The implicit cognition of relationship maintenance: Inattention to attractive alternatives

The temptation of alternative mating partners can threaten satisfaction with and commitment to an existing romantic relationship. Consequently, people exhibit cognitive processes that help protect their relationship when faced with desirable relationship alternatives. Previous studies have focused primarily on processes that involve explicit, higher-order cognitive mechanisms such as overt judgments and choices (e.g., judging the alternative as less attractive). The current studies, in contrast, examined automatic, early-stage attentional processes that may help protect against threats posed by exposure to alternative mating partners. Whereas single participants responded to implicit mating primes by increasing early-stage attention to physically attractive opposite sex targets, participants in a committed romantic relationship were inattentive to those attractive alternatives. This research provides a novel approach for studying implicit cognitive mechanisms involved in maintaining close relationships.     

Health Status and Peer Relationships in Early Adolescence: The Role of Peer Contact, Self-esteem, and Social Anxiety

We examined associations between children’s health status and the quality of their peer relationships, as well as factors that may account for individual variation in the quality of chronically ill and healthy children’s peer relationships. Our sample included 268 children (138 boys; 130 girls) with 149 European-Americans and 119 African-Americans. There were 91 children with a chronic illness; 35 with asthma, 26 with diabetes, and 30 with obesity. Chronically ill children were characterized by teachers as displaying less prosocial behavior, less overt aggression, and less relational aggression with peers than healthy children. Chronically ill children reported lower levels of peer contact and higher levels of social anxiety than healthy children. Among chronically ill children those with high self-esteem were more prosocial and less aggressive than those with low self-esteem. Our findings suggest that chronically ill children are at risk for peer relationship difficulties, but that self-esteem may serve as a protective factor against poor peer relationships for some chronically ill children.     

Depressive Symptoms in Young Adults: The Role of Attachment Orientations and Romantic Relationship Conflict

Although romantic involvement in adulthood has generally been associated with enhanced well-being, some aspects of adults’ romantic relationships (e.g., maladaptive conflict behaviors) have been linked with depressive symptoms. In order to better understand the role of romantic involvement in well-being, the present study examined links among attachment orientations, conflict behaviors with romantic partners, and depressive symptoms in an undergraduate sample of young adults (N = 110). Correlational analyses generally supported the hypothesized links. When a regression series was applied to the data in order to determine whether young adults’ conflict behaviors serve as a mediator in the link between their attachment orientations and depressive symptoms, mediation was not supported. Instead, results supported a model wherein attachment orientations and conflict behaviors (attacking) were independent predictors, explaining unique variance in young adults’ depressive symptoms. Findings underscore the importance of considering specific aspects of young adults’ romantic relationships in the prediction of their depressive symptoms and illuminate the role attachment orientations and conflict behaviors in their depressive symptoms.     

Do birds of a feather universally flock together? Cultural variation in the similarity‐attraction effect

Three experiments explored the similarity‐attraction effect (SAE) among North American and Japanese samples. In all studies, North Americans showed a significantly more pronounced SAE than the Japanese. The North Americans consistently revealed a strong SAE whereas the Japanese effect was only significant in the methods with the most power. The cultural differences emerged across different methods, and for the domains of personality, activities, attitudes and demographics. The cultural difference was mediated by self‐esteem, indicating that a motivation for positive self‐views is a mechanism underlying the SAE.     

Transferences Toward the Co-Therapist Couple: Triadic Relationships and Selfobject Needs

This paper examines transferences toward the male/female co-therapists within a developmental context, using concepts from self psychology, intersubjectivity, and infant research. In addition, it proposes that some individuals have selfobject needs specifically related to the parental unit, so triadic relationships can influence one's development. Clinical examples elucidate the repetitive and selfobject dimensions of the transferences within the intersubjective field formed by the triad of a patient and the male and female co-therapists.     

中学生人际关系发展特点的研究

本研究选取北京、河南、重庆、杭州、新疆五地的11743名从初一到高三中学生作为被试,采用《人际关系量表》,从与异性关系、同性关系、父母关系、教师关系、陌生人关系五个方面对中学生人际关系状况和发展特点做了测查.研究结果表明:(1)中学生人际交往水平从初一到初二明显下降,初三时有大幅度的攀升,高中阶段保持在一个较高的水平上.女生的人际交往水平高于男生.(2)中学生与同伴交往水平较高,与异性同伴的关系要好于与同性同伴的关系;中学生与成人交往水平较低,与陌生成人的关系要好于与父母和教师的关系.(4)初二到初三女生与异性同伴交往水平迅速提高,初三后保持稳定;初二到高一男生与异性同伴交往水平迅速提高,高二后保持稳定;初三到高一,中学生与同性伙伴的交往水平明显提升.(5)初一到初二,中学生与父母和教师的交往水平显著下降,高中生与父母的关系有所改善,但与教师的关系一直处于较低的水平上.随年龄增长,男生与陌生人的交往水平逐渐提高,女生与陌生人的交往发展波动较大,初三和高三水平较高,初二和高一水平较低.     

Workaholism and Family Functioning: A Profile of Familial Relationships, Psychological Outcomes, and Research Considerations

This paper examines the relationship between workaholism and family functioning and the psychological outcomes of family members. A profile of the workaholic family is presented, along with an argument for family scientists and practitioners to pay more attention to this neglected area of family life. Considerations for how to address the need in family research and practice also are presented.     

How parents view professional behaviors: A cross-professional analysis

This study examined the responses of more than 900 parents of children with serious emotional disorders to survey questions about the importance and frequency of professional behaviors and compared these responses across professions. The findings indicated that parents with lower income and less education tended to work more with social workers, counselors, and teachers, less with psychologists and psychiatrists. Professional behaviors concerned with the parent-professional relationship, honesty, non-blaming attitude, supportiveness, and inclusion in decision-making were considered important by most parents regardless of the professional with whom they worked. Parents rated professions differently on the importance of evaluation, home visits, and providing child-raising information, probably reflecting expectations that parents have about the roles and training of professionals. The behaviors that parents considered important also tended to occur frequently. Significant differences across professions were found with respect to the frequency of providing information on child rearing, advocacy, home visits, providing information on resources, and help with coping, although these behaviors were considered relatively less important by parents. An examination of discrepancies between what parents considered important and what they experienced suggested that parents' expectations were only partially met. Implications for practice, professional education, and research are discussed.Editor's Note: We acknowledge the sampling issue raised by the low survey return rate in this study and the resulting threat to generalizability of findings. Nevertheless, the study is judged to merit publication as one of the first efforts to examine empirically parents' views of their relationships with mental health professionals. Our hope is that this report will serve to stimulate further scientific investigation on the topic—Donald Oswald (AE).