Differences between Taiwanese and U.S. cultural beliefs about ideal adult attachment.

Some researchers believe that important tenets of attachment theory are culturally universal, whereas others claim that key constructs are rooted in Western values and should not be generalized further. To explore possible cultural differences in adults, undergraduates from Taiwan (n = 280) and the United States (n = 268) were asked in the present study to complete a self-report measure of adult attachment, the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale (K. A. Brennan, C. L. Clark, & P. R. Shaver, 1998), as they believed "an ideally emotionally and psychologically healthy person of your own gender in your culture" would respond. Findings suggested significant differences by cultural group, gender, and Gender x Culture interactions. Taiwanese women and men endorsed more avoidance in beliefs about ideal adult attachment than their U.S. counterparts, and Taiwanese men endorsed more anxiety than U.S. men. These cultural differences were not explained by group differences in independent and interdependent self-construal. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adapting cognitive-behavioral therapy for Mexican American students with anxiety disorders: Recommendations for school psychologists.

Mexican American students are the fastest growing group in U.S. public schools. There is a growing body of research indicating that Mexican American families underutilize mental health services and are more likely to drop out of care prematurely when they do seek help. These findings may indicate that our health care system is not providing ethnic minorities with culturally competent care. Although cognitive?behavioral interventions are considered to be evidence-based treatments for child anxiety disorders, previous protocols have not taken cultural factors into account. This article discusses how to adapt cognitive?behavioral therapy (CBT) for Mexican American students with anxiety disorders. Working within the Psychotherapy Adaptation and Modification Framework (PAMF), this article offers adaptation principles that may guide school psychologists in implementing CBT strategies when working with Mexican American youth and their families. A case study is provided illustrating how cultural modifications of CBT can lead to positive outcomes for Mexican American students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-perception theory and unobtrusively biased interactions: A treatment for heterosocial anxiety.

Assessed the effectiveness of a technique predicated on D. J. Bem's (1972) self-perception theory for reducing heterosocial anxiety in college males. 26 heterosocially anxious (as measured by the Situation Questionnaire), infrequently dating undergraduate males were randomly assigned to either an experimental or a waiting-list-control group. "Real life," pleasant, prearranged social interactions with females produced a highly significant change in self-perceptions concerning anxiety as measured by the Fear of Negative Evaluation Questionnaire, the Social Avoidance and Distress Scale, the Security–Insecurity Inventory, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. When Ss later interacted with an attractive female coed in a separate setting, state anxiety was less, and behavioral performance improved on 2 conversational skills. When measured after a 6-mo interval, the reduction in perceived heterosocial anxiety maintained itself and resulted in Ss having a significantly greater number of dates. Results are discussed in terms of self-efficacy and self-regulation and control theory. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Quality of communication experience: Definition, measurement, and implications for intercultural negotiations.

In an increasingly globalized workplace, the ability to communicate effectively across cultures is critical. We propose that the quality of communication experienced by individuals plays a significant role in the outcomes of intercultural interactions, such as cross-border negotiations. In 4 studies, we developed and validated a multidimensional conceptualization of quality of communication experience (QCE) and examined its consequences in intracultural versus intercultural business negotiations. We proposed and found 3 dimensions of QCE—namely, Clarity, Responsiveness, and Comfort. Findings from intercultural and same-cultural negotiations supported the hypotheses that QCE is lower in intercultural negotiation than in intracultural negotiation and that a higher degree of QCE leads to better negotiation outcomes. Moreover, we found evidence that the beneficial effects of higher QCE on negotiation outcomes are more pronounced in intercultural than in intracultural negotiations. We propose an agenda for future research and identify implications for practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cultural styles, relationship schemas, and prejudice against out-groups.

Two studies provide evidence that Latins (i.e., Mexicans and Mexican Americans) are guided by a concern with socioemotional aspects of workplace relations to a far greater degree than are Anglo-Americans. The focus on socioemotional considerations results in Latins having a relatively greater preference for workgroups having a strong interpersonal orientation. Preferred relational style had a far greater impact on preferences for workgroups and judgments about their likely success than did the ethnic composition of the workgroups for both Latins and Anglo-Americans. Evidence that the two groups differ markedly in relational schemas comes from examination of suggestions about how group performance could be improved, judgments about whether a focus on socioemotional concerns necessarily entails a reduction in task focus, and recall for socioemotional aspects of workgroup interactions. Implications for the dynamics of intercultural contact are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluation of a cognitive-behavioral intervention for adolescents.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a cognitive- behavioral, biofeedback-assisted intervention to impart skills for coping with stressful encounters in a nonclinical adolescent population. Israeli Arab and Israeli Jewish participants completed pre- and postintervention questionnaires assessing state anxiety, test anxiety, behavior symptoms, hostility, and self-esteem. Electrodermal activity was recorded using biofeedback. From pre- to postintervention, scores of state anxiety, test anxiety, behavior symptoms, and self-esteem, but not hostility, changed significantly in the intervention group as compared with the control group. A significant Group × School effect was evident for state and test anxiety and behavior problems, indicative of higher reductions in the Arab group. The cognitive-behavioral program proved an effective preventive intervention for adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Compositions in Black and White: Determinants of interaction in interracial dyads.

Examined the initial, unstructured interactions of 40 interracial (Black–White) dyads in which 3 factors were systematically varied. These factors were the disposition of the White dyad members to either seek out or shun interaction with Blacks, the race (Black vs White) of the experimenter, and the gender composition (male–male vs female–female) of the dyads. Results show that within dyads, White dyad members displayed more interactional involvement than their Black partners but experienced the interactions as more stressful and uncomfortable. Whites predisposed to avoid interaction with Blacks looked and smiled at their partners less than those predisposed to initiate interaction. Both Black and White members of these avoidance dyads reported heightened feelings of anxiety and concern about their interactions, but the moderating influences of the Whites' approach–avoidance dispositions on interaction behavior were essentially limited to conditions in which the experimenter was Black and the White S was a "solo minority." It is suggested that Black–White partner effects are attributable to differing amounts of cross-race contact typically experienced by Blacks and Whites. Black–White experimenter effects are interpreted in terms of S. E. Taylor's (1981) hypothesis that stereotypes and related dispositions are activated in social contexts in which group membership is made salient. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of an "anxiety-reducing" medication on group behavior under threat.

Three member teams worked on a group task under three experimental conditions: a threat condition in which Ss received an anxiety reducing medication, a threat condition with Ss receiving no medication, and a control nonthreat condition. Threat was imposed by structuring the sessions as evaluative tests whose results would become part of the Ss ROTC records. The Bales category system was used to obtain behavioral indices and the S's perception of their group and motivational state were obtained from an adjective check list. The results indicate that medication produces changes in the emotional and motivational state of the Ss along three dimensions, anxiety, elation, and assertion. "Medicated groups may be characterized as having an active, non-aggressive 'good time' with no especial concern for effective performance on the task." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Separate and combined effects of cue-controlled relaxation and cognitive restructuring in the treatment of musical performance anxiety.

49 music students with reactive and adaptive anxieties were screened out of a pool of volunteers for a musical performance anxiety reduction program. Cue-controlled relaxation (CCR) and cognitive restructuring (CR) were examined separately and in combination in comparison with a standard treatment control condition (musical analysis training) that generated equivalent demand characteristics. The latter was then compared with a waiting-list control group. The CCR and CR treatments were each effective in reducing the state anxiety reflected by pulse rate and self-report measures. The CCR treatment also reduced self-reported trait anxiety and improved musical performing competence; CR was uniquely effective on a behavioral anxiety index. On all but the pulse rate measure, if either CCR or CR treatment had any impact, the combined treatment did likewise. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prevalence and distribution of illicit drug use in the workforce and in the workplace: Findings and implications from a U.S. National survey.

This U.S. national study explored the overall prevalence, frequency, and distribution of illicit drug use in the workforce and in the workplace during the preceding 12 months. Illicit drug use in the workforce involved an estimated 14.1% of employed adults (17.7 million workers). Illicit drug use in the workplace involved an estimated 3.1% of employed adults (3.9 million workers). Illicit drug use in the workforce and in the workplace is not distributed uniformly in the employed population. At-risk, though circumscribed, segments of the U.S. workforce were identified with prevalence rates up to 55.8% for any use of illicit drugs and up to 28.0% for illicit drug use in the workplace. The implications of these data for future theoretical research and for management policy and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A consciousness-sampling analysis of test anxiety and performance.

To evaluate cognitive-interference, reassertion, and reaction-to-performance models of test anxiety, 82 university students completed the Test Anxiety Scale, provided state measures of anxiety just before and after a course examination, described their preparation for the test, and reported thought content and state anxiety up to 6 times during the test. Test Anxiety Scale scores were predictive of pre- and posttest state anxiety but not performance or problem-solving thought frequency during the test. Thought content was significantly but weakly correlated with performance, which was well correlated with posttest state anxiety but not with pretest anxiety. Pretest state anxiety was virtually uncorrelated with posttest state anxiety, with the correlations gradually declining during the test. Question-answering thought content correlated inversely with anxiety during the test. There was no group for whom anxiety appeared to facilitate performance. Preparation correlated only with performance. Results appear inconsistent with a cognitive-interference interpretation of test anxiety and suggest that, in the naturalistic setting used, anxiety is more clearly an effect than a cause of poor performance. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Primary socialization theory: culture, ethnicity, and cultural identification. The links between culture and substance use. IV

Ethnicity, perceived membership in a cultural group, and cultural identification, the strength of one's affiliation with a group, develop primarily through interactions with the primary socialization sources, the family, the school, and peer clusters. Cultural norms for substance use are also transmitted as part of these interactions. Substance use differs across cultures; in different cultures some forms of substance use are culturally required, others are tolerated, and others are sanctioned. Ethnicity and cultural identification, therefore, should relate to substance use. However, primary socialization theory indicates that simple relationships are not likely to be found for a number of reasons: 1) All members of an ethnic group do not have the same level of cultural identification and may not, therefore, have the same conformance to substance use norms. 2) Primary socialization,sources are embedded in subcultures, and subcultures have norms that may differ from those of the larger ethnic group. 3) The individual may experience and report differing levels of cultural identification and different substance use norms in different social contexts. 4) For an individual, ethnicity and cultural identification may derive from different primary socialization sources than drug use norms.     

Subjective social status, objective socioeconomic status, and cardiovascular risk in women.

Objective: Subjective perceptions of personal social status may relate to health beyond the effects of objective socioeconomic status (SES). The authors examined the relationship between subjective social status (SSS) and psychosocial, behavioral, and physical cardiovascular risk factors in middle-aged women. Design: Ninety-two women (90.2% White) completed ladder-based, pictorial self-report measures of SSS relative to others in their community and in the United States. Psychosocial measures of depression, anxiety, pessimism, stress, and social support and behavioral risk factors of fruit and vegetable consumption, leisure physical activity, and body-mass index were obtained. In addition, women underwent measurement of clinic blood pressure and assessment of daytime ambulatory systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP; DBP) over 2 consecutive days. Results: Community SSS was significantly inversely related to anxiety, pessimism, stress, and daytime ambulatory DBP after controlling for objective SES and U.S. SSS. Women with lower U.S. SSS showed less healthy dietary and exercise behaviors and, contrary to predictions, lower clinic and ambulatory DBP. Conclusion: This study provides additional evidence that perceptions of one's position in the social hierarchy could have important health implications beyond the impact of objective SES. Further, the cardiovascular risk implications of perceived community versus U.S. social status appear to be distinct. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

U.S. Workplace bullying: Some basic considerations and consultation interventions.

Bullying in the workplace is a worldwide phenomenon. There is a sizable professional literature on workplace bullying based largely on studies in European and other countries in comparison to studies involving U.S. corporations. Psychological consultants to U.S. corporations need to know and understand how certain considerations such as prevalence, legal reform and issues, and employers’ response to bullying differ in the United States compared with other countries. This article provides an overview of these considerations, emphasizing prevalence studies on bullying in the United States. It then describes one successful consultation intervention that targeting bullying in a U.S. corporation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sociodemographic diversity and behavioral medicine.

The broad array of economic and cultural diversity in the U.S. population correlates with and impacts on the study of behavioral aspects of health. The purpose of this article was to provide a selective overview of behavioral medicine research on sociodemographically diverse populations, with a focus on ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status. Suggestions are provided with regard to methodological refinement of research and insights into possible future directions in behavioral medicine research on ethnically and economically diverse populations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Two self-control procedures in the reduction of targeted and nontargeted anxieties.

Compared the effects of relaxation as self-control and a self-control variant of systematic desensitization (SD) in reducing targeted (test anxiety) and nontargeted anxieties with those of wait-list and no-treatment expectancy controls; 12 male and 57 female undergraduates were Ss. Immediately following counseling and at follow-up, groups given relaxation as self-control and SD both reported significantly less debilitating test anxiety and significantly more facilitating test anxiety than controls. In a stressful analog testing condition, self-control groups reported significantly less worry, emotionality, and state test anxiety than controls. While no performance differences were found in the analog situation, relaxation as self-control and modified SD Ss had significantly higher psychology grades than the no-treatment expectancy group. Grades of the wait-list group were not significantly different from those of other groups. The relaxation as self-control group showed reduction and maintenance on both measures of nontargeted anxiety relative to the controls. The modified SD group showed posttreatment reduction on both nontargeted anxiety measures but maintenance on only one. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anxiety selectively disrupts visuospatial working memory.

On the basis of a review of the extant literature describing emotion-cognition interactions, the authors propose 4 methodological desiderata for studying how task-irrelevant affect modulates cognition and present data from an experiment satisfying them. Consistent with accounts of the hemispheric asymmetries characterizing withdrawal-related negative affect and visuospatial working memory (WM) in prefrontal and parietal cortices, threat-induced anxiety selectively disrupted accuracy of spatial but not verbal WM performance. Furthermore, individual differences in physiological measures of anxiety statistically mediated the degree of disruption. A second experiment revealed that individuals characterized by high levels of behavioral inhibition exhibited more intense anxiety and relatively worse spatial WM performance in the absence of threat, solidifying the authors' inference that anxiety causally mediates disruption. These observations suggest a revision of extant models of how anxiety sculpts cognition and underscore the utility of the desiderata. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Misunderstanding of multiculturalism: Shouting fire in crowded theaters.

Comments on B. J. Fowers and F. C. Richardson's (see record 83-30335) article on the psychological construct of multiculturalism. It is stressed that the multicultural agenda is to stop imposing any one group's cultural values on all others, whether Eurocentric or not. The existence of separatist movements within multiculturalism should not be surprising, given a cultural context that has often been hostile to persons of color. The intercultural dialog that Fowers and Richardson advocate may be difficult to accomplish if are assumed to not desire a dialog. The interactions between the majority culture and multiculturalism have been primarily a majority monolog. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)