A multiple level of analysis perspective on the debate about individualism.

Comments that in the article by E. E. Sampson (see record 1988-16899-001) on individualism, if the core cultural values of interest to Sampson (freedom, responsibility, achievement) are viewed as variables, how these variables associate with the 3 levels of analysis (persons, groups, and collectives) may be discovered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The mass media and judgments of risk: Distinguishing impact on personal and societal level judgments.

Recent research findings about whether mass media reports influence risk-related judgments have not been consistent. One reconciliation of the differing findings is the impersonal impact hypothesis, which suggests that media impact occurs with societal level judgments about general problem importance or frequency but not with judgments about personal risks. Three studies, with 465 undergraduates were conducted to test this hypothesis. Results support the impersonal impact hypothesis by suggesting that personal and societal level judgments are distinct and that media reports exert their primary influence on societal rather than personal judgments. Although media reports influenced judgments about societal risks but not about risks to one's self under the conditions examined in the present research, personal judgments may be affected under other conditions. Conditions under which media reports may have differential or similar effects on personal and societal-level judgments are considered in relation to the base rates of an event occurring, the strength of the media case that a problem exists, and the individual's identification with the problem. (55 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Integrative complexity in the corresponding of literary figures: Effects of personal and societal stress.

Extended previous research (e.g., P. Suedfeld and D. Rank; see record 1976-28071-001) that focused on the relationship between environmental stress and information processing complexity in the context of political and international decision-making. The personal correspondence of 5 eminent British novelists (e.g., George Eliot) was scored for integrative complexity. Multiple regression analysis showed that integrative complexity was negatively related to intensity of war but positively related to civil unrest. It is suggested that the information flow in the environment is an influential factor in determining individuals' responses to societal conflict. Integrative complexity decreased during illness, was unrelated to other stressful life events, and increased with age. An unexpected finding was that integrative complexity decreased in the few years prior to death. This phenomenon may be linked to previous research showing marked performance decrements among individuals shortly before death. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive functioning in alcoholics: The role of subject attrition.

Studied the role of 4 S factors in research on cognitive ability in alcoholics. These factors were S attrition by failure to meet test performance criteria, duration of alcoholism, education, and age. To assess cognitive ability, 2 versions of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test were used. A total of 60 alcoholic and 37 control male Ss participated. Findings are as follows: (a) Alcoholics had a higher attrition rate than controls (30 vs 3%). (b) The attrition rate was particularly high among alcoholics who were over the age of 45 and had less than 13 yrs of education. (c) Older or less educated alcoholics performed more poorly on the 1st part of the test than did younger or more educated alcoholics. (d) Among controls and alcoholics who completed the entire test, less educated Ss performed more poorly than did more educated Ss. (e) Alcoholics who completed the entire test performed more poorly than did controls. Duration of alcoholism was not related to performance. The importance of S factors, (i.e., S attrition and S selection) in the study of cognitive deficits in alcoholics is emphasized. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Continuity in intellectual functioning: The role of self-reported health.

Surviving members of the Berkeley Older Generation Study were interviewed and tested with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale in 1969–1970 and again in 1983–1984, when subjects' ages ranged from 73 to 93. Health was assessed by self-reports at both measurement periods. Although many individuals showed some decline in intellectual functioning, substantial individual differences were apparent at all age levels. More than one half of the subjects showed no reliable change, and a minority showed a reliable increase in verbal scores. The role of self-reported health has increasing importance in the maintenance of intellectual functioning in advanced old age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The admissions process in clinical training: The role of the personal interview.

Examined the relative contributions of admissions interview ratings and various objective measures, such as GPA and test scores, in discriminating among 60 applicants to a clinical psychology program either accepted for admission, placed on an alternate list, or denied admission. Results show that interview ratings, particularly ratings of the applicant's clinical potential, contributed incrementally to group separation when first taking into account the contributions of the objective measures. The need to validate interview evaluations as a basis for selection decisions and to examine utilization of admissions criteria is discussed. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-discrepancy and distress: The role of personal growth initiative.

Higher levels of personal growth initiative (PGI; C. Robitschek, 1998) are associated with lower negative and higher positive affect (e.g., C. Robitschek & S. Kashubeck, 1999; C. Robitschek & C. L. M. Keyes, 2004). Two hypotheses that have been suggested for such findings are that (a) PGI moderates the relation between problems and affect and (b) successful resolution of potential problems mediates the relation between PGI and affect (C. Robitschek & S. Kashubeck, 1999). The current research tested these two hypotheses, using self-discrepancies (E. T. Higgins, 1987) as problems or sources of distress. Using a sequential design and a sample of predominantly European American college students (N = 134), the authors found that PGI was associated with lower social anxiety and negative affect, higher positive affect, and lower self-discrepancies. No support for the first (moderation) hypothesis was found. However, there was partial support for the second (mediational) hypothesis. The results suggest that those higher in PGI experience less social anxiety in part by maintaining lower self-discrepancies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The dialogical self: Beyond individualism and rationalism.

There is growing awareness among psychologists that the individualistic and rationalistic character of contemporary psychological theories of the self reflect an ethnocentric Western view of personhood. In opposition to this view, it is argued from a constructionist perspective that the self can be conceived of as dialogical, a view that transcends individualism and rationalism. A comparison of 3 contructionist forerunners (G. Vico [1966], H. Vaihinger [1935], and G. A. Kelly [1955]) suggests that to transcend individualism and rationalism, the embodied nature of the self must be taken into consideration. Moving through space and time, the self can imaginatively occupy a number of positions that permit mutual dialogical relations. The classic Jamesian distinction between the I and the Me is translated in a narrative framework. The implications for 3 areas of psychological research (attribution theory, moral development, and the individual differences paradigm) are briefly discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral versus insight-oriented marital therapy: Effects on individual and interspousal functioning.

Compared the effects of behavioral marital therapy (BMT) and insight-oriented marital therapy (IOMT) on both interspousal and intrapersonal functioning in a controlled outcome study. A total of 79 couples seeking treatment for relationship distress were randomly assigned to BMT, IOMT, or a treatment-on-demand (TOD) waiting-list control group. Results indicated the significance and general equivalence of behavioral and insight-oriented therapies in producing positive changes in individual and relationship functioning. Both treatment approaches produced significant effects from intake to termination that were substantially maintained at the 6-month follow-up. Behavioral and insight-oriented therapies resulted in significant improvements in self-reports of global marital accord and, to a lesser extent, in the reduction of overall psychological distress and in the enhancement of self-concept, with no significant differences between treatment conditions. The magnitude of these effects in comparison with those reported in previous marital outcome studies and in more general psychotherapy research is discussed, and possible mechanisms for the equivalence of these technically divergent treatment approaches are explored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The psychologies of structure, function, and development.

Reviews E. B. Titchner's 1898 analogy between the anatomical, physiological, and morphogenetic aspects of biological research and the structural, functional, and developmental aspects of psychological research. This analogy is applied to contemporary divisions within psychology. In psychology, structural research tends to be described in the cognitive or mentalist vocabulary, and functional research in the behaviorist vocabulary. However, this correlation is accidental. Structural and functional dimensions of psychological problems and their relation to developmental research are examined. It is concluded that much psychological controversy is caused by concern with different problems, and not by different paradigms for studying the same problems. (45 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of personal resources in the job demands-resources model.

This study examined the role of three personal resources (self-efficacy, organizational-based self-esteem, and optimism) in the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model. The authors hypothesized that personal resources (1) moderate the relationship between job demands and exhaustion, (2) mediate the relationship between job resources and work engagement, and (3) relate to how employees perceive their work environment and well-being. Hypotheses were tested among 714 Dutch employees. Results showed that personal resources did not offset the relationship between job demands and exhaustion. Instead, personal resources mediated the relationship between job resources and engagement/exhaustion and influenced the perception of job resources. The implications of these findings for the JD-R model are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of cognitive stimulation on the relations between age and cognitive functioning.

To make a convincing argument that cognitive stimulation moderates age trends in cognition there must be (a) a negative relation between age and level of cognitive stimulation, (b) a positive relation between level of cognitive stimulation and level of cognitive functioning, and (c) evidence of an interaction between age and cognitive stimulation in the prediction of cognitive functioning. These conditions were investigated in a study in which 204 adults between 20 and 91 years of age completed an activity inventory and performed a variety of cognitive tasks. Only the 1st condition received empirical support, and, thus, the results of this study provide little evidence for the hypothesis that cognitive stimulation preserves or enhances cognitive functioning that would otherwise decline. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The changing face of work in the United States: implications for individual, institutional, and societal survival

To study the identification and phylogeny of pathogenic isolates of Aspergillus, we designed primers from known cytochrome b amino acid sequences. Using these primers, 426 bp fragments of a mitochondrial (mt) cytochrome b gene were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), directly sequenced, and compared among Aspergillus fumigatus, A. flavus, A. niger, A. terreus and Emericella nidulans. Except for E. nidulans, all strains produced the 426 bp fragment by PCR. The E. nidulans strains demonstrated both an intron-presence fragment ( approximately 1500 bp) and intron-absence fragment (426 bp). Species-specific nucleotides were found in each of the five species. Based on sequence analysis, the strains were further divided into several groups within each species. When a 142-amino-acid sequence was estimated from the 426 bp nucleotide sequence using the yeast mt genetic code, the amino acid sequences showed no difference among strains of the individual species. DNA-based phylogenetic and amino acid-based trees were constructed. In conclusion, the DNA sequences of the cytochrome b gene may be of use in identification of pathogenic Aspergillus species and the amino acid-based tree suitable for discussing their phylogenetic relationships.     

Self-efficacy and work-related performance: The integral role of individual differences.

The present study estimated the unique contribution of self-efficacy to work-related performance controlling for personality (the Big 5 traits), intelligence or general mental ability, and job or task experience. Results, based on a meta-analysis of the relevant literatures, revealed that overall, across all studies and moderator conditions, the contribution of self-efficacy relative to purportedly more distal variables is relatively small. Within moderator categories, there were several cases in which self-efficacy made unique contributions to work-related performance. For example, self-efficacy predicted performance in jobs or tasks of low complexity but not those of medium or high complexity, and self-efficacy predicted performance for task but not job performance. Overall, results suggest that the predictive validity of self-efficacy is attenuated in the presence of individual differences, though this attenuation does depend on the context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Achievement American style: The rewards and costs of individualism.

Suggests that the US is a success-oriented society whose attitudes toward achievement can be traced to the Protestant heritage and its emphasis on individualism and the work ethic. Although they are implied to have universal significance, it is contended that contemporary theories of achievement and achievement motivation are rooted in individualism and may have validity primarily for American and similar cultures. Concerns about the erosion of the work ethic and the destructive aspects of individualism are discussed. (61 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of mindfulness in predicting individual performance.

Mindfulness refers to an individual difference variable regarding the degree to which a person is in the present moment (K. W. Brown & R. M. Ryan, 2003). Despite a growing interest in the benefits of mindfulness in health and clinical outcomes, little research has explored whether mindfulness relates to individual performance. The authors examined whether mindfulness was related to performance among a group of MBA students (N = 149). The results show that mindfulness interacted with gender to predict performance. Specifically, the positive association between mindfulness and performance was stronger for women than for men. Implications and future directions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Widening spheres of impact: The role of forgiveness in marital and family functioning.

This study examined relations between aspects of family functioning and positive and negative dimensions of forgiveness. Increased understanding of one's partner and decreased anger about betrayal characterize positive forgiveness, whereas experiences such as holding a grudge and desiring revenge indicate negative forgiveness. The sample included 87 wives and 74 husbands who reported experiencing a significant betrayal, their partners, and their adolescent children. Analyses of reported forgiveness revealed that more negative forgiveness was associated with lower marital satisfaction for husbands and wives; trust partially mediated this relationship for husbands and wives. Greater positive forgiveness reported by husbands and wives predicted their own reports of a stronger parenting alliance, whereas greater negative forgiveness reported by husbands and wives predicted their spouses' reports of a weaker parenting alliance. For wives, more negative forgiveness also predicted higher levels of children's perceived parental conflict, and parents' reported conflict mediated this association for wives. Findings suggest that forgiveness of a marital betrayal is significantly associated with marital satisfaction, the parenting alliance, and children's perceptions of parental marital functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceiving personal discrimination: The role of group status and legitimizing ideology.

It was hypothesized that relative group status and endorsement of ideologies that legitimize group status differences moderate attributions to discrimination in intergroup encounters. According to the status-legitimacy hypothesis, the more members of low-status groups endorse the ideology of individual mobility, the less likely they are to attribute negative outcomes from higher status group members to discrimination. In contrast, the more members of high-status groups endorse individual mobility, the more likely they are to attribute negative outcomes from lower status group members to discrimination. Results from 3 studies using 2 different methodologies provide support for this hypothesis among members of different high-status (European Americans and men) and low-status (African Americans, Latino Americans, and women) groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Paternal influences and the father's role: A personal perspective.

Briefly reviews research and theory concerning the role of the father in child development and presents a personal perspective that sees some long-established attitudes toward child care changing. Traditionally, major responsibility for childrearing has been assumed by women. Studies show, however, that most infants become attached to both their parents, although most turn to their mothers when distressed. With older children, fathers appear to have their greatest influence on sex role development. The type and extent of their impact varies depending on the quality of the father–child relationships. Recent trends indicate an increasing involvement of fathers in child care. These trends will increase paternal contributions to the socialization process. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The genetic psychologies of James Mark Baldwin and Jean Piaget.

It is now generally recognized that the writings of philosopher-psychologist J. M. Baldwin anticipated much of Piaget's work. The goals, genetic approach, and epistemological assumptions underlying Piaget's inquiry into cognitive development found explicit statement around the turn of the century in Baldwin's work. Both men agreed that (1) transformations of the relationship between thoughts and things occur in an orderly, progressive way; (2) the processes of assimilation and accommodation are complementary in the progressive development; (3) individuals experience dualisms of control that are manifested as perpetual reformulations of previous points of view; and (4) the principles of development apply to a domain far more comprehensive than individual cognitive development. Baldwin and Piaget differed on their conceptions of the relationship between individual forms of cognition and the social construction of reality in which that individual's thought is embedded, and on their proposed final stage of development. Baldwin's current importance to psychology is recognized because the climate in psychology is now conducive to the type of inquiry Baldwin pursued. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)