When you and I are "we," you are not threatening: The role of self-expansion in social comparison.

Many theories of self-evaluation emphasize the power of social comparison. Simply put, an individual is thought to gain esteem whenever she or he outperforms others and to lose esteem when he or she is outperformed. The current research explored interdependent self-construal as a moderator of these effects. Two studies used a priming task to manipulate the level of self-construal and investigate effects of social comparison in dyadic (Study 1) and group situations (Study 2). Both studies demonstrated that when the target for comparison is construed as part of the self, his or her successes become cause for celebration rather than costs to esteem. Additionally, gender differences in chronic relational and collective self-construals moderated the patterns of social comparison in a form similar to that of priming relational and collective self-construals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Body and sexual esteem as mediators of the physical disability-interpersonal competencies relation.

Objectives: To examine whether body and sexual esteem mediated the associations between sexual satisfaction, perceived disability severity, and social perceptions of the disability and interpersonal competencies. Research Method/Design: Web-based survey with 326 adults with a range of physical disabilities. Main Outcome Measures: Perceived interpersonal competence in initiating relationships and being assertive in negative situations. Results: For men, sexual satisfaction, social perceptions of the disability, and perceived severity of the disability significantly predicted competence with relationship initiation. Sexual satisfaction and social perceptions of the disability predicted competence with negative assertion. For women, social perceptions of the disability predicted both interpersonal competencies, and sexual satisfaction predicted competence with negative assertion. Aspects of body esteem mediated the relations between the predictor variables and the interpersonal competencies. Conclusions: Findings indicate the importance of perceived attractiveness to others in mediating the negative relations between impact of the disability and interpersonal competencies. Findings also suggest important gender differences in variables predictive of interpersonal competencies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors of changes in weight esteem among mainland Chinese adolescents: A longitudinal analysis.

Weight and body image concerns are prevalent among adolescents across cultures and pose significant threats to well-being, yet there is a paucity of longitudinal research on samples living in non-Western and developing countries. This prospective study assessed the extent to which select sociocultural, psychological, and biological risk factors contributed to changes in weight esteem among adolescent girls and boys living in the People’s Republic of China. Students (181 boys, 320 girls) from middle schools and high schools in Southwest China completed measures of demographics; weight esteem; thin female and lean, muscular male appearance ideals; positive and negative affect; and appearance-based social pressure, teasing, and comparison. Subsequently, weight esteem was reassessed 18 months later. Girls having stronger preferences for thin ideals, a high body mass index, and more negative affect at Time 1 were more likely to experience losses of weight esteem at follow-up. Among boys, high baseline levels of appearance pressure contributed to later reductions in weight esteem—an effect that was also moderated by age. For both sexes, appearance social comparisons also contributed to weight esteem changes in univariate analyses, albeit these effects were attenuated within multivariate prediction models. In sum, this study highlights how specific experiences implicated previously in research on body dissatisfaction in Western samples are also salient in understanding changes in weight esteem for adolescent girls and boys in rapidly developing China. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comprehension of human communicative signs in pet dogs (Canis familiaris).

On the basis of a study by D. J. Povinelli, D. T. Bierschwale, and C. G. Cech (1999), the performance of family dogs (Canis familiaris) was examined in a 2-way food choice task in which 4 types of directional cues were given by the experimenter: pointing and gazing, head-nodding ("at target"), head turning above the correct container ("above target"), and glancing only ("eyes only"). The results showed that the performance of the dogs resembled more closely that of the children in D. J. Povinelli et al.'s study, in contrast to the chimpanzees' performance in the same study. It seems that dogs, like children, interpret the test situation as being a form of communication. The hypothesis is that this similarity is attributable to the social experience and acquired social routines in dogs because they spend more time in close contact with humans than apes do, and as a result dogs are probably more experienced in the recognition of human gestures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Supervisor esteem and personnel evaluations.

Personnel evaluations given by 7 pairs of Antarctic station supervisors were analyzed to determine the extent to which such judgments can be affected by the level of esteem at which a supervisor is held. Agreement between supervisors in their evaluations of personnel was not related to the degree of mutual esteem between supervisors and, similarly, the esteem held for supervisors by their subordinate peer group was not related to supervisor-peer agreement in evaluating personnel. Agreement between supervisors was related (p     

Getting by with a little help from self and others: Self-esteem and social support as resources during early adolescence.

Influences of social support and self-esteem on adjustment in early adolescence were investigated in a 2-year longitudinal study (N=350). Multi-informant data (youth and parent) were used to assess both overall levels and balance in peer- versus adult-oriented sources for social support and self-esteem. Findings obtained using latent growth-curve modeling were consistent with self-esteem mediating effects of social support on both emotional and behavioral adjustment. Lack of balance in social support and self-esteem in the direction of stronger support and esteem from peer-oriented sources predicted greater levels and rates of growth in behavioral problems. Results indicate a need for process-oriented models of social support and self-esteem and sensitivity to patterning of sources for each resource relative to adaptive demands of early adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Verbal conditioning: Transfer of training in a therapy-like situation.

In an attempt to demonstrate transfer of conditioned verbal responses, college females were interviewed concerning childhood experiences and were given social approval either following content responses ("parent words"), affect responses ("emotional words"), or at a constant interval. A 2nd E in another room then administered a 100-item sentence-completion task which evoked similar responses. For content responses, contingent approval increased production during the interview but not on the transfer task. For affect responses, contingent approval had no significant effect, although mere participation in the interview increased production on the sentence-completion task. Results thus failed to support the utility of the verbal conditioning technique in producing lasting behavior change. It was suggested that future work should adhere more closely to the methodology of operant research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Collective narcissism and its social consequences.

This article introduces the concept of collective narcissism—an emotional investment in an unrealistic belief about the in group’s greatness—aiming to explain how feelings about an ingroup shape a tendency to aggress against outgroups. The results of 5 studies indicate that collective, but not individual, narcissism predicts intergroup aggressiveness. Collective narcissism is related to high private and low public collective self-esteem and low implicit group esteem. It predicts perceived threat from outgroups, unwillingness to forgive outgroups, preference for military aggression over and above social dominance orientation, right-wing authoritarianism, and blind patriotism. The relationship between collective narcissism and aggressiveness is mediated by perceived threat from outgroups and perceived insult to the ingroup. In sum, the results indicate that collective narcissism is a form of high but ambivalent group esteem related to sensitivity to threats to the ingroup’s image and retaliatory aggression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Getting more from success: Standard raising as esteem maintenance.

In 4 studies, the authors tested the hypothesis that success prompts standard raising and that doing so helps maintain performance-related esteem by augmenting perceptions of competence. Study 1 showed that students raised examination standards following success in meeting them. In Study 2, professors who were recently promoted to tenure raised what they thought were the publication standards at their university, compared with the standards of their nonpromoted counterparts. Supporting the authors' esteem-maintenance account, participants in Study 3 reported that they would feel better meeting a high standard by a small margin than meeting a low standard by a large margin, and competence attributions mediated this relationship. Participants in Study 4 raised standards when their esteem was threatened but not when it was affirmed, also supporting an esteem-maintenance account. Alternative interpretations of standard raising, including goals for future improvement and initial standard lowering, were not supported in these studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Market study: biomaterials supply for permanent medical implants

The withdrawal of DuPont as a supplier of key raw materials created a major dislocation in the medical device industry. We studied the present and future impact caused by the market removal of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) yarn ("Dacron"), polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE) fiber and resin ("Teflon"), and polyacetal resin ("Delrin"). Findings were: 1) Dollar values of the permanent medical implant markets for PET yarn, PTFE fiber and resin, and polyacetal resin are a minute fraction, of their values for their other commercial markets; 2) The implant market value is clearly not commensurate with the liability risk; and 3) The majority of these materials consumed by this market are used in the production of lifesaving, permanent medical implants [e.g., vital blood vessel replacements made from knitted polyester (PET)]. The remainder is used in life-enhancing, permanent implants [e.g., hernia patches made of polyester (PET) fabric].     

Toward a theory of "hypnotic" behavior: Experimental analyses of suggested amnesia.

Suggestions of amnesia were given to 144 Ss in a 2 X 2 X 4 factorial experiment. The independent variables were: (1) spoken vs. recorded presentation of suggestions, (2) presence vs. absence of hypnotic induction, and (3) 3 types of suggestions for amnesia—authoritative ("You will not rememberp"), permissive ("Try to forget"), suggestions to simulate, and no suggestions. Variable 1 did not produce important differences in amnesic performance. Variable 2 significantly affected 1 of the 5 tests for amnesia, with the presence of hypnotic induction resulting in less amnesia. Variable 3 exerted the most powerful effect. Irrespective of the presence or absence of hypnotic induction, Ss differed on the tests for amnesia depending on which suggestion they were given. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality-structure in different kinds of bronchial asthma (author's transl)

The "Giessen-Test" is a psychological test in form of a questionnaire, basing on self-assessment. It was applied in 63 patients with bronchial asthma in order to get their "self-images" and their "ideal-self-images". Except of higher values for depression the "self-images" of the asthmatics resembled very closely those of normals. The ideals ("ideal-self-image") of the patients were uncharacteristic and reflected general trends. In contrast to these findings eleven physicians had a negative conception of asthmatic patients ("foreign image"). Physicians assessed the asthmatics to be disliked ("negative social resonant"), obstinate ("dominant") and depressive. Patients with exogen-allergic asthma, intrinsic asthma and asthma of unknown origin differ from each other only within a few marks. These differences, however, are not sufficient, to allow to coordinate a specific personality-structure with one of the different kinds of asthma.     

Susceptibility to hypnosis and susceptibility to social influence.

Measures of susceptibility to social influence were obtained from 80 male Ss through a persuasibility test (Janis), an influencibility test (Schachter), and an autokinetic test (Sherif). A test of hypnotic susceptibility followed; scores from personality inventories were also available. Factor analysis shows the hypnotic subscales to represent one factor ("primary suggestibility"), orthogonal to a bipolar factor represented largely by scores on the self-report inventories. Among the tests of social influence only the influencibility test showed a slight positive relationship to hypnosis. Birth-order relationships failed to confirm predictions based on Schachter's findings. (29 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social categorization and perceptual judgment of size: When perception is social.

Social knowledge may affect not only people's thoughts and judgments but also their actual perceptions of physical magnitude. The physical magnitude of a stimulus is perceived in a relative way, comparing the magnitude of the target surrounding context stimuli. Because similar objects invite comparison processes more easily than dissimilar objects ("similarity breeds comparability"), social knowledge can affect judgments of physical magnitude by determining what is perceived as (dis) similar. In Experiment 1, the authors show that social categorizations that are based on physical cues (e. g., gender) may affect the magnitude of perceptual contrast effects (the Ebbinghaus illusion). More important, in Experiment 2, the influence of social categorizations that have no physical bases is shown to affect the magnitude of perceptual contrast effects. Implications of these findings for theories of social knowledge effects are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's reasons for nominating their peers as withdrawn: Passive withdrawal versus active isolation.

Examined children's reasons for choosing peers for the withdrawal items on the Revised Class Play (RCP). 88 elementary-school children nominated peers they felt were best described by each RCP item. Reasons for their nominations were classified into 2 categories: passive withdrawal from and active isolation by the peer group. For 3 of the items ("Someone who would rather play alone than with others," "Someone who is very shy," and "Someone whose feelings get hurt easily"), the children's reasons were predominantly based on passive withdrawal, whereas for 3 other items ("Someone who is often left out," "Someone who has trouble making friends," and "A person who can't get others to listen"), they were predominantly based on active isolation. Reasons for the remaining item ("Someone who is usually sad") were split equally between both alternatives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Good, you identified the suspect": Feedback to eyewitnesses distorts their reports of the witnessing experience.

People viewed a security video and tried to identify the gunman from a photospread. The actual gunman was not in the photospread and all eyewitnesses made false identifications (n = 352). Following the identification, witnesses were given confirming feedback ("Good, you identified the actual suspect"), disconfirming feedback ("Actually, the suspect is number __" ), or no feedback. The manipulations produced strong effects on the witnesses' retrospective reports of (a) their certainty, (b) the quality of view they had, (c) the clarity of their memory, (d) the speed with which they identified the person, and (e) several other measures. Eyewitnesses who were asked about their certainty prior to the feedback manipulation (Experiment 2) were less influenced, but large effects still emerged on some measures. The magnitude of the effect was as strong for those who denied that the feedback influenced them as it was for those who admitted to the influence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What studies of communication with infants ask us about psychology: Baby-talk and other speech registers.

Reviews the research concerning the possible functional roles of the prosodic aspects of infant-directed speech ("baby-talk"), and shows that this style of speaking could have both attentional and affective functions (in addition to linguistic ones). Studies of other speech registers could profit from taking similar approaches and even using similar techniques to those used in infant-directed speech research to tease apart the linguistic, attentional, and affective components of these other speaking styles. Nursing-home register is used to exemplify the importance of examining the social, emotional, and linguistic ramifications of a communication style separately. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Boron neutron capture therapy: re-irradiation response of the rat spinal cord

PURPOSE: To examine factors that influenced, positively or negatively, the specialty career choices of physicians trained at Yale-New Haven Hospital (YNHH) from 1929 to 1994. METHOD: The authors sent questionnaires to 4,888 physicians who had trained or were training in YNHH-sponsored residency programs. The physicians rated 36 factors posited to be influenced in career choice on a seven-point Likert scale from very negative to very positive. The authors compared the means of each factor's ratings by decade of medical school graduation. RESULTS: The most positively rated influences were similar in each decade from the 1920s to the 1990s. These influences shared characteristics of intellectual curiosity ("intellectual content of the specialty" and "challenging diagnostic problems"), altruism ("interest in helping people" and "opportunity to make differences in people's lives"), and personal identity ("consistent with personality" and "possess the required skill or ability"). Negative factors, such as "demands on time and effort," "stress in the field," and "malpractice costs," were also consistently rated throughout the decades. CONCLUSION: The reasons that physicians choose certain specialty careers have not changed significantly over the past 65 years despite all the changes that have occurred in medicine. Physicians continue to seek professional opportunities that are viewed as intellectually challenging and of benefit to others.