Multiple Goals and Tactical Behaviors in Social Conflicts1

The hypotheses of a multiple goals theory of conflict were supported in a study in which 264 American students reported on a conflict that they had experienced. The results showed that 95% of subjects had more than 1 goal during the conflict; social goals were more strongly activated than resource goals; subjects' tactical behavior was determined by the social goals; and effects of personal and situational variables on tactical choice were mediated by activated goals. Factor analyses identified 6 goals and 4 types of tactics.     

Alexithymia Predicts Posttraumatic Growth and Distress After Trauma

The present study sought to investigate how alexithymia (a deficit in identifying and describing emotions) may hinder the development of posttraumatic growth (PTG) and contribute to ongoing distress. Participants were 250 undergraduate college students who had experienced a highly stressful event in the past six months. Regression analyses were conducted to examine how alexithymia contributes to PTG and distress in addition to other known predictors. Analyses revealed that alexithymia was a significant negative predictor of PTG, and a significant positive predictor of distress. It was also found that Difficulty in Identifying Feelings was the alexithymia component that best predicted PTG and distress.     

Putting It on the Line: Telephone Counseling for Adolescent Smokers

Adolescent smokers need cessation help, but the question of how best to intervene remains unanswered. This article describes the empirically validated protocol of an established, well‐utilized adolescent telephone counseling program for smoking cessation, tailored to adolescent developmental needs and shown to increase clients' 6‐month prolonged abstinence rate significantly. Clinical issues addressed include client assessment, motivation, self‐efficacy, familial and social support, planning, coping, relapse‐sensitive call scheduling, and self‐image. Counselor training considerations are also discussed.     

Assessing posttraumatic cognitive processes: the Event Related Rumination Inventory

Cognitive processes in the aftermath of experiencing a major life stressor play an important role in the impact of the event on the person. Intrusive thoughts about the event are likely to be associated with continued distress, while deliberate rumination, aimed at understanding and problem-solving, should be predictive of posttraumatic growth (PTG). The Event Related Rumination Inventory (ERRI), designed to measure these two styles of rumination, is described and validation information is provided. Using a college student sample screened for having experienced highly stressful life events, data were obtained (N=323) to conduct an exploratory factor analysis that supported the two factors of the ERRI. Separate confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) on two additional samples (Ns=186 and 400) supported a two-factor model. The two ERRI factors were validated by comparison with related variables and by assessing their contributions to predicting distress and PTG in two samples (Ns=198 and 202) that had been combined to conduct the second CFA. Data indicate the ERRI has solid psychometric properties, captures variance not measured by stable differences in cognitive styles, and the separate factors are related to posttraumatic distress and growth as predicted by existing models of PTG.     

Pills and attitude change: misattribution of arousal or excuses for negative actions?

Two experiments evaluated the competing interpretations of cognitive dissonance and impression management theories regarding the pill and misattribution studies of attitude change in the forced compliance situation. Attitude change was eliminated when subjects were told about the tension side effects of taking a placebo, replicating the usual effect. Attitude change was also eliminated, however, when subjects took the pill following counterattitudinal behavior. In one condition of the second experiment, subjects were given instructions about tension side effects but were also told that the drug would not affect their moral judgment or behavior. These instructions eliminated attitude change in a standard pill condition. The typical finding of attitude change was manifested in the misattribution/no-excuse condition. The primary and secondary data from both studies provided more support for the impression management interpretation of the standard misattribution manipulations than for a theory of misattribution of dissonance-produced arousal.     

Self-Presentation,Reasoned Action,and Adolescents' Decisions to Smoke Cigarettes1

The effectiveness of a one-shot intervention on the social, medical or medical/social consequences of smoking in deterring adolescent smoking was evaluated. Four hundred twenty adolescents completed surveys which measured attitudes, subjective norms, stereotypes, self-presentational beliefs regarding smoking, intentions to smoke, and smoking status at three points in time. The predictive ability of a Theory of Reasoned Behavior and of Impression Management Theory in determining adolescent smoking decisions was also assessed.     

Displaced aggression: Frustration or impression management

An experiment is reported testing an impression management interpretation of previous research demonstrating displaced aggression effects. It was found that superior performance by a confederate and not annoyance was related to increased use of shocks by subjects. Path analyses provided additional support for an impression management interpretation of these results, and disconfirmed frustration-aggression theory.