Mothers' Impact on Daughters' Cardiovascular Reactivity in a High‐Threat Context: An Immersive Virtual Environment Study

Applying Attachment Theory, research on confirmation, the Entropy Model of Uncertainty, and the Biopsychosocial Model of Challenge and Threat, this investigation examined the role of mothers' communication on adolescents' cardiovascular response to threat. An experimental design allowed for the manipulation of maternal response to daughters experiencing a rapidly approaching wildfire in an immersive virtual environment. Results revealed complexities in the relative benefits of maternal vocalic presence during high‐threat situation, with the mother's history of confirming feedback playing an important role in daughters' cardiovascular response. Implications for knowledge are addressed and methodological possibilities of using immersive virtual environments are noted.     

Introduction: An Emerging Consensus?

This paper is an introduction to a special issue on Nationalism, Multiculturalism and Liberal Democracy. It attempts to describe the state of the debate on issues of multiculturalism and nationalism within liberal-democratic theory. I suggest that there may be an emerging consensus on liberal culturalism – the view that certain group-specific rights or policies aimed at recognizing or accommodating ethnic and national groups are legitimate so long as they operate within certain constraints of liberal justice. I explore the possible reasons for this emerging consensus (including the lack of clear alternatives), and conclude with some suggestions about the likely avenues for future research in this area.     

Risky Sexual Behavior of Multiple Partner Relations and Women’s Autonomy in Four Countries

Existent research reveals that inequitable gender-based power in relationships and intimate partner violence contribute to HIV rates among women in the developing world. This study uses a multi-country analysis to examine women’s autonomy in negotiating safe sex practices such as having sex with a partner with no other concurrent partner to reduce the risk of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, Kenya, Malawi, and Nepal. The Demographic Health Survey data for Nigeria (2013), Kenya (2008–2009), Malawi (2010), and Nepal (2011) provide geographical variability as well as HIV risk variables. The sample included 16,540 women aged 15–49 years who self-identified as ever married. Factor analysis for women’s autonomy was conducted based on socio-cultural theory. Logistic regression was conducted and results identified decision-making, labor force participation, and individual autonomy as women autonomy factors significantly reduced the risk for HIV infection by having one sex partner who has only one sex partner. Other women autonomy factors related to lower risk for HIV include education, place of residence, and religion. Our study indicates that effective management of HIV transmission requires addressing women autonomy factors within the context of culture.     

Chronic Childhood Peer Rejection is Associated with Heightened Neural Responses to Social Exclusion During Adolescence

This functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) study examined subjective and neural responses to social exclusion in adolescents (age 12–15) who either had a stable accepted (n?=?27; 14 males) or a chronic rejected (n?=?19; 12 males) status among peers from age 6 to 12. Both groups of adolescents reported similar increases in distress after being excluded in a virtual ball-tossing game (Cyberball), but adolescents with a history of chronic peer rejection showed higher activity in brain regions previously linked to the detection of, and the distress caused by, social exclusion. Specifically, compared with stably accepted adolescents, chronically rejected adolescents displayed: 1) higher activity in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) during social exclusion and 2) higher activity in the dACC and anterior prefrontal cortex when they were incidentally excluded in a social interaction in which they were overall included. These findings demonstrate that chronic childhood peer rejection is associated with heightened neural responses to social exclusion during adolescence, which has implications for understanding the processes through which peer rejection may lead to adverse effects on mental health over time.     

Gender Differences in Reactions to Mental Illness Labeling: The Role of Agency and Communion

Numerous individual characteristics influence responses to receiving a mental health diagnosis, including gender. This study sought to determine how gender influences reactions to being labeled as depressed or not depressed, which were categorized as falling into themes of communion or agency. Using the themes developed by Niedzwienska (2003), 168 college students’ responses to depression labels were coded as a part of a laboratory experiment. The results indicate that the expected sex differences do exist, but multivariate analyses indicate that the choice of communal themes was influenced by sex but the use of agency themes was not influenced by sex.     

Internalization of Appearance Ideals and Cosmetic Surgery Attitudes: A Test of the Tripartite Influence Model of Body Image

The Tripartite Influence Model of Body Image was adapted to examine the role of body satisfaction, perceived pressure to have cosmetic surgery, and internalization of societal appearance ideals in understanding cosmetic surgery attitudes. Participants were 2,048 men (N?=?445) and women (N?=?1,603) American college students from Florida who completed a range of measures that assessed levels of body satisfaction, perceived appearance pressures, internalization of appearance standards, and cosmetic surgery attitudes. A structural equation model was used to test hypothesized relations independently for men and women. Results indicated a moderate-good fit to the data, with both internalization and body satisfaction mediating the effect of perceived pressures on cosmetic surgery attitudes. Invariance testing revealed significant differences in pathway estimates between samples of men and women. The findings offer further support for the Tripartite Influence Model of Body Image and indicate potential factors that may influence cosmetic surgery attitudes.     

Some aspects of the interpersonal phenomenology of heterosexual dyads with respect to sex-role stereotypes

A technique based upon recently developed Boolean calculi for interpersonal phenomenology was used to study sex-role attributions within 59 heterosexual dyads. The interpersonal and intrapersonal variables studied include perceived similarity, validation of self-concept, expectations of agreement, feelings of being understood, predictions that the partner expects agreement, understanding, accurate perception of understanding/misunderstanding, and accurate perception of expectations on agreement/disagreement. All variables were studied in relation to each member of the dyad and in relation to male and female sex-role stereotypes. Analyses of all variables are consistent with two conclusions: (1) Phenomenal disparity in a relationship is more likely to be generated around male sex-role stereotypes than around female sex-role stereotypes; (2) phenomenal disparity in a relationship is most likely to occur in connection with counter-sex-role attributions to the female. Increased uncertainty regarding counter-sex-role attributions about women and lowered validation of self-concept for women who adopt counter-sex-role attributes are shown to contribute to these effects. These conclusions are seen as a reflection of an asymmetry which seems to be consistent in the literature: Counter-sex-role choices and attitudes seem to be less discordant for males than for females in this culture. Evidence of this asymmetry is discussed.     

The cost in remembering of ruminating on negative memories

This study investigated retrieval mechanisms that may be involved in memory for distressing stimuli. Forty-one nonclinical participants watched a video clip depicting the immediate aftermath of a serious car accident. Following this, half of the participants were instructed to focus attention on the victims of the accident and to consider the negative sequelae of their injuries. The remaining participants were not given any instructions. Following the Victim Focus/Control period, all participants completed a cued-recall task assessing their memory of the video clip. Overall, victim-related details were better recalled than nonvictim related details. It is important to note that participants in the Victim Focus condition retrieved fewer peripheral details than participants in the Control condition. These results suggest that people focusing attention on distressing aspects of an event can experience a cost in remembering other aspects of the event. These findings may be interpreted in terms of enhanced recollection of central events or retrieval-induced forgetting mechanisms to explain patterns of diminished memory for aspects of distressing events.