“Math is Hard!” The effect of gender priming on women’s attitudes

In three studies, we examined the effect of a self-relevant category prime on women’s attitudes towards the gender-stereotyped domains of arts (positively stereotyped) and mathematics (negatively stereotyped). In Study 1, women who were subtly reminded of the category female (Study 1a) or their gender identity (Study 1b) expressed more stereotype consistent attitudes towards the academic domains of mathematics and the arts than participants in control conditions. In Study 2, women who were reminded of their female identity similarly demonstrated a stereotype-consistent shift in their implicit attitudes towards these domains relative to women in a control condition. The potential role of the working self-concept in mediating social category priming effects as well as the practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Psychological essentialism and stereotype endorsement

Research on implicit person theories shows that people who believe that human attributes are immutable (“entity theorists”) are particularly prone to endorse social stereotypes and to explain them with reference to innate factors. We argue that entity theories belong to a broader set of beliefs that represent differences between people in terms of underlying essences. New measures of three essentialist beliefs (i.e., in the biological basis, discreteness, and informativeness of human attributes) were developed in a pilot study. In the main study, these beliefs were found to covary with entity theories, and to predict the endorsement and innate explanation of stereotypes. Essentialist beliefs predicted stereotype endorsement independently of popular stereotyping-related individual difference measures, and in a way that was not reducible to the effect of entity theories. We propose that research on implicit person theories can be placed within an encompassing framework of psychological essentialism.     

Discerning the Spirits,Practicing the Faiths: Why Be Lutheran?

Some spiritual wanderers today are “unstuck” in their faith, therefore, they have many faiths; while others are securely “stuck” in their tradition. Getting stuck is desirable, and the path is through spiritual practice. One’s inner life and even perception of reality become transformed through daily habits such as prayer, worship, and discipline. The Lutheran insight that a practicing Christian is simultaneously saint and sinner offers comfort and honest self–understanding.     

The Discipline and Habit of Theological Reflection

This article describes the process of theological reflection and the necessity of its practice in the formation of pastoral identity and development of ministry. Drawing upon the philosophy of C.S. Peirce, pastoral theology of the past twenty-five years, and the authors' clinical and classroom experiences, the essay illuminates the distinctive work of pastoral care givers that makes them unique in health care settings.     

THE DIDACTICS OF PSYCHOANALYTIC EDUCATION2

The author first discusses general didactic considerations regarding psychoanalytic education and the teacher‐pupil relationship. He then demonstrates that psychoanalytic education is greatly influenced by the ideal of a liberal education, of which in Germany there is a strong tradition under the name ‘Bildung’. The main characteristics of ‘Bildung’ ‐ as opposed to professional training ‐ are that the objectives remain undefined and there is no attempt to achieve defined and operationalisable professional qualifications. The relationship between teacher and pupil is characterised by authority and trust. A psychoanalytic education by means of a ‘liberal education’ is based upon the assumption that the student should be motivated and supported in achieving competence through a passionate study of the world of psychic reality. Today, however, psychoanalytic education must be seen within a contemporary context that forces us to abandon the ideals of a liberal education, to operationalise the subjects studied and to control the education itself with regard to efficiency and results. These modern demands are the result of a professionalisation which has reached all social professions and from which psychoanalysis also cannot escape. Because of this, it is especially important to reflect on our educational methods and objectives. The author makes several suggestions on this subject. It is to be hoped that psychoanalysis will find its own way, without, on the one hand, losing sight of the special nature of psychoanalytic competence through an over‐hasty adaptation to the process of professionalisation and, on the other hand, without reverting to unquestioned and outdated ideas on education.     

The effects of verbal and visual interference on impressions: An associated-systems approach

This study investigated associated-systems theory's prediction that interference with the visual or verbal mental systems should alter person impressions by removing or reducing the impact of the information represented within those systems, while accentuating the influence of other information. In Experiment 1, interference with the verbal system decreased the influence of verbal information on trait judgments and increased the influence of visual information on attractiveness and liking judgments. In Experiment 2, visual interference decreased the impact of visual information on attractiveness judgments and, at least for attractive targets, increased the impact of verbal information on trait and liking judgments. These results support the premise that impressions consist of representations allied with separate processing systems and that those impressions can be affected by other activities involving those systems.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
George E. Marcus, W. Russell Newman, and Michael MacKuen, Affective Intelligence and Political Judgment
Micha Popper, Hypnotic Leadership:Leaders, Followers, and the Loss of Self
James W. Davis, Jr., Threats and Promises: The Pursuit of International Influence
Mark R. Warren, Dry Bones Rattling: Community Building to Revitalize American Democracy
Tali Mendelberg, The Race Card: Campaign Strategy, Implicit Messages, and the Norm of Equality     

Trust in Government in the Aftermath of 9/11: Determinants and Consequences

Among the most notable changes in U.S. public opinion that occurred after 11 September 2001 was a significant increase in trust in the national government. This study extends existing research on the causes of such changes in public opinion to include the post–9/11 period. The results indicate that a shift in public focus from domestic to international concerns was an important factor in the decline in cynicism that occurred after 9/11, and that public support for expending resources to address issues such as homeland security will be greater if increased trust in government can be sustained.     

内隐社会认知:社会性决策的个人背景效应

通过两个实验研究了个人背景对其社会性决策的影响。实验一采用 2× 2混合设计 ,其中被试性别为组间因素 ,策略类型为组内因素 ;结果发现不同性别的被试在选择决策策略时表现出了差异 ,其中男性更倾向于选择“综合比较”的策略 ,但女性却没有表现出对策略的偏向。实验二则选择 14项个人背景资料作为自变量 ,以“才—情”决策倾向为因变量 ,进行多元逐步回归分析 ,结果发现被试的家庭所在地、性别差异以及对自己容貌的评价等变量显著地影响了决策倾向。     

初中学习困难学生阅读交互教学实验研究

选取初一年级 2 8名阅读优生和 2 4名阅读困难学生 ,采用两因素完全随机实验设计 ,进行为期六周的教学实验。结果如下 :(1 )三策略组合的交互教学能显著提高优生和学习困难学生的提问策略水平 ,改善阅读态度 ;(2 )四、五策略组合的交互教学能显著促进优生和学习困难学生的阅读理解 ,提高提问和小结策略水平及理解监控水平 ,改善阅读态度