Understanding infidelity: Correlates in a national random sample.

Infidelity is a common phenomenon in marriages but is poorly understood. The current study examined variables related to extramarital sex using data from the 1991-1996 General Social Surveys. Predictor variables were entered into a logistic regression with presence of extramarital sex as the dependent variable. Results demonstrated that divorce, education, age when first married, and 2 "opportunity" variables--respondent's income and work status--significantly affected the likelihood of having engaged in infidelity. Also, there were 3 significant interactions related to infidelity: (a) between age and gender, (b) between marital satisfaction and religious behavior, and (c) between past divorce and educational level. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting sexual infidelity in a population-based sample of married individuals.

Predictors of 12-month prevalence of sexual infidelity were examined in a population-based sample of married individuals (N = 2,291). Predictor variables were organized in terms of involved-partner (e.g., personality, religiosity), marital (e.g., marital dissatisfaction, partner affair), and extradyadic (e.g., parenting) variables. Annual prevalence of infidelity was 2.3%. Controlling for marital dissatisfaction and demographic variables, infidelity was predicted by greater neuroticism and lower religiosity; wives' pregnancy also increased the risk of infidelity for husbands. In comparison, self-esteem and partners' suspected affair were predictive of infidelity when controlling for demographic variables but were not uniquely predictive of infidelity when also controlling for marital dissatisfaction. Religiosity and wives' pregnancy moderated the association between marital dissatisfaction and infidelity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender, socioeconomic status, age, and jealousy: Emotional responses to infidelity in a national sample.

The authors used a representative national sample (N = 777) to test the evolutionary hypothesis that men would be more bothered by sexual infidelity and women by emotional infidelity, the Jealousy as a Specific Innate Module (JSIM) effect. Our alternative conceptualization of jealousy suggests that there are distinct emotional components of jealousy that did not evolve differently by gender. The authors looked for effects of age, socioeconomic status (SES), and type of measure (continuous or dichotomous) on jealousy. The authors did not find age or SES effects. Forced-choice items provided support for our alternative view; both genders showed more anger and blame over sexual infidelity but more hurt feelings over emotional infidelity. Continuous measures indicated more emotional response to sexual than emotional infidelity among both genders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cultural strengths as moderators of the relationship between acculturation to the mainstream U.S. Society and eating- and body-related concerns among Mexican American women.

This study explored whether 3 culturally relevant variables (i.e., ethnic identity, familism, and enculturation) operated as sources of strength for 209 Mexican American women by buffering the relationship between their acculturation to the mainstream U.S. society and eating- and body-related concerns. In an effort to capture the underlying dimensions of women’s eating- and body-related concerns, the authors used principal components analysis to identify 3 components: control concerns, restricted eating, and body dissatisfaction. As hypothesized, results from a series of hierarchical regressions suggested familism significantly buffered the links between acculturation to the mainstream U.S. society and all 3 eating- and body-related variables. However, enculturation did not moderate the associations, and ethnic identity moderated only the link between acculturation and restricted eating. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexual intimacy in psychology training: Results and implications of a national survey.

In a nationwide survey of members of American Psychological Association Division 29 (Psychotherapy), which had a 48% return rate (N=481), 10% of the respondents reported sexual contact as students with their educators; 13% reported entering sexual relationships as educators with their students. However, only 2% believed that such relationships could be beneficial to trainees and educators. Gender differences were significant: 16.5% of the women, compared with 3% of the men, reported sexual contact as students; however, 19% of the men, compared with 8% of the women, reported such contact as psychology educators; and 12% of the males, compared with 3% of the females, reported sexual contact as psychotherapists with their clients. Sexual contact in psychology training programs seems to be increasing: 25% of the recent female graduates had had sexual contact, compared with only 5% of those with degrees for more than 21 yrs. The literature on ethics, standards, research, theory, and practice leaves both psychology graduate students and those psychologists responsible for their education without clear expectations, information, or guidelines concerning sexual intimacy in psychology training. This article represents an attempt to raise the issue and to present some initial information. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Activity limitation and depression: Perspectives of older African American women and their close companions.

Objective: To compare self-report of activity limitations and depressive symptoms of older African American women following physical rehabilitation with the views of a self-nominated close companion. Participants: Thirty-seven African American women (mean age = 72.57 years) and their designated companions (mean age = 54.81 years). Study Design: Telephone interview with the older female respondents and a parallel interview with their companions. Results: The women and their companions provided comparable information regarding activity limitations and depressive symptoms. An association between activity limitation and depression was detected from the perspectives of both the women and their companions. Conclusions: Findings indicate the utility of proxy reports about the functioning of older adults but also indicate the need to carefully consider criteria used in selection of proxy reporters. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intrapersonal, familial, and cultural factors in the commitment to a career choice of Mexican American and non-Hispanic White college women.

These 2 studies assessed intrapersonal, familial, and cultural factors in the process of committing to a career choice of 91 and 71 Mexican American (MA) and 52 and 76 non-Hispanic White (NHW) college women. Factors different from what previous theory and research have suggested may propel the commitment to a career choice in these 2 groups. MA women's commitment to a career choice was influenced more by their instrumentality and less by their expressiveness or their parents: NHW's com7itment was influenced by familial factors rather than by intrapersonal factors in Study 1 and by instrumentality in Study 2. These findings underscore the need to investigate intrapersonal, contextual factors and culture in women's processes of committing to a career choice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexual orientation and the second to fourth finger length ratio: A meta-analysis in men and women.

The ratio of the lengths of the second and fourth fingers (2D:4D) may serve as a marker for prenatal androgen signaling. Because people are typically unaware of their 2D:4D, its use allows possible effects of early sex hormone regimes and socialization to be disentangled. We conducted a meta-analysis on relationships between 2D:4D and sexual orientation in men and women in 18 independent samples of men and 16 independent samples of women. Collectively, these samples comprised 1,618 heterosexual men, 1,693 heterosexual women, 1,503 gay men, and 1,014 lesbians. In addition to identifying the normative heterosexual sex difference in 2D:4D for both hands, we found that heterosexual women had higher (more feminine) left- and right-hand 2D:4D than did lesbians, but we found no difference between heterosexual and gay men. Moderator analyses suggested that ethnicity explained some between-studies variation in men. These results add to a literature suggesting that early sex hormone signaling affects sexual orientation in women, and highlight the need for further research exploring the relationships among 2D:4D, sexual orientation, and ethnicity in men. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Efficacy of a computerized abuse and safety assessment intervention for women with disabilities: A randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of a computerized disability-specific abuse assessment intervention on abuse awareness, safety self-efficacy, and safety promoting behaviors of women with diverse disabilities. Research Design: A randomized control group design was used, with the intervention group completing the assessment intervention both at Time 1 (T1) and 3 months later at Time 2 (T2) and control participants completing it for the first time at T2. Analyses compared intervention and control groups at T2 and evaluated change over time in intervention group participants. The relationship between outcome variables (abuse awareness, safety self-efficacy, safety behaviors) was also explored. Results: The intervention group had greater abuse awareness than the control group at T2, and abuse awareness increased from T1 to T2 among women in the intervention group, particularly among women who had experienced little or no abuse in the past year. Both abuse awareness and safety self-efficacy were significantly related to safety behaviors. Conclusions: The computerized program offers promise as a nonthreatening method of conducting abuse assessments among women with disabilities while also serving as an intervention to enhance abuse awareness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A national survey of American Psychological Association student affiliates' involvement and ethical training in psychology educator-student sexual relationships.

What would you do if during your psychology training you became aware that another student and educator in your program were involved in a sexual relationship with each other? This is one of many questions that were posed to present American Psychological Association student affiliates. Participants were also asked about their knowledge and involvement in sexual contacts and advances with psychology educators, their beliefs about such contacts, and the adequacy of their ethics training. Results show that sexual behaviors are still occurring and that many students would not feel safe pursuing any type of action to address such relationships. There is still much progress to be made in training students and educators in identifying, addressing, reporting, and enforcing sexually related ethical issues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Life transitions and mental health in a national cohort of young Australian women.

Young adulthood, a time of major life transitions and risk of poor mental health, may affect emotional well-being throughout adult life. This article uses longitudinal survey data to examine young Australian women's transitions across 4 domains: residential independence, relationships, work and study, and motherhood. Changes over 3 years in health-related quality of life, optimism, depressive symptoms, stress, and life satisfaction, were examined in relation to these transitions among 7,619 young adult participants in the nationally representative Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. Positive changes in mental health occurred for women moving into cohabitation and marriage, whereas reductions were observed among those experiencing marital separation or divorce and those taking on or remaining in traditionally "feminine" roles (out of the workforce, motherhood). The data suggest that women cope well with major life changes at this life stage, but reductions in psychological well-being are associated with some transitions. The findings suggest that preventive interventions to improve women's resilience and coping might target women undergoing these transitions and that social structures may not be providing sufficient support for women making traditional life choices. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The mediating roles of perceived social support and resources in the self-efficacy-suicide attempts relation among African American abused women.

The authors examined whether self-efficacy among African-American abused women decreased their risk of suicide through the mediating influences of perceived social support from friends, perceived social support from family, and perceived effectiveness for obtaining material resources. The sample consisted of 100 women who presented to a hospital following a suicide attempt and 100 women who presented to the same hospital for nonemergency medical problems. Results revealed that the association between self-efficacy and suicide attempt status was partially accounted for by the mediating roles of perceived social support from friends and family, and perceived effectiveness at obtaining resources. Findings suggest that interventions to increase abused women's self-efficacy should focus on increasing their capacity to obtain social and material resources. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developing a feminist psychology of women: Past and future accomplishments.

Afeminist approach to the psychology of women is defined. In terms of this definition four areas central to the psychology of women are examined. These areas are theory building, sex differences research, research describing women's lives, and feminist therapy. For each area past accomplishments are outlined and future directions are suggested. In conclusion, two important methodological paradoxes are presented, and their relevance to a developing feminist psychology of women is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Change in caregiver depression as a function of the Strong African American Families Program.

A randomized prevention trial contrasted families who participated in the Strong African American Families Program (SAAF), a preventive intervention for rural African American parents and their 11-year-olds, with control families. This article focuses on the program's effect on primary caregivers' depressive symptoms. Among the 167 caregivers with elevated scores on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale, SAAF participation was associated with reduced depressive symptoms, enhanced parenting, and perceived improvements in youth behavior. Change in parenting (consistent discipline, youth monitoring, and open communication) but not change in youth intrapersonal competencies significantly mediated intervention effects on caregivers' depression. Results support the link between reduced depressive symptoms and stronger family relationships, particularly the importance of enhanced parenting efficacy in alleviating depressive symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perfectionism and bulimic symptoms in African American college women: Dimensions of perfectionism and their interactions with perceived weight status.

This study had 2 primary aims: (a) to examine the unique relations between maladaptive and adaptive dimensions of perfectionism and bulimic symptoms and (b) to test an interactive model of perfectionism and perceived weight status for bulimic symptoms in a sample of African American female undergraduates. The sample consisted of 97 women at Time 1 and 70 women at Time 2 about 5 months later, with bulimic symptoms assessed at both time points. Results showed that maladaptive perfectionism, but not adaptive perfectionism, was uniquely related to bulimic symptoms in cross-sectional analyses. Tests of interaction effects indicated that maladaptive perfectionism interacted with perceived weight status to identify elevated bulimic symptoms such that women with high levels of maladaptive perfectionism who felt overweight exhibited the highest levels of bulimic symptoms, both concurrently and prospectively after controlling for Time 1 levels of bulimic symptoms. This study highlights the relevance of maladaptive perfectionism to bulimic symptoms in African American college women. (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)     

Vulnerability and resilience in women with arthritis: Test of a two-factor model.

The purpose of this study was to test a 2-factor model of affective health in women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA; n = 82) or osteoarthritis (OA; n = 88). Positive and negative social interactions and affect were assessed for 11 consecutive weeks. For each participant, Vulnerability and Resilience factors were created from factor analyses of positive and negative personal characteristics, respectively. Multilevel analyses tested the hypothesis that weekly changes in social interactions or affect would only be predicted by the factor of the same valence. The Vulnerability (and not the Resilience) factor predicted changes in negative interactions. The Resilience (and not the Vulnerability) factor predicted changes in positive interactions. The Vulnerability (and not the Resilience) factor predicted changes in current and next-week negative affect. The Resilience and Vulnerability factors each predicted changes in current and next-week positive affect, although the effects for Vulnerability were smaller than for Resilience. Finally, the Vulnerability factor interacted with pain to predict more future negative affect. The main implication is that both Vulnerability and Resilience should be considered in theory, research, and interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A preliminary report on a new measure: Internalization of the Model Minority Myth Measure (IM-4) and its psychological correlates among Asian American college students.

This investigation is a preliminary report on a new measure of internalization of the model minority myth. In 3 studies, there was evidence for the validation of the 15-item Internalization of the Model Minority Myth Measure (IM-4), with 2 subscales. The Model Minority Myth of Achievement Orientation referred to the myth of Asian Americans’ greater success than other racial minority groups associated with their stronger work ethics, perseverance, and drives to succeed. The Model Minority Myth of Unrestricted Mobility referred to the myth of Asian Americans’ greater success than other racial minority groups associated with their stronger belief in fairness of treatment and lack of perceived racism or barriers at school or work. The 2-subscale structure of the IM-4 was supported by a combination of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, with support of discriminant, convergent, and incremental validity, as well as internal reliability and stability over 2 weeks. The IM-4 is a new measure that taps into a uniquely racialized experience of Asian Americans with research and clinical implications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The psychologist as expert witness: A case report and analysis of personal experiences previously reported in the American Psychologist.

A personal experience of the author is related in which he appeared in court as an expert witness to indicate the implications of psychological test findings for the mental competence of a defendant. Previous reports of the psychologist testifying as an expert witness are cited, and several suggestions are made for improving communication in that area. From Psyc Abstracts 36:02:2AK21A. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mind over matter: Internalization of the thinness norm as a moderator of responsiveness to norm misperception education in college women.

The authors examine the effectiveness of norm misperception education in decreasing disordered eating. One hundred seven Ist-year college women completed questionnaires assessing their own and others' actual and ideal body size as well as their own disordered eating and were then randomly assigned to read either a norm misperception or a control brochure. Participants completed questionnaires immediately after reading the brochures and again 3 months later. Although there were no main effects of brochure condition at the follow-up, participants who primarily compared themselves with other college women and who read the norm misperception brochure had higher actual and ideal weight as well as less frequent disordered eating. The discussion focuses on the theoretical and applied implications of these findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)