would feel stronger negative emotions following negative outcomes than did more liberal participants. Furthermore, a longitudinal follow‐up of Study 2 participants revealed that more conservative participants actually felt worse than more liberal participants after receiving a lower‐than‐desired exam grade. These effects remained even when controlling for the Big Five traits, prevention focus, and attachment style (Study 1), and optimism (Study 2). We discuss how the relationship between political orientation and anticipated affect likely contributes to differences between conservatives and liberals in styles of decision and policy choices.     

Viewing the MMPI–2–RF Structure Through the Personality Psychopathology Five (PSY–5) Lens

Ben-Porath and Tellegen (2008) recommend organizing MMPI–2–RF scale interpretive information around 3 broad topics, emotional/internalizing dysfunction, thought dysfunction, and externalizing/behavioral dysfunction, and 3 additional topics labeled somatic complaints, interpersonal functioning, and interests. That organization is based primarily on structural analyses of the Restructured Clinical (RC) scales. This study reviewed the MMPI–2–RF's scale structure when the Personality Psychopathology Five (PSY–5) scales are included. Principal axis factor analyses with oblique rotation were conducted on the Restructured Clinical, PSY–5, and Special Problem (SP) scales in 2 samples, by gender. One sample was an outpatient community health center, the other a large, metropolitan inpatient psychiatric facility. The 6-factor solution evidenced each of the PSY–5 constructs plus a general somatic concerns factor. Implications of this solution in comparison to the 3-factor organizing structure recommended by Ben-Porath and Tellegen are discussed.