Planting a tree while envisioning the forest--The recursive relation between theory and research: Reply to Blustein (2003).

In his comments regarding D. M. Tokar, J. R. Withrow, R. J. Hall, and B. Moradi's (see record 2002-08430-002) article, "Psychological Separation, Attachment Security, Vocational Self-Concept Crystallization, and Career Indecision: A Structural Equation Analysis," D. L. Blustein (see record 2002-08430-003) offered several useful suggestions for future research in the area of relationship variables and career development and also raised several concerns about Tokar et al's rationale for and use of structural equation modeling in testing their models. In this reply, the authors note points of agreement with Blustein and respond to comments with which they disagree. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nature, culture, and explanations for erotic plasticity: Reply to Andersen, Cyranowski, and Aarestad (2000) and Hyde and Durik (2000).

R. F. Baumeister's (2000) (see record 2000-15386-001) article on erotic plasticity was criticized by B. L. Andersen, J. M. Cyranowski, and S. Aarestad (2000) (see record 2000-15386-003) for not being biological enough and by J. S. Hyde and A. M. Durik (2000) (see record 2000-15386-002) for being too biological. Both critiques were based on drawing a polarized caricature of R. F. Baumeister's actual view, although the two caricatures are opposites. Actually, neither commentary questioned the gender difference R. F. Baumeister documented; rather, the dispute is about how to explain it, which is indeed a challenge remaining for further work. Although both commentaries provided valuable suggestions about how to approach an explanation, neither approach can provide a coherent account until various theoretical problems are resolved and seemingly contrary empirical findings are addressed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alerting and orienting in Alzheimer's disease: Are they interdependent? Reply to Festa et al. (2006).

The area of contention between E. Festa-Martino, B. R. Ott, and W. C. Heindel (2004; see record 2004-12990-007) and A. Tales and colleagues (A. Tales, J. L. Muir, A. Bayer, R. Jones, & R. J. Snowden, 2002; A. Tales, J. L. Muir, A. Bayer, & R. J. Snowden, 2002; see record 2002-06031-015) is whether the Alzheimer's disease (AD)-related increased spatial orienting effect is attributable directly to the decreased phasic alerting effect or whether they are two separate effects. In a subsequent study, A. Tales, R. J. Snowden, M. Brown, and G. Wilcock (2006; see record 2006-20657-014) have provided evidence to suggest that the increased spatial orienting effect in AD is not necessarily the result of a decreased phasic alerting effect, as an AD-related increase in spatial orienting effect occurred under conditions in which the phasic alerting effect was the same for both groups. In a commentary to this article, E. K. Festa, B. R. Ott, and W. C. Heindel (2006; see record 2006-20657-015) discuss what they suggest may be potential confounding factors within the authors' study. In this reply, further data in support of the authors' interpretation are provided, and the authors address the points highlighted by Festa et al. (2006). In addition, the authors request that if Festa et al. (2006) are to account for the changes in spatial orienting effects in AD in terms of the shifts in the phasic alerting effects, then how do they postulate how so small a change in one can produce so large a change in the other? (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On gender role conflict in men—Future directions and implications for counseling: Comment on Good et al. (1995) and Cournoyer and Mahalik (1995).

15 yrs of research on gender role conflict indicate it has been a fruitful construct in counseling psychology. G. E. Good, J. M. Robertson, J. M. O'Neil, L. F. Fitzgerald, M. Stevens, K. A. Debord, K. M. Bartels, and D. B. Braverman (1995) and R. J. Cournoyer and J. R. Mahalik (1995) add to the empirical knowledge and are certain to stimulate thinking in this area. In this comment, issues related to (a) psychological maladjustment, (b) test development, (c) life span development, and (d) practice implications are discussed. Although clear progress is being made, much more is unknown about how gender-related variables positively and negatively affect male development and, subsequently, the practice of counseling psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Components of the psychotherapy relationship: Their interaction and unfolding during treatment.

C. J. Gelso and J. A. Carter (see record 1986-09708-001) suggested that all counseling and psychotherapy relationships, regardless of theoretical orientation, consist of 3 components: a working alliance, a transference configuration (including therapist countertransference), and a real relationship. Drawing on theoretical and research literature and using clinical examples, this article offers 19 propositions about how these 3 relationship components interact with one another, how each operates across the course of psychotherapy, and how they affect the treatment in both brief and longer term therapies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Diversity and leadership.

Comments on the six articles contained in the special issue of the American Psychologist (January 2007) devoted to leadership, written by W. Bennis (see record 2006-23492-002); S. J. Zaccaro (see record 2006-23492-003); V. H. Vroom and A. G. Yago (see record 2006-23492-004); B. J. Avolio (see record 2006-23492-005); R. J. Sternberg (see record 2006-23492-006); and R. J. Hackman and R. Wageman (see record 2006-23492-007). The current authors express concern that the special issue failed to include attention to issues of diversity and intersecting identities as they pertain to leadership. A Special Issue Part II on Diversity and Leadership is being proposed to (a) advance new models of leadership, (b) expand on existing leadership theories, and (c) incorporate diversity and multiple identities in the formulation of more inclusive leadership research and theory. The goal of this special issue will be to revise our theories of leadership and our understanding of effective leadership to include gender, racial/ethnic minority status, sexual orientation, and disability status. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Further reflections on publishing multiple journal articles from the same data set: Reply to Bray (1994) and Parke (1994).

J. H. Bray's (see record 1995-11196-001) and R. D. Parke's (see record 1995-11204-001) comments on M. A. Fine and L. A. Kurdek's (see record 1995-11198-001) article are constructive, and their efforts have extended the dialogue on the important issue of publishing multiple journal articles from a single data set. This article identifies areas of agreement with Bray and Parke and comments on additional issues that they raised. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Specialty designation: An industrial/organizational perspective.

Agrees with the J. Service et al (see record 1994-35137-001) argument that Canadian psychology should have a system of specialties, and addresses the issue of how minimal standards of professionalism can be ensured for psychologists who work in nonacademic settings. The twin issues of program accreditation and professional certification are central to specialty designation. Examples are taken from the Canadian Psychological Association's Section for Industrial/Organizational Psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The two meanings of "defense": Toward an integration of cognitive psychology and psychoanalytic theory.

Uses concepts from cognitive psychology to illuminate a distinction proposed by R. S. Wallerstein (1967, 1983) between defense mechanisms vs defense contents and behaviors, which differ in important ways with consequences for such theoretical issues as the pathogenicity of defense, the role of defense in supportive psychotherapy, and the sense in which defenses are unconscious. Although defense contents and behaviors can be unconscious in Freud's dynamic sense, an understanding of the unconscious status of defense mechanisms requires an extension of the concept of the unconscious to include what J. Sandler and W. G. Joffe (1969) called the nonexperiential. Although C. Brenner argued against Wallerstein's distinction in the panel on defenses in the psychoanalytic process (J. Krent, 1970; see also Brenner, 1976 and 1981), this article shows how their differences can be resolved. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Level of generality and clear thinking in theory construction and theory evaluation: Reply to Greenberg (1994) and Patton (1994).

L. S. Greenberg (see record 1994-38238-001) and M. J. Patton (see record 1994-38253-001) both address ambiguities in C. J. Gelso and J. A. Carter's (see record 1994-38236-001) theoretical propositions. In this reply, the issue of how general a theory ought to be in order to have maximal impact on research and practice is discussed. A number of Greenberg's assertions about Gelso and Carter's formulations are questioned. Research on complex constructs, for example, transference, is difficult but viable. The field should not shy away from such constructs because of definitional and measurement problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological contributions to economic policy: On Riegle and on Liem and Rayman.

Discusses articles by D. W. Riegle (see record 1983-24449-001) and R. Liem and P. Rayman (see record 1983-24446-001), which document and underscore the health and social costs of economic decline, particularly unemployment. A few examples are given of how psychologists can contribute to economic policy development, including conceptualizations of how broad-scale economic functioning affects the quality of life, the study of particular issues, and the evaluation of economic and regulatory policies. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validity is local.

Responds to critiques by G. S. Howard (see record 1990-13709-001) and R. Hogan and R. A. Nicholson (see record 1989-00097-001) of J. Kagan's (see record 1989-01454-001) discussion of validity in self-report measurement of personality. The main contention is whether the meaning and validity of a personality construct based only on self-report data are preserved in other theoretical and empirical contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Analysis of attribution data: Theory testing and effects estimation.

Statistical models are presented for the analysis of attribution data (H. H. Kelley, 1967, 1973; L. A. McArthur, 1972) that are more appropriate than previously used methods and that enable researchers to address a broader range of theoretical issues. These new models allow researchers to determine the separate and joint influence of consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency information on attributions to the person, stimulus, and circumstance. The techniques are illustrated on several data sets (M. Hewstone and J. M. Jaspars [see PA, Vol 75:4348]; D. J. Hilton and J. M. Jaspars [see PA, Vol 75:35411]; J. M. Jaspars [1983]; and L. A. McArthur [1972]), and an appendix is included describing how researchers can fit these models using a computing package such as SPSS-X (M. J. Norusis, 1985). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Psychological interventions are urgently needed to prevent HIV infection: New priorities for behavioral research in the second decade of AIDS": Reply.

Replies to comments by D. R. Holtgrave, R. H. Needle et al, D. Cotton et al, and S. R. Truax (see PA, Vol 82:14725, 14740, 14719, and 14749, respectively) regarding the review by J. A. Kelly et al (see record 1994-10963-001) on interventions designed to prevent HIV transmission. Specific issues raised by the commentators are addressed, and the need is expressed for more behavioral science-based controlled intervention trials. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Affiliation structures in groups of young children: A computer simulation.

A computer program is described that simulates the emergence of affiliation networks in preschool groups and examines theoretical issues raised by the model, including general issues of validation. The simulation implies that triadic interactions, although observed in preschool groups, are not essential in the formation of affiliative structures (contra F. Strayer and J. Noel, 1986) and that, in this age range, therefore, polyadic friendship groupings can be understood as sets of dyadic relationships. The model also demonstrates how group structures can be generated without reference to group-level processes (contrast W. Hartup, 1983). It also focuses attention on the role played by preference formation in social isolation, by demonstrating that inhibition of preferences can give rise to isolation. The model also suggests that social outcomes are best described by nonlinear functions (cf. W. Roberts; see record 1987-03785-001). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the congruity between internal states and action.

Addresses the problem of incongruity between beliefs and behaviors. The theories of attribution and cognitive dissonance are briefly discussed, and their implications for behavior are noted. Issues that arise from obtaining behavioral effects in the absence of effects on beliefs and evaluations are delineated, and previous theories to account for these results are reviewed. Studies cited by R. E. Nisbett and T. D. Wilson (see record 1978-00295-001), by Wilson (1983), and by D. J. Bem (1972) are scrutinized with respect to the present author's critical and theoretical objectives, and a similar analysis is applied to more recent experiments on overjustification. It is concluded that (a) self-report effects are significant and congruent with behavior more frequently than previous reviewers have indicated, (b) behavior may interfere with inferential processes and thereby erase or prevent from occurring internal state changes that would otherwise be found, and (c) incongruity and other problems are symptomatic of there being no sophisticated theoretical account of how internal states mediate behavior. Basic facts about studies reviewed by Nisbett and Wilson are appended. (109 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Race and self-esteem revisited: Reply to Hafdahl and Gray-Little (2002).

A. R. Hafdahl and B. Gray-Little (2002) raised several issues of study inclusion and statistical reporting, none of which challenged the overall results or took issue with the theoretical conclusions of J. M. Twenge and J. Crocker (2002). Excluding the few studies whose inclusion Hafdahl and Gray-Little questioned would not change the results. Twenge and Crocker's inclusion of twice as many data sources is the more likely cause of differences between the 2 meta-analyses. The authors argue that including standardized regression coefficients is essential for reader understanding and reiterate the position that academic self-esteem scales should not be included in an analysis focusing on general self-esteem. Examining the specific domains of self-esteem would entail another meta-analysis, preferably one including other specific domains as well. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Theories, theoretical orientation, and theoretical dimensions: Comment on Poznanski and McLennan (1995).

J. J. Poznanski and J. McLennan's (see record 1996-07039-001) article helpfully integrates research on a topic of considerable importance. Their derivation of two second-order "factors" (analytic-experiential and objective-subjective), as well as five more specific factors, in theoretical orientation is particularly helpful. In this comment, I seek to clarify how therapists' preferences for certain techniques relate to theoretical orientation. Reasons for the slow pace of research on multi-item self-report measures of theoretical orientation are suggested, as is an alternative measurement approach to that recommended by Poznanski and McLennan. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)