Stability and change in strategies of psychiatric patients and normal interviewees.

A social competition model of interpersonal encounter was applied to examine stability and change in interviewee strategies across a pair of quasi-therapeutic interviews held 1 wk apart. Interviews were of 2 possible kinds-either permitting or denying interviewees a good outcome. These 2 types were designated as win or lose interviews, respectively. Interviewees were 56 short- or medium-stay psychiatric inpatients (mean age = 32 yrs) and 39 hospital-staff and university-student controls (mean age = 24 yrs). Ss were stratified on the basis of sex, psychiatric status, and scores on Byrne's Repression-Sensitization scale, and were assigned randomly to the 4 possible combinations of interview and to various interviewer combinations in a partially-crossed factorial design. Stability in competitive strategy obtained only across successive win interviews, where initial strategies were successful. Measures of Ss affect and motivation were more generally stable. In comparison with repressors, sensitizers showed an initial deficiency in offensive capability. However, in the case of sensitizing patients, this deficiency vanished following an initial lose interview. Experience of an initial win interview resulted in a weakening of subsequent offensive strategy among all groups. Data are interpreted as encouraging investigation of the potential of attack therapies for weak-strategy patients and of more yielding therapeutic approaches for strong-strategy patients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of socioeconomic status on children's classification and free recall.

29 kindergarten and 29 1st-grade children were divided into 3 SES levels based on their parents' education level (college, high school, or less than high school) and given 2 sort/recall tasks on sets of pictures that could be organized on the basis of familiar taxonomic or complementary relations. On 1 task, Ss sorted pictures into identical groupings on 2 consecutive trials prior to recall; on the other task, Ss sorted the pictures only once. It was found that Ss from college-educated families were more apt to sort items on the basis of taxonomic relations than Ss from high-school-educated and less-than-high-school-educated families. However, there were no significant differences in levels of recall or clustering. Results indicate that young children from low-SES homes will demonstrate high levels of memory performance when tasks are constructed so that they are familiar with the relations among the to-be-remembered items. The appropriateness of distinguishing children's cognition in terms of A. R. Jensen's (see record 1969-09740-001) Level I vs Level II dichotomy is discussed in light of recent research examining the role of knowledge base on children's memory functioning. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Extrinsic religious values and prejudice.

Religiosity and anti-Semitism highly related. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive and emotional antecedents of religious conversion.

Evaluated the contribution of several cognitive factors (tolerance of ambiguity, impermeability of present belief system, and cognitive quest) and emotional factors (perception of childhood relationship with parents, and childhood and adolescence stress and trauma) in precipitating religious conversion. Ss were 40 religious converts (aged 20–40 yrs) from 4 religious groups (Jewish, Catholic, Bahai, and Hare Krishna) and 30 age-matched religiously affiliated nonconverts (Jewish and Catholic). Converts' present belief systems were judged as more impermeable; but contrary to the cognitive hypotheses, the groups did not differ on several measures of tolerance of ambiguity and in degree of cognitive quest during adolescence. Emotional factors were more closely associated with religious conversion. Converts' perceptions of their parents were markedly more negative, and incidence of father absence was higher in the convert sample. Converts reported more traumatic events during childhood and described their childhood and adolescence as unhappy. In the interview with converts, personal stress was also reported more often than cognitive quest as characterizing the 2-yr period preceding conversion and as involved in the immediate consequences of conversion. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ethical principles of psychologists and religious diversity.

Suggests that a concept missing from the Ethical Principles of Psychologists is that of religious or spiritual values. Speculations about why this concept is not addressed are offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of religious affiliation, religious involvement, and sex on the social desirability ratings of MMPI religion items.

Because efforts to account for individual differences in social desirability responding have been largely unsuccessful, an investigation was undertaken to determine whether meaningful relationships can be found if S characteristics relevant to the items being rated are selected. Religion items from the MMPI were rated by 90 Ss classified by religious affiliation, degree of religious participation, and sex. The 1st 2 factors and item content markedly influenced Ss' perception of the statements, attesting to the effectiveness of this more precise approach. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The nature of religious controls.

"Religion is certainly one of our most important institutions for influencing human behavior. Since religions, of one form or other, occur so regularly in almost all known human societies, one may examine the proposition that religion performs an important biologic function for the group, which creates survival value for the religion." 5 devices "by means of which behavior can be influenced: imitation, communication of affect, intervention in the pursuit of instinctual gratification, obedience, and disarming by vulnerability" are discussed with reference to organized religion. A sixth mechanism, "controlled regression," is "encouraged by religion to facilitate the regulation of behavior." On the assumption "that we are able to learn and to use effective technics of behavior regulation, are we sure that we can use them more wisely than religion has?" (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The penumbra of religious discourse.

This article addresses the research finding that there is a relative absence of empathic inquiry regarding patients' religious experiences in psychoanalytic psychotherapy. D. Stern's (1985) concept of selective attunement and J. Benjamin's (1988) assertion-recognition processes are used to understand and offer hypotheses about this absence and its consequences. We argue that selective attunement to and recognition of the patient's religious experiences communicates a prohibition to the patient. We hypothesize that the results of this process are that religious expressions are excluded from the intersubjective area; patients associate shame or guilt with their religious representations; and patients will not assert significant and meaning-laden religious experiences, which may lead to nonintegration of aspects of the self. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychotherapy for religious neuroses? Comments on Cohen and Smith.

Argues that many mental health professionals, including R. J. Cohen and F. J. Smith (see PA, Vol 55:Issue 5) who reported the case of a female Christian Scientist who became obsessed with thoughts of disease, are skeptical about the value of religious faith and that serious "indulgence" in it is not psychologically healthy. Whether the case reported by Cohen and Smith actually demonstrates this thesis and the ethical implications of intervening in a religious (vs a psychological) problem are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impact of religious affiliation on therapists' judgments of patients.

Investigated the effects of therapists' and patients' religious affiliation on therapists' attraction to, prognostic expectations of, and diagnosis of patients. 37 32–60 yr old psychologists with no religious affiliation and 40 30–59 yr old psychologists with religious affiliation listened to a 10-min audiotaped therapy session in which a depressed patient evidenced either a strong religious orientation or no religious orientation. Results show no differences in therapists' attraction to or diagnosis of the religious vs nonreligious patient. The religious patient was seen as requiring fewer therapy sessions than the nonreligious patient. However, religion was viewed as having a significantly greater impact on the problems of the religious vs nonreligious patient. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Finding meaning in religious practices: The relation between religious holiday rituals and marital satisfaction.

This study examined the relation between marital satisfaction and religious holiday ritual practices. 120 couples, married 9 years on average, completed measures of religious holiday practices (current family and family-of-origin) and marital satisfaction. Couples were interviewed about how important religion was to their family life. Marital satisfaction was related to religious holiday rituals beyond a global indication of religiousness. A different pattern was found for husbands and wives, with husbands' satisfaction more closely linked to ritual meaning and wives' satisfaction associated with routine practices. Family-of-origin rituals were connected across generations. Wives' marital satisfaction was related to husbands' report of religious holiday rituals but not the converse. Results are discussed in terms of how rituals affirm relationships, connect values and beliefs, and may have differential meaning for men and women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Understanding and treating perfectionism in religious adolescents.

This article discusses issues related to understanding and treating perfectionism in religious adolescents. To do so, the author discusses the distinction between the quest for perfection and the pursuit of excellence, some of the disorders associated with perfectionism and grandiosity (e.g., narcissism, obsessive-compulsive disorders), and the underlying affects (shame, guilt). The impact of parenting on perfectionistic tendencies is discussed at length as is the influence of adolescence and of religious beliefs. The unique challenges of treating religious perfectionists and the question of the advisability of a religiously similar therapist are explored. A case example drawn from the author's clinical experience with an Orthodox-Jewish population is presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparative efficacy of religious and nonreligious cognitive-behavioral therapy for the treatment of clinical depression in religious individuals.

Two versions of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), one with religious content (RCT) and one with standard protocol (NRCT), were used to treat 19–20 religious patients each. 59 religious patients who met the Research Diagnostic Criteria for nonpsychotic, nonbipolar depression were treated in 18–20 1-hr sessions over 3 mo. Religious and nonreligious therapists were used in each CBT group. Pastoral counseling (PCT) treatment-as-usual and waiting-list control (WLC) conditions each contained 10–21 patients. RCT and PCT patients reported significantly lower posttreatment depression and adjustment scores than did either the NRCT or the WLC condition. The CBT difference was due largely to superior performance of the nonreligious therapists (with dissimilar values to the patients) in the RCT over the NRCT condition. Improvement in the 3 treatment conditions was equal at 3-mo and 2-yr follow-ups and greater than posttreatment WLC improvement levels. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The religious mind and the evolution of religion.

This article summarizes the literature on the religious mind and connects it to archeological and anthropological data on the evolution of religion. These connections suggest a three stage model in the evolution of religion: One, the earliest form of religion (pre-Upper Paleolithic [UP]) would have been restricted to ecstatic rituals used to facilitate social bonding; two, the transition to UP religion was marked by the emergence of shamanistic healing rituals; and, three, the cave art, elaborate burials, and other artifacts associated with the UP represent the first evidence of ancestor worship and the emergence of theological narratives of the supernatural. The emergence of UP religion was associated with the move from egalitarian to transegalitarian hunter-gatherers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The psychological evaluation of religious professionals.

The evaluation of candidates for religious vocations is a unique endeavor in which psychologists have been engaged for more than 50 years. The task is a specific application of personnel psychology that includes screening, selection, confirmation, and guidance. After current practice is described, this article considers (a) predictive criteria for successful clergy practice, (b) the validity of current approaches, (c) parameters of the psychological report, and (d) the ways that religious institutions use psychological evaluations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A factor-analytic study of religious attitudes.

"Two basic religious attitude dimensions were isolated by inverse factor analysis. The first was described as a 'Nearness of God' dimension and the other as a 'Fundamentalism-Humanitarianism' dimension. A Religious Attitude Inventory with scales designed to measure these factors was constructed and subjected to cross-validational study." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of client socioeconomic status on selected behaviors, attitudes, and decisions of counselors.

Seven male and 9 female graduate students in counseling psychology were asked to interview an actor and an actress whom they believed to be real clients. To half of the counselors, the players posed as well-to-do individuals, and to half they posed as working class individuals. They briefly mentioned their socioeconomic status at the beginning of the interview and then told the counselor about some of the problems they were experiencing. When the clients were presented as having lower status, a significant correlation coefficient existed between (a) the counselor's self-reported degree of personality similarity to the client and the counselor's self-reported liking for the client, and (b) the counselor's self-reported liking for the client and the counselor's estimate that the client would benefit from long-term counseling. No significant correlation coefficient existed for data collected during high-status interviews. These results suggest that counselors may unconsciously employ a different decision-making process for high- and low-status clients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of HIV status and age on cognitive representations of others

In 2 studies the postulate that the perception of time left in life influences the ways that people conceptualize social relationships was explored. It was hypothesized that when time is limited, emotional aspects of relationships are highly salient. In Study 1, a card-sort paradigm involving similarity judgments demonstrated, for a sample of persons 18 to 88 years old, that the prominence of affect in the mental representations of prospective social partners is positively associated with age. In Study 2, the same experimental approach was applied to a sample of young gay men similar to one another in age, but notably different in their health status (that is, HIV negative; HIV positive, asymptomatic; and HIV positive, symptomatic). It was found that, with age held constant, increasing closeness to the end of life is also associated with an increasing prominence of affect in the mental representations of social partners. The results suggest that the perception of limited time, rather than chronological age, is the critical variable influencing mental representations of social partners.     

Two types of religious internalization and their relations to religious orientations and mental health

Two types of religious internalization are conceptualized that are presumed to vary in their relative autonomy. Introjection represents a partial internalization of beliefs and is characterized by self- and other-approval-based pressures. Identification represents adoption of beliefs as personal values and is characterized by greater volition. These 2 types of internalization are compared conceptually and empirically with existing measures of religious orientation and are used to predict varied functional outcomes. Results in 4 independent Christian samples show systematic construct validities and relations with mental health and self-related outcomes. Also, evangelical teenagers are shown to be higher on both introjection and identification than controls. Results are discussed both in terms of prior approaches to the psychology of religion and the significance of internalization for personality functioning.