Sexuality and the dual-earner couple: Multiple roles and sexual functioning.

This article reports data testing predictions that a couple's sexual relationship suffers if the wife is employed, particularly if she is employed full time. The theoretical framework rests on the scarcity hypothesis and the enhancement hypothesis concerning multiple roles. Longitudinal data collected from a sample of more than 500 women and their husbands at 3 time points from pregnancy through a year after birth provide no support for the scarcity hypothesis. There were no significant differences between homemakers and women employed part time, full time, and high full time on measures of frequency of intercourse, sexual satisfaction, and decreased sexual desire. Work-role quality was a better predictor of sexual outcomes than hours of employment. Fatigue was associated with sexual outcomes for both employed women and homemakers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexuality among Mexican Americans: A case of sexual stereotyping.

Examined sexual preferences and practices among 165 Mexican-American (86 male, 79 female) and 99 Anglo (47 male, 52 female) undergraduates. The instrument used was the Sexual Knowledge and Attitude Test (SKAT; Lief & Reed, 1972). The 1st section of the SKAT consists of 4 attitude subscales dealing with autoeroticism, abortion, heterosexual relations, and sexual myths. The 2nd section includes 50 true-false items testing knowledge of the biological, psychological, and social facts of human sexuality. The last section focuses on the respondent's sexual value system and practices. The effect of ethnicity was assessed controlling for Ss' age, gender, religious preference, and socioeconomic status. The dependent variables were Ss' sexual attitudes, knowledge, sexual value system, and sexual practices. Significant differences were obtained between Mexican Americans and Anglos in attitudes, knowledge, value system, and practices, in clear support of the hypotheses. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

From normal fear to pathological anxiety.

In this article the authors address how pathological anxiety may develop from adaptive fear states. Fear responses (e.g., freezing, startle, heart rate and blood pressure changes, and increased vigilance) are functionally adaptive behavioral and perceptual responses elicited during danger to facilitate appropriate defensive responses that can reduce danger or injury (e.g., escape and avoidance). Fear is a central motive state of action tendencies subserved by fear circuits, with the amygdala playing a central role. Pathological anxiety is conceptualized as an exaggerated fear state in which hyperexcitability of fear circuits that include the amygdala and extended amygdala (i.e., bed nucleus of the strict terminalis) is expressed as hypervigilance and increased behavioral responsivity to fearful stimuli. Reduced thresholds for activation and hyperexcitability in fear circuits develop through sensitization- or kindling-like processes that involve neuropeptides, hormones, and other proteins. Hyperexcitability in fear circuits is expressed as pathological anxiety that is manifested in the various anxiety disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

从互联网到物联网

结合对互联网发展历程的回顾,本文阐述物联网与互联网的联系,分析物联网的主要特点、技术和应用领域。     

A cross-cultural exploration of factors affecting reactions to sexual harassment: Attitudes and policies.

The authors described a basic research program examining cross-cultural reactions to sexual harassment in the United States, Canada, Ecuador, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Factors explaining the results of this research and other cross-cultural studies are described and include gender differences, attitudes toward women, status differentials, country orientation (i.e., individualist vs. collectivist), climate of the country (i.e., attitudes condoning or opposing sexual harassment), and general attitudes toward punishment. The authors discussed current information about policies concerning sexual harassment in various countries and methodological and practical difficulties of conducting cross-cultural research on sexual harassment, with suggestions for future research. Finally, conclusions were drawn relating attitudes toward sexual harassment to the development of policies prohibiting sexual harassment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Connecting developmental constructions to the internet: Identity presentation and sexual exploration in online teen chat rooms.

The authors examined the online construction of identity and sexuality in a large sample of conversations from monitored and unmonitored teen chat rooms. More than half of the 583 participants (identified by a distinct screen name) communicated identity information, most frequently gender. In this way, participants compensated for the text-based chat environment by providing information about themselves that would be visible and obvious in face-to-face communication. Sexual themes constituted 5% of all utterances (1 sexual comment per minute); bad or obscene language constituted 3% of the sample (1 obscenity every 2 minutes). Participants who self-identified as female produced more implicit sexual communication, participants who self-identified as male produced more explicit sexual communication. The protected environment of monitored chat (hosts who enforce basic behavioral rules) contained an environment with less explicit sexuality and fewer obscenities than the freer environment of unmonitored chat. These differences were attributable both to the monitoring process itself and to the differing populations attracted to each type of chat room (monitored: more participants self-identified as younger and female; unmonitored: more participants self-identified as older and male). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

From exploration to play: A cross-sectional study of infant free play behavior.

40 infants, divided into 10 evenly spaced age groups between the ages of 7.5 and 21 mo, were observed playing with 2 sets of toys in their own homes for up to 30 min. Narrative records of Ss' behavior were coded in terms of a 12-step sequence of play development. Analysis of individual performance indicated that this level-of-play scale satisfied the requirements of a valid Guttman scale. Analyses of means revealed that frequency of mouthing and simple manipulation decreased linearly across the age period studied, whereas several types of pretense play increased linearly. Behavior that involved relating 2 or more materials and approximation of pretense behavior displayed curvilinear functions, which suggests that they are transitional forms of activity that link early exploration with more developmentally advanced pretense play. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

From marianthal to latent growth mixture modeling: A return to the exploration of individual differences in response to unemployment.

Job-loss is a rapidly growing concern as we witness the greatest and most rapid economic downturn in a century. The negative psychological effect of unemployment has increasingly garnered attention. Previous literature has offered a formidable prognosis, stating that in response to job-loss, people typically follow a pattern of rapid decline in life satisfaction and never return to preunemployment levels. In this paper, we attempt to search for individual differences in response to job-loss using Latent Growth Mixture Modeling (LGMM) framework. By building homogeneous trajectories within a prospective design from 3 years before to 4 years after job-loss, we find that the majority of individuals (82%) demonstrate no long-term effects on life satisfaction in response to unemployment. We also examine the roll of larger market forces on levels of life satisfaction during and around the event of job-loss. Using a correlation model, demonstrated that life satisfaction is positively influenced by the regional unemployment rate. Clark (2003) argues that people report higher well-being when they lose their job if those in proximity to them are also becoming unemployed. Using the national and local unemployment rate in a regression model nested in the Latent Growth Model, we found that a social comparison effect is present immediately before unemployment but not once individuals became unemployed. This implies that people reference national and local employment trends in an attempt to anticipate their own course of employment rather than referencing those trends after job-loss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the origins of background emotions: From affect synchrony to symbolic expression.

Guided by Damasio's (2003) formulations on background emotions, this study examined the contour of infant affect during interactions with mother and father in relation to the emergence of symbolic expression. One hundred parents and infants were observed in face-to-face interactions and in play sessions at the toddler stage. Parent's and infants' affective states were coded in 1-s frames, and synchrony was assessed. Toddlers' play was microcoded for symbolic level and for reciprocity and intrusiveness. Infant affective contour with mother was rhythmic with 1 episode of positive arousal framed by social gaze. Affective contour with father contained several peaks of positive arousal of shorter duration. Symbolic complexity was comparable and preserved the parent-specific contours, with quicker latencies, higher frequencies, and shorter durations of complex symbolic episodes with father. Sequential relations emerged between parent's and child's symbolic expression, and maternal reciprocity and intrusiveness were sequentially linked to symbolic expansion or constriction, respectively. Parent-infant synchrony and the parent's support of toddler symbolic play predicted symbolic complexity. The need to include time in research on emotions and the dyadic origins of positive emotions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anger expression and adaptation to childhood sexual abuse: The role of disclosure.

Previous research on anger and childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is largely cross-sectional and retrospective. In this study, we prospectively examined the consequences of expressing anger among sexually abused women in contexts of either voluntarily disclosing or not disclosing a previous abuse episode (n = 94). All CSA survivors in the study had documented histories of CSA. These participants and a matched, nonabused sample were asked to describe their most distressing experience while being videotaped to allow coding of anger expression. Approximately two thirds of the CSA survivors voluntarily disclosed a previous abuse experience. Participants completed measures of internalizing symptoms and externalizing symptoms at the time of disclosure and again two years later. The expression of anger was associated with better long-term adjustment (decreased internalizing and externalizing symptoms), but only among CSA survivors who had expressed anger while not disclosing an abuse experience. For CSA survivors who disclosed an abuse experience and for nonabused women, anger expression was unrelated to long-term outcome. These findings suggest that the benefits of anger expression for CSA survivors may be context specific. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Heroin addiction: Its relation to sexual behavior and sexual experience.

Describes a study in which 31 17-60 yr. old male drug-free heroin addicts, residents of a therapeutic community, were questioned individually by a nonaddict male interviewer as to 7 sexual variables. Results show that during addiction periods, "sexuality" was suppressed; most Ss reported decreased frequencies of intercourse, masturbation, and nocturnal emissions. Proportion of orgasm dropped, ratings of desire and the quality of orgasm were low, and all Ss reported that time to ejaculation was long. In the postaddiction residential phase in the program, sexuality recovered and resembled or was higher than that reported for preaddiction periods. A relationship between changes in sexuality and heroin addiction appears firmly established. A reinforcement hypothesis is discussed. (21 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation of Fos-IR expression in the pelvic ganglion to sexual behavior in laboratory rats.

The pelvic ganglion (PG) provides both sympathetic and parasympathetic innervation to the genitalia and other pelvic structures. To determine whether neuronal activity of the PG, as detected by Fos-like immunoreactivity (Fos-IR), is related to sexual stimulation, male and female rats were tested under a variety of conditions. In males, Fos-IR expression in the PG was positively correlated with the amount of both genital and noncontact stimulation. In females, only ejaculation preceded by multiple intromissions induced a significant increase in Fos-IR; multiple intromissions or ejaculation preceded by only 0–1 intromission did not affect Fos-IR. Additional experiments comparing Fos-IR expression, in which some females were allowed to pace their sexual contact and others were not, revealed that ejaculation duration was the key factor in the induction of Fos-IR in female rats. Because the conditions under which Fos-IR expression occurred in females are identical to those required for sperm transport, we suggest that, in the female, sperm transport is regulated in part by autonomic outflow from the PG after copulation. These relations between sexual behavior and measures of PG activity are consistent with the idea that the sexually dimorphic organization of the peripheral nervous system plays a major role in mediating the gender-specific outcome of copulation: ejaculation in the male and sperm transport in the female. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Problems of sexual expression in adult gay men: A psychoanalytic reconsideration.

Asserts that although psychoanalytic theorists have embraced homosexuality as pathological, Freud's views were less definite, more complex, and more conflicted. Extrinsic factors that impinge on gay men at developmentally critical periods of life, which may underlie nonnormative sexual expression, are explored. It is suggested that early caretaking environments fail to receive, affirm, and encourage same-sex libidinal attachments and expressions; such expressions are often met with shame, threat, or direct attack. Frequently, the result is the massive shutting down, compartmentalization, or both, of adult homosexual expression. Two case studies are presented to illuminate this formulation. The psychoanalytic therapist who ignores the impact of developmental failures and impingements on gay men often unwittingly reenacts these, with the effect of supporting dissociative and repressive mechanisms that impair healthy adult homosexual expression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexuality education: What adolescents' educational rights require.

Sexuality education continues to fail youths and society. Research reveals a pressing need for reform in the manner in which adolescents receive, learn, and practice information relating to their sexual development and their intimate relationships. However, legal systems generally fail to provide opportunities for such experiences. This article reviews reasons for the policy failure and suggests that the legal system can be harnessed to ensure adolescents' right to sexuality education. The proposal rests on the democratic notion that society must prepare youths for their future and for immediate social participation. Taking that fundamental truth as a starting point allows for rethinking how schools prepare youths for responsible citizenship, including the manner in which youths treat others and themselves in their intimate relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Precursors to therapist sexual misconduct: Preliminary findings.

This article presents preliminary findings on the characteristics of and predisposing factors in therapists engaging in sexual intimacies with patients. Data were derived from comprehensive evaluations, consultations, supervisions, or analytically oriented treatments. Particularly salient were frequent misunderstandings of, rationalizations about or defensive transformations of love and hate in the countertransference. Common findings involved (a) long-standing and unresolved problems with self-esteem, (b) sexualization of pregenital needs, (c) restricted awareness of fantasy, (d) covert and sanctioned boundary transgressions by a parental figure, (e) unresolved anger toward authority figures, (f) intolerance of negative transference, and (g) defensive transformation of countertransference hate into countertransference love. Coexistence of multiple levels of reality within the psychotherapeutic dyad is discussed as an area in which misunderstandings and rationalizations frequently occurred. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Autism: From research to practice.

Autism is the most commonly studied of a spectrum of developmental disorders that are believed to be neurobiologically based but which, at this point, for lack of good biomarkers, are defined purely by behavior. In the last 20 years, the definition of autism has shifted in emphasis from extreme aloofness and positive signs of abnormality in repetitive and sensorimotor behaviors to a greater awareness of the importance of more subtle reciprocal social communication deficits as core features. Standard diagnostic instruments were developed for research purposes to acquire information both through caregiver interviews and direct clinical observation. Use of these instruments in clinical practice resulted in major improvements, which in turn affected research results. These results yielded further improvements that led to changes in clinical practice over time. The synergism between research and clinical practice in the understanding of autism is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prejudice: From Allport to DuBois.

The differences between the accounts of Gordon Allport (1954/1979) and W. E. B. DuBois (1903/1969) regarding the origins of prejudice and the impact of discrimination on the personality and social development of African Americans are examined. The authors contend that even though Allport's universalist approach to the causes and consequences of prejudice essentially has gone unchallenged in the mainstream social-psychological literature, DuBois's social-historical approach to personality psychology questions the assumptions that have guided theory and research on prejudice since the time of Allport. The authors argue that racism is not a universal feature of human psychology but a historically developed process. Racism begins with the exploitation of people or peoples and with the psychological consequences to which that exploitation leads. The differential implications of Allport's and DuBois's respective accounts for the future of race relations in the United States are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bulimia: From syncope to obsession.

The syndrome now known as bulimia is entirely different from the syndrome first described in its earliest use in the literature of classical Greece. Xenophon used the term bulimia in 399 B.C. to describe fainting in the cold with disturbed appetite. This use persisted across thousands of years of vivid debates in which bulimia was repeatedly differentiated from fames canina, an eating disorder characterized by excessive eating and vomiting. The centrality of syncope in bulimia disappeared during the 18th century, and the peripheral feature of hunger became the defining symptom. In very recent times, bulimia has been adopted as a formal name for a psychogenic eating disorder. The syndrome of syncope to which the diagnostic term bulimia was originally applied is identified as "hypoglycemia." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of sexual victimization on sexual satisfaction: A study of the negative-association hypothesis.

Investigated the negative-association explanation of behaviorally specific decreases in postrape sexual satisfaction via retrospective ratings in 4 groups of women representing different degrees of sexual assault. Ss were 116 college women preselected on the basis of their scores on a women's sexual experiences survey. All groups of sexually victimized Ss except those who experienced pressure and/or coercion to engage in sexual intercourse were currently less sexually satisfied on all sexual behaviors than nonvictimized Ss. No behaviorally specific postassault decreases in sexual satisfaction emerged for any group of victimized Ss. Thus, support was not found for the negative-association hypothesis. (2 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychoanalysis and the disenfranchised: From therapy to justice.

"Neurotic misery" is not the only treatable source of suffering that can be subtracted from the sum of unavoidable "everyday unhappiness." Social inequality and injustice represent another powerful source of unnecessary suffering that, in principle, can be modified and diminished. This article explores the implications of psychoanalytic understanding for developing better approaches to addressing this dimension of human distress, which has been largely neglected in the psychoanalytic literature. In the process, it also reexamines some commonly held assumptions about the nature of the psychoanalytic process and considers how new observations deriving from work with people from different cultural and class origins can contribute to the refinement and further development of psychoanalytic propositions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)