Ageing and the self-reference effect in memory

The present study investigates potential age differences in the self-reference effect. Young and older adults incidentally encoded adjectives by deciding whether the adjective described them, described another person (Experiments 1 & 2), was a trait they found desirable (Experiment 3), or was presented in upper case. Like young adults, older adults exhibited superior recognition for self-referenced items relative to the items encoded with the alternate orienting tasks, but self-referencing did not restore their memory to the level of young adults. Furthermore, the self-reference effect was more limited for older adults. Amount of cognitive resource influenced how much older adults benefit from self-referencing, and older adults appeared to extend the strategy less flexibly than young adults. Self-referencing improves older adults' memory, but its benefits are circumscribed despite the social and personally relevant nature of the task.     

Dyadic predictors of outcome in a cognitive-behavioral program for patients with generalized anxiety disorder in committed relationships: a "spoonful of sugar" and a dose of non-hostile criticism may help

The present study tested whether pre-treatment levels of partner hostility and non-hostile criticism predicted outcome in an individual cognitive-behavioral therapy package for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Eighteen patients with a principal or co-principal diagnosis of GAD were randomly allocated to a treatment condition (n=8) or a delayed treatment condition (n=10). In addition, the patients and their partners were videotaped discussing the patients’ worries. These videotapes were later coded for levels of partner hostility and non-hostile criticism directed at the patients. Treatment resulted in statistically and clinically significant change at post-test. Finally, partner hostility predicted worse end-state functioning whereas partner non-hostile criticism predicted better end-state functioning.     

Approach‐Avoidance Motivation and the Use of Affect as Information

Individuals often rely on their affect for information. However, positive or negative affect may not be informative for individuals who are more prone to feel affect of this particular valence in general, unless they chronically monitor their internal states. A series of studies demonstrates that differences in individuals’ internal versus external focus of attention and in trait affective valence associated with their approach versus avoidance motivation determine reliance on affect as information. Specifically, our findings show that while positive affect is used as an input in product satisfaction judgments regardless of individuals’ approach versus avoidance motivation, negative affect is used only by individuals with a predominant approach motivation.     

Re-conceptualizing the Factor Structure of the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality

Rationale This study attempted to differentiate statistically the spiritual and religious factors of the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality (BMMRS), which was developed based on theoretical conceptualizations that have yet to be adequately empirically validated in a population with significant health disorders. Participants One hundred sixty-four individuals with heterogeneous medical conditions [i.e., brain injury, spinal cord injury (SCI), cancer, stroke, primary care conditions]. Methods Participants completed the BMMRS as part of a pilot study on spirituality, religion, and physical and mental health. Results A principal components factor analysis with varimax rotation and Kaiser normalization identified a six-factor solution (opposed to the expected 8-factor solution) accounting for 60% of the variance in scores, labeled as: (1) Positive Spiritual Experience; (2) Negative Spiritual Experience; (3) Forgiveness; (4) Religious Practices; (5) Positive Congregational Support; and (6) Negative Congregational Support. Conclusions The results suggest the BMMRS assesses distinct positive and negative aspects of religiousness and spirituality that may be best conceptualized in a psychoneuroimmunological context as measuring: (a) Spiritual Experiences (i.e., emotional experience of feeling connected with a higher power/the universe); (b) Religious Practices (i.e., prayer, rituals, service attendance); (c) Congregational Support; and (d) Forgiveness (i.e., a specific coping strategy that can be conceptualized as religious or non-religious in context).     

The Political Philosophy of Intersubjectivity and the Logic of Discourse

This paper is concerned with the competing and complimentary relationships between intersubjectivity and discursive logic. It contends that the ultimate failure of Husserlian phenomenology is a testament to the dilemma of subjectivist philosophy. Indeed, political philosophy requires a paradigm-shift from subjectivity to intersubjectivity. With this in mind, this paper examines the classical encounter between morality and ethical life in connection with discursive ethics. While it argues that Habermas still retains a strong residue of subjectivist philosophy, it attempts to clarify the discursive analysis of Foucault and probes into its applicability to practical philosophy.     

Sense of Control Among Hospital Employees: An Assessment of Choice Process,Empowerment, and Buffering Hypotheses1

This study examines 3 theoretical arguments explaining employees' sense of control: (a) The choice process hypothesis stipulates that employees' sense of control is a consequence of their choice processes and perceived choice size; (b) the empowerment hypothesis proposes that sense of control results from the empowerment role of social and organizational support which endorse and authorize employees' job activities; and (c) the buffering hypothesis indicates that a successful management of job-related stressors is the key to greater sense of control, and that social support plays a role in buffering the potential negative influences of job-related stressors. An assessment of the hypotheses over a sample of 1,585 hospital employees in Korea provided overall support for the choice process hypothesis and partial support for both the empowerment and the buffering hypotheses. We discuss some practical and cross-cultural research implications of the findings.     

A performance comparison between the two language versions of the Affective Go/No‐Go test: A randomised crossover study

The purpose of this randomised crossover study is to validate the Korean version of the Affective Go/No‐go (AGN) test. The Korean words for the AGN test were selected after careful evaluation of emotional valences, word length and frequency. Fifteen Korean advanced learners of English were administered both Korean and English versions, yielding 30 data points. The performance of both language versions was compared for each of the AGN test parameters (response latency, commission error and omission error) using two‐way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were estimated to evaluate associations between the two versions. The ICCs were high for response latencies of all valences and commission errors of positive and neutral words, but not for that of negative words and omission errors of all valences. A similar pattern of test results, as revealed by the high ICCs and non‐significant interaction effects between language and word valence, suggests that the psychometric properties of the AGN test may be comparable over different language versions.     

Fostering Resilient Development: Protective Factors Underlying Externalizing Trajectories of Maltreated Children

This study investigated patterns of the developmental trajectories of externalizing behavior problems among 449 young maltreated children (ages 4–5) over a period of approximately eight years and examined the roles of maltreatment and protective factors in shaping various trajectory patterns. Secondary research was conducted using data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW-I). Latent class growth analysis identified three distinctive externalizing trajectory groups: high–decreasing (10%); moderate–increasing (13%); low–stable (77%). Physically or sexually abused children were more likely to be in the high–decreasing group whereas male and Black children were more likely to be in the moderate–increasing group. Child prosocial skills and caregiver well-being decreased the probability of membership in the high–decreasing group compared to the low–stable group. The findings suggest that, despite early exposure to trauma, many maltreated children display a low or normal level of externalizing behavior problems over time, providing empirical evidence of resilience in maltreated children. Interventions focusing on enhancing child prosocial skills and caregiver well-being may be helpful in lowering the risk of clinically significant externalizing behavior problems over the course of childhood among maltreated children.     

Developing the Good Physician: Spirituality affects the development of virtues and moral intuitions in medical students

The Project on the Good Physician is a national longitudinal study of moral and professional formation of American physicians over the course of medical training. The purpose of this paper is to examine the processes by which spirituality influences the development of three virtues (mindfulness, empathic compassion, and generosity) in medical students as mediated by the moral intuition to care/harm, as well as make predictions as to how this type of study could be generalizable to other populations. Study participants were 563 medical students recruited by the University of Chicago from 24 medical schools across the U.S. (54.7% male, 57% white) who completed measures assessing virtue formation 9 months apart. Path analysis of a cascade model showed that spirituality (but not religiousness) was directly and indirectly related to change in the virtue empathic compassion, and also indirectly related to change in the virtue generosity. Moreover, the moral intuition to care/harm partially mediated the association between spirituality and the virtues of empathic compassion and generosity (but not mindfulness).     

The stability of vocational interests from early adolescence to middle adulthood: a quantitative review of longitudinal studies

The present meta-analysis examined the stability of vocational interests from early adolescence (age 12) to middle adulthood (age 40). Stability was represented by rank-order and profile correlations. Interest stability remained unchanged during much of adolescence and increased dramatically during the college years (age 18-21.9), where it remained for the next 2 decades. Analyses of potential moderators showed that retest time interval was negatively related to interest stability and that rank-order stability was less stable than profile stability. Although cohort standings did not moderate stability, interests of the 1940s birth cohort were less stable than those of other cohorts. Furthermore, interests reflecting hands-on physical activities and self-expressive/artistic activities were more stable than scientific, social, enterprising, and clerical interests. Vocational interests showed substantial continuity over time, as evidenced by their higher longitudinal stability when compared with rank-order stability of personality traits. The findings are discussed in the context of psychosocial development.