Michel de Certeau's keys of political discernment in May 1968: The theological-spiritual assumptions that informed his tools of analysis

This article seeks to identify the theoretical tools that supported Michel de Certeau's political discernment during the crisis of May 1968 in France. De Certeau's ability to elucidate the novelty and complexity of this event is linked to the intertwining of his experiences as a historian, traveller (voyageur), and Christian (specifically a Jesuit). De Certeau's articulation of a 'theology of difference' allowed him to construct the intellectual and spiritual tools that enabled a lucid discernment of May 1968. Through this theology, derived from negative theology, de Certeau made the experience of faith operative at a moment of cultural crisis. The article also analyses possibilities involved in the ‘rupture’, that is, the fracture that is implied in modernity; in the notion of an event that highlights the deficiency of language, its incapacity to establish ‘a truthful communication’ in society; and the recognition of the poetic dimension of speech, which is capable of interweaving speech and action. The May 1968 event invites these elements mutually to redefine themselves.     

High-Trait and Low-Trait Angry College Students: A Comparison of Family Environments

In this study the authors investigated differences in the family environments of high- and low-trait angry college students. High-trait angry students described their family environments as significantly less cohesive, less emotionally expressive, more conflictual, and more disorganized than did their low-trait angry counterparts. Implications of the findings to the counseling of students with anger-related problems are discussed.     

The Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology at 25

This issue, redesigned in a new format, marks the beginning of Volume 25, the beginning of the silver anniversary year of the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. Data were compiled from the first 24 volumes to study changes over time, and Pearson correlations were calculated to determine linear trends in the journal's development The number of articles per volume has doubled, from about 25 to 50. In recent years the first authors of articles were more likely to be located outside the U.S. (up from about 5% to about 25%). Also, in recent years the first authors of articles were less likely to be affiliated with nonmedical school university departments and more likely to be affiliated with medical schools or research institutes. An introduction to this special 25th anniversary issue is provided.     

Latent Structure of the Sources of Mathematics Self-Efficacy

General social cognitive theory and its career-specific elaborations posit four primary sources through which self-efficacy beliefs are acquired and modified: personal performance accomplishments, vicarious learning, social persuasion, and physiological states and reactions. We present two studies exploring the dimensionality of these sources within the context of career-relevant mathematics activities. In Study 1, 295 college students completed measures of the source variables. Testing two- through five-factor models, we found strongest support for a four-factor latent structure of the efficacy sources. In Study 2, involving 481 high school students, a five-factor model fit the data well. We also found evidence of a higher order factor structure in both samples. Several directions for further research on the sources of efficacy information are considered, along with implications for career and academic interventions.     

Hopelessness in community-residing aged persons: a viable construct?

Previous work with the Geriatric Hopelessness Scale (GHS; Fry, 1984, 1986) suggests that it may be a useful measure of pessimism for a variety of domains among elderly persons. One hundred seven community-residing aged persons were individually administered the GHS and a variety of personality and cognitive functioning measures in an effort to further refine and validate the GHS. Results suggest very modest internal consistency and a poorly defined factor structure for the GHS, in contrast to earlier findings. Although the GHS failed to differentiate elderly persons by age, it was nonetheless related to self-esteem, depression, self-rated health, internality, morale, and life satisfaction. Taken together, these data indicate that the research and clinical utility of the GHS with community-residing aged persons may be more limited than previously believed.     

Compassionate Love among Catholic Priests: its Antecedents and its Influence on Affect toward Pastoral Ministry in Indonesia

Pastoral Psychology - What drives Catholic priests to continue to serve people? That is the main question behind this psychological study. Based on a working model of compassionate love (Underwood...     

The relationship between acculturation and problem behavior proneness in a Hispanic youth sample: a longitudinal mediation model

This study, using secondary data analysis, examined prospectively a mediation model of the relationship between acculturation and problem behavior proneness among 330 Hispanic children and adolescents from an urban school district in the southwest region of the United States. Acculturation was predicted to have an indirect, but positive, relationship to problem behavior proneness through parental involvement and self-esteem. The results partially supported the model and indicated that parental involvement, but not self-esteem, played a significant mediational role in children's problem behavior proneness. The individual indicators of problem behavior proneness among Hispanic youth were significantly interrelated, which is consistent with problem behavior theory as conceptualized by R. Jessor (1984) and R. Jessor and S. L. Jessor (1977). Findings from this study provide implications for future research and intervention designs.