Authoritarian attitudes and dreams.

"This study attempted to verify the findings of a previous investigation that highly authoritarian and nonauthoritarian individuals differ in their ability to tolerate emotional ambivalence towards parents and other powerful authorities." The findings lend support to the theory of the authoritarian personality as formulated by previous investigators. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional attitudes of former Soviet citizens, as studied by the technique of projective questions.

The Russian Ss included 39 men and 9 women who were selected for a clinical study from a much larger number of former Soviet citizens interviewed in Munich in 1950-51 by the Harvard Project on the Soviet Social System. The American Ss were paired with the Russian group in terms of age, sex, education, and occupation. The projective questions used in the California studies of authoritarianism were administered and the responses coded according to content. "The findings are discussed in terms of the emotional and evaluative attitudes prevalent in each group, and their implications for the theory of authoritarian personality are pointed out." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Political attitudes and judgments of other people.

"The hypothesis was set up that in judging other people, subjects tend to associate favorable personal characteristics with political attitudes of which they themselves approve." The data tend to support the hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental and cross-situational stability in infant pigtailed macaque temperament.

We assessed developmental stability and context generalizability of temperament in pigtailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina) from the University of Washington Infant Primate Research Lab. A principal components analysis condensed 6 behavioral measures into 2 components, interpreted as reactivity and boldness. Changes in these measures over the 1st 10 months of development showed a trend toward calmer and bolder behavior with age, with significant individual variation in the pattern of change. Boldness showed a quadratic pattern of change, whereas reactivity decreased linearly. We also studied the relationship between temperament and response to a novelty probe. The magnitude of the response to the novelty probe decreased slightly over time, and boldness and reactivity in a familiar setting did not predict these changes in response to novelty. In a 2nd principal components analysis, reactivity to novelty represented a distinct aspect of temperament. Our results demonstrate developmental changes and context dependency in macaque behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The predictive efficiency of temperament characteristics and personal history variables in determining success of life insurance agents.

How can you tell who will make a good life insurance salesman? A standardized personality inventory and a locally constructed questionnaire were used in a study of 522 financed male agents employed full time in selling life insurance 3 years after hire. Those who saw themselves as being passive and submissive were likely to fail. Some personality history measures are valid predictors. Combining both measures was found to work best. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temporal course and structural relationships among dimensions of temperament and DSM-IV anxiety and mood disorder constructs.

The temporal stability and directional relations among dimensions of temperament (e.g., neuroticism) and selected Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) disorder constructs (depression, generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia) were examined in 606 outpatients with anxiety and mood disorders, assessed on 3 occasions over a 2-year period. Neuroticism/behavioral inhibition (N/BI) and behavioral activation/positive affect (BA/P) accounted for the cross-sectional covariance of the DSM-IV constructs. Although N/BI evidenced the most change of the constructs examined, initial levels of N/BI predicted less improvement in 2 of the 3 disorder constructs. Unlike the DSM-IV disorder constructs, the temporal stability of N/BI increased as a function of initial severity. Moreover, N/BI explained all the temporal covariation of the DSM-IV disorder constructs. The results are discussed in regard to conceptual models of temperament that define N/BI and BA/P as higher order dimensions accounting for the course and covariation of emotional disorder psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A measure of staff attitudes toward care of physically ill patients.

The development of an instrument for measuring staff attitudes toward patient care in general medical and surgical hospitals, called the Philosophy of Treatment Form (POT), is presented. In this development both a general medical and surgical sample and, for comparative purposes, a psychiatric sample were utilized. The POT measures 7 attitude areas for which reliabilities and intercorrelations are presented. Data from a 3rd sample of 350 general medical and surgical staff members indicate that 3 of these areas reliably differentiated among professional groups and 3 reliably differentiated among wards. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

AVA as a predictor of occupational hierarchy.

High and low status male groups in industry were used to determine whether AVA can distinguish the 2. A Fisher 2-group discriminant analysis was applied to the data as well as a simple procedure using an AVA analyst. "Both methods proved to be highly successful… confirm existence of differences in temperament characteristics of personnel in higher and lower echelons… confirm power and efficiency of AVA in measuring these differences." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child rearing attitudes of mothers and fathers as reported by schizophrenic and normal patients.

To determine the significant aspects of family background as perceived by schizophrenics, Ss were asked to think back to the time when they were 13 or 14 and answer a questionnaire on child rearing practices as they were conceived to be reflected in the attitudes of their parents at that time. The responses of schizophrenics with good and poor premorbid backgrounds were compared with each other and to GMS patients. The results indicate that there was a significant and direct relationship between level of adjustment and degree of deviance in postulated parental attitudes. Parents, in general, are perceived to be dominating rather than overprotective or rejecting. Normals and schizophrenics differ significantly in describing familial attitudes, although all seem to perceive father as dominant, mother as over-protective. From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4JQ76G. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Diversity beliefs as a mediator to faculty attitudes toward students with disabilities.

A survey of a sample of faculty (N = 201) at a large, public university located in the Southwest was conducted to investigate whether differences in faculty attitudes toward diversity positively mediate faculty attitudes toward persons with disabilities. In addition, the current study examined whether differences in faculty attitudes toward diversity may be viewed as positively mediating the relationship between instructor characteristics and their attitudes toward persons with disabilities. This study concludes that faculty members may not be viewing disability as part of the greater construct of diversity with empirical evidence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

University environment as a mediator of Latino ethnic identity and persistence attitudes.

The authors examined whether the perception of the university environment mediated the relationship between ethnic identity and persistence attitudes of Latino college students. Participants were 175 Latino college students who attended a primarily White university. The results supported the hypothesized mediating role of the university environment. Higher Latino ethnic identity was associated with perceiving a more negative university environment and feeling less committed to finishing college. In turn, perception of a negative college environment was associated with feeling less committed to finishing college. When perception of the university environment was removed, no significant relationship was found between ethnic identity and persistence attitudes, indicating that it is the perceived context that influences Latino college students' persistence attitudes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Growth in temperament and parenting as predictors of adjustment during children's transition to adolescence.

The author examined relations among demographic risk (income, maternal education, single-parent status), growth in temperament (fear, irritability, effortful control), and parenting (rejection, inconsistent discipline) across 3 years and the prediction of children's adjustment problems in a community sample (N=190; ages 8-12 years at Time 1). Family income was related to higher initial levels of fear, irritability, rejection, and inconsistency and lower effortful control but was not related to changes in these variables. Higher initial rejection predicted increases in child fear and irritability. Higher initial fear predicted decreases in rejection and inconsistency. Higher initial irritability predicted increases in inconsistency, and higher initial effortful control predicted decreases in rejection. When growth of parenting and temperament were considered simultaneously, increases in effortful control and decreases in fear and irritability predicted lower Time 3 internalizing and externalizing problems. Increases in rejection and inconsistent discipline predicted higher Time 3 externalizing, although sometimes the effect appeared to be indirect through temperament. The findings suggest that temperament and parenting predict changes in each other and predict adjustment during the transition to adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Work attitudes and decisions as a function of manager age and employee age.

Research has shown the importance of employee age relative to coworker age in determining attitudes, performance, and career-related opportunities. The authors used chronological and subjective measures of employee and manager age to determine whether employee age relative to the manager has an impact on these same outcome variables. One hundred eighty-five managers and 290 employees completed surveys. The strongest and most consistent age effects were observed for interactions between employee and manager chronological age. Both the magnitude and pattern of the employee-manager age interactions varied by self- and manager-rated outcome measures of work attitudes, performance and promotability assessments, and developmental experiences. Results are discussed in light of the relational demography and career timetable literatures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal sensitivity, infant attachment, and temperament in early childhood predict adjustment in middle childhood: The case of adopted children and their biologically unrelated parents.

In a longitudinal study, internationally adopted children (N=146) placed before 6 months of age were followed from infancy to age 7. Results showed that girls were better adjusted than boys, except in cognitive development, and that easy temperament was associated with higher levels of social, cognitive, and personality development and fewer behavior problems. Higher quality of child-mother relationships, in terms of attachment security and maternal sensitivity, uniquely predicted better social and cognitive development. The combination of attachment disorganization and difficult temperament predicted less optimal ego-control and lower levels of cognitive development. It is concluded that even in adopted children, who are not biologically related to their adoptive parents, early mother-infant interactions and attachment relationships predict later socioemotional and cognitive development, beyond infant temperament and gender. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An examination of students' attitudes toward television as a medium of instruction in a psychology course.

74 students enrolled in an elementary psychology course taught through 2 weekly television sessions and 2 weekly discussion-group sessions were asked (1) whether they would take another course using television and (2) whether the on-campus discussion added anything. 70% of the Ss answered YES to the first question, and 42% answered YES to the second. Open-ended responses revealed reasons for the answers given. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Picture-Choice Test as an indirect measure of attitudes.

Amodified Flyer's Picture-Choice Test was given 227 male students and scored for the halo effect of "liking" on judgment of occupation. Significant differences appeared between college majors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Job attitudes in management: II. Perceived importance of needs as a function of job level.

By means of a questionnaire, 1916 managers indicated the degree of importance they attached to 13 items representing 5 areas of psychological needs. Respondents represented all levels of management and many different types of companies. The 5 need areas were Security, Social, Esteem, Autonomy, and Self-Actualization. Results showed that there was some relationship between vertical level of position within management and degree of perceived importance of needs. Higher-level managers placed relatively more emphasis on Self-Actualization and Autonomy needs than did lower-level managers. For each of the other 3 types of needs, however, there were no differences between responses from higher-level vs. lower-level managers. The findings from this study were compared with those from recent related studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Job attitudes in management: I. Perceived deficiencies in need fulfillment as a function of job level.

This questionnaire study investigated perceived need fulfillment deficiencies in nearly 2000 managerial positions. Respondents represented all levels of management and a wide variety of companies. 5 need categories, chosen to represent a hierarchy of prepotency of needs, were studied. Results showed: (a) Vertical level of position within management had a strong relation to the degree of perceived satisfaction of the 3 highest-order needs—Self-actualization, Autonomy, and Esteem; for these needs, satisfactions increased at each higher level of management. (b) For the 2 lower-order types of needs, Security and Social, there were no systematic changes in satisfaction in relation to management level. (c) Among the 5 need categories, Self-actualization and Autonomy were consistently regarded as the least fulfilled needs at all levels of management. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal meta-emotion philosophy and socialization of adolescent affect: The moderating role of adolescent temperament.

This study explored the associations between maternal meta-emotion philosophy (MEP) and maternal socialization of preadolescents' positive and negative affect. It also investigated whether adolescent temperament and gender moderated this association. MEP involves parental awareness and acceptance of their own and their child's emotions and their coaching of child emotions. Event-planning (EPI) and problem-solving (PSI) interactions were observed in 163 mother-adolescent dyads, and maternal behaviors were coded to provide indices of socialization responses to adolescent emotion. In addition, maternal MEP was assessed via interview, and preadolescents provided self-reports of temperament on 2 occasions. Maternal MEP that is higher in awareness and acceptance was associated with reduced likelihood of negative socialization behaviors during the EPI. Moreover, preadolescents' temperamental negative emotionality (NEM) and effortful control (EC) moderated some of these MEP-socialization associations. During the positive EPI task, greater maternal awareness and acceptance is associated with reduced likelihood of negative socialization toward preadolescents with "easy" temperaments, that is, low NEM or high EC. However, during the conflict task, greater maternal awareness is associated with reduced likelihood of negative socialization among preadolescents with "difficult" temperaments. Some male-specific associations were also found. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)