EARLY MODERN PROTESTANT VIRTUOSOS AND SCIENTISTS: SOME COMMENTS

The following essay is divided in three parts. First, while sharing in principle Harrison's hypothesis of an affinity between the sixteenth‐century Reformation and early modern science, it questions the connection between the latter and the Weberian “disenchantment of the world.” Second, it suggests a broader group of possible actors than that envisaged by Harrison in referring to virtuoso collectors and their cabinets of curiosities who are rather marginalized in Harrison's narrative. And third, it highlights (in agreement with Harrison) the physico‐theology of the second half of the seventeenth and the first half of the eighteenth century and beyond as an important temporary fusion of religion/theology and science at a time when the new science was still striving for social and religious respectability.     

Meta‐Analysis of Counseling Outcomes for the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

This meta‐analysis of 152 published posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) clinical trials from 1990 to 2012 concluded that counseling generally produced a small to large effect of treatment across all comparison conditions at termination (d+ = 0.30 to 0.89). These gains were maintained at longest follow‐up (d+ = 0.58 to 0.86) for the wait‐list, treatment‐as‐usual, and single‐group comparisons, but not for the follow‐up placebo comparison (d+ = 0.15), probably because of the low power (j = 3 placebo studies). Clinical trial findings were synthesized using a random‐effects model. No effects of publication bias or moderating variables were evident. No difference was found between trauma‐focused and non‐trauma‐focused approaches. Implications for counseling practice and future PTSD outcome research are addressed.     

A Phenomenological Inquiry of Clients’ Meaningful Experiences in Counseling With Counselors‐in‐Training

This study is a follow‐up to Sackett, Lawson, and Burge's ( 2012 ) study that explored the meaningful experiences of clients and counselors‐in‐training (CITs). Using the previous study's themes of clients’ experiences in counseling with CITs as a launching pad, the authors examined in greater depth the meaningful experiences of clients who are in counseling with CITs through qualitative phenomenological interviews. Findings, as well as implications for counselor education, supervision, and counseling, are discussed.     

Mind the Gaps: Are Conclusions About Mindfulness Entirely Conclusive?

Mindfulness has emerged as an important construct in the mental health field. Although evidence suggests benefits, it also appears that excitement over the clinical applications of mindfulness has largely suspended concentrated efforts to clarify fundamental elements of the construct. This article explores conceptual confusion and contrasts primary mindfulness‐based techniques before investigating attrition factors, adverse effects of mindfulness practices, and populations contraindicated for mindfulness‐based techniques. Implications for practice are provided.     

A Qualitative Analysis of Home‐Based Counselors' Experiences in a Rural Setting

This qualitative study sought to understand the experiences of home‐based counselors working in a rural setting. In‐depth interviews were conducted with 12 counselors who were asked to describe their experiences in the areas of preparedness, professional development, challenges, and gender‐specific experiences. Fourteen coding categories emerged from the interviews, which led to the findings of 3 overarching themes: shared isolation, ethical ambiguity, and the high‐intensity nature of the job. Recommendations for home‐based counselors, agencies, and professional counseling associations are discussed.     

Still Doing Fine? The Interplay of Negative Life Events and Self‐Esteem During Young Adulthood

This longitudinal study investigated the bidirectional relationship between negative life events and self‐esteem during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood (N = 2272). Drawing on theories of human development over the lifespan and just‐world theory, we analyzed age‐graded changes in self‐esteem and their interplay with negative life events at three measurement points over a 12‐year period. We addressed both the short‐term and the longer term effects of single as well as multiple negative life events on changes in self‐esteem (socialization effects). We further investigated whether the pre‐event level of self‐esteem affected the likelihood of negative life events occurring (selection effects) and, finally, whether it had protective effects in terms of helping people adjust to negative events. Latent change models yielded four main findings: (i) self‐esteem increased during young adulthood; (ii) socialization effects were observed over shorter and longer timespans, but (iii) selection effects were only found for multiple negative life events, with low self‐esteem predicting a high number of negative life events; (iv) high pre‐event self‐esteem acted as a protective factor, attenuating declines in self‐esteem after experience of multiple negative life events. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Predicting Self‐Confident Behaviour with Implicit and Explicit Self‐Esteem Measures

The present research compared the validity of popular direct and indirect measures of self‐esteem in predicting self‐confident behaviour in different social situations. In line with behavioural dual‐process models, both implicit and explicit self‐esteem were hypothesized to be related to appearing self‐confident to unacquainted others. A total of 127 participants responded to the Rosenberg Self‐Esteem Scale, the Multidimensional Self‐Esteem Scale, and an adjective scale for measuring explicit self‐esteem (ESE). Participants' implicit self‐esteem (ISE) was assessed with four indirect measures: the Implicit Association Test (IAT), the name‐letter task (NLT), and two variants of an affective priming task, the reaction‐time affective priming task (RT‐APT) and the error‐based affective priming task (EB‐APT). Self‐confident behaviour was observed in four different social situations: (i) self‐introduction to a group; (ii) an ostracism experience; (iii) an interview about the ostracism experience; and (iv) an interview about one's personal life. In general, appearing self‐confident to unknown others was independently predicted by ESE and ISE. The indirect measures of self‐esteem were, as expected, not correlated, and only the self‐esteem APTs—but not the self‐esteem IAT or the NLT—predicted self‐confident behaviours. It is important to note that in particular the predictive power of the self‐esteem EB‐APT pertained to all four criteria and was incremental to the ESE measures. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology     

On the Integration of Need‐related Autobiographical Memories among Late Adolescents and Late Adults: The Role of Depressive Symptoms and Self‐congruence

Within self‐determination theory, integration denotes the process through which people accept past and present experiences and harmonize these experiences within their sense of self. We investigated associations between indicators of successful and poor integration of need‐related memories and memory‐related affect. We also examined the role of depressive symptoms and self‐congruence as antecedents of these indicators. Moreover, we investigated whether late adults, compared with late adolescents, were better capable of integrating need‐frustrating memories through higher levels of self‐congruence. Participants were 132 late adolescents (Mage = 17.83) and 147 late adults (Mage = 76.13), who reported on their level of depressive symptoms and self‐congruence. Next, participants generated a need‐satisfying and need‐frustrating memory and reported on the memories' integration (in terms of acceptance, connection and rumination) and associated affect. Whereas depressive symptoms related mainly to the poor integration of need‐frustrating memories, self‐congruence related positively to the integration of both need‐satisfying and need‐frustrating memories. In turn, integration was related to more positive and less negative affect. Late adults scored higher than late adolescents on the integration of need‐frustrating memories, an effect that was partly accounted for by late adults' elevated self‐congruence. Results suggest that self‐congruence, depressive symptoms and age play a role in the integration of need‐based autobiographical memories. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Living in a Non‐Communist Versus in a Post‐Communist European Country Moderates the Relation Between Conservative Values and Political Orientation: A Multilevel Study

We performed a multilevel, multinational analysis using the 2012 European Social Survey dataset (N = 41 080, nested in 20 countries) to study how living in a non‐communist versus in a post‐communist country moderates the link between individual conservative values (drawn on Schwartz's theory of basic human values) and political orientation (assessed as self‐placement on the left–right axis and attitude towards economic redistribution). The results supported the moderating role of living in a non‐communist versus in a post‐communist country in the case both of political self‐placement and of attitude towards economic redistribution, even controlling for the countries' degree of individualism, power distance and democracy. Specifically, conservative values were positively related to a rightist political self‐placement among participants living in countries without a communist past, and to a favourable attitude towards economic redistribution in countries with a communist past. The limitations, implications and future directions of this study are discussed. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology