Effectiveness of a social relations intervention program for aggressive and nonaggressive, rejected children.

A sample of 52 Black aggressive rejected and nonaggressive rejected children were randomly assigned to receive a social relations intervention or to be in a nonintervention control group. The school-based intervention for 4th-grade children focused on positive social skill training and cognitive-behavioral strategies to promote deliberate, nonimpulsive problem solving. At both the posttreatment and the 1-yr follow-up assessments, the social relations intervention was found to be effective only with the aggressive, rejected children. Implications for the importance of assessing subtypes of rejected children are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Responses to powerlessness: Stereotyping as an instrument of social conflict.

In the context of recent arguments that stereotyping plays an important role in the subjugation of powerless groups, this article explores the possibility that stereotyping may also contribute to social change processes engaged in by the disadvantaged. In a partial replication of an experiment by S. C. Wright, D. M. Taylor, and F. M. Moghaddam (1990), participants (N?=?44) were placed in powerless, low-status groups and denied entry to an attractive high-status group. The intergroup boundary was open, slightly permeable, or completely impermeable. Participants could respond to this disadvantage in 1 of 3 ways: acceptance, individual protest, or collective protest. As predicted, open boundaries produced acceptance and reproduction of stereotypes consistent with the established status relationship, whereas closed boundaries encouraged collective protest and stereotypes that challenged the powerful group's position. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conflict and attitudes toward the opponent: An application of the Collins and Hoyt attitude change theory to groups in interorganizational conflict.

Conducted an experimental simulation of an internation conflict in which 34 4-man teams participated. Ss were 136 undergraduates. Each team was subdivided into 2 decision makers (central roles) and 2 information handlers (peripheral roles). In keeping with the 1971 attitude change theory of B. E. Collins and M. F. Hoyt, it was predicted that this task allocation, with a possible additional factor of physical separation between subteams, would be a determinant of the players' emergent attitudes toward an opponent team. Results are consistent with the prediction. Teams which engaged in actions with aversive consequences for an opponent held more negative attitudes toward that opponent than teams which (although equal in all other respects) were prevented from directly engaging in these actions. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interparental conflict, children's social cognitions, and child aggression: A test of a mediational model.

Although correlations between interparental conflict and child maladjustment are well-established, the processes connecting these 2 phenomena are less understood. The present study tested whether an aggressogenic cognitive style mediates the relationship between interparental conflict and child aggression. A multiethnic sample of 115 families with a child between the ages of 7 and 13 years participated. Questionnaires were used to assess parents' and children's perceptions of interparental conflict, children's social problem-solving strategies and beliefs about aggression, and parent and teacher reports of child aggression. Support was found for the mediating effect of aggressogenic cognitions on children's school aggression but not on children's aggression at home. Implications for understanding the associations among interparental conflict, children's social cognitions, and child aggression in different environmental contexts are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mixed messages: Implications of social conflict and social support within close relationships for adjustment to a stressful life event.

The authors examined the impact of women's perceptions of negative (conflict) and positive (support) exchanges with their mothers, partners, and friends before having an abortion on negative (distress) and positive (well-being) indexes of adjustment after the abortion. Preabortion conflict and support from the partner predicted postabortion adjustment in the same affective domain: Conflict uniquely predicted distress, whereas support uniquely predicted well-being. Within-source interactions were observed between support and conflict from mothers and friends. Women who perceived high support from their mothers or friends were more distressed if they also perceived them as sources of high conflict than if they perceived them as sources of low conflict. Among women who perceived their mothers or friends as nonsupportive, no relationship was observed between conflict and distress. Cross-source buffering was not observed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mixed-motive conflict in social dilemmas: Mood as input to competitive and cooperative goals.

Four studies using diverse manipulations demonstrated that moods interacted with competitive and cooperative goals to influence people's behaviors in social dilemmas. This was true whether moods were manipulated by films (Studies 1 and 2) or music (Study 4) or were assessed dispositionally (Study 3); whether specific or global goals were manipulated (Studies 1, 3, and 4) or were assessed dispositionally (Study 2); and whether participants' actions were tested in a resource dilemma (Studies 1, 2, and 4) or prisoner's dilemma game (Study 3). In 3 studies, bad moods led to more competition (less cooperation) with competitive goals in mind but to more cooperation (less competition) with cooperative goals in mind. A 4th study reversed this pattern with goals framed in terms of enjoyment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional conflict and well-being: Relation to perceived availability, daily utilization, and observer reports of social support.

The link between emotional conflict and the perceived availability and use of social support was examined. One hundred and five undergraduate students completed measures of ambivalence over expressing emotion, repressive defensiveness, fear of intimacy, social support, and well-being. Self-reports, observer reports, and daily reports of social support during the previous month were collected. Both ambivalence and fear of intimacy were negatively related to self-report and daily measures of social support and to well-being. Repressive defensiveness was unrelated to the social support measures. Perceived social support mediated the relation between emotional conflict and well-being. Results suggest the presence of a negative bias toward the use of social resources by conflicted individuals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When two wrongs make a right: Promoting cognitive change by social conflict.

89 1st graders and 25 2nd graders were given information about conservation tasks that conflicted with their prior nonconservation judgments. Ss in a social interaction situation had higher conservation posttest scores than Ss who were given conflicting information in role-playing, imitation, and control conditions. The spontaneous generation of conservation assertions that occurred in the social interaction condition was related to significantly higher posttest scores. Results suggest that even incorrect information that conflicts with a prior but equally erroneous belief can stimulate cognitive growth. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social conflict, social support, and psychological distress: Evidence of cross-domain buffering effects.

A longitudinal study examined the relative and joint effects of perceived social support and social conflict on psychological distress in 228 college students. Women had higher perceived social support from roommates and friends and less conflict with roommates than did men; there were no gender differences in level of conflict with friends or psychological distress. Roommate conflict predicted increases in psychological distress over time; this effect was attenuated by high levels of perceived social support from friends. Friend conflict also predicted increases in psychological distress over time; this effect was attenuated by high levels of perceived social support from roommates. These results show the importance of negative and positive aspects of social experiences to emotional functioning and the importance of compensatory social support for individuals facing social conflicts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social values and social conflict in creative problem solving and categorization.

Participants were led to expect either cooperation or conflict, and then performed K. Duncker's (1945) functional-fixedness task (Experiment 1) or E. Rosch's (1975) categorization task (Experiment 2). Those who expected cooperation, compared with those who expected conflict, were more likely to solve Duncker's task and used categories more inclusively, that is, rated low-prototypic exemplars of a category as better members of the category. In Experiment 3, the direct experience of cooperation and conflict had the same effect on categorization. In Experiment 4, participants were classified as having cooperative, competitive, or individualistic social values, and were led to expect either cooperation, conflict, or neither in a control. In the control, cooperators used categories more inclusively than competitors or individualists. Competitors used categories least inclusively in the conflict condition; in the cooperation condition, they used categories most inclusively. These results are interpreted in terms of the possible mediating role of cognitive organization in individual and intergroup conflict resolution. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exposure to a cat produces opioid analgesia in rats.

Two experiments tested the prediction that rats should react with reduced sensitivity/reactivity to nociceptive stimulation in the presence of a cat. In Exp I, naloxone (110 mg/kg) or saline was administered intraperitoneally to 90 female Sprague-Dawley rats before they were exposed to no stimulus, a novel stimulus, or a cat. In Exp II, 50 male rats were administered saline or naltrexone (7 mg/kg) and were exposed to either no stimulus or a cat. In both experiments, rats tested in the presence of the cat showed a significant reduction in sensitivity/reactivity to a skin-irritating formalin injection. Naltrexone reversed this analgesia, while naloxone produced only a weak trend toward shorter latencies. Findings are discussed in relation to the perceptual-defensive-recuperative model presented by R. C. Bolles and the 2nd author (see record 1981-25138-001), which depicts fear and pain as competing motivational systems that serve different biological functions. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Insulin-like growth factor-I prevents development of a vincristine neuropathy in mice

Vincristine is a commonly used antitumor agent whose major dose-limiting side-effect is a mixed sensorimotor neuropathy. To assess whether insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), a neurotrophic agent that supports the survival of motoneurons and enhances regeneration of motor and sensory neurons, could prevent the peripheral neuropathy produced by vincristine, mice were treated with both vincristine (1.7 mg/kg, i.p., 2 x /week) and/or IGF-I (0.3 or 1 mg/kg, s.c. daily) for 10 weeks. In mice treated with vincristine alone, there was evidence of a mixed sensorimotor neuropathy as indicated by changes in behavior, nerve conduction and histology. Caudal nerve conduction velocity was significantly slower in mice treated with vincristine alone as compared with vehicle-treated mice. Vincristine treatment alone also significantly increased hot-plate latencies and reduced gait support and stride length, but not toe spread distances. The effects of vincristine were accompanied by degeneration of sciatic nerve fibers and demyelination, indicating a peripheral neuropathy. IGF-I (1 mg/kg, s.c.) administered to vincristine-treated mice prevented the neurotoxic effects of vincristine as measured by nerve conduction, gait, response to noxious stimuli and nerve histology. At a lower dose of 0.3 mg/kg administered s.c., IGF-I partially ameliorated the neuropathy induced by vincristine as this dose only prevented the change in nerve conduction and hot-plate latencies. IGF-I administered alone had no effect on any of these parameters. These results suggest that IGF-I prevents both motor and sensory components of vincristine neuropathy and may be useful clinically in preventing the neuropathy induced by vincristine treatment.     

Patterns of family conflict and dominance as a function of child age and social class.

Systematically evaluated 44 family triads, consisting of middle- or lower-class families with 11- or 16-yr-old sons, by direct observation procedures. When dominance and conflict patterns were assessed by process measures (talking time, attempted interruptions, successful interruptions) and by outcome measures (unrevealed difference technique), both social class and age of child were significantly associated with many of the selected interaction indexes. Results indicated that the adolescent accrues influence at the expense of the mother in middle-class families, whereas the adolescent's gain in influence is often at the expense of the father in lower-class families. (42 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Modification of lethal radiation injury in mice by postradiation exposure to low-intensity centimeter-band radio frequency waves

A clearly pronounced modification of acute radiation injury of mice has been obtained by prolonged action (for up to 23 hours) of low-intensity (5 +/- 1.5 mu Wt/cm2) radiofrequency radiation in the ranges of 2-8, 8-18 and 19-27 GHz with a swing frequency of 12-14 Hz, applied immediately after exposure to lethal dose of gamma-radiation. Survival of mice and average life duration of killed mice were increased.     

Gender and social structure in the demand/withdraw pattern of marital conflict.

This study examined the effects of gender and social structure on the demand/withdraw pattern of marital conflict. In this pattern, the demander, usually the woman, pressures the other through emotional requests, criticism, and complaints, and the withdrawer, usually the man, retreats through defensiveness and passive inaction. In this study, 31 couples were assessed in 2 conflict situations: 1 in which husband wanted a change in wife and 1 in which wife wanted a change in husband. Data from husbands, wives, and observers consistently revealed a significant main effect of gender (wife-demand/husband-withdraw interaction was more likely than husband-demand/wife-withdraw interaction) and a significant interaction of gender and conflict structure (wife-demand/husband-withdraw interaction was more likely than the reverse only when discussing a change the wife wanted). Separate analyses of demand and withdraw behaviors indicated that both husband and wife were more likely to be demanding when discussing a change they wanted and more likely to be withdrawing when discussing a change their partner wanted. However, men were overall more withdrawn than women, but women were not overall more demanding than men. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of social experience in the production of gastric ulcers in hooded rats placed in a conflict situation.

40 male hooded rats were used in an investigation concerning the relation of social experience to ulcer formation in a long-term approach-avoidance conflict situation. The hypotheses were: "1. Animals placed in the conflict situation alone are less resistant to ulceration than animals tested with other animals present. 2. Animals reared in isolation are less resistant to ulceration than animals reared together. 3. Interaction effects between these 2 sets of conditions exist." The first hypothesis was confirmed at the .01 level; the second and third hypotheses were not confirmed, probably owing to the limitations in the sensitivity of the experimental procedures. 21 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hostility, cigarette smoking, and responses to a lab-based social stressor.

High-trait hostility is associated with persistent cigarette smoking. To better understand mechanisms that may account for this association, we examined the effects of acute smoking abstinence and delayed versus immediate smoking reinstatement on responses to a social stressor among 48 low hostile (LH) and 48 high hostile (HH) smokers. Participants completed two laboratory sessions, one before which they had smoked ad lib and one before which they had abstained for the prior 12 hr. During each session, participants completed a stressful speaking task and then smoked immediately after the stressor or after a 15-min delay. The effect of immediate versus delayed smoking reinstatement on recovery in negative mood was significantly moderated by hostility. When reinstatement was delayed, HH participants showed significant increases in negative mood over time, whereas LH participants showed little change. When reinstatement was immediate, HH and LH smokers showed similar significant decreases in negative mood. Smoking abstinence did not moderate hostility effects. Cigarette smoking may prevent continuing increases in negative mood after social stress in HH smokers, which may partially explain their low rates of quitting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relations of social goal pursuit to social acceptance, classroom behavior, and perceived social support.

Relations of social goal pursuit to (1) social acceptance by teachers and peers, (2) prosocial and irresponsible classroom behavior, and (3) perceived support from teachers and peers were examined. Ss were 475 6th and 7th graders. Students' pursuit of academic prosocial goals (to help classmates with academic problems) was related positively to peer acceptance. Pursuit of academic responsibility goals (adhering to classroom rules) was related negatively to peer acceptance but positively to teacher acceptance. These findings reflected in part, significant relations between social goal pursuit and displays of social behavior. Perceived support from teachers and peers was also related positively to social goal pursuit, although findings differed as a function of type and source of support. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Negative social evaluation, but not mere social presence, elicits cortisol responses to a laboratory stressor task.

Background: Recent research has supported the premise that performance conditions characterized by social-evaluative threat, in which an aspect of the self could be judged by others, are associated with cortisol responses. However, it remains unclear whether this effect is due to negative social evaluation per se or simply the presence of another during a performance situation. Method: In the present study, 89 undergraduates delivered a speech in 1 of 3 conditions: in front of an evaluative audience panel (social-evaluative threat [SET]), in the presence of an inattentive confederate (PRES), or alone in a room (non-SET). Results: Consistent with hypotheses, participants in the SET condition demonstrated a significant cortisol response, while those in the non-SET and PRES conditions did not show increases in this hormone. Further, participants in the SET condition who reported greater posttask levels of self-conscious cognitions and emotions demonstrated the greatest increases in cortisol. Conclusion: These findings suggest that the mere social presence of others is not driving the changes in cortisol observed under social-evaluative threat; instead, explicit negative social evaluation may be responsible for increases in this health-relevant physiological parameter. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)