Occult participation: its impact on adolescent development

This study investigated the relationship between occult participation, substance abuse, and level of self-esteem in adolescents. Data were collected from 50 adolescents who ranged in age from 12 to 19 years and who spoke English as their primary language. The combined group of adolescents consisted of 25 clinical and 25 nonclinical youth. Participants completed a three-part questionnaire package which included Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale, the Adolescent Magic Questionnaire, and the Drug and Alcohol Assessment Scale. Results indicated that adolescent substance abuse and occult participation were significantly related. High and low occult participation groups were determined, and significant differences were found between the high versus low occult groups when compared on the primary variables of self-esteem and substance abuse. Significant differences were also noted when comparing the high versus low occult groups with various psychosocial developmental variables. Included is a discussion of the impact of occult participation on the psychosocial elements of adolescent self-esteem, self-concept, tolerance for deviance, and religious involvement.     

Pessimistic self-preoccupation, performance deficits, and depression

Three studies are presented testing a model of the cognitive performance deficits shown in depression. The model proposes that such deficits occur as an interaction of expectancy and focus of attention variables, that is, in the presence of both low expectancy of success and high self-focus. Study 1 was a pilot study which documented that depressed undergraduates evidence poorer anagram performance, greater self-focus, and lower pretask expectancies than do nondepressed subjects. Study 2 showed that nondepressed undergraduates evidence performance deficits only when both expectancy is lowered and self-focus is increased. Study 3 suggested that depressed undergraduates' performance deficits are overcome either by lowering self-focus or by raising expectancy. Discussed are discrepancies between self-report and performance data, the relevance of these studies to the test anxiety literature, the need to integrate literature concerning the effects of depression, anxiety, and self-esteem on performance, and how the interactive roles of positive expectancy and focus of attention may be related to effective coping in a variety of situations.     

Old is old is old?

We examined potential differences between two matched subgroups of elderly men: young-old (65-74 years of age; n = 53) and old-old (75 years of age and older; n = 56). Subjects were fairly healthy men from community agencies, who were interviewed and tested on a number of characteristics involving personality, mood, attitudes, and behaviors. Although t tests and correlations indicated some differences between the groups, the overall findings underlined their similarity on the vast majority of variables scrutinized. The crucial base for enhancing understanding in gerontology should not only focus on the age-advancing senescent person but on the whole individual.     

Item factor structure of the Personality Adjective Check List

This study reports on a principal-components analysis of the Personality Adjective Check List (PACL) at the item level. Data came from a national sample of normal adults and included the responses of 1,058 men and 1,194 women (N = 2,252). Analyses were conducted separately for men and women, and for the sexes combined. The scree test was applied to decide on the number of factors to extract. Retained factors were rotated by varimax and direct oblimin procedures. Results were very similar for each analysis, with coefficients of congruence for the five orthogonal factors obtained from men and women separately being .95, .92, .94, .94, and .92. The five unipolar personality dimensions isolated were interpreted as Aggressive/Dominant, Neurotic, Conscientious, Detached/Introverted, and Surgent/Extraverted. These were compared to item factors of the Million Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-I), MCMI-II, Adjective Check List (ACL), and to Norman's Big Five dimensions.     

Meeting a deviant person: Subjective norms and affective reactions

Studied differences in verbal, nonverbal, and physiological responses during a confrontation with a male confederate role-playing either a physically handicapped (PH), homosexual (HS), or normal (NOR) person. One hundred and eight males from colleges of economics and engineering listened in a laboratory experiment to personal introductions by two confederates in succession. Whereas the first confederate always appeared normal, the second took one of the three roles mentioned. A further informal meeting with this confederate was arranged outside the laboratory; all subjects had taken a stereotype test before. Normative differences between PH and HS (p ≤ 0.05) are found on verbal measures including the stereotype test, self-rated emotion and consent to a further contact. General effects of deviance separating PH and HS from NOR (p ≤ 0.05) emerge on observed emotion, interpersonal distance during the informal meeting, and skin-resistance responses. The results largely confirm the hypotheses. They are interpreted as supporting a distinction between intended (action-type) components of behaviour which are strongly influenced by subjective norms, and unintended (reaction-type) components reflecting undifferentiated reactions to deviance.     

The polyserial correlation coefficient

The polyserial and point polyserial correlations are discussed as generalizations of the biserial and point biserial correlations. The relationship between the polyserial and point polyserial correlation is derived. The maximum likelihood estimator of the polyserial correlation is compared with a two-step estimator and with a computationally convenient ad hoc estimator. All three estimators perform reasonably well in a Monte Carlo simulation. Some practical applications of the polyserial correlation are described.By coincidence, the first author and the second and third authors learned that they were working independently on closely related problems and, consequently, decided to write a jointly authored paper.