There is more to anger coping than "in" or "out"

There is growing dissatisfaction with a dichotomized "anger-in" versus "anger-out" view of anger coping. Three studies using student and community adultsamples revealed a broader understanding of the nature of anger coping styles and led to the development of the new Behavioral Anger Response Questionnaire (BARQ). The BARQ is empirically derived and factorially validated and has good psychometrics. Results suggest that dichotomizing anger responses as "in" versus "out" is too coarse and that a 6-factor model may be more appropriate. The 6 factors identified here are Direct Anger-Out, Assertion, Support-Seeking, Diffusion, Avoidance, and Rumination. Women reported use of a wider range of anger coping styles, especially more social support-seeking and more use of anger diffusion strategies than men.     

Examining the impact of acculturative stress on body image disturbance among Hispanic college students

This study investigated the impact of acculturative stress on psychological well-being and body image disturbance in a sample of female and male Hispanic individuals. The unique protective effects of differing social support sources, including family and peer support, were examined against acculturative stress and body image disturbance. A total of 399 participants of Hispanic origin were recruited from Texas Tech University in West Texas. Students completed a battery of measures of acculturative stress and internalization of the thin ideal, as well as perceived social support. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that acculturative stress is a significant positive predictor of body image disturbance among Hispanic college students. Thin ideal internalization was found to mediate this relationship such that acculturative stress was associated with heightened body image disturbance through its impact on thin ideal internalization. Social support significantly reduced acculturative stress as well as body image disturbance but did not moderate the relation between these 2 factors. Results highlight the importance of considering acculturative stress as a strong predictor of body image disturbance among college students of Hispanic origin. The mechanisms of influence of acculturative stress on body image disturbance are discussed in relation to thin ideal internalization. The protective role of social support on these negative psychological outcomes is also clarified. This study is the first to examine these issues in a sample of female and male Hispanic college students and provides avenues for clinical interventions and future trials with diverse populations.     

Development and use of behavior and social interaction software installed on Palm handheld for observation of a child’s social interactions with the environment

In settings in developing countries, children often socialize with multiple socializing agents (peers, siblings, neighbors) apart from their parents, and thus, a measurement of a child’s social interactions should be expanded beyond parental interactions. Since the environment plays a role in shaping a child’s development, the measurement of child-socializing agents’ interactions is important. We developed and used a computerized observational softwareBehavior and Social Interaction Software (BASIS) with a preloaded coding scheme installed on a handheld Palm device to record complex observations of interactions between children and socializing agents. Using BASIS, social interaction assessments were conducted on 573 preschool children for 1 h in their natural settings. Multiple screens with a set of choices in each screen were designed that included the child’s location, broad activity, state, and interactions with child-socializing agents. Data were downloaded onto a computer and systematically analyzed. BASIS, installed on Palm OS (M-125), enabled the recording of the complex interactions of child-socializing agents that could not be recorded with manual forms. Thus, this tool provides an innovative and relatively accurate method for the systematic recording of social interactions in an unrestricted environment.     

Gender Role Orientation and Anxiety Symptoms Among African American Adolescents

The present study evaluated gender role theory as an explanation for the observed gender differences in anxiety symptoms among adolescents. Specifically, the relation between gender, gender role orientation (i.e., masculinity and femininity), self-esteem, and anxiety symptoms was examined in a community sample of 114 African Americans aged 14 to 19 (mean age 15.77; 57 girls). Results revealed that masculinity was negatively associated with anxiety symptoms whereas femininity was positively associated with anxiety symptoms. Gender role orientation accounted for unique variance in anxiety scores above biological gender and self-esteem, and self-esteem moderated the relation between femininity (but not masculinity) and overall anxiety symptoms. Consistent with research on children and Caucasians, findings supported gender role theory as a partial explanation for the observed gender disparity in anxiety symptoms among African American adolescents.     

Corporate Sponsorships of Philanthropic Activities: When Do They Impact Perception of Sponsor Brand?

We examined the benefits to a corporate sponsor of two types of philanthropic activities — cause promotions and advocacy advertising. Results from 4 laboratory studies indicate that perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) are affected by consumers’ elaboration levels. Consumer perceptions of CSR are more favorable for cause promotions, which do not receive much elaboration, than they are for advocacy advertising, which prompts more elaboration. In addition, perceived congruence between the sponsor and the social issue is shown to moderate these effects: Higher congruence between the sponsor and social issue increases favorable ratings of CSR for cause promotions but only if elaboration on the sponsorship activity is facilitated. On the other hand, lower congruence increases favorable ratings of CSR for advocacy advertising as long as elaboration on the sponsorship is not constrained. We also found that higher congruence enhances CSR ratings if participants are primed to focus their attention on the sponsor brand, whereas lower congruence enhances CSR if participants are primed to focus their attention on the social issue.     

An integrated model for guiding the selection of treatment components for problem behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement

We evaluated the usefulness of 2 assessments to guide treatment selection for individuals whose prior functional analysis indicated that automatic reinforcement maintained their problem behavior. In the 1st assessment, we compared levels of problem behavior during a noncontingent play condition and an alone or ignore condition. In the 2nd, we assessed participants’ relative preferences for automatic reinforcement and social reinforcers in a concurrent‐operants arrangement. We used the results of these 2 assessments to assign 5 participants to a treatment based on noncontingent access to social reinforcers or to a treatment based on differential access to social reinforcers. We conducted monthly probes with the participants over 10 to 12 months to evaluate the effects of the treatment procedures. All participants showed reductions in problem behavior over this period.     

Desire and Self-Representation: A Philosophical Reading of the Malayalam Novelette “Agnisakshi”

Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research - With the focus on the concepts of desire and self-representation, in this paper we present a philosophical analysis of the Malayalam novelette...