The Effect of Four Years of Participation in a Tibetan Buddhist Retreat on Perceptions of Physiological and Psychological Well-Being

The researchers assessed the effect of participation in a Tibetan retreat at a center in Scotland over a 4-year period using the General Health Questionnaire-60 (Goldberg & Williams, 1988) and the Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen, Kamarck, & Mermelstein, 1988), Residence at the retreat center did not show any harmful or beneficial effects on the participants' levels of stress and general health as measured by these scales.     

Helper plus trainer: a two-phase program for the counselor

Helping is what it's all about. But if we recognize that one way to help is to train someone else to do a part of what we can do, we can assist that many more people with our limited resources. Thus, to be professionally adequate through all dimensions of the Cube requires the capacity to “train” as well as to “help.” Delworth and Moore have had extensive experience in both modes and have trained literally hundreds of paraprofessionals on a wide range of tasks. Their expertness shows through particularly in their recognition that training is not complete until the trainee has mastered the barrier of systems entry. Too many well-meaning and adequately skilled counselors have had their noses flattened because they did not have the “key” to the system. Too many well-meaning and adequately skilled counselors have remained in their offices because they lacked the ability to “multiply” their efforts through others. Here is a schematic to facilitate change in both kinds of counselors.     

Remaining in a situationally aggressive relationship: The role of relationship self‐efficacy

Relationship self‐efficacy (RSE) is the belief that one can resolve relationship conflicts, and it may lead victims of situational violence to remain in their relationships because they expect to minimize subsequent violence. Indeed, a longitudinal study of two samples of college students demonstrated that RSE moderates the effects of victimization on relationship dissolution; intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization was positively associated with dissolution among intimates low in RSE but was unassociated with dissolution among intimates high in RSE. Interestingly, although RSE was negatively associated with dissolution among victims, it was associated with experiencing less subsequent IPV in one sample. Ultimately, whether victims' RSE is adaptive may depend on the extent to which any minimization of conflicts eliminates violence.     

Accuracy and bias in newlywed spouses' perceptions of each other's personalities

This study investigated moderators of newlywed spouses' accuracy in judging each other's personality. Spouses in 154 predominantly Hispanic newlywed couples rated their own and their partners' personality traits. Full‐sample results showed significant associations between perceivers' and targets' personality ratings (“truth force”/“tracking accuracy”). Positive directional bias (perceivers' mean trait ratings of targets exceeding targets' self‐ratings) also was evident. Positive directional bias occurred when perceivers had little familiarity with their spouse prior to dating and when perceivers had high self‐esteem. Truth force/tracking accuracy increased with less time spent cohabiting and higher perceiver self‐esteem. Positive associations between perceivers' self‐esteem and ratings of partners on positively valenced traits were reduced when partners had had greater opportunities to observe one another's behaviors.