Men, Women, and Leadership Centralization in Groups Over Time.

The authors propose a model for predicting the emergence of group norms from the demographic composition of groups. They use this model to study gender and leadership centralization in groups over time. Results from 2 longitudinal studies were consistent with their predictions: (a) Women, more than men, preferred equality norms in groups; (b) all-male and majority-male groups had relatively centralized leadership structures; (c) all-female groups had relatively decentralized leadership structures; and (d) balanced and majority-female groups were relatively centralized at the onset of group interaction but decreased in centralization over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Like mother, like daughter: Similarities in narrative style.

Children (2-5-year-olds and 8-13-year-olds) and their parents were independently interviewed about highly salient events: injuries serious enough to necessitate hospital emergency room treatment. Free recall narratives were scored using 14 measures of length, elaborative detail, cohesion, coherence, and provision of context. Mothers' narratives were more cohesive and coherent than fathers', and girls' narratives differed from boys' in parallel ways. Parent and child measures were correlated, and narratives of mother-daughter dyads (for the older daughters) showed striking similarity in all 5 properties, whereas there was no narrative similarity within father-son, mother-son, or father-daughter dyads. This suggests a special status for mother-daughter dyads in terms of how events come to be linguistically represented in narrative. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Why and how people engage in social comparison while learning social skills in groups.

This study was conducted among 269 medical students who participated in educational training groups. Self-evaluation was the most important motive to engage in social comparison with other group members, followed by, respectively, self-enhancement and self-improvement. Upward comparisons (i.e., with better-performing group members), were motivated by self-improvement, particularly when they involved identification. Upward comparisons were also motivated by self-evaluation, particularly when they involved contrast. Downward comparisons (i.e., with worse-performing group members) were mainly motivated by self-enhancement, particularly when they involved contrast. Performance stress was higher the more participants identified downward, the less they identified upward, and the more they contrasted themselves upward. It is concluded that educators should pay attention to the potentially maladaptive role that social comparisons might play in training groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Integrating biological and social processes in relation to early-onset persistent aggression in boys and girls.

This study examined the relationship between biological and social risk factors and aggressive behavior patterns in an Australian high-risk sample of 370 adolescents. Perinatal, temperamental, familial, sociodemographic, and behavioral data were collected during interviews completed during pregnancy, immediately postpartum, and when the children were 6 months old and 5, 14, and 15 years old. Youths were given tests of verbal and neuropsychological functioning at the age 5 and age 15 follow-ups. Youths were divided into early-onset persistent aggression, adolescent-onset aggression, and nonaggressive behavior groups. Results revealed that the interaction of biological and social risk factors was significantly related to early-onset persistent aggression. Gender and developmental phase of measurement moderated the relationship between biosocial risks and the outcomes of early-onset persistent aggression and adolescent-onset aggression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship of body mass index and psychosocial factors on physical activity in underserved adolescent boys and girls.

Objective: Previous research indicates that body mass index (BMI) and sex are important factors in understanding physical activity (PA) levels. The present study examined the influence of BMI on psychosocial variables (self-efficacy, social support) and PA in underserved (ethnic minority, low income) boys in comparison with girls. Methods: Participants (N = 669; 56% girls; 74% African American) were recruited from the “Active by Choice Today” trial. Main Outcome Measures:BMI ? score was calculated from objectively collected height and weight data, and PA was assessed with 7-day accelerometry estimates. Self-report questionnaires were used to measure self-efficacy and social support (family, peers) for PA. Results: A 3-way interaction between BMI z score, sex, and family support on PA was shown such that family support was positively associated with PA in normal-weight but not overweight or obese boys, and was not associated with PA in girls. Self-efficacy had the largest effect size related to PA in comparison with the other psychosocial variables studied. Conclusions: Self-efficacy was found to be an important variable related to PA in underserved youth. Future studies should evaluate possible barriers to PA in girls, and overweight youth, to provide more effective family support strategies for underserved adolescents' PA. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Discovering connections: A guide to the fun of bridging disability differences and Connecting kids: Exploring diversity together.

Reviews the books, Discovering connections: A guide to the fun bridging disability differences (1998) and Connecting kids: Exploring diversity together by Linda D. Hill (2001). These two books share a common theme: both provide practical solutions for bridging diversity gaps. The books are meant for anyone who wants to build inclusive groups of adults or children - professionals, volunteers, parents, people with disabilities, and family members and friends of people with disabilities. Discovering Connections provides a template to facilitate a group of adults from diverse backgrounds in the formation of an inclusive, cohesive group. There are 20 sessions organized around 10 themes, each with an armchair activity and a community connection idea. Each theme, in turn, is linked to two connecting skills. Connecting Kids is a "travel guide" for increasing diversity in children's groups. A set of 20 skills is presented, along with activity suggestions for cooperative games, creative activities, and nature experiences. These activities are designed to build social skills within a safe, inclusive environment and to help children respect and value individual differences. Those who are searching for practical suggestions and activities for creating inclusive groups of adults or children will likely find these books a useful addition to their resource library. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group size and social interactions are associated with calling behavior in Carolina chickadees (Poecile carolinensis).

The complexity of a social group may influence the vocal behavior of group members. Recent evidence in Carolina chickadees, Poecile carolinensis, indicated that one component of social complexity, group size, influenced the complexity of the "chick-a-dee" call, a vocalization functioning in social cohesion. Individuals in larger social groups used calls with greater information than did individuals in smaller social groups. Here, the authors review this earlier work, and describe a recent study indicating that social interactions between females and males within female-male pairs of chickadees were associated with rates of chick-a-dee call production in the males. Together, these studies suggest that the nature and complexity of social interactions among members of chickadee social groups influence chick-a-dee calling behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depressive symptoms, social support, and personal health behaviors in young men and women.

This study investigated the relationship of depressive symptoms, social support, and a range of personal health behaviors in 2,091 male and 3,438 female university students from 16 countries. Depressive symptoms and social support were measured using the short Beck Depression Inventory and the Social Support Questionnaire; 9 personal health behaviors were also assessed. After the authors took age, social support, and clustering by country into account, depressive symptoms were significantly associated with lack of physical activity, not eating breakfast, irregular sleep hours, and not using a seat belt in both men and women, and additionally with smoking, not eating fruit, and not using sunscreen among women. Low social support was independently associated with low alcohol consumption, lack of physical activity, irregular sleep hours, and not using a seat belt in men and women. Bidirectional causal pathways are likely to link health behaviors with depressed mood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Consistency of hand-preference across the early years: Long-term relationship to verbal intelligence and reading achievement in girls.

The relationship between consistency of hand preference, left hemispheric specialization, and cognitive functioning was examined in an ongoing longitudinal investigation. Children were classified as consistent or inconsistent in their hand preference across 5 assessments from ages 18 to 42 months. Findings demonstrated that (a) this early classification continued to reveal differences in cognitive functioning from 10 to 17 years but only for girls, (b) consistent girls' performances were continually higher relative to the inconsistent girls on measures of verbal intelligence and reading achievement, (c) differences between the female groups were specifically related to left-hemispheric language specialization, and (d) one factor influencing the consistent girls' development may be the amount of reading exposure received during infancy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Who attains social status? Effects of personality and physical attractiveness in social groups.

One of the most important goals and outcomes of social life is to attain status in the groups to which we belong. Such face-to-face status is defined by the amount of respect, influence, and prominence each member enjoys in the eyes of the others. Three studies investigated personological determinants of status in social groups (fraternity, sorority, and dormitory), relating the Big Five personality traits and physical attractiveness to peer ratings of status. High Extraversion substantially predicted elevated status for both sexes. High Neuroticism, incompatible with male gender norms, predicted lower status in men. None of the other Big Five traits predicted status. These effects were independent of attractiveness, which predicted higher status only in men. Contrary to previous claims, women's status ordering was just as stable as men's but emerged later. Discussion focuses on personological pathways to attaining status and on potential mediators. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to the special issue on Groups in Education.

This introduction develops the rationale for the special issue Groups in Education. The most serious deficits in the current or traditional educational system in the United States are cited. Radical changes in the system are called for, and two examples of such radically different systems are included in this issue to illustrate the types of changes that would be necessary to make significant improvement in student achievement and behavior. The other articles are representative of group interventions that have been applied successfully to treat the variety of problems that students have, some of which are produced by the system itself. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Popularity, social acceptance, and aggression in adolescent peer groups: Links with academic performance and school attendance.

This article reports a short-term longitudinal study focusing on popularity and social acceptance as predictors of academic engagement for a sample of 342 adolescents (approximate average age of 14). These youths were followed for 4 consecutive semesters. Popularity, social acceptance, and aggression were assessed with a peer nomination inventory, and data on academic engagement were obtained from school records. For adolescents who were highly aggressive, increases in popularity were associated with increases in unexplained absences and decreases in grade point average. Conversely, changes in social acceptance were not predictive of changes in grade point average or unexplained absences. These results highlight the importance of multidimensional conceptualizations of social standing for research on school adjustment during adolescence and emphasize the potential risks associated with popularity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implications for social policy of variability in racial groups.

Social policy and federal and state legislation require the use of single cut scores when tests of cognitive ability, knowledge, or skills (CAKS) are used to make high-stakes assessment decisions, such as whether students or employees may be promoted. Rationales offered for the requirement are that cut scores provide objective standards and are fairer than using subjective criteria, such as racial group membership. It is argued that failure to consider threats to statistical conclusion validity, such as differences in variability between groups, obscures the differential impact of using a common cut score as the basis for highstakes decisions. Analyses of 40 Black and White samples revealed that (a) Whites might be considerably advantaged and Blacks might be considerably disadvantaged by the same cut score and (b) depending on where the cut score is set, decisions based on ratios of numbers of Whites numbers of Blacks might be fairer than use of CAKS test cut scores. Implications for assessment practice and social policy are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reliability, sex differences, and validity in the leaderless group discussion technique.

"Three leaderless Group Discussion judging techniques involving leadership rankings by observers, recorders, and participants were applied to 228 college subjects arranged in 19 all male and 19 mixed sex groups of six each. Judging-agreement within and among ranking conditions was high." Sex was not important. The results were so promising that this approach is recommended as both a predictor and a criterion. From Psyc Abstracts 36:05:5GF45K. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transactive memory and performance in work groups: Specificity, communication, ability differences, and work allocation.

The present study examined the effects of specificity, communication, ability differences, and work allocation, on the utilization of transactive memory in work groups. Clerical staff members (N = 36) worked individually and then with a coworker to complete a quiz covering six domains of work-related knowledge and to allocate domains of knowledge or specific quiz items in a manner that maximized group performance. Allocations were made first individually and then collaboratively. Results indicated that transactive memory facilitated group performance. Specificity (item allocations vs. domain allocations) led to more effective utilization of member knowledge, but communication did not. Group performance was higher when members differed in ability and when they allocated more work to the more proficient member. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mental illness, milieu therapy, and social organization in ward groups.

"It was concluded that as degree of mental illness increases, there is a decrease in social organization and social relationship involving positive or negative feelings. This process appears to be reversed by milieu therapy." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-discipline gives girls the edge: Gender in self-discipline, grades, and achievement test scores.

Throughout elementary, middle, and high school, girls earn higher grades than boys in all major subjects. Girls, however, do not outperform boys on achievement or IQ tests. To date, explanations for the underprediction of girls' GPAs by standardized tests have focused on gender differences favoring boys on such tests. The authors' investigation suggests an additional explanation: Girls are more self-disciplined, and this advantage is more relevant to report card grades than to achievement or aptitude tests. Eighth-grade girls at an urban magnet school were more self-disciplined than their male counterparts according to delay of gratification measures and self-report, teacher, and parent ratings. Whereas girls earned higher grades in all courses, they did only marginally better on an achievement test and worse on an IQ test. Mediation analyses suggested girls earned higher GPAs at least in part because they were more self-disciplined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Most of the girls are alright, but some aren't: Personality trajectory groups from ages 14 to 24 and some associations with outcomes.

Personality traits show normative patterns of development toward maturity during adolescence. Yet individuals follow these normative patterns to differing degrees. This study used growth mixture modeling to characterize personality development patterns and their associations with outcomes in a population-based sample of 1,537 girls aged 14 to 24. The authors used latent class analysis to identify 3 trajectory groups labeled alright (47%), growing up (42%), and trouble (11%). Alright group members were more likely at age 24 to have completed college, remained involved with their families, and obtained good jobs. Trouble group members were more likely to be involved with drugs and alcohol, to display interpersonal problems, and to behave antisocially. Growing up group members fell in between. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Friendship Jealousy in Young Adolescents: Individual Differences and Links to Sex, Self-Esteem, Aggression, and Social Adjustment.

Children's vulnerability to jealousy surrounding their best friends was explored in 2 studies. Study 1 involved 94 adolescents who reported on their friendship jealousy on a newly created measure. Results indicated that the jealousy measure had sound psychometric properties and produced individual differences that were robust over time and free from socially desirable responding. As expected, girls and adolescents with low self-worth reported the greatest friendship jealousy. Study 2 involved 399 young adolescents and extended the measurement of self-report jealousy to a broader age range. In addition, Study 2 included assessments of jealousy provided by friends and other peers. Self- and peer-reported jealousy were only modestly associated and had somewhat distinct correlates. Structural modeling revealed that young adolescents' reputation for friendship jealousy was linked to behaving aggressively and to broader peer adjustment difficulties. Both self- and peer-reported jealousy contributed to loneliness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Residential mobility, self-concept, and positive affect in social interactions.

The present research examined (a) the link between personal history of residential mobility and the self-concept and (b) the implications of such a link for positive affect in social interactions. Study 1 showed that the personal self was more central to the self-definition of frequent movers than to that of nonmovers, whereas the collective self was more central to the self-definition of nonmovers than to that of frequent movers. Results from a laboratory and a 2-week event sampling study (Studies 2 and 3) demonstrated that frequent movers felt happier when an interaction partner accurately perceived their personal selves, whereas nonmovers felt happier when a partner accurately perceived their collective selves. These findings present the first direct evidence on how personal history of residential mobility is linked to important individual differences in the self and positive affect in social interactions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)