Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory Correlates with Personality Characteristics of Organ Donation Advocates

Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) and background questionnaire data were collected from a sample of men and women organ donation advocates (N = 362) as part of a national study to investigate their personality characteristics, temperaments, and attitudes about organ donation advocacy. Goals included identifying unique traits for advocates, and response consistency between the TCI and questionnaire. The TCI results included high scores on Cooperativeness and Self-Directedness, and low on Harm Avoidance dimensions. The questionnaire results indicated that most advocates were White, married, college-educated females, who typically spent less than 2 hr with potential donor families, were satisfied with life and job, and believed they would be in a donation position 2 years from the time surveyed. TCI and questionnaire measures were correlated for Self-Transcendence and Spirituality, Helpfulness and Job Satisfaction, and Compassion and Identification variables.     

Political Participation and Feminist Consciousness Among Women Activists of the 1960s

This paper examined the hypothesis that women who took part in student movements of the 1960s would be distinguishable from their contemporaries in terms of political ideology, political behavior, and feminism in middle age. Women who had been identified as student activists in public records during the late 1960s and early 1970s were compared to a sample of nonactivist peers. Although the two groups scored similarly on variables related to work and family arrangements, former activists scored higher on measures of leftist political orientation and political efficacy, reported greater political salience and collectivism, and reported greater current political participation. Although both groups reported high levels of feminist consciousness and identity, activists scored significantly higher. The difficulty of politically mobilizing women to combat gender discrimination is discussed in light of the discrepancy between consciousness and activism in the comparison group.     

Mothers', fathers' and children's perceptions of parents' expectations about children's family obligations in nine countries

Children's family obligations involve assistance and respect that children are expected to provide to immediate and extended family members and reflect beliefs related to family life that may differ across cultural groups. Mothers, fathers and children (N = 1432 families) in 13 cultural groups in 9 countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand and United States) reported on their expectations regarding children's family obligations and parenting attitudes and behaviours. Within families, mothers and fathers had more concordant expectations regarding children's family obligations than did parents and children. Parenting behaviours that were warmer, less neglectful and more controlling as well as parenting attitudes that were more authoritarian were related to higher expectations regarding children's family obligations between families within cultures as well as between cultures. These international findings advance understanding of children's family obligations by contextualising them both within families and across a number of diverse cultural groups in 9 countries.     

Moral foundations and political attitudes: The moderating role of political sophistication

Political attitudes can be associated with moral concerns. This research investigated whether people's level of political sophistication moderates this association. Based on the Moral Foundations Theory, this article examined whether political sophistication moderates the extent to which reliance on moral foundations, as categories of moral concerns, predicts judgements about policy positions. With this aim, two studies examined four policy positions shown by previous research to be best predicted by the endorsement of Sanctity, that is, the category of moral concerns focused on the preservation of physical and spiritual purity. The results showed that reliance on Sanctity predicted political sophisticates' judgements, as opposed to those of unsophisticates, on policy positions dealing with equal rights for same‐sex and unmarried couples and with euthanasia. Political sophistication also interacted with Fairness endorsement, which includes moral concerns for equal treatment of everybody and reciprocity, in predicting judgements about equal rights for unmarried couples, and interacted with reliance on Authority, which includes moral concerns for obedience and respect for traditional authorities, in predicting opposition to stem cell research. Those findings suggest that, at least for these particular issues, endorsement of moral foundations can be associated with political attitudes more strongly among sophisticates than unsophisticates.     

Examining the role of positive and negative metacognitive beliefs in depression

Many psychological models have been developed to explain the development and maintenance of depression. The most widely evaluated model is the cognitive model of depression, and it is against this model that emerging models should be compared. Accordingly, this cross‐sectional study examined whether metacognitive beliefs, as specified in the metacognitive model of depression, would explain additional variance in depressive symptoms over dysfunctional attitudes; the core feature of the cognitive model. Moreover, mediational relationships between metacognitive beliefs, rumination, and depressive symptoms, predicted by the metacognitive model were also explored, whilst controlling for dysfunctional attitudes. A sample of 715 students completed self‐report questionnaires measuring depressive symptoms, rumination, dysfunctional attitudes, and metacognitive beliefs. Regression analyses showed that metacognitive beliefs made a significant statistical contribution to depressive symptoms, after controlling for age, gender, rumination and dysfunctional attitudes. Furthermore, as predicted by the metacognitive model, the relationship between positive metacognitive beliefs and depressive symptoms was fully mediated by rumination, whilst the relationship between negative metacognitive beliefs about uncontrollability and danger and depressive symptoms was partially mediated by rumination. The results provide further empirical support for the metacognitive model of depression and indicate that positive and negative metacognitive beliefs play an integral role in the maintenance of depressive symptoms.     

Attitudes toward health-messages: The link between perceived attention and subjective strength

IntroductionMany efforts are invested in promoting healthy attitudes and behaviors; nonetheless there is no clear, definitive evidence of sustained effectiveness of those efforts in all cases.ObjectiveThe present study examined the role of perceived attention in changing attitudes toward vegetable consumption as well as the perceived stability and resistance of those changes (attitude strength).MethodParticipants were randomly assigned to read a strong or weak health communication arguing in favor of vegetable consumption. After reading the message, participants reported attitudes toward this health issue, the perceived attention, and the perceived strength associated with their evaluations.ResultsParticipants who reported high (vs. low) perceived attention showed a greater effect of argument quality on persuasion. Furthermore, such participants also reported stronger attitudes compared to those who reported low perceived attention.ConclusionThis study showed that attitudes toward vegetable consumption can be changed after reading a persuasive message, and that the extent of perceived attention moderated the extent to which those changes were perceived as stable and resistant (stronger attitudes).     

Validation française de l’Inventaire d’Attitudes Environnementales

IntroductionClimate change has made it necessary to develop valid tools for studying pro-environmental behaviors.ObjectivesThe present study assessed the validity of the French translation of the brief version of Milfont and Duckitt's (2010) Environmental Attitudes Inventory. We chose this scale for its psychometric properties, its ability to predict behaviors, its theoretical foundations, and its use in many countries. In addition to the translation, we tested a shortened, 12-item version of the scale.MethodThree samples were used to study the structure of the IAE, its nomological network, its test–retest fidelity, and its predictive validity.ResultsIAE-24 has similar psychometric properties to the original version, for both one-factor and two-factor models (preservation and utilization dimensions). IAE-12 has satisfactory internal consistency if the one-factor model is used. The nomological network of IAE-24 is not totally identical to the original version. Differences can be ascribed to inconsistencies in the literature and the use of different scales. Both IAE-24 and IAE-12 have very satisfactory predictive validity and test–retest reliability.ConclusionThe French version of the IAE has satisfactory psychometric properties.