Specificity of Discrimination: Does It Matter From Whence It Comes?1

The negative effects of discrimination on those who are stigmatized are well documented. What is less clear, however, is whether the source of the discrimination has differential outcomes on the person being discriminated against. Survey results from 685 injecting drug users (IDUs) revealed that IDUs who experienced discrimination from healthcare workers had poorer physical health, whereas physical health was unrelated to experiences of discrimination by those outside the healthcare system (family, friends, and partners). In contrast, IDUs' mental health status was less sensitive to the source of discrimination. Discrimination by healthcare workers and by others outside the healthcare industry were both related to IDUs' mental health. Implications and limitations of this research are discussed.     

Subjective determinants of attraction: Self-perceived causes of the rise and decline of liking,love, and being in love

Eighty-one female students at a German university were asked to indicate in writing (a) how they would come to like, love, and be in love with someone, and (b) how in their case liking, loving, and being in love with someone would come to an end. The responses were analyzed using a comprehensive list of 117 determinants developed for this study, which were grouped into four causal categories–P (person), O (other), P×O (relational), and E (environmental) conditions. Regarding the rise of attraction, the most frequent determinant for liking and for being in love was the existence of positive attributes of O (69% and 63%); for love, it was the existence of positive feelings from O (29%). Regarding the decline of attraction, the most frequent determinant for liking was negative behavior on O's part (42%); for love, abuse of one's trust by O (25%); and for being in love, disillusionment with regard to O (44%). Further analyses (including ANOVAs) involved the mean frequencies for the four causal categories. Concerning the rise of attraction sentiments, P causes were predominant for love and O causes were predominant for liking and for being in love; P×O causes were particularly infrequent for being in love. Concerning the decline of attraction sentiments, only for liking was one causal category predominant (O causes). E causes were hardly mentioned for both the rise and the decline focus. The findings are discussed in the context of both the more traditional research on “objective” determinants of attraction and, in particular, of recent research on the subjective (common-sense or implicit) understanding of liking, love, and being in love.     

Ego development in women without higher education

The study presents evidence that interpersonal and situational complexity, confrontation and conflict advance ego development in women. Thirty-two pregnant women of moderate education and from modest educational backgrounds were studied. Loevinger's Sentence Completion Test was used to measure ego development, and interviews and tests with the subjects and their mothers formed the data from which the mother daughter, father-daughter and parental relationship were assessed along with evaluation of environmental strain during childhood. The findings suggest that women at higher, compared to lower, stages of ego development are more individuated, and reared to more independence and conflict-tolerance by less responsive, but more active and socially engaged mothers. High ego-level daughters also had conflicted and overinvolved relationships to the fathers. Ego development was related to early environmental stress, parental marital strain and to present environmental stress. Personality or adjustment variables were not related to ego development. The relationship between ego development and complexities in the social environment was seen in light of the traditional over-socialization of females which may impede ego development.