Trance logic in hypnosis and imagination.

Investigated, in 2 experiments, trance logic, or the tolerance of logical incongruity, in age regression and hallucination. Exp 1 tested 21 hypnotizable and 19 unhypnotizable Ss in an application of the real-simulating model of hypnosis. Exp 2 tested 26 high and 19 low imagery ability Ss in an adaptation of the model to the imagination context. Ss' experiences were investigated through the experimenal analysis technique. More real than simulating Ss displayed trance logic during age regression, but they did not differ on the major measures of trance logic during hallucination. This pattern of responding occurred in both the hypnosis and the imagination contexts. Ss' comments suggested that completeness of and belief in age regression or hallucination may play some role in trance logic. The importance of understanding trance logic from the S's point of view is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender and social influence: A social psychological analysis.

Men and women are believed to differ in how influential and easily influenced they are: Men are thought to be more influential, and women more easily influenced. In natural settings, men and women tend to differ in these ways, but these differences stem largely from formal status inequalities by which men are more likely than women to have high-status roles. Status is important because of the legitimate authority vested in high-status roles. Within appropriate limits, people of higher status are believed to have the right to make demands of those of lower status, and people of lower status are expected to comply with these demands. Yet, small, stereotypic sex differences in leadership and social influence generally have been found in laboratory experiments and other small-group settings where men and women have equal formal status. These small sex differences may occur because experience with hierarchical social structures in which men have higher status creates expectancies about male and female behavior, and these expectancies affect social interaction in ways that foster behavior that confirms the expectancies. Sex differences that occur in the laboratory as well as natural settings may stem from social structural factors—namely, from the existing distributions of women and men into social roles. (77 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multicultural policy in Canada: A social psychological analysis.

Argues that social psychologists in Canada have an important role to play in policy analysis and evaluation. The multiculturalism policy of the federal government is proposed as one policy area for which social psychological theory and research may be particularly relevant. The policy is outlined and a number of social psychological issues and assumptions in the policy are identified, including group maintenance and development, intergroup contact and sharing, and group acceptance and tolerance. Generally, the policy seems to be supported by theory and empirical findings, but there is a need to guard against possible countereffects. It is argued that more long-term programmatic research is required in social policy areas if social psychologists are to make a useful contribution. (French abstract) (49 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Politicized collective identity: A social psychological analysis.

This article develops a social psychological model of politicized collective identity that revolves around 3 conceptual triads. The 1st triad consists of collective identity, the struggle between groups for power, and the wider societal context. It is proposed that people evince politicized collective identity to the extent that they engage as self-conscious group members in a power struggle on behalf of their group knowing that it is the more inclusive societal context in which this struggle has to be fought out. Next, 3 antecedent stages leading to politicized collective identity are distinguished: awareness of shared grievances, adversarial attributions, and involvement of society at large. This sequence culminates in the final triad because the intergroup power struggle is eventually triangulated by involving society at large or representatives thereof. Consequences of politicized collective identity are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A spectral analysis of cognitive and personality variables in hypnosis: Empirical disconfirmation of the two-factor model of hypnotic responding.

The two-factor model of hypnotic responding posits that ability or trait variables are more important than contextual variables in producing responses to difficult hypnotic suggestions, whereas contextual variables such as attitudes and expectancies are more important than trait variables in predicting responses to easier suggestions. In three separate data sets, responses to suggestions of varying difficulty were correlated with absorption, fantasy proneness, dissociation, attitudes toward hypnosis, and hypnotic response expectancy. Although the results of these analyses were not consistent across data sets, all significant findings were in the opposite direction of that predicted by two-factor theorists. In general, expectancy was the strongest correlate of hypnotic response, especially for highly responsive participants and for difficult suggestions. It is concluded that despite the attractiveness of the two-factor model, repeated attempts to replicate its empirical base have been unsuccessful. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nonanalytic attending, hypnotic susceptibility, and psychological well-being in trained meditators and nonmeditators.

Asked 4 groups of 25 undergraduates who were trained meditators differing in amount of meditation practice and a group of 25 nonmeditators to attend nonanalytically to a mantra in 2 meditation sessions. Ss signaled intrusions into their attending, and were also assessed on several person variables. The 4 trained meditator groups differed from one another only in terms of self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale). When combined into a single group, meditators signaled fewer intrusions and reported "deeper" levels of meditating than nonmeditators. However, meditators and nonmeditators did not differ on hypnotic susceptibility, absorption, or indices of psychopathology. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ethical ideology and judgments of social psychological research: Multidimensional analysis.

24 undergraduates completed the 1st author's ethics position questionnaire and then compared the ethical similarity of 15 experiments through a series of 105 paired comparisons. Through multidimensional scaling, 3 factors—potential harm to experiment participants, use of manipulative illegitimate procedures, and the ratio between benefits and risks—were identified as the key characteristics associated with moral judgments of social psychological studies. Ss who endorsed different ethical ideologies, however, differed in their emphasis of these factors. "Situationists" emphasized risks relative to benefits and the potential harm to experiment participants. "Absolutists" based their judgments on costs created for participants and the riskiness of the procedures. Judgments by "subjectivists" were associated with the harmfulness, legitimacy, and invasiveness of the procedures. "Exceptionists" emphasized the consequentiality of the research, as well as scientific legitimacy, magnitude of costs, and deception. Findings are in general consistent with a taxonomy of ethical ideologies based on individual differences in relativism and idealism and have implications for current debates concerning the ethics of social psychological research. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reality versus suggestion: Pseudomemory in hypnotizable and simulating subjects.

Assigned hypnotizable (N?=?56) and simulating Ss (N?=?44) to 1 of 4 conditions: heard a phone ring and conversation, received a suggestion to hear a phone ring and conversation, received a suggestion and heard a phone ring and conversation, or neither heard a phone ring nor received a suggestion. Hypnotizable Ss successfully discriminated objective events from suggested sources of input. When Ss received a suggestion to hear a phone ring, only 11.5% indicated it actually rang in their open-ended reports; in response to a forced-choice question, none did so. In spontaneous reports, none of the hypnotizable Ss who heard a phone ring indicated it was suggested; only one did so in response to a forced-choice item (vs. 2 simulators). In the no-phone/no-suggestion condition, more simulators than hypnotizable Ss indicated that a phone rang or was suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stressors, locus of control, and social support as consequences of affective psychological well-being.

Tests of the influence of affective psychological well-being on stressors, locus of control, and social support in a 1-month follow-up study of 210 male and 34 female British accountants is reported. There was a marginally significant association between the level of psychological symptoms and subsequent reports of intensity of quantitative workload stressors. A significant interaction between psychological symptoms and a measure of depression-enthusiasm was found to predict subsequent locus of control. The results indicate a differential pattern of associations between aspects of affective well-being and subsequent reports of social support. The results also indicate that initially more frequent stressors are associated with subsequently less intense stressors of the same type. The findings highlight the dynamic and reciprocal nature of the occupational stress process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ethnic relations in rental housing: A social psychological approach.

Conducted interviews with a random sample of 59 French Quebecer landlords within a section of Montreal to explore the social psychological bases for discrimination in rental housing. Evidence that Social Identity factors related to the overwhelming preference for in-group tenants was obtained. When landlords were asked to focus on 4 out-groups (Haitians, Italians, Asiatics, and English Quebecers), factors subsumed under Realistic Conflict theory also contributed strongly to the variation in willingness to rent to some out-groups as opposed to others. Overall, results suggest a dissociation model where Social Identity and Realistic Conflict factors operate independently and additively in relations with out-group tenants. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential hypnotic responsivity of smokers, phobics, chronic-pain control patients: A failure to confirm.

Examined the recent claims that hypnotic responsivity may be related to such presenting symptomatology as phobias or chronic pain. A retrospective analysis comparing the differential responsivity of 386 consecutive patients on the Hypnotic Induction Profile and Tellegen Absorption Scale was carried out. Ss were categorized as phobics (95), smokers (226), and chronic-pain sufferers (65). Phobic Ss were subclassified as monophobic (54) or polyphobic (41). No significant differences were found in hypnotic responsivity or the related capacity for absorption among patient categories. The importance of distinguishing between treatment responsivity and hypnotic responsivity is discussed. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Involvement in suggestion-related imaginings, experienced involuntariness, and credibility assigned to imaginings in hypnotic subjects.

94 undergraduate hypnotic Ss were administered an arm-catalepsy suggestion. Half were challenged to bend an arm, and half were not. Thus, only the challenged Ss had an objective criterion (arm bending) for determining whether they passed the suggestion. All Ss rated the extent of imaginative involvement, experienced involuntariness, and credibility of imaginings generated by the suggestion. Under both conditions, ratings of imaginative involvement correlated with experienced involuntariness, degree of credibility assigned to imaginings, and hypnotic suggestibility. Findings indicate that the interrelations among the variables assessed were not simply a function of Ss' self-observations that they either passed or failed the catalepsy suggestion. Results also support the contention that imaginative involvement plays an important role in mediating hypnotic suggestibility. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitudes and behaviour in second language acquisition: A social psychological interpretation.

Four behaviors involved in the acquisition of a 2nd language are achievement in the language, the decision to remain in the language program, behavior in the classroom, and social contact with members of the 2nd language community. In general, these behaviors have been considered in isolation of formal psychological models and of each other. The present authors review research relevant to each of these behaviors, examining them within the theoretical frameworks proposed by M. Fishbein (1967), Fishbein and I. Ajzen (1975), and K. Lewin (1951). It is suggested that a better understanding of the role of attitudes in 2nd language acquisition can be achieved by postulating a general motivational syndrome, the integrative motive, which involves a complex of attitudinal/motivational variables. This model is related to the formulations of Fishbein and Ajzen, and Lewin, and the general approach appears to have implications for situations concerned with the interplay of attitudes and behavior. (French summary) (48 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences and autonomic control: Absorption, hypnotic susceptibility, and the unilateral control of skin temperature.

Proposed to (a) replicate earlier findings that human Ss could voluntarily control peripheral skin temperature, (b) test the hypothesis that hypnotic susceptibility and the capacity for absorbed, imaginative attention would enhance autonomic learning and performance, and (c) demonstrate a learning effect, if one exists. A comparison was made with 7 Ss who scored high and 7 Ss who scored low on both a modified version of the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility and the Tellegen Absorption Scale. Auditory feedback was used to train Ss to produce a difference in skin temperature in one hand relative to the other in a direction specified by the E. Large and reliable performance and learning effects were found, but they were unrelated to hypnotic susceptibility or the capacity for absorbed, imaginative attention. Variables that might account for individual differences in learning and performance are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship of stressful life events to social interest, locus of control, and psychological adjustment.

Extended recent research concerning effects of stressful life events. Scores of 46 male and 35 female undergraduates for amount of recent life change correlated positively with symptoms of maladjustment and external locus of control and negatively with social interest. Correlations were larger when life change scores were based only on unpleasant changes rather than on all changes, whether pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. Data also suggest that a minimum amount of stress was necessary before deleterious effects occurred on the variables under study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Demonic possession, mesmerism, and hysteria: A social psychological perspective on their historical interrelations.

Provides a social psychological interpretation of the interrelations among demonic possession, mesmerism, and hysteria. It is argued that the reciprocal role relationship of mesmerist and magnetized S in the 18th and 19th centuries involved the secularization of the role relation that had existed between exorcist and demonically possessed. The commonalities between these 2 sets of social roles are delineated, some of the variables leading an individual to learn and enact the possessed role are outlined, and several lines of historical evidence pertaining to the influence of the exorcist–demoniac relationship on the mesmeric relationship are outlined. The influence of the possessed role in shaping the role of the hysterical patient is also discussed. The use of hysteria as a modern explanatory concept in histories of possession and mesmerism, however, is criticized. (198 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Illusion and well-being: A social psychological perspective on mental health.

Many prominent theorists have argued that accurate perceptions of the self, the world, and the future are essential for mental health. Yet considerable research evidence suggests that overly positive self-evaluations, exaggerated perceptions of control or mastery, and unrealistic optimism are characteristic of normal human thought. Moreover, these illusions appear to promote other criteria of mental health, including the ability to care about others, the ability to be happy or contented, and the ability to engage in productive and creative work. These strategies may succeed, in large part, because both the social world and cognitive-processing mechanisms impose filters on incoming information that distort it in a positive direction; negative information may be isolated and represented in as unthreatening a manner as possible. These positive illusions may be especially useful when an individual receives negative feedback or is otherwise threatened and may be especially adaptive under these circumstances. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pre-hurricane perceived social support protects against psychological distress: A longitudinal analysis of low-income mothers.

Objective: In this study, we examined the influence of pre-disaster perceived social support on post-disaster psychological distress among survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Method: Participants (N = 386) were low-income mothers between 18 and 34 years of age at baseline (M = 26.4, SD = 4.43). The majority (84.8%) was African American; 10.4% identified as Caucasian, 3.2% identified as Hispanic, and 1.8% identified as other. Participants were enrolled in an educational intervention study in 2004 and 2005. Those who had completed a 1-year follow-up assessment prior to Hurricane Katrina were reassessed approximately 1 year after the hurricane. Measures of perceived social support and psychological distress were included in pre- and post-disaster assessments. Using structural equation modeling and multiple mediator analysis, we tested a model wherein pre-disaster perceived social support predicted post-disaster psychological distress both directly and indirectly through its effects on pre-disaster psychological distress, exposure to hurricane-related stressors, and post-disaster perceived social support. We predicted that higher pre-disaster perceived social support would be predictive of lower pre-disaster psychological distress, lower hurricane-related stressors, and higher post-disaster perceived social support, and that these variables would, in turn, predict lower post-disaster psychologically distress. Results: Our analyses provide partial support for the hypothesized model. Although pre-disaster perceived social support did not exert a direct effect on post-disaster psychological distress, the indirect effects of all 3 proposed mediators were significant. Conclusions: Pre-disaster social support can decrease both exposure to natural disasters and the negative psychological effects of natural disaster exposure. These findings underscore the importance of bolstering the post-disaster social support networks of low-income mothers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender, social competence, and symptomatology in schizophrenia: A longitudinal analysis.

The relationship between gender and social skill measured by performance on a role play test was examined in a sample of 57 schizophrenics, 33 affective disorder patients, and 20 nonpatient controls. Female schizophrenics were more skilled than male schizophrenics, but no gender differences were present in the affective patients or the controls. Longitudinal analyses conducted on the schizophrenic group indicated that the superior social skill of women was stable over the year following a symptom exacerbation. Symptoms and social adjustment improved for both men and women over the year, but did not differ according to gender. The implications of the results for gender differences in the long-term outcome of schizophrenia are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)