Ecological validity of role plays for assessing heterosocial anxiety and skill of male college students.

Examined the ecological validity of role-played dating interactions. 45 male undergraduates, categorized into low-, medium-, and high-frequency dating groups (Social Activity Questionnaire), participated in 4 heterosexual social (heterosocial) situations in a laboratory. Two situations were role plays simulating dating interactions, and 2 were more naturalistic waiting-period interactions. Controls for confederate familiarity and role-play order were used. Judges rated Ss as more skillful in role plays than waiting periods and rated low-frequency daters as more anxious than high-frequency daters. High-frequency daters rated themselves as more skillful than did low-frequency daters. Ss rated the waiting-period interactions as more like "real life" and their behavior in waiting periods as more representative of everyday heterosocial interactions. However ANOVAs did not result in major differences between role plays and waiting periods, and correlational analyses indicated that the relative ranking of Ss was similar in role plays and waiting periods. Implications for the use of role-play assessments in the heterosocial skill area are discussed. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Solitary confinement of prisoners: An assessment of its effects on inmates' personal constructs and adrenocortical activity.

Examined the effects of 10 days prison solitary confinement on inmates' personal constructs and adrenocortical activity. 8 Ss maintained their regular institutional routine and 8 Ss were placed for 10 days in solitary confinement. Personal construct rankings (measured by the repertory grid technique) increased in stability for confined Ss compared to nonconfined Ss. This effect was more pronounced for "good" than for "bad" constructs for Ss independently rated as "simple" concept types. Adrenocortical function, as measured by plasma cortisol levels, indicated that solitary confinement was not more stressful than normal institutional life. (French summary) (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social and interpersonal reactions to depression and disability.

Studied the reactions of 167 undergraduates to a 21-yr-old male actor with a physical disability who behaved in either a depressed or socially appropriate manner in an interview and appeared to be either physically disabled or nondisabled. Consistent with predictions, the actor was rated more favorably when he appeared disabled, and Ss had strong negative reactions to depressive behavior regardless of physical appearance. S attitudes toward persons with disability were affected by the interpersonal behavior of the target: Ss evidenced more open, accepting attitudes toward persons with disability after viewing appropriate behavior by the actor, and Ss in the depressed disabled condition endorsed more stereotypic, negative attitudes. Results are discussed in terms of "kindness norm" behavior and social models of depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of physical attractiveness in the readjustment of discharged psychiatric patients.

27 female and 22 male psychiatric inpatients (aged 18–56 yrs) about to be discharged to the community were rated for physical attractiveness, and their adjustment was assessed 6 mo after discharge. Before discharge, Ss' premorbid adjustment, physical attractiveness, adequacy of present interpersonal behavior, and present hospital adjustment were assessed. Six months after discharge, Ss were interviewed, and time out of the hospital, social competence, and a friend's or relative's ratings of the Ss were measured. Findings show that Ss who were more physically attractive stayed out of the hospital longer than the less attractive ones. Females who were relatively more attractive were perceived as being better adjusted by the friend or relative; this relationship was not present for males. Implications for the role of physical attractiveness in the etiology and maintenance of mental disorders are discussed. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The contribution of personality characteristics to the relationship between social support and perceived physical health.

Employed structural equation modeling to derive and test a model of the relationships between personality characteristics, social network size, the perceived availability of support, socially supportive behaviors, and perceived physical health with 182 adults (aged 30–90 yrs). Ss completed a telephone interview and a questionnaire that included a version of the Norbeck Social Support Questionnaire and 3 subscales from the Personality Research Form. Significant paths indicated that Ss who perceived themselves as affiliative and as help seekers and help givers reported larger social networks, received more socially supportive behaviors, and perceived more available support. Also, the more support Ss perceived to be available to them, the more positively they rated their perceived physical health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional inhibition in essential hypertension: Obstacle to communication during medical visits?

Studied 542 patient–physician interviews to see if 203 patients with essential hypertension (EH) were less likely to exhibit negative emotions than 339 normotensive Ss as rated by their physicians and independent observers. EH Ss did not differ from others on self-rated emotional or physical health. However, physicians rated EH Ss as exhibiting fewer signs of distress during the visit than normotensive Ss. Independent observers also judged the EH Ss as less distressed than normotensives. Content analysis disclosed that physicians paid less attention to psychosocial concerns and concentrated on biomedical matters to a greater degree with EH Ss than with normotensive Ss. EH Ss appear to have patterns of self-presentation that could present an obstacle to effective communication. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impression formation: The role of expressive behavior.

35 female and 27 male undergraduates completed the Personality Research Form, Eysenck Personality Inventory, and Self-Monitoring Scale. Ss were also assessed on posed emotional sending ability and on physical attractiveness. Ss were then videotaped while giving a spontaneous "explanation." Trained coders measured 5 separate nonverbal cue factors displayed by the Ss in the videotapes. Groups of untrained judges viewed the tapes and rated their impressions of the Ss on scales of likability, speaking effectiveness, and expressivity-confidence. Males who were nonverbally skilled and extraverted tended to display more outwardly focused and fluid expressive behaviors, and made more favorable impressions on judges, than did males who scored low on the measures of nonverbal skills and extraversion. Females who were nonverbally skilled displayed more facial expressiveness, which led to more favorable initial impressions. It is suggested that these sex differences may reflect basic differences in the acquisition and use of expressive nonverbal cues by males and females. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Corelates of attitudes toward help seeking in outpatients.

20 female and 16 male 18-41 yr. old outpatients in a psychology clinic (a) judged the causal locus of their problem as internal or external, (b) rated the perceived severity and "typicalness" of their problem, and (c) completed Fischer's Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale. Results show that the majority of Ss cited internal causal factors. Ss who perceived their problem as more severe tended to have less favorable help-seeking attitudes. Contrary to previous findings, no significant sex differences were obtained. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's perceptions of their own and their classmates' ability.

64 children in kindergarten through 3rd grade rated their own and their classmates' "smartness" and nominated classmates who were the best and worst at specific tasks and the best and worst thinkers in the classroom. These ratings were then compared to 12 teachers' classification of the Ss as low or high achievers. Only the 2nd and 3rd graders' ratings of their own ability reflected their teachers' ratings and were correlated to classmates' ratings of their ability. At all grade levels, Ss' ratings of their classmates reflected teachers' ratings of the academic status of the child being rated. Responses to open-ended questions concerning the criteria Ss used in evaluating their own smartness revealed that older Ss most often provided examples of their performance on specific tasks to justify their self-ratings, whereas younger Ss most frequently explained their self-ratings on the basis of their work habits (e.g., following directions). Work habits were also given as the most common explanation for peer smartness ratings. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex role orientation and dream recall.

Compared dreams of 27 male and 32 female undergraduates categorized as "masculine" or "feminine" using Femininity scores on the California Psychological Inventory. Masculine Ss were rated higher on a general measure of maleness ("agency") than feminine Ss. Feminine males were rated higher on a measure of femaleness ("communion") than masculine males. Masculine Ss, especially males, more often had dreams of aggression. Ss, especially males, with sex role orientation contrary to stereotype had more unpleasant dreams than Ss whose sex role was congruent. Questionnaire estimations of dream recall frequency were more accurate predictors of subsequent dream recall frequency for Ss, especially males, with sex role orientations contrary to stereotype. Results support the assumption that sex role orientation rather than biological gender plays a fundamental role in determining dream content, and that the development of sex role-related aspects of life-style is more problematic for males than females. (46 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of sex role attitudes and similarity on men's rejection of male homosexuals.

Investigated 120 male undergraduates' reactions to homosexuals. Ss preselected on the basis of their profeminist, moderate, or antifeminist scores on the Attitude Toward Feminism Scale were assigned at random to 1 of 4 experimental conditions. Using a standard attraction paradigm design, Ss rated a bogus "partner," who was represented as either homosexual or heterosexual and as having attitudes either similar or dissimilar to theirs. Consistent with prediction, similar partners were liked more than dissimilar partners, and heterosexual partners were liked more than homosexuals. Homosexuals were seen as more dissimilar to the Ss in all conditions. Liberals were more accepting of homosexuals and dissimilar partners than were traditionals. Results are discussed in terms of the relationship between sex role attitudes and tolerance of dissimilarity. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Body image, physical attractiveness, and depression.

224 17–63 yr olds completed measures of self-perceived physical attractiveness and depression, and static full-body videotapes of Ss were assessed by objective raters, to investigate the relationship between Ss' body image, rated physical attractiveness, and depression. Measures included the Body-Self Relations Questionnaire, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), a body parts satisfaction scale, and a self-labeling depression scale. Ss were classified as depressed (n?=?35) or nondepressed (n?=?42) on the basis of conjunctive criteria of self-labeling and extreme groups on the CES-D. It was hypothesized that (1) depressed Ss would report being less satisfied with their body parts and physical appearance and would regard themselves as less physically attractive than would nondepressed Ss, (2) objective raters would perceive depressed Ss as less physically attractive than nondepressed Ss, and (3) depressed Ss would distort their degree of physical attractiveness and perceive themselves to be less attractive than objective raters regarded them. Results indicate that, as hypothesized, depressed Ss were less satisfied with their bodies and saw themselves as less physically attractive than nondepressed Ss. These groups did not differ with respect to observer-rated physical attractiveness. Support was obtained for A. T. Beck's (1973, 1976) cognitive hypothesis that depressed persons negatively distort their body images; however, results also indicate substantial positive distortion among nondepressed Ss. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual and family therapy in the treatment of children.

Surveyed 144 clinicians (mean age 42.7 yrs) who evaluate and treat child referral cases to examine whether Ss who define themselves primarily as individually vs family oriented actually differ significantly in their therapeutic practices. 18 Ss were identified as advocating the individual child-oriented approach over the family-oriented approach, 74 Ss advocated the use of both approaches, and 52 Ss advocated a family-oriented approach. It was found that Ss who preferred the individual and combined approaches showed a preference to approach evaluation by first seeing the parents and then shifting to the identified child. Family-oriented Ss preferred an approach that focused on seeing all family members conjointly throughout treatment. Also, individual-oriented Ss showed a greater use of tools that are more closely associated with psychodynamic theory and allow for individual play: projective testing, doll or puppet play, and craft projects. The family-oriented group used more action-oriented, interpersonally focused tools, such as behavioral contracting and assigning tasks. The individual-oriented group rated psychodynamic models as significantly more useful, while the family-oriented group rated family systems models as significantly more useful. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Geriatric patients who improve in token economy and general milieu treatment programs: A multivariate analysis.

Assigned 80 chronic geriatric mental hospital patients, mean age 68.8 yrs, to token economy and general milieu programs. In each program, staff received the same amount of training, and the physical environments were identical. All Ss were rated with the Psychotic Inpatient Profile and the Vigor Intactness Relationship Orientation. Results show significant decreases over 6 mo on both wards in frequency of bizarre and unusual behaviors. Incontinence decreased immediately after transfer to the treatment wards, and there were changes over 6 mo in the amount of staff care given to Ss. Multiple discriminant analyses indicated that in each ward different constellations of pretreatment characteristics discriminated between Ss who improved and those who did not improve in the frequency of bizarre and unusual behaviors. In the token economy, improved Ss were characterized as less "institutionalized," in better physical condition, and actively exhibiting their troubles. In the general milieu, improved Ss were discriminated by less responsiveness to an interviewer. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Concomitants of social support: Social skills, physical attractiveness, and gender.

Investigated the naturally occurring relations among self-reported social support and social skills, on the one hand, and behavioral measures and rated physical attractiveness on the other, using 84 male and 84 female undergraduates who were selected on the basis of high- and low-number scores on the Social Support Questionnaire. Ss were videotaped in 2 dyadic situations with a same-sex partner. Ss also completed the UCLA Loneliness Questionnaire, a social competence questionnaire, a story completion task, and self and partner evaluations. The videotaped behavior was rated qualitatively and quantitatively. Results show significant differences in the social skills of Ss who were high and low in social support; Ss high in social support were more favorably evaluated. Women also were found to be significantly more socially skilled and were rated as being more physically attractive than men. The various self-report and behavioral measures of social skills were significantly interrelated. Results indicate the dimensions of social support by demonstrating the relation between social support and social skills. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of role perspective and client psychiatric history on locus of problem.

90 female undergraduates listened to a taped therapy interview in which the client asserted that her situation caused her problems and were told either that the client was chronic or being seen for the 1st time. Experimental Ss assumed the role of either the counselor or the client, whereas control Ss were not instructed to assume any role. Counselor-role Ss rated the client's problems as being significantly more personality based than control or client-role Ss. The chronic client's problems were viewed as being significantly more personality based than were the "first time in therapy" client's problems. Control Ss, like the counselor-perspective Ss, saw the problem as more personality located than the client-perspective Ss when the person was described as chronic. Conversely, control Ss and client-perspective Ss saw the problem as more situationally located than the counselor-perspective Ss when the person was described as a 1st-time client. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Short-term memory processes in children with reading and arithmetic learning disabilities.

Examined the role of phonemic coding in short-term memory in 45 children with a reading disability, 38 children with a specific arithmetic disability, and 89 normal children, as measured by the Wide Range Achievement Test. Ss, aged 7–13 yrs, were administered a series of tasks that involved the visual or auditory presentation of rhyming and nonrhyming letters and either an oral or a written response. Younger Ss (7–8 yrs) with a reading disability did not show any difference between the recall of nonrhyming and rhyming letters, whereas normal Ss of the same age did. Older reading-disabled Ss (aged 9–23 yrs), like their normal counterparts, had significantly poorer recall of rhyming as opposed to nonrhyming letters. However, their overall levels of performance were significantly lower than normals. The same pattern was found with Ss with arithmetic disabilities for the visual presentation of stimuli. For the auditory presentation of stimuli, the performance of Ss with arithmetic disabilities resembled that of normals, except at the youngest ages. Whereas a deficiency in phonological coding may characterize younger children with learning disabilities, older children with learning disabilities appear to use a phonemic code but have a more general deficit in short-term memory. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of alcohol on social anxiety in women: Cognitive versus physiological processes.

Randomly assigned 32 female social drinkers (18–25 yr old undergraduates) to 4 conditions in a 2?×?2 factorial design that controlled for drink content and expectations. Ss were administered either an alcoholic or a nonalcoholic beverage and were led to believe that their drinks contained or did not contain alcohol. After finishing their drinks Ss participated in a study of social anxiety in which they were requested to interact with a male confederate of the experimenter. Multiple measures, including heart rate, skin conductance, and overt behavioral and self-report responses, were recorded. Ss who expected alcohol showed significant elevations in physiological arousal and were rated as more anxious on observational measures of social behavior. Self-report measures failed to yield any differences among groups. Implications for the tension reduction theory of alcohol use and the importance of multiple response measures are discussed. (1? p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)