BOOK REVIEWS

No abstract available for this article.     

The effects of violent video games and shyness on individuals’ aggressive behaviors

The general aggression model (GAM) has suggested that the interaction between person factors (e.g., personality variables) and situation factors (e.g., playing violent video games [VVGs]) can increase individuals’ aggressive behaviors through their cognition (e.g., hostile attributions), affect (e.g., negative affect), and/or arousal. The present study employed a modified competitive reaction time task to test the effects of shyness, violent (vs. nonviolent) gameplay, and shyness on individuals’ positive–negative affect, hostile attributions, and aggressive behaviors. In addition, the present study also employed structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the mediation (by cognition and affect) and moderation (by shyness). Results showed that playing a VVG increased aggressive behaviors, negative affect, and hostile attributions primarily among shy participants. In addition, the results of SEM also revealed that this moderating role was mediated by negative affect and hostile attributions. The present study supported GAM and showed that individuals’ aggressive behaviors are differentially susceptible to VVGs, depending on their level of shyness in a “for bad and for worse” manner.     

Stories Matter: Narrative Themes of Counselor Educators' Religious and Spiritual Competency

Using narrative inquiry, the author explored the multicultural aspects of religious and spiritual experiences, assumptions, and patterns of 9 counselor educators to understand the impact that experiences and beliefs have when supervising and teaching counseling students. A gap exists between counselor standards, ethics, competencies, and practice, because counseling students receive mixed messages about addressing spiritual and religious concerns. Through hermeneutic analysis, 6 themes emerged: (a) religious and spiritual journeys, (b) religious and spiritual practices, (c) relationships, (d) marginalization, (e) modeling, and (f) risk and taboo. Trustworthiness strategies, implications for counselor education, limitations, and directions for future research are described.     

Avoidance Behavior Following Terror Event Exposure: Effects of Perceived Life Threat and Jewish Religious Coping

The current research was designed to examine associations of perceived life threat (PLT) and religious coping with the development of avoidance behavior following terror event exposure. Based upon the terror management theory (TMT), we hypothesized that religious coping, through its effect on religious beliefs as a meaning system, would moderate the impact of threat, as expressed in PLT, on an individual's reaction to terror event exposure, as manifested in avoidance behavior. Participants were 591 Israeli Jewish students who were vicariously or directly exposed to a terror event in the past. We report a significant interaction between PLT and negative religious coping. PLT was positively associated with avoidance behavior but this relationship was more profound among persons who reported high negative religious coping. Secular students reported higher rates of avoidance behavior and negative religious coping and were more likely than religious students to report intrapersonal religious conflict. Our findings suggest that terror event exposure is associated with an elevated sense of threat, which is, at least in part, associated with a weakening of prior religious beliefs.     

Association between adolescent rough-and-tumble play and conduct problems,substance use,and risk-taking behaviors: Findings from a school-based sample

Rough-and-tumble play (RTP), also known as play fighting, is a common form of play frequently reported and studied by researchers. However, one important limitation of past research in the area of RTP has been the neglect of the adolescence period. Consequently, little is known about the function of adolescent RTP as well as about clinical characteristics of youth who engage in this activity after childhood. In a school-based sample of 1,771 middle school students (ages 9–16 years), the current study sought to address this gap by examining, via bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses, the potential cross-sectional associations of adolescent RTP with (a) selected demographic variables, (b) conduct problem symptoms, (c) substance use, and (d) risk-taking behaviors, including adjustment for several demographic confounders. Results indicated that adolescents reporting higher rates of conduct problem symptoms were more likely to report a recent participation in RTP. In addition, substance use (experimentation and current consumption of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana) and risk behaviors assessed all were strongly associated with an increased likelihood of reporting an engagement in RTP. This finding suggests that participation in this activity probably implicates particular phenotypic characteristics including the propensity to engage in health-damaging behaviors. But the most profound issue raised by this research concerns the strong relationship between RTP and great levels of conduct disorder symptoms, suggesting a possible significant change in the functional significance of RTP in the adolescence period.     

Further evidence for the validity of the Need Inventory of Sensation Seeking

The Need Inventory of Sensation Seeking (NISS) by Roth and Hammelstein (2012) conceptualizes sensation seeking as a motivational trait, a need for stimulation that can provoke different behaviors. Extending the area of application to the field of sexuality, the results of an online survey with a convenience sample (N = 368) provided evidence that the NISS outperforms traditional measures of sensation seeking. In a series of hierarchical regression analyses, the NISS added incremental variance in predicting the number of sexual partners and the frequency of extreme sexual behaviors and fantasies. No relationship between the NISS and pornography use was found. Moreover, the NISS subscale Need for Stimulation performed better than the subscale Avoidance of Rest. Overall, the study supported the assumption that the NISS is a valid and reliable instrument in the area of sexuality.     

A mixed‐method approach to sense of coherence,health behaviors,self‐efficacy and optimism: Towards the operationalization of positive health attitudes

Posadzki, P., Stockl, A., Musonda, P. & Tsouroufli, M. (2010). A mixed‐method approach to sense of coherence, health behaviors, self‐efficacy and optimism: Towards the operationalization of positive health attitudes. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51, 246–252. This study discusses the results of a cross‐sectional survey of healthy college students in Poland. More specifically, it describes, explores, and explains the relationships between psychological variables/models such as health behaviors (HB), sense of coherence (SOC), level of optimism (LOO), and self‐efficacy (SE) among college students. These separate constructs have also been used to operationalize a positive health attitude (PHA) as a novel construct. The social survey was carried out at three higher education institutions in Poland in January 2006. The random sample of 455 undergraduate students was taken from five different faculties: Physiotherapy, Physical Education, Tourism and Recreation, English Philology and Polish Philology. Four reliable and validated research tools were used to collect the data: Juczynsky’s Health Behaviour Inventory (HBI); Antonovsky’s Sense of Coherence Questionnaire (SOC‐29); Schwarzer & Jerusalem’s Generalized Self‐Efficacy Scale (GSES); and Seligman’s Scale (SS). The results indicate statistically significant differences (p < 0.001) between these four variables: for example, the healthier health behaviors the stronger the sense of coherence, level of optimism and self‐efficacy. It was also demonstrated that LOO, SOC, SE, and HB correlate with one another. Finally, these variables create an explicit empirical‐theoretical pattern. All the research results from REGWQ tests, Pearson’s correlation coefficient and cluster analysis suggest the existence of conceptual similarities between these four variables and/or the existence of some broader scientific construct such as PHA. However, this needs to be examined further. These results could be a good indicator for future research among different faculties or age groups.