Spousal support and changes in distress over time in couples coping with cancer: The role of personal control.

This longitudinal study has examined the associations between perceived supportive and unsupportive spousal behavior and changes in distress in couples coping with cancer. We tested whether people relatively low in their sense of personal control were more responsive to spousal supportive and unsupportive behavior than were people relatively high in personal control. Patients with colorectal cancer and their partners (n = 70) completed questionnaires at two assessment points: 3 (at baseline) and 9 months (at follow-up) after the diagnosis. We assessed perceived spousal supportive (SSL) and unsupportive (SSL-N) behavior, sense of personal control (Pearlin & Schooler's Mastery), and depressive symptoms (CES-D) in both patients and partners. Multilevel analysis (MLwiN) was used to examine changes in distress over time in a dyadic context. Patients and partners who perceived more spousal support reported less distress over time, but this only applied to those relatively low in personal control. Moreover, partners who perceived more unsupportive spousal behavior reported more distress, again only if they were relatively low in personal control. Patients and partners relatively high in personal control reported relatively low levels of distress, regardless of spousal behavior. In conclusion, people relatively low in personal control may be more adversely affected by unsupportive behavior and benefit more from supportive behavior than people relatively high in personal control. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

What makes lessons interesting? The role of situational and individual factors in three school subjects.

The present study investigated intraindividual variation in students' interest experience in 3 school subjects and the predictive power of perceived autonomy support and control. Participants were 261 students in 7th grade. After a survey of students' individual interests and other individual characteristics, repeated lesson-specific measures of students' interest experience and perceived autonomy support and control during instruction were obtained over a 3-week period. Hierarchical linear modeling showed 36%-45% of the variance to be located at the within-student level. Moreover, perceived autonomy support and control during lessons, as well as individual interest, predicted students' interest experience in the classroom. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Goal congruence in project teams: Does the fit between members' personal mastery and performance goals matter?

Research on team goals rarely considers the impact of congruence in perceptions of personal goals of self versus other members. In this study of 324 members of 64 short-term project teams, polynomial regression analysis was used to explore how congruence in personal and perceived team mastery and performance goals affected individual outcomes. Results indicated that congruence in perceived performance goals elicited greater individual satisfaction and contributions, regardless of goal strength (i.e., high or low personal performance goals). Conversely, perceived team mastery goals had a greater effect on individual outcomes than did perceived congruence in self- other mastery goals. Congruent self-actual team goals showed weaker but similar relationships to individual outcomes, but contrary to hypotheses, this effect was not mediated by congruence in perceived self-other goals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validity, structure, and content of the 1994 Strong Interest Inventory.

The relative contributions of the personal style scales, general occupational themes, and basic interest scales to the concurrent validity, predictive structure, and personality content of the 1994 Strong Interest Inventory were studied. Effect sizes were provided to indicate the overall differentiation between occupational groups for each of the 35 scales. An expected inverse relationship between the predictive power of each of the 3 sets of nonoccupational scales and their occupational specificity was found. Vocational measures of personality represented by the personal style scales and general occupational themes were found to be effective in a familiar hexagonal 2-dimensional space. Although the results supported the incremental validity of the personal style scales, the basic interest scales were found to deal most effectively with the multivariate complexity of vocational interests. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Disentangling the indirect links between socioeconomic status and health: The dynamic roles of work stressors and personal control.

Prior research has documented an indirect link between socioeconomic status (SES) and health, and the goal in this study was to help unravel this phenomenon from a dynamic perspective. The authors hypothesized that SES would be positively related to feelings of personal control and negatively related to perceived work stressors. Drawing on dynamic conceptualizations of these psychosocial factors, they suggest that these psychosocial factors relate to one another over time. Individuals who have higher levels of personal control experience increasingly fewer work stressors over time than do those with lower levels of personal control, and those who experience greater work stressors increasingly perceive less personal control over time than do those with fewer work stressors. Finally, the authors argue that trajectories of personal control and work stressors are associated with the accumulation of health problems over the same period. Their model was tested with 3-wave data (over 4 years) from a nationally representative sample of Canadian employees (N = 3,419). Latent curve modeling provides support for the proposed dynamic model. Conceptual and practical implications are drawn, and suggestions for future research are outlined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of brief scales to monitor clients' constructions of change.

This article describes the development and validation of scales to measure clients' outcome optimism, perceived progress, and self-agency related to change in problems presented in therapy. In Study 1, initial confirmatory and subsequent exploratory factor analyses (N?=?257) identified effort and persistence as an additional unique factor and guided selection of items to measure the 4 constructs. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analysis of the revised scales with a new sample (N?=?93) confirmed the measurement model. Results of convergent and discriminant validity analyses generally were in the predicted directions. The Perceived Progress scale demonstrated criterion validity with changes in dyadic adjustment and family functioning. The Outcome Optimism and Self-Agency scales showed variability in their relationship to the Perceived Progress scale over the first 3 sessions of therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intimacy and individuation in young adults: Development of the young adult version of the Personal Authority in the Family System Questionnaire.

Reports a series of studies on the development of the young adult version of the Personal Authority in the Family System Questionnaire (PAFS-QVC). The instrument includes 7 scales measuring individuation-fusion, intimacy-isolation, and personal authority-intimidation. In Study 1 (N?=?321 college students), exploratory factor analyses evaluated the conceptual scales and items. The theoretical scales were generally confirmed. Study 2 (N?=?712 college students) replicated the findings from Study 1 using confirmatory factor analysis. Concurrent validity was established through correlations with other measures of family relationships and psychological functioning. The PAFS-QVC discriminated between clinical and nonclinical samples, and gender differences were noted on the PAFS-QVC. Implications for use of the instrument in psychotherapy and intergenerational family systems theory are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personal identity and perceived racial dissimilarity among college athletes.

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of personal identity on the relationship between individual dissimilarity and subsequent outcomes. Data were collected from 271 student-athletes participating in a variety of National Collegiate Athletic Association sports. Results from structural equation modeling indicated that the relationship between actual racial dissimilarity and perceived racial dissimilarity was stronger for persons with a strong racial personal identity than for other athletes. Further analyses indicated that person-team fit mediated the relationship between perceived racial dissimilarity and satisfaction with the team. Results are discussed in terms of theoretical contributions and practical implications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparative validity of strategies and indices for differential diagnosis of depressive states from other psychiatric conditions using the MMPI.

Used as source of data the MMPI protocols of 223 18-60 yr old psychiatric inpatients randomly divided into 2 groups for a double cross-validation design, clinical diagnosis of depressive vs nondepressive states as criterion, and multiple regression as the main analytic technique. The individual validity of MMPI scales constructed through empirical (external criterion), purely intuitive, and intuitive plus internal consistency techniques was lower than the validity of regression models. The validity and cross-validity of regression equations obtained from several different sets of scales including "linear models" composed of single scales and "configural models" that included their binary cross-products was very similar across models and across construction techniques of the component scales. A simplified regression formula is provided for diagnostic purposes. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personal self-regulation of development: Cross-sequential analyses of development-related control beliefs and emotions.

This study is part of a larger research project centering on personal self-regulation of development in adulthood. Cross-sectional, longitudinal, and correlational findings are presented for selected parameters of personal development (subjective developmental attainment, self-corrective tendency, personal control over development, depressive outlook on personal development, and perceived marital support) derived from questionnaire data. The findings highlight the importance of development-related control efforts and beliefs for achieving a subjectively favorable balance of developmental gains and losses and for maintaining an optimistic perspective in middle and later adulthood. Results are discussed with reference to a theoretical model of development-related control activities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression, burnout, and perceptions of control in hospital nurses.

Depression, burnout, and perceived job control (PJC) were assessed in 162 nurses. Depression accounted for over 19% of the variance associated with emotional exhaustion, an index of burnout, and PJC accounted for another 6%. Factor analysis of the scales used to measure depression and burnout documented their discriminant validity. Perceptions of uncontrollability were significantly related to higher levels of depression and burnout. Structural equations modeling suggested that perceived uncontrollability is associated with burnout, which, in turn, is related to depressive affect. Against a criterion of actual job control, non-burned-out Ss overestimated their control, whereas burned-out Ss approached complete agreement with criterion. Despite evidence for a "depressive realism effect," greater perceptual accuracy was not attributable to depression among the more burned-out nurses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of MMPI—2 responses of child custody and personal injury litigants.

If you are a psychologist who conducts child custody or personal injury evaluations, how confident are you that the traditional Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory—2nd ed. (MMPI—2) validity scales and other potential MMPI—2 validity indicators are in fact useful for addressing the issue of response bias? This investigation contributes to the scientific database on the use of MMPI—2 validity indicators to detect response distortion. As the investigation represents empirical rather than analog data, it is of particular value to psychologists who engage in forensic assessment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correction to Frazier et al. (2011).

Reports an error in "Perceived past, present, and future control and adjustment to stressful life events" by Patricia Frazier, Nora Keenan, Samantha Anders, Sulani Perera, Sandra Shallcross and Samuel Hintz (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 100[4], 749-765). There is an error on page 758. In the sentence “Present control predicted later event-specific distress in Sample 1(β = .17, p 2011-02001-001.) Perceived control is a central construct in psychology and is key to understanding individual differences in poststress outcomes (Frazier, Berman, & Steward, 2001). The goals of the current studies (using 4 samples of undergraduate students, total N = 1,421) were to examine the relations between different aspects of perceived control and poststress outcomes and to differentiate perceived control over specific events from related constructs (i.e., general control beliefs, coping strategies). To accomplish these goals, we first developed a new measure of perceived past, present, and future control over stressful life events. The data supported the content validity, factor structure, internal consistency and test–retest reliability, and convergent and discriminant validity of the new measure. Consistent with the temporal model of control (Frazier et al., 2001), these 3 forms of control had very different relations with adjustment. Present control was consistently related to lower distress levels in cross-sectional, longitudinal, and prospective analyses. Present control also predicted outcomes beyond the effects of general control beliefs and coping strategies. Past and future control had nonsignificant or positive relations with distress, although future control was associated with better outcomes (i.e., course grades) when the stressor was controllable. Thus, our measure can be used to assess the relations between perceived past, present, and future control and outcomes across a range of stressors. Because the relations between these 3 forms of control and outcomes differ markedly, measures that combine these aspects of control hinder the understanding of the important role of perceived control in adjustment to stress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personal efficacy, external locus of control, and perceived contingency of parental reinforcement among depressed, paranoid, and normal subjects.

Hypothesized that different combinations of personal efficacy and outcome expectancies (i.e., locus of control) would characterize the thought structures of normal Ss and of psychiatric patients suffering from distinctly different disorders. 26 normal (mean age 30.1 yrs), 15 depressed, and 22 paranoid Ss (mean age of patients 34.5 yrs) completed scales that measured beliefs in personal efficacy, beliefs that outcomes are controlled either by chance or by powerful others, and perceived contingency of parental reinforcement. Findings show that normals judged themselves to be more efficacious than did psychiatric Ss, depressives expected outcomes to be controlled by chance, and paranoids expected outcomes to be under the control of powerful others. Among the normals, outcome expectancies were strongly associated with personal efficacy, but among the patients, these beliefs were unrelated. Depressives and paranoids equally reported more noncontingent parental reinforcement than did normals. Perceived contingency of parental reinforcement was predictive of outcome expectancies but not of personal efficacy. Data suggest that low personal efficacy may be a distinguishing characteristic of all psychiatric patients, whereas outcome expectancies may determine the specific nature of the psychiatric disorder. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Negative reactions to increases in perceived personal control.

Much research and theory suggests that an increase in perceived personal control is preferred and will result in positive reactions, whereas a decrease in personal control is not desired and will result in negative reactions. However, there are many negative as well as positive consequences to changes in personal control that contribute to one's reaction to increases in perceived control. I review research that identifies conditions under which increases in perceived control result in a tendency to relinquish personal control, negative affect, and a poorer performance on subsequent tasks. Three mediators are suggested for these effects. Changes in perceived personal control are said to result in changes in concern for self-presentation, changes in the perceived likelihood of obtaining desired outcomes, and changes in perceived predictability. Under certain conditions, each of these may lead to negative rather than positive reactions to increased control. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive complexity and the structure of implicit leadership theories.

As an explanation of implicit leadership results, it has been suggested that leadership dimensions may better represent perceivers' cognitive organization systems than actual leader behaviors. This study examined the accuracy of this position by testing one consequence of its validity, the existence of individual differences in implicit theories that are systematically related to differences in the complexity of respondents' interpersonal construct systems. Replicating the implicit leadership methodology used by D. Eden and V. Leviatan (see record 1976-08498-001), 254 undergraduates were asked to describe an imaginary supervisor by completing the leadership scales of J. C. Taylor and D. G. Bowers's (1970) Survey of Organizations. Ss also completed the Role Construct Repertory Test. Differences in perceived patterns of leader behavior covariation were then compared across cognitive complexity subgroups. Results show implicit theories to be unaffected by differences in cognitive complexity, with the leadership dimensions extracted by Taylor and Bowers and Eden and Leviatan replicated across complexity subgroups. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Changing the world and changing the self: A two-process model of perceived control.

Claims that attributions and their related behaviors may reflect a type of perceived control that is generally overlooked. People attempt to gain control by bringing the environment into line with their wishes (primary control) and by bringing themselves into line with environmental forces (secondary control). Four manifestations of secondary control are considered: (a) Attributions to severely limited ability can serve to enhance predictive control and protect against disappointment; (b) attributions to chance can reflect illusory control, since people often construe chance as a personal characteristic akin to an ability ("luck"); (c) attributions to powerful others permit vicarious control when the individual identifies with these others; and (d) the preceding attributions may foster interpretive control, in which the individual seeks to understand and derive meaning from otherwise uncontrollable events in order to accept them. (5? p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived control and intellectual functioning in the elderly: A 5-year longitudinal study.

We examined whether control beliefs are related to individual differences in intellectual aging by administering a battery of intellectual tests and perceived control scales to 63 elderly adults in 1981 and in 1986. Over the 5 years there were no changes in generalized control or intellectual performance, but there were changes in intellectual control beliefs. Specifically, the participants reported an increased dependence on others to carry out cognitive tasks. The cross-occasion stability correlations were relatively high, although there was some evidence for individual differences in change, especially for the control variables. Surprisingly, those with higher levels of education were more likely to show decreases in perceived intellectual control. Health was a significant antecedent of individual changes in vocabulary performance and intellectual control. The results also indicated that fluid intelligence was a significant predictor of changes in intellectual control beliefs, but control beliefs did not affect performance. (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)