Does college-based relationship education decrease extradyadic involvement in relationships?

We used latent growth curve modeling to examine the effectiveness of a relationship education intervention (Relationship U, or RU) on rates of extradyadic involvement in a sample of 380 college students in committed romantic relationships. RU is designed to be integrated into existing college courses; it educates students about partner selection, making healthy relationship transitions, communication skills, and the potentially negative consequences of cheating in romantic relationships and how to prevent its occurrence. Participants who received the intervention reported trajectories of less extradyadic involvement over time relative to control participants. Being female was not associated with less extradyadic involvement at baseline, but it did predict less extradyadic involvement over time across both intervention and control conditions. Implications for dissemination of relationship education are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group support and the behavior of leaders and nonleaders.

In order to observe systematic behavioral differences between leaders, joiners, and nonjoiners, 17 Ss in each category were placed in a condition of group support followed by one of group nonsupport. In both conditions, 1 S from 1 of the 3 categories interacted with 3 paid participants in an attempt to solve a relatively unstructured task. As hypothesized, leaders made significantly more positive affect responses than nonjoiners across both situations and leaders made significantly fewer negative responses under support and significantly more negative responses under nonsupport than nonjoiners. 1 major hypothesis was not substantiated: Leaders did not make significantly more task oriented responses than either of the other categories under support or nonsupport. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Patterns of cardiovascular responses to stress as a function of race and parental hypertension in men.

Investigated cardiovascular responses to 12 stressors known to elicit either beta-adrenergic (mental arithmetic) or alpha-adrenergic (forehead cold pressor) reactivity in 27 Black and 29 White normotensive male college undergraduates. Ss in each group were selected for presence or absence of parental hypertension. Based on previous research (e.g., F. M. Abboud and J. W. Eckstein [1966], H. Barcroft et al [1960]) Blacks were expected to show smaller cardiovascular responses to the beta-adrenergic mental arithmetic task and greater responses to the alpha-adrenergic cold pressor relative to the Whites. Unlike previous findings, no significant racial differences in cardiovascular responses were found during either task. However, Black participants had significantly higher systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure levels throughout the cold pressor periods. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implicit and explicit preferences for physical attractiveness in a romantic partner: A double dissociation in predictive validity.

Five studies develop and examine the predictive validity of an implicit measure of the preference for physical attractiveness in a romantic partner. Three hypotheses were generally supported. First, 2 variants of the go/no-go association task revealed that participants, on average, demonstrate an implicit preference (i.e., a positive spontaneous affective reaction) for physical attractiveness in a romantic partner. Second, these implicit measures were not redundant with a traditional explicit measure: The correlation between these constructs was .00 on average, and the implicit measures revealed no reliable sex differences, unlike the explicit measure. Third, explicit and implicit measures exhibited a double dissociation in predictive validity. Specifically, explicit preferences predicted the extent to which attractiveness was associated with participants' romantic interest in opposite-sex photographs but not their romantic interest in real-life opposite-sex speed-daters or confederates. Implicit preferences showed the opposite pattern. This research extends prior work on implicit processes in romantic relationships and offers the first demonstration that any measure of a preference for a particular characteristic in a romantic partner (an implicit measure of physical attractiveness, in this case) predicts individuals' evaluation of live potential romantic partners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reduction of the behavioral effects of aversive stimulation by the presence of companions.

A review of the literature suggests that the presence of companions can reduce both the magnitude and frequency of reactions to aversive or stressful stimuli under either of 2 conditions: (a) the presence of a calm companion when the stimuli are presented; or (b) the presence of a companion that can interfere with the S's reactions to an aversive stimulus. Relatively little evidence exists to support the conclusion that the simple physical presence of others is sufficient in itself to reduce reactions to a disturbing situation. Discrepancies in the results of studies employing secondary or acquired sources of aversive motivation and those employing primary sources suggest that the presence of others may diminish fear or anxiety but not specific responses to a situation that is in itself painful. Studies of physiological reactions to aversive stimuli provide only mixed support for the notion that the presence of others diminishes these reactions. (74 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of manipulating the amount of social-evaluative threat on the cortisol stress response in young healthy men.

Perceived social-evaluative threat triggers the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis, resulting in cortisol release. The current study examined the effects of varying the levels of social-evaluative threat on the stress response. Sixty healthy men (mean age + 23.17 ± 3.89 years) underwent a public speaking task. Four conditions were established on the basis of panel location (inside or outside the room) and number of panelists (one or two). It was hypothesized that these variations affect salivary cortisol and physiological responses in a gradient manner. The task elicited significant cortisol and blood pressure changes for all conditions, but no difference between the groups was found, suggesting that all conditions were equally stressful. Study conclusions were that, for men, the visual presence of a panel is not necessary to elicit a cortisol response. Furthermore, increasing the number of judges does not increase the intensity of the stress response in a gradual manner, but rather seems to follow a threshold pattern. Future studies should include women and try to define the possible threshold to activate the HPA axis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trace Eyeblink Conditioning in Abstinent Alcoholic Individuals: Effects of Complex Task Demands and Prior Conditioning.

Chronic misuse of alcohol affects an integrated neural circuit supporting the formation of associative memories acquired during eyeblink classical conditioning (R. McGlinchey-Berroth et al., 1995). The authors of this study investigated single-cue trace conditioning in amnesic and nonamnesic abstinent alcoholic individuals who either were or were not trained in a single-cue delay conditioning task. Overall, untrained alcoholic participants were severely impaired in acquisition, and alcoholic participants previously trained in single-cue delay conditioning performed similarly to untrained control participants. Individual performance in acquisition varied significantly within task but was relatively stable between the trace and delay tasks; there were nonamnesic and amnesic alcoholic participants who acquired responses at a normal rate in both delay and trace conditioning. The similarity of performances in delay and trace conditioning suggests a common source of impairment across both tasks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Through the eyes of love: Reality and illusion in intimate relationships.

This article reviews the research literature and theory concerned with accuracy of judgments in romantic relationships. We initially propose a model of cognition in (romantic) relationships that distinguishes between 2 forms of accuracy: mean-level bias and tracking accuracy. We then report the results of meta-analyses of research on heterosexual, romantic relationships, which used external benchmarks and reported levels of tracking accuracy (98 studies) and/or mean-level bias (48 studies). The results revealed robust overall effect sizes for both tracking accuracy (r = .47) and positive mean-level bias (r = .09). As expected, the effects were substantial and positive for tracking accuracy across 6 judgmental categories, whereas signed mean-level bias was negative for the interaction attributions (e.g., love, communication). The results showed, as expected, that these 2 forms of accuracy were independent—the 2 kinds of effect size derived from the same set of 38 studies were uncorrelated. As expected, gender, relationship length, and relationship evaluations moderated mean-level bias across studies but (unexpectedly) not for tracking accuracy. In the Discussion we evaluate the prior model in light of the findings, other research, moderating variables (such as self-esteem), the role of projection, the early stages of mate selection, metacognition, and the rationality and nature of motivated cognition. We conclude that our model, findings, and analyses help to resolve the apparent paradox that love is both riven with illusions and rooted in reality, and support both evolutionary and social psychological approaches to understanding cognition in romantic relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Acceptance is in the eye of the beholder: Self-esteem and motivated perceptions of acceptance from the opposite sex.

Social risk elicits self-esteem differences in signature social motivations and behaviors during the relationship-initiation process. In particular, the present research tested the hypothesis that lower self-esteem individuals' (LSEs) motivation to avoid rejection leads them to self-protectively underestimate acceptance from potential romantic partners, whereas higher self-esteem individuals' (HSEs) motivation to promote new relationships leads them to overestimate acceptance. The results of 5 experiments supported these predictions. Social risk increased activation of avoidance goals for LSEs on a word-recall task but increased activation of approach goals for HSEs, as evidenced by their increased use of likeable behaviors. Consistent with these patterns of goal activation, even though actual acceptance cues were held constant across all participants, social risk decreased the amount of acceptance that LSEs perceived from their interaction partner but increased the amount of acceptance that HSEs perceived from their interaction partner. It is important to note that such self-esteem differences in avoidance goals, approach behaviors, and perceptions of acceptance were completely eliminated when social risk was removed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dual-task crosstalk between saccades and manual responses.

Between-task crosstalk has been discussed as an important source for dual-task costs. In this study, the authors examine concurrently performed saccades and manual responses as a means of studying the role of response-code conflict between 2 tasks. In Experiment 1, participants responded to an imperative auditory stimulus with a left or a right key press (manual task), a left or a right saccade (saccade task), or both. In Experiments 2 and 3, participants crossed their hands, and a modest (Experiment 2) or substantial (Experiment 3) degree of between-task response-code conflict through specific instructions was introduced. In Experiment 4, response codes across tasks were compatible, and stimulus–response mappings in both tasks were incompatible. Overall, the results indicate that performance not only in manual responses but also in saccades suffers from dual-task conditions, even though saccades were typically performed first and are usually assumed to be controlled quite independently. Moreover, the systematic introduction of response-code conflict between tasks modulated the pattern of dual-task performance. The authors propose confusability of response codes as an underlying mechanism of the observed effects of between-task crosstalk. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stimulus specificity of physiological response to stress and the Type A coronary-prone behavior pattern.

Conducted 2 experiments with male undergraduates to determine the influence of stimulus specificity on differences in physiological response to stress of coronary-prone (Type A) and noncoronary-prone (Type B [Jenkins Activity Survey]) individuals. In Exp I, a RT task was presented to 51 Ss with and without stress relevant to the Type A behavior pattern. The physiological responses of Type A Ss were greater in the relevant stress compared to the neutral task condition, but responses of Type B Ss were similar in the 2 conditions. In Exp II, 25 Type A and Type B Ss performed a stressful task that was not theoretically relevant to the Type A behavior pattern. Physiological response elevations were found for both groups, but as predicted, there were no differences between Type A and Type B Ss. Results support the discriminant validity of the Type A construct and provide additional evidence for the role of physiological response differences as mediators of the behavior-pattern–disease relationship. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When and why do ideal partner preferences affect the process of initiating and maintaining romantic relationships?

Three studies explored how the traits that people ideally desire in a romantic partner, or ideal partner preferences, intersect with the process of romantic relationship initiation and maintenance. Two attraction experiments in the laboratory found that, when participants evaluated a potential romantic partner's written profile, they expressed more romantic interest in a partner whose traits were manipulated to match (vs. mismatch) their idiosyncratic ideals. However, after a live interaction with the partner, the match vs. mismatch manipulation was no longer associated with romantic interest. This pattern appeared to have emerged because participants reinterpreted the meaning of the traits as they applied to the partner, a context effect predicted by classic models of person perception (S. E. Asch, 1946). Finally, a longitudinal study of middle-aged adults demonstrated that participants evaluated a current romantic partner (but not a partner who was merely desired) more positively to the extent that the partner matched their overall pattern of ideals across several traits; the match in level of ideals (i.e., high vs. low ratings) was not relevant to participants' evaluations. In general, the match between ideals and a partner's traits may predict relational outcomes when participants are learning about a partner in the abstract and when they are actually in a relationship with the partner, but not when considering potential dating partners they have met in person. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between coping styles, performance, and responses to stressful scenarios in police recruits.

This study investigated the relationship between coping styles and police recruits' stress responses and performance during a stressful event and the relationship between coping styles and traumatic symptoms. Recruits participated in a simulated stressful policing situation and were scored by expert raters. Distress measures included biological and psychological indicators of stress. Coping styles were associated with subjective and physiological distress but not with performance. Different coping styles were associated with different patterns of traumatic symptoms in the participants. Police recruits appear to rely on their training and skill sets in stressful situations regardless of how they manage their emotional response. Furthermore, the results suggest that different posttraumatic stress disorder manifestations may represent different pathologies, each associated with a different style of coping. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Moderators and mediators of the stress-aggression relationship: Executive function and state anger.

The present study examined the effects of executive function (i.e., EF) and anger/hostility on the relationship between stress (across individual stress domains, as well as at the aggregate level) and aggression. Two independent groups of participants—a college sample and a low-income community sample—were administered a battery of self-report measures concerning the subjective experience of stress, aggressive behaviors, and feelings of state anger and hostility in the last month, along with a battery of well-validated neuropsychological tests of EF. Across both samples, the stress domains that demonstrated the strongest associations with aggression were those involving chronic strains of daily living (e.g., job, financial, health) versus interpersonal stressors (e.g., family, romantic). In the community sample, analyses also revealed a significant interaction between perceived stress (aggregated across domains) and EF in predicting aggressive behavior. Specifically, participants with relatively low EF abilities, across different EF processes, showed a stronger relationship between different domains of stress and aggression in the last month. Similar effects were demonstrated in the college sample, although the interaction was not significant. In both samples, experiences of anger and hostility in the last month mediated the relationship between perceived stress (aggregate) and aggressive behavior among those low, but not high, in EF. These findings highlight the importance of higher-order cognitive processes in regulating appropriate affective and behavioral responses across different types of individuals, particularly among those experiencing high levels of stress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of Arousal on Internal Clock Speed in Real Action and Mental Imagery.

The possible implication of an internal clock as a mechanism accounting for the temporal homology between actual and mental walking is studied. To observe this phenomenon, stressful sound stimuli were used to increase arousal, which is known to activate the internal clock. Seventeen participants performed three tasks: (1) a time production task, used as a reference task reflecting the internal clock speed; (2) an actual walking task; and (3) a mental walking task, all three in two sound conditions (no noise and noise). The results showed a significant effect of arousal on time in each task. The effect of noise, increasing the arousal level, was greater in time production and mental imagery tasks than in real action. In addition, the percentages of change between the two sound conditions for actual and mental walking time were not statistically different. These findings are further evidence of the existence of a timing process common to actual and mental walking. The data are consistent with the implication of an internal clock in both actual and mental walking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An experimental investigation of consistency in female undergraduates' reports of coping efforts for the same versus different stressful situations.

For each of 3 event categories (harm/loss, threat, challenge), with a 6-week test-retest time interval, female undergraduates were randomly assigned to report on coping efforts (problem- vs. emotion-focused coping) for the same stressful event or a different stressful event across the 2 sessions. For problem-focused coping and each category of stressor, test-retest correlations were strongest when subjects reported on coping efforts for the same situation but were still of moderate size and significant for reports of coping with different stressful situations. This difference between conditions was found only for the challenge stressor for emotion-focused coping. These findings imply that stressor context, type of coping, and response tendencies across different stressors relate to the reliability of self-reported coping efforts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A longitudinal study of the effects of pessimism, trait anxiety, and life stress on depressive symptoms in middle-aged women.

The relative contributions of life stress, menopausal status, and pessimism and trait anxiety during the presence and absence of stress on increases in depressive symptoms across 3 years were examined in a sample of 460 premenopausal women, aged 42-50, who had few depressive symptoms at study entry. Multivariate analyses showed that after statistical adjustments for initial depressive symptoms and education, depressive symptoms at follow-up were higher among women (a) who reported stressful events, especially of a chronic nature, (b) who scored highly on trait anxiety, and (c) who were pessimistic and subsequently experienced a stressful ongoing problem. Change in menopausal status was not related to symptoms. The study confirms that midlife stress and both optimism and trait anxiety are important predictors of depressive symptoms during midlife. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Establishment of a diazepam preference in human volunteers following a differential-conditioning history of placebo versus diazepam choice.

This study examined whether preference for a drug (diazepam or placebo) could be switched using conditioning procedures. During the first 4 sessions of Phase 1, 6 participants received 5mg of diazepam or placebo under double-blind conditions. During the remaining 5 sessions of Phase 1, participants selected the drug they wished to receive. The first 4 sessions of Phase 2 were a replication of Phase 1, except that following ingestion of the drug, participants completed a computer task for which they could earn money. Payment for the computer task was lowest following ingestion of the drug they preferred in Phase 1 and highest following the drug they had avoided. Preference was reassessed during the last 5 sessions of Phase 2. Five of the participants preferred placebo in Phase 1 but diazepam in Phase 2. Subjective responses to the two drugs also changed across the 2 phases. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The use of source memory to identity one's own episodic confusion errors.

In 4 category cued recall experiments, falsely recalled nonlist common members, a semantic confusion error participants. Errors were more likely if critical nonlist words were presented on an incidental task, causing source memory failures called episodic confusion errors . Participants could better identify the source of falsely recalled words if they had deeply processed the words on the incidental task. For deep but not shallow processing, participants could reliably include or exclude incidentally shown category members in recall. The illusion that critical items actually appeared on categorized lists was diminished but not eradicated when participants identified episodic confusion errors post hoc among their own recalled responses; participants often believed that critical items had been on both the incidental task and the study list. Improved source monitoring can potentially mitigate episodic (but not semantic) confusion errors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of age on state of awareness following implicit and explicit word-association tasks.

Younger and older participants did word-association tasks after implicit and explicit instructions and a read-generate study manipulation. No age differences were shown in the implicit version of the test. A generation effect for both age groups suggested that word-association priming can be classified as a conceptually driven task and a new task at which older adults show a relatively preserved memory function. However, the younger group did better on the explicit test in the generate condition. Participants were asked to examine their implicitly produced responses to make them accessible to conscious retrieval. Remember (R) and Know (K) measures of conscious awareness were applied to both postimplicit and postexplicit word-association responses. Age and awareness showed opposite effects in postimplicit retrieval. Younger participants tended to make more R responses than did the older adults, and K responses did not vary with age, but the older group was unaware of more primed items as study list members. Age differences were also shown in R but not in K responses after word-association cued recall. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)