Two-Factor Structure of Social-Evaluative Fear in Children: Distinguishing Fear of Positive and Negative Evaluation in Social Anxiety

Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment - Social anxiety is characterized by fear, nervousness, and avoidance in social situations and can emerge as early as childhood. Recent...     

Longitudinal trajectories of bicultural identity integration in recently immigrated Hispanic adolescents: Links with mental health and family functioning

This study examined, in a sample of recently immigrated Hispanic adolescents in Miami and Los Angeles, the extent to which bicultural identity integration (BII; involving the ability to synthesise one's heritage and receiving cultural streams and to identify as a member of both cultures) is best understood as a developmental construct that changes over time or as an individual‐difference construct that is largely stable over time. We were also interested in the extent to which these trajectories predicted mental health and family functioning. Recent‐immigrant 9th graders (N = 302) were assessed 6 times from 9th to 12th grade. Latent class growth analyses using the first 5 timepoints identified 2 trajectory classes—one with lower BII scores over time and another with higher BII scores over time. Higher heritage and US identity at baseline predicted membership in the higher BII class. At the 6th study timepoint, lower BII adolescents reported significantly poorer self‐esteem, optimism, prosocial behaviour and family relationships compared with their higher BII counterparts. These findings are discussed in terms of further research on the over‐time trajectory of biculturalism, and on the need to develop interventions to promote BII as a way of facilitating well‐being and positive family functioning.     

Shyness,Self-regulation,and Cognitive Problem Solving in Typically Developing 4-year-olds: A Pilot Study

Because shy children are at risk for poor academic achievement, it is important to examine factors that contribute to variability in the relation between individual differences in shyness and cognitive functioning before school entry. The authors examined whether on-task facilitative private speech—a proxy of self-regulation—moderated the association between individual differences in shyness and performance on an executive function (EF) task in 52 typically developing 4-year-olds. They found that private speech interacted with shyness to predict performance on the EF task in girls but not in boys. More specifically, shyness was inversely related to EF task performance when girls used low amounts of regulatory private speech, but was positively related to performance when girls used high amounts of regulatory private speech. These preliminary findings are discussed in the context of implications for shy children in educational settings.     

Similarity based approximate reasoning: fuzzy control

This paper presents an approach to similarity based approximate reasoning that elucidates the connection between similarity and existing approaches to inference in approximate reasoning methodology. A set of axioms is proposed to get a reasonable measure of similarity between two fuzzy sets. The similarity between the fact(s) and the antecedent of a rule is used to modify the relation between the antecedent and the consequent of the rule. An inference is drawn using the well-known projection operation on the domain of the consequent. Zadeh's compositional rule of inference and existing similarity based reasoning techniques are considered for a new similarity based approximate reasoning technique. The proposed mechanism is used to develop a modified fuzzy control system. A new defuzzification scheme is proposed. Simulation results are presented for the well-known inverted pendulum problem.     

Trait Self-esteem Moderates Decreases in Self-control Following Rejection: An Information-processing Account

In the current paper, the authors posit that trait self-esteem moderates the relationship between social rejection and decrements in self-control, propose an information-processing account of trait self-esteem's moderating influence and discuss three tests of this theory. The authors measured trait self-esteem, experimentally manipulated social rejection and assessed subsequent self-control in Studies 1 and 2. Additionally, Study 3 framed a self-control task as diagnostic of social skills to examine motivational influences. Together, the results reveal that rejection impairs self-control, but only among low self-esteem individuals. Moreover, this decrement in self-control only emerged when the task had no social implications-suggesting that low self-esteem individuals exert effort on tasks of social value and are otherwise preoccupied with belonging needs when completing nonsocial tasks.     

Anthropometric profiles and social physique anxiety of physical education professionals from India

Previous work indicates that there may be a relationship between the observation and evaluation of one's physique and the construct of social physique anxiety associated with this process. Since physical educators are expected to serve as role models of desired fitness behaviors, bodily appearance, and composition, it is of interest to examine whether such responses and relationships may be observed. However, there is limited published information on anthropometric profiles and body images of physical education professionals, especially of those from India. Therefore, this study compared anthropometric profiles and Social Physique Anxiety in a sample of 182 male physical education professionals from India (M age=41.2 yr.). Body Mass Index, sum of three skinfolds (Tricep, Abdomen, and Thigh), and waist/hip ratio were determined using standard procedures. The sample was grouped into overweight and normal weight categories. Significant group differences were found for the sum of skinfolds and waist/hip ratio, with no significant differences between groups on the Social Physique Anxiety total score. Correlations for the anthropometric measures with the Social Physique Anxiety scores indicated no significant relationships. Mean total Social Physique Anxiety score for the combined group was comparable to those reported for other groups of physically active individuals. These findings indicate low Social Physique Anxiety in this sample and may have implications with regard to the attitudes pertaining to body image and role modeling of appropriate fitness behaviors.