Book Reviews

Books reviewed: Rose McDermott, Risk-Taking in International Politics Yaacov Y. I. Vertzberger, Risk Taking and Decisionmaking: Foreign Military Intervention Decisions Meredith W. Watts, Xenophobia in United Germany: Generations, Modernization, and Ideology Tom R. Tyler, Robert J. Boeckman, Heather J. Smith, and Yuen J. Huo, Social Justice in a Diverse Society Fritz Redlich, Hitler: Diagnosis of a Destructive Prophet Alexander L. George and Juliette L. George (eds.), Presidential Personality and Performance Norman N. Nie, Jane Junn, and Kenneth Stehlik-Barry, Education and Democratic Citizenship in America Arthur Lupia and Mathew D. McCubbins, The Democratic Dilemma: Can Citizens Learn What They Need to Know?     

Priming infants to attend to color and pattern information in an individuation task

Wilcox (Cognition 72 (1999) 125) reported that infants are more sensitive to form than surface features when individuating objects in occlusion events: it is not until 7.5 months that infants spontaneously use pattern information, and 11.5 months that they spontaneously use color information, as the basis for object individuation. The present research assessed the extent to which infants' sensitivity to surface features could be increased under more supportive conditions. More specifically, we examined whether younger infants could be primed to draw on color and pattern features in an individuation task if they were first shown the functional value of attending to color and pattern information (i.e. the color or the pattern of an object predicted the function it would engage in). Five experiments were conducted with infants 4.5 to 9.5 months of age. The main findings were that 9.5- and 7.5-month-olds could be primed to use color information, and 5.5- and 4.5-month-olds could be primed to attend to pattern information, after viewing the function events. The results are discussed in terms of the kinds of experiences that can lead to increased sensitivity to surface features and the mechanisms that support feature priming in young infants.     

中国社会心理服务体系的建设构想

社会心理服务体系更准确的名称应是公共心理服务体系,其主要内容包括心理健康服务、社会心态培育、共同体认同建构这三大模块,其主要功能分别为预防和治疗心理疾病、提升全民族的心理健康水平,培育自尊自信、理性平和、积极向上的社会心态,以及塑造中华民族的统一文化认同和人类命运共同体认同。今后应进一步明确社会心理服务的基本公共服务的定位,明确社会心理服务体系建设的责任主体,发展中国特色的健康心理学、社会心理学和文化心理学学科,培养社会心理服务亟需的科研与实务人才,创新社会心理服务的供给方式,联合政府、高校、社区和第三方部门等多元力量,建设能够符合中国国情的,专业化、多类型、多层次、可持续的社会心理服务体系。     

Supporting families of transgender children/youth: Parents speak on their experiences,identity, and views

ABSTRACT

Background: Transgender children/youth demonstrate the best possibility for resilience and positive mental health when they are part of an affirming and supportive family. To optimize families in supporting transgender children/youth, parents/caregivers need to be supported. Transgender children/youth and their families regularly navigate a myriad of challenges through society.

Aims: Within the extant literature on transgender children and youth, relatively little attention is focused on the experiences of parents/caregivers and how their close family relationships are affected. The present qualitative study addresses this gap in knowledge through its exploration of the experiences, identities, and views of parents/caregivers of transgender children/youth.

Method: The study is longitudinal and this article represents the first wave. Fourteen parents of 12 transgender children/youth, aged 6–17, participated in in-depth semistructured interviews. Participants were recruited via social media and at an on-site conference for transgender youth and their families. All children/youth had socially transitioned. Those who were eligible for puberty suppression and/or hormone therapy were receiving those. The interviews were inductively coded for themes by two coders using the constant comparative method.

Results: Participants' reports on their experiences yielded three themes: (1) transgender issues as the family's focus; (2) proactivity, child-focused: preemptive actions to prevent adverse consequences; and (3) self-care. These themes included subthemes on effective coping strategies to mitigate struggles. Three themes related to participants' identity and views emerged: (1) identity reformation, (2) self-evaluation, and (3) views of future. These themes included subthemes that reflected how participants viewed themselves, their child, and the future.

Discussion: A transgender identity in one family member affects all household members. Parents/guardians may experience guilt and self-doubt over decisions. Factors that may improve outcomes with extended family and schools include families' preemptive dissemination of information on transgender identities and explicating expectations of respect and nonintrusion. Ingrained traditions may force life-altering decisions.     

Explaining the Appeal of Populist Right‐Wing Parties in Times of Economic Prosperity

The assumption that populist right‐wing parties (PRWPs) thrive when the economy slows down is remarkably pervasive. What is often neglected is evidence showing PRWPs can thrive in times of economic prosperity. To examine this, we conducted an experiment in which participants were exposed to different appraisals of the future of the national economy and were subsequently asked to evaluate an anti‐immigration speech (Study 1). Results showed stronger anti‐immigrant sentiments when the national economy was presented as prospering rather than contracting. We then analyzed speeches by PRWP leaders who secured electoral victories during economic prosperity (Study 2) and found that these leaders encourage a sense of injustice and victimhood by portraying ordinary citizens as the victim of an alliance between powerful groups (the elite) and less powerful groups (refugees, immigrants, minorities). More specifically, Study 2 showed that PRWP leaders are crafty identity entrepreneurs who are able to turn objective relative gratification into perceived relative deprivation. We conclude that it is hence problematic to treat PRWP support as evidence of “resonance” with public sentiments and urge PRWP scholars interested in supply‐side factors to engage with the social identity literature on leadership, followership, and social influence.     

What do I gain from joining crowds? Does self‐expansion help to explain the relationship between identity fusion,group efficacy and collective action?

Four studies were carried out to examine how identity fusion, self‐ and group efficacy, and collective action are related and what role self‐expansion plays in these relationships. In the pilot study, participants recalled their experience of participating in mass gatherings. The three other studies were conducted during mass gatherings organized for collective purposes: a music concert (Study 1), a bicycle activist event (Study 2), and Equality Days (Study 3). The results showed (a) a significant positive relationship between personal and group identity fusion, self‐expansion, and self‐efficacy (Study 1); (b) a significant mediating effect of self‐expansion on the relationship between personal and group identity fusion and group efficacy (Studies 1 and 2); and (c) a significant mediating effect of self‐ expansion and group efficacy on the relationship between identity fusion and collective action tendency (Studies 2 and 3).     

Attitudes Toward Affirmative Action as a Function of Racial Identity Among African American College Students

Variations in support for affirmative action were assessed in a sample of 181 African American college students in Massachusetts. These students generally endorsed affirmative action, and endorsement varied positively as a function of the belief that one had personally benefited from affirmative action. Aspects of racial identity, indexed by the Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity, also predicted variations in attitudes toward affirmative action, over and above background factors and personal benefit. Consistent with realistic group conflict theory, the most influential aspects of identity were centrality (i.e., the degree to which group identity is central to personal identity), private regard (i.e., pride in the group), and an oppressed minority ideology (i.e., a viewpoint that emphasizes the similarities between African Americans and other oppressed groups).     

青少年自我同一性状态的发展及其与父母教养权威性、同一性风格的关系

采用修订的自我同一性状态问卷、同一性风格问卷和父母教养方式问卷对1233名初中生、高中生和大学生进行调查研究,考察青少年自我同一性状态的发展特点以及父母教养权威性、同一性风格和自我同一性状态之间的关系。结果发现:从初中到高中,青少年的自我同一性状态表现出前进的发展趋势,高中和大学阶段处于四种同一性状态的人数比例不存在明显差异;男大学生比女大学生更多地处于同一性获得状态;父母教养权威性既对同一性状态有直接预测作用,又以同一性风格为中介对其产生间接影响。     

Establishing the First Stages of Early Reciprocal Interactions Between Mothers and Their Autistic Children

No abstract available for this article.     

工作记忆负载对特性干扰子激活和抑制加工的影响

在同一实验条件下采用干扰效应和负启动效应双指标考察了三种不同类型工作记忆(WM)负载对特性干扰子加工的影响,旨在求证胡耿丹等人从位置干扰子加工所提出的"双重作用机制"是否适用于特性干扰子加工,以及对Park等人的负载特异机制观点所做的拓展和完善在特性干扰子范畴内是否正确。结果显示:(1)WM负载对特性干扰子的加工亦存在双重作用机制,提示双重作用机制在单一WM负载范围内具有普适性;(2)当目标刺激与干扰子刺激的属性一致时,无论是在位置干扰子还是在特性干扰子视角下Park等人的负载特异机制观点均可一致地被拓展和完善。