Social role and patterns of symptomatic behaviors.

In an attempt to develop a more conceptually oriented system of psychiatric classification, the statistical relationships occurring among various symptomatic reactions were studied in 604 patients. The deviant reactions were organized into symptom clusters, and a test of their stability was made in another group of Ss. The 3 symptom clusters which emerged were "avoidance of others… self-indulgence and turning against others… [and] self-deprivation and turning against the self." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social connectedness, dysfunctional interpersonal behaviors, and psychological distress: Testing a mediator model.

The study examined the relationship among social connectedness, dysfunctional interpersonal behaviors, and psychological distress. The authors specifically hypothesized that the direct negative effect of social connectedness on psychological distress would be mediated by dysfunctional interpersonal behaviors. Prior to testing the hypothesis, the authors revised the original Social Connectedness Scale (SCS; R. A Lee and S. B. Robbins, 1995). Studies 1 and 2 describe the revision and validation of the SCS on separate samples of college students. In Study 3, the authors surveyed 194 college students and found support for the mediation hypothesis on general psychological distress. The importance of assessing social connectedness and tailoring counseling interventions for people with low connectedness and dysfunctional interpersonal behaviors is addressed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-defeating behaviors in organizations: The relationship between thwarted belonging and interpersonal work behaviors.

This multisource field study applied belongingness theory to examine whether thwarted belonging, defined as the perceived discrepancy between one's desired and actual levels of belonging with respect to one's coworkers, predicts interpersonal work behaviors that are self-defeating. Controlling for demographic variables, job type, justice constructs, and trust in organization in a multilevel regression analysis using data from 130 employees of a clinical chemical laboratory and their supervisors, the authors found that employees who perceive greater levels of desired coworker belonging than actual levels of coworker belonging were more likely to engage in interpersonally harmful and less likely to engage in interpersonally helpful behaviors. Implications for the application of belongingness theory to explain self-defeating behaviors in organizations are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Responsiveness of chronic schizophrenics and normals to social and nonsocial feedback.

This is an investigation of the effect upon learning (of a psychomotor task: depressing a bar in accord with a repetitive double alternation pattern) of feedback on performance from a human being or from a panel of lights in a population of schizophrenics as compared to hospitalized nonpsychiatric patients. It was anticipated that when the feedback was from the human, the schizophrenic would not be able to profit as much from the information as compared to the normals, and that paranoid schizophrenics would profit more than nonparanoid schizophrenics. In general, the hypotheses were supported. The results are discussed as to their theoretical implications. From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:3JQ06J. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of brief social deprivation on behaviors for a social reinforcer.

Method used, variables observed, and results are outlined and discussed. Adult approval was found to have definite reinforcing value; the effectiveness may be enhanced by an operation of deprivation. 22 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A discussion of hospital social atmosphere profiles and their relevance to effectiveness.

Recent data purporting to show that hospital social atmospheres lead to hospital effectiveness were questioned on the basis of sampling, design, and strong indications that an alternative explanation was as reasonable as the one put forward by the authors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Vertical versus shared leadership as predictors of the effectiveness of change management teams: An examination of aversive, directive, transactional, transformational, and empowering leader behaviors.

This study investigated vertical versus shared leadership as predictors of the effectiveness of 71 change management teams. Vertical leadership stems from an appointed or formal leader of a team, whereas shared leadership (C. L. Pearce, 1997; C. L. Pearce & J. A. Conger, in press; C. L. Pearce & H. P. Sims, 2000) is a group process in which leadership is distributed among, and stems from, team members. Team effectiveness was measured approximately 6 months after the assessment of leadership and was also measured from the viewpoints of managers, internal customers, and team members. Using multiple regression, the authors found both vertical and shared leadership to be significantly related to team effectiveness (p     

Mother-child play and emerging social behaviors among infants from maltreating families.

Mother-child play of 12-month-old infants (N = 130) from maltreating (N = 78) and nonmaltreating (N = 52) families was analyzed as a context that integrates infants' developing social and cognitive skills. Play was coded from semistructured and unstructured play paradigms. No group differences were found in infants' play maturity. Infants from abusing families demonstrated more imitative play than infants from nonmaltreating families, and engaged in less independent play than infants from both neglecting and nonmaltreating families, suggesting a delay in emerging social behaviors. Mothers from abusing and nonmaltreating families differed in attention directing behaviors. Maternal behaviors predicted child play style variables, but did not mediate the effects of maltreatment. Findings discuss the influence of an early maltreating environment upon the development of the emergent self. Implications for early intervention are underscored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Institutionalization and the effectiveness of social reinforcement: A three-year follow-up study.

49 familial retarded children who had been tested on a simple 2-part satiation game 3 years earlier were retested on the same game. The children were divided into high and low preinstitutional social deprivation groups, and 2 reinforcement conditions were employed. On the original testing a positive relationship was found between social deprivation experienced and the effectiveness of social reinforcement (p     

An evaluation of the efficacy of brief-contact therapy with hospitalized psychiatric patients.

In 2 experiments, brief-contact therapy—a series of very brief, friendly, casual conversations between a staff member and a patient—was shown to have a beneficial effect upon the psychological status of newly admitted psychiatric patients. In the 1st study, conducted with 44 recently admitted patients, a 2-wk regimen of brief contacts produced a reduction in subjective anxiety, an increase in self-esteem, and a reduction in length of hospitalization. More frequent contacts (6 each wk) appeared to be more effective than fewer contacts (3 each wk). A 2nd study with 74 Ss provided further confirmation of the effectiveness of brief-contact therapy, and demonstrated that the content discussed during the contacts has a bearing on their efficacy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parenting beliefs and behaviors in northern and southern groups of Italian mothers of young infants.

Similarities and differences in northern and southern Italian mothers' social and didactic parenting beliefs and behaviors, and relations between their beliefs and behaviors, are reported. Both groups of mothers reported that they engaged more in social than didactic interactions with their infants, whereas in actuality both groups engaged in didactic behaviors with their infants for longer periods of time than they engaged in social behaviors. In addition, northern mothers engaged in more social interactions with their infants than did southern mothers. No correlations between beliefs and behaviors emerged in either group. These data speak to issues of intracultural variation and cross-cultural similarities in family psychology and parenting, belief-behavior relations in parenting, and the importance of methodology (parental report or observation) in the study of parenting and family functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of caring youth sport contexts on efficacy-related beliefs and social behaviors.

Understanding what factors influence positive youth development has been advocated by youth development researchers (P. L. Benson, 2006; J. S. Eccles & J. A. Gootman, 2002). Consequently, the purpose of this study was to examine whether perceptions of a caring youth sport context influenced prosocial and antisocial behavior through efficacy-related beliefs, that is, positive and negative affective self-regulatory efficacy (ASRE) and empathic self-efficacy (ESE). Multiethnic youths taking part in summer sport programs (N = 395) completed a questionnaire that measured perceptions of the caring climate, ESE, ASRE, and social behavior. Structural equation modeling was used to test whether ASRE and ESE mediated the relationship between caring and social behaviors. Findings revealed that perceptions of caring positively predicted ASRE and ESE. In turn, positive ASRE positively predicted ESE. Prosocial behaviors were positively linked to ESE, whereas antisocial behaviors were negatively predicted by positive ASRE. The results suggest that caring influences prosocial and antisocial behavior because such contexts develop youths' ability to monitor, manage, and control positive affect, which in turn enhances their belief in their ability to empathize. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Overinclusive thinking and delusions in schizophrenic patients.

15 schizophrenics with paranoid delusions, 15 schizophrenics with no delusions, and a control group of 15 nonschizophrenic hospitalized patients were given the Benjamin Proverbs test, the Mill Hill Vocabulary Scale, and 3 of Babcock's psychomotor speed tests. As predicted, there was a significant relationship between the presence or absence of delusions, and overinclusive thinking, as assessed by the average number of words needed to explain the proverbs and 2 time scores. Overinclusive patients tend to have paranoid delusions. There was no significant relationship between retardation, as assessed by the Babcock tests, and the presence of delusions. This finding complements an earlier finding of Harris and Metcalfe (see 32: 719) that slowness in schizophrenic patients is specifically associated with inappropriate affect and a poor prognosis, and Payne's (see 37: 5499) finding that a group of chronic schizophrenics was not overinclusive. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interrelations among three criteria of improvement in group therapy: Comfort, effectiveness, and self-awareness.

7 measures (3 of comfort, 2 of effectiveness, 2 of self-awareness) were obtained from 15 neurotic patients at the beginning and end of 20 weeks of group therapy. "Significant change was found on three measures… . Of the 21 intercorrelations between change scores, only one was significant at the .05 level." The "assumption that changes on different measures and criteria go together and that improvement can be considered a unitary process" is not supported. 16 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The treatment of disordered money behaviors: Results of an open clinical trial.

While destructive financial behaviors permeate our culture, the field of psychology has remained relatively silent on the issue. This article argues for the need for psychologists to identify disordered money behaviors as treatable psychological problems and provide the public with effective approaches to treatment. It describes one such experimental treatment utilizing experiential therapy and examines treatment outcomes of 33 individuals with problematic financial behaviors who participated in a 6-day experiential therapy program. Following treatment, participants showed significant and lasting reductions in psychological distress, anxiety, and worry about money and finance-related situations and showed measurable signs of better overall financial health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship of interpersonal involvement and affectiveness of content to the verbal communication of schizophrenic patients.

To analyze the effect of close interpersonal contact on the communication process of schizophrenics, 30 hospitalized male schizophrenics were asked to associate to TAT-like cards under 2 conditions of E-involvement. The condition of close personal contact was where E interviewed S directly, made use of personal pronouns, and at-attempted to promote a relatively close relationship; the condition of remote personal contact was where S received nonpersonalized instructions from a tape recorder operated by E. As compared to 30 hospitalized medical patients, content of speech of the schizophrenic patients was indistinguishable from controls except for irrelevancies. Degree of personal contact did not seem to affect S's communication. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting trademark effectiveness.

The effectiveness of 7 competing trademarks was studied. 166 male Ss were tested. "Effectiveness is defined in terms of salience, meaning, and memory-value of the trademark. The three characteristics were found to be positively related." Taking memory-value to be the major dependent variable, through a combination of salience and meaning measures, memory-value was predicted "with a high degree of success." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personal values as a mediator between parent and peer expectations and adolescent behaviors.

The current study examined the mediating role of adolescents' personal values on the relation between maternal and peer expectations for prosocial behaviors and adolescents' self-reported prosocial and antisocial behaviors. One hundred thirty-four adolescents (mean age = 16.22 years, 54% girls) completed measures of their own values and behaviors, as well as their perceptions of the positive expectations that their mother and their best friend(s) had for their (the adolescents') prosocial behaviors. Stepwise regression analyses suggested that adolescents' personal prosocial values mediated the relation between adolescents' perceptions of both maternal and peer expectations and adolescents' prosocial behaviors. In addition, for boys, perceptions of positive peer expectations were directly and negatively related to antisocial behaviors. The current study has important implications for parents, educators, and practitioners who are concerned about promoting adolescents' positive behaviors and discouraging negative behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Leader behaviors as perceived by cancer patients in professionally directed support groups and outcomes.

The study tested the effects of leader behaviors on outcomes in 269 cancer patients in professionally led support groups. Both the direct effect and a mediation hypothesis, helpful group experiences, were examined. The leader model specifies 5 dimensions: evoke-stimulate, executive-management, meaning attribution, uses of self, and support-caring. Patients were drawn from The Wellness Community, a national organization that provides services to cancer patients. Outcomes included quality of life and depression. In a linear regressions analysis, leaders perceived as high on meaning attribution and management-structure had lower depression, fewer physical problems, higher well-being, and better functioning. In a test of the mediation hypothesis, leader behaviors associated with outcomes were substantially mediated through helpful group experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)