Stereotypes of emotional expressiveness of Northerners and Southerners: A cross-cultural test of Montesquieu's hypotheses.

Montesquieu argued that residents of warmer climates are more emotionally expressive than those living in cooler ones. More than 2,900 college students from 26 countries completed a brief questionnaire assessing the degree to which they considered Northerners and Southerners within their own countries to be emotionally expressive. In addition, individuals rated themselves on their own degree of expressiveness. In partial confirmation of Montesquieu's hypothesis, it was found that large within-country North-South stereotypes exist. Especially in Old World countries, Northerners are viewed as less emotionally expressive than Southerners. Regression and other analyses revealed that self-ratings of expressiveness were, in fact, related to being from the South and to warmer mean temperatures. Several possible explanations for these effects are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Low-status compensation: A theory for understanding the role of status in cultures of honor.

The mechanisms that link herding regions to cultures of honor have never been empirically tested. The objective of the present article is to show the important role that issues of status play in linking herding regions to cultures of honor using the theory of low-status compensation (P. J. Henry, 2008b) Four studies are presented. Study 1 replicates the finding that counties in the American South conducive to herding have higher murder rates than do counties conducive to farming but shows those differences are mediated by indicators of status disparities in a county. Study 2 replicates the findings of Study 1 with an international sample of 92 countries. Study 3 tests the theoretical idea that people who are low in socioeconomic status face stigma in society and show self-defensive strategies generally. Finally, Study 4 provides experimental evidence that low-status tendencies toward aggressing in the face of insults may be due to strategies to protect their sense of social worth. The results are contextualized within the theory of low-status compensation as a theory for understanding the role status plays in predicting some forms of violence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological profiles of violent and nonviolent maritally distressed couples.

Compared 42 couples seeking counseling who had equal levels of marital distress but different levels of violence. 32 couples had experienced at least 1 episode of physical assault in the last year. Measures included the Profile of Mood States, the Index of Self-Esteem, assessments of violence in family and peer milieus, and assessment of alcohol use. More violent males reported alcohol problems than distressed males. Women in violent couples were significantly more anxious, confused, fatigued, and marginally more depressed than maritally distressed women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Insult, aggression, and the southern culture of honor: An "experimental ethnography."

Three experiments examined how norms characteristic of a "culture of honor" manifest themselves in the cognitions, emotions, behaviors, and physiological reactions of southern White males. Participants were University of Michigan students who grew up in the North or South. In 3 experiments, they were insulted by a confederate who bumped into the participant and called him an "asshole." Compared with northerners (who were relatively unaffected by the insult) southerners were more likely to think their masculine reputation was threatened, more upset (as shown by a rise in cortisol levels), more physiologically primed for aggression (as shown by a rise in testosterone levels), more cognitively primed for aggression, and more likely to engage in aggressive and dominant behavior. Findings highlight the insult–aggression cycle in cultures of honor, in which insults diminish a man's reputation and he tries to restore his status by aggressive or violent behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Violent crime rate studies in philosophical context: A destructive testing approach to heat and southern culture of violence effects.

The logic behind the translation of conceptual hypotheses into testable propositions was illustrated with the heat hypothesis. The destructive resting philosophy was introduced and applied. This consists of first showing that a predicted empirical relation exists, then attempting to break that relation by adding competitor variables. The key question in destructive testing is "How difficult was it to break the relation?" This approach was used to analyze the heat effect on violent crime rates ( Study 1 ) and on White violent crime arrest rates ( Study 2 ) in U.S. cities. One competitor variable was the particular focus of analysis: southern culture of violence. The heat hypothesis was supported by highly significant correlations between the warmth of a city and its violence rate. This heat effect survived multiple destructive tests. Some support for the southern culture effect was also found, but this effect was more easily broken. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does psychiatric disorder predict violent crime among released jail detainees? A six-year longitudinal study.

Examined whether jail detainees with schizophrenia, major affective disorders, alcohol or drug use disorders, or psychotic symptoms (hallucinations and delusions) are arrested more often for violent crimes 6 yrs after release than are detainees with no disorders. Trained interviewers assessed 728 randomly selected male jail detainees using the National Institute of Mental Health Diagnostic Interview Schedule and then obtained follow-up arrest data for 6 yrs. Neither severe mental disorder nor substance abuse or dependence predicted the probability of arrest or the number of arrests for violent crime. Ss with symptoms of both hallucinations and delusions had a slightly higher number of arrests for violent crime, but not significantly so. These findings held even after controlling for prior violence and age. The findings do not support the stereotype that mentally ill criminals invariably commit violent crimes after they are released. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The violent 4-3 MMPI personality type.

Attempted to replicate and extend the study of K. R. Davis and J. O. Sines (see PA, Vol. 46:Issue 2) which found the MMPI high point pattern of 4-3 to be associated with commission of violent acts. 48 4-3 male inmates were compared with the 3 most frequently occurring other MMPI code types in a prison and with the institutional base rate for commission of violent criminal offenses. 4-3 Ss committed significantly more violent acts than any of the other personality groups and significantly more violence than the base rates of inmates in general. The other 3 personality groups did not differ from the base rate. Of the 4-3 Ss, 85% had a history of violence. Personality variables, e.g., guilt and anxiety, and race of the offender, are discussed. (24 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Firearm deaths among children and youth.

Nationally, homicide and suicide are the 2nd and 3rd leading causes of death among children and youth under the age of 21. Sixteen to 19-year-olds now have the highest rate of handgun victimization among all age groups. The firearm suicide rate for White males is over 4 times higher than the rate for African American males, whereas the firearm homicide rate is over 9 times higher for African American males. Almost half of all deaths among African American male teenagers now involve firearms. Multiple steps, both short- and long-term, need to be taken to reduce firearm death rates among children and youth. Some of the possible methods to do so are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender differences in patterns of relationship violence in Alberta.

Gender differences in patterns of relationship violence were investigated in a sample of 356 men and 351 women. Respondents reported on their receipt and perpetration of violent acts in the year prior to the survey. Men and women, respectively, reported similar 1-yr prevalence rates of husband-to-wife violence and wife-to-husband violence. However, differential gender patterns of reporting were identified. On average, men reported that they and their female partners were equally likely to engage in violent acts and to initiate violent conflicts. In contrast, women reported lower levels of victimization than perpetration of violence, and they reported less male-only and male-initiated violence than did men. The majority of respondents in violent relationships reported a pattern of violence that was bidirectional, minor, infrequent, and not physically injurious. The discussion focuses upon the meaning of gender differences in reports of relationship violence, and the existence of distinct patterns of violence within intimate relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The incidence of wife assault in Alberta.

Describes a representative sample of wife assault for Alberta Province, with both rural and urban components. Respondents self-reported the use of conflict tactics by and against them during the year prior to the survey. Wife assault rates were higher in urban settings (12.8%) than in rural settings (8.3%). Overall violence rates (of all self-reported aggressive acts) were virtually identical to those found in a 1985 US survey by M. Straus and R. J. Gelles (unpublished). Of the US sample, 11.3% reported use of violence against wives, compared to 11.2% of the Canadian sample. However, use of severe violence was less in Canada (assuming Alberta to be representative of Canadian rates), with only 77% of the US incidence rate reported. Methodological issues and directions of current data analysis are discussed. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting violent behavior from WAIS characteristics: A replication failure.

Attempted to replicate the findings of M. W. Kunce et al (see record 1976-10022-001) on an index for predicting violent behavior derived from differential WAIS characteristics. The present study, with 16 violent and 10 nonviolent psychotic White males, found that, in contrast with the Kunce et al findings, violent Ss earned higher Similarities Ratio scores than did nonviolent Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parricide and violent crimes: a Canadian study

Canadian data reveal a positive correlation between the rates for parricide and criminal violence from 1962 to 1985. These results run counter to Young's 1993 results and challenge Megargee's (1982) hypothesis according to which factors influencing violent crimes do not similarly affect intrafamilial violence.     

The Prediction of Violence and Homicide in Young Men.

In this prospective study, the authors predicted violence and homicide in 3 representative school samples (N = 1,517). Participants were part of a longitudinal, multiple cohort study on the development of delinquency in boys from late childhood to early adulthood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Thirty-three participants were convicted of homicide, 193 participants were convicted of serious violence, whereas another 498 participants self-reported serious violence. Predictors of violence included risk factors in the domains of child, family, school, and demographic characteristics. Boys with 4 or more violence risk factors were 6 times more likely to later commit violence in comparison with boys with fewer than 4 risk factors (odds ratio [OR] = 6.05). A subset of risk factors related to violence also predicted homicide among violent offenders. Boys with 4 or more risk factors for homicide were 14 times more likely to later commit homicide than violent individuals with fewer than 4 risk factors (OR = 14.48). Implications for the prevention of violence and homicide are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Beyond recidivism: Measuring community adjustments of conditionally released insanity acquittees.

This study addressed the understudied topic of community functioning among released insanity acquittees. Items from the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, the Short Form of the Jesness Behavior Checklist, and the US Department of Labor's Current Population Survey were used along with some original items to compose a 78-item behavioral and psychiatric functioning questionnaire. Analysis of clinician ratings of California outpatients (mostly male, White, violent insanity acquittees) produced 12 social, behavioral, and psychiatric scales with acceptable internal and interrater reliabilities. Ratings of clients who subsequently received good discharges were higher on all scales than were ratings of reoffenders and hospital revokees. Clients improved over time on the Employment, Social Supports, and Independence and Compliance scales. The questionnaire provides richer information about community outcomes than do recidivism statistics alone. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Drug-induced uveitis. Incidence, prevention and treatment

A study was made of all homicide deaths among black Americans during the period 1979-1991 in order to test two competing hypotheses about region of birth and region of death. One hypothesis was that Southern-born blacks had the highest homicide rates in every region of the US. The competing hypothesis was that blacks who did not migrate out of their region of birth had the highest homicide rates. We found that Southern-born blacks had the highest homicide rates among the population 35+ years old in the Northeast, Midwest, South and West. Yet non-migrants (region-born population) had higher rates than their Southern-born counterparts among the population 15-34 years old. Long distance migrants who were born in the Northeast, West or were foreign-born had the lowest homicide rates, by far. The distressing implications of these findings for public health efforts to prevent violent death are discussed.     

Demand and withdraw communication among couples experiencing husband violence.

Two studies compared marital communication behaviors of violent and nonviolent couples. In Study 1, violent distressed (VD) men reported more husband demand-wife withdraw than did nonviolent men. Distressed men reported less mutual constructive communication and more mutual blame and avoidance than did nondistressed men. Interactions of VD, violent nondistressed (VND), nonviolent distressed (NVD), and nonviolent nondistressed couples were coded in Study 2. VD spouses tended to engage in the most demand and withdraw and the least positive behavior; violent couples had the highest levels of contempt. On some codes, VND couples resembled NVD couples, suggesting that violence without distress may correlate differently with marital communication than violence in combination with distress and that severity of violence is important to consider. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Motivational potential for upgrading among minority and female managers.

Made comparisons between the motivation to manage scores of 75 White male, 36 White female, and 23 minority male (mostly Black) managers on the standard Miner Sentence Completion Scale and a special, situation-specific version. These managers were predominantly at the 1st level and worked for a major automobile manufacturing company in a variety of locations and organizational functions. Results indicate higher motivation to manage scores among minority males but reveal no differences between the scores of White males and White females. Additional analyses provided no support for the view that the higher scores of the minority males might be a consequence of discrimination. The data suggest that minority males might provide a major source of potential talent for upgrading into middle-management levels and above and yield no support for the hypothesis that White female managerial potential for upgrading is less than that of White male managers. Implications for compliance with US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulations and for remedying managerial talent shortages are discussed. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does aggression cause a preference for viewing media violence?

Two experiments tested the hypotheses that physical aggression and fantasy aggression would lead to a preference for viewing violence. In Exp I, 45 female and 42 male undergraduates were induced to express aggressive, nonaggressive, or no fantasies and were then given an opportunity to select film clips for viewing. The films chosen by men contained more violence than those chosen by women. In addition, aggressive fantasies in males, compared to nonaggressive fantasies, increased the preference for viewing violence. Exp II, with 64 males, replicated the results of Exp I and also found that men who were given an opportunity to aggress physically, compared to those who had no such opportunity, were more likely to choose to view films containing violent content. Results suggest that just as the viewing of violence may increase aggression, so, too, aggressive behavior may increase the preference for viewing violence. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexuality and the commission of physical violence to partners and non-partners by men and women.

In 2 studies of physical violence and sexuality among college students, more than 75% of men and more than 60% of women reported committing physical violence in the past year, including more women to partners and more men to non-partners. More than 90% of men who committed violence to partners were also violent to non-partners. In Study 1, among 193 men and 203 women, people who committed violence had higher scores on sexual depression and general depression than did people who were not violent. People violent to non-partners had more sexual preoccupation and more alcohol use problems than did other people. In Study 2, among 160 college men and 138 college women, people in 4 violence groups did not differ in total sexual fantasies or sexual functioning. The findings support the importance of differentiating between violence toward partners and toward non-partners among both men and women and suggest a role of depression in partner violence and antisocial features in violence toward non-partners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender differences in belief in scientifically unsubstantiated phenomena.

Gender differences in belief in scientifically unsubstantiated phenomena are reported for 246 male and 326 female Canadian undergraduate and graduate students in science, psychology, and nonscience programs. Females were more likely than males to endorse belief in various scientifically unsubstantiated phenomena. Males, however, were more willing to endorse belief in unidentified flying objects. These gender differences were not found in the samples of nonscience undergraduate students. Nonscience males showed the same high levels of belief as the females. The gender differences were also absent in the science program graduate students, where females had the same low levels of belief as the males. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)