Whites' opposition to busing: Symbolic racism or realistic group conflict?

The theory of symbolic racism contends that White individuals' opposition to busing springs from a basic underlying prejudiced or intolerant attitudinal predisposition toward Blacks, not self-interest or realistic group conflict motives. The present research argues that realistic group conflict motives do help explain Whites' opposition to busing. Two major criticisms of the symbolic racism approach are made: (a) that the tests of symbolic racism vs group conflict explanations of opposition to busing have not been fair because of a narrow definition of group interests that ignores the role of subjectively appreciated threat and challenges to group status; and (b) that by forcing racial attitudes onto a single continuum running from prejudice to tolerance, the symbolic racism researchers overlook the importance of the perception that the civil rights movement is a threatening force. By reanalyzing the Michigan National Election Study data (2,705 voting-age citizens in the 1972 phase and 2,248 in the 1976 phase) used by D. O. Sears et al (1979, 1980), the present research broadens the notion of self-interest and operates with a multidimensional conceptualization of racial attitudes. In so doing, the data demonstrate that Whites' opposition to busing reflects group conflict motives, not simply a new manifestation of prejudice. (63 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On conceptualizing and assessing guilt.

The psychological construct of guilt and its measurement were investigated in a series of studies (N?=?1,041). Data collection and analyses involved 3 broad issues: (1) the further development and validation of the Guilt Inventory, designed to measure trait guilt, state guilt, and moral standards; (2) comparisons involving extant measures of guilt, shame, moral standards, and other emotions for the purpose of exploring the distinctions between trait guilt and state guilt, affective guilt and moral standards, and guilt and other emotions including both shame and the full range of emotional traits; and (3) an exploration of the factor structure of the trait guilt scales. Results supported the validity and reliability of the Guilt Inventory and the validity of most of the other guilt measures. However, results also raised questions regarding commonly articulated distinctions between trait and state guilt, guilt and shame, and for some measures, affective guilt and moral standards. Discussion focuses on issues of measurement and conceptualization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual versus group goal conflict.

"An experiment was performed in which a conflict was produced between individual and group goal attainment. An overt situation was compared to a covert situation, and a high individualistic… with a low individualistic motivation condition… . [The] finding that individuals… feel freer to change secret… than public decisions is discussed." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The coordinating style construct: An approach to conceptualizing patient interpersonal behavior.

Defines coordinating style as how a patient coordinates contributions to an interaction with an interviewer's contributions and the patient's own contributions at other points in time (i.e., does the patient build on what the therapist says and allow the therapist to respond to what the patient contributes to an exchange?). The construct's psychometric properties were investigated based on assessments of intake interview behavior and improvement in brief action-oriented therapy of 30 outpatients (aged 19–58 yrs). Results indicate that coordinating style can be measured reliably, and they provide support for the construct's convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity and relevance for the establishment of a productive therapeutic relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The power motive, group conflict, and physiological arousal.

Tested D. C. McClelland's (1976; see also PA, Vol 68:12164) theory that persons high in power motivation experience high physiological reactivity to "power stress." A group of 192 male undergraduates, from which 64 group leaders were selected by means of the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) as being high or low in the need for power (n Power), participated. The 128 Ss not designated as leaders served as group members. The experiment was a 2?×?2 factorial design, in which group conflict (high, low) served as the 1st factor and leader's n Power served as the 2nd factor, which yielded 4 conditions. Group discussion focused on a controversial proposal to market a new sunlamp. The group leader was wired for electromyographic (EMG) recordings and at the end of the experiment completed R. E. Thayer's (1967, 1970) Activation-Deactivation Adjective Check List. Analysis of variance for the EMG data disclosed a main effect for condition of the experiment and a marginally significant interaction effect. Consistent with McClelland's theory, the greatest EMG reactivity occurred in high-n-Power leaders subjected to group conflict. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adult conflict history and children's subsequent responses to conflict: An experimental test.

Although correlations between marital conflict histories and increased reactivity by children during conflict exposure are well documented (i.e., sensitization), questions about causality remain unresolved. This study subjected the sensitization hypothesis, which is a critical prediction of several theories about interparental conflict, to an experimental test. Children in 3 age groups (early childhood, preadolescence, late adolescence) viewed videotapes of an adult couple engaged in a history of (a) 4 hostile, unresolved conflicts (destructive) or (b) 4 mild, resolved conflicts (constructive). Next, all children were interviewed about their responses after witnessing a standard conflict between the same adult couple. Supporting the sensitization hypothesis, destructive conflict histories elicited more negative patterns of responding across multiple domains; age and gender moderated many effects. Results suggested that constructive conflict histories had benign effects on children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Misconceived sources of opposition to physician-assisted suicide.

This article addresses 2 prominent sources of opposition to physician-assisted suicide (PAS): first, the fear of abuse and, second, common moral distinctions drawn between PAS and other forms of end-of-life decisions and care. Each is grounded in a false assumption that PAS is radically different from other forms of widely accepted end-of-life decisions and care. The experience to date in Oregon gives some reassurance that the practice there permitting PAS has not been significantly abused. Moreover, the author argues that abuse, understood as decisions not in accord with what the patient wants, or would have wanted, is greatest when someone, other than the patient is the decision maker. On this ground, PAS should be less subject to abuse than other surrogate decisions about life support. Moreover, Oregon's law, like virtually all proposals to legalize PAS, contains numerous safeguards that are not present in decisions about life support generally. Second, it is argued that some prominent conceptualizations of accepted end-of-life decisions and care thought to distinguish them morally from PAS fail on closer analysis to do so. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Concern for the in-group and opposition to affirmative action.

The present experiments suggest that the desire to benefit the in-group drives dominant-group members' policy preferences, independent of concern for out-groups' outcomes. In Experiment 1, the effect of a manipulation of affirmative action procedures on policy support was mediated by how Whites expected the policy to affect fellow Whites, but not by the expected effect on minorities. In Experiments 2 and 3, when focused on losses for the White in-group, Whites' racial identity was negatively related to support for affirmative action. However, when focused on gains for the Black out-group or when participants were told that Whites were not affected by the policy, racial identity did not predict attitudes toward the policy. In Experiments 2 and 3, perceived fairness mediated these effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Response to conflict as determined by prior exposure to conflict.

Clinical observations indicate that individuals who have been exposed to strong conflicts, as in their early life, tend to react in a conflictual way not only to the original stimulus situations, but to most situations, e.g., the obsessive-compulsive one, reflecting indecisiveness. To test the validity of this observation in human behavior sui generis, a laboratory situation was constructed wherein Ss were required to discriminate between 2 levels of illumination. This obligation to make a difficult discrimination (strong conflict) affected reaction to a subsequent relatively easier discrimination. Moreover, the greater the similarity regarding the relative difficulty of the discrimination tasks, the greater was the influence of the one on the other task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conservation of resources: A new attempt at conceptualizing stress.

Major perspectives concerning stress are presented with the goal of clarifying the nature of what has proved to be a heuristic but vague construct. Current conceptualizations of stress are challenged as being too phenomenological and ambiguous, and consequently, not given to direct empirical testing. Indeed, it is argued that researchers have tended to avoid the problem of defining stress, choosing to study stress without reference to a clear framework. A new stress model called the model of conservation of resources is presented as an alternative. This resource-oriented model is based on the supposition that people strive to retain, protect, and build resources and that what is threatening to them is the potential or actual loss of these valued resources. Implications of the model of conservation of resources for new research directions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coordinating developmental and psychoanalytic processes: conceptualizing technique

Throughout childhood and adolescence, psychological growth proceeds in a sequence of progressive hierarchical organizations. Consequently, children are continuously consolidating existing positions or are in transition from one to another. When analytic treatment is proposed, analysts often find themselves in the position of being required to technically coordinate the requirements of the analytic process with those of the ongoing developmental process. While it is the patient who will ultimately bring the needs of both processes together, the approach the analyst assumes to recognizing and addressing these needs can have a facilitating influence on the treatment. Play, for example, is a window on old conflicts and impaired object relationships from the past, but it is also a way in which children consolidate existing organizational hierarchies. Similarly, the analytic interaction provides a pathway to the past, but it is also used by children to provide the building blocks for newly emerging structures. To facilitate further clinical research, a conceptual outline of the relationship between the two processes is provided.     

Conjunctive and disjunctive conflict: A theory of need conflict.

The ego disjunction theory of conflict for pairs of needs is revised to yield a theory of conjunctive and disjunctive conflict for individual needs: the concept of incompatibility is dimensionalized; the concept of compatibility is introduced; a combined dimension of compatibility-incompatibility is posited for all pairs of needs; however, joint scores of pairs of needs are not independent; the dimension of compatibility-incompatibility is therefore posited for all needs individually. Intensity of conjunctive or disjunctive conflict is specified as a function of the score for the need in relation to the degree of compatibility or incompatibility. Assumptions are made concerning variations of conflict within different populations. The assumptions generate predictions which are generally confirmed. (17 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Meritocracy and opposition to affirmative action: Making concessions in the face of discrimination.

Typically, people who strongly endorse the merit principle and believe that outcomes should be given to those most deserving oppose affirmative action (AA) programs that violate this principle. However, how do they respond to AA when faced with a great deal of workplace discrimination? The authors hypothesized that people who care strongly about merit should be motivated to combat discrimination because it biases the assessment of merit. Consequently, these individuals should make concessions for AA. The authors found support for their hypothesis when investigating (a) participants' preexisting perceptions of workplace discrimination and (b) experimentally induced perceptions of discrimination. They discuss the implications of these results for the psychology of meritocracy and for resistance to AA. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Participatory Intervention Model: A framework for conceptualizing and promoting intervention acceptability.

The authors propose a participatory approach for conceptualizing and implementing research-based interventions that has as its primary aim the development of acceptable and sustainable change efforts. The Participatory Intervention Model (PIM), rooted in participatory action research, provides a mechanism for integrating theory, research, and practice and for promoting involvement of stakeholders in intervention efforts. The authors present evidence of PIM's capacity for promoting intervention acceptability, drawing on their research experiences in international sexual-risk prevention work. The authors conclude with a discussion of PIM's potential for bridging the gap between research and practice, addressing cultural diversity, fostering partnerships, promoting disciplined reflective practice, and integrating the multiple roles of the school psychologist. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Methodological issues in conceptualizing and treating childhood social isolation.

Examines the literature on treatments of social isolation in children. Issues related to the conceptualization of social isolation are discussed, and methodological issues pertaining to the assessment and treatment of social isolation are considered. From a review of 42 controlled treatment studies, it is evident that several intervention strategies have produced some positive effects. These strategies include operant procedures, structuring of activity and play material, symbolic modeling, coaching, and peer socialization. Studies have generally failed to determine the potential durability of treatment effects. Because of the different methods of S selection, it is likely that investigators are working with different subsets of the socially isolated population. Clinical heterogeneity within samples is also a problem that needs to be corrected. Recommendations are made for the correction of these methodological problems. (81 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-concepts of institutionalized adolescents: A framework for conceptualizing labeling effects.

Assessed the self-concepts of 111 delinquents, 33 adolescent psychiatric inpatients, and 119 high school students in relation to 3 social labels (popular teenager, juvenile delinquent, and emotionally disturbed teenager). A semantic differential technique and discriminant analyses were used to compare profiles of self-ratings to profiles of role ratings. One analysis compared self-ratings with the control group's stereotypes, and the other compared self-ratings with an S's own group's stereotypes. Results reveal modest support for labeling effects only when self-ratings were matched with an S's own group's stereotypes. Findings suggest that an adolescent might choose one of several responses to a socially assigned label. Possible responses included accepting or rejecting the label as well as misperceiving the content of the role. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dimensions of conflict frame: Disputant interpretations of conflict.

This research was conducted to uncover and define disputant cognitive interpretations of conflict. In Study 1, 31 disputants and 9 mediators were asked to describe a conflict with which they were currently associated. Multidimensional scaling techniques were used to inductively derive the dimensions necessary to represent people's cognitive interpretations of conflict (i.e., dimensions of conflict frame). The resulting configuration consisted of three dimensions: (a) relationship versus task, (b) emotional versus intellectual, and (c) compromise versus win. In comparison with disputants, mediator interpretations were more likely to be viewed by disputants in relationship, compromise terms. Study 2 replicated the multidimensional scaling findings of Study 1 using a different subject population (i.e., undergraduate students). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-definition by opposition: A consequence of minority status.

Describes within a multifaceted psychodynamic approach the effect of race in an African American patient population. The 12 patients (aged 26–50 yrs) discussed are primarily middle class and were seen in psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Clinical challenges discussed are ethnicity, skin color, professional achievement, and interpersonal relationships. The author utilizes F. Pine's (1990) clinical synthesis describing the 4 psychologies (drive, ego, object, self) currently used in psychoanalytic theory construction and treatment to advance the understanding of the interaction of race and ethnicity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A two-dimensional approach to relationship conflict: Meta-analytic findings.

This meta-analysis of 64 studies (5,071 couples) used a metacoding system to categorize observed couple conflict behaviors into categories differing in terms of valence (positive to negative) and intensity (high to low) and resulting in five behavioral categories: hostility, distress, withdrawal, problem solving, and intimacy. Aggregate effect sizes indicated that women were somewhat more likely to display hostility, distress, and intimacy during conflict, whereas men were somewhat more likely to display withdrawal and problem solving. Gender differences were of a small magnitude. For both men and women, hostility was robustly associated with lower relationship satisfaction (medium effect), distress and withdrawal were somewhat associated (small effect), and intimacy and problem solving were both closely associated with relationship satisfaction (medium effect). Effect sizes were moderated in several cases by study characteristics including year of publication, developmental period of the sample, recruitment design, duration of observed conflict, method used to induce conflict, and type of coding system used. Findings from this meta-analysis suggest that high-intensity conflict behaviors of both a positive and negative nature are important correlates of relationship satisfaction and underscore the relatively small gender differences in many conflict behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)