ADVANCES IN PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH
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ADVANCES IN PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH
ADVANCES IN PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH. VOLUME 78
ALEXANDRA M. COLUMBUS EDITOR
Nova Science Publishers, Inc. New York
Copyright © 2011 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, electrostatic, magnetic, tape, mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the Publisher. For permission to use material from this book please contact us: Telephone 631-231-7269; Fax 631-231-8175 Web Site: http://www.novapublishers.com NOTICE TO THE READER The Publisher has taken reasonable care in the preparation of this book, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of information contained in this book. The Publisher shall not be liable for any special, consequential, or exemplary damages resulting, in whole or in part, from the readers‘ use of, or reliance upon, this material. Any parts of this book based on government reports are so indicated and copyright is claimed for those parts to the extent applicable to compilations of such works. Independent verification should be sought for any data, advice or recommendations contained in this book. In addition, no responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property arising from any methods, products, instructions, ideas or otherwise contained in this publication. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered herein. It is sold with the clear understanding that the Publisher is not engaged in rendering legal or any other professional services. If legal or any other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent person should be sought. FROM A DECLARATION OF PARTICIPANTS JOINTLY ADOPTED BY A COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION AND A COMMITTEE OF PUBLISHERS. Additional color graphics may be available in the e-book version of this book. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
ISSN: 1532-723X ISBN: 978-1-61470-789-9 (eBook)
Published by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. † New York
CONTENTS Preface Chapter 1
Chapter 2
vii Treating a Clinical Sample of Highly Gifted Underachievers with Music Therapy an Exploratory Study Lony Schiltz-Ludwig
1
Marital Patterns and Psychological Adjustment among Immigrants from Ethiopia and FSU Gila Markovitzky and Hadas Doron
17
Chapter 3
Memory for Object Location: Encoding Strategies in Children Annalisa Lucidi, Clelia Rossi-Arnaud, Laura Pieroni and Vincenzo Cestari
Chapter 4
The Role of Contextual Cues and Logical Training in Differentiating Conditional from Biconditional Statements in Inference Task Olimpia Matarazzo and Ivana Baldassarre
Chapter 5
Empathy: Reflexions on a Concept C. Boulanger and C. Lançon
Chapter 6
The Context of Domestic Violence: Social and Contextual Factors Associated with Partner Violence against Women Enrique Gracia
37
57 81
97
Chapter 7
Extraversion and Suicidal Behavior David Lester
113
Chapter 8
Alcohol Related Experiences – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Karin Helmersson Bergmark
123
Chapter 9
Physiological Assessment of Forgiveness, Grudges, and Revenge: Theories, Research Methods, and Implications Everett L. Worthington and Goli Sotoohi
135
vi Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14 Index
Contents The Effect of Sexually Explicit Rap Music on Sexual Attitudes, Norms, and Behaviors Lucrezia M. Alcorn and Anthony F. Lemieux
155
Treatments for Cystic Fibrosis: The Role of Adherence, Importance and Burden Lynn B. Myers
185
The Relationship between Adolescents‘ Music Video Viewing and Risky Driving: A Two Wave Panel Survey Kathleen Beullens, Keith Roe and Jan Van den Bulck
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Extraversion and the Autonomic Nervous System: An Alternative to Eysenck‘s Theory David Lester
219
Extraversion and Interviewing for Employment Joshua Fogel and Mayer Schneider
223 241
PREFACE This continuing series presents original research results on the leading edge of psychology. Each article has been carefully selected in an attempt to present substantial results across a broad spectrum. This book reviews research on the marital patterns and psychological adjustment among immigrants; treating a clinical sample of highly gifted underachievers with music therapy; memory for object location and encoding strategies in children; the context of domestic violence; extraversion and suicidal behavior and a psychological assessment of forgiveness, grudges and revenge. Chapter 1 - Published literature as well as personal observation show that gifted adolescents suffering from severe intellectual inhibition may generally not be helped by pedagogical means alone. This special syndrome results from a deep disturbance of the affective and drive functioning and may be treated by psychodynamic music therapy in individual sessions, combined with psycho-pedagogical applications of music in group sessions. Data drawn from an exploratory study, based on a mixed research methodology, combined a psychometric scale, a projective test and an observational frame for the therapeutic sessions and showed changes induced in the cognitive, emotional and conduct variables by music therapy treatment. We compared two clinical subgroups of students treated by the above described psychotherapeutic approach (N = 20, N = 23) to a control group (N = 43) of students who had only pedagogical measures. Case material helps to illustrate the psychotherapeutic process. The discussion stresses the opportunity to offer music psychotherapy to gifted underachievers as a means of tertiary prevention. Chapter 2 - The research examines the contribution of marital patterns (role division, decision making, and marital quality) to the psychological adjustment (psychological wellbeing, emotional state, and satisfaction) of new immigrants in Israel, according to country of origin and gender. Self reported questionnaires were filled by 236 new immigrants: 112 from the FSU and 124 from Ethiopia, who came to Israel between 1990 and 2001. The findings indicate that the most important predictor of adjustment was country of origin: immigrants from Ethiopia displayed a higher level of psychological adjustment relative to those from the CIS. Among women and men from Ethiopia, level of egalitarianism in role division and decision-making was found to correlate significantly with psychological responses. In comparison, the immigrants from the FSU reported more equality in the family, but this was
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not correlated with psychological adjustment. Of all the subgroups, the Ethiopian women demonstrated the highest level of adjustment. Chapter 3 - A number of studies suggest that two separate spatial processes may be involved in short-term object location memory. First, one needs to remember the precise position occupied in a given space (positional encoding per se), then one has to decide which object was at which position (object-to-position assignment). The aim of the present study was to investigate the way children of different ages code for object locations referring to the theoretical framework of working memory. In particular, the main questions addressed in this chapter were: a) when children have to remember the location of objects do they recode visual material verbally? b) Is this process age-dependent? A modified version of Postma and De Haan‘s (1996) object location task was used and three relocation conditions were examined. In the first condition, subjects had to remember spatial positions in a twodimensional matrix. In the second task, object-location associations were examined and previously occupied positions were signalled so that children only had to remember object-toposition assignment (i.e., ―what was where‖) while in the third condition, the ―combined‖ condition, children had to perform both positional reconstruction and object-to-position assignment. In order to examine which encoding strategy children aged 5 and 11 years spontaneously use in temporary memory for object location, we interfered with the activity of the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketch pad adopting a dual task methodology. In the second experiment, to further investigate the object-to-location binding, the visual and verbal characteristics of the stimuli used in the test were manipulated and children of the same two age groups were tested. Our results show that children of age 11, like adults, use mainly a phonological recoding for pictorial stimuli while younger children show a ―mixed strategy‖ based both on visual and phonological information. Chapter 4 - In two studies we examined the role of contextual cues and logical training in differentiating conditional from biconditional statements (i.e. the statements of the form ―if p then q‖ from the statements of the form ―if and only if p then q‖) in deductive inference task (i.e. establishing which conclusions necessarily follow from syllogisms whose major premise is formed by a conditional clause). We assume that the well-documented tendency to interpret conditionals as biconditionals is due not only to pragmatic factors, such as a large amount of literature posits, but also to cognitive factors: it is much easier to understand a symmetrical (biconditional) relation between two states of affairs rather than an asymmetrical (conditional) one. We expected that this tendency would be inhibited not only by the presence of contextual cues - as alternative antecedents (e.g. c, m, r) showing that the consequent (q) can be implied by other states of affairs besides the one (p) presented in conditional clause but also by a ―logical‖ training, that is, by elucidating the formal difference between conditionals and biconditionals. On the contrary, we expected that the statement content (abstract vs. thematic) did not affect the interpretation of conditionals as biconditionals. In the first study, three hundred twenty participants performed in counterbalanced order a conditional and a biconditional inference task introduced by a very short scenario. The experimental conditions varied in function of the following variables: discrimination between conditionals and biconditionals (embedded in the scenarios vs. inferred by participants after reading the scenarios), information facilitating the appropriate interpretation of the statements (present vs. absent), content (abstract vs. thematic). The results revealed that (1) biconditional syllogisms were easily solved in any experimental conditions; (2) conditionals generated a large amount of patterns of inferences, among which the most frequent was the biconditional
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one when facilitating information (i.e. alternative antecedents) was absent; on the contrary, when this information was presented, the conditional pattern of inferences was the most frequent one and the biconditional one decreased dramatically. In the second study, two hundred participants performed a conditional and a biconditional task introduced merely by the respective statements. The manipulated variables were: logical training (present vs. absent) and content (abstract vs. thematic). The results were analogous to those of the first study. On the whole, these experiments corroborate the idea that (1) biconditional interpretation of conditional statements - reconstructed from the participants‘ patterns of inferences – is due both to cognitive and pragmatic factors and that (2) reasoners are able to rectify this misinterpretation both in presence of contextual cues and of logical training. The theoretical implications of these results are discussed. Chapter 5 - Under the influence of Scottish philosophy the concept of empathy changed, it is still shaky and still defined by many currents of thought. It is different from sympathy (emotional contagion). Empathy is the capacity to put oneself in another person‘s position to understand its feelings or to imagine its mental representation. So empathy shows itself in different phenomena such as projection, identification and altruism. Husserl, in phenomenology, regards empathy as the decisive phenomenon from which inter-subjectivity emerges to elaborate a common world. Indeed, he renewed the comprehension of empathy and anticipated the development of neurosciences. Depraz, following Varela, shows primacy granted to others is embodied in the personal practice of compassion. Chapter 6 - Available data indicates a high prevalence of partner violence against women in our societies. The World Health Organization in its ―World Report on Violence and Health‖ offers a summary of 48 population-based surveys from around the world in which between 10% to 69% of women reported being physically assaulted by an intimate partner at some point in their lives. Different surveys in western countries estimate that about one in four women experience intimate partner violence at some point in their lives. For example, an analysis of 10 prevalence studies of partner violence against women in European countries also concluded that about 25% of women suffered domestic violence during their lifetime, and between 6% to 10% of women suffered violence in a given year. Despite the high prevalence of partner violence against women, however, many instances of partner violence against women are never reported to legal authorities. The ―Report of the American Psychological Association Presidential Task Force on Violence and the Family‖ (1996) concluded that all indications are that family violence and abuse are significantly under-reported at all levels of society, and estimates that female victims of domestic violence are 6 times less likely to report the crime to law enforcement officials than female victims of stranger violence. For example, in a national crime survey sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, when an injury was inflicted upon a woman by her intimate partner, she reported the violence to the police only 55% of the time and she was even less likely to report the violence when she did not sustain injury. Chapter 7 - There has been a great deal of research on the relationship between suicidality and extraversion/introversion, but no systematic review of this research has yet appeared. The present paper reviews this body of research in order to see if there are any consistent trends and then suggests future directions for research into this issue. Chapter 8 - When asked about how they feel about alcohol and drinking, Swedes have tended to display negative and ambivalent attitudes. For this study reports of alcohol related
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experiences were used for the study of an eventual new emerging drinking culture. The aim was to analyse frequency distributions and patterns for explanatory variables, for different groups of alcohol related experiences. As drinking levels have increased in Sweden during the last decades, on the one hand we expected to find an increase of reports of alcohol related experiences. On the other hand, we could well expect less such experiences in a time when alcohol and drinking tends to be put into an every-day practise. Experiences from the good sides of drinking were more often reported, compared to the bad sides. A factor analysis resulted in four dimensions measuring aspects of pleasure (1), bad sides of drinking (2), ugly sides of drinking (3) and one on sexuality/aggression (4). Logistic regression analyses were used to see if these dimensions have unique characteristics that could be revealed with predictor variables. No clear such patterns were, however, found, even though some results indicate the upsurge of more pleasure-driven drinking styles. Chapter 9 - Forgiveness is a prosocial intrapersonal response to a transgression experienced in interpersonal context. Theorizing about forgiveness makes a myriad of distinctions, differentiating between decisions to forgive and emotional experience, and among emotions, motivations, cognition, and behavioral intensions. Research to date has not considered the conceptual advances in understanding forgiveness. Research has linked unforgiveness with poor health outcomes, but relatively little attention has been given to the physiological mechanisms that mediate the forgiveness-health connection. In the present chapter, we locate 19 empirical articles seeking to explicate the physiological processes involved in forgiving. We review the articles within an emphasis on theory. We seek to apply stress-and-coping, self-control, and broaden-and-build theories to uncovering potential questions that researchers could use to make a research agenda. Not surprisingly, in this burgeoning new field of study—forgiveness studies—more and more sophisticated research is needed. Chapter 10 - In this chapter, we review the recent literature on music and social influence, with a particular emphasis on the influence of music on sexual attitudes and behaviors. We also present an experimental study that provided an empirical investigation of the relationships between sexually explicit rap music and sexual attitudes, perceived norms, and behaviors. Results indicated no significant short-term effects of rap music on the expression of sexual attitudes or perception of norms. However, we found marginal support for sexually explicit rap in priming condom-related sexual behavior. Chapter 11 - Introduction. Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most frequent lethal genetic disease of childhood. Nowadays due to improvements in treatment most people with CF can lead fairly normal lives. To achieve this people with CF need daily treatment consisting of various medications, chest physical therapy and pancreatic enzymes as well as paying attention to dietary needs. There has been a gradual but significant improvement in the life expectancy of CF patients due to advances in the efficacy of treatment. So what was considered a disease of childhood has now also become a chronic condition of adulthood. The current study investigated factors associated with treatments in adults with CF. Method. Participants were 563 adults with CF recruited from the UK‘s Cystic Fibrosis Trust mailing list. Patients rated adherence to each treatment and reported any other treatments e.g. complementary therapies. Other measures included importance of each treatment, burden of each treatments and demographic information.
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Results. The mean number of current treatments was high (10.49). Adherence varied with different behaviors, with the highest adherence for enzymes, insulin and antibiotics and lowest for physical therapy, exercise, overnight feeding and dietary supplements. Statistical analyses were correlations and Analysis of Variance. Adherence was correlated with importance and burden for the majority of treatments, meaning high adherence was related to high importance and low burden. Treatments varied in importance, with insulin and antibiotics rated the highest and dietary treatments the lowest. For burden, treatments which are administered by injection or are time consuming were rated the highest e.g. insulin, nebulized medications, with easily administered treatments rated the lowest e.g. oral steroids, enzymes. For most treatments importance and burden were positively correlated, meaning that the more important the treatment the least troublesome it was rated. Nearly a quarter reported using some form of complimentary therapy with more females reporting such use. However, over 50% said that CF never or only occasionally interfered with their enjoyment of life. There were few gender differences, but some age differences. Conclusion .Results from this study provide an insight into treatments for adults with CF, indicating a complex picture of adherence and indicate that adherence, importance and burden are usually related. Chapter 12 - Purpose: Music video viewing is a very popular pastime among adolescents. The public criticism of music videos has encouraged researchers to examine the effects of music video exposure. Although an association between music video exposure and several health risk behaviors (e.g. drinking) has been found, the relationship between music video viewing and risky driving has remained largely unexamined. In this study the relationship between adolescents‘ music video viewing and risky driving such as driving after consuming alcohol and joy riding is explored. Methods: Participants were 354 adolescent males and females who participated in a panel study (2-year interval). Respondents were 17 or 18 years old during the first wave of data collection and did not have their driver‘s license yet. They completed a questionnaire on music video viewing, sensation seeking, aggression, attitudes towards joy riding and driving after the consumption of alcohol, and the intention to perform these behaviors in the future. Two years later the respondents had obtained their driver‘s license and were questioned on their actual risky driving behavior. The relationships between these constructs were analyzed using structural equation models. Results: The results indicate that music video viewing is indirectly associated with joy riding and driving after the consumption of alcohol through the attitudes towards these behaviors and the intention to perform these behaviors in the future. More music video viewing resulted in a more positive attitude towards risky driving, even after controlling for sensation seeking and aggression. These attitudes are positively related to the intention to perform these reckless behaviors in the future and these intentions are, in turn, a good predictor of the actual risky driving behavior two years later. Conclusions: The results indicate that music video viewing during adolescence is an important and significant predictor of risky driving two years later. Chapter 13 - An hypothesis is proposed that balance in the autonomic nervous system is the physiological basis for extraversion-introversion, with extraverts as S-types and introverts as P-types. Chapter 14 - The personality trait of extraversion is often used as a factor for understanding and predicting successful job applicants. This article reviews the empirical
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research from scholarly journals on what is known about extraversion and job interviews. The search terms of ―(extraversion) AND (employment or job) AND (interview)‖ were searched in the databases of Medline, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Business Source Premier from the year of 1998 to 2008. The article reviews 21 articles. Almost all of the reviewed articles indicate that extraversion is associated with positive outcomes for employment interviews, promotion interviews, and also better job performance. Individuals that evaluate applicants for new jobs or consider current employees for promotion should assess extraversion as part of this initial hiring or promotion process. Versions of these chapters were also published in International Journal of Psychology Research, Volume 2, Numbers 1-4, edited by Alexandra M. Columbus, published by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. They were submitted for appropriate modifications in an effort to encourage wider dissemination of research.
Advances in Psychology Research. Volume 78 Ed: Alexandra M. Columbus
ISBN: 978-1-61209-442-7 © 2011 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
Chapter 1
TREATING A CLINICAL SAMPLE OF HIGHLY GIFTED UNDERACHIEVERS WITH MUSIC THERAPY AN EXPLORATORY STUDY Lony Schiltz-Ludwig Fondation François-Elisabeth, Luxembourg
ABSTRACT Published literature as well as personal observation show that gifted adolescents suffering from severe intellectual inhibition may generally not be helped by pedagogical means alone. This special syndrome results from a deep disturbance of the affective and drive functioning and may be treated by psychodynamic music therapy in individual sessions, combined with psycho-pedagogical applications of music in group sessions. Data drawn from an exploratory study, based on a mixed research methodology, combined a psychometric scale, a projective test and an observational frame for the therapeutic sessions and showed changes induced in the cognitive, emotional and conduct variables by music therapy treatment. We compared two clinical subgroups of students treated by the above described psychotherapeutic approach (N = 20, N = 23) to a control group (N = 43) of students who had only pedagogical measures. Case material helps to illustrate the psychotherapeutic process. The discussion stresses the opportunity to offer music psychotherapy to gifted underachievers as a means of tertiary prevention.
Keywords: emotional instability, intellectual ability, music psychotherapy, over adaptation, quasi experimental design, underachievement.
Schiltz Lony, Ph.D. psychologist, music therapist, doctor in clinical psychology, HDR. Head of Laboratory in Clinical Psychology, Health Psychology and Arts therapies, Fondation François-Elisabeth, Luxembourg Head of studies of the postgraduate curriculum in arts therapies (DESS en Art thérapie, Université du Luxembourg) Professional address: Fondation François-Elisabeth, Luxembourg. Hôpital Kirchberg. 9, rue Edward Steichen. L-2540 Luxembourg. e-mail:
[email protected] Mailing address : 10, rue Gabriel de Marie. L-2131 Luxembourg. Tel 00352 433668.
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INTRODUCTION Recent research results (Terrassier, 1999; Schiltz, 2002a;b; Catheline, 2003; Schiltz, Desor, Lorang and Schiltz, 2005) show that one third of students with an I.Q. of 130 or more are suffering from school failure in secondary school. Among these gifted underachievers 20 to 25% present dysfunction on the cognitive, volitional and emotional level and meet the psychiatric diagnosis of ―conduct disorders‖ or ―adjustment disorders‖ (Schiltz, 1995; 2002b; 2004b). Our personal clinical experience of more than 30 years with these pupils has shown that they need a specific kind of integrated psychotherapy to overcome their difficulties. The outcome of these interventions, as well as the therapeutic process itself, was investigated by several studies (Schiltz, 2004a;b). The psycho therapeutic sessions were offered in a regular public school.
1. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND Psychological indicators for giftedness are, among others, the quickness of thought and understanding and great emotional sensitivity that begin in the first years of life (Renzulli, 1978; Grubar, Duyme and Cote, 1997; Terrassier, 1999; Terrassier and Gouillou, 2000). These children may react impatiently to other persons who need longer explanations and may be rejected by others. While most of them develop quite positively (De Groot, 1974; Webb, 1993; Vichot-Chalan, 1997) and show their intellectual creativity in many realms, about one third of them are confronted with various psychological problems (Adda, 1999; Sudres, Brandibas and Fourasté, 2004). If a gifted adolescent fails at school, a thorough psychological assessment is necessary to uncover the origin of his or her difficulties. A retrospective study over 10 years, done in the psychology service of a secondary school, showed that, with a total group of 185 gifted underachievers, there was a diagnosis of personality disorder for 20 %, that 35% presented adjustment disorders, i.e. depressive reactions to recent events (for example emigration, the death of a loved one or a serious somatic disease), and that 45% of them presented minor conduct problems linked to identity issues (Schiltz, 2002c). The inhibition we encounter among these students meets the criteria of Marcelli and Braconnier (1999) who distinguished three areas of inhibition: (a) intellectual inhibition, also called ―neurotic dullness―, (b) inhibition of fantasy, and (c) relational inhibition or timidity. It is important to note that intellectual inhibition impacts school results exclusively and not the results of the intelligence test. The pupils belonging to our experimental group had an I.Q. of 128 or higher (Cvalue ≥ 9 at the LPS, Horn, 1962), and yet their intelligence was judged mediocre by their teachers, their parents and often by themselves as well. Let us stress that according to the European norms, an IQ. of 128 is the conventionally accepted inferior limit for the definition of gifted pupils.
Treating a Clinical Sample of Highly Gifted Underachievers with Music Therapy…
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2. METHODOLOGY OF TREATMENT These gifted underachievers were treated by a combination of music psychotherapy in individual sessions and supportive music therapy combined with pedagogical measures in group sessions. The weekly one-hour sessions of individual music psychotherapy followed the restructuring method we had developed for adolescents suffering from borderline personality disorder (Schiltz, 2003a; 2004d; 2005a), combining free musical improvisation with the writing of stories under musical induction. This procedure, which functioned like a projective test, with sound as sensory stimulus (Schiltz, 2002a; 2005b), was followed up by verbal elaboration. The general design of an individual session included first a free verbal exchange about recent events and actual feelings, then a musical improvisation with ethnical instruments chosen by the student himself, then the creation of a literary text while listening to music, followed up by a second improvisation stage and a verbal elaboration based on free associations to the musical and literary production. These sessions produced a mutual enrichment of the musical and literary production; the themes of the stories were used for musical improvisation, which led to a freer floating of images and feelings and to a more personal implication in the stories written afterwards. The model of thought used here is that of the Psychology of Self of Kohut (1991) who stressed the importance of mature narcissism and postulated that the development lines for the narcissistic and objectal needs are distinct one from the other. The main goal is to resume the blocked process of subjectivation. (Cahn, 1998). The method consists in reacting to the student's musical propositions with musical responses, by reassuring him, or respectively confronting him, before moving on to verbalisation. In this process we are attentive to the manifestations of the unconscious, to any transference or counter-transference, but we leave it up to the client to discover the sense of his behaviour, proposing an interpretation in exceptional cases only. Fragments of the past eventually emerge and are elaborated upon by means of imagination, artistic production and symbolization. The therapeutic process becomes a quest to find the meaning of one's personal history. During the music therapy sessions, repressed fantasies are slowly released, imagination becomes more fertile, and students produce stories more authentically, corresponding to their intimate needs. During the process of verbal elaboration, free association to the literary production corrects both negative attitudes about oneself and dysfunctional cognitive schemata (Cottraux, 2001). The adolescents also participated in weekly two-hour group sessions based on free musical improvisation at the level of the whole group or of subgroups like duos, trios, etc. (Lecourt, 2002), combined with classical concentration and memorization training and with verbal therapeutic interventions based on group dynamics. The concentration exercises were derived from relaxation techniques, proposed in the cognitive perspective, like respiratory control, muscular release, focusing of attention, visualization (Servan, 2007). The memorization training was based on elements drawn from the school context, like foreign language vocabulary, poems, mathematical and chemical formulas, geographical maps. The goal consisted in reinforcing learning skills, motivation, self-esteem and assertiveness in the participants (Schiltz and al., 2005). The effects of both therapy situations were complementary.
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Thus we could call this approach eclectic or cognitive-psychodynamic. (Chambon and Marie-Cardine, 1994)
3. METHODOLOGY OF EVALUATION The effectiveness of music psychotherapy was assessed by using a methodology which is both quantitative and qualitative (Schiltz, 2003b), and on the basis of a quasi-experimental design using a control group (Raulin and Graziano, 1995). In accordance with ethical principles, all the adolescents who asked for treatment were accepted in the clinical group. It consisted of 43 twelve to fourteen-year-old adolescents. They were selected according to the criterion: general performance ≥ 9th percentile at the LPS (corresponding to an IQ ≥ 128). The LPS (Leistungsprüfsystem, Assessment of Cognitive Achievement, Horn, 1962) is a broadly used test in German clinical and scholastic orientation centres working with adolescents. It is based on Thurston‘s Primary Mental Abilities and combines measures of convergent and divergent thinking. Its norms, differentiated according to age and gender, are based on N=10 000 subjects. The pupils belonging to our clinical group were treated by the above described methodology during a period lasting from six to eight months, i.e. from the midst of the fall term to the end of the summer term. The control group was comprised of adolescents who underwent pedagogic measures but did not request a psychotherapeutic intervention. They were matched to the clinical group by age, gender, I.Q. and school results (N=43). In a quasi-experimental or non-equivalent control-group design (Graziano and Raulin, 1993) the role of the control group is to check that the results of the experimental group are not merely due to spontaneous maturation (normal changes in subjects in the course of time) or to contingent events of personal history (changes in subjects during the study due to events other than the independent variable, i.e. the treatment). The results may be interpreted in a causal sense if the experimental or clinical group changes markedly in the predicted direction, whereas the control group remains at the same level. The general hypothesis of the research is that gifted underachievers can be effectively treated through the above described kind of integrated psychotherapy, because it leads to an imaginative and symbolic elaboration of archaic fantasies, overcoming the tendency towards cognitive, emotional and volitional inhibition of further personal evolution (Schiltz, 2002a; 2004d), and also because it eventually reinforces motivation and self-esteem and improves learning strategies. Table 1. General descriptive parameters of the clinical group and the control group Variable Age School results (fall term) LPS (C value) Gender
Clinical group (N = 43) md = 13;1 md = 25,8 (max = 60) md = 9,5 Boys: N = 26, girls: N = 17
Control group (N = 43) md = 12;9 md = 46,4 (max = 60) md = 9,3 Boys: N = 26, girls: N = 17
Treating a Clinical Sample of Highly Gifted Underachievers with Music Therapy…
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Table 2. General experimental design
Clinical group Control group
Pretest A A
Therapeutic sessions B, B‘, etc
Posttest A‘ A‘
As we worked with small samples and handled data of a mixed level of measurement, we used largely non parametric statistics (Colman, 1995; Bijleveld and van der Kamp, 1998). The clinical assessment was based on a mixed quantitative and qualitative methodology, combining a psychometric test, i.e. the FAF (Fragebogen zur Erfassung von Aggressivitätsfaktoren, Questionnaire for Components of Aggressivity, Hampel and Selg, 1995), an expressive test, i.e. the stories written under musical induction (Schiltz, 2003c; 2005b) and an observational frame for the therapeutic situation, (Schiltz, 1999). The tools of research contain the following general dimensions:
Second order factors of the FAF : Spontaneous Aggressiveness, Reactive Aggressiveness, Irritability, Self Aggression, Inhibition, Dimensions of the rating scale for the stories: Primary Aggressivity, Elaborated Aggressivity, Anxiety, Depressive Feelings, Creativity, Quantitative Productivity, Bodily and Emotional Implication, Sensitivity to the Expression of Emotions Dimensions of the observational frame : Non Verbal Expression, Verbal Communication, Musical Production
The FAF has an internal consistency of scales ranging from r = .61 to r = .79. The rating scale and the observational frame are scored at the nominal or ordinal level of measurement and have an inter rater reliability ranging from r = .75 to r = .83; their content validity was explored in several previous studies (Schiltz, 1999-2004e). We made separate evaluations for two clinical sub-groups of gifted underachievers. The first group was characterized by a false self and over adaptation (sub group I; N = 20); the second one by impulsivity and emotional instability (sub group II, N = 23). The assignment to the subgroups was made through a semi-structured clinical interview conducted by experienced clinical psychologists. It was based on a thorough anamnesis with the parents and the clients and on behavioural criteria drawn from the ICD10.
4. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS For mathematical reasons, analysis of variance does not apply to small groups and non metrical data. Thus all the between groups and within groups comparisons have been computed separately. As the whole study, i.e. the complete within and between groups comparisons are to be presented in detail in a research report (Schiltz and al., 2008), I shall focus in this article on the data allowing to understand the mode of action of music therapy, presenting the pretest-comparisons at the level of the clinical subgroups and the results of the total clinical group versus control group comparison at the level of the external validation criteria.
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4.1. Pretest- Posttest Comparison of the Stories Written under Musical Induction For the stories written under musical induction, for which we have shown that they function like a projective test and are complementary to the Rorschach and the TAT (Schiltz, 2005b), we have constructed a rating scale in the phenomenological and structural tradition (Mucchielli, 1983). It contains the following general dimensions: Personal implication, Quality of imaginary elaboration, Type of aggressivity, Formal qualities, Level of elaboration, Nature of conflict, and Archetypal themes. The scale closes the gap between qualitative analysis and the use of inferential statistics suited to nominal and ordinal data. In the clinical subgroup I (N = 20), which is characterized by over-adaptation, we see a significant increase in elaborated aggressivity, qualitative creativity, sensitivity to the expression of emotions, quantitative productivity, as well as in emotional and bodily implication. There is a significant reduction of depressive feelings. In the clinical subgroup II (N = 23), characterized by impulsivity, we also see a significant reduction in primary aggressivity, qualitative creativity, bodily and emotional implication, sensitivity to the expression of emotions, and there is a significant reduction of anxiety. Table 3. Pretest-posttest comparison of the stories: clinical subgroup I, N = 20 (Wilcoxon’s Sign Rank Test) Variable
Z
Elaborated aggressivity Creativity Depressive feelings Quantitative productivity Bodily and emotional implication Sensitivity to the expression of emotions
-3.130 -2.646 -2.394 -2.070 -2.070 -2.011
Bilateral significance P < .01 P < .01 P < .05 P < .05 P < .05 P < .05
Direction of difference Pre < post Pre < post Pre > post Pre < post Pre < post Pre < post
Risk α > .10 for the following variables : primary aggressivity, anxiety.
Table 4. Pretest-posttest comparison of the stories: clinical subgroup D, N = 23 (Wilcoxon’s Sign Rank Test) Variable
Z
Primary aggressivity Creativity Anxiety Bodily and emotional implication Sensitivity to the expression of emotion
-3.122 -2.646 -2.303 -2.280 -1.972
Bilateral significance P < .01 P < .01 P < .05 P < .05 P < .05
Direction of difference Pre > post Pre < post Pre > post Pre < post Pre < post
Risk α > .10 for the following variables : elaborated aggressivity, depressive feelings, quantitative productivity.
The findings in the two clinical subgroups are very close and corroborate the statements we made in other studies (Schiltz, 2004d;e); the fact that music therapy leads to a similar
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evolution, independent of the diversity of prior surface symptoms, speaks in favour of the broader, psychodynamic conception of the underlying personality organization (Dulz and Schneider, 1996). In the control group (N = 43), the only significant change concerns sensitivity to the expression of emotions (Z = -2.343; p = .05); the other variables remained stable during the treatment period of the clinical group.
4.2. Pretest- Posttest Comparison of the FAF The FAF (Fragebogen zur Erfassung von Aggressivitätsfaktoren, Questionnaire for Components of Aggressivity, Hampel and Selg, 1975) is a self-reported questionnaire made up of the following general dimensions : Spontaneous aggressivity, Reactive aggressivity, Irritability, Interiorized aggressivity, and Inhibition of aggressivity. These dimensions allow evaluation of self perception of aggressive feelings and behaviour conducts. In the clinical subgroup I, we see a significant reduction of irritability and of interiorized aggressivity, whereas in the subgroup II we see a tendency towards an increase of controlled aggressivity and towards a reduction of global exteriorized aggressivity. Thus, on the symptomatic level, as measured by the self-reported questionnaire FAF, both subgroups show a compensatory evolution concerning their self-image. In the control group, global exteriorized aggressivity and reactional aggressivity increased during the same period of time. Thus, the control group partially evolved in an opposite direction to that of the clinical group. This case constitutes a probate figure according to the criteria of Raulin and Graziano (1995) for quasi experimental designs, showing that the changes are probably not merely due to contingent external events or to spontaneous developmental maturation. Table 5. Pretest-posttest comparison of the FAF: clinical subgroup I, N = 20 (Wilcoxon’s Sign Rank Test) Variable FAF 3 FAF 4
Z -2.646 -2.029
Bilateral significance P < .05 P < .05
Direction of difference Pre > post Pre > post
Risk α > .10 for the following variables : FAF 1, FAF 2; FAF 5, FAF sigm.
Table 6. Pretest-posttest comparison of the FAF: clinical subgroup D, N = 23 (Wilcoxon’s Sign Rank Test) Variable Z Bilateral significance Direction of difference FAF 5 -1.844 P < .10 Pre < post FAF Sigm -1.660 P < .10 Pre > post Risk α > .10 for the following variables : FAF 1, FAF 2, FAF 3, FAF 4.
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Table 7. Pretest-posttest comparison of the FAF: control group, N = 43 (Wilcoxon’s Sign Rank Test) Variable FAF Sigm FAF 2
Z -2.394 -1.844
Bilateral significance P < .05 P < .10
Direction of difference Pre < post Pre < post
Risk α > .10 for the following variables : FAF 1, FAF 3, FAF 4, FAF 5.
Table 8. External validation criteria: total clinical group, N = 43 (Wilcoxon’s Sign Rank Test) Variable School results Creative pleasure activities
Z -2.217
Bilateral significance P < .01
Direction of difference Pre < post
-2.078
P < .05
Pre < post
4.3. External Validation Criteria The external validation criteria show long lasting positive results from our integrated approach. In the total clinical group, there were significant positive changes in school results and creative leisure activities. Seventy-six percent of the pupils who suffered from a complete school failure at the beginning of the year (general median of school results in the fall term: 25,8) and who were treated by the above described form of psychotherapy had overcome their difficulties by the end of the summer term (median 38,6). In the final between groups comparison there is still a difference between the control groups and the total clinical group, but the superiority of the control group is less important (general median in the summer term: 44,5). In leisure activities there is no more difference between the groups.
5. DISCUSSION Our pretest-posttest comparison shows the advantage of using a mixed methodology that combines a psychometric test, a projective test, and an observational frame for the evaluation of psychotherapy. This combination allows us to consider the structural functioning of personality as well as the descriptive one and yields a more adequate interpretation. The observed changes are plausible in the light of structural psychopathology (Dulz and Schneider, 1996), which stresses that the same underlying personality organization (i.e. of the psychotic, borderline or neurotic type) may give expression to various fluctuating symptoms at the observational level. Our research with borderline adolescents (Schiltz, 2004e) leads to the conclusion that long term music psychotherapy may permit the restructuring of personality; in fact, the profile of the clinical group approached that of normal control group. Our results with gifted underachievers, as evaluated through the projective test, suggest a personal maturation and a reduction of the cognitive, volitional and emotional inhibitions in the two clinical subgroups. That the first group shows an increase in elaborated aggressivity
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and the second one a reduction in primary aggressivity is a result that may also be interpreted in structural terms. On the descriptive level of a self-reported questionnaire, interiorized aggressivity has diminished with adolescents suffering from over-adaptation, whereas with those suffering from impulsivity the aggressive reactions appear to be better integrated and controlled. These positive effects allow us to understand the long term improvement in school results and the personal implication in more creative leisure activities. There is more energy available when frightful fantasies and negative feelings are elaborated on an imaginary and symbolic level instead of being acted out or directed towards one‘s own body.
6. CLINICAL VIGNETTES ILLUSTRATING THE THERAPEUTIC PROCESS 6.1. John John is a puny fourteen-year-old boy coming from a family of refugees. He has done very badly in school since the beginning of the year. John appears to be a shy, anxious and depressive boy who does not dare to stand up to his father and who is longing for his native country. He invents lies to escape punishment. He suffers from sleep disorder and frequent nightmares and he is tormented by suicidal thoughts. He has been the target of his school friends' racist reactions. We invited John to participate in a music communication group in order to resolve his social exclusion problem and to attend individual sessions at the same time. From the beginning he tried to get involved, but his instrumental play remained timid and monotonous for a long time. When playing a duet, he completely adapted to his partner's play without doing anything on his own initiative. The themes of his imaginary productions show his authentic feelings and are clearly suicidal as his story written to Plate 4 of the TAT proves.
TAT Plate 4 "His parents didn't look mean at all, but you never know what their character is like. His mother was a real beauty; his father looked like a grey devil, with blazing eyes and black hair. His parents buried their heads in the sand or tried to achieve their own ends at the others' expense. They put their heads in the sand like an ostrich. His father is an unemployed tramp who has eyes only for television, but not for his family. More than ten years had passed when the boy committed suicide. He threw himself off the red bridge. "Why?" asked the others. It's quite logical. All his life the boy felt remorse. He could not put up with it, so he committed suicide."
Although John never criticises his real parents, this dramatic story reveals his persecuted feelings; it is remarkable for using denial and splitting and for the pre-eminence of the bad object and the massive expression of primary affects. In an alarming way, it also shows that the author of the story does not have many options. Despite the pejorative description of his parents, the nameless hero of the story "the boy", who is not present on the plate, does not feel angry with them at all; instead, he turns his aggressivity against himself.
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It is only after some months that John describes his real family situation. His father is very violent; his mother is too weak to protect him. However, the boy says that under no circumstances would he leave his family for an institution and that he is very attached to both his parents. Little by little, as his anguish is verbally elaborated, John starts playing more spontaneously, preferring African melodic instruments like the balafo and the sanzar. One day, in the group session, he is fascinated when discovering a balalaika among the instruments. He tries to play it and cannot leave it alone. His friends understand that something important is happening to him, and they let him be the soloist and listen to him admiringly. For the first time, he talks about his uprooting, about the nostalgia he feels for his native land. At the end of the session, he grips the balalaika as if he would like to take it with him. As of this moment his musical play becomes much more energetic. He starts investigating rhythmic variations and becomes interested in the big percussion instruments. At the same time, the tone of his imaginary texts changes. The negative image of his father seems to fade into the background in favour of a positive image of his mother. He writes to TAT, Plate 8GF: "…Then his mother came back from work, she couldn't believe her eyes, then she ran towards her son, hugged him, caressed him, gave him a radiant smile, and that's the way it was."
This was the first imaginary expression of his unfulfilled need for affection. At the end of the year he writes an eloquent poem which reveals the significant reduction in the intensity of his state of depression and a recently acquired sense of the possibility to free himself from his sadness and to pass fluently from one emotional state to another.
Vivaldi Viola d'Amore " The violin is playing his favourite story, which is a very sad one; while playing, he expresses all his feelings, but he is also thinking about love. Now he is happy, he joyfully travels over mountains, dancing, he talks to himself and plays for himself. He is married and the father of two children. Oh! play the violin, isn't it beautiful!! I'm so happy. Yes, this way, life is pleasant. Yes, yes! I dance! I play! I live. Oh, isn't life beautiful And once again. Yes, I'm happy, I live, I play, I dance, I live. Olé! I make music and I like it very much. And once again. It's the play of my life. And now it's your turn. And think of it, life is pleasant. And now it's over, and now it's your turn."
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Anxious and depressive sideration has given way to movement, dance and love. John emphasises both his narcissistic restoration and the fulfilment of his object needs. He has found his place in relation to the others. At the same time, John begins to pass his school exams. He no longer feels rejected by his friends. He has distanced himself from his father and he describes the family relations with more realism. At the end of the year, he writes in a free text: "Sometimes, when I don't hear music, I hear it in my head, I have feelings, I feel fantastically well. I sometimes sing without instruments, only with my feelings."
John now has an intra-psychic space of his own, a mental stage on which" the play of his life" can develop itself. Music therapy allowed him to elaborate his repressed ambivalent feelings in an imaginary and symbolic way, overcoming his sense of rejection and permitting integration into his peer group.
6.2. Mary We shall present a shorter clinical illustration from the subgroup characterized by emotional instability. Mary is 17 years old. She is very oppositional with adults and aggressive with her classmates. At the beginning of the therapy, her stories are quite commonplace. One of her last texts shows an astonishing insight into the stages of her psychological maturation.
Beethoven: Violin Concerto ―It is night in the big forest. In the middle of the forest, there is a lake. On its surface the moon and the surrounding firs are mirrored. Sometimes you can see everything with precision. The scene makes one think of a movie. But sometimes, when a breeze is getting up, you can see the firs swaying. Then everything seems horrifying and far away you can hear the howling of the wolf. If you go a little further, you come to a waterfall which is flowing slowly and quietly. At the top of the rock where the water is calm, a wolf is mirroring himself with the moon at the background. Though he looks terrifying, he is quite peaceful. He remains sitting and watching at me. Suddenly I have the impression that he is smiling. He comes nearer and licks my hands. I begin stroking him and I am feeling quite happy, because I have desired this for ever; wolves are my favourite animals. Suddenly I wake up and I become aware that all this was only a dream. From that moment I return to my friend in the forest every night.‖ This story symbolizes first the freezing of her emotions and drive, then her being overwhelmed by her repressed feelings, going through a stage of anxiety; finally there is the integration of her longing for love into her conscious self. Mary‘s therapy was marked by an evolution from factual, descriptive stories and melodic poverty to personal implication and sensitive integration of rhythm and melody, her
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emotional stability and her ability to elaborate the conflicts of daily life on an imaginary and cognitive level have very much increased, whereas her temper tantrums have diminished. The tender part of her personality has emerged and it is much easier for her to find new friends. At the same time her school results have improved.
CONCLUSION According to our clinical experience and our research results, the severe inhibition of gifted underachievers may be overcome if we offer them a thorough psychotherapeutic treatment. The artistic mediation is well adapted to their special sensitivity to intrusion. Pedagogical measures alone are insufficient as is underlined by the outcome of several studies (Vichot-Chalon, 1997; Terrassier, 1999; Catheline, 2003; Schiltz and al., 2005), whereas psychiatric measures for conduct disorders or school phobia are often proposed in an hospital setting (Perisse and al., 2005; Gaspard and al. 2007), focusing on medication and short therapeutic interventions, without addressing the specific means of gifted underachievers. Without treatment the students belonging to our clinical group risk leading a diminished life, never realizing their true potential (Rogers, 1961). They risk becoming more openly depressive later on, because, at an unconscious level, they may be aware of the discrepancy between their actual functioning and their potential (Brandibas and al., 2004). Psychic health is linked to the possibility of realisation of one self in accordance with innate and acquired abilities (Kohut, 1991; Becker, 1997). Thus it is important to propose to this population an adapted psychotherapy as a means of self actualisation and of tertiary prevention, i.e. treating people as soon as they show the first symptoms of possible psychopathological complications. Music therapy can be easily introduced into the natural surroundings of school.
REFERENCES Adda, A. (1999). Le livre de l'enfant doué. The Book of the Gifted Child. Paris: Ed. Solar. Becker, P. (1997). Psychologie des seelischen Gesundheit. Psychology of Mental Health. Göttingen: Hogrefe. Bijleveld, C.J.H., and van der Kamp, L.J.T. (1998). Longitudinal Data Analysis. Designs, Models and Methods. London : Sage. Brandibas, G., Jeunier, B., Clanet, C., and Fourasté,R., (2004). Truancy, School Refusa and Anxiety. School Psychology International, 25 (1); 117-126. Cahn, R. (1998). L'adolescent dans la psychanalyse. L'aventure de la subjectivation. The Adolescent in Psychoanalysis. The Advanture of Subjectivation. Paris: PUF. Catheline, N. (2003). Psychopathologie de la scolarité. School Psychopathology. Paris : Masson. Chambon, O.,and Marie-Cardine, M. (1994). Psychothérapie cognitive des psychoses chroniques. Cognitive Psychotherapy of Chronic Psychoses. Paris : Masson. Colman, A.M., (Ed).(1995). Psychological Research Methods and Statistics. London: Longman.
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Cottraux, J.(2001). La répétition des scénarios de vie. Demain est une autre histoire. Repetition of Life Scenarii. To-morrow another Story Will Begin. Paris : Ed. Odile Jacob. De Groot, J.(1974). Statistische Redundanzbildungsprozesse in ihrer Beziehung zur Intelligenz. Processing Statistical Redundancy Related to Intelligence. Diplomarbeit am Psychologischen Institut von Erlangen. Dulz, B.,and Schneider, A.. (1996). Borderline Störungen. Theorie und Therapie. Borderline Disorders. Theory and Therapy. Stuttgart: Schattauer. Gaspard, J.-L., Brandibas, G., and Fourasté, R. (2007). Refus de l‘école: les strategies thérapeutiques en medicine générale. School Refusal: Therapeutic Strategies in general medicine. Neuropsychiatrie de l’enfance et de l’adolescence, 55; 362-366. Graziano, A. M. and Raulin, M.L. (1993). Research Methods : A Process of Inquiry (2nd edn.). New York : Harper Collins. Grubar, J-C., Duyme, M., and Cote, S. (Eds).(1997). La précocité intellectuelle. Intellectual Precocity. Sprimont: Mardaga. Hampel, R., and Selg, H. (1975). FAF Fragebogen zur Erfassung von Aggressivitätsfaktoren. Questionnaire for Components of Aggressivity. Göttingen: Hogrefe. Horn, W. (1962). Leistungsprüfsystem. Assessment of Intellectual Achievement. Göttingen : Hogrefe. Kohut, H. (1991). Analyse et guérison (trad. fr.). How Does Analysis Cure ? Paris: PUF. Lecourt, E. (2002). La musicothérapie, le groupe, et la musicothérapie de groupe. Music Therapy, Group and Group Music Therapy. Revue de Psychothérapie Psychanalytique de Groupe, 37 ; 97-100. Marcelli, D., and Braconnier, A. (1999). Adolescence et psychopathologie. Adolescence and Psychopathology. Paris: Masson. Muchielli,A. (1983). L‘analyse phénoménologique et structurale en sciences humaines. Phenomenological and Structural Analysis in Humanities. Paris : PUF. Perisse, D., Gerardin, P., Cohen, D., Flament, M., and Mazet T. (2006). Le trouble des conduites chez l‘enfant et l‘adolescent : une revue des abords thérapeutiques. Conduct Disorders with Children and Adolescents : a Survey of Therapeutic Approaches. Neuropsychiatrie de l’enfance et de l’adolescence, 54 ; 401-410. Raulin, M.L, and Graziano, M..(1995). Quasi-Experiments and Correlational Studies. In A.M. Colman, (Ed). Psychological Research Methods and Statistics (pp 58-77). London: Longman. Renzulli, J.S. (1978). What Makes Giftedness? Re-examining a Definition. Phi Delta Kappau; 60; 180-184. Rogers, C. R. (1961). On Becoming a Person: A Therapist's View of Psychotherapy. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Schiltz, L. (1995). De l‘utilisation de la musicothérapie avec des adolescents souffrant d‘un blocage du fonctionnement pulsionnel. Using Music Psychotherapy with Adolescents Suffering from Inhibition of Desire. Paris : D.U. Art en Thérapie et en Psychopédagogie, Université René-Descartes- Paris V. Schiltz, L. (1999). Musique et élaboration imaginaire de l‘agressivité à l‘adolescence Evaluation d‘une expérience thérapeutique. Music and Imaginary Elaboration of Aggressivity in Adolescents. Assessment of a Therapeutic Experiment. Thèse de doctorat en psychologie clinique. Paris : Université René Descartes- ParisV.
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Schiltz, L. (2002a). Archétypes signalant la reprise du processus de subjectivation. Archetypes Linked to the Resumption of Subjectivation, La Revue de Musicothérapie, XXII,1 ; 8-11. Schiltz, L. (2002b) Motivation de performance et mécanismes d'ajustement. Approche longitudinale. Achievement Motivation and Coping Strategies. A Longitudinal Approach. Rapport de recherche. Luxembourg: MENPFS-SCRIPT. Schiltz, L. (2002c). Elèves surdoués en situation d'échec scolaire. Gifted Pupils Failing at School. Rapport de recherche. Luxembourg: MENFPS-SCRIPT. Schiltz, L. (2003a). The Restoration of a Broken Self in Adolescence. Some Results of an Efficiency Study of Music Therapy. In: R. Hampe, and P. Martius (Eds). Trauma, Kreativität, Therapie mit künstlerischen Medien. Trauma, Creativity, Arts Therapies, (pp 435-443). Bremen : Verlag Universität Bremen. Schiltz, L (2003b). Some epistemological considerations about music therapeutic research. In: L. Schiltz, (Ed). Epistemology and Practice of Research in the Arts Therapies, (pp 4555). Luxembourg: CRP-Santé et FNR. Schiltz, L. (2004a). Motivation de performance, destinée scolaire et mécanismes d'ajustement. Quelques implications d'une étude longitudinale comparée. Achievement Motivation, School Destiny and Coping Strategies. Implications of a Comparative Longitudinal Study. Neuropsychiatrie de l'enfance et de l'adolescence, 52, 2 ; 70-77. Schiltz, L. (2004b). Le blocage cognitif, émotionnel et motivationnel des élèves surdoués en situation d'échec scolaire grave. Résultats d'études cliniques et expérimentales sur la" résignation apprise. Cognitive, Emotional and Motivational Inhibition of Gited Underachievers. Results of Clinical and Experimental Studies on « Acquired Resignation », La Revue française de Psychiatrie et de Psychologie médicale, VII, 79 ; 39-44. Schiltz, L. (2004c). Psychodiagnostik, Psychotherapie und Forschung mit Hilfe von musikalisch induzierten Geschichten. Stories Written under Musical Induction: A Tool of Psycho diagnosis, Psychotherapy and Research, In: I., Frohne-Hagemann (Ed). Rezeptive Musiktherapie; Theorie und Praxis. Receptive Musictherapy. Theory and Pratice, (pp 3950). Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag.. Schiltz, L. (2004d). Musicothérapie et processus de symbolisation chez les adolescents à fonctionnement limite. Music Therapy and Symbolization with Borderline Adolescents. La Revue française de Psychiatrie et de Psychologie médicale, VII, 73, 17-20. Schiltz, L. (2004e). La subjectivation entravée. Approche clinique et expérimentale intégrée. Hampered Subjectivation. A Clinical and Experimental Approach. Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches.Metz : Université Paul Verlaine-Metz. Schiltz, L. (2005a). La créativité entravée. Données cliniques et expérimentales sur les élèves surdoués en situation d‘échec scolaire. Hampered Creativity. Clinical and Experimental Results with Gifted Underachievers. La Revue de Musicothérapie, XXV, 1, 81-89. Schiltz, L. (2005b). Dysfonctionnements cognitifs liés aux pathologies limites à l'adolescence. Etude comparée de quelques tests projectifs. Cognitive Dysfunctioning related to Borderline Disorders in Adolescence. A Comparative Study of some Projective Tests. Neuropsychiatrie de l’Enfance et de l’Adolescence, 53, 3 ; 107-113. Schiltz, L., Desor, D., Lorang, G.,and Schiltz, J. (2006). Elèves surdoués en situation d‘échec scolaire. Approche multidisciplinaire de la « résignation apprise ». Gifted
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Underachievers. A Multidisciplinary Approach of the « Acquired Resignation ». Luxembourg : Editions Saint-Paul. Schiltz, L., Schiltz, J., and Soulimani, R., (2008). Application de l‘art thérapie à quelques problèmes cruciaux de la société luxembourgeoise. Rapport de recherche. Application of Arts Therapies to some Crucial Problems of Luxembourg Society. Research Report. Luxembourg : FNR. Sudres, J.L., Brandibas, G.,and Fouraste, R. (2004) La phobie scolaire : symptôme, entité spécifique, syncrétisme ou syndrome d‘inadaptation. School Phobia : Symptome, Specific Entity, Syncretism or Maladjustment Syndrome. Neuropsychiatrie de l’Enfance et de L’Adolescence, 52 ; 556-566. Terrassier, J-C. (1999). Les enfants surdoués ou la précocité embarrassante. Gifted Children or Embarrassing Precocity. Issy-les- Moulineaux : ESF. Terrassier, J-C.,and Gouillou, P. (2000). Guide pratique de l‘enfant surdoué. Practical Guide of the Gifted Child. Issy-les-Moulineaux : ESF. Vichot-Chalon; M.C. (1997). Reconnaissance et devenir des enfants précoces non reconnus. Possibilities of Screening and Development of Gifted Children. In : J.C. Grubar, M. Duyme and S. Côte ,(Eds). La précocité intellectuelle. Intellectual Precocity, (pp 187198). Sprimont : Mardaga. Webb, J.T. (1993). Social-emotional Development of Gifted Children. In: K.A. Keller, F.J. Mönks and A.H. Panow (Eds). International Handbook of Research and Development of Giftedness and Talent,(pp 528-538). Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Advances in Psychology Research. Volume 78 Ed: Alexandra M. Columbus
ISBN: 978-1-61209-442-7 © 2011 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
Chapter 2
MARITAL PATTERNS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT AMONG IMMIGRANTS FROM ETHIOPIA AND FSU Gila Markovitzky and Hadas Doron Tel-Hai Academic College, Israel
ABSTRACT The research examines the contribution of marital patterns (role division, decision making, and marital quality) to the psychological adjustment (psychological well-being, emotional state, and satisfaction) of new immigrants in Israel, according to country of origin and gender. Self reported questionnaires were filled by 236 new immigrants: 112 from the FSU and 124 from Ethiopia, who came to Israel between 1990 and 2001. The findings indicate that the most important predictor of adjustment was country of origin: immigrants from Ethiopia displayed a higher level of psychological adjustment relative to those from the CIS. Among women and men from Ethiopia, level of egalitarianism in role division and decision-making was found to correlate significantly with psychological responses. In comparison, the immigrants from the FSU reported more equality in the family, but this was not correlated with psychological adjustment. Of all the subgroups, the Ethiopian women demonstrated the highest level of adjustment.
Keywords: Immigration, Psychological adjustment, Marital relations, Ethiopian women.
Address for correspondence: Dr. Hadas Doron, 127 Nahal Keret St. Yokneam Hamoshava. 20600 Israel. e-mail:
[email protected]
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INTRODUCTION Marital Patterns and Immigration Immigration is a powerful, stressful event which requires adaptation to a new, culturally unfamiliar environment that involves changes and challenges within the immigrant's family. The relationship with the host culture and the coping efforts to adjust to the new country, may be accompanied by changes in the relationship within the family (Booth, Crouter, and Landale,1997). These demands may follow with distress and in some case with crisis and trauma (Padilla and Perez, 2003; Stamm, Stamm, Hundnall, and Higson, 2004). On the one hand, the transition between countries may bear potential benefits for individuals and families including a solution to economic difficulties, opportunities for new status or a better future for the children. On the other hand it also involves potential losses, such as separation from extended family members left behind or disturbances in the spouse equilibrium (Fox, 1991; Lipson and Miller, 1994). Due to immigration, a family may suffer a loss of resources like skills, roles, values, social status, and culture, and must learn to change in order to acquire a new equilibrium (Anson, Pilpel, and Rolnik, 1996; Furnhan and Bochner, 1986). The period of adjustment is accompanied by distress for both the individual (Markovitzky, 1998) and the family (Berry, Kim, and Mindel, 1987). The process calls for flexibility and different styles of coping strategies. Successfully coping with crisis depends upon personal as well as familial and social resources (Aroian and Norris, 2003; Fox, 1991). Numerous studies have been devoted to different aspects of immigrants' family life: the impact of immigration on the quality of family life (Ben-David, 1994; Grant, 1982; Poskanzer, 1995; Thomas, 1995); the influence of various aspects of family life on the adjustment of the immigrants (Aroian and Spitzer, 1996; Boyd, 1989; Scott and Scott, 1989); and relations between the family and social support institutions (Ben-David, 1995; Krausz, 1994). No studies have dealt with the relationship between marital patterns and psychological adjustment (PA). Marital patterns may play an important role during the acculturation period, which tests family strengths and resources available to them (Mirsky, Barasch, and Goldberg, 1992). Gender, also, has been reported to be strongly related to emotional well-being of recent immigrants (Ritsner, Ponizovsky, Nechamkin and Modai, 2001), as well as culture of origin. Investigators found that women have higher rate of psychological distress than men (Ritsner, Ponizovsky and Ginath, 1999). and exposure to more role-related stressors < (Nazroo, Edwards and Brown, 1998).
Immigration to Israel Israeli society has absorbed a constant influx of immigrants from the Jewish Diaspora throughout the world. It expressed the central theme in the Israeli national ethos – the reunification of the Jewish nation (Leshem, 2003). Almost 40% of the actual Jewish population today was born abroad and in its 56 years of independence, Israel has absorbed more than 50% of its population through immigration. Much of the immigration to Israel
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came in waves from common demographic origins. Two current waves of immigration are from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) and Ethiopia. The largest wave of Russian immigration began in 1989 and brought to Israel 1 million immigrants, currently representing more than one fifth of the total population (Leshem and Sicron, 1998).As a minority group in the Former Soviet Union, the Jews were not allowed to practice their religion (Cohen and Yitzhak, 1989). Thus the transmission of Jewish private culture took place within the family. They valued work and were educated to believe that all types of work are equally accessible to women and men. In their private culture, Jews maintained a conservative and highly gendered perception of family roles (Shouval, Kav Venaki, Bronfenbrenner, Devereux and Kiely, 1986). In their public culture, Former Soviet Union family was encouraged, in cases of conflicts in the family, to rely on medical services whereas in their private culture they rely on psychological and social services, family members and friends (Slonim-Nevo and Shraga, 1999). Jews of Ethiopia enjoyed a unique cultural context in which Jewish tradition was preserved for many generations in relative isolation from Western influences. Most Ethiopian Jews were farmers and resided in rural areas; only a minority received a formal education. The Jewish Ethiopian culture places strong emphasis on family relationships and values mutual help in the community (Ben-Ezer, 1992a). One of the main values it transmits, is respect for elders and authority figures in the family and community (Ben-Ezer, 1992b). Immigration to Israel from Ethiopia was essentially comprised of two waves in the 1980s and 1990s and involved approximately 80,000 people. The motives for this migration are structurally similar to the parallel migration from the Former Soviet Union, namely acute economic distress, an unstable political climate and a wish to live in a Jewish society. The traditional, religious Ethiopian families were faced with dramatic transformations upon immigration to Israel and were also exposed to remarks related to their color. The culture shock of a drastically different society and a growing perception of racial discrimination led the community to painful feelings of hopelessness and despair (Ben David and Ben Ari, 1997). The degree of the alienation from the host culture may cause confusion, stress or resistance to change that may lead to low level of adaptation. It is important to understand the differences between Western and traditional cultures regarding views of the "self": in Western cultures, the individual is most important while in traditional cultures, the family and community are dominant (Airhibenbuwa and Obergon, 2000).
LITERATURE REVIEW Psychological Adjustment and Marital Patterns among Immigrants The adjustment of immigrants to their new country may be a difficult process that can produce stress within the spousal and/or family relationship and lead to increased tension and conflict, deterioration in quality of relationships, and disorganization of family life. Changes in marital composition and patterns may be stressful as well as important to the social, economic, and cultural transformations in a society. Family support and positive relations in the family is important to the process of adaptation to immigration (Booth, Crouter and Landele, 1997) and has implications for the adjustment itself (Balcazar, Peterson
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Gila Markovitzky and Hadas Doron
and Krull, 1997; Lay et. Al, 1998:Lee, Moon and Knight, 2004). The gap between cultural patterns of family relations of the immigrant vis-à-vis those relations in the host culture, may play an important role in the adaptation process and for the status of the family members. Studies have found that a high degree of social support, including family support, decreases the impact of acculturation stress and help individuals to cope with the pressures of living in the new environment (Kue and Tsai, 1986). Family issues are related to cultural beliefs, norms and values, especially with respect to gender roles (Treas and Widmer, 2000). Research indicates that changes in marital roles and transition from traditional patriarchal cultures to modern Western ones, usually involves redefinition of gender roles and power relations regarding decision-making in the family (Comas-Diaz and Green, 1994; Gil and Vazquez, 1996; Menjivar, 1999). Women's education and their participation in the work force, are emerging as especially critical catalysts for bringing about changes in other aspects of marital patterns (McDonald, 1985; Isiugo-Abanihe et al, 1993). Numerous studies have examined different aspects of immigrants' family life, including: the impact of immigration on the quality of family life (Ben David, 1994; Grant, 1982, Poskanzer, 1995, Thomas, 1995) and the influence of various aspects of family life on the adjustment process (Aroian and Spitzer, 1995, Scott and Scott, 1989). Israel, a modern country that emphasizes liberalization and emancipation of women, absorbs immigrants from Eastern and Western countries that represent different cultures and different family relations. Women have an important role in the coping of the family with immigration difficulties and are also increasingly involved in work outside the home.
Psychological Adjustment and Socio-Demographic Differences: General, Gender and Country of Origin Demographic factors (age, gender, occupation, education, and length of stay) were found as important predictors of adjustment and acculturation to immigration.(Neto,-Felix, 2002; Ouarasse, O.A. and V., Fons., 2005). Research shows that loss of occupational and communication resources are associated with emotional distress more than personal variables such as gender, age, and marital status (Aroian and Norris, 2003). However, the cultural gaps between the country of origin and country of immigration reveal acculturative difficulties that are not necessarily associated with psychological distress (Lackland and Erkki, 2003). Loss of former social support and experiences of traumatic events are physical and mental negative factors that may be linked to both male and female immigrants. In spite of this, many female immigrants succeed in learning a new language and finding jobs (Akhavan, Bildt, Franzen and Wamala, 2004). Other researchers have found a higher level of distress among immigrant women, especially those employed in low-level jobs relative to their education (Kaufman and Mirsky, 2004). With regard to the link between age and acculturation, it was found that younger males from Russia adjusted better than the females did (Katz and Lowenstein, 1999). Older and divorced or widowed immigrants (both men and women) were more likely to report high levels of distress (Ritsner, Ponizovsky, Kurs, and Modai, 2000). Gender-related adjustment
Marital Patterns and Psychological Adjustment among Immigrants…
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differences exist mainly during middle age, and most of them disappear with age (Ritsner, Ponizovsky, and Ginath, 1999). Education is another socio-demographic variable that is associated with adjustment. Immigrants with higher levels of education are more flexible and egalitarian and adapt better to Western culture (Waller and Hovav, 1976). However, other researchers have found a higher level of distress among immigrant women who are employed in low-level jobs relative to their education (Kaufman and Mirsky, 2004).
Gender Gender is an important variable in terms of adjustment to immigration. Some studies indicate that females adjust more quickly than men, and are more flexible in adapting to the new culture and new occupations (Itzhaky and Levy, 2002). However, other studies have found that women reported higher psychological distress and incidence of related symptoms (Ritsner, Ponizovsky, Nechamkin and Modai, 2001). Women were found to have higher levels of symptoms of anxiety and depression when compared to men (Ritsner, Ponizovsky, Kurs, and Modai, 2000; Tabassum, Macaskill and Iftikar, 2000). Women who immigrated from the Former Soviet Union to Israel report higher levels of psychiatric symptoms when compared to men, on most scales of distress (Kohn, Flaherty, and Levav, 1989; Ritsner, Ponizovsky, and Ginath, 1999; Ritsner, Ponizovsky, Kurs, and Modai, 2000). Immigrant women often encounter a two-sided situation: since they tend to be more flexible and willing than men to compromise and accept unskilled jobs, they often find jobs and increase their income more quickly than men, who tend to remain unemployed longer. This, in turn, creates a new order, altering the traditional gender roles (Foster, 2001). Although most women work outside of their homes due to economic need, both spouses still believe that women should stay at home and fulfill their traditional roles (Kim and Kim, 1998). This finding is also supported by Ki-Tov and Ben David‘s (1993) research among Ethiopian immigrants in Israel. This group of immigrants is faced with rapid change in their traditional family patterns, which were based on the religious, traditional family. In Israel, the concepts of family and community change and, consequently, so do the gender roles. The Ethiopian women have been absorbed more successfully; they learned the new language and adjusted to the new situation more quickly. Women who live with spouses often have to cope with the unemployment of their husbands, who feel threatened by the altered division of power in the family. In some groups of immigrants, these conditions have been found to correlate with a heightened asymmetry in power relations leading to violence (Comas-Diaz and Greene, 1994; Straussner, 2000). When a husband still maintains a patriarchal ideology, changes in the wife‘s economic role often lead to a rise in stress and conflict in the marriage. Among these groups of immigrants, the economic power of the women increases while the social role and status of the men as breadwinners, weakens significantly (Min, 2001). Among immigrants from Morocco to Canada it was found that there is greater egalitarianism in couples in which the women‘s power increased, but greater satisfaction of both spouses with the marriage in couples that maintained the traditional gender roles of their
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Gila Markovitzky and Hadas Doron
country of origin. In other words, changes in family power relations correlate with decreased satisfaction with the marriage (Elhaieli and Larsy, 1998). Simon (1992) found that gender differences in distress were explained by differences in exposure to parental role strains, but salience of the parental identity contributed to both women's and men's vulnerability to parental distress. Research has shown that marital quality among immigrant couples declines as a result of conflicts between parents and children, especially in families with adolescent children. Gender gaps over issues of control and tradition constitute a focal point of pressure and conflict (Bean, Perry, and Bedell, 2001). New immigrants in a new culture generate a high level of uncertainty with their family patterns and required adaptation to the patterns characterized by the host society (Sharlin and Moin, 2001). The above review suggests that marital patterns are significant variables in the adjustment of immigrants to a new country.
Culture and Country of Origin The different cultures of origin may have implications on the rate and direction of sociocultural change that family members make (Booth, Crouter, and Landale,1997). Information on the gender-related differences in psychological adjustment (PA) among Ethiopian immigrants to Israel is very sparse. A study that compares distress symptoms among immigrants from Ethiopia with those from the Former Soviet Union suggests a similar level of distress among men in both groups but greater distress among the women from the Former Soviet Union than their Ethiopian counterparts. These findings are explained by the change in status of the women in both groups. Women from the Former Soviet Union may experience a decline in professional status, while the women from Ethiopia enjoy opportunities they did not have in the past, such as equal rights with men, the possibility of studying, and economic rights (Ponizovksy, Ginath, Durst, and Wondimeneh, 1998). Another study, which examines the integration and absorption of immigrants from Ethiopia, reveals better integration of Ethiopian women than Ethiopian men in Israeli society (Benita and Noam, 1995). The two populations differ in their cultural background, family relations and marital patterns but are similar regarding the motivation for their immigration -- escape from a political regime. The purpose of this study is to compare the levels of psychological adjustment (PA) between men and women (gender differences) of the two populations according to the countries of origin. Since family is important to the adjustment of the immigrant, and can represent either a source of stress or a source of support, our research was directed to examine how demographic features and marital patterns affect the psychological well-being of the new immigrants to Israel. The high proportion of immigrants to Israel from two countries of origin — Ethiopia and the Former Soviet Union — provide an opportunity to examine the contribution of these variables to psychological adjustment while comparing and contrasting family and cultural differences between the Former Soviet Union and Ethiopian immigrant populations to Israel.
Marital Patterns and Psychological Adjustment among Immigrants…
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METHOD Participants and Procedure The sample included 236 participants comprised of 77 married couples as well as 82 nonmarried singles in a couple relationship (mainly cohabitating couples). They all arrived in Israel between 1990 and 2001, and at the time of the research they resided in northern Israel. This area absorbed 34% of all the immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) who came to Israel, a higher percentage than in the overall population (20%). Twenty-nine couples came from FSU (mean age 37.6, SD=6.1), and 48 couples from Ethiopia (Mean age 43.97, SD=12.0) (t(75) = 3.07, p <.01). A higher rate of employment was found among FSU male immigrants (69%) as compared to male Ethiopian (35%) immigrants (χ²(1)=8.15, p <.01). A similar pattern of employment status was found among female subjects: 79% and 46% of FSU and Ethiopian female subjects (respectively) reported on being employed ((χ²(1)=8.34, p <.01). Twenty-eight percent of Former Soviet Union (FSU) couples reported on living with their parents, vs. none of Ethiopian couples ((χ²(1)=14.8, p <.001). FSU families reported having less children as compared to Ethiopians (M1.48, SD=0.63; Mean = 4.73, SD=2.07; t(75) = 8.19, p <.001). The sample was based on a list of immigrants maintained by the neighborhood cultural centers. After the interviewers visited the homes of the immigrants and explained the purpose of the research in their native language, the response rate was 94%. The research assistants administered and completed the questionnaires in the homes of the respondents, in their native language (Amharic or Russian). The research assistants were members of the respective ethnic groups who worked at the neighborhood center. The researchers trained them in administering the questionnaires. The questionnaires were translated from Hebrew to the respective foreign languages and then back into Hebrew; they were tested in a pilot study and amended accordingly, including deletion of items that were difficult to understand or ambiguous. Data was collected between 2002-2003 using several self-report questionnaires that took approximately 90 minutes to complete. Researchers and longstanding immigrants, all Russian or Amharic speakers, distributed the questionnaires to the respondents in their homes. The participants were asked a set of demographic questions that included: gender, age, marital status, living arrangements, number of children, length of residence in Israel, education and employment.
Data Analysis Comparison between groups was conducted using 2-way MANOVA repeated measures, with Origin (between subjects variable) X Gender (within subjects variable) as independents, and adjustment, role perception and marriage quality as dependents. In order to predict psychological adjustment, multiple linear forced steps regression analyses were conducted.
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Gila Markovitzky and Hadas Doron
RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS The psychological adjustment of the participants was examined using two questionnaires: Emotional state. A self-report questionnaire, based on Lazarus‘s (1991) theory, was developed for this study and was used to assess the range of positive and negative emotions that the immigrants experienced. The questionnaire examines 20 different emotions such as happiness, security, disappointment, anger, and guilt ( =.88) (Markovizky, 1998). Satisfaction. A self-report questionnaire was used to examine the respondents‘ satisfaction with their economic, social, and cultural situation in Israel ( =.89). This questionnaire was developed for the present research, to evaluate the extent to which new immigrants are satisfied with six aspects of their life: standard of living, degree of democracy, economic situation, lifestyle, social ties, and culture.
General Adjustment Score Because there are identical effects in the indices of Emotional State and Satisfaction, a general adjustment index was calculated as the weighted average of both ( =.75). The marital patterns were examined by means of three questionnaires: Family role division. We used a questionnaire that was developed by Blood and Wolfe (1960) and adapted for Israel by Katz (1980). The questionnaire presents a list of different household roles; the respondents are asked to note which spouse performs each role in their home. Examples include washing the dishes, cleaning the house, dealing with financial matters, taking care of the car, laundry and ironing, helping children with homework, meeting with teachers, and the like. To measure role division, the following categories were constructed: (1) I alone; (2) mainly I; (3) both of us; (4) mainly my spouse; (5) not applicable. Scores were calculated so that a high score (3) denotes egalitarian role division and a low score (0) denotes performance by one of the spouses. The reliability of the items in this research is =.87. Marital quality. We employed a scale of marital quality based on the American instrument ENRICH and shortened by Fowers and Olson (1992), which was translated and adapted to the Israeli milieu by Lavee (1995). This scale includes 10 items that examine the degree of satisfaction, agreement, and fit between the spouses in terms of dimensions cited in the clinical literature as significant in evaluating the quality of marital relations. These items include: spouse‘s traits, communication, conflict resolution. The scale is constructed as a five-point Likert scale, from 1 – ―absolutely agree‖ to 5 – ―strongly disagree‖ for each item. A high score denotes perception of high quality of marriage. The internal consistency of the short scale was found to range from.77 to.88. The reliability of the items in this research is =.91.
Marital Patterns and Psychological Adjustment among Immigrants…
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RESULTS Analysis of variance was used to examine differences among immigrants from two different countries of origin– FSU and Ethiopia– in Psychological Adjustment and Marital Patterns. Table 1 below displays means and standard deviations of two groups of variables: (a) level of adjustment of immigrants from Ethiopia and the FSU in terms of two sub criteria, level of emotional state (positive, negative) and level of satisfaction with life in Israel; and (b) marital patterns in the population according to three sub criteria, (role division, decisionmaking in the family, and marital quality). These are presented (in Table 1) by gender and country of origin. Repeated measures MANOVA yielded significant main effect of country of origin (Wilks =.11, MF (6,71) = 98.92, p <.001), but non-significant main effect of gender (Wilks =.86, MF (6,71) = 1.93, p >.05), nor interaction effect of Origin X Gender (Wilks =.88, MF (6,71) = 1.63, p >.10). Although non-significant gender main effect was found, the following univariate ANOVA indicated that FSU as well as Ethiopian male subjects perceive role division more egalitarian than female subjects (F(1,76) = 4.84, p <.05). Univariate ANOVAs for country of origin effect showed that Ethiopian couples reported higher levels of emotional state (F(1,76) = 52.08, p <.001), satisfaction (F(1,76) = 11.53, p <.001), overall adjustment (F(1,76) = 78.45, p <.001), role division (F(1,76) = 92.99, p <.001), and power (F(1,76) = 426.75, p <.001) (for means and SDs see table 1).
Correlations of Adjustment The Pearson correlations between adjustment and the dimensions of marital quality, by country of origin and gender, are displayed in Table 2. The findings show that among the women of Ethiopian origin, there was a significant correlation between degree of equality in role division in the family and emotional state (r =.42, p <.001), between egalitarian decisionmaking and emotional state (r =.66, p <.001), and between marital quality and satisfaction (r =.37, p <.01). Among the women from the FSU, there was a significant correlation between egalitarian decision-making and satisfaction (r =.25, p <.05). Significant correlation was found between Total score of adjustment and role division (r =.23, p <.05) and between Total score of adjustment and decision-making (r =.22, p <.05). Among women from the two country of origin – Ethiopia and FSU - Significant correlations were found between Total score of adjustment and role division (r =.41, p <.001) and between Total score of adjustment and decision-making (r =.53, p <.001). Among the men of Ethiopian origin, a significant correlation was found between marital quality and Emotional state (r =.44, p <.01) and between equality in family role division and satisfaction (r =.35, p <.01). Among the men from the FSU, a significant correlation was found between quality in family decision-making and satisfaction (r =.37, p <.01). In the Total score of adjustment, Significant correlation was found between Total score of adjustment and role division (r =.28, p <.05) and between Total score of adjustment and marital quality (r =.38, p <.01).
Table 1. Means and Standard Deviation of Psychological Adjustment and Marital Patterns, by gender and country of origin
Emotional state Satisfaction Overall adjustment score Role division Decision making Marital quality
Men N = 89
Women N = 146
Mean 4.11 3.93 4.01 1.96 2.07 3.99
Mean 3.94 3.80 3.92 1.79 .90 3.92
S.D. (.70) (.94) (.60) (.33) (.49) (.67)
S.D. (.77) (.96) (.62) (.43) (.61) (.74)
From FSU N = 112 Mean S.D. 3.67 (.57) 3.09 (.74) 3.70 (.54) 1.88 (.48) 2.25 (.67) 3.82 (.51)
From Ethiopia N = 124 Mean S.D. 4.31 (.76) 4.53 (.50) 4.22 (.54) 0.83 (.32) 1.73 (.34) 4.04 (.79)
Total N = 236 4.01 3.85 3.95 1.85 1.97 3.96
Table 2. Pearson Correlations between Adjustment and Dimensions of Marital Quality, by country of origin and gender
Country of origin N Emotional state Satisfaction Adjustment score
*p <.05. **p <.01. ***p <.001.
FSU 35 .11 (.52) .30 (.07) .15 (.36)
Role division Men Women E FSU E 54 76 70 .19 .17 .42*** (.16) (.15) (.001) .35** .20 .20 (.01) (.08) (.09) .28* .23* .41*** (.05) (.05) (.001)
FSU 35 .21 (.21) .37* (.03) .32* (.05)
Decision making Men Women E FSU E 54 76 70 .06 .11 .66*** (.53) (.24) (.001) .24 .25* .12 (.03) (.33) .17 .22* .53*** (.05) (.001)
FSU 35 .26 (.16) .09 (.63) .36* (.05)
Marital quality Men Women E FSU E 54 76 70 .44** .25 .15 (.01) (.16) (.28) .20 .14 .37** (.43) (.01) .38** .30 .21 (.09) (.13)
Table3. Forced steps regression (Beta standardized values) predicting adjustment by demographic and emotional variables among male and female, Ethiopian and FSU subjects FSU Male
Ethiopian Male
FSU Female
Ethiopian Female
Male
Female
Age
-.41*
.30
-.02
-.01
.04
-.04
Occupational status
.17
.35*
.12
.02
.24**
.03
Number of children
-.12
-.05
-.04
.07
.21
.19
Education
.03
-.08
.04
.17
-.53***
-.47***
Step I
R =.21,F(4,30) = 1.96, p =.12
R =.15, F(4,49) = 2.08, p =.10
R =.01, F(4,30) = 1.96, p =.12
R =.03, F(4,49) = 2.08, p =.10
R =.40, F(4,84) = 14.14, p=.001
R2 =.36, F(4,84) = 11.60, p=.001,
Age
-.37
.20
.05
.07
-.04
-.07
Occupational status
.19
.35**
.02
.10
.27**
.06
Number of children
-.11
-.09
.03
.11
.16
.13
Education
.04
-.04
-.01
.07
-.40***
-.23
Marriage quality
.19
.45**
.30
.17
.33***
.28***
Equality of roles
.01
.09
-.22
.33*
-.22*
-.38**
2
2
Summary of step I
2
2
2
2
2
Step II
Summary of step II
* p <.05; ** p <.01.
2
R =.24, F(4,28) = 1.48, p =.22, Fchange = 0.63, p =.63
2
R =.36, F(4,47) = 4.47, p =.001, Fchange = 8.05, p =.001
R =.13, F(4,28) = 1.48, p=.22, Fchange = 1.93, p =.16
R =.19, F(4,47) = 4.47, p=.001, Fchange = 4.67, p =.01
2
R =.50, F(6,82) = 13.78, p<.001, Fchange = 8.21, p<.001
R2 =.47, F(6,82) = 12.24, p<.001, Fchange = 9.06, p<.001
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Gila Markovitzky and Hadas Doron
Among the men of FSU origin, there was a significant correlation between egalitarian decision-making and satisfaction (r =.37, p <.05). Significant correlation was found between Total score of adjustment and decision-making (r =.32, p <.05) and between Total score of adjustment and marital quality (r =.36, p <.05). Significant correlations were found in most of the pairs of dimensions of adjustment and dimensions of marital quality. Overall adjustment correlates significantly and positively with the three dimensions of marital quality, according to country of origin and gender, in most of the subgroups of the research population.
Predicting Psychological Adjustment According to Country of Origin and Marital Relations Regression analyses were conducted for each origin separately, for male and female subjects, with the overall adjustment score as dependent and independent variables: subject's age, education level, employment status, number of children at home at the first step, and equality between the couple (combination of role division and power) and marriage quality at the second step. We had to analyze each origin in a separate regression since a high correlation was found between some of the independent variables and origin (education level and equality between couple). In addition, equality variables (power and role division) were combined in one variable because a high correlation (r=.70, p <.001) was found between them. The regression analyses among male subjects yielded a significant model for Ethiopian subjects (F(6,47) = 4.47, p <.001, R2=.36), explained by employment status (β =.20, p <.01) and marriage quality (β =.45, p <.001). Employed subjects' status was associated with higher levels of adjustment, and a higher marriage quality was also associated with higher levels of adjustment. The model for FSU immigrants was not significant. None of the regression models among female subjects was found to be significant. In step-wise regression analysis for prediction of differences in adjustment according to country of origin, gender, and marital patterns, country of origin emerged as the first predictor, explaining 33% of the variance in adjustment (F (1,160) = 77.22, p <.001), followed by marital quality, which added 6% to the variance in adjustment (F (1,159) = 14.73, p <.001). In total, the regression predicted 38% of the variance in adjustment, with a standardized regression coefficient for origin of.53, and a standardized regression coefficient for marital quality of.24.
DISCUSSION This study examined the effect of marital patterns on the psychological adjustment among two different groups of new immigrants to Israel: immingrants from Ethiopia and the Former Soviet Union (FSU). In addition, the study placed special focus on gender, or the different ways in which husbands and wives perceived the effects of their marital patterns and satisfaction, on their psychological adjustment in immigration. The main findings were fourfold:
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First, the marital patterns, in most of their sub-measures, were associated with psychological adjustment; positive feelings and life satisfaction among male and female Ethiopian and Former Soviet Union (FSU) immigrants. There is one exception: no correlation between marital quality and psychological adjustment has been found among female immigrants from the FSU. These findings are in line with other research studies concerning the negative correlation between family conflicts and psychological well-being (Aycan and Eskin, 2005; Downie, Koestner, EIGeledi and Cree, 2004). In addition to indicating the importance of country of origin in predicting psychological adjustment, the research also reveals marital quality as an important predictor: in all subgroups of respondents, high quality of marriage correlated with positive affect and less psychological distress. This finding is consistent with other research and theories that associate quality of marriage with good coping, especially in life situations where the spouses face difficulty, such as physical or mental illness of one of the partners, trauma, security-related instability, or employmentrelated instability (Bocchieri, Meana, and Fisher, 2002; Rydstrom, Dalhim-Englund, Segesten, and Rasmussen 2004; Shamai and Lev, 1999; Zettel and Rook, 2004). Second, this study was conducted in two cultural contexts: the traditional cultural context of Ethiopian couples, and the modern cultural context of Former Soviet Union couples. Ethiopian couples present significantly higher level of psychological adjustment* – more positive emotional state and better life satisfaction in Israel. With respect to marital patterns, the FSU couples presented more egalitarianism than the Ethiopians in role division and power division, but the Ethiopians represented better quality of marriage than the FSU immigrants. Third, the findings further underscore the importance of family patterns for the psychological adjustment (PA) during the adjustment to a new country. Marital patterns are relevant in various ways to PA of new immigrants: equality of roles and marriage quality were found as important predictors of PA although the nature of these variables depends on the spouses' gender and origin. Apparently, as far as the predictors of sub-measures of PA are concerned, equality of roles is more important for wives' PA than for husbands, while marriage quality was found as a more important predictor for husbands' PA. Kulik (2004) also found differences between men and women: the relationship between spousal relations, marital quality and life satisfaction was stronger for the wives than for their husbands. Another study revealed that egalitarianism is associated with cultural adaptation (Downie, Koestner, Eigeledi and Cree, 2004): the more the partners perceived their participation in decision-making as equitable, the higher their cultural adaptation. Regarding "inside" and "outside" family variables: Regarding women, the one variable of education (among socio-demographic variables) was found to be a predictive variable. However, among men, two variables (both occupational status and education) were important for psychological adjustment. This is congruent with findings of earlier research (e.g. Aycan and Eskin, 2005; Greenberger and O'Neil, 1993), which suggest that men need both work and family to cope with societal pressures. The changes in family roles result from the immigration transition, challenging the men to define themselves again and maintain their sense of self worth (Lee and Owens, 2002). Fourth, with respect to cultural origin, the independent variables do not predict psychological adjustment among Former Soviet Union male and female immigrants, but yield a significant model for both Ethiopian males and females. For Ethiopian husbands, marriage quality predicts psychological adjustment and the Ethiopian wives are more affected by equality of roles. This single variable was found as an important source of Ethiopian wive's
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psychological adjustment. One explanation could be the impact of the different implications of the gender ideology in the country of origin on expectation and adjustment.The Ethiopian family represents the traditional family role ideology while Israel as a host society represent a more egalitarian role ideology. Thus, for Ethiopian women, adopting equality during the immigration transition means positive acculturation in the new country. This, in term, typically causes her to be more satisfied. This tendency was also cited by Nock (2001), Wilcox and Nock (2006), Greenstein (1996) and others. In a circular way-the positive adjustment, sense of marital quality, of the Ethiopian men effected by his wife satisfaction. Relationship variables, including changes in communication and marital patterns, were significantly associated with aggression in family (Schumacher, Smith and Heyman, 2001). Comparing the two gender ideologies of Former Soviet Union and Ethiopian spouses, we see greater satisfaction within the last category. We want to suggest that the more the couples change their marital patterns (role division, decision-making) to conform to the ideology of the host country, the more satisfied they are and experience positive feelings. In addition, we suggest that this shift in marital patterns is one of the predictors of positive /negative immigrant adjustment. Previous research has shown that while cultural gaps do correlate with objective difficulties in adjustment to a new country, they do not necessarily correlate with psychological adjustment problems (Lackland and Erkki, 2003). There is a major difference between Ethiopian and FSU female immigrants: role-equality among Ethiopian wives is associated with significantly higher levels of psychological adjustment, while among FSU wives it is associated with lower level of psychological adjustment. However, another point must. Unfortunately, however, while role-equality among Ethiopian immigrant couples is associated with higher levels of psychological adjustment, it is also associated with higher levels of spousal violence. The reason for this is that Ethiopian men tend to have lower levels of psychological adjustment due to dissatisfaction with changing marital patterns and gaps between spouses (working wife, unemployed husband) and these gaps may translate into family violence. Although this finding is not related to the issues of the study, we feel that it must be mentioned. Perhaps the change that women make in the intercultural transition from traditional, conservative countries enables their personal development and rapid rise in status. According to the literature on immigration, difficulty in adapting to the host country is liable to be associated with immigrants‘ distress and negative psychological reactions, but when the new environment enables benefits and development, it may be associated with positive emotions and adjustment (Ben Shalom and Horenezyk, 2000; Kibria, Barnett, Baruch, and Marshall, 1990; Straussner, 2000). Of all the subgroups examined, the Ethiopian women demonstrate the most positive level of adjustment, both in terms of positive affect and in terms of satisfaction with life in Israel. Ethiopian women must adjust to significant changes in their social and cultural surroundings. Many work outside of the home in order to help support the household, the marital power relations change, there is a new role division at home, and more. It has been shown that Ethiopian women are influenced by the change in their status in the family: as the level of equality in the family rises, the women‘s adjustment reactions are more positive. Apparently, the Ethiopian women mobilize many strengths in order to adapt to integration in Israeli society without segregating and distancing themselves from their ethnic and gender identity.
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A possible explanation of this may be that the Ethiopian women separate their functioning from their cultural identity: they accept the cultural expectations and identity, but at the same time respond to the need to support the family members and make functional changes. However, the Ethiopian women, despite the significant change they have undergone, do not express difficulties. To the contrary, they display positive satisfaction and affect. Further research may broaden our understanding of the variables that mediate between required role changes and adjustment, such as functional efficiency and personal qualities of flexibility, optimism, a sense of achievement, and self-esteem, which contribute directly to mental well being.
PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE RESEARCH This study serves to highlight the importance of marital patterns in succesful adaptation to a new country. This insight needs to be shared with immigrant families and host communities in order to establish adaptation. Two distinct approaches to facilitating adjustment have social relevance as well as psychological importance for new immigrants. Good adaptation to the new country lies in achieving a delicate balance between two goals: adapting to the demands of the host society on one hand (such as by changing marital patterns towards equality) as well as preserving elements of the former former customs and culture (perhaps by preserving elements of the patriarchal relationship). This necessitates a delicate balancing act, often carried out by the woman. The literature is lacking the contribution of marital patterns and changes in spousal relationship to psychological adjustment to immigration. Given that the country is a tapestry made up of immigrants from different ethnic and national backgrounds, the authorities had a larger stake in accelerating the process of national integration than in preserving the immigrants‘ ethnic relationship. The research shows that Ethiopian women benefit from their immigration, which serves as a lever for personal and family change, and that their success in supporting their families evidently gives them positive feelings, which help mediate the responses to the immigration crisis. Immigrant absorption authorities in Israel can take advantage of these strengths of the Ethiopian women, cultivating them to facilitate the absorption of other family members. The Ethiopian immigrant woman's well-being increased as well as their marital power and status-in spite of altering the traditional gender role ideology brought from their country of origin. Two main study directions can be derived from these findings: First, the marital pattern is an important factor in adjustment to immigration. This understanding can help the absorption authorities to assist the new immigrants more effectively in the adaptation process. Second, it is important to examine how the rapid changes in marital patterns affect the psychological well-being of the immigrants and how we, as the absorption society, can help them preserve their ethnic ideology of family relations on one hand, and adapting to the host society, on the other hand.
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Limitations of the Research This study has several limitations. Firstly, since the data was collected from members of two different ethnic groups, it is possible that ethnic tendencies of Ethiopian and FSU immigrants influence the way they fill out the questionnaires. For example, perhaps Ethiopians have an ethnic tendency to present their satisfaction and emotional state more positively. Thus the findings should be interpreted cautiously. Second, the sample is not large enough to arrive at conclusive results regarding the influence of marital patterns in the absorption of different ethnic and cultural immigrant groups. However, our research findings strongly suggest that immigration may trigger problems and changes in marital patterns, but the specific ways this happens and the psychological reactions it causes, should be addressed in future study. This study is in line with the widely accepted view of immigration as a potentially stressful process. It proposes that family relationships and marital patterns are important risk factors, when variables of gender and country of origin are controlled; this direction is still rare in the study of immigration. We hope that future studies will investigate the theme of immigration versus changes in marital patterns in different ethnicities in Israel and around world with larger samples, and that they refine and implement these preliminary findings.
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Kim, K. C., and Kim, S. (1998). Family and work roles of Korean immigrants in the United States. In H. I., McCubbin, R. A., Thompson, et al. (Eds.) Resiliency in Native American and immigrant families. Resiliency in Families Series, Vol. 2. (pp. 225-242). Thousand Oaks, CA, US: Sage Publications. Ki-Tov, Y, and Ben David, A. (1993). The cultural component in marital therapy with immigrants from Ethiopia. Hevra Verevaha, 13, 265-277 (in Hebrew). Kohn, R., Flaherty, J. A., and Levav, I. (1989). Somatic symptoms among older Soviet immigrants: An exploratory study. Journal of Social Psychiatry, 35, 350-360. Kue, W.H., and Tsai, Y.M. (1986). Social networking, hardiness and immigrants' mental health. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 27, 133-149. Lackland, D. S., and Erkki, V. (2003). Integrational value discrepancies in migrant and lost national families and their impact on psychological adaptation. Journal of Adolescence, 26, 213-231. Lavee, Y. (1995). Marital assessment scale: Clinical and research uses. Beersheva: Israel Psychological Association, 25th Academic Conference, Ben -Gurion University. Lazarus, R.S. (1991). Emotion and adaptation. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. Lee, C. and Owens, R.G. (2002). Men, work and gender. Australian Psychologist, 37(1), 1319. Lee,H-Y., Moon, A and Knight,B.G. (2004). Depression among elderly Korean immigrants: Exploring socio-cultural factors. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in SocialWork, 2004; Vol 13 (4): 1-26. Markovizky, G.(1998). The relationship between personal and social comparisons and psychological adjustment to immigration stress. Unpublished PhD thesis, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel (in Hebrew). Menjivar, C. (1999). The interaction of work and gender: Central American immigrant women and employment in California. American Behavioral Scientist, 42, 601-627. Min, P. G. (2001). Changes in Korean immigrants' gender role and social status, and their marital conflicts. Sociological-Forum, 16, 301-320. Mirsky, J. and Barasch, M. and Goldberg, K.(1993). Adjustment problems among Soviet immigrants at risk: Reaching out to members of the "1000" families organization. Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences. 29(3), 135-149. Nazroo, JY., Edwards, AC. and Brown, GW. (1998). Gender differences in the onset of depression following a shared life event: A study of couples. Psychological Medicine, 17, 9-19. Neto-Felix (2002). Social adaptation difficulties of adolescents with immigrant backgrounds. Social Behavior and Personality, 30(4), 335-346. Nock, S.L. (2001).The Marriages of equally dependent spouses. Journal of Family Issues, 22:755-775. Ouarasse, O.A. and V., Fons. (2005). The role of demographic variables and acculturation attitudes in predicting sociocultural and psychological adaptation in Moroccans in the Netherlands. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 29(3), 251-272. Padilla, A., and Perez, W. (2003). Acculturation, social identity and social cognition: A new perspective. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 25, 35-55. Ponizovsky, A., Ginath, Y., Durst, R, and Wondimeneh, B. (1998). Psychological distress among Ethiopian and Russian Jewish immigrants to Israel: A cross-cultural study. The International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 44, 35-45.
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Ritsner, M., Ponizovsky, A., and Ginath, Y. (1999). The effect of age on gender differences in the psychological distress ratings of immigrants. Stress Medicine, 15, 17-25. Ritsner, M., Ponizovsky, A., Kurs, R., and Modai, I. (2000). Somatization in an immigrant population in Israel: A community survey of prevalence, risk factors, and help seeking behavior. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 385-392. Ritsner, M., Ponizovsky, A., Nechamkin Y. and Modai, I. (2001). Gender differences in psychosocial risk factors for psychological distress among immigrants. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 42(2), 151-160. Rydstrom, I., Dalhim-Englund, A. C., Segesten, K., Rasmussen, B. H. (2004). Relations governed by uncertainty: Families of a child with asthma. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 19, 85-94. Schumacher, J.A., Smith, A.M. and Heyman, R.E. (2001). Risk factors for male to female partner psychological abuse. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 255-268 Shalom, U. Ben and Horenzyk, G.(2004). Cultural identity and adaptation in an assimilative setting: Immigrant soldiers from the former Soviet Union in Israel. International Journalof Intercultural Relations.28(6), 461-479. Shamai, M., and Lev, R. (1999). Marital quality among couples living under the threat of forced relocation: The case of families in the Golan Heights. Journal of Marital Family Therapy, 25, 237-252. Sharlin, S. and Moin, V. (2001). New Immigrants' Perceptions of Family Life in Origin and Host Cultures: In-group and Out-group Favoritism Effect. Journal of Comparative Family Studies 32 (3) pp. 405-422. Shuval, J.T. (1982). Migration and stress. In: L. Goldberger, and S. Breznitz (Eds.), Handbook of Stress: Theoretical and Clinical Aspects. (pp.677-699). London: Macmillan Publishers. Sikron, M., and Leshem, E. (Eds.) (1998). Profile of an immigration wave: Tel aviv. Sikron, M., and Leshem, E. (Eds.) (1998). Profile of an immigration wave: The absorption process of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, 1990-1995. Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem. Stamm, B., Stamm, H., Hundnall, A., and Higson, S. (2004). Considering a theory of cultural trauma and loss. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 9, 89-111. Straussner, L. A. (2000). Ethno cultural issues in substance abuse treatment. New York: Guilford Press. Tabassum, R., Macaskill, A., and Iftikar, A (2000). Attitudes towards mental health in an urban Pakistani community in the United Kingdom. International Journal of Social Psychiary, vol. 46(3):170-181. Weller, L., Don,Y and Hovav, H. (1976). The impact of education on family change. Israel Annals of Psychiatry and Related Disciplines. Vol 14(3), 266-274. Wilcox, W.B.and Nock, S.L. (2006). What`s love got to do with it? Equality, Equity, Commitment and Women`s Marital Quality. Social Forces, vol. 84, iss.3,1321-1346. Yeh, C. J. (2003). Age, acculturation, cultural adjustment and mental health symptoms of Chinese, Korean and Japanese immigrants youth. Cultural-Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 9, 34-48. Zettel, L. A., and Rook, K. S. (2004). Substitution and compensation in the social networks of older widowed women. Psychology and Aging, 19(3), 433-443.
Advances in Psychology Research. Volume 78 Ed: Alexandra M. Columbus
ISBN: 978-1-61209-442-7 © 2011 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
Chapter 3
MEMORY FOR OBJECT LOCATION: ENCODING STRATEGIES IN CHILDREN Annalisa Lucidi1, Clelia Rossi-Arnaud2, Laura Pieroni2 and Vincenzo Cestari1,3 1
2
Faculty of Educational Science, LUMSA University, Rome Department of Psychology, Università di Roma ‖La Sapienza‖ 3 Ist. Neuroscienze, C.N.R. Rome, Italy
ABSTRACT A number of studies (Cestari et al., 2007; Postma and De Haan, 1996) suggest that two separate spatial processes may be involved in short-term object location memory. First, one needs to remember the precise position occupied in a given space (positional encoding per se), then one has to decide which object was at which position (object-to-position assignment). The aim of the present study was to investigate the way children of different ages code for object locations referring to the theoretical framework of working memory (Baddeley, 1986, 2000; Baddeley and Hitch, 1974). In particular, the main questions addressed in this chapter were: a) when children have to remember the location of objects do they recode visual material verbally? b) Is this process age-dependent? A modified version of Postma and De Haan‘s (1996) object location task was used and three relocation conditions were examined. In the first condition, subjects had to remember spatial positions in a two-dimensional matrix. In the second task, object-location associations were examined and previously occupied positions were signalled so that children only had to remember object-to-position assignment (i.e., ―what was where‖) while in the third condition, the ―combined‖ condition, children had to perform both positional reconstruction and object-to-position assignment. In order to examine which encoding strategy children aged 5 and 11 years spontaneously use in temporary memory for object location, we interfered with the activity of the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketch pad adopting a dual task methodology. In the second experiment, to further investigate the object-to-location binding, the visual and verbal characteristics of the stimuli used in the test were manipulated and children of the same two age groups were tested. Our results show that children of age 11, like adults, use mainly a phonological recoding for pictorial stimuli while younger children show a ―mixed strategy‖ based both on visual and phonological information.
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INTRODUCTION The ability to remember where objects are located in space is necessary for a number of everyday tasks. These go from remembering where the emergency exit is if lights were to suddenly be switched off in an unfamiliar room to remembering the position of landmarks in an unknown city to even learning geography at school or performing mental calculation. So the topic is of interest when studied in adults but is particularly so when considering school age children. The aim of the present experiments was to examine object location memory in children aged 5 and 11 and more specifically to investigate age-related differences in the way children code for object locations. The main questions addressed were: a) when children have to remember the location of objects do they recode visual material verbally? b) Is this process age-dependent? Our approach was based upon the working memory model put forward by Baddeley (Baddeley, 1986, 2000; Baddeley and Hitch, 1974) which postulates the existence of an attentional system, the central executive and two slave systems, the visuo-spatial sketch pad and the phonological loop. Our experiments also made use of an experimental paradigm developed by Postma and De Haan (1996), which has led to the suggestion that object location memory, or more specifically, the ability to remember static spatial configurations, might in fact depend upon a number of different processes, namely reconstructing the spatial locations per se (i.e., which positions in space were occupied) and an object-to-location binding process (i.e., being able to reconstruct what was where). Postma and De Haan's experimental paradigm compares performance in 3 relocation conditions. In the first condition positional encoding per se can be tested by presenting stimuli in which the objects that need to be relocated are all the same, so only the exact positions have to remembered; in the second task condition, the Object-to-Position assignment can be examined by presenting a number of different objects which will have to be relocated but, in the memory test, the positions that were occupied by the objects are marked; finally, in the Combined condition, one has to relocate a number of different objects on the screen, without any marking of the original positions. Studies in adults have shown that disrupting the phonological loop, by asking subjects to perform a concurrent verbal task (articulatory suppression) interferes with the object-to-position assignment process, suggesting that this process relies to some extent upon verbal coding (Postma and De Haan, 1996; Dent and Smyth, 2005; Cattaneo, Vecchi and Postma, 2007). On the other hand, a spatial tapping concurrent task has been shown to disrupt positional encoding in static and dynamic versions of the matrices task in children (Pickering, Gathercole, Hall, and Lloyd, 2001). These data together with neuropsychological (Shoqeirat and Mayes, 1991; Postma, Kessels and Van Asselen, 2004) and developmental data (Schumann-Hengsteler, 1992; Cestari, Lucidi, Pieroni and Rossi-Arnaud, 2007) support the proposed distinction between the two processes. In children, studies on memory for object position paid attention to three specific issues: a) is there a developmental trend for the object-to-position association? (SchumannHengsteler, 1992; Conte, Cornoldi, Paazaglia and Sanavio, 1995; Rossi-Arnaud, Alfano, Longoni, 1999); b) is memory for spatial positions age-dependent ? (Conte et al., 1995; Rossi-Arnaud et al.,1999); and finally, c) which type of coding is used to remember the object-to-position association? (Schumann-Hengsteler, 1992; Walker, Hitch, Doyle and Porter, 1994).
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With regards to object-to-position assignment, there is agreement in the literature that a developmental improvement in the number of associations remembered is found. SchumannHengsteler (1992) reported that there is an improvement with age in remembering the positions of specific objects. In this study, a picture reconstruction task with simultaneous presentation of scene-like visual spatial arrangements was used. Children had to recognize the objects and reconstruct the initial spatial arrangement. An age-dependent improvement in remembering the locations of specific objects was shown when examining 3-, 4-, 7- and 11year-olds. Other studies have found this developmental improvement for tasks in which different objects have to be linked to different positions (Cestari et al., 2007; Siemens, Guttentag, and Mclntyre, 1989). On the other hand, with regards to spatial location, Hasher and Zacks (1979) suggested that it is encoded and retained automatically and that, as a consequence of being automatic, memory for spatial location should not show any developmental enhancement. Although a number of studies have investigated the development of spatial memory (Hamilton, Coates, and Heffernan, 2003; Logie and Pearson, 1997; Orsini, Grossi, Capitani, Laiacona, Papagno and Vallar, 1987), few have specifically addressed the issue of the development of positional encoding per se. Schumann Hengsteler (1992), in the experiments mentioned previously, observed that whereas children improved with age in remembering the locations of specific objects, there was no age effect on memory for the critical loci themselves. In contrast with these findings, Walker et al. (1994) reported a study in which a probed memory task was used to investigate children's short-term visual memory for an object's spatial location or colour. The results of their second experiment indicate that there was a developmental improvement in memory for spatial positions in children of 5 and 7 years of age. Other results are in line with the latter study and report a developmental improvement in positional encoding (Conte, 1995; Siemens, Guttentag, and Mclntyre, 1989, Cestari et al., 2007). In the most recent of these studies (Cestari et al., 2007), the Postma and De Hann‗s experimental paradigm was used to compare the performance of children of different ages in the three different relocation conditions described previously, namely positional encoding, object-to-position assignment task, and the integration of these two in the combined task. A span procedure was used to assess spatial memory in children aged 6, 8 and 10 years tested in these three tasks. Data provided spans for each of the relocation task, showing different developmental patterns for the relocation tasks considered. Namely the results showed a significant development both in positional encoding and in object-to-position assignment at 8 years of age, but this increase in the efficiency was not accompanied by an increase in the combined task between ages 6 and 8. The improvement in the combined condition was evident only later, at age 10. This pattern of results supports data collected in adult participants and suggests that spatial memory comprises a number of different component processes. The developmental patterns observed in the three spatial tasks considered might be related to the way children encode the information in each condition. The encoding strategies used by children and thus the role of visuo-spatial and verbal working memory in the temporary retention of object location information is the focus of the experiments presented here. As mentioned previously, data from studies in adults indicate that positional encoding relies on visuo-spatial working memory whereas the object to location binding is based on a verbal coding. It is thus interesting to assess whether the ability of children in remembering the association of spatial position and object identity makes use of different encoding strategies during the cognitive development.
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One important line of evidence on children‘s memory for visually presented information comes from studies involving the recall of a series of pictures (Hitch, Halliday, Dodd and Littler, 1989; Hitch, Halliday, Schaafstal and Heffernan, 1991; Hitch, Halliday, Schaafstal and Schraagen, 1988; Longoni and Scalisi, 1994; Palmer, 2000; Walker et al., 1994). Although not exactly a ―pure‖ test of visuospatial working memory, performance in these tasks provides us with some important indications as to the developmental changes that may occur in children‘s use of encoding strategies. A number of studies, mainly based on visual similarity effects, have shown that children under the age of 7 years make use of a visual code when they are asked to memorize visually presented material. Hitch et al. (1988), for instance, reported visual confusion errors occurring in young children‘s recognition memory. The children in these studies were shown pictures depicting objects that were either visually similar, such as a brush, a rake, or a pen, or visually dissimilar, such as a pig, a ball and a pen and showed impaired recognition with visually similar items (see also Walker et al., 1994). Visual similarity effects are found in children under 7 whether they are told to label the pictures verbally at presentation (Hitch et al., 1988), prevented from labelling the pictures (Hitch et al., 1989, Hitch et al., 1988), given no instructions about labelling when the visual material is presented (Brown, 1977), or when the verbal label is provided (Hayes and Schultze, 1977). Older children, over the age of 8 years, do not appear to use a visual coding (Hitch et al, 1988; 1989) unless they are prevented from using the phonological loop by asking them to perform articulatory suppression (Hitch, Woodin and Baker, 1989b; Hitch et al., 1991). Older children behave in the same way as adults (Brandimonte, Hitch and Bishop, 1992; Postma and De Haan, 1996), using a speechbased memory code for drawings, thus allowing maintenance of information via phonological rehearsal. It has been argued that younger children rely on visual codes because their use of verbal codes (objects name) and their rehearsal process (Baddeley, Gathercole and Papagno, 1998) are not yet fully developed while older children adopt a strategy of verbally recoding pictures where possible and rely on subvocal rehearsal to mediate performance on the ―visual‖ memory task. An alternative theoretical position regarding the strategies children use to encode pictorial material can be found in the literature namely that ―phonological translation is not an all or nothing phenomenon but possibly forms part of a continuum of dual coding‖ (Palmer, 2000, p. 181), suggesting that there is during development a period of dual coding strategy. We therefore decided to explore the encoding strategies used by children below and above 8 years of age using the adapted version of Postma and De Haan‘ paradigm (Cestari et al. 2007). In the first experiment the aim was to replicate the experiments performed in adults making use of concurrent interfering tasks to impair the verbal and visuo-spatial working memory component functioning. Articulation was suppressed by asking children to repeat aloud an irrelevant word while a spatial tapping task was performed concurrently to interfere with visuo-spatial working memory functioning. In the second experiment, to further investigate the object to location binding, the visual and verbal characteristics of the stimuli used in the test were manipulated and children of the same two age groups were tested. Considering that under the age of 8 years children are reported to use mainly a visual strategy in the serial recall of pictures, we decided to use samples of familiar visually similar or dissimilar objects to test whether a visual similarity effect would arise when children have to bind object identity and location. If children make use of a visual code, we expect a decreased performance when children have to relocate similar pictures. On the other hand, older
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children have been assumed to behave in the same way as adults, using speech-based memory codes for drawings. Thus we manipulated another characteristic of objects‘ names i.e. simply whether they can easily be named or not (nameable and non-nameable objects), in order to analyze its effect on children‘s performance in the process of the object to position association.
EXPERIMENT 1 The aim of the present experiment was to investigate which codes 5- and 11-year olds use to encode and maintain object positions. Adopting Baddeley‘s working memory model as a theoretical framework (Baddeley, 1986, 2000; Baddeley and Hitch, 1974) one way to study which code children use to recall pictorial stimuli is to interfere selectively with the component responsible for that process. Namely if children adopt a visuo-spatial code to remember objects in space this process should be more affected by a concurrent visuo-spatial interference than a verbal one; on the other hand, if they adopt a verbal code a lower performance with a concurrent verbal interference and a preserved recall with a visuo-spatial concurrent interference should emerge. This double task methodology was used in children to address different questions in different fields. For instance it has been used to study the strategies used in arithmetical performance in children from 6 to 9 years of age (McKenzie, Bull and Gray, 2003). It has also been applied in order to explore the development of spatial short-term memory from 5 to 9 years of age (Kemps, De Rammelaere and Desmet, 2000) or to investigate the executive and the spatial contribution to the spatial and visual span maintenance in 6 to 13 year old children (Hamilton et al., 2003). Thus, in the present experiment we decided to use the double task paradigm. Previous studies in adults (Postma and De Hann, 1996) have shown that object-toposition assignment is disrupted by a task interfering with the phonological loop, suggesting that it relies, to some extent, upon verbal coding. Furthermore, studies using dual-task interference methodology have suggested that temporary retention of a sequence of locations is interfered with by concurrent movements generated in response to targets (e.g., Baddeley and Lieberman, 1980; Logie and Marchetti, 1991; Smyth and Scholey, 1994). For this reason the two different concurrent tasks chosen in this case were spatial tapping and articulatory suppression. In the present experiment the modified version of Postma and De Hann (1996) paradigm that recently used in children to investigate spans in memory for object locations (Cestari et al. 2007) was adopted. Our aims were to investigate which codes children use in these tasks, examine whether they are the same as those used by adults and assess if these codes change with development.
METHOD Participants. The total sample comprised 96 children of a kindergarten and a junior high school in middle class areas in Rome, Italy. The sample was subdivided into two age groups. There were 48 kindergarten children (mean age= 5 years and 5 months), 48 first- graders (mean age= 11 years and 4 months). The parents gave their consent to the participation at the study.
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Materials. The stimuli were similar to the ones used in a previous study in children of similar age ranges (Cestari et al., 2007) and comprised 10 × 10 cm paper cards arranged in a 4 × 4 paper matrix on a table, with each cell measuring 10 × 10 cm. In the position condition, the stimuli were dark grey paper cards. In the object-to-position and combined condition, the stimuli were line drawings of familiar objects selected from a larger group of items tested (Longoni and Scalisi, 1994; Nisi, Longoni, and Snodgrass, 2000) because of their high frequency in children‘s language (Marconi, Ott, Pesenti, Ratti, and Tavella, 1993) and according to the number of syllables of the object name. We chose to present children with a supra span number of cards on the basis of previous data (Cestari et al. 2007). Five-year-old children were presented with 5 cards depicting 5 different objects while 11-year-old children had to study 8 cards. The pictures depicted objects with three-syllable names, visually and phonologically dissimilar (bicchiere - glass, albero - tree, tavolo - table, forbici – scissors, macchina – car; plus pallone – ball, cappello – cap and pistola – gun, for 11 years old). Procedure. Each child was tested individually in a quiet testing room in the school. Cards were arranged over a paper matrix while children had their backs turned. When the array was ready, children studied the pictures placed on the matrix for a 30 s observation period. Each child was tested in a control and interference condition of six trials each and in one of the three relocation condition. According to Postma and de Haan‘s paradigm, one relocation task was the Object-to Position assignment, in which the position where objects were to be relocated was marked on the matrix, and the children were required to remember which object had previously been at each marked location; the other condition is the Combined condition in which subjects had to relocate the cards on the matrix, without any marking of the original positions. In the positional encoding task (Position), children had to remember only the exact place occupied on the matrix by the black paper cards. Examples of the stimulus displays in the 3 relocation tasks are shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Example of the stimulus display in the Experiment 1, in the study and in the test phase for each of the tasks considered: a) Position encoding (Position); b) Object-to-position assignment; and c) Combined.
The assignment to a relocation condition and to the interference task was randomized between the subjects; furthermore, the order of the absence, presence of interference task was
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balanced between the subjects. In the interference condition the child performed the interference task (articulatory suppression or spatial tapping) during the observation period, starting the secondary task a few seconds before observing the matrix. To suppress the activity of the visuo-spatial sketch pad children were asked to repeatedly tap four felt plates (4 x 4 cm) positioned in a square pattern, with 2 cm between adjacent plates. The articulatory suppression task consisted of the continuous repetition of the word ―cola‖ at a rate of approximately twice per second. Performance on the secondary task was continuously monitored by the experimenter. An interval of approximately 4 s followed during which children had again their backs turned and the experimenter gathered cards in a pile, mixed them, and then displayed them randomly ordered in a column on a side of the matrix. Children were asked to relocate as accurately as possible the cards on the matrix. They were told there was no time restriction and the cards could be shifted to a new position as many times as necessary. Design. In order to perform analyses, the number of correctly relocated objects and correctly remembered positions was calculated. The number of correctly remembered positions was calculated in the Position and Combined conditions while the number of correctly relocated objects was calculated in the Object to Position and Combined conditions. This was possible because the configurations that the children had to study were exactly the same in the three relocation conditions, and relocation condition was a between-subject variable. Namely in a configuration the objects and the grey cards occupied the same positions in the three relocation conditions and the object associated with that particular position was always the same for that configuration. The maximum number of correct hits across the 6 repeated trials was 36 for 5 year olds and 48 for 11 year olds. Separate mixed factorial analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were performed for the two measures recorded. Furthermore, two separate ANOVAs was performed for each age group (5 and 11 year olds), with two between-group factors: the relocation condition with two levels (Position vs. Combined, or Object to Position vs. Combined) and the Interference task with two levels (Spatial tapping, Articulatory Suppression); finally, in the analysis was considered one within factor with two levels (Absence, Presence of interference).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Position 5 year olds: a mixed factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed on the total number of positions correctly relocated in the Position and Combined tasks. The mean span and standard error for correctly relocated items in the two tasks are shown in Figure 2. No significant main effect of relocation condition (F(1;28)= 0.661, p=n.s.), interference task (F(1;28)= 0.01, p=n.s.), absence-presence of interference (F(1;28)= 0.41, p=n.s.), was found. No interaction between the factors was observed. Results show, on the one hand, that no difference in the recall of positions was observed when children only had to remember positions or when they performing a double task i.e. also remembering the associations between objects and locations. On the other hand results also show that recall of locations per se in 5-year-old children was unaffected both by spatial tapping and by articulatory suppression.
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Figure 2. Mean and standard error for correctly relocated positions for the two tasks: Position and Combined, as a function of interference (absent vs. present) and the type of interference (articulatory suppression vs. tapping).
Object 5 year olds: a mixed factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed on the total number of objects correctly relocated in Object-To-Position and Combined tasks. The mean span and standard error for correctly relocated items in the two tasks are shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3. Mean and standard error for correctly relocated objects for the two tasks: Object-to-position and Combined, as a function of interference (absent vs. present) and the type of interference (articulatory suppression vs. tapping).
A significant main effect of relocation condition (F(1;28)= 14.517; p<.001) was found showing that, differently from what has been shown previously for the recall of locations per
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se, the mean number of correctly relocated objects is significantly lower in the combined than in the object-to-position condition; a significant main effect of absence-presence of interference (F(1;28)= 8.49; p<.01) was also found showing that the presence of interference decreases the objects recall. The absence of a significant interaction suggests that both types of interference affect performance when children have to bind objects and occupied location. Position 11 year olds: a mixed factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed on the total number of position correctly relocated in Position and Combined tasks. The mean span and standard error for correctly relocated items in the two tasks are shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4. Mean and standard error for correctly relocated positions for the two tasks: Position and Combined, as a function of interference (absent vs. present) and the type of interference (articulatory suppression vs. tapping).
The following effect was found: a significant main effect of relocation condition (F(1;28)= 18.751; p<.001) showing that in the Combined condition the recalled of position was worse compared to the Position only condition. No main effect of interference was found (F(1;28)= 0.04; p=n.s.), and no effect due to the absence or the presence of interference (F(1;28)= 3.59; p=n.s.). These results suggest that, like in 5 year old children, recall of locations per se in 5 year old children was unaffected both by spatial tapping and by articulatory suppression. Object 11 year olds: a mixed factorial analyses of variance (ANOVA) was performed on the total number of objects correctly relocated in Object-To-Position and Combined tasks. The mean span and standard error for correctly relocated items in the two tasks are shown in Figure 5. The following effects were found: a significant main effect of relocation condition (F(1;28)= 13.031; p< .005) which shows that, like in younger children, the recall of objects is better in the Object to Position assignment than in the Combined condition. Furthermore a significant main effect of interference (F(1;28)= 22.331; p<.001) was found and, more
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interestingly, a significant interference x type of interference (Articulatory Suppression vs Tapping) (F(1;28)= 8.411; p< .01).
Figure 5. Mean and standard error for correctly relocated objects for the two tasks: Object-to-position and Combined, as a function of interference (absent vs. present) and the type of interference (articulatory suppression vs. tapping).
Newman-Keuls post-hoc comparisons indicated that in both relocation condition the number of correctly relocated objects is significantly lower with articulatory suppression (p<.001) whereas tapping does not influence performance (p=.207). Experiment 1 demonstrated that neither a concurrent spatial tapping task nor a rehearsal suppression interferes with the recall of locations in the Position only and Combined tasks and this is true for the two age groups considered (5 and 11 years of age). Regarding the tasks where object identities need to be remembered (object to position and combined) overall our results indicate that performance in younger children is affected by concurrent tasks that affect both visuo-spatial and verbal working memory components while older children‘s performance is impaired only when subvocal rehearsal is prevented. The absence of a selective effect but rather the effect of both types of interfering tasks considered may, on the one hand, suggest that these tasks put an excessive load on cognitive processes in children aged five years. However, the fact that the same interference tasks have no effect on the recall in the position only condition, a task of similar difficulty, renders the hypothesis that the concurrent tasks put an excessive load on cognitive processing in 5-year-old children highly unlikely. Data seem to indicate, as previous results have shown (Palmer, 2000), that children at this age use a ―mixed‖ type of coding, verbal and visual. To further analyse this point we decided to change methodology, and we manipulated the stimuli characteristics instead of using direct interferences. This change of procedure allows to examine the codes used by children with a more ecological experimental design.
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EXPERIMENT 2 In the present experiment, like in Experiment 1, the modified version of Postma and De Hann‘s (1996) paradigm (Cestari et al. 2007) was adopted to investigate encoding strategies in memory for object locations in children. However, in the experiment described below, only two (Object-to Position assignment and Combined) out of the three relocation tasks were examined since our main concern was to examine the codes used by 5- and 11-year-old children in associating objects to their location in space. Two stimuli characteristics, namely visual similarity and nameability, were manipulated in order to test their effect on children‘s performance. We compared the levels of performance observed with stimuli that could be readily named and with stimuli that were difficult to label verbally. A second characteristic manipulated consisted of making subject perform the task with object that were visually similar or dissimilar. As a summary the types of stimuli that were used can be divided into four categories: a) nameable visually dissimilar objects; b) nameable visually similar objects; c) non-nameable visually dissimilar objects and d) non- nameable visually similar objects. According to previous work (Hitch et al., 1989; Schumann-Hengsteler, 1992), one would expect 5-year-old children to use a visual encoding strategy. As a consequence one would expect to see an interfering effect of the visual similarity on children‘s performance in the number of object correctly relocated when objects share similar visual features. Thus, if 5 year-old children use a visual coding strategy they were expected to better recall dissimilar than similar items. However, on the basis of the results of Experiment 1, and of data by Palmer (2000), one would expect a dual code in children this age, and thus 5-year.old children should be affected both by visual similarity and nameability. On the other hand, we hypothesised an effect of nameability on the performance of 11-year-old children since the existing literature (Hitch et coll., 1989; Schumann-Hengesteler 1992) suggests a verbal coding of pictorial stimuli. We therefore expected older children to have a better performance with nameable stimuli than with non nameable ones.
METHOD Participants. A total of 92 children participated in the study. This sample was composed of 44 children aged 5 (mean age = 5 years and 7 months) and 48 children aged 11 (mean age=11 years and 3 months). Children were recruited from a nursery school and a junior high school in middle class areas in Rome, Italy. The parents gave their consent to the participation at the study. In each age group, children were randomly assigned to one of 4 groups according to the type of stimulus: visually dissimilar nameable objects; visually dissimilar non nameable objects; visually similar nameable objects and visually similar non nameable objects. They performed both types of tasks (object-to-position and combined) which order was counterbalanced across subjects. Materials. Like in Cestari et al. (2007) the stimuli used were 10x10 cm paper cards arranged in a 4x4 matrix on a table, with each cell measuring 10x10 cm. The stimuli were black and white line drawings of objects but unlike that previous study this time stimuli could be either familiar objects (nameable) or abstract objects which were difficult to name (nonnameable) and within each category, half the objects were all visually dissimilar while the other half comprised objects which all looked the same in shape and orientation (visually
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similar). Four types of stimuli were thus obtained by manipulating two characteristics of the objects: nameability (nameable vs. non-nameable) and visual similarity (visually similar or dissimilar). The four types of stimuli are depicted in Figure 6. The drawings of nameable familiar objects (similar and dissimilar) were selected from a larger group of items tested (Longoni, Scalisi, 1994; Nisi, Longoni, Snodgrass, 2000) on the basis of their high frequency in children‘s language (Marconi, Ott, Pesenti and Tavella, 1993). Some of these had already been used in Cestari et al. (2007). The non-nameables pictures were selected from a larger group of items in the Microsoft Word, from which we created different sets of stimuli. These sets were examined and evaluated by 5 independent judges chosen among perception experts. Each of them ranked the sets on the basis of their visual similarity, from the more homogeneous to the more dissimilar. The similar and dissimilar sets were chosen according to the classification. Procedure On the basis of previous studies (Cestari et al. 2007) and like in Experiment 1 younger children were presented with 5 paper cards, whilst older children with 8 cards.
Figure 6. Stimuli presented in Experiment 2: a) Dissimilar nameable; b) Dissimilar Non nameable; c) Similar nameable; d) Similar Non nameable.
Each child was tested individually in a quiet testing room in the school. Cards were randomly arranged over a paper matrix while children had their backs turned. When the array
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was ready, children studied the pictures placed on the matrix for a 30 s observation period. An interval of approximately 4 s during which children had again their backs turned and the experimenter gathered cards in a pile, mixed them, and then displayed them randomly in a column on a side of the matrix. Children were asked to relocate as accurately as possible the cards on the matrix. They were told there was no time restriction and the cards could be shifted to a new position as many times as necessary. Children of both age groups had to relocate pictures of objects within the matrix in two conditions. According to the Postma and De Hann‘s paradigm, one relocation task was the ―Object-to-Position Assignment‖, in which the position where objects were to be relocated was marked on the matrix, and the children were required to recall which object had previously been at each marked location; the other condition was the ―Combined‖ condition in which subjects had to relocate the cards on the matrix, without any marking of the original positions. Children performed the task 6 times for each of the tasks considered. The order of the relocation conditions was counterbalanced. In both conditions one parameter was measured: the number of objects correctly relocated.
Design Two separate mixed factorial analyses of variance (ANOVA) with two between- group factors, nameability and visual similarity and one within–group factor, relocation condition (object-to-position and combined), were performed on the total number of correctly relocated across the 6 repeated trials by children aged 5 and children aged 11.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Results for 5-year-old-age group will be reported separately from 11-year-olds. Table 1 shows the mean of number of objects correctly relocated, in the two different conditions in 5year-olds. Table 1. Mean and standard error for correctly relocated objects for the two tasks: Object-to-position and Combined with the four types of stimuli considered (dissimilar nameable, dissimilar non nameable, similar nameable, similar non nameable) 5-year-old children Dissimilar Nameable Dissimilar Non nameable Similar Nameable Similar Non nameable
Object-to-Position Mean St.Error 13,27 0.95 14 1.02 13.73 1.35 12.18 1.37
Combined Mean St.Error 10 1.04 9.73 0.96 12.09 0.74 7.45 0.9
5-year-olds—When the number of correctly relocated objects in children aged 5 was analysed, statistical analysis indicated a significant main effect of relocation condition, F(1,40)= 17.69, p.<.001, indicating that, as in Experiment 1, the mean number of correctly
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relocated objects is significantly lower in the combined than in the object-to-position condition. The analysis also revealed a significant main effect of nameability (i.e. whether objects can be easily named or not) F(1,40)= 4.58, p.<.05, and a significant nameability x visual similarity interaction, F(1,40)= 6.14, p<.05. Post hoc comparisons indicated that, in both relocation tasks, the number of correctly relocated objects is significantly lowest with visually similar non-nameable than with all other objects types. 11-year-olds —When the number of correctly relocated objects in 11-year- old children was analysed, statistical analysis indicated a significant main effect of relocation condition, F(1,44)= 26.76, p.<.01, showing also in this case performance is always higher when relocation positions are premarked than when children have to recall them. The analysis also revealed a significant main effect of visual similarity, F(1,44)= 7.93, p.<.01. Results thus show that independently of whether objects are nonsense or readily named, visual similarity significantly lowers performance. Table 2 shows the mean number of objects correctly relocated, in the two different conditions in 11-year-olds. Experiment 2 demonstrates that in younger children the worst performance is observed with visually similar non nameable objects. The fact that performance with the latter type of stimulus is worse than that with visually similar objects that can be readily named suggests that 5-year-old children do rely to some extent also on verbal coding. In older children visual similarity affects performance whether stimuli were built to be readily named or difficult to name. Table 2. Mean and standard error for correctly relocated objects for the two tasks: Object-to-position and Combined with the four types of stimuli considered (dissimilar nameable, dissimilar non nameable, similar nameable, similar non nameable) 11-year-old children Dissimilar Nameable Dissimilar Non nameable Similar Nameable Similar Non nameable
Object-to-Position Mean St.Error 35 2.74 34.92 2.23 31 1.69 28.5 2.13
Mean 29.25 28.49 25.83 20.25
Combined St.Error 1.87 2.50 2.42 2.68
This result can lead to two interpretations: either that older children do not phonologically recode or that they verbally code all the stimuli presented. Considering findings in the literature, and the effect of articulatory suppression shown in Experiment 1, the first interpretation is highly unlikely. Rather, it appears that older children verbally recode all stimuli presented but rely to some extent also on visual coding for completing the task. It must be noted that Hitch et al. (1989) found evidence of a visual component in older children‘s recall with articulatory suppression and Brandimonte, Hitch and Bishop (1992) found the same with adults, suggesting that both visual and verbal component remain available. Overall results of Experiment 2 lend support to Palmer‘s hypothesis of a continuum of dual coding (Palmer, 2000).
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CONCLUSION Two experiments are presented which investigate how children encode the location of objects in the framework of Baddeley‘s model of working memory (Baddeley, 1986; Baddeley and Hitch, 1974) and using a version adapted for children of Postma and De Haan‘s paradigm (Cestari et al. 2007). Overall results indicate that, as suggested by Palmer (2000), there is during development an intermediate period of dual, verbal and visual, coding and that in older children and in adults the visual code remains available. The experiments presented here show that 5-year-old children do not show, as one might have expected on the basis of previous literature, a pure visual coding of the pictorial material to be remembered, but rather used a mixed code based both on visual and verbal information. Later, in children aged 11, the coding seems to be, as expected, mainly phonological, although, as shown by data on visual similarity effects in Experiment 2, also the visual component remains available. Let us analyse in more detail the data of our two experiments. First, the different effect of secondary interference tasks on the position-only and the object-to-position tasks indicate that two separate processes are involved in short-term object location memory: positional encoding per se and object-to-position assignment. This result provides strong support for previous findings (Cestari et al., 2007) that have shown different developmental patterns for the relocation tasks considered: children first improve their ability in remembering the spatial positions per se and in object-position assignment. It is only later that children improve in their ability to perform these two tasks together in the combined condition. A further aspect that was examined here, particularly in Experiment 2, was the direct comparison of children‘s performances in two of the three experimental conditions included in the paradigm: the object-to-position and the combined task. We expected the two groups of children to show a similar trend in the two experimental conditions: higher scores in the object-to-position condition than in the combined condition, as reported by Postma and De Hann (1996), in adults, and by Schumann-Hengsteler (1992) and by Cestari et al. (2007) in children. Accordingly, when the number of objects correctly relocated was analyzed in 5- and 11-yearold children, data indicate that children‘s performance is always better when the positions are premarked, in the object-to-position association condition, than when subjects have to remember them in the combined condition. Our data provide support for the hypothesis that children have more difficulties in the combined condition, since, as has been proposed in adults by Postma and De Hann (1996) and Walker, et al., (1994) and by SchumannHengsteler (1992) and Cestari et al. (2007) in children, they seem to be performing two different tasks. Let us now turn to the analysis of the working memory components involved in encoding and short-term maintenance of object location information in children of different ages. Regarding the recall of positions, results in 5 year olds showed no selective effect of tapping on the total number of positions recalled and no effect of articulatory suppression. The insensitivity of spatial recall to the tapping interference might seem surprising although it could be related to the use of a matrix in which objects had to be relocated. The matrix might provide such an important frame of reference (Kemps, 1999) that subjects remember the stimuli as a visual configuration, thus decreasing significantly the amount of spatial information to remember. Tapping is known to interfere more with spatial than visual aspect of the configuration to recall. Other authors have also made a distinction between static
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format, such as a matrix in which locations are presented simultaneously, and dynamic formats like in the Corsi test (Pickering et al., 2001) suggesting that they may depend upon different visuo-spatial working memory processes. A related idea was proposed by Lecerf and de Ribaupierre (2005) who suggested a form of ―intrinsic encoding‖ (as opposed to ―extrinsic encoding‖) which involves a pattern encoding leading to a global image of the stimulus. The visuo-spatial working memory process underlying the latter type of encoding may well be insensitive to a spatial suppression such as spatial tapping. As in children aged 5, those aged 11 did not show any effect of tapping interference on the recall of the position-only task. It is interesting to note that adults‘ performance on the recall of static matrices has been shown to be unaffected by a spatial tapping concurrent task (Pickering et al., 2001). To explain their results these authors have suggested that subjects might be using a more visual strategy, with little reliance on spatial processing. These data are in line with Della Sala, Gray, Baddeley, Allamano and Wilson‘s results (1999) which have shown, in a selective interference experiment, that the Visual Pattern Test and the Corsi test were found to show a double dissociation pattern of interference from visual and spatio-sequential subsidiary tasks, respectively. Regarding the binding of objects to their location, a general effect of interference was found on the number of objects correctly relocated by 5-year-old children. Both articulatory suppression and tapping decrease performance in the Object-to-Position and Combined tasks. The absence of a selective effect but rather the effect of both types of interfering tasks considered may, on the one hand, suggest that these tasks put an excessive load on cognitive processes in children aged five years. However, the consideration previously discussed that the same interference tasks have no effect in the position-only condition, a task that cannot be considered to be less difficult (for spans in each task in children of different ages see Cestari et al., 2007), renders the hypothesis that the concurrent tasks put an excessive load on cognitive processing in this age group highly unlikely. On the other hand these results may indicate, as previous data have shown (Palmer, 2000), that children at this age use a ―mixed‖ type of coding susceptible to be disrupted by both verbal and visuo-spatial interferences. In children of 11 years our data on the number of objects correctly relocated show a selective effect of articulatory suppression. This result strongly supports the idea that children at this age, like adults, recode pictorial stimuli in a phonological way. To further examine the encoding strategies used by 5- and 11-year-old children specifically in tasks that require an association between objects and their specific locations, two stimuli characteristics were manipulated in Experiment 2:a) how easily they could be named (nameability) and b) how easily they could be visually discriminated (visual similarity). Four groups of stimuli were thus used: a) nameable visually dissimilar objects; b) nameable visually similar objects; c) non-nameable visually dissimilar picture-objects and d) non- nameable visually similar objects. In 5-year-old children performance is detrimentally affected when objects are similar and non nameable. Our results suggest that when younger children are given 30 seconds to observe the to-be-remembered stimuli they seem to be able to give verbal labels, at least to the nameable objects, and to utilize these labels for a verbal coding. Younger children thus seem to use a mixed strategy, although mainly visual, with dissimilar objects. When the main strategy is hampered by visual similarity and they are not able to discriminate visually similar objects, younger children are forced to adopt a different strategy thus naming the objects. With stimuli that look alike and are difficult to label, performance drops in both the experimental conditions considered, object-to-position and
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combined, because of visual similarity which affects their main coding strategy, the visual code, and because of the lack of possibility to give objects a name. In 11-year-old children, a main effect of visual similarity effect was found in our experiment. The visual dissimilar objects are better recalled than the visually similar objects in both the experimental conditions considered, object-to-position and combined. Two alternative interpretations are possible. The first is that older children do not use a verbal code although this seems unrealistic since adults (Postma and De Hann, 1996) and younger children in our study make use of them. The other hypothesis is that older children, having reached maturity in the phonological loop function, use a verbal code even when they are engaged in remembering stimuli that are difficult to name. We can hypothesize that older children use a mixed coding strategy, but the effect of the nameability does not appear because children give a name to all stimuli in an equal measure. In this way, only the effect of visual similarity is visible, and it appears when the task is more difficult since the objects are difficult to discriminate (visually similar objects). The latter interpretation is in line with what has been found in adult subjects. In Postma and De Hann‘s study (1996) a main effect of the articulatory suppression, which decreases the performance in adults, is evident in the objectto-position association. The latter was found both with nameable objects (letters) and with nonsense unfamiliar stimuli difficult to name (a selection of Hebrew characters on which a lower-case ―c‖ was superimposed). The fact that there was a substantial articulatory suppression effect with the nonsense stimuli suggests that subjects relied to some extent upon verbal coding even when the use of verbal labels was not straightforward. This was confirmed by subjects reporting afterwards that they usually invented names for the nonsense objects. It must also be noted that in adults the visual similarity effect is evident in specific circumstances, namely when the material is presented visually and the verbal code is prevented by the articulatory suppression (Hitch and Walker, 1991; Logie, Della Sala, Wynn and Baddeley, 2000). On the whole, our results provide evidence that usually, in older children, the visual component is present but masked in most cases by a major use of phonological memory codes (Hitch et al., 1988, 1989). In conclusion, our data provide support for the idea that the ability to use visual codes is not lost completely in older children and adults but play a minor role in recall for easily labelled visual stimuli. It therefore appears that, as suggested by Palmer (2000), visual and verbal coding may exist alongside each other forming a continuum, and that executive processes are responsible for representations towards either the visual-spatial sketch pad or the phonological loop. In general, together with our previous study (Cestari et al., 2007), we have shown how children develop from the age of 5 to the age of 11 different abilities related to their working memory system both in terms of capacity, namely the number of positions and objects remembered, but also in terms of specific processes such as the ability to bind together objects and locations and to switch codes when necessary.
REFERENCES Baddeley, A. D. (2000). The episodic buffer: a new component of working memory? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 4, 417–423. Baddeley, A., Gathercole, S. and Papagno, C. (1998). The Phonological Loop as a Language Learning Device. Psychological Review, 105 (1), 158-73.
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Baddeley, A.D. and Hitch, G.J. (1974). Working Memory. In: G.A. Bower (Ed). Recent advances in learning and motivation, (Vol.8, pp. 47-90). New York: Academic Press. Baddeley,A.D. and Lieberman, K.(1980). Spatial working memory. In: R. Nickerson, Editor, Attention and performance, (VIII, pp. 521-539). Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associate Inc. Brandimonte M. A., Hitch G. J., Bishop D. V. M. (1992). Influence of short-term memory codes on visual image processing: Evidence from image transformation task. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, memory, and cognition, 18 (1, 157-165. Brown, M. (1977). Examination of visual and verbal coding in preschool children. Child Development, 48, 38-45. Cattaneo,Z., Postma, A., Vecchi, T. (2007). The picture superiority effect in working memory for spatial and temporal order. Psychologia, 50, 102-109. Cestari, V., Lucidi, A., Pieroni, L., Rossi-Arnaud, C. (2007). Memory for object location: a span study in children. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 61 (1), 13-20. Conte, A., Cornoldi, C., Pazzaglia, F., and Sanavio, S. (1995). The development of the visuospatial working memory and it‘s role in spatial memory. Ricerche di Psicologia, 2, 19, 95-113. Della Sala, S., Gray, C., Baddeley, A.D., Allamano, N., Wilson, L. (1999). Pattern span: a tool for unwelding visuo-spatial memory. Neuropychologia, 37, 1189-1199. Dent, K. and Smyth, M.M. (2005). Verbal coding and the storage of form-position associations in visual-spatial short-term memory. Acta Psychologia, 120, 113-140. Hamilton, C. J., Coates, R.O., and Heffernan, T. (2003). What develops in visuo-spatial working memory development? European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 15(1), 4369. Hasher, L. and Zacks, R.T. (1979). Automatic and effortful processes in memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 108, 356-395. Hayes,D. and Shulze, A.(1977). Visual encoding in preschoolers serial retention. Child Development, 66, 1066-1070. Hitch, G. J., Halliday, M. S., Dodd, A., Littler, J. E. (1989). Development of rehearsal in short-term memory: Differences between pictorial and spoken stimuli. Journal of Developmental Psychology, 7, 347-362. Hitch, G.J., Halliday, M. S. Schaafstal, A. M. and Heffernan, (1991). Speech, ―Inner Speech‖ and the Development of Short-Term Memory: Effects of Picture-labeling on Recall. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 51(2), 220-234. Hitch, G.J., Halliday, M. S., Schaafstal, A. M. and Schaargen, J.M. (1988). Visual working memory in young children. Memory and Cognition, 16(2), 120-132. Hitch, G.J. and Walker, P. (1991). Visuo-spatial working memory in children and in adults. Paper presented at the International Conference on Memory, University of Lancaster, United Kingdom. Hitch, G, Woodin, M. E., and Baker, S. (1989b). Visual and phonological components of working memory in children. Memory and Cognition, 17(2), 175-185. Kemps, E. (1999). Effects of complexity on visuo-spatial working memory. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 11 (3), 335-356. Kemps, E., De Rammelaere, S. and Desmet, T. (2000). The Development of Working Memory: Exploring the Complementarity of Two Models. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 77, 89–109.
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Lecerf, T. and De Ribaupierre, A. (2005). Recognition in a visuo-spatial task: the effect of presentation. European Journal of cognitive Psychology, 17, 47-75. Logie, R.H., Della Sala, S., Wynn, V., Baddeley, A.D. (2000). Visual similarity in immediate verbal serial recall. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 53A, 626-646. Logie, R.H. and Marchetti, C. (1991). Visuo-spatial working memory: Visual, spatial or central executive? In: Logie, R. H. and Denis, M. (Eds.) Mental Images in Human Cognition (pp.105-115), Amsterdam: North Holland Press. Logie, R.H., and Pearson, D.G. (1997). The inner eye and the inner scribe of visuo-spatial working memory: Evidence from developmental fractionation. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 9 (3), 241-257. Longoni, A.M, and Scalisi, T.G. (1994). Developmental aspects of phonemic and visual similarity effects: Further evidence in Italian children. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 17(1), 57-71. McKenzie, B., Bull, R. and Gray, C. (2003). The effects of phonological and visuo-spatial interference on children‘s arithmetical performance. Educational and Child Psychology, 20 (3), 93-108. Marconi L., Ott M., Pesenti E., Ratti D., and Tavella M. (1993). Lessico Elementare. Dati statistici sull'italiano letto e scritto dai bambini delle elementari. Bologna: Zanichelli. Nisi, M., Longoni, A.M., and Snodgrass, J.G. (2000) Misure italiane per l‘accordo sul nome, familiarità ed età di acquisizione per le 260 figure di Snodgrass e Vanderwart (1980). Giornale Italiano di Psicologia, 1, 205-218. Orsini, A., Grossi, D., Capitani, E., Laiacona, M., Papagno, C., and Vallar, G. (1987). Verbal and spatial immediate memory span. Italian Journal of Neurological Science, 8, 539-548. Palmer, S. (2000). Working memory: a developmental study of phonological recoding. Memory, 8(3), 179-93. Pickering, S.J., Gathercole, S.E., Hall, M., and Lloyd, S. (2001). Development of memory for pattern and path: Further evidence for the fractionation of visuo-spatial memory. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 54A, 397-420. Postma, A., and De Haan, E.H.F. (1996). What was where? Memory for object location. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 49A, 178-199. Postma, A., Kessels, R.P.C., Van Asselen, M. (2004). The neuropsychology of object location memory. In C. Auen (Ed.), Remembering where: Advances in understanding spatial memory. Mahwah, NJ : Lawrence Erlbaum associates. Rossi-Arnaud, C., Alfano, F. and Longoni, A.M. (1999). The development of short-term memory for object locations in children. Proceedings of the Seventh European Workshop on Imagery and Cognition. Brunel University, UK. ISBN 1-902316-02-9. Shoqierat, M. A. and Mayes, A. R. (1991). Disproportionate incidental spatial and recall deficit in amnesia. Neuropsychologia, 29(8), 749-769. Schumann-Hengsteler, R. (1992). The development of visuo-spatial memory: How to remember location. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 15(4), 455-471. Siemens, L., Guttentag, R. E., and McIntyre, M. (1989). Age differences in memory for itemidentity and occupied-location information. American Journal of Psychology, 102(1), 5368.
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Smyth, M.M., Scholey, K.A.(1994). Characteristics of spatial memory span: Is there an analogy to the word length effect, based on movement time ?. Quartely Journal of Experimental Psychology, 47A, 91-117. Walker, P., Hitch, G. J., Doyle, A., and Porter, T. (1994). The development of short-term visual memory in young children. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 17(1), 73-89.
Advances in Psychology Research. Volume 78 Ed: Alexandra M. Columbus
ISBN: 978-1-61209-442-7 © 2011 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
Chapter 4
THE ROLE OF CONTEXTUAL CUES AND LOGICAL TRAINING IN DIFFERENTIATING CONDITIONAL FROM BICONDITIONAL STATEMENTS IN INFERENCE TASK
Olimpia Matarazzo and Ivana Baldassarre Department of Psychology, Second University of Naples, Italy
ABSTRACT In two studies we examined the role of contextual cues and logical training in differentiating conditional from biconditional statements (i.e. the statements of the form ―if p then q‖ from the statements of the form ―if and only if p then q‖) in deductive inference task (i.e. establishing which conclusions necessarily follow from syllogisms whose major premise is formed by a conditional clause). We assume that the well-documented tendency to interpret conditionals as biconditionals is due not only to pragmatic factors, such as a large amount of literature posits, but also to cognitive factors: it is much easier to understand a symmetrical (biconditional) relation between two states of affairs rather than an asymmetrical (conditional) one. We expected that this tendency would be inhibited not only by the presence of contextual cues - as alternative antecedents (e.g. c, m, r) showing that the consequent (q) can be implied by other states of affairs besides the one (p) presented in conditional clause - but also by a ―logical‖ training, that is, by elucidating the formal difference between conditionals and biconditionals. On the contrary, we expected that the statement content (abstract vs. thematic) did not affect the interpretation of conditionals as biconditionals. In the first study, three hundred twenty participants performed in counterbalanced order a conditional and a biconditional inference task introduced by a very short scenario. The experimental conditions varied in function of the following variables: discrimination between conditionals and biconditionals (embedded in the scenarios vs. inferred by participants after reading the scenarios), information facilitating the appropriate interpretation of the statements (present vs. absent), content (abstract vs. thematic). The results revealed that (1) biconditional syllogisms were easily solved in any experimental conditions; (2) conditionals generated a large amount
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Olimpia Matarazzo and Ivana Baldassarre of patterns of inferences, among which the most frequent was the biconditional one when facilitating information (i.e. alternative antecedents) was absent; on the contrary, when this information was presented, the conditional pattern of inferences was the most frequent one and the biconditional one decreased dramatically. In the second study, two hundred participants performed a conditional and a biconditional task introduced merely by the respective statements. The manipulated variables were: logical training (present vs. absent) and content (abstract vs. thematic). The results were analogous to those of the first study. On the whole, these experiments corroborate the idea that (1) biconditional interpretation of conditional statements - reconstructed from the participants‘ patterns of inferences – is due both to cognitive and pragmatic factors and that (2) reasoners are able to rectify this misinterpretation both in presence of contextual cues and of logical training. The theoretical implications of these results are discussed.
Keywords: Conditionals, biconditionals, inferential task.
INTRODUCTION The purpose of this paper is to investigate how conditional and biconditional statements – i.e. the statements of the form, respectively, ―if p then q‖ and ―if and only if p then q‖ – are interpreted in inference task and whether their interpretation is affected by contextual or general information aimed at clarifying their difference. In propositional logic, conditionals are conceived as material implication (p → q), that is as statements formed by two clauses connected by an asymmetric relation: the antecedent (p) implies the consequent (q) but not vice versa. Thus, the antecedent is sufficient but not necessary for the consequent, which, on the contrary, is necessarily implied by the antecedent. Therefore, conditionals are false when p is true and q is false, and are true in the remaining combinations of truth-value of p and q (true p and true q; false p and false q; false p and true q). Conditional syllogism – an argument whose major premise is an ―if p then q‖ utterance followed by one of the four possible minor (categorical) premises: affirmation of the antecedent (p), affirmation of the consequent (q), negation of the antecedent (not-p), negation of the consequent (not-q) – allows to endorse only two valid inferences: q from minor premise p (Modus Ponens or MP) and not-p from minor premise not-q (Modus Tollens or MT). No valid inference can be drawn from the affirmation of the consequent and from the denial of the antecedent (see Table 1). The not-q conclusion endorsed from not-p and the p conclusion endorsed from q are called, respectively, fallacy of Denial of the Antecedent (DA) and fallacy of Affirmation of the Consequent (AC). In propositional logic, biconditionals correspond to the material equivalence (p ↔ q), in which the two clauses p and q are connected by a symmetric relation: p implies q and q implies p. Thus, each of them is a necessary and sufficient condition of the other. Biconditionals are true when antecedent and consequent are both true or both false, and are false otherwise (true p and false q; false p and true q). In biconditional syllogism, where the major premise is represented by ―if and only if p then q‖ statement, all the four inferences MP, MT, AC and DA - are valid (see Table 1).
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In everyday reasoning the ―if... then‖ statements (or –in brief– if statements) are widely utilized to formulate and test hypotheses, to express possibilities or states of affairs and to draw conclusions from them, to establish relations between events (e.g. inclusive, temporal, causal, counterfactual), to designate illocutionary (e.g. treats, promises, advices) and deontic acts (e.g. obligations, permissions), and so on. The intrinsic polysemy of natural language makes it possible to express such a variety of meanings carried out by the same lexical entry. If-sentences are extremely variable depending on extra-logical aspects, such as linguistic and pragmatic factors: people understand the same statement in different ways as a function of its pragmatic modulation (Barrouillet and Lecas, 2002; Fillenbaum, 1976; Johnson-Laird and Byrne, 2002; Johnson-Laird, Byrne, and Girotto, 2008). Table 1. Conditional and biconditional syllogisms
Conclusion for
If p then q (conditional) Major If and only if p then q Premise p (biconditional) If p then q q If and only if p then q
q
Minor Premise q
non-p
non-q
indeterminate conclusion
indeterminate conclusion
non-p
p
non-q
non-p
For example, since in natural language propositions of the form ―if and only if p then q‖ (iff) are scarcely used, ―if‖ encompasses also the meaning of iff (Fillenbaum, 1975, 1976; Lolli, 2002). The polysemy of ―if‖ is one of the reasons that can be advocated in order to explain the robust empirical evidence emerging from psychological research, i.e. the great variability of naive reasoners‘ performances in conditional reasoning. Indeed, the inferences drawn by people without any prior knowledge of logic vary as a function of the task proposed, experimental instructions, statements‘ content, contextual cues, level of agreement with conclusions, level of cognitive development, and so on (Barrouillet and Lecas 1998; Cummins, 1995; Cummins, Lubart, Alksnis, and Rist, 1991; Dieussaert, Schaeken, and d‘Ydewalle, 2002; Girotto, 1990; Newstead, Ellis, Evans, and Dennis, 1997; Quinn and Markovits, 1998, 2002; Thompson, 1994, 1995, 2000; Vadeboncoeur and Markovits, 1999). In inference task, such variability barely affects MP, that is endorsed by almost all the people, whereas it is more evident with MT, that is endorsed less than it should be from a logical point of view, and with DA and AC fallacious inferences, whose frequency seems largely to depend on the above mentioned factors (see for review, Evans, 2002; Evans, Newstead and Byrne, 1993). Although the number of theories elaborated to explain human reasoning – e. g. mental logic (Braine and O‘Brien, 1991), mental models (Johnson-Laird and Byrne, 1991, 2002), dual process (Evans and Over, 1996; Sloman, 1996; Stanovich and West, 2000), probabilistic approach (Evans and Over, 2004; Evans, Handley, and Over, 2003; Oaksford. and Chater, 2003; Oaksford, Chater, and Larkin, 2000) – take in account these factors in different or opposite ways, many of them acknowledge that the inferential process starts on the basis of the interpretative process. Thus, the way in which conditional statements are understood
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becomes central when investigating the features of human conditional reasoning (Beller and Spada, 2003; Schroyens, Schaeken, and Dieussaert, 2008; Thompson, 2000). In this paper we focused on biconditional interpretation of conditionals in inference task, i.e. the interpretation that people is supposed to give when drawing all four inferences in conditional syllogisms (Evans, 2002; Johnson-Laird and Byrne, 2002; Verschueren, Schaeken and d'Ydewalle, 2003). According to mental logic theories (Braine and O‘Brien, 1991; Rips, 1994), in conditional inference task, DA and AC ―fallacies‖ could be due, respectively, to the inversion (if not-p then not-q) and the conversion (if q then p) of the conditional statement, i.e. the invited inferences (Geis and Zwicky, 1971) elicited, as well as many authors (e.g. Horn, 2000, van der Auwera, 1997) posit, by the pragmatics of language, in particular by Grice's (1975) maxim of quantity. The mental models theory (Johnson-Laird and Byrne, 2002) states that biconditional interpretation derives from pragmatic modulation of the ‗core‘ meaning of conditionals (i.e. the meaning compatible with the material implication): this interpretation originates from semantic or contextual information which convey the idea that the antecedent is both necessary and sufficient for the consequent. For instance, statements that involve binary terms are more likely to be interpreted as biconditionals (Legrenzi, 1970; Barrouillet and Lecas, 1998, 2002). More specifically, the biconditional interpretation corresponds to the construction of two explicit models of the initial representation of the conditional clause: the model with the co-occurrence of p and q, and the model with the co-occurrence of not-p and not-q. Instead, the representation of conditionals requests the construction of an additional model, contemplating the co-occurrence of not-p and q. In the frame of this theory, some authors have shown a developmental trend in the interpretation of conditionals according to which from childhood to adulthood it evolves from a conjunctive to a conditional model, with the biconditional one being typical of adolescents (Barrouillet and Lecas, 1998, 2002; Barrouillet, Grosset, and Lecas, 2000; Markovits and Barrouillet, 2002). On the contrary, so far as the frame of mental logic theory is concerned, Rumain, Connell, and Braine (1983) showed that children were able to inhibit the biconditional representation of if when the invited inferences were experimentally countermanded (e.g. by presenting alternative antecedents yielding the same consequent). Similar results have been found also recently (Daniel and Klaczynski, 2006). The probabilistic approach (e.g. Geiger and Oberauer, 2007; Oaksford, Chater, and Larkin, 2000) assumes that people draw inferences not on the basis of deductive principles but according to the probabilistic strategies they use for everyday reasoning. Thus, in conditional arguments any conclusion would be endorsed as a function of its estimated conditional probability, given the minor premise. Such evaluation is based on background knowledge which makes available the frequency with which the contingencies described in the conclusion and in the minor premise co-occur, compared with the frequency of their non co-occurrence. So, if the conditional probability of a conclusion is estimated to be high, it will be endorsed. Among the pragmatic factors affecting the representation of conditionals with thematic content, a well documented role is played by the availability of alternative antecedents, which influences the perceived sufficiency and necessity relations between the antecedent and the consequent (Cummins et al., 1991; Cummins, 1995; Dieussaert et al., 2002; Thompson, 1994, 1995, 2000). Perceived sufficiency can be defined as the degree to which the occurrence of an event is held to guarantee the occurrence of another event; instead, perceived necessity can be
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defined as the degree to which the absence of an event is held to guarantee the absence of another one (Thompson, 2000). The perceived sufficiency of p influences the acceptance rates of MP and MT inferences and it is undermined when the consequent doesn‘t follow from the antecedent, that is in presence of disabling conditions (Cummins et al., 1991). The perceived necessity of p influences the acceptance rates of DA and AC inferences and it is undermined when the same consequent follows from alternative antecedents. When people discover or imagine at least an alternative antecedent leading to the same consequent, they could not endorse DA and AC inferences whereas, when they are unable to imagine more than one antecedent, they understand it as the sufficient and necessary condition for the consequent: thus, conditional is interpreted as biconditional (Manketelow and Fairly, 2000; Quinn and Markovits, 1998, 2002; Thompson, 1994, 1995, 2000). Several authors posit that the knowledge stored in long-term memory plays a central role in perceiving the necessity and sufficiency relations. For example, Quinn and Markovits (1998, 2002) have shown that the strength of association between antecedent and consequent affects the interpretation of their relation in causal conditionals: the greater the degree of association between antecedent and consequent, the more difficult it is to activate and retrieve information about alternative antecedents. Thus, the relation between antecedent and consequent is conceived as necessary and sufficient and all four conclusions tend to be drawn in the inference task. The opposite process occurs in the presence of a weak association between antecedent and consequent: in this case, an indeterminate conclusion is the more frequent response for DA and AC arguments. The research on necessity and sufficiency relations enables to explain the content effect in inference task and, more generally, in deductive reasoning. Such findings are compatible, as Thompson (2000) affirms, with both mental logic and mental models theories. In terms of mental logic theory, they show that the information about the relation between antecedent and consequent affects the interpretive component underlying the inferential component of reasoning. In terms of mental models theory, they highlight that the type of propositional content of the premises allows reasoners to build or block explicit models and counterexamples. Since these studies are generally conducted with knowledge-rich conditionals, providing semantic and contextual information, the question about the factors influencing the interpretation of abstract conditionals, where antecedent and consequent are arbitrarily associated in neutral context, is not sufficiently clarified. Some authors (e.g. Ahn and Graham, 1999) look at necessity and sufficiency relations as a central explanatory concept, and found that it affected the comprehension of conditionals also when presenting in abstract form, thus corroborating the claim of domain-general features of human reasoning. Instead, Verschueren, Schaeken and Schroyens (2006), found that the assessment of the necessity and sufficiency in abstract causal context hardly mediate the conditional reasoning. Among other things, their study showed that participants understood more easily a biconditional representation of the causal relation (i.e. the cause is sufficient and necessary for the effect) rather than a conditional one (i.e. the cause is sufficient but non necessary for the effect). In their developmental account of conditional reasoning, Markovits and Barrouillet (2002) attempted to explain how the ability to reason with abstract premises develops from concrete reasoning, by resorting to two hypotheses: Gentner's (1983) structure-mapping model of analogical reasoning, according to which the concrete forms of reasoning would be analogically represented in a way independent from their specific content, and Karmiloff-
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Smith‘s (1995) notion of representational redescription, suggesting that information is stored in increasingly abstract forms. As these processes increase with development, children and adolescents are more likely to produce biconditional inferences with abstract premises than with realistic ones (Markovits and Vachon, 1990; Venet and Markovits, 2001), whereas adults should be less affected by statement content. Beller and Spada (2003) propose a dual source theory according to which form and content of an argument represent two distinct sources of inference, domain-general and domain-specific, respectively. Through the argument‘s form people are able to understand the relation between basic propositions by means of logical connectors (form competence); the specific conceptual knowledge about the content relations (e.g. spatial relations, necessity and sufficiency relations) represents an additional inferential source, from which also people can draw valid deductions (content competence). Persons can use either sources to produce an inference. Nevertheless when the content relations are in contrast with the structure of the premises, or when the latter are understood in a different way than that intended by the experimenter, the deductive competence prevails on the logical competence (content effects). In accordance with this theory (see also Politzer, 1986), in this paper we tested if people is sensitive to both the two sources of inferences in performing reasoning tasks with conditionals and biconditionals. We speculate that the tendency to understand conditionals as biconditionals derives not only from pragmatic factors, such as conversational implicatures, but also from cognitive factors, i.e. the ―natural‖ propensity of human mind toward symmetry - as well as documented by archeologists (e.g. Kohn and Mithen,1999) and by Gestalt principles of visual organization (e.g. Wertheimer, 1923) - and toward cognitive closure (Zeigarnick, 1927; Webster and Kruglanski, 1997). Consequently, we assume that symmetrical relations such as those expressed by biconditionals are much easier to understand than the asymmetrical ones, such as those uttered by conditionals. Therefore, reasoning with biconditionals would be more natural and straightforward than reasoning with conditionals. The principle of ―conditional perfection‖ postulated by Geis and Zwicky (1971), according to which ―if p then q‖ utterances tend to be completed in virtue of pragmatic invited inferences, would be, in our opinion, an ubiquitous principle, at least among naive reasoners, since it would grasp the most automatic meaning of ―if....then‖ sentential connective. Obviously the polysemy of if and the rare use of iff sentences in everyday language are the semantic preconditions that make the conditional perfection possible. Only the inhibition of such a tendency would would make it possible to have different interpretations of ―if....then‖. The conditional interpretation would be activated, in our opinion, by two sources: from the presence or the retrieval of counterexamples (e.g. alternative antecedents) showing that the antecedent is sufficient but not necessary for the consequent – according to content-dependent source posited by Beller and Spada (2003) – or from a more deeply comprehension of ―if ... then‖ connector, allowing to take it literally without extending its meaning, according to form-dependent source postulated by Beller and Spada (2003). It is worthy specifying that content source encompasses both semantic and contextual factors, since both interact in the comprehension of the relation between the events: in other terms, the meaning of a proposition derives from both the meaning of its constituents and contextual cues.
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OVERVIEW OF THE PRESENT STUDIES The main goal of these two studies was to examine whether people is sensitive both to contextual cues and logical training in differentiating conditional from biconditional statements in inference task. In addition we investigated whether the content of the utterances – abstract vs. thematic – affects their respective interpretation. Finally, in the first study we evaluated also the possible influence of the way in which the discrimination between conditionals and biconditionals was structured (use of the sentential connectives vs. description of the events relation followed by the choice between if or iff sentences). Although numerous studies have examined the biconditional interpretation of conditionals, there are only a few works contrasting conditional with biconditional statements in inference task (e.g. Schroyens and Byrne, 1998, cit. in Schroyens, 2008). In fact, the study of biconditional reasoning has been largely neglected in the literature of the field and this, in our view, represents a gap that needs to be filled because the use of co-implication is an important part of everyday deductive reasoning. Sometimes people really intend to express a biconditional relation between the events even though, in line with their respective frequency in daily language, if is used in place of iff. On the contrary, other times people express a conditional relation but deal it as a biconditional one and make fallacious inferences. In any case, in our opinion, biconditional reasoning in se deserves more attention than it receives. Therefore in both experiments we compared conditionals and biconditionals in order to examine the factors that differentiate them and to scrutinize the features of each of the two types of reasoning. On the basis of the idea that biconditionals are straightforward to understand, we expected that participants would correctly perform biconditional inference task, regardless of the presence/absence of the contextual or logical factors aiming to differentiate them from conditionals, and irrespective of their abstract vs. thematic content. As far as conditionals are concerned, we supposed that participants would inhibit the automatic tendency towards the biconditional interpretation through both a content-based process and a logical process, i.e. a domain-specific and a domain-general process of reasoning. Therefore, in the first study we provided contextual cues, i.e. alternative antecedents, in order to elucidate the asymmetric conditional relation between antecedent and consequent, and we added information stressing the one-to-one relation between antecedent and consequent for biconditionals. In the second study we clarified the difference between conditionals and biconditionals from a logical point of view, that of propositional calculus. The first procedure is content-dependent because the alternative antecedents refer to the specific conditional presented in the task and it does not permit to determine whether the correct interpretation that they are supposed to activate would be generalized to any conditional. The second procedure is form-dependent because it first provides the general criterion for discriminating conditionals from biconditionals and then requests its application to specific contingencies, according to the proper deductive procedure. In the first study the inference tasks were introduced by short scenarios aimed at creating the frame in which the major premise (conditional or biconditional) of the subsequent syllogisms could be considered as true and the minor premises could be considered as liable to occur. To deactivate possible disabling conditions, the inferences requested were explicitly referred to the specific domain depicted in the scenarios. In order to reduce the influence of
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pragmatic factors, the information presented in each scenario was limited to describe a factual relation between the events. Conditionals with thematic content referred to a causal or a quasi-causal relations, abstract conditionals and all biconditionals referred to arbitrary or associative relations, described in fictional terms. The role of previous knowledge was quasieliminated with abstract contents and was reduced with the thematic ones. In the second study, focused on general-domain reasoning, any contextual information was removed and the statement acting as major premise of the syllogisms was presented alone. Participants were requested to read it and then to choose the logical conclusion deriving from its combination with each of the four contingencies acting as minor premise. In this study the distinction between thematic and abstract content was more emphasized: the abstract statements referred to arbitrary association between antecedent and consequent, but the thematic ones concerned familiar situations. So, the role of background knowledge was minimized or eliminated only with abstract contents. In this way a possible distinction between abstract vs. thematic content could be assessed more clearly than the in first study. As we mentioned before, in the first study we also examined whether demanding to infer the appropriate sentential connective (―if.. then‖ vs. ―if and only if ....then‖ ) to express the factual relations described in the scenarios would improve the participants‘ capability of discriminating between conditionals and biconditionals. To this end, we contrasted this procedure with the usual one, demanding to infer the events relation from their linguistic description with if or iff statements. The two procedures will be described in more detail later. In our opinion, if participants were more sensitive to content source of inference, the first procedure should improve the performance; the opposite outcome would occur if they were more sensitive to form source of inference. In sum, our main predictions were the following: • both contextual cues (alternative antecedents) and logical training would be able to improve the differentiation between conditionals and biconditionals, irrespective of the type of content (abstract vs. thematic); • in absence of these differentiating procedures, the biconditional interpretation of conditionals would increase with abstract content and without background context; • biconditional inference task would be straightforward solved in any experimental condition.
EXPERIMENT 1 Method Participants Three hundred twenty undergraduates (271 females, 49 males) of two introductory courses in Psychology of the Second University of Naples participated in this study as unpaid volunteers. Their age ranged from 18 to 47 (M = 20.35; SD = 4.54). None of the participants had any prior knowledge of logic or reasoning psychology. Design The 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 mixed design involved the manipulation of five variables: inference task (conditional vs. biconditional), discrimination between conditionals and biconditionals
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(embedded in the scenarios vs. inferred by participants after reading the scenarios), information facilitating the appropriate interpretation of the statements (present vs. absent), content (abstract vs. thematic), and scenario (each scenario was constructed in two versions, A and B). The inference task was a within-subjects variable, the remaining variables were between-subjects. The scenario variable was included only to check specific context and content effects.
Procedure and Materials Participants were randomly assigned to the between-subjects conditions and performed the task in groups of 40 persons. They were presented with a paper-and-pencil questionnaire containing in counterbalanced order two inferential tasks - conditional and biconditional syllogisms – each of them introduced by a short scenario aimed at providing a minimum of contextual information. In the conditions where the discrimination between conditionals and biconditionals was embedded in the scenarios, a conditional statement of the form ―if p then q‖ and a biconditional statement of the form ―if and only if p then q‖ were explicitly formulated in the respective scenarios. In the conditions where the discrimination had to be inferred by participants, in each scenario the implication or coimplication relation between two events was described. Then, a choice between two statements was presented: participants had to choose which assertion, whether a conditional – if…then – or a biconditional – if and only if…then – statement, better expressed what was previously described. In conditions with facilitating information, a further sentence was added in the scenarios. In conditional tasks this sentence specified that other antecedents implied the same consequent; in biconditional tasks it emphasized the coimplication between antecedent and consequent. In thematic tasks, scenarios presented plausible events described in natural language terms; in abstract tasks made-up events, depicted in fictional terms, were presented. The thematic conditionals referred to causal (or quasi-causal) relations; the abstract conditionals and all the biconditionals concerned arbitrary or associative relations. Each scenario was constructed in two structurally analogous versions differing only for the specific events described. On the whole thirty-two scenarios were created, sixteen for conditional tasks and sixteen for biconditional tasks. An example of conditional scenario with thematic content, facilitating information, and discrimination to be inferred by participants is the following: ―A pharmaceutical company conducted a study concluding that people who use the X medicament are intolerant to coconut. This study also revealed that people who use Y and Z medicaments are intolerant to coconut.‖ In the tasks without facilitating information the last sentence was omitted. The scenario was followed by this question: ―Which of the following statements better expresses what has emerged from the study? • •
If a person uses the X medicament, then s/he is intolerant to coconut. If and only if a person uses the X medicament, then s/he is intolerant to coconut.‖
In the condition with the embedded discrimination and without facilitating information, the scenario was the following: ―A pharmaceutical company conducted a study concluding that if a person uses the X medicament, then s/he is intolerant to coconut.‖
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Olimpia Matarazzo and Ivana Baldassarre
An example of biconditional scenario with abstract content, facilitating information, and discrimination to be inferred by participants was the following: ―A scientists team created a new material called bollock. By using bollock they built only an object, the dricton, that is the only object in the world having the bollock features‖. In tasks without facilitating information the last sentence was omitted. Also this scenario was followed by a choice between two statements similar to the one reported above. In the condition with the embedded discrimination and without facilitating information, the scenario was the following: ―A scientists team created a new material called bollock with which they built an object called dricton. One of these scientists specified that if and only if an object is the dricton, then it is built with the bollock.‖ Following each scenario, the four categorical premises – p, not-p, q, not-q – of conditional and biconditional syllogisms were presented. For the abovementioned conditional scenario, the categorical premises were the following: this person uses the X medicament (p); this person does not use the X medicament (not-p); this person is intolerant to coconut (q); this person is not intolerant to coconut (not-q). For each syllogism, participants were asked to choose, on the basis of the information previously acquired, the most appropriate conclusion among the three presented: acceptance of inference, rejection of inference and indeterminate conclusion. For example, for MP (―this person uses the X medicament‖), the three proposed conclusions were the affirmation of the consequent – q – as acceptance of inference (―this person is intolerant to coconut‖), the negation of the consequent – not-q – as rejection of inference (―this person is not intolerant to coconut‖), and ―no conclusion is certain‖ as indeterminate conclusion. The order of syllogisms and conclusions was randomized across participants.
Results The preliminary analyses performed to check the possible effects of scenario and task order on choice of the statement, inference task, and patterns of inferences did not show any significant effect of these variables. Therefore, they were eliminated from the subsequent analyses.
Choice of Statement Data concerning the choice of statement were classified into correct vs. wrong answers, coded as 1 vs. 0. These data referred only to the participants (N = 160) who had to infer the discrimination between conditionals and biconditionals after reading the scenarios. They were analyzed using a 2 x 2 x 2 mixed design ANOVA with type of scenario (scenario describing a conditional relation vs. scenario describing a biconditional relation) as a within-subjects variable, and facilitating information (present vs. absent) and content (abstract vs. thematic) as between-subjects variables. Results showed a main effect of scenario, F(1,156) = 9.53, p<.01, η2 = .058: the percentage of correct choices was higher for ―if ... then‖ statements related to the conditional scenarios - than for ―if and only if ... then‖ statements – related to the biconditional ones (96% vs. 86%).
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Table 2. Study 1 - Mean percentages and standard deviations of the accepted inferences as a function of experimental conditions
Inference
Facilitating information
Conditional task
Biconditional task
Content
Mean
S.D.
Mean
S.D.
abstract
1
0
1
0
thematic
0.97
0.16
0.95
0.22
abstract
0.95
0.22
1
0
thematic
0.95
0.22
1
0
abstract
0.23
0.42
0.93
0.27
thematic
0.10
0.30
0.97
0.16
abstract
0.48
0.51
0.95
0.22
thematic
0.35
0.48
0.97
0.16
abstract
0.15
0.36
0.97
0.16
thematic
0.30
0.46
1
0
abstract
0.55
0.5
0.93
0.27
thematic
0.55
0.5
0.97
0.16
abstract
0.13
0.33
0.85
0.36
thematic
0.6
0.5
0.95
0.22
abstract
0.67
0.47
0.92
0.27
thematic
0.65
0.48
0.97
0.16
abstract
1
0
1
0
thematic
0.97
0.16
1
0
abstract
1
0
0.98
0.19
thematic
0.97
0.15
1
0
abstract
0.13
0.33
0.85
0.36
present MP
Discrimination inferred by participants
absent
present DA absent
present AC absent
present MT
Discrimination presented in scenarios
Discrimination presented in scenarios
absent
present MP absent
present DA
Inference
thematic
0.28
0.45
1
0
absent
abstract
0.6
0.5
0.87
0.33
Conditional task
Biconditional task
Facilitating information
Content
Mean
S.D.
Mean
S.D.
thematic
0.55
0.5
0.97
0.16
abstract
0.5
0.22
0.77
0.42
thematic
0.18
0.38
0.97
0.16
abstract
0.62
0.49
0.8
0.4
thematic
0.57
0.5
0.9
0.3
abstract
0.75
0.44
0.97
0.16
thematic
0.67
0.47
0.97
0.16
abstract
0.88
0.33
0.95
0.22
thematic
0.85
0.36
0.93
0.27
present AC absent
present MT absent
MP = Modus Ponens, DA = Denial of the antecedent, AC = Affirmation of the consequent, MT = Modus Tollens.
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Inference Task Since in inference task the rejection of inference was never chosen as an answer, the participant responses were dichotomously coded into 1 (acceptance of inference) and 0 (indeterminate conclusion). In table 2 mean percentages of the accepted inferences as a function of the experimental conditions were reported. Data were submitted to a 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 4 mixed design ANOVA with discrimination between conditionals and biconditionals (embedded in the scenarios vs. inferred by participants), facilitating information (present vs. absent), and content (abstract vs. thematic) as between-subjects variables, and task (conditional vs. biconditional) and inference (MP, DA, AC, MT) as within-subjects variables. Significant results showed three main effects, due respectively to task, F(1,312) = 503.49, p<.001, η2 = .617, to inference, F(3,936) = 211.77, p<.001, η2 = .404, and to facilitating information, F(1,312) = 31.62, p<.001, η2 = .092; six two-way interactions - task x discrimination, F(1,312) = 7.08, p<.01, η2 = .022, task x facilitating information, F(1,312) = 44.57, p<.001, η2 = .125, inference x discrimination, F(3,936) = 6.61, p<.001, η2 = .021, inference x content, F(3,936) = 4.11, p<.05, η2 = .013, task x inference, F(3,936) = 169.69, p<.001, η2 = .352, and inference x facilitating information, F(3,936) = 16.62, p<.001, η2 = .051 - and one three-way interaction: task x inference x facilitating information, F(3,936) = 23.07, p<.001, η2 = .069. The main effects were as follows: the percentage of accepted inferences was higher in biconditional than in conditional task; MP was the most accepted inference, followed by MT, and then by DA and AC, which did not differ from each other; the percentage of inferences decreased in presence of facilitating information. The main effects were modulated by the interactions, interpreted through the simple effects analyses. The three-way interaction including all the main effects and their two-way combinations - task x inference x facilitating information - revealed that the percentage of accepted inferences in biconditional task was not affected either by the type of inference or by facilitating information, whereas in conditional task, the presence of facilitating information decreased the acceptance of DA and AC inferences. The interaction between inference and content was due to the augmentation of AC inferences with thematic content compared to the abstract one; the other inferences were not affected by content. The criterion discriminating conditionals from biconditionals affected the results only when interacting with the type of task and with the type of inference: when participants had to infer this criterion, the overall percentage of inferences in biconditional task augmented, whereas the inferences in conditional task did not vary with the type of discrimination; in both tasks, AC increased and MT decreased with the discrimination criterion inferred by participants, whereas MP and DA did not vary in function of the type of discrimination.
Pattern of Inferences In order to reconstruct how the statements – whether presented in scenarios or inferred by participants – were understood, the four conclusions chosen by each participant for MP, DA, AC, and MT inferences in each of the two inference tasks were considered as a whole. In this way for each participant the statement interpretation compatible with the endorsed inferences was inferred. Concerning the conditional task, the most frequent patterns of inferences (percentage frequency > 5%) were the following: conditional (acceptance of inference for MP and MT and indeterminate conclusion for DA and AC); biconditional (acceptance of all the four
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inferences); quasi-conditional (acceptance of inference for MP and indeterminate conclusion for the remaining inferences); conjunctive (acceptance of inference for MP and AC and indeterminate conclusion for DA and MT). The remaining infrequent patterns were grouped into the ―other‖ category. In table 3 the frequencies of patterns of inferences for conditional task were tabulated by experimental conditions. General log-linear analysis was performed to assess the relationship between patterns of inferences for conditional task and facilitating information, content, and discriminating criterion. The best parsimonious model, LR (25) = 26.14, p = .400, was the one implying the main effect of pattern of inferences and two-way interactions: facilitating information x pattern of inferences, and discriminating criterion x pattern of inferences. About the main effect of pattern of inferences, the parameter estimates revealed that – compared to the reference category (i.e. ―other‖) - the conditional (λ = 1.08, z = 3.22, p<.001) and the biconditional (λ = 1.62, z = 4.96, p<.001) patterns of inferences were more frequent, whereas the conjunctive pattern of inferences (λ = -1.53, z = -2.26, p<.05) was less frequent. As regards the interactions, the parameter estimates showed that in presence of facilitating information the conditional pattern of inferences (λ= 0.62, z = 3.38, p<.01) and the quasi-conditional pattern of inferences (λ = 0.66, z = 2.15, p<.05) increased whereas the biconditional pattern of inferences decreased (λ = -1.54, z = -5.41, p<.001); when the discriminating criterion had to be inferred by participants, the conjunctive pattern of inferences augmented (λ= 1.54, z = 2.42, p<.05). In order to specifically examine the patterns of inferences for conditional task without alternative antecedents, a second general log-linear analysis was conducted omitting facilitating information variable. The model with the main effect of pattern of inferences and the interaction between pattern of inferences and discriminating criterion best fitted the data, LR (10) = 6.45, p = .776. The parameter estimates concerning main effect showed that compared to the reference category (i.e. ―other‖) - the conditional (λ = 1.61, z = 3.29, p<.001) and the biconditional (λ = 2.15, z = 4.55, p<.001) patterns of inferences were more frequent; the interaction was due to higher frequency of ―other‖ category in the condition where discriminating criterion was inferred by participants compared to the condition where this criterion was presented in scenarios, (λ = 1.03, z = 1.98, p<.05). With regard to biconditional task, almost all participants (92,5%) endorsed the four inferences, suggesting that they understood biconditional statement in a logically correct way. The other idiosyncratic patterns of inferences were included into the ―other‖ category (see Table 4). Binary logistic regression (using the enter method) was performed to test the relative influence of content, discriminating criterion, and facilitating information in predicting the frequency of the two types of patterns of inferences. All variables were coded as 1-0. The model assessing the main effect of facilitating information and the content x discriminating criterion interaction fitted the data well, χ2(2) = 11.88, p< 0.01, Nagelkerke R2 = 0.67. When the discrimination between statements was embedded in scenarios, the frequency of biconditional pattern of inferences decreased with abstract vs. thematic content, whereas no significant difference for content was found when the discriminating criterion had to be inferred by participants, B(1) = -1.19, Wald χ2 = 2.24, p< 0.001. Facilitating information did not affect the results, B(1) = 0.11, Wald χ2 = 0.11.
Table 3. Study 1 - Frequencies of the patterns of inferences in conditional task in function of experimental conditions
Pattern of inferences Conditional Biconditional Quasiconditional Conjunctive Other Total
Discrimination inferred by participants Thematic content Abstract content Not Not Facilitation Facilitation facilitation facilitation 18 10 22 10 3 13 5 14
Discrimination presented in scenarios Thematic content Abstract content Not Not Facilitation Facilitation facilitation facilitation 17 12 27 13 5 22 2 21
9
7
7
4
7
4
8
1
47
5 5 40
5 5 40
1 5 40
3 9 40
1 10 40
1 1 40
0 3 40
1 4 40
17 42 320
Total 129 85
Table 4. Study 1 - Frequencies of the patterns of inferences in biconditional task in function of experimental conditions
Pattern of inferences Biconditional Other Total
Discrimination inferred by participants Thematic content Abstract content NonNonFacilitation Facilitation facilitation facilitation 37 39 35 35 3 1 5 5 40 40 40 40
Discrimination presented in scenarios Thematic content Abstract content NonNonFacilitation Facilitation facilitation facilitation 38 34 30 30 2 6 10 10 40 40 40 40
Total 278 42 320
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Congruency between Choice of Statement and Pattern of Inferences In order to establish if the choice of statement made by the participants requested to infer the discrimination between conditional and biconditional predicted the patterns of inferences, binary logistic regression was performed for each inference task. For conditional task, the patterns of inferences were recoded as 1-0 (conditional pattern vs. all other incorrect patterns): thus, all measures were dichotomous. The results showed that choice of statement failed to predict patterns of inferences both in conditional and biconditional tasks.
EXPERIMENT 2 Method Participants Two hundred undergraduates (102 females, 98 males) of the Second University of Naples participated in this study as unpaid volunteers. Their age ranged from 19 to 39 (M = 25.21; SD = 5.82). None of the participants had any prior knowledge of logic or reasoning psychology. Design The 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 design involved the manipulation of three between-subjects variables – ―logical‖ training (present vs. absent), content (abstract vs. thematic) statement (each statement was created in two versions, A and B) – and one within-subjects variable: inferential task (conditional vs. biconditional). The statement variable was included only to check specific content effects. Materials and Procedure Participants were randomly assigned to the between-subjects conditions and performed the task in groups of 50 persons. They were given a paper-and-pencil questionnaire containing in counterbalanced order two inferential tasks on two separate pages: conditional and biconditional syllogisms. For each task, participants were told to read the statement which followed and then to indicate the logical conclusion deriving from the four syllogisms built on the basis of the initial statement. The instructions explicitly demanded to choose the logical conclusion because this study focused on domain general reasoning and we were interested in investigating what participants intended as a logical deduction. As in the experiment 1, the conclusion had to be chosen among the three presented: acceptance of inference, rejection of inference and indeterminate conclusion. Four examples of statements were the following: ―If Mark reads a beautiful book, then he is happy‖ (thematic conditional) ―If an angle is right, then it measures 90 degrees‖ (thematic biconditional) ―If an item has a squared shape, then it is labeled gup‖ (abstract conditional) ―If and only if an item is in liquid state, then it is labeled bor‖ (abstract biconditional).
The statements with thematic content referred to plausible or well-known situations. In the abstract clauses the role of previous knowledge was reduced, if not eliminated, and their
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interpretation would be based only or mainly on the respective sentential connectives. In accordance with everyday language, the thematic biconditionals were introduced simply by "if", whereas the abstract biconditionals were introduced by "if and only if" since in that case the linguistic form is the only way to differentiate biconditional from conditional. The order of syllogisms and conclusions was randomized across participants. Before the inferential task, only participants in ―logical‖ training condition were presented with a preliminary page where the distinction between conditionals and biconditional utterances in conformity with propositional logic was elucidated. More specifically, participants were told that in conditional statements (i.e. statements of the form A→B) the antecedent implies the consequent but not vice versa, whereas in biconditional statements (of the form A↔B) the antecedent and the consequent imply each other. Note that for indicating conditional and biconditional clauses logical connectives instead of the sentential ones were used. Then, four clauses (two conditional and two biconditional) were presented in random order and participants were requested to indicate for each of them whether it was a conditional or a biconditional clause. The statements‘ content was abstract or thematic in function of the experimental conditions. Two examples of thematic conditional and biconditional were the following: ―If I fall into a ditch, then I feel pain‖. ―If an athlete gets through the semifinals, then s/he gains access to the finals‖.
Results No effects of statement and task order on dependent variables emerged from preliminary analyses conducted to check them. Thus, these variables were removed from the subsequent analyses.
Discrimination between Conditional and Biconditional Statements Responses concerning the discrimination between conditional and biconditional statements were classified into correct vs. wrong, coded as 1 vs. 0. These data referred only to the participants (N = 100) in the logical training condition. On the number of correct answers, transformed into square root to assure the omoschedasticity of variance, a 2 x 2 mixed design ANOVA with statement category (conditional vs. biconditional) as a within-subjects variable and content (abstract vs. thematic) as a between-subjects variable was performed. No significant effect was found: the mean of correct answers varied between 1.68 and 1.78 across the variables. Inference Task Also in this study the rejection of inference was never chosen as an answer: thus the participant responses were dichotomously coded into 1 (acceptance of inference) and 0 (indeterminate conclusion). Mean percentages of the accepted inferences as a function of the experimental conditions were reported in table 5. Data were analyzed through a 2 x 2 x 2 x 4 mixed design ANOVA with logical training (present vs. absent), and content (abstract vs. thematic) as between-subjects variables, and task (conditional vs. biconditional) and inference (MP, DA, AC, MT) as within-subjects
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variables. The results showed that the endorsed inferences were affected by each of these variables, alone or in reciprocal interaction. Table 5. Study 2 - Mean percentages and standard deviations of the accepted inferences as a function of experimental conditions
Inference
Logical training
Conditional
Biconditional
Content
Mean
S.D.
Mean
S.D.
abstract
0.96
0.12
0.98
0.14
thematic
0.88
0.33
1
0
abstract
0.94
0.24
0.98
0.14
thematic
0.90
0.30
1
0
abstract
0.42
0.5
0.96
0.2
thematic
0.24
0.43
0.96
0.16
abstract
0.80
0.40
0.94
0.2
thematic
0.52
0.5
0.96
0.2
abstract
0.30
0.46
0.98
0.14
thematic
0.32
0.47
1
0
abstract
0.82
0.39
1
0
thematic
0.55
0.5
0.90
0.3
abstract
0.74
0.44
0.96
0.2
thematic
0.66
0.48
0.95
0.22
abstract
0.82
0.39
0.94
0.24
thematic
0.48
0.5
0.98
0.14
present MP absent
present DA absent
present AC absent
present MT absent
MP = Modus Ponens, DA = Denial of the antecedent, AC = Affirmation of the consequent, MT = Modus Tollens.
As to the main effects, inferences increased with biconditional task, F(1,196) = 246.75, p<.001, η2 = .557, and with abstract content, F(1,196) = 12.39, p<.001, η2 = .059, while decreased when logical training was present, F(1,196) = 14.95, p<.001, η2 = .071, MP was the most accepted inference, followed by MT, and then by DA and AC, which did not differ from each other, F(3,588) = 56.24, p<.001, η2 = .223. These effects were modulated by four twoway and two three-way interactions: task x content, F(1,196) = 16.51, p<.001, η2 = .078, task x logical training, F(1,196) = 13.69, p<.001, η2 = .065, task x inference, F(3,588) = 50.0, p<.001, η2 = .203, inference x logical training, F(3,588) = 13.39, p<.001, η2 = .064, task x content x logical training, F(1,196) = 4.51, p<.05, η2 = .022, and task x inference x logical training, F(3,588) = 16.44, p<.001, η2 = .077. Since the two-way interactions were included in the three-way ones, only the latter will described: biconditional task was not affected by logical training or by content, whereas in conditional task the accepted inferences increased with abstract content and decreased with logical training; no difference among the four inferences was found in biconditional task regardless the presence/absence of logical training, whereas in conditional task, AC and NA inferences decreased in presence of logical training.
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Pattern of Inferences As in the previous study, the patterns of inferences resulting from the four syllogisms MP, AC, DA, and MT were considered in order to reconstruct how conditional and biconditional statements were understood. Concerning conditional task, the most frequent patterns of inferences (percentage frequency > 5%) were the following: conditional (acceptance of inference for MP and MT and indeterminate conclusion for DA and AC); biconditional (acceptance of all the four inferences); quasi-conditional (acceptance of inference for MP and indeterminate conclusion for the remaining inferences); inverse (acceptance of MP and DA inferences and indeterminate conclusion for AC and MT); conjunctive (acceptance of MP and AC inferences and indeterminate conclusion for DA and MT). The remaining infrequent patterns were grouped into the ―other‖ category. In table 6 the frequencies of patterns of inferences for conditional task were reported as a function of experimental conditions. Table 6. Study 2 - Frequencies of the patterns of inferences in conditional task in function of experimental conditions
Pattern of inferences
Conditional Biconditional Quasi-conditional Inverse Conjunctive Other Total
Presence of logical training Thematic Abstract content content 21 18 7 7 7 4 1 8 4 2 10 11 50 50
Absence of logical training Thematic Abstract content content 2 1 20 32 15 4 3 1 3 2 7 10 50 50
Total
42 66 30 13 11 38 200
General log-linear analysis was run to assess the relation between patterns of inferences for conditional task, logical training, and content. The best parsimonious model, LR (6) = 7.09, p = .313, was the one implying the main effect of pattern of inferences and two-way interactions: logical training x pattern of inferences, and content x pattern of inferences. About the main effect of pattern of inferences, the parameter estimates revealed that – compared to the reference category (i.e. ―other‖) – the biconditional (λ = 1.19, z = 3.58, p<.001) pattern of inferences was more frequent, whereas the conditional (λ = -1.94, z = 2.91, p<.01), the inverse (λ = -1.22, z = -2.02, p<.05), and the conjunctive (λ = -1.64, z = 2.48, p<.05) patterns of inferences were less frequent. As regards the interactions, the parameter estimates showed that in logical training condition the conditional pattern of inferences (λ= 2.57, z = 4.28, p<.001) increased whereas the biconditional one decreased (λ = -1.31, z = -4.36, p<.001); with thematic content the quasi-conditional pattern of inferences augmented (λ= 1.01, z = 2.45, p<.05). With regard to biconditional task, also in this study almost all participants (93%) endorsed the four inferences, suggesting that they understood biconditional statement in a logically correct way. The other idiosyncratic patterns of inferences were included into the ―other‖ category. (see Table 6). Since the distribution of the two categories is substantially
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flat, it is not reported here. As was expected from data inspection, binary logistic regression found no effect either of logical training or of content on biconditional patterns of inferences.
Congruence between Statements Discriminating and Pattern of Inferences In order to investigate whether the discrimination between conditional and biconditional statements made by participants in logical training condition predicted the patterns of inferences, binary logistic regression was performed for each inference task. As in the previous study, the patterns of inferences for conditional task were recoded as 1-0 (conditional pattern vs. all other incorrect patterns). The results revealed that the choice of the statement for conditional task predicted the relative patterns of inferences, B(1) = 1.82, Wald χ2 = 6.6, p<.05; instead, the choice of the statement for biconditional task failed to do it, B(1) = 0.83, Wald χ2 = 3.27.
DISCUSSION The results of both studies can be summarized as follows: the one-to-one relation between two events was easily understood and biconditional syllogisms were correctly solved by almost all participants, regardless of the presence/absence of information emphasising the coimplication between the antecedent and the consequent. On the contrary, conditionals generated a large amount of interpretations the most frequent of which was the biconditional one when no criterion for differentiating conditionals from biconditionals was provided. The presence of both alternative antecedents and logical training made it easier to understand the asymmetric relation between antecedent and consequent and, therefore, increased the conditional interpretation and decreased the biconditional one. These findings corroborate our main predictions about the greater cognitive availability of the biconditional interpretation of the ―if .... then‖ connective and the effectiveness of both form and content sources of inference in differentiating between conditionals and biconditionals. From this perspective, Beller and Spada‘s theory (2003) of the dual source of inference from which we partly derived our predictions is supported by these results. Nevertheless, there are some relevant dissimilarities between the two studies as to conditional interpretations which deserve a comment. In the first study the conditional pattern of inference was produced, in absence of alternative antecedents, by 28% of participants – a higher percentage than the one reported in literature (see for review, Evans, 2002; Evans et al., 1993) – while in the second study it was produced, in absence of logical training, by 3% of participants. The corresponding percentages for the biconditional pattern were 43% and 52%. In the first study content scarcely affected the results – only AC inference augmented with thematic content – whereas in the second study its influence was more relevant: with abstract content the proportion of endorsed inferences increased while the frequency of the quasi-conditional pattern augmented with thematic content. Note that in the first study this pattern augmented in presence of alternative antecedents, mirroring a result that was first reported by Rumain et al. (1983) and that was later replicated (Simoneau and Markovits, 2003; Daniel and Klaczynski, 2006). In our opinion, the different findings between the two studies are due to the methodological differences we introduced in the second study in order to investigate the naive deductive competence: any background context was absent and the experimental instructions demanded to indicate the logical conclusion deriving from each argument, whereas in the first
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study participants were asked to choose the most appropriate conclusion. In the conditions with no logical training, the quasi total absence of the conditional pattern of inference and the great proportion of the biconditional one uphold our assumption about the automatic tendency to conditional perfection (Geis and Zwicky, 1971): the fact that the inferences increased with abstract content suggests that this tendency is generated not only by conversational norms but also by cognitive factors. In absence of background knowledge able to retrieve counterexamples, the propensity to search one-to-one correspondence between antecedent and consequent was hardly countermanded. We speculate that even the instruction to choose the logical conclusion activated this tendency toward the coimplication, in a sort of semantic overlap between the meanings of ―logic‖ and ―symmetric correspondence‖. The increase of quasi conditional pattern with thematic content suggests that, at least in some cases, previous knowledge allowed to retrieve alternative antecedents able to prevent the endorsement of AC and DA, but that this effect was extended also to MT. If our hypothesis is viable, the increase of this pattern with thematic content in study 2 and with the presence of alternative antecedents in study 1 derived in both cases from the availability of counterexamples which 1 served as disabling conditions for MT (e.g. Simoneau and Markovits, 2003) . Anyway, it must be noted that whereas in the first study the patterns of inferences presented a hierarchic organization with a relatively small dispersion of idiosyncratic responses, in the second study their dispersion increased and their hierarchy decreased, thus supporting the idea that the absence of a contextual frame multiplies if interpretations. The different procedures of discriminating conditionals from biconditionals we tested in the first experiment - i.e. inferring the appropriate sentential connective after reading the description of events relation vs. inferring the events relation from the apposite connective – did not affect significantly this distinction. Nevertheless, when it was requested to choose the connector, AC increased, while the conjunctive pattern of inferences augmented, compared with its very rare frequency when the ―if ...then‖ connective was embedded in the scenario. Also in the second experiment this pattern had low frequency. In our opinion, this finding suggests that only a few people understand the conditional as implying the mere conversion of ―if....then‖ clause. In terms of mental models theory (Johnson-Laird and Byrne, 1991, 2002), this means that only a few people limit the representation of conditionals to the initial model entailing the co-occurrence of antecedent and consequent, whereas people who use only this initial model increase when the relation of implication between antecedent and consequent is described as a state of fact. As far as biconditionals are concerned, it is worth highlighting that when participants had to choose the appropriate connective after reading the scenario, the proportion of correct choices for iff statements was lower than that for if clauses. This finding mirrors the lesser frequency of iff in everyday language compared to that of if: even when the two sentential connectives were explicitly contrasted, some participants still chose if connective to express even the meaning of one-to-one relation. Moreover, when iff statements were embedded in scenarios, the biconditional pattern of inferences decreased with abstract content, whereas no content difference was found when the coimplication was 1
In terms of mental logic (Rumain et al.,1983), the presence of alternative antecedents countermands the invited inferences and therefore inhibits the endorsement of the fallacious conclusions, AC and DA, but in this way also MT would be blocked: in fact inhibiting the inversion of the conditional no longer allows to draw MT as symmetric inference. To endorse this inference with a conditional premise a reductio ad absurdum procedure is requested. Reasoners who are unable to handle it and who have inhibited the invited inferences, are also unable to draw MT.
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depicted in scenarios as a state of affairs. Such a result suggests that the meaning of iff was somewhat ambiguous, at least for some participants, who, in absence of the activation of background knowledge provided by thematic content, seemed barely to understand the kind of relationship between the events it designated. When this relation was provided by scenarios as a state of fact, it was very easy to recognize it. However, it is worthy to underline that these differences occurred in a framework where the participants‘ capability to understand the meaning of the biconditional is generally very high. It can be argued that as regard to biconditionals, people are very sensitive both to argument source and content source. As we have seen, the picture is more complex and somewhat puzzling with conditionals, which also explains why the research on them continue to proliferate. On the whole, our results suggest that the mere presence of the ―if...then‖ statement is not a sufficient condition for understanding conditionals and that other conditions are necessary for this to happen: e.g., the presence of alternative antecedents, of a background context, the enunciation of the formal criterion of definition. From this point of view, such results are polysemic: on the one hand, they corroborate the idea that both contextual information and general rules enable to increase the logical interpretation of conditionals, but on the other hand, they show that this interpretation is not routinely available. In sum, people appear to be able, at least in part, to learn and apply a basic distinction of the propositional calculus and use contextual information to countermand what we suppose to be an automatic propensity towards symmetrical relations but, in absence of these conditions, they are not very sensitive to the form of the argument. This evidence seems to weaken Beller and Spada‘s (2003) theory of the dual source of inference and seems to be also in contrast with the mental models theory, at least as regards its assumption that the ‗core‘ meaning of basic conditionals – as well as the abstract conditionals of our experiments – corresponds to the material implication of propositional calculus. Our results show that this meaning matches the one some naive reasoners give conditionals, which proves its psychological reality (Schroyens et al., 2008). They also show that a number of persons are sensitive to the factors we have manipulated in order to improve the discrimination between conditionals and biconditionals but, as we have seen, our results reveal that the dispersion of ―if…then‖ interpretation is a non negligible finding which deserves to be explained. Perhaps the dual process theories of reasoning (Evans and Over, 1996; Sloman, 1996; Stanovich and West, 2000) are the best candidates to do so. They posit the existence of two different systems of thinking: an implicit system – automatic, pragmatic, independent of language, contextualized, driven by learning and innate modules, independent of general intelligence – and an explicit system – controllable, logical-abstract, related to language, correlated with general intelligence and limited by working memory capacity. The implicit system would be able to provide fast responses to routine problems by means of pragmatic process; the explicit system is slow, rule-based, capable to activate complex procedures to find solutions to logical or decisional problems. For instance, the research of Stanovich and West (2000) on individual differences in reasoning has shown that they are linked to the differential use of these two systems: more intelligent individuals, with greater cognitive capacity, are more capable of blocking automatically activated responses and of producing more accurate logical analyses when facing a task (see also Daniel and Klaczynski, 2006). As far as our results are concerned, we could speculate – since individual differences have not been assessed in these studies – that only the participants who were more used to the explicit system made an accurate reflection on the task, while others responded automatically on the basis of the pragmatic relevance that the ―if ...then‖ connective took at
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that time for them. Further research is needed to further investigate interpretive processes in human reasoning.
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Quinn, S., and Markovits, H. (2002). Conditional reasoning with causal premises: evidence for a retrieval model. Thinking and reasoning, 8, 179-191. Rips, L.J. (1994). The psychology of proof: Deduction in human thinking. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Rumain, B., Connell, J., and Braine, M.D.S. (1983). Conversational comprehension processes are responsible for reasoning fallacies in children as well as adults: If is not the biconditional. Developmental Psychology, 19, 471–481. Schroyens, W., and Byrne, R. (1998). The role of a conditional or bi-conditional interpretation in conditional reasoning about ‗if (Psychological reports No. 242). Leuven: University of Leuven. Laboratory of Experimental Psychology. Schroyens, W., Schaeken, W., and Dieussaert, K. (2008). ―The‖ interpretation(s) of conditionals. Experimental Psychology, 55, 173-181. Simoneau, M., and Markovits, H. (2003). Reasoning with premises that are not empirically true: Evidence for the role of inhibition and retrieval. Developmental Psychology, 39, 964-975. Sloman, S.A. (1996). The empirical case for two systems of reasoning. Psychological Bulletin, 119, 3-22. Stanovich, K.E. and West, R.F. (2000). Individual differences in reasoning: Implications for the rationality debate? Behavioural and Brain Sciences, 23, 645-726. Thompson, V.A. (1994). Interpretational factors in conditional reasoning. Memory and Cognition, 22, 742–758. Thompson, V.A. (1995). Conditional Reasoning: The Necessary and Sufficient Conditions. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 49, 1-58. Thompson, V.A. (2000). The task-specific nature of domain general reasoning. Cognition, 76, 209–268. Vadeboncoeur, I. and Markovits, H. (1999). The effect of instructions and information retrieval on accepting the premises in a conditional reasoning task, Thinking and Reasoning, 5, 97-113. van der Auwera, J. (1997). Pragmatics in the last quarter century: The case of conditional perfection. Journal of Pragmatics, 27, 261-274. Venet, M. and Markovits, H. (2001). Understanding uncertainty with abstract conditional premises. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 47, 74-99. Verschueren, N., Schaeken, W., and d'Ydewalle, G. (2003). Two reasoning mechanisms for solving the conditional ‗fallacies‘. Proceedings of 25th annual meting of the cognitive science society (July 31-Aug 2). Verschueren, N., Schaeken, W., Schroyens, W. (2006). Necessity and sufficiency in abstract conditional reasoning. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 18, 255-276. Wason, P.C., and Johnson-Laird, P.N. (1972). Phychology of Reasoning: Structure and Content, Boston: Harvard University Press. Wason, P.C. (1966). Reasoning. New Horizons in Psychology. Penguin: Harmondsworth. Webster, D.M., and Kruglanski, A.W. (1997). Cognitive and social consequences of the need for cognitive closure. European Review of Social Psychology, 18, 133–173. Wertheimer, M. (1923). Untersuchungen zur Lehre von der Gestalt. Psychologische Forschung, 4, 301-350. Zeigarnik, B. (1927). Das Behalten erledigter und unerledigter Handlungen, Psychologische Forschung, 9, 1-85.
Advances in Psychology Research. Volume 78 Ed: Alexandra M. Columbus
ISBN: 978-1-61209-442-7 © 2011 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
Chapter 5
EMPATHY: REFLEXIONS ON A CONCEPT C. Boulangera and C. Lançonb a
Lançon Unit, SHU de psychiatrie, Hôpital Sainte-Marguerite, 270, boulevard de Sainte-Marguerite, 13009 Marseille, France b Psychiatry Dept, SHU de psychiatrie, Hôpital Sainte-Marguerite, 270, boulevard de Sainte-Marguerite, 13009 Marseille, France
ABSTRACT Under the influence of Scottish philosophy the concept of empathy changed, it is still shaky and still defined by many currents of thought. It is different from sympathy (emotional contagion). Empathy is the capacity to put oneself in another person‘s position to understand its feelings or to imagine its mental representation. So empathy shows itself in different phenomena such as projection, identification and altruism. Husserl, in phenomenology, regards empathy as the decisive phenomenon from which inter-subjectivity emerges to elaborate a common world. Indeed, he renewed the comprehension of empathy and anticipated the development of neurosciences. Depraz, following Varela, shows primacy granted to others is embodied in the personal practice of compassion.
Keywords: Empathy; Intersubjectivity; Phenomenology; Sympathy.
E-mail Address:
[email protected]
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1. INTRODUCTION Empathy is a complex phenomenon – very human- profound and it is related to emotions and experience (narrative empathy). But empathy remains a concept that is still unclear, fragile and, several schools of thought have defined it [9]. An attempt at modelling empathy has emerged with the advent of cognitive sciences [26]. The presentation of our work on the empathy concept, its imitation and its emotional contagion sheds new light on the therapeutic relation. We refer to psychological, phenomenological theories and to cognitive neurosciences and, in particular to social cognition neurosciences. First we define the empathy concept, originated from inter-subjectivity, and we relate its evolution throughout history. Then we report the contribution of phenomenology to the clinical understanding of the empathetic phenomenon. Finally we discuss about the possibility of naturalizing empathy from the neuro-phenomenological model.
2. EPISTEMOLOGY: CONCEPTS AND TERMS With regard to the etymology (definition of the Dictionary ―Le petit Robert‖), the word ―empathy‖ is derived from the Latin radical in- and im- (at-) and from the Greek suffix pathein (feeling). Empathy is defined as the ability to put oneself into another‘s shoes to understand the emotion states of other people or to experience the outlook of the mental representation of another being within oneself. It is the capacity to identify oneself to other people and to embrace the subjective perspective of other people. It is a very distinctive trait that makes us deeply human and it is the source of the social reasoning and moral behaviours. It allows us to reach another persons‘ subjectivity by a mode of thought based on implicit awareness. To Decety [2], it is based on neuro-biologic systems that have built up during our evolutionary history. In a neo-Darwin perspective, empathy should have a role in the social relationships within the members of the same species and more over within the inter-specific members. Empathy isn‘t a mechanism itself but a communication process in which one mechanism or the mechanisms have to be defined. Freud stressed the identification process. In order to ―get into other people‘s feelings without being involved emotionally‖, as defined by Greenson [16], we have to imagine that we are in other people shoes. It is a partial and temporary identification that is deliberate (but not necessarily done consciously). According to Buie [1], this imaginary construction of other people‘s subjective experience requires the action of interferential phenomena. It is because one can see the representation of the contextual universe in which other people conscious or unconscious thought is developing that one can identify to others. According to Carl Rogers [8] empathy is to grab precisely the inner references and the emotional components of somebody and to understand them as if we were this person. In the phenomenological tradition, empathy represents the apprehension of others affectivity. Empathy should also be considered independently from the term sympathy. It doesn‘t have any conjunction with sharing a feeling or a belief (by an affective contagion phenomena), but it is the representation of other‘s feelings, desires and beliefs. It is not a conscious subjectivity. According to Wispe [37], ―empathy means to understand others.
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Being sympathetic with others means to care about other‘s well-being. Empathy appears like a mental simulation that is conscious of somebody else‘s subjectivity. This simulation enables to understand what another person thinks in a present and past situation even in an anticipated situation [3].
3. CONCEPT EVOLUTION The Scottish moral philosophy has first introduced the notion of empathy. Hume observed in the Treaty of human nature [17] ― all human beings ‗spirits are similar based on their feelings and operations, and that there is no inclination felt by a human being which could not affect others to a certain degree‖ (III, p. 197). Therefore the spirit is the mirror of another: it reflects passions, feelings and opinions of another. Hume believes that one has originally an emotional link with others because there is a likely transfusion of passions between human beings via the sympathy. In Survey on the principles of morality [18] Hume also refers to the influence of the empathetic answer that could be named similarity or familiarity, ―…sympathy is weaker for people away from us with regard to how it is felt for the people close to us…‖ (p. 139). Smith [30] thought that our interpretation capacity of other‘s feelings as ―sympathy‖, different from the feelings and thoughts contagion which, according to Hume, condition to the feeling of humanity. Sympathy comes from our imaginary substitution to another unlike the simple transfusion of one‘s feelings. He specifically underlined the universal trait of human nature. To Smith ―…the viewer should, as far as possible, put himself into another‘s shoes, […] he should, somehow, adopt another‘s situation taking account every single detail…‖ (p.17); Smith then described, without being aware, the ―adoption of the other‘s perspective‖ a bit forced indeed. Einfühlung (German word for ―empathy or ―intropathy‖) is the origin of the German Romanticism theme, which designates a projection of me into beings, and it brings up the awareness of the esthetical sensitivity mechanism from which we have access to the master piece sense putting ourselves into the represented object (Vischer, 1873, in [14]). Considering Avenarius introjections concept and, on the other hand Max Scheler‘s empathy theory (Einsfühlung), Husserl makes empathy a decisive phenomenology on the basis of which ntersubjectivity forms a common world. Husser‘s empathy is mainly a cognitive mediation. On the contrary, Scheler‘s Einsfühlung concept has rather an immediate and emotional meaning [29]. Scheler‘s emotional intuitionism is related to the identification suffering of others. Therefore Scheler makes a clear distinction between the emotional empathy and two types of extreme symbiotic empathy forms (Einfühlung qua Einsfühlung) : l‘Einssetzung, the affective fusion and the Gefühlsansteckung, the affective contagion. However the Dasein is a Mitsein, one is immediately among others and recognizes others as family regardless of any upstream theoretical perspective. In the post-Husserl philosophy, Ricoeur suggests the word ―intropathy‖ with the notion of ―to feel with‖ or ―to feel within‖. Theodor Lipps, psychologist in Munich in the early XX century, transposed the German neologism « Einfühlung » that was used in the esthetical field, to the psychology. He considered empathy as a key concept in psychology and sociology, and made it as one of the basis mechanisms of the knowledge of oneself and others. To him, seeing an expression on a face wakes up ―automatically‖ the influxes necessary to this expression. These influxes induce him into the inner emotional state for that expression. The vision of the expression
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corresponds to a ―start of imitation‖, an ―inner imitation‖ [21]. One can see here the premises of stimulationism through the inner imitation described by Lipps (inner imitation). But Lipps was, above all, the first to describe the phenomenon of the active participation through kinesthesis1 in the movements and actions in the very act of perceiving them. Then the psychologist E,B Tichener created the term empathy in the 1920‘s from the Greek word empatheia (inner feeling). According to him, empathy resembles a physical imitation of others pain, imitation, which raises the same feelings in oneself. Freud refers many times to Einfühlung concept. In ―Psychology of the masses and Analysis of the Ego‖ he writes about the identification: ―…The process that psychology calls ―empathy‖ which takes the largest share in our understanding of what is foreign to me in other people‖ and notices what he means in this work ―…to limit oneself to the very first emotional effects of identification, and so to leave on the side its significance for our intellectual life. Then he adds : ― Based on the identification, a path leads through imitation to empathy, that is to say through the understanding mechanism that makes possible any position with respect to another life soul‖ [11]. To Decety [2] it would be tempting to see in identification, imitation and empathy the three sides of the same process. Some authors emphasized the importance of familiarity and similarity in the facilitation of empathy and prospect. Titchener thought that through empathy, one could comprehend people but only if having a mental and intellectual resemblance (1915, cite in [37]). Hume noticed that it was easier to sympathize with someone if one shares something in common with us [17]. According to Freud, ―everything that establishes common values between people arouses sympathy, identification‖ [12] To conclude on Einfühlung, we will retain none of the words Sympathy, Empathy or Intropathy take into account the concepts of excentration and enjoyment embodied in this concept. Actually, the best definition of Einfühlung taken by Worringer [38] is Lipps ‗one: ―The aesthetic enjoyment is an ego enjoyment that is objectified‖. The word empathy will be awarded the honour by the psychoanalysis from the 1960‘s thanks in part to Greenson who underlined the relevance of the values of proximity, intersubjectivity and identification. But empathy takes its full dimension in the course of Egopsychology where it is considered the cornerstone of any therapeutic relationship. In the approach focused on the person that was developed by Carl Rogers, empathy is ―a way of being‖ in which the therapist is emotionally immersed in his client‘s world of experience. To Rogers, the therapist role will then be feeling his client‘s sensations and emotions and communicating this comprehension back to his client. To Rogers [27], the empathy process is then based on the mode of ―as if‖. The latter distinction is crucial because for the therapist it is a significant distinction between the empathy process and the identification process. This inner comprehension ―is a way to feel the client‘s inner world and its intimate signification as if it was ours, but never dismissing that it isn‘t ours‖ [28] One may currently conceive empathy as an aware mental simulation of the others‘ subjectivity.
1
According to Husserl, kinesthesis or kinaesthetic sensations are perceived movements of one‘s own body which allows the subject receptor to distinct movements that affect the object from the movements that affect one‘s own body or more precisely the movements whose one is the initiator and the subject.
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4. EMPATHY AS A PHENOMENON ―The communication or comprehension of gestures is obtained through the reciprocity of my intentions and others‘ gestures, of my gestures, of my intentions readable in others‘ behaviour‖, Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of Perception, 1945 [22], (p. 215). ―It‘s through my body that I understand others, as it‘s through my body that I perceive ―things‖‖, Merleau-Ponty, Op. cit., (p. 215).
Empathy, reflected on quite extensively, is not exempt of different terminologies, even in a phenomenological approach. Thus, various definitions have emerged around the project of ―intentionality‖, like a basic intentional capacity, a unique type of intentional act, and an intentional general process. It is through the shared experience of the world given by others‘ presence that objectivity can be constructed. But for Husserl, the body is the main instrument in the capacity of sharing experience with others. What we make of the behaviour of other implicitly intelligible agents is the fact that their body is lived not like a material body (körper) but rather like something alive (le ib), something similar to our experience of body acted, of body lived. Thus the concept of others is not directly presented or given to me but indicated, and in the first place through their body. The live body, through its kinematics, shows us that it has got a life within, a vital strength. When I see another man, his body -that is given to me in person via perception, like any other physical object- tells me that it is the body of some conscience. By analogy with this experience of my body as Leib, I can perceive the other‘s body as body-ofanother-man (―analogical appresentation‖). Husserl, refuting the analogical reasoning, specifies that it is by a spontaneous process of my conscience that a body takes on the meaning of ―other‖ facing me. The body of ―another‖ ―gets its meaning from an aperceptive transposition originating from my own body‖ 19. For Merleau-Ponty 22, it is through his body, considered as a system of grips on the world and manifestation in my perceptual field, that ―others‖ come into being. It then enables me to read others‘ intentions and gestures, as ―the gesture is in front of me like a question, it shows me some sensitive areas of the world, it motions me to join it. …. There is acknowlegment of others by me and of me by others‖ (p. 216). Empathy is deeply anchored in the experience of our lived body, and it is this experience that enables us to recognise others not as bodies with a mind but as persons of the same kind. According to Husserl, there couldn‘t be perception without conscience of the acted body. Empathy is what makes me recognise ―another‖ not as a mere object but as an alter ego who, despite his persistent difference, aims at the same world I do (Husserl, in 5). He was therefore able to renew the comprehension of empathy and to anticipate the development of modern neurosciences because he hasn‘t made it the foundation of inter-subjectivity : on the contrary, he has made inter-subjectiivity the starting point of the understanding of empathy. Stein (1912-1964, in 14) specifies that the concept of empathy is not only just limited to the feelings or emotions of others. There would seem to be a more elementary connotation of empathy : the other is experienced as the other as well as themselves through recognition of the similarity. An important part of this similarity lies in the mutual experience of the action. This mutual experience then turns out to be the backbone of the shared identity. In a neoHusserlian approach
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the involuntary coupling of our ―live‖ body with the ―live‖ body of the other in perception and action ; the imaginary transposition of oneself in the other‘s situation ; the interpretation of ―another‖ as an Other for oneself, and of oneself as an Other for the other ; The ethical and moral perception of others.
The empathic experience is stratified, as is shown in the static method : the first donation is perceptive, the other appears in my perceptual field and the next levels of apprehension of the Other build up from this first step:
The first form of empathy, the dynamic coupling (paarung)2 of ―live‖ bodies of oneself and the other, refers to the pre-reflexive level of perception and action. It is an instant phenomenon, direct, primary and passive, in the way that it is not initiated voluntarily, and makes up the foundation of all the other forms of empathy. Here we recognise Husserl‘s influence in ―passive syntheses‖ of the experience -automatic, antipredicative and bodily lived manifestations. Fuchs sees in the Husserlian passive syntheses the phenomenon of bodily movement taking part in the implicit knowledge of oneself and the other (in 24). Gallese 13 describes two types of identity (social identity for some, subjectivity for others) in order to account for the constancy of social interactions through species and cultures : an identity as unicity (i.e. that we own individually : i-identity) and a shared identity (i.e. that we share with others : sidentity). The latter is governed by a series of ―implicit certainties‖ that we would presumably receive about the individuals we come to mix with. These ―implicit certainties‖, consituent of the inter-subjective relationship, contribute to the sense of the other. The sense of identity with the other then gives rise to the shared identity. For Gallese, a prereflexive, implicit form of comprehension of the other is founded on a strong sense of identity that connects us to one another.
This coupling (or pairing) represents a connection between self and other on the basis of their physical similarity. This similarity doesn‘t just work at a visual perceptual level where the body image appears to the conscience like an intentional object, but more at a posture, gesture and movement level, i.e. at an unconscious bodygraph level. Therefore, empathy is not merely a projection as in Lipps or Freud‘s sense but definitely the experience of the other as a living physical subject. The imaginary transposition (Ubertragung) in others‘ lived psyche represents the second form of empathy. An active, conscious and even voluntary operation spontaneously adds on to the immediate passive and perceptive apprehension through which I endeavour to access the other‘s conscience. Instead of a coupling of self and other, involuntary and simple, the processes of cognitive perspective-taking are used to imagine or mentally transpose self into the Other‘s position. This mediation that 2
Paarung refers to the linking, the pairing, the coupling.
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takes place while it is impossible to access the other‘s conscience is the very fact of the imagination founded on perception, however diferred : all happens ―as if‖ (als ob) I could be in their place without actually going there. This transposition (Versetzung)3 testifies in favour of the spatialisation of the imagination: I am here (hier, hic) and, in a way, there (dort, illic) too, and in favour of its deep roots in the spatialisation of the intercorporelle relationship brought to light in the first stage. Both components are distinct however simultaneous, and articulate like both angles of the same experience (there are, inseparably, what the other shows me by appearing in the perceptive field and what they allow me to understand of them through the act of imagination); The third form of empathy is founded on comprehension and interpretation of others in communication and language. According to Husserl, this level is not constituent, the experience of others is given in the perception and the imagination. It doesn‘t presuppose the gestural or verbal communication that only just comes as an addition. Stein devises the term ―repeated‖ empathy to signify that I perceive myself through the perspective of the other and consequently understand myself, like an individual in an inter-subjective world; The last form of empathy is the recognition of the Other who deserves to be paid attention and respect. In an evolutionist perspective, according to Piaget and Tomasello, the moral comprehension starts to emerge when the children perceive others as intentional agents. This is not the result of any rules laid down by the adults but instead of the capacity to experiment empathy. Today, as we reject a timeworn Kantian moral philosophy, we come to think that moral feelings appear first, followed by moral principles [7]. Here, ethics must be apprehended as a responsibility towards a person who feels emotions. For Husserl, the ethical or affective dimension is not more constituent of experience that the linguistic dimension. His reasoning is then governed by the need to know, his conception of inter-subjectivity by the need to know the others. This view was criticised by Scheler [24] insisting on the fundamentally ethical and affective nature of the experience of others.
5. NATURALISATION OF EMPATHY: A NEUROPHENOMENOLOGICAL MODEL ―Conscious biology draws towards philosophy‖ Merleau-Ponty, Today‘s philosophy, 1958-1959 [23]
The emergentist model of enaction as proposed by Varela and eluding reductionism has allowed a new form of naturalisation of the conscience. Is empathy also on the way of being naturalised ? The numerous findings tend to prove it, as Gallese and Thompson‘s works show. As for Decety‘s, they still seem too close to the neo-darwinian theories and the neuropsychological model.
3
Versetzung means movement, transposition, transfer.
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But here, this reasoning must urge us to think of empathy as a ―return to things themselves‖4 [20]. Like so, phenomenology naturally falls within the scope of this reasoning which consists of the study of phenomena, not of the facts through phenomenological reduction (or epoch, l‗epoche). ―This is a test description of our direct experience as it is and regardless of its psychological genesis and explanations of its causality.‖ [22]. A phenomenological approach implies giving up on the natural attitude and, in this way, going -as Blankenburg underlines- ―against the current of the way science understands itself‖. We must then abandon or rather put aside all pre-supposed or theoretical a priori which are likely to interfere with or to marr the experiential lived of the world, in the broad sense of the term. This ―conversion of light‖, term used by Merleau-Ponty [22] to come back to experience which is the source of perception, is a conversion linked to a reviewer of science and traditional reflexive philosophy. In other words, phenomenology makes clear the absolute proximity of the observer to the observed object, and the phenomenological reduction alone according to Sartre- allows us to go back beyond the psychic, beyond man‘s position in the world to the source of mankind, of the world and of the psychic: the conscience transcendental. That is how it gets away from theory and tips the scales in favour of praxis. According to Varela, the enact must return to the human experience thanks to a nontheoretical but embodied reflexion in which body and mind are just one. This emergence of ―embodied5 cognition‖ stems from the structural coupling with the environment. This means that there is no pre-given, or a-priori, but simply physically experienced implicit phenomena. At a phenomenological level the mind is by nature alive to ―inter-subjectivity‖ as it essentially develops through the interaction with other minds (Husserl, 1960; Zahavi, 1996, 2001; Thompson, 2001, in [31]). The inter-subjectivity then requires a mental process described by Thompson [32] as ―the other‘s pre-thought, passive experience, being embodied as self‖ (p. 12). Mishara, of phenomenological allegiance, also referred to embodied cognition to describe the common sense that is then recorded in identical phenomena [24]. And this is how phenomenology and enact can converge to the same end: the effective experience. Today, we don‘t need to demonstrate the irreducibility of the conscience phenomenon to empirical justification anymore; however, such a step forward should not let us forget the necessity of ecological conditions for the scientific experimentation. For Varela and Shear [34], phenomenology is not transcendental but, in accordance with the etymological meaning of the term, it helps explain what appears as ―first person‖ in order to naturalise it. In the wake of Varela, Thompson [32] sails towards the human experience of empathy (mutual circulation) through different currents like cognitive sciences, phenomenology and Buddhist contemplative psychology. He claims that this human experience constitutionally depends on dynamic coupling and on synchronisation of self and other in empathy, and that phenomenology and contemplative psychology reveal a relational inter-subjectivity older than the concepts of reification of ―self‖ and ―other―. Besides, he suggests bringing together sciences and contemplative experience. However, this will only be
4
Zurück zu den Sachen selbst, where Sache means matter, stake, cause more than thing in the sense of physical object. 5 The word embodiment means ―corporéité‖ in Merleau-Ponty‘s sense of the word. Corporéité refers to the body both as lived structure and as context or scene of the cognitive mechanisms.
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possible if sciences reconcile with ―the first person‖6 experience (as opposed to ―the third person‖) by incorporating it directly in the empirical research methods. From this new approach of methodology ―neurophenomenology‖7 can rise. A phenomenology of empathy could stem from the conjunction of the body, the ―flesh being‖, and the ―other self‖, l‘alter ego. As Minkowski said, man is made to seek humans. Finally Depraz, following Francisco Varela, underlines that the primacy granted to others is embodied in a same experiential practice of compassion, despite the differences of epistemological and metaphysical perspectives in Husserlian , spiritual and ethical phenomenology in Buddhism [5, 6, 33, 35, 36].
DISCUSSION Dr P. Houillon - The definition of empathy is more difficult than it seems. Its formulation conveys what the author makes of it and what use he expects of it. The very documented study of the authors of this communication goes through different currents that took interest in this question with the vocabulary and in the spirit of their discipline. That‘s how they pertinently called to mind Husserl and the neo-Husserlian movement, Carl Rogers, Freud… as many authors who studied the modes of relation to others. It‘s not surprising that they each have their view on empathy. If we were to be exhaustive, we would have to synthesize the proposals of each of them but this would mean, without a doubt, running the risk of syncretism. What we have just heard can be linked with the usual definitions. However they are not completely free from pitfalls. To summarise, empathy is then considered an ability to put oneself in somebody else‘s place, understand others, interpret the behaviour of an alter ego, of a ―person‖ like us, that is to say of someone who thinks what another thinks, who can imagine others‘ beliefs, grasp a state of mind, who has the sense of self and the sense of others. In such a statement, the question of otherness is not being raised. Yet there is no possible empathy without the conscience of otherness. Isn‘t that because the other is perceived as other, as ―stranger‖ that empathy becomes of value and makes sense? Otherwise it might get altered by the therapist‘s change of heart when he is carried away by indulgence for support or by personal felt, which won‘t allow him the required objectivity. To say that empathy is issued from inter-subjectivity, as we were reminded, clearly means that it is part of an interpersonal relationship that can only reach its dimension if there is sufficient work space for the therapist‘s language and personal approach. Pr M. Laxenaire - I would like to make two comments concerning your very thorough speech: You didn‘t mention the term ―congruence‖ well in use a while ago following Carl Rogers‘ work. Congruence is the adequacy between what is expressed and what is lived. Carl 6
Daniel Dennet uses the English neologism ―auto phenomenological‖ to describe this methodology in the ―first person‖ inspired by phenomenology. It is still deeply criticised by Dennet [4] who follows the ―heterophenomenological‖ (or neutral) method in the ―third person‖ where the conscience can only be investigated as the other‘s conscience. He rejects science in the ―first person‖ (related to the Husserlian phenomenology), though accepted by Husserl, James and Varela. Some will furthermore see in the heterophenomenology something like a non-phenomenological conception [25]. 7 According to Bitbol, science expanded to the neurophenomenology sense is a science linking the subjective and the objective via the common rules of inter-subjective coordination.
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Rogers theorised about empathy in the context of the ―meeting groups‖ he contributed to form. My second comment relates to a completely different phenomenon; during a conference, J.-P. Changeux showed brain images gathered from subjects in an empathic state that were entirely symmetrical: the same brain areas were activated at the same time in the subject experiencing pain and in the subject feeling that same pain as the other. Dr C.-J. Blanc - We should thank our colleague, Dr Boulanger, for bringing back the debate on the concept of empathy which is a key element of intersubjective relationships, of aesthetic experience and, of course, of the patient-doctor relationship. A concept ―nomade‖, it was said. We must however define it to retain its relevance. Fortunately, in the diagnostic and therapeutic relationship within the area of our specialisation, the use of empathy lessens the lack of life generated by statistical questionnaires and surveys that, in the name of objectivity turn the lived experience of subjectivity into ―algebraic smokes‖, as Karl Jaspers said a very long time ago… Relational semiology through empathy and direct emotional contact is of course favourite among all the positions that claim an understanding of phenomenology of subjectivity. While on this theme, let‘s point out Natalie Depraz‘ excellent work on the ―Conscience‖ (which I have analysed in our review) and Ferdinand Alquie‘s on ―The Emotional Conscience‖ as sources of knowledge. Natalie Depraz, in connection with F. Varela‘s work, has suggested interesting neurophenomenological approaches that as usual reopen the renowned ―Brain-mind problem‖. Varela‘s proposition to resort to Buddhist metaphysics sets problems and gives rise to many reservations as we Westerners are immersed in Graeco-Roman and Judeo-Christian cultures. With regards to the Anglo-Saxon ―peak experiences‖ in the aesthetic, philosophical and mystical areas, the concept of empathy stands among configurations surrounded by two other key concepts: esemplasie or ―unity and whole‖ used by the English romantic poets, in particular Coleridge, and developed by Schelling in his reflections on aesthetic experience, and of course ―l‘epoche‖, the Husserlian reduction, the brackets that form the reversed movement of the previous concept. Once again, thank you to Dr Boulanger for this communication of an exceptional interest. The reporter‘s response - To Dr Houillon: Those brief comments would, of course, require to be developed further, especially as others‘ experience is still an almost infinite field of research as it introduces many theories. Regarding the position of otherness as a necessary condition of the emergence of empathy, I have chosen to focus on the main current, phenomenology which I experiment within clinical psychopathology. Here the problem resides in that we stand at two different levels, conceptual and temporal altogether. Otherness and inter-subjectivity are concepts that do not overlap. According to Husserl, empathy is what helps me recognise the other not as an object only but as an alter ego who, despite their different persistence aims at the same world I do. But at the same time he also insisted on the irreducible difference between my lived experiences and those of others. As for Dan Zahavi, Danish phenomenologist, he attempts to base inter-subjectivity not on the carnal body‘s experience as expression but on the experience of the inherent otherness of my own body as carnal body. In that way, he attempts to delink the question of the constitution of intersubjectivity through empathy from that of inter-subjectivity that he calls constituent. To Pr Laxenaire: You are right to underline the essential nature of Carl Rogers‘ work explaining the emphatic process in the therapeutic relationship. Carl Rogers is the creator of client-focused counselling. He sets empathy in the centre of humanistic perspective in clinical
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psychology. The ―listening techniques rogerienne‖ represent a dynamic process that is perfectly defined by three bench marks: the unconditional positive consideration, congruence and empathy. The first principle proceeds from a total respect of the person, without any judgement or any intention to impose a way of thinking, in the a priori acceptance of their honesty and choices. This dimension of the utmost importance implies focusing on the person we are listening to. But, even though that might seem a paradox, it requires to be focused on oneself too, in an attitude Rogers defines as authenticity or ―congruence‖. Without congruence or unconditional positive consideration, there cannot be empathy. There‘s got to be a prior and permanent adjustment between the three attitudes. Still according to Rogers, empathy can then be defined as the therapist‘s ability to ―perceive accurately others‘ internal reference system, with their related components and meanings, without ever losing sight of the as if―. In reality, empathy consists in recognising others‘ immediate emotional state yet without losing ours at that same time. However, putting oneself in others‘ position is not enough to understand them empathically. It is indeed essential to share some history, a life event that finds an echo in our own lived experience. Lately, the American phenomenologist Shaun Gallagher underlined the role of narrative competency in the emphatic process. The necessary conditions for its achievement require temporal integration abilities, minimal self reference, episodic memory and metacognition. With regards to emotional neuro-imaging, issued from neuro-sciences revolution, the few works on the subject (Jackson et al., 2004; Singer et al., 2004) have confirmed what we knew already at a theoretical level. These experiences mainly evaluate empathy through measurements of pain perception in others. Tania Singer‘s team studied cerebral activation in fMRI in women when they are put through electric shocks on their hands and when they are watching their husband being put through a similar pain stimulus. In the latter situation, they were warned a few seconds prior to the shock that it was going to be administered, and they could see their husband‘s hand contract with pain in a mirror. The results showed that brain areas underlying the subjective representation of pain (anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex) were sought in both situations. On the other hand, the sensorimotor areas (in control of the exact location of the bodily pain and the objective intensity of the pain) were sought in the first situation only. The other‘s pain then became their own. Their brain had claimed its ownership. Besides, the activation of the anterior insula and the anterior cingulate cortex correlated with the individual scores of empathy. The results then suggest that empathy for others‘ pain implies the non-sensorial emotional component of our experience of pain. Singer consequently maintains that our ability for empathy is likely to have evolved from a representational system of our own internal bodily states. Another team, led by Philippe Jackson, has also demonstrated in fMRI that the evaluation of pain induced by a painful situation also implied neural networks gathered in pain. In order to do this, they showed photos of painful daily life situations to subjects required to measure their intensity. The activations found again in the anterior insular cortex, the thalamus and the posterior part of the anterior cingulate cortex correlated with the intensity of pain imagined. Yet, the absence of activation in the somatosensory cortex invalidates the implication of the ―mirror‖ neuron theory in empathy. All these results show the implication of communal brain areas and at the same time others, distinct, depending on whether the imagination‘s target is bound to oneself or bound to the other. This difference in brain treatment between self-perspective and perspective of others seems essential for an individual to understand the intentions and actions of his kind. Moreover, researchers have noticed a dysfunction of those brain areas
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involved in self-consciousness and occurring through dissociative disorders (particularly of the bodygraph) in persons suffering of schizophrenia. In reality, for the humans, the primary level in understanding others is associated with self-consciousness and consciousness of others for which the lower prefrontal and parietal cortex play a prevailing role. Both these brain areas are essential in the mechanisms that allow us to understand that we, as the others, experience mental states that generate our behaviours, and more generally engender emphatic comprehension. To Dr C.-J. Blanc - Regarding the relationship between phenomenology and Buddhism, I think that the Oriental influenced practice of compassion guides us, in spite of us, towards the development of therapeutic relationship. Besides, there are some relational techniques we can refer to, like the access to the physical dimension like touch, for example. While Edith Stein, one of Husserl‘s students, was able to introduce empathy as a mystical experience of incarnation and has thus succeeded to reach the notion of an ever-present God in us through empathy, Nathalie Depraz associates phenomenology not to Christianity anymore but to Buddhism. A way of knowledge, meditation and ethics, Buddhism offers as many trails to explore than there are ways of approach. As Evan Thompson underlines, Buddhism then gives the opportunity to cross fields of study such as phenomenology or cognitive sciences. From then on we can expand this vision to the neuroscientific knowledge and research in general. The paradigm of the enact as described by Varela is the answer that consists in looking at cognition in a different way than as a system of formal rules, and differently than as a neurons network. The method that Varela stands for, as odd as it may seem, is that of the Buddhist meditation. Close to phenomenology that has a view to return to things as they actually occur to us, the outlook of this research discourages any thought of reaching any stable and universal foundation. Thereafter, it outlines a new ethical requirement for the scientists consisting of being aware of the absence of absolute truth, and of the danger of all dogmatism. For Varela, ethics represent, in the first place, an action, a way to face up, immediately, to a situation. What wisdom has commended, particularly Oriental wisdom, is a progressive improving of this practical position. To know right from wrong, what is best to do, is not, as it happens, simply a matter of views and theoretical discernment.
CONCLUSION We saw that empathy constitutes a multiform and heterogeneous concept that in consequence expresses itself through different phenomena like projection, imitation, identification and altruism. The emphatic phenomenon is behind all therapeutic relationship. Emphatic and kind listening skills are required as well as a general attitude bringing out a sense of worth. It is essential to adopt a reassuring and gentle position and to favour access to the body, through touch for instance [15]. Consequently, mental health professionals must appreciate the intersubjectivity relational aspects and stakes, the notions of vulnerability and suffering. Ethics relational, founded on our relationships and reciprocal commitments, is our ability to be attentive to, receptive to and concerned about others. It then becomes a necessary condition and an essential dimension for the encounter to take place.
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[37] Wispe L. History of the Concept of Empathy. In: Eisenberg N, Strayer J, editors. Empathy and its Development. Cambridge Universtiy Press; 1987. [38] Worringer W. Abstraction et Einfühlung. Paris: Klincksieck; 1977.
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Chapter 6
THE CONTEXT OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: SOCIAL AND CONTEXTUAL FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH PARTNER VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN Enrique Gracia University of Valencia, Spain
VISIBLE BUT UNREPORTED: THE SOCIAL VISIBILITY OF PARTNER VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN Available data indicates a high prevalence of partner violence against women in our societies. The World Health Organization in its ―World Report on Violence and Health‖ offers a summary of 48 population-based surveys from around the world in which between 10% to 69% of women reported being physically assaulted by an intimate partner at some point in their lives (World Health Organization, 2002). Different surveys in western countries estimate that about one in four women experience intimate partner violence at some point in their lives (American Medical Association, 1994; Bachman, 1994; Bachman and Saltzman, 1995; Browne, 1993; Council of Europe, 2002; Klein, Campbell, Soler, and Ghez, 1997; Straus and Gelles, 1986). For example, an analysis of 10 prevalence studies of partner violence against women in European countries also concluded that about 25% of women suffered domestic violence during their lifetime, and between 6% to 10% of women suffered violence in a given year (Council of Europe, 2002). Despite the high prevalence of partner violence against women, however, many instances of partner violence against women are never reported to legal authorities (APA Presidential Task Force on Violence and the Family, 1996; Bachman, 1994; Bachman and Saltzman, This research was supported by Grants from the Ministry of Education and Science (SEJ2006-08666), and the Ministry of Work and Social Affairs (MUJER2007-PI-090) of Spain. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Enrique Gracia, Departamento de Psicología Social, Facultad de Psicología, Universitat de València, Avda. Blasco Ibáñez 21, 46010 Valencia (Spain). Email:
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1995; Heise, Ellsberg and Gottemoeller, 1999; Straus and Gelles, 1986). The ―Report of the American Psychological Association Presidential Task Force on Violence and the Family‖ (1996) concluded that all indications are that family violence and abuse are significantly under-reported at all levels of society, and estimates that female victims of domestic violence are 6 times less likely to report the crime to law enforcement officials than female victims of stranger violence (Bachman, 1994; Bachman y Saltzman, 1995). For example, in a national crime survey sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, when an injury was inflicted upon a woman by her intimate partner, she reported the violence to the police only 55% of the time and she was even less likely to report the violence when she did not sustain injury (Bachman and Saltzman, 1995). In a Canadian study the percentage of spouse violence against women not reported to the police was 60% (Bunge and Locke, 2000). Other data sources provide even lower rates of reported incidents of partner violence against women. For example, the Florida Governor's Task Force on Domestic and Sexual Violence (1997) estimated that only about one-seventh of all domestic assaults come to the attention of the police. Also, Kaufman-Kantor and Straus (1990), after examining a nationally representative sample found that 93% of domestic assaults were not reported to the police. In Europe, a Spanish study confirmed also that many instances of partner violence against women are seldom reported to the authorities, representing only between 4% and 11% of the total estimated cases. For example, 70% of women victims of fatal partner violence never reported any past incidents to the authorities (Instituto de la Mujer, 2008). The fact that most of the cases of partner violence against women are not reported to authorities is one side of the problem of domestic violence that has received little attention by scholars and researchers in this field. This side of the problem is usually represented by a metaphor: The iceberg of domestic violence (see Gracia, 2004). That is, reported cases of domestic violence against women represent only a very small part of the victims when compared with prevalence data. In this metaphor, reported cases of partner violence against women (usually the most severe end of violence) represent only the tip of the iceberg. Most cases are submerged, have no official existence, and are invisible to protective services. But, are they also invisible to society, to the social context surrounding the victims? Available data suggest that many cases of partner violence against women not reported to the authorities are known within the social circle of the victim (e.g., relatives, neighbors, friends, co-workers, acquaintances). For example, in the USA, the Lieberman Survey found that almost 30% of the respondents reported that they knew a woman who was currently a victim of physical abuse (Klein et al., 1997). Also, in a survey with a representative sample of 15 countries of the European Union (European Commission, 1999; Gracia and Herrero, 2006a), 36% of male and 45% of female respondents knew a victim of partner violence against women in their social circle of work, studies, family, neighborhood or friends. Also, in this survey, respondents knew someone who had subjected a woman to some form of domestic violence in the same places. Data indicates that although many cases of partner violence against women are officially invisible (not reported to the legal authorities), they are, in many instances, socially visible. It is important, therefore, to understand not only why women do not leave a violent relationship, or why they do not report it to the police (Bachman, 1994; Dobash and Dobash, 1979; Shrader and Sagot, 2000; see Rhodes, 1998, for a review), but also is important to understand public responses to incidents of partner violence against women. This has been, however, a
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rather neglected area of scholarly attention in the field of partner violence against women. In the next sections of this chapter we will review research examining public perceptions, attitudes and responses to partner violence against women, as well as social and contextual factors influencing this perceptions, attitudes and responses. The idea that lies behind this analysis is that these factors play an important role in shaping the social environment in which partner violence against women takes place, which, in turn, may foster or reduce levels of partner violence against women in our societies.
SOCIAL ATTITUDES AND RESPONSES TOWARD PARTNER VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN Public concern and awareness of the pervasiveness of partner violence against women has significantly increased over the last decades. But does this growing public concern and awareness translate into a greater personal and collective sense of responsibility towards partner violence against women (Klein et al., 1997)? Are those who are aware of instances of partner violence against women prepared to get personally involved? Research focusing on public attitudes and responses concerning partner violence against women is sparse compared to the scholarly attention on other issues such as prevalence, consequences or intervention (Goodman, Koss, Fitzgerald, Russo, and Keita, 1993). However, public attitudes and responses regarding partner violence against women play an important role in shaping the social environment in which the victims are embedded, a social environment that can contribute either to condone and perpetuate, or to reduce levels of partner violence against women in our societies. The World Health Organization in its ―World report on violence and health‖ (2002) considered among the larger societal factors that influence rates of violence, those that create an acceptable climate for violence, and those that reduce inhibitions against violence. A view shared by Goodman et al. (1993) who believe that without a fundamental change in the social attitudes that perpetuate male violent acts against women the problem of violence against women will not be solved. As Biden (1993) put it ―we cannot hope to respond effectively to violence against women unless we confront and condemn the attitudes that nurture the violence‖ (p. 1060). There is a growing consensus on the importance of addressing the societal conditions that contribute to partner violence against women for effective prevention efforts (e.g., APA, Presidential Task Force on Violence and the Family, 1996; Gelles, 1983, 1993; Gracia, 2004; WHO, 2002). This contextual approach recognizes the constraints of the social environment that women often find to protect themselves, prevent further victimization or to escape the abuse (Gelles, 1999; Hampton, Jenkins and Vandergriff-Avery, 1999). Public attitudes and responses against partner violence against women are necessary ingredients for a more responsive social environment, thus contributing to the social control of domestic violence (e.g., Fagan, 1993, 1990; Gelles, 1983; Lackey and Williams, 1995). As Fagan (1993) argued, the social networks in which the couples are embedded, the levels of social control and the social capital within the community may play an important role in preventing partner violence against women. This view reminds us that responses to partner violence against women do not need to be restricted only to institutional initiatives, and that the public also needs to get involved, to be concerned, to claim more responsibility and personal accountability, and to
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play a more active role. In the words of Kelly (1996) ―nor is it solely the responses of agencies within communities that express regard and affect women‘s dignity and safety but also those of individuals within women‘s kinship and friendship networks, their neighborhoods and workplaces‖ (p. 67). Public attitudes of indifference or passivity contribute to maintain a climate of social tolerance. As Jenkins (1996) noted, silence remains a prevalent community response to partner violence against women, and those who know about the violence but choose to be silent and passive contribute to ―perpetuate a regime of silence, denial, and neglect –a regime in which survivors assume they will not be believed and outsiders continue to disbelieve‖ (Biden, 1993, p. 1060). This is an important issue because the silence and inhibition of the social environment surrounding the victims contributes to create a climate of social tolerance that not only reduces inhibitions for perpetrators but also probably makes it more difficult for women to make domestic violence visible, choosing not to report or abandon the relationship (Biden, 1993; Gracia, 2004; Lackney and Williams, 1995). A social environment that condones or even supports domestic violence makes it more likely for perpetrators to persist in their violent behavior (e.g., Bennet and Williams, 1999; Fagan, 1990; Harden and Koblinsky, 1999; Klein et al., 1997). On the other hand, as Klein et al. (1997) argued, a social environment (including neighbors, friends, co-workers, or acquaintances) that does not sanction implicitly violence by remaining silent, can be important to encourage people to challenge domestic violence, and to promote behavioral change. From this viewpoint, a better understanding of public attitudes and responses toward partner violence against women may add relevant knowledge to the social conditions that contribute to partner violence against women, as well as the social sources of deterrence and control of domestic violence.
TOLERANT AND INTOLERANT RESPONSES TO PARTNER VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN Responses of silence, passivity and inhibition are still common responses to known incidents of partner violence (Biden, 1993; Gracia, 2004; Jenkins, 1996; Klein et al., 1997). In many instances, though, those surrounding the victims of partner violence against women are, indeed, willing to act, responding in different ways when they become aware of an incident. Different responses from the social environment that surrounds the victims can, however, carry forward different messages for perpetrators, victims, and the wider community in which they are embedded. In addition to the silence and inhibition, two types of public responses to partner violence against women can be identified: mediating and reporting responses. Examples of mediating responses are offering support and understanding, advising, helping with decision making, talking to the couple, or reproaching the offender (Gracia, García, and Lila, 2009; Mahlstedt and Keeny, 1993; West and Wandrei, 2002). Reporting responses are those public responses that set the law enforcement in motion by reporting the incident to the authorities (acts of partner violence against women are considered unacceptable and punishable by the law). For different reasons, mediating responses are clearly preferred by those aware of incidents of partner violence against women (Gracia et al., 2009). Something that is well illustrated when reported cases of partner violence against women data are compared with
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prevalence data (Bachman and Saltzman, 1995; Gracia, 2004). The preference for mediating responses could indicate that the social circle surrounding the women victims of partner violence against women assume or believe that they prefer the help and advice of friends and family members rather than to involve the law enforcement system (Rhodes and McKenzie, 1998; West and Wandrei, 2002). A more intolerant response such as reporting to the police is probably viewed as a last resource only to be used for extreme cases of partner violence against women (Gracia and Herrero, 2006b; Loseke, 1989; Loseke and Gelles, 1993; Muehlenhard and Kimes, 1999). Perhaps reporting responses are considered appropriate only for incidents that reach an ―intolerable‖ level of violence (i.e., extreme, severe or repeated violence). Other instances of partner violence against women (perhaps most instances) that are not considered as such, and consequently do not reach the ―intolerable‖ level (i.e. totally unacceptable and always punishable by law), would deserve a more tolerant response (i.e., mediating responses). As Worden and Carlson (2005) noted, it is unlikely to use legal protections, or to recommend its use to others, if one believes that some levels of violence are normal or justifiable, or that women are responsible for managing their partners‘ behavior. Reporting responses may be considered appropriate only for incidents where the victim is perceived not to be involved, either in mutual violence or fighting back (Gracia, García, and Lila, 2009; Johnson and Ferraro, 2000). Also, if bystanders blame the victim, the likelihood to use more intolerant responses, such as reporting, will be probably lower. This is a relevant issue because research has showed that there are still widespread victim-blaming attitudes (Gracia and Herrero, 2006a; Klein et al. 1997), and as psychosocial research has showed, being held responsible for their own victimization reduces significantly the chances of receiving help (Lerner, 1970, 1980; Weiner, 1980, 1995). Finally, reporting responses may be viewed by respondents as highly costly ones, involving fear of potential reprisals by the aggressor, fear of negative consequences for the women, negative reactions from the victims, and a time consuming or unwanted relationship with the law enforcement system (Aldarondo and Sugarman, 1996; Klein et al., 1997). It is important to note, however, that according to different scholars, it is a social environment characterized by higher levels of intolerance towards known incidents of partner violence against women the one that may act as an inhibiting force for perpetrators, and may reduce inhibitions towards reporting both for witnesses as well as for victims (Fagan, 1993; Gelles, 1983; Gracia, 2004; Kelly, 1996; Klein et al., 1997).
SOCIAL CONTEXTS THAT FOSTER PARTNER VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: DEPRIVATION AND DISORDER IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS A long tradition in social sciences research has aimed to understand the link between deprivation in communities and neighborhoods and rates of violence and crime (e.g., Anderson, 1978; Sampson, Raudenbush, and Earls, 1997; Wilson, 1987). This research tradition that emphasizes the macrosocial or community level of explanation has also gain great appeal for those scholars who aim to analyze the phenomenon of domestic violence beyond the individual and situational levels of explanation (Short, 1985; Sampson y Lauritsen, 1994; Lauritsen y Schaum, 2004). Indeed, a sizeable body of research has illustrated the relationship between rates of domestic violence and different neighborhood
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characteristics, such as deprivation, social disorder, or social impoverishmen (e.g., Benson, Greer, DeMaris, and Van Wyk, 2003; Browning, 2002; Cunradi, Caetano, Clark, and Schafer., 2000; O'Campo, Gielen, Faden, Xue, Kass, and Wang, 1995). To explain this relationship, a number of scholar have proposed that deprivation and disorder in residential areas contribute to create a climate of tolerance and acceptability of partner violence against women, which in turn may contribute to its greater incidence in these communities. In terms of Sampson and Lauritsen (1994) these community contexts ―seem to shape what can be termed cognitive landscapes or ecologically structured norms (e.g., normative ecologies) regarding appropriate standards and expectations of conduct‖ (p. 63). For Sampson and Lauritsen (1994), structurally disorganized communities are conducive to the emergence of subcultural value systems and attitudes that seem to legitimate, or at least provide a basis of tolerance for, crime and violence. Drawing from ethnographic research (e.g., Anderson, 1978; Horowitz, 1987), Sampson and Lauritsen emphasize the idea that dominant values become irrelevant in certain community contexts. In a context in which violence and crime is part of everyday life, and where it tends not to be condemned but, rather, tolerated, the probability of violent incidents will probably increase (Anderson, 1978; Horowitz, 1987). Diminished social control has been also considered as a relevant factor responsible for the relationship between neighborhood characteristics and violence. According to Sampson et al. (1997), ―social control refers generally to the capacity of a group to regulate its members according to desired principles—to realize collective, as opposed to forced, goals‖ (p. 918). For Sampson and his colleagues (Sampson and Raudenbush, 1999; Sampson et al., 1997), a reason why some neighborhoods show low levels of violence is that residents are able to control behavior in their own neighborhoods. Conversely, concentrated disadvantage and disorder in neighborhoods have been linked to the lack of social control in the community (Janowitz, 1975; Perkins, Meeks, and Taylor, 1992; Ross and Jang, 2000; Sampson and Raudenbush, 1999; Taylor and Shumaker, 1990). Neighborhoods where residents perceive high levels of social disorder create a sense of danger and insecurity, making residents afraid to take an active and prosocial role in their communities and therefore reducing levels of social control (Ross and Jang, 2000; Ross and Mirowsky, and Pribesh, 2001; Skogan and Maxfield, 1981; Taylor and Shumaker, 1990; Wilson and Kelling, 1982). For example, Gracia and Herrero (2007) found that perceived neighborhood social disorder was negatively associated to attitudes toward reporting partner violence against women, thus reducing the willingness of residents to exert social control. In another study, Gracia et al. (2009) showed that residents perceiving high levels of neighborhood social disorder were not only more exposed to incidents of partner violence against women, as they reported knowing more victims, but also found that high levels of perceived neighborhood social disorder were associated with low levels of perceived severity of incidents of partner violence against women, higher acceptability of partner violence, and higher degree of victim-blaming. These results supported the idea that impoverished residential areas can help create an acceptable climate for partner violence against women. According to these ideas, deprivation, disorder and social impoverishment can foster a sub-culture of tolerance, where violence can be seen as an acceptable way to solve interpersonal conflicts or to increase personal status (Wolfang and Ferracuti, 1982). When tolerance and acceptability characterize the values and behavioral expectations related to the use of violence in these communities, the informal social control of violence in general, and
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partner violence in particular, will be of little relevance. As some research suggest (e.g., Browning, 2002), informal social control has greater regulatory power in neighborhoods with lower tolerance of partner violence. As Browning (2002) noted, ―violence between intimate partners may not be recognized as deviant in some communities and therefore would not trigger the mobilization of social control‖ (p. 835). The above considerations illustrate the theoretical and empirical relevance of applying concepts such as social disorganization and disorder to the field of domestic violence (see also, Browning, 2002), and suggest the need of further research on neighborhood and other contextual factors that may influence public attitudes of tolerance and acceptability of partner violence against women. A better understanding of neighborhood and other contextual factors that contribute to create an acceptable climate for partner violence against women would add relevant knowledge that would be useful to orientate public education and prevention efforts.
SOCIAL CONTEXTS THAT FOSTER PARTNER VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: THE CASE OF IMMIGRANT WOMEN Research conducted in different cultural contexts suggests that partner violence is one of the main forms of victimization suffered by immigrant women (e.g., Bachman and Saltzman, 1995; Davis and Erez, 1998; Dasgupta, 2000; Gracia, Herrero, and Lila, 2008; Hazen and Soriano, 2007; Morash, Bui, Zhang and Holtfreter, 2007; Raj and Silverman, 2002). For example, research conducted in U.S.A revealed that ethnicity and immigrant status are associated with higher level of involvement in partner violence (Crowell and Burguess, 1996; Hass, Dutton, and Orloff, 2000; Kantor, Jasinski, and Aldarondo, 1994; Raj y Silverman, 2002; Sorenson and Telles, 1991; Straus, Gelles, and Steinmetz 1980; Tran and Des Jardins, 2000; Van Hightower, Gorton, and DeMoss, 2000). In Europe, a study conducted in in Spain (a country with one of the fastest immigrant population growth in Europe) showed that, despite being a minority group (around 10% of the population), about one third of all reported cases were perpetrated by immigrants. Also, nearly 40% of women victims of fatal partner violence were immigrant women of which 50% were Latin-American (Instituto de la Mujer, 2008). Research efforts have been directed to identify the factors that may explain or mediate this relationship. Sociocultural status, acculturation and gender role attitudes (e.g., Bhanot and Senn, 2007; Jasinski, 1998; Kantor et al., 1994; Perilla, Bakeman, and Rorris, 1994; West, Kantor, and Jasinski, 1998); the stresses and challenges associated to the immigrant status (e.g., Caetano, Cunradi, Clark, and Schafer, 2000; Gracia, Herrero, and Lila, 2009; Hazen, and Soriano, 2007; Rodriguez, 1998); or women‘s perceptions and tolerance of partner violence (e.g., Asbury, 1993; Campbell, Maskai, and Torres, 1997; Gabler, Stern, and Miserandino, 1998; Gondolf, Fisher, and McFerron, 1991), have been considered as important factors that may explain the increased risk for intimate partner violence among minority and immigrant groups. Also, it has been suggested that higher levels of involvement by minorities and immigrants in violence are mediated in part by the community context where they live -environments of extreme poverty or highly disadvantaged, segregation, social isolation (e.g., Benson, Wooldredge, Thistlethwaite, and Fox, 2004; Gracia et al., 2009; Herrero and Gracia, 2005; Sampson and Lauritsen, 1994; Wilson, 1987). However, McLoyd,
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Cauce, Takeuchi, and Wilson (2000) noted in their review that statistical controls for income, education, urbanicity, age and number of children, and duration of marriage reduces, but does not eliminate, the relationship. Another line of inquiry has focused on differences in public attitudes toward partner violence between immigrant and native-born populations, as these attitudes may foster a social climate of acceptability and tolerance among immigrants. For example, Gracia et al. (2008) showed that, compared to native-born respondents, immigrants had greater tolerance of partner violence, greater tendency to blame the women victims of partner violence for their own victimization, and less willingness to exert social control by reporting known cases of partner violence against women to the authorities, These results suggest that there is a more favorable social climate toward partner violence among this population of immigrants. This body of research suggests that, in addition to public education efforts directed to the general population, public policies aiming specifically to reduce the tolerance of domestic violence against women among immigrants, and other minority groups with high levels of incidence of partner violence against women, are clearly needed. If partner violence against women thrives in a social climate of tolerance, without targeting attitudes of tolerance and acceptability through education efforts, it will be difficult to reduce the disproportionate high rates of partner violence against women among these groups of the population.
POLICY IMPLICATIONS: PROMOTING SOCIAL CONTEXTS THAT DISCOURAGE PARTNER VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN Drawing from research data, we have consider how public perceptions, attitudes and responses play an important part in shaping the social environment in which the victims are embedded, which in turn may contribute either to perpetuate or to reduce the levels of partner violence against women. The body of literature we have reviewed in the above sections suggests that a social environment characterized by low levels of tolerance towards partner violence against women, and active public responses to known incidents of partner violence against women may act as an inhibiting force for perpetrators, and may reduce inhibitions towards reporting both for witnesses as well as for victims. Thus, the social context surrounding the victims can contribute to the deterrence and social control of partner violence against women (Banyard, Plante, and Moynihan, 2004; Gracia and Herrero, 2006b; Fagan, 1993; Gelles, 1983; Kelly, 1996; Klein et al., 1997). In this final section, we will discuss the importance of these ideas as they can inform and orientate educational and preventative initiatives, as well as to foster those social conditions that discourage partner violence against women. First, public awareness campaigns should draw public attention to the large number of unreported cases of partner violence against women, pointing out that this is the result not only of the victim‘s silence but also of the silence, tolerance and inhibition of the social circles surrounding the victims (Gracia, 2004). A public education effort is needed to break the silence, to reduce social tolerance, and to increase the level of social responsibility by promoting individual and collective action regarding domestic violence against women. Second, public policies aiming to reduce the acceptability of domestic violence against women are clearly needed. These public education efforts need to transmit the idea that all
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forms of violence are wrong, and must not be accepted under any circumstances. Reaching zero tolerance must be the final aim. Zero Tolerance campaigns, with the aim of challenging social attitudes towards violence against women by their intimate partners, are examples of public education efforts to challenge and change tolerant social contexts towards partner violence against women. Challenging victim blaming attitudes should be also main target for these public education initiatives aiming to reduce levels of acceptability of domestic violence against women, as blaming the victims implies acceptance of violence under some circumstances, and reduces the victims‘ chances of receiving help (Gracia and Herrero, 2006a). Third, if the goal is to reach ―zero tolerance‖ further changes in attitudes and public perceptions of partner violence against women as well as in public sense of responsibility and accountability need to be promoted in public education campaigns. Public education campaigns need to transmit the idea of social responsibility in issues of domestic violence. Increasing ―active‖ social responses (in particular of those who know but choose not to tell) would help break the climate of social tolerance. As Klein et al. (1997) put it, ―public education initiatives can have a tremendous impact in changing behavior, particularly in arenas where individuals need to be given permission and encouragement to challenge other people‘s actions that were once thought to be none of their business‖ (p. 6). To reduce social tolerance and increase feelings of social and personal responsibility towards partner violence against women, public education efforts need to promote attitudes that reinforce the helping role of the social circle that surrounds the victim. As Klein et al. (1997) suggested, ―we need to educate people to recognize that they have a role in helping battered women and to teach them that their behavior matters, and showed them how to get involved‖ (p. 90). Finally, community-based policies and interventions need also to address potential conflicts between individual norms of responsibility towards partner violence against women (e. g. ―report those in danger‖) and community and social norms about the ―private matter‖ that domestic violence still represents (e. g. ―mind your own business‖). Accordingly, a message that should be put forward in public awareness and educational campaigns is that partner violence against women is not a private matter, and reporting is not only the responsibility of the victims but it is also the responsibility of the community, of those who are aware. In this respect, creative approaches are needed to move a private matter into the sphere of public concern, and to translate that public concern into a widespread social consensus for action (Klein et al., 1997). An example of this type of approach which encourages people to question their tacit acceptance of domestic violence was the Family Violence Prevention Fund campaign called ―There‘s No Excuse for Domestic Violence‖, which targeted friends, family and co-workers of victims of abuse who sanction the violence with their silence, and whose actions can help change social norms. This campaign whose key messages are ―domestic violence is everybody‘s business" and "there's no excuse for it‖, includes public service announcements (television, radio and printed media), and encourages citizens to actively address this problem offering free information about how they can help to stop the violence (Family Prevention Fund, 2004; Ghez, 1995; Klein et al., 1997).
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Advances in Psychology Research. Volume 78 Ed: Alexandra M. Columbus
ISBN: 978-1-61209-442-7 © 2011 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
Chapter 7
EXTRAVERSION AND SUICIDAL BEHAVIOR David Lester The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, USA
ABSTRACT There has been a great deal of research on the relationship between suicidality and extraversion/introversion, but no systematic review of this research has yet appeared. The present paper reviews this body of research in order to see if there are any consistent trends and then suggests future directions for research into this issue.
ATTEMPTED SUICIDES In a sample of English psychiatric patients who had attempted suicide, Pallis and Birtchnell (1977) found that the level of suicidal intent was not associated with neuroticism or introversion scores on the MMPI. Furthermore, the attempters did not differ from nonsuicidal psychiatric patients on either scale. Pallis and Jenkins (1977) gave a sample of English attempted suicides the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI: Eysenck and Eysenck, 1964) and found that males with high suicidal intent were more introverted on the impulsive component of extraversion, but not on the sociability component. No association was found for the female attempted suicides. Philip (1970) studied attempted suicides admitted to a Scottish hospital and found that they were somewhat more introverted and very anxious as compare to norms for the 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire (Cattell and Eber, 1965). Ashton, et al. (1994) found that a sample of English attempted suicides had higher introversion, neuroticism and psychoticism scores than normal control subjects on the EPQ. Repeaters were more introverted than first-timers but did not differ in neuroticism or psychoticism. White (1974) found that English adolescent attempted suicides (by drug overdose) had high neuroticism scores but normal introversion scores as compared to norms for the EPI. Beautrais, et al. (1999) studied a sample of serious suicide attempters under the
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age of 25 in New Zealand using the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ: Eysenck and Eysenck, 1975). Compared to controls in the community, the attempted suicides had higher scores for introversion and neuroticism. Murphy, et al. (1983) found that American opiate addicts (who were in treatment) with a history of attempted suicide were more introverted on the Maudsley Personality Inventory (MPI: Jensen, 1958) than those without such a history. Roy (2001, 2002, 2003a, 2003b), in large samples of American patients dependent on opiates or cocaine, found that those who had previously attempted suicide were more introverted and neurotic on the EPQ. There were no differences between black and white attempters in their introversion or neuroticism scores. Roy (1998) compared depressed American patients who had a history of attempted suicide and those who had no such history with healthy controls on the EPQ. The depressed patients who had attempted suicide did not differ in introversion from the patients who had not attempted suicide, but the attempted suicides differed significantly from the healthy controls. Roy‘s report is confused (he talks of lower extraversion/introversion scores and lower introversion scores), but concludes that ―introversion may predispose depressed patients to attempt suicide,‖ indicating that the attempted suicides had lower extraversion scores and, therefore, were more introverted. In a sample of American depressed psychiatric patients, Paykel and Dienelt (1971) found that those who attempted suicide in the following ten months did not differ in introversion or neuroticism on the MPI from those who did not attempt suicide. Koller and Castanos (1968) found that Australian alcoholics who had attempted suicide had higher neuroticism scores on the EPI than those who had not, but the two groups did not differ in extraversion. Diekstra (1974) reported no differences in neuroticism or introversion scores between Dutch attempted suicides and psychiatric controls, although the presentation of data in this paper makes it difficult to understand the precise results and to determine which test was used to measure introversion. Lolas, et al. (1991) found that introversion scores on the EPQ were positively associated with past suicidal ideation and, less strongly, with current suicidal ideation in a sample of female women in Chile who had attempted suicide within the past month. Introversion scores were not associated, however, with a history of prior suicide attempts. Nordstrom, et al. (1995) found that a sample of Swedish attempted suicides scored higher on psychoticism and neuroticism than surgical controls but did not differ in extraversion on the EPQ. Ponnudurai, Jeyakar and Saraswathy (1986) found that a sample of Indian attempted suicides scored high on the extraversion scale of the EPQ (presumably compared to norms for the test although this is not stated). In a sample of Polish prisoners, Pospiszyl (1985) found that self-injurers had higher extraversion scores than non-self-injurers, but in a sample of young people, the attempted suicides had lower extraversion scores than non-attempters. Allen, et al. (2005) examined the predictors of current suicidal ideation in a sample of American patients with bipolar affective disorder. The predictors differed according to whether the patients had a history of attempted suicide. For those who had attempted suicide in the past, introversion scores (as measured by the NEO Personality Inventory [Costa and McRae, 1985]) contributed significantly to the regression model. Unfortunately, Allen, et al. did not report the basic correlations between introversion scores and the measures of suicidality.
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Colson (1972) found that American graduate students who had attempted suicide or seriously considered suicide had higher neuroticism and introversion scores than the norms for the MPI. In a sample of Swiss conscripts who later became psychiatric patients, Angst and Clayton (1986) found that those who attempted suicide had lower introversion scores on the Freiberg Personality Inventory while those who with only suicidal ideation had higher introversion scores as compared to nonsuicidal controls. The results of this study indicate that it may be important to distinguish between completed suicides, attempted suicides, suicidal ideators, and those who threaten suicide.
SELF-MUTILATORS Roy (1978) found that nonpsychotic self-mutilators (cutters) were more introverted and neurotic than non-mutilating patients with personality disorders (and also had made more prior suicide attempts) but did not differ in psychoticism on the EPQ as compared to other psychiatric patients.
COMPLETED SUICIDES Duberstein, et al. (1994) had informants who were significant others of completed suicides complete a personality test (the NEO Personality Inventory) on behalf of the deceased. Their responses were compared to controls. The suicides (both those under the age of 50 and those over the age of 50) were judged to have higher neuroticism scores than controls, and the younger suicides had higher introversion scores than the controls. In a twenty-year follow-up study of a large sample of male American college students, Yen and Siegler (2003) found that those who completed suicide had higher social introversion scores on the MMPI taken as students as compared to those deceased from other causes.
NORMAL SUBJECTS Mehryar, et al. (1977) found that American college students who had thought about suicide had higher psychoticism and neuroticism scores but did not differ in introversion scores on the EPI. In a sample of American college students, Lester (1987a) found that a history of attempted suicide or suicidal ideation (but not threatening suicide) was associated with higher introversion scores using one of Eysenck‘s test (Eysenck and Eysenck, 1968). Irfani (1978) found that Iranian college and high school students who had thought of suicide had higher psychoticism, neuroticism and introversion scores on the EPQ than nonsuicidal students. Among Turkish college students, the suicidal ideators had higher psychoticism and neuroticism scores but did not differ in introversion scores. Chioqueta and Stiles (2005) found that current suicidal ideation was positively associated with introversion scores on the NEO Personality Inventory in a sample of Norwegian college students. In a sample of Indian female doctors and teachers, Upmanyu, et al. (1995) apparently found no association between suicidal ideation and extraversion scores on the EPQ, although
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they did not present the bivariate correlations for inspection. In contrast, Kumar and Pradhan (2003) found that suicidal ideation was positively associated with introversion as measured by the EPQ in a sample of Indian postgraduate students, although again the authors did not report the bivariate correlations. In a sample of Australian adults, Ross, et al. (1983) found that those with a history of suicidal ideation did not differ in extraversion scores from those who had no history of suicidal ideation. Using the EPI, De Man, et al. (1987a) found that neuroticism, but not extraversion, was related to suicidal ideation in a mixed sample of French Canadian students and patients, and this result was replicated in a community sample of French Canadians (De Man, et al., 1987b). In another study of French Canadians, De Man (1988) found no association between suicidal ideation and introversion scores on the EPQ.
CROSS-NATIONAL STUDIES Lester (1987b; Lester and Georges, 1986) found that the association between Lynn‘s measure of extraversion (Lynn, 1971) in 18 industrialized nations, based on social indicators such as divorce rates and cigarette consumption, was moderately associated with suicide rates. Using factor analysis of the social indicators used by Lynn, Lester (1991) found that one component of Lynn's measure of national levels of extraversion in these nations was associated with national suicide rates, but not the other component. In contrast, using the same methodology, Lester (1998) found that suicide rates were positively corrected with introversion scores for the American states. In a study of 37 nations with data on samples of scores on Eysenck‘s personality tests, a better measure of national differences than social indicators provide, Lynn and Martin (1995) found that higher introversion scores were associated with higher national suicide rates (while neuroticism and psychoticism scores were not associated with suicide rates). The association between suicides rates and introversion scores was replicated by Kirkcaldy and Furnham (2000).
DISCUSSION The results of these studies are summarized inTable 1 where it can be seen that 23 results found that introversion was associated with suicidality, 5 results found that extraversion was associated with suicidality, and 15 results found no significant associations or differences. The evidence favors, therefore, the conclusion that introversion is associated with suicidality. The discrepant results were found for studies of attempted suicides and in ecological studies of regions. These ecological studies have doubtful validity since some of the measures of extraversion used were indirect measures. However, the discrepancies in the results of studies of individuals suggest that the type of suicidality (completed suicide, attempted suicide, threats of suicide, and suicidal ideation) may be an important factor to take into account in future research.
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Table 1. A summary of the research Suicidality associated with Completed Suicides versus Controls Allen, et al. (2005) Duberstein, et al. (1994)
younger Ss older Ss
Yen and Sigler (2003)
I (?) I ns I
Attempted Suicides Lolas, et al. (1991) Pallis and Birtchnell (1977) Pallis and Jenkins (1977) Pallis and Birtchnell (1977)
past ideation past attempts suicidal intent suicidal intent females males
I ns ns ns I
Attempted Suicides versus Controls Angst and Clayton (1986) Ashton, et al. (1994) Beautrais, et al. (1999) Colson (1972) Diekstra (1974) Koller and Castanos (1968) Nordstron, et al. (1995) Paykel and Dienelt (1971) Philip (1970) Ponnudurai, et al. (1986) Pospiszyl (1985) Roy (2001) Roy (2002) Roy (2003a) Roy (2003b) White (1974)
E I I I ns ns ns ns I E E I I I I I ns
Self-Mutilators versus Controls Roy (1978)
I
Suicidal Ideation in Normal Subjects Angst and Clayton (1986) Chioqueta, et al. (2005) De Man (1988) De Man, et al. (1987a) De Man, et al. (1987b) Irfani (1978) Kumar and Pradhan (2003)
I I ns ns ns I I
prisoners young people
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David Lester Table 1 (Continued) Lester (1987a) Mehryar, et al. (1977) Ross, et al. (1983) Upmanyu, et al. (1995) Ecological Studies Kirkcaldy and Furnham (2000) Lester and Georges (1986; Lester, 1987b)) Lester (1991) Lester (1998) Lynn and Martin (1995)
I ns ns ns I E E I I
I: introversion E: extraversion ns: no significant differences or association
In line with this suggestion, Straub, et al. (1993) found that female attempters using violent methods were less introverted, less inhibited, more achievement-oriented and more action-oriented than using nonviolent methods. Thus, the method of suicide, as well as suicidal intent and the medical lethality of the suicidal act should also be taken into account in future research. One final methodological point is that American and European psychological measures of extraversion differ considerably. In Europe, and especially in Eysenck‘s tests, extraversion includes the traits of both sociability and impulsivity whereas, in American tests, extraversion includes only the trait of sociability. This difference is crucial when comparing results of research in America and Europe. Only one suggestion has been made for the reason for the association between introversion and suicidality. Extraverts and introverts appear to differ in their level of social support, and so introverts may lack this protective factor when they become suicidal (Kendler, 1997; Roy, 2003a). Eysenck (1967) was interested in zone analyses, that is, combing extraversion and neuroticism to form four types: stable introverts, stable extraverts, neurotic introverts and neurotic extraverts. It would be of great interest to explore whether the rates and types of suicidal behavior differ in these four types. It is hoped that this review will stimulate such research in the future.
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Angst, J., and Clayton, P. (1986). Premorbid personality of depressive, bipolar, and schizophrenic patients with special reference to suicidal issues. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 27, 511-532. Ashton, C. H., Marshall, E. F., Hassanyeh, F., Marsh, V. R., and Wright-Honari, S. (1994). Biological correlates of deliberate self-harm. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 90, 316323. Beautrais, A. L., Joyce, P. R., and Mulder, R. T. (1999). Personality traits and cognitive styles as risk factors for serious suicide attempts among young people. Suicide and LifeThreatening Behavior, 29, 37-47. Cattell, R. B., and Eber, H. W. (1965). The 16 Personality Factor Questinonaire. Champaign, IL: IPAT. Chioqueta, A. P., and Stiles, T. C. (2005). Personality traits and the development of depression, hopelessness, and suicide ideation. Personality and Individual Differences, 38, 1283-1291. Colson, C. E. (1972). Neuroticism, extraversion and repression-sensitization in suicidal college students. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 11, 88-89. Costa, P. T., and McRae, R. R. (1985). The NEO Personality inventory. Lutz, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources. De Man, A. F. (1988). Suicidal ideation, stress, social support, and personal variables in French Canadians. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 3, 127-134. De Man, A. F., Balkou, S., and Iglesias, R. I. (1987a). A French-Canadian adaptation of the Scale for Suicide Ideation. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Sciences, 19, 50-55. De Man, A. F., Balkou, S., and Iglesias, R. I. (1987b). Social support and suicidal ideation in French-Canadians. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Sciences, 19, 342-346. Diekstra, R. (1974). A social learning theory approach to the prediction of suicidal behavior. In Proceedings of the 7th International Congress for Suicide Prevention, pp. 55-66. Amsterdam: Sweets and Zeitlinger BV. Duberstein, P. R., Conwell, Y., and Caine, E. D. (1994). Age differences in the personality characteristics of suicide completers. Psychiatry, 57, 213-224. Eysenck, H. J. (1967). The biological basis of personality. Springfield, IL: Charles Thomas. Eysenck, H. J., and Eysenck, S. B. G. (1964). Manual of the Eysenck Personality Inventory. London: University of London Press. Eysenck, H. J., and Eysenck, S. B. G. (1968). The measurement of psychoticism. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 7, 286-294. Eysenck, H. J., and Eysenck, S. B. G. (1975). Manual of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. London: Hodder and Stoughton. Irfani, S. (1978). Personality correlates of suicidal tendencies among Iranian and Turkish students. Journal of Psychology, 99, 151-153. Jensen, A. R. (1958). The Maudsely Personality Inventory. Acta Psychologica, 14, 314-325. Kendler, K. (1997). Social support. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 1398-1404. Kirkcaldy, B., and Furnham, A. (2000). Positive affectivity, psychological well-being, accident- and traffic-deaths, and suicide. Studia Psychologica, 42(1-2), 97-104. Koller, K. M., and Castanos, J. N. (1968). Attempted suicide and alcoholism. Medical Journal of Australia, 2, 835-837. Kumar, U., and Pradhan, R. K. (2003). Correlations of suicide ideation. Social Science International, 19, 36-43.
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Lester, D. (1987a). Suicidal preoccupation and dysthymia in college students. Psychological Reports, 61, 762. Lester, D. (1987b). National distribution of blood groups, personal violence (suicide and homicide), and national character. Personality and Individual Differences, 8, 575-576. Lester, D. (1991). National measures of extraversion and neuroticism and suicide and homicide rates. Psychological Reports, 69, 434. Lester, D. (1998). Suicide and homicide rates in American states classified as introverted and neurotic. Psychological Reports, 83, 686. Lester, D., and Georges, V. C. (1986). National character and rates of personal violence (suicide and homicide). Psychological Reports, 58, 186. Lolas, F., Gomez, A., and Suareez, L. (1991). EPQ-R and suicide attempt. Personality and Individual Differences, 12, 899-902. Lynn, R. (1971). Personality and national character. New York: Pergamon. Lynn, R., and Martin, T. (1995). National differences for thirty-seven nations in extraversion, neuroticism, psychoticism and economic, demographic and other correlates. Personality and Individual Differences, 19, 403-406. Mehryar, A., Hekmat, H., and Khajavi, R. (1977). Some personality correlates of contemplated suicide. Psychological Reports, 40, 1291-1294. Murphy, S. L., Rounsaville, B. J., Eyre, S., and Kleber, H. D. (1983). Suicide attempts in treated opiate addicts. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 24, 79-89. Nordstrom, P., Schalling, D., and Asberg, M. (1995). Temperamental vulnerability in attempted suicide. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 92, 155-160. Pallis, D., and Birtchnell, J. (1977). Seriousness of suicide attempt in relation to personality. British Journal of Psychiatry, 130, 253-259. Pallis, D. J., and Jenkins, J. S. (1977). Extraversion, neuroticism, and intent in attempted suicide. Psychological Reports, 41, 19-22. Paykel, E. S., and Dienelt, M. N. (1971). Suicide attempts following acute depression. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 153, 234-243. Philip, A. E. (1970). Traits, attitudes and symptoms in a group of attempted suicides. British Journal of Psychiatry, 116, 475-482. Ponnudurai, R., Jeyakar, J., and Saraswathy, M. (1986). Attempted suicides in Madras. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 28(1), 59-62. Pospiszyl, K. (1985). Extraversion, neuroticism and anxiety in self-injurers and suicide attempters. Polish Psychological Bulletin, 16, 109-112. Ross, M. W., Clayer, J., and Campbell, R. (1983). Parental rearing patterns and suicidal thoughts. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 67, 429-433. Roy, A. (1978). Self-mutilation. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 51, 201-203. Roy, A. (1998). Is introversion a risk factor for suicidal behavior in depression? Psychological Medicine, 28, 1457-1461. Roy, A. (2001). Characteristics of cocaine-dependent patients who attempt suicide. American Journal of Psychiatry, 158, 1215-1219. Roy, A. (2002). Characteristics of opiate dependent patients who attempt suicide. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, Roy, A. (2003a). Characteristics of drug addicts who attempt suicide. Psychiatry Research, 121, 99-103.
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Roy, A. (2003b). African American and Caucasian attempters compared for suicide risk factors. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 33, 443-447. Straub, R., Wolfersdorf, M., and Hole, G. (1993). Motivational and volitional dysfunction, personality disposition and suicidal behavior in depressed women. In K. Bohme, R. Freytag, C. Wachtler and H. Wedler (Eds.) Suicidal behavior, pp. 775-778. Regensburg: S Roderer. Upmanyu, V. V., Narula, V., and Moein, L. (1995). A study of suicide ideation. Psychological Studies, 40, 126-131. White, H. (1974). Self-poisoning in adolescents. British Journal of Psychiatry, 124, 24-35. Yen, S., and Siegler, I. C. (2003). Self-blame, social introversion, and male suicides. Archives of Suicide Research, 7, 17-27.
Advances in Psychology Research. Volume 78 Ed: Alexandra M. Columbus
ISBN: 978-1-61209-442-7 © 2011 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
Chapter 8
ALCOHOL RELATED EXPERIENCES – THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY Karin Helmersson Bergmark Sociology, Dept of Sociology and Addiction Research Group Stockholm University, Sweden
ABSTRACT When asked about how they feel about alcohol and drinking, Swedes have tended to display negative and ambivalent attitudes. For this study reports of alcohol related experiences were used for the study of an eventual new emerging drinking culture. The aim was to analyse frequency distributions and patterns for explanatory variables, for different groups of alcohol related experiences. As drinking levels have increased in Sweden during the last decades, on the one hand we expected to find an increase of reports of alcohol related experiences. On the other hand, we could well expect less such experiences in a time when alcohol and drinking tends to be put into an every-day practise. Experiences from the good sides of drinking were more often reported, compared to the bad sides. A factor analysis resulted in four dimensions measuring aspects of pleasure (1), bad sides of drinking (2), ugly sides of drinking (3) and one on sexuality/aggression (4). Logistic regression analyses were used to see if these dimensions have unique characteristics that could be revealed with predictor variables. No clear such patterns were, however, found, even though some results indicate the upsurge of more pleasure-driven drinking styles.
INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND In the early days of alcohol studies, Swedes – as other north Europeans, proved to hold restrictive and ambivalent attitudes to alcohol and drinking (Allardt, 1957). When in 1979
Contact address: Stockholm
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University,
dept
of
Sociology,
S-10691
Stockholm,
Sweden
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directly confronted with the question of how to grade ―alcohol‖ and ―being drunk‖, very few Swedes labelled these concepts as ―pleasant‖, ―good‖, or ―valuable‖ (Mäkelä, 1981). Respondents from the other Nordic countries that participated in the survey1 stated slightly less negative attitudes than the Swedes. The only country where somewhat positive attitudes to alcohol and intoxication was found, was Iceland (Hauge and Irgens-Jensen, 1987). Alcohol consumption patterns in Sweden have changed since the 1970s and in particular since the country entered the European Community in 1995. Less restrictions (such as lower taxes) and more availability have worked together with an emerging acceptance of more ―continental‖ drinking styles so that the consumption level is now approaching the level in the south of Europe. So far the continental drinking style does not, however, seem to replace the more traditional binge drinking – it has rather been added to the traditional culture. Sweden, but also Europe as a whole can in the new millennium be characterised by concepts as uniformity and similarity. Standardisation is discussed as one corner-stone of these modern times (Brunsson, 2000). Also when it comes to drinking, the commonalities all over Europe seem to become more prevalent, and the divergences less obvious than in previous times (see e.g. Room and Mäkelä, 2000). Standards, or public health recommendations, have also been developed for drinking levels and patterns (see e.g. Bondy et.al., 1999). These standards vary between countries, but in large they are similar. The base for these recommendations is ―safe and healthy drinking‖, which is something quite different than the traditional Swedish alcohol policy and public recommendations – i.e. ―less drinking‖. Drinking patterns can be measured in quantities of alcohol consumed. This measure is known to be quite unreliable. It is also one-dimensional – in that it only tells us how much a person or a group of persons drinks. If the researcher wants to know more about the drinking pattern or style, other indicators are also needed. Such indicators can give information on e.g. the drinking context, the meaning of drinking for the drinker, or experiences related to drinking. Such experiences are ―translated‖ into expectancies and hence influence future drinking \(Leigh and Stacy, 2004). Already in 1978, Mäkelä concluded that the vast majority of studies utilising indicators of alcohol related experiences aimed at studying problem drinking. This is still the case. For this study, however, reports of alcohol related experiences were used as a point of departure for the study of drinking culture. The aim is to analyse frequency distributions for such reports, and see if explanatory variables form different patterns for different groups of alcohol related experiences.
PREVIOUS STUDIES In 1979 the previously mentioned survey on drinking and attitudes to drinking was carried through in four Nordic countries (Hauge and Irgens-Jensen, 1986 and 1987). Questions on drinking levels were included in the mailed questionnaires, as well as questions on drinking style and alcohol related experiences, i.e. positive and negative consequences of drinking alcohol. The respondent group comprised 910 Swedish women and 877 Swedish men. In 1995 a second wave of data collection took place, including 992 Swedish women and 920 Swedish men (Hübner, 2001; Mäkelä et.al., 1999). 1
Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden
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Reports on alcohol related experiences were more common in 1995 compared to the previous survey, especially among women (Bergmark, 1999). This change was, however, more obvious for negative items compared to positive alcohol related experiences. These increased figures have been interpreted as further indicators of the increased use of alcohol among Swedes. One exception from the general direction of change was reports on ―difficulties to stop drinking once you started‖. Fewer women and men reported on having such experiences in 1995, compared to 1979. From reports on elevated drinking levels in Sweden during the last years, we can assume an increase of positive as well as negative alcohol related experiences. On the other hand, drawing on a discussion by Room and Mäkelä (2000) on ―banalized drinking‖ (p.480) we could well expect less of such experiences from a study group for which alcohol and drinking tends to become more common and ―banalized‖. Also Leigh touches upon this subject, in stating that heavy drinkers ―...place a lower value on the negative outcomes of heavy consumption than do other drinkers‖ (1999, p.227). Mustonen and Mäkelä (1999) conclude that alcohol related experiences of negative and positive nature seem to go hand in hand, so that the same drinking style (high level drinking and frequent intoxication) that is connected to positive experiences, is similarly connected to negative experiences. Results from other studies of these issues are, however, mixed and to some extent contradictory. Noar et.al. (2003) discuss these discrepancies in studies of alcohol related expectancies. One conclusion they draw is that positive effects from drinking are more immediate, and related to a persons decision to drink, while negative effects are less directly related to the drinking situation and hence related more to decisions on amounts of drinking and when to stop. US respondents have been seen to report mainly on positive experiences related to drinking (Leigh, op.cit.). If posed an open question about alcohol related experiences, they list first and more from the positive side of the spectrum. If negative reports occur, they are presented together with narratives of positive experiences. This tendency is true also for Swedes.
MODERNITY AND ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION Although there are many different standpoints concerning the basic characteristics of the changes that affect contemporary Western societies, it might be argued that many of the more influential perspectives (as e.g. reflexive modernization, post-modernism and ideas on globalization) seem to agree on at least one fundamental observation: modern societies are currently transformed by a process of de-traditionalization which entails a deterioration of the prevailing institutionalization. Traditional institutions are replaced by knowledge-dependent structures that force the individual to face new types of problems and decisions. The process of modernization goes hand in hand with an accumulation of knowledge concerning all parts of a society and its practices. The more knowledge that is accumulated, the more detraditionalized society becomes. An integral part of the de-traditionalization is the development of a subject-centered individualism that is one of the cornerstones in the establishment of a society based on consumption (Bell 1976). The consumer society is based on a fundament of consumer preferences, and the individual‘s right — or even obligation — to search for pleasure. In a similar line of thought, Schulze has coined the term
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―Erlebnisgesellschaft‖ (1991) in order to underline that contemporary modern society is directed towards the consumption of subjective mental states. There is a clear connection between Schulze‘s idea of the Erlebnisgesellschaft and earlier work focusing on the shift from production to consumption as the main motor for social change. In ―The cultural contradictions of capitalism‖, Bell (op. cit.) elaborates the connection between what he designates as ―fun morality‖ and the development of a ―consumer society‖. The transformation of individualism, from its universal form to its subject-centered version, also entails an important shift in terms of the meaning of morality. The lack of objective references for what is interesting or fulfilling enough, restricts the possibilities for moral discourse. What is left is the endless repetition that everyone is free to do what she or he wants or — put in a more demanding phrasing — that they have to fulfil their wants. Shulze argues that ―The last moral position discussed with the claim to be binding is that nobody should be bound. Thus, the general structure of moral arguments is pure selfreference: legitimation by subjectivity‖ (op.cit. p.47). Within such a context, with an almost complete lack of options for moral discourse directed towards the individual‘s freedom of choice, alcohol consumption – as all other consumption –tends to be regulated by a combination of a pursuit for pleasure and selffulfilling experiences rather than by the alcohol regulating norms laid down in any historically given tradition. Drawing on this discussion, we should expect ―modern‖ drinkers to be more in pursuit of pleasury drinking, when comparing to more traditional (Nordic) drinking styles. Therefore, we might expect to find more reports of joyful drinking today and an emphasis on the good sides of drinking, compared to what has been found in previous studies.
The Study The aim for this paper is to study reports of alcohol related experiences among Swedes and to analyse how these reports are related to indicators of drinking style and general sociodemographic background. Can differing drinking styles be detected within the sample? Can the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of drinking be separated ? How can they be predicted? Data emanate from a survey conducted in Sweden2 during spring in the year 2002. 5469 women and men were interviewed in their homes by professional interviewers. The sample is nationally representative for Swedes aged 16-80. Drop outs (31%) were corrected for by using weights, based on sex and age. The study was divided into three sub samples. This paper is based on reports from current drinkers (n=1540) in one of these sub samples (n=1790). The survey is to a certain extent, but not entirely, comparable with the two Nordic surveys previously presented in the text. The Nordic surveys were carried through with mailed questionnaires, the 2002 survey through telephone interviews. Few items at hand for this study are identically phrased, in all three surveys. Where there are identical or similar
2
Statistics Sweden, for SoRAD, Stockholm University, and GENACIS – the Gender, Alcohol and Culture – an International Study.
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items at hand these earlier survey data will be included in the discussion. I will, however, not go into detail about these previous results. The interviews covered different aspects of drinking experiences as well as background information of the interviewee, such as family and social situation. The point of departure for this study was the following set of variables: Indicators on sociodemographic background: Sex, age, urbanisation (living in metropolitan area, smaller town, countryside), family (living alone or not), number (up to/more than three) of friends with whom the respondent feel free to talk about sensitive issues, education level and physical health, last 12 months). Gender roles are slowly changing – maybe converging – but not so much as to dramatically influence gendered drinking patterns. We know that women drink much less than men and report less frequently on alcohol related experiences, all over the western world (Wilsnack and Wilsnack, 1997; Wilsnack et.al., 2000). Sex is the basic cathegory to be included in a group of demography variables. Other such basic variables are age, degree of urbanisation, and level of education. In the ending of the last millennium, Giddens (1992) discussed the development of western family structure and foundations into more or less temporary relations based on mutual satisfaction that are dissolved when dissatisfaction occurs. But although the significance of the family institution has diminished in Sweden during the last 50 years, Giddens vision is still mainly a theoretical construct. And living alone, without family, is still viewed as a risk factor for e.g. drinking habits. Number of close friends can be interpretated as a measure of social life activities and quality. Good health is one prerequisite for advanced drinking practicies. The first choice of indicator for drinking practice would naturally be reports on drinking levels. Mäkelä states that for a study like this one, consumption levels should be ―complemented, but not substituted, by .... measures on style of drinking‖ (1978, p.323). Unfortunatelly the present survey was designed and carried through with three sub-samples. One of these groups form the base for this study. This group was not asked questions about drinking levels. Instead there are other indicators for drinking practice or style. Two of these indicators of drinking style were used for this study; the first three items from AUDIT, and frequency of intoxication, last 12 months. AUDIT – The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (see e.g. Babor et.al., 1992, WHO, 2000), is a wide-spread tool for measures and identification of risk groups in general population groups, though originally developed for clinical purposes. The test includes ten questions on consumption frequency and levels, binge drinking, and adverse consequences from drinking. The first three items (drinking frequency, drinking level and binge drinking) were used as a measure of drinking pattern and style, together with frequency of intoxication. Alcohol related experiences were measured with the following indicators: Is it true that when you are drinking, you find it easier to be open, easier to talk to partner, you have been less sexually inhibited, you enjoy sex more, you feel more sexually attractive, and get more aggressive. Other alcohol related experiences were defined in time (last 12 months) and measured with the following indicators: positive and negative influence on sex life, an index based on negative influences on life (friendships, partner relation, family relations, economy, work/studies, health). One group of indicators were taken from the AUDIT test; whether one has not been able to stop drinking,, did not do what one should have done, drinking to recover the morning after, feelings of guilt/remorse, black-outs, been hurt - oneself or
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someone else, and whether someone has been concerned and adviced on diminishing one’s drinking. As a next step to tables of frequency distributions, factor analysis (principal component analysis, equamax rotation) was used in order to group items into meaningful dimensions. These dimension were in a last step introduced in logistic regression analyses where indicators formed dependent variables.
RESULTS In Table 1, frequency distributions for the indicators are presented. In accordance with previous research (see e.g. Leigh, op.cit.), positive alcohol related experiences are more often reported, compared to negative experiences. We must, however, be cautious when drawing conclusions from this, as most of the positive items do not have a time frame. Next step was to group the items into meaningful dimensions. The factor analysis supported a solution of four dimensions (Table 2). These dimensions can be characterised as measuring aspects of pleasure (1), bad sides of drinking (2), ugly sides of drinking (3) and one – maybe more unexpected – more explicit on sexuality/aggression (4). Table 1. Alcohol related experiences, frequency distributions among current drinkers (%) women 4.3
men 6.5
n 1539
drop out rate -
has not been able to stop drinking, last 12 months did not do what one should have done, last 12 months drinking to recover the morning after, last 12 months feelings of guilt/remorse, last 12 months black-outs, last 12 months been hurt - oneself or someone else, last 12 months someone has been worried over one‘s drinking, last 12 months
3.8
7.6
1532
0.5
7.3
12.7
1531
0.5
0.3
2.8
1535
0.3
6.5 9.3 1.6
10.0 19.1 4.6
1535 1532 1535
0.3 0.5 0.3
1.9
6.4
1535
0.3
Negative effect on sex-life, last 12 months Positive effect on sex-life, last 12 months
1.6 18.3
5.3 19.8
1421 1448
7.7 6.9
easier to be open easier to talk to partner less sexually inhibited enjoy sex more feel more sexually attractive feel more aggressive
62.9 15.7 32.4 28.3 33.9 5.3
68.7 19.3 30.4 23.7 29.1 6.9
1511 1521 1412 1369 1395 1518
1.8 1.2 8.3 11.0 9.4 1.4
Any negative report, composit (friendships, partner relation, family relations, economy, work/studies, health) last 12months
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The ―good‖ dimension measures positive effects of alcohol on intimate relations. Alcohol as a reliever – drinking for relaxation, pleasure and to feel good. The ―bad‖ dimension is constituted by psychological discomforts associated with drinking. Experienced inadequacies of when to ―end the party‖, regretting things from last night, not remembering all one said, or being too tired to fulfil plans for the next day form this dimension. The ―ugly‖ dimension takes drinking problems one step further. Drinking to recover, being hurt in drinking situations, and been given advice to drink less are all indicators often used to point at problem drinkers. And finally we have the sexual/aggressive dimension. A bit surprisingly it comprises both positive and negative effects of drinking on respondents sex life. And – inversed - tendencies to get aggressive when drinking (less aggressive when drinking - related to more positive or negative alcohol related effects on sex life). The four dimensions were further used for logistic regression analyses, were the indicators formed dependent variables. The aim was to study the predictive power of independent variables and to see if predictors - as in previous research (see e.g. Mustonen and Mäkelä, op.cit.) - are the same for the different dimensions, or if e.g. the new ―joyful‖ EU drinker has emerged in Sweden. Table 2. Rotated Factorial solutions (principal component analysis, equamax rotation)
less sexually inhibited enjoy sex more feel more sexually attractive easier to talk to partner easier to be open feelings of guilt/remorse, last 12 months Any negative report, composite, last 12months has not been able to stop drinking, last 12 months black-outs, last 12 months did not do what one should have done, last 12 months drinking to recover the morning after, last 12 months been hurt - oneself or someone else, last 12 months someone has been worried over one‘s drinking, last 12 months Negative effect on sex-life, last 12 months Positive effect on sex-life, last 12 months feel more aggressive
1 .784 .769 .711 .596 .572
2
3
4
.667 .659 .628 .624 .559 .696 .677 .515 .598 .533 -.515
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The Good Sides of Drinking Generally, reports of positive or ―good‖ alcohol related experiences have become somewhat more common among Swedes during the last decades (Bergmark, 1999). Data from previous studies measure general good aspects of drinking, while items in the present study emphasise aspects of pleasure in close relations. Data from the present study are not comparable to previous data sets but still they confirm that reports of positive alcohol related experiences are commonly reported. A majority of respondents, more women than men, say that drinking helps them to ―be more open‖ (Table 1). Sex differences are small for all five items. Frequency of intoxication during the last 12 months forms a significant predictor variable for the good sides of drinking, compared to the measure on drinking practice (summed points from three first AUDIT items). Demography indicators display inconsistant patterns when introduced into the model. Being a woman increaces the odds of reporting such experiences, for three of the items. Living alone3, few friends, and (for one indicator) urban living also increase the number of reports on positive alcohol related experiences.
The Bad Sides of Drinking In comparisons of previous surveys, many ―bad‖ aspects of alcohol related experiences have proven to become more common. This is not verified in the present study, but – again – items are not identical. One item (―difficulties to stop drinking once you started‖) was less commonly reported in 1995, compared to 1979. This is the only item included in all three surveys. When comparing the three surveys, the group of women reporting on this experience has diminished from 6.8% in 1979, to 6.0% in 1995, and 3.8% in the present survey from 2002. Among men there is a similar development, ranging from 17.5% in 1979, 13.1% in 1995, and 7.6% in 2002. To a certain extent, however, the change between the two last surveys is probably explained by different data collection methods. Both indicators of drinking - frequency of intoxication and AUDIT scores, form significant predictors for the bad sides of drinking. As for the good sides, the introduction of demographic variables to the model did not change much. Increasing age lessens the odds ratios. Good health increases the odds ratios for three of the five items, and a high educational level is related to lower odds ratios for two items.
The Ugly Sides of Drinking The ―ugly‖ sides of drinking are – as the lable implies – more serious. These experiences are consequently more rarely reported, especially from female respondents.
3
Inversed for the indicator ―easier to talk to partner...‖, which pressuposes the existence of a partner
Table 3. Logistic regression analysis, odds ratios for reports of alcohol related experiences, controlled for by drinking pattern and sociodemographic background
* p<0.05 ** p<0.01 *** p<0.001.
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Need of a drink to recover in the morning after a drinking session, experiences of being hurt (oneself or other person) due to one´s drinking, and advice or concern from someone, implying that changes of drinking practices are needed, are the three indicators forming this dimension For the first indicator, the AUDIT score was the only significant predictor in both models. Demography factors did not add any significant value in Model 2. For the second indicator (been hurt), the introduction of demography indicators eliminated the significant predictive effects from both drinking measures. When controlling for drinking - being a woman, older, and living in metropolitan areas lessens the odds ratio. For the third item (advice or concern) both drinking measures form significant predictors, also when demography factors are included in the model (Model 2). Good health increases the odds for reporting such experiences.
The Forth Dimension – Sexuality and Aggression The forth dimension also results in somewhat ambigious interpretations. Experiences of positive alcohol related effects on sex life during last 12 months are much more common, compared to reports on such negative aspects, and even more so among women compared to men. Negative alcohol related effects on sex life are rarely reported by women - slightly more by men. The gender ―gap‖ is about the same when it comes to experiences of becoming more aggressive when drinking, during the last 12 months. Frequency of intoxication is a significant predictor for effects of drinking on sex life (both positive and negative). AUDIT score is a predictor for negative effects on sex life and also for becoming more aggressive when drinking. The introduction of demography measures to the model changed very little for the sex items, as well as for becoming more aggressive when drinking.
CONCLUSION Changes in alcohol consumption levels and patterns have been prevalent in Sweden during the last decades. So far, the European integration processes do not, however, seem to have resulted in noticeably altered drinking patterns or styles in the general population (Bergmark, 2001). Everyday drinking has become more usual but this and other ―new‖ drinking styles rather add to than substitute the traditional (male) binge drinking style. Changes of e.g. drinking styles are, however, nothing that happen over night. We need data series over long time periods for studies of such changes, as well as for studies of e.g. convergence processes based on sex. In the present study, four different dimensions of drinking were identified. The aim was to see if these dimensions have unique characteristics that could be revealed with the help of predictor variables. No clear such patterns were, however, found. On the other hand, although the level of comparability is limited – many women and men report on positive alcohol related experiences in 2002. Might this be a sign of a more pleasurable drinking style? For future analyses in this field of research, continued efforts should be put on e.g. the disclosure of eventual interaction effects and the impact these effects might have on the
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dependent variables. Further analyses will also reveal whether e.g. discriminant analysis is a more powerful tool or not, in the search for differences between the dimensions identified in this study.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This study was made possible through funding from the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation. Data were given access to by SoRAD, the Centre for Social Research on Alcohol and Drugs, Stockholm University.
REFERENCES Allardt, E. (1957). Drinking norms and drinking habits. In E. Allardt, T. Markkanen, and M. Takala (Eds.), Drinking and Drinkers (pp. 7-109). Helsinki: The Finnish Foundation for Alcohol Studies. Babor, T.F., de la Fuente, J.R., Saunders, J. and Grant, M. (1992). AUDIT The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test: Guidelines for use in Primary Health Care. Programme on Substance Abuse, World Health Organization. http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/1 992/WHO_PSA_92.4.pdf. Bell, D. (1976). The cultural contradictions of capitalism. London: Heinemann. Bergmark, K.H. (1999). Om kvinnors bruk och missbruk (On women‘s use and misuse). In: Alkohol och narkotika – politik, vård och dilemman (Alcohol and drugs – politics, treatment and dilemmas, pp 26-35). Stockholm: SFR. Bergmark, K.H. (2002). Svenskarna och alkoholen år 2000 (The Swedes and the alcohol in the year 2000). Stockholm: Statens Folkhälsoinstitut. Bondy, S.J., Rehm, J., Ashley, M.J., Walsh, G., Single, E. and Room, R. (1999). Low-risk Drinking Guidelines: The Scientific Evidence. Canadian Journal of Public Health 90 (4): 264-270. Brunsson, N. (2000). Standardization and Uniformity. In: N. Brunsson, B. Jacobsson and associates. A World of Standards. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Giddens, A. (1992). The transformations of intimacy - Sexuality, love and eroticism in modern societies. Cambridge: Polity Press. Hauge, R. and Irgens-Jensen, O. (1986). The relationship between alcohol consumption, alcohol intoxication and negative consequences of drinking in four scandinavian countries. British Journal of Addiction 81: 513-524. Hauge, R. and Irgens-Jensen, O. (1987). Alkoholen i Norden (Alcohol in the Nordic countries). Appendix to Alkoholpolitik No. 4. Hübner, L. (2001). Narkotika och Alkohol i den Allmäna Opinionen (Drugs and alcohol in the public opinion). Stockholms universitet: Rapport i socialt arbete (Stockholm University: Report in social work) No 99/2001 Diss. Leigh, B.C.(1999). Thinking, feeling, and drinking: alcohol expectancies and alcohol use. In: S. Peele and M. Grant (Eds.). Alcohol and Pleasure: a health perspective. Philadelphia, Pa: Brunner/Mazel.
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Mäkelä, K. (1978). Level of consumption and social consequences of drinking. In: Y. Israel, F.B. Glaser, H. Kalant, R.E. Popham, W. Schmidt and R.G. Smart (Eds.). Research Advances in Alcohol and Drug Problems 4. New York: Plenum Press. Mäkelä, K. (1981). Scandinavian drinking survey: construction of composite indices of drinking attitudes and personal experiences related to drinking. SIFA mimeograph No. 47. Oslo: National Institute for Alcohol Research. Mäkelä, P., Fonager, K., Hibell, B., Nordlund, S., Sabroe, S. and Simpura, J. (1999). Drinking Habits in the Nordic Countries. Oslo: Statens Institutt for alkohol- og narkotikaforskning. SIFA report 2. Mustonen, H. and Mäkelä, K. (1999). Relationships between characteristics of drinking occasions and negative and positive experiences related to drinking. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 56: 79-84. Noar, S.M., Laforge, R.G., Maddock, J.E. and Wood, M.D. (2003). Rethinking positive and negative aspects of alcohol use: Suggestions from a comparison of alcohol expectancies and decisional balance. Journal of Studies on Alcohol January: 60-69. Room, R. and Mäkelä, K. (2000). Typologies of the cultural position of drinking. Journal of Studies of Alcohol 61 (3): 475-483. Schulze, G. (1991). Die Erlebnisgesellschaft. Kultursoziologie der gegenwart. Frankfurt./New York: McMillan. WHO (2000). International guide for monitoring alcohol consumption and related harm. Dept of Mental Health and Substance Dependence. Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health Cluster: World Health Organization. Wilsnack, R.W. and Wilsnack S.C. (1997). Introduction. In: R.W. Wilsnack and S.C. Wilsnack (Eds.). Gender and Alcohol - Individual and Social Perspectives. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies. Wilsnack, R.W., Vogeltanz, N., Wilsnack S.C. and Harris, T.R. (2000). Gender differences in alcohol consumption and adverse drinking consequences: cross-cultural patterns. Addiction 95 (2): 251-265.
Advances in Psychology Research. Volume 78 Ed: Alexandra M. Columbus
ISBN: 978-1-61209-442-7 © 2011 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
Chapter 9
PHYSIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF FORGIVENESS, GRUDGES, AND REVENGE: THEORIES, RESEARCH METHODS, AND IMPLICATIONS Everett L. Worthington and Goli Sotoohi Virginia Commonwealth University, USA
ABSTRACT Forgiveness is a prosocial intrapersonal response to a transgression experienced in interpersonal context. Theorizing about forgiveness makes a myriad of distinctions, differentiating between decisions to forgive and emotional experience, and among emotions, motivations, cognition, and behavioral intensions. Research to date has not considered the conceptual advances in understanding forgiveness. Research has linked unforgiveness with poor health outcomes, but relatively little attention has been given to the physiological mechanisms that mediate the forgiveness-health connection. In the present chapter, we locate 19 empirical articles seeking to explicate the physiological processes involved in forgiving. We review the articles within an emphasis on theory. We seek to apply stress-and-coping, self-control, and broaden-and-build theories to uncovering potential questions that researchers could use to make a research agenda. Not surprisingly, in this burgeoning new field of study—forgiveness studies—more and more sophisticated research is needed.
A mere ten years ago, virtually no evidence existed from controlled studies linking forgiveness to physiology, health, or disease (Thoresen, Harris, and Luskin, 2000). Since then, the theory, measurement, and empirical study of forgiveness have developed substantially. Now evidence links both forgiveness and unforgiveness to short-term physiological variables, such as cortisol reactivity (Berry and Worthington, 2001) and
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peripheral physiological measures such as blood pressure, heart rate, and skin conductance (Lawler et al., 2003; Witvliet, Ludwig, and Vander Laan, 2001). Hypotheses linking unforgiveness and forgiveness with health and disease variables have become more plausible based on these studies. Several review papers have drawn together the literature on forgiveness and health. Worthington and Scherer (2004) conceptualized forgiveness as an emotion-focused coping strategy, which was related to health variables. Harris and Thoresen (2005) concluded that there was little evidence that forgiveness was related strongly to health, but concluded that unforgiveness predicted poor health. Worthington, Witvliet, Lerner, and Scherer (2005) examined some of the potential mechanisms by which forgiveness might affect physical health, and they discussed forgiveness of self, others, and seeking forgiveness. They emphasized the importance of one‘s motive in forgiving, recognizing especially that altruistic motives may hold greater benefits for health than do self-interested motives. Finally, Worthington, Witvliet, Pietrini, and Miller (2007) included research on forgiveness and cancer. They noted that types of forgiveness—making a decision to forgive and experiencing emotional forgiveness—played different functions in promoting poor or good health outcomes. Reviewers to date have not examined physiological processes mediating the connection between forgiveness and health. In the present chapter, we seek to fill that deficit. We review studies linking forgiveness (and especially unforgiveness) to health and disease by focusing on physiological processes rather than health outcomes. Our intent is to conduct a theoretically relevant review, examining several theories and summarizing research within theoretical perspectives. In the present theoretical review, we speculate within theories about the variety of theoretical possibilities and the ramifications of each for physiology, health, or well-being. We review physiological evidence where it exists, but our main purpose is to put forth a theoretically driven research agenda to guide research on physiological aspects of unforgiveness and forgiveness.
METHOD OF THE REVIEW We compiled published articles that dealt with physiological processes or mechanisms and also dealt with forgiveness, injustice, grudges, and revenge. We searched PsychInfo and MedLine at various times between November 1 and December 31, 2008, using variations of forgiv*, unforgiv*, injustice, justice, grudge, revenge, and venge* along with physio*, cortisol, cytokine*, adrenaline, epinephrine, serotonin, immune, oxytocin, peripheral nervous system, central nervous system, brain scan, MRI, EEG, anger, fear, resentment. We examined the reviews of health mentioned earlier, including their reference sections to supplement our list. Altogether, we found 19 empirical articles for review, which are denoted with an asterisk in our references. We summarized the method and findings of those articles in Table 1, which is available from the first author by email.
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BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE FINDINGS Physiological Indices In examining the relationship of forgiveness to physiology, we observe that, of the 19 studies that have measured some physiological indices in relation to forgiveness or unforgiveness, 11 have measured peripheral physiological responses such as heart rate, blood pressure, skin conductance, facial electromyographic (EMG) activity in the muscle regions of forehead and eye (Edmonson, 2005; Friedberga, 2007; Lawler, Younger, Piferi, Billington, Jobe, et al., 2003; Lawler, Younger, Piferi, Jobe, Edmondson, and Jones, 2005; Lawler-Row, Karremans, Scott, Edlis, and Edwards, 2008; Lawler-Row, Younger, Piferi, and Jones, 2006; Standard, 2004; Witvliet, Hinze, and Worthington, 2008; Witvliet, Ludwig and Bauer, 2002; Witvliet, Ludwig and Laan, 2001; Witvliet, Worthington, Root, Sato, Ludwig, and Exline, 2008). Four studies measured salivary cortisol level (Berry and Worthington, 2001; Gregory, 2005; McCullough, Orsulak, Brandon, andAkers, 2007; Standard, 2004) in relation to forgiveness. One study investigated the possible relationship among anger, forgiveness traits, and genetic factors (Kang, Namkoong, and Kim, 2008). Two other studies (Farrow, Hunter, Wilkinson, Gouneea, Fawbert, Smith, et al., 2008; Farrow, Zheng, Wilkinson, Spence, Deakin, et al., 2001) used functional MRI to detect brain regions activated by empathy and forgivability judgments. Another study examined immunological indices from blood samples linked to relationship and personality variables (Seybold, Hill, Neumann, and Chi, 2001). Only two studies examined the physiological effects of participants after undergoing a forgiveness intervention (Gregory, 2005; Tibbits, Ellis, Piramelli, Luskin, and Lukman, 2006).
Methodological Considerations Two general methods have been employed in studying physiological correlates of grudge-holding, enduring resentment, forgiving, or other mental or physical processes. First, people have been assessed while recalling their memory for a transgression that the participant has actually experienced. While the person is recalling the transgression when it first occurred or recalingl it at the time of measurement (presumably involving considerable passage of time since the event and possibly forgiving or other means of reducing unforgiveness), the person‘s bodily processes or products are assayed. For example, samples of saliva or blood are taken and later assayed. Second, participants imagine that they experienced some scenario with associated experiences (i.e., the offender apologizing, etc.). The event is usually something that the participant is thought to be able to identify with. Several articles have asked participants whether they have experienced a similar event, such as a burglary. Typically, those who have and have not experienced the event do not differ physiologically in their responses to the imagined event. Two assumptions are inherent in both methods. First, memory or imagination mimics real-time experience with less intensity. Second, it is not real events that are physically most
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harmful; it is rumination about the event. Rumination likely involves memory or visual imagery of a traumatic or harmful past transgression one has experienced, or it might involve future rumination of events that one has not yet experienced but might reasonably occur over life. Many of the methods are limited. Often, physiological measures are sensitive to a participant‘s movements. Thus, in many cases, the participant cannot be ambulatory or even gesture or shift positions during data collection. Other technologies are now available that might make ambulatory assessment more probable in the future—e.g., LifeShirts®, portable heart rate and blood pressure monitors, and the like. Generally, studies aim to find the physiological correlates to a mental activity such as forgiving, holding a grudge, or being vengeful. Physiological responses are generally correlated with self-reported experiences for mental activities such as recall or imagination of transgressions. Experimental studies that might show causation are needed. When correlating self-reports of anger and forgiveness, we are dealing with variables that are in essence the same category of experience—both are cross-sectional self-reports. Physiological responses are usually ―continuous‖ measurements of body processes. Many events that affect forgiving—like hearing an offender‘s apology or having an offender refuse to apologize—are discrete. Methodological decisions must be made about how particular discrete events (such as experiencing a transgression, recalling the offense as one is fading off to sleep) are linked to often continuous internal experiences (such as emotions and decisions) and to continuous flow of physical experiences (such as physiological responses). Investigators need to find a bridge from discrete experiences to continuous processes back to other discrete events. Current methods and theory have not, at this point, captured this gap. We can run numerous studies that correlate mental events (i.e., recalling a grudge) to physical events (i.e., continuous rise in blood pressure), but what are we really measuring? How do events really sequence? Using experimental designs may be necessary to track causal or timedependent sequences that relate internal experience, self-report, and physiological sequence.
THEORIES Stress-and-Coping Theories Applied to Forgiveness Most of studies we reviewed measured stress-related physiological responses as indications of arousal due to unforgiveness. A transgression is assumed to be an interpersonal stressor. Some theory of stress is inevitably employed. The most frequently employed theories of stress include Lazarus‘ (1999) stress-and-coping theory, McEwen‘s (2002) allostasis theory, and various biological theories (see Sapolsky, 2005, for a review). There have been adaptations of these general theories of stress that apply to forgiveness. Some of those will be discussed below. Worthington (2006) conceptualizes forgiveness as a coping mechanism for the appraised stressors of interpersonal rejections, betrayals, and transgressions in general. he suggested that the injustice gap (Exline et al., 2003)—the difference between the way a person wants a transgression to be resolved and the way the person appraises it currently—is related to the amount of unforgiveness (e.g., resentment, hostility, hatred, aggression, anger, and fear) one
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has experienced. The ease with which forgiveness is experienced is hypothesized to be inversely related to the size of the gap—i.e., the size of the grudge or amount of resentment or negative arousal. Decisional forgiveness is a decision that one intends to behave prosocially toward an offender. Deciding to forgive may involve internal emotional conflict, but once it occurs, it is a discontinuous change. Decisional forgiveness is thought to permit emotional forgiveness to begin. Emotional forgiveness is thought to take time. It involves emotional replacement of unforgiving emotions with positive other-oriented emotions (e.g., love, compassion, sympathy, or empathy). Chronically low emotional forgiveness is hypothesized to be related to high peripheral physiological involvement, to vengeful motives, and eventually (if the chronic unforgiveness persists) to poor health outcomes. Much research has investigated general stress-and-coping theory. Thus it provides a rich source of hypotheses to test when applied to forgiveness (Worthington, 2006). Unforgiveness (i.e., a stress response within the model) is seen as physical, emotional, motivational, and cognitive responses to an interpersonal transgression. Unforgiveness might be dominated by any of its component emotions—resentment, bitterness, hostility, hatred, anger and fear (Worthington and Wade, 1999). Depending on which one dominates, different physiological processes are likely as are different health outcomes. For example, Williams and others have repeatedly shown that anger—especially hostile, seething anger—particularly affects the heart. It seems logical that unforgiveness would also affect the heart. Unforgiving emotions are associated with motivations toward vengeance and avoidance of the offender. Different emotions have different (a) ratios of hormones, (b) sequences of release of neurohormones, (c) patterns of excitation and inhibition in the central nervous system, (d) activation of gut feelings, and (e) tensing and release of tension in facial and bodily musculature. Thus far, these have not been investigated. Numerous experimental questions thus arise. What are the particular patterns associated with unforgiveness? Are all states of unforgiveness similar? Do they differ according to intensity? Unforgiveness due to a rape is likely different not only in intensity, but in kind, to unforgiveness due to an interpersonal slight. Does unforgiveness differ substantially if one is primarily vengeful versus if one harbors long-term resentment and grudge-holding? Mullet, Neto, and Riviere (2005) have found that revenge and grudgeholding personality styles have different personality correlates. Do they have different physiological correlates as well? Forgiveness is one coping mechanism to deal with the stress of unforgiveness. Besides forgiving, unforgiveness might be dealt with in numerous ways (Worthington, 2006). These include getting justice, seeing justice done, accepting and moving on, forbearing, cognitively recasting the transgression through condoning, justifying, or excusing it, turning the matter over to God for Divine justice or simply relinquishing judgment to God. Each of these might have different physiological and thus eventually health outcomes.
Self-Control Theories Applied to Forgiveness Witvliet and McCullough (2007) have proposed a model that relates brain functioning, chronic unforgiveness, and the ability to employ forgiveness readily as a coping mechanism. The model could also apply to other mechanisms for coping with the interpersonal stress of
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unforgiveness—such as acceptance, relinquishing the event to God, or mentally reframing. They root their model in the self-control literature. Witvliet and McCullough‘s (2007) model of self-control is built on the neurovisceral integration model of Thayer and Lane (2000). Adapting Thayer and Lane‘s model, McCullough and Witvliet suggest that people who have experienced a transgression might or might not become emotionally locked into the experience through rumination. If they do engage in rumination, some people cannot disinhibit the rumination. The rumination-created negative emotion builds in a feed-forward process, spiraling thinking and emotion into everincreasing levels of anger and resentment, fear and anxiety, or depression. The type of emotions depends on the content of the rumination (Berry et al., 2005). Grudge-holding, vengeful, and resentful people cannot disinhibit their rumination easily. It takes a large environmental or cognitive shift to initiate a feedback loop that will disinhibit rumination. Forgiving people (i.e., those high in trait forgivingness) or accepting people (i.e., those who easily shrug off or accept negative events even though they do not forgive) are able to disinhibit rumination easily. Other theories of self-control may also be applied to grudge-holding and forgiveness if we follow McCullough and Witvliet‘s (2007) lead. Several dual-process theories of selfcontrol exist. For example, Metcalfe and Mischel (1999) suggest that self-control is a battle between ―hot‖ emotional systems and ―cool‖ rational systems. The emotional system pushes the person toward impulsive acting out—which could involve aggression or vengeful and hateful rumination. The rational systems allow long-term beneficial emotions to predominate by slowing impulsive behavior or by engaging cognition that shifts focus from anger or impulsiveness. McCullough, Orsulak, Brandon, and Akers (2007) examined whether rumination about psychologically painful, though nontraumatic, interpersonal transgressions is associated with increased salivary cortisol. They measured salivary cortisol, rumination about a transgression, fear and anger regarding the transgressor, perceived painfulness of the transgression, and positive and negative mood. When participants reported that they had been ruminating more than they usually did, they had higher than typical levels of salivary cortisol. The rumination– cortisol association was mediated by fear of the transgressor. Rumination about even moderately painful but nontraumatic life events and associated emotions are related to biological changes that may subserve social goals such as avoiding social threats. The rumination-cortisol association appeared to be mediated by fear of the transgressor. Self-control requires enormous energy (Baumeister, Vohs, and Tice, 2007). This is consonant with Baumeister‘s ego depletion theory. Forgiveness also is experienced as taxing, supporting McCullough and Witvliet‘s (2007) contention that forgiveness can be an act of self-control. Furthermore, people are less able to forgive subsequent wrongs than the first wrong—again consistent with the ego depletion theory. According to the ego depletion theory, self-control can be built by practice (Baumeister, Vohs, and Tice, 2006). Again, by analogy, forgiveness also seems to become more likely as people practice it. The implications for theorizing are these. To the extent that forgiveness is a self-control process, the voluminous research that identifies its physiological substrates might fruitfully be tested by forgiveness researchers. As one example, both McCullough and Witvliet‘s application of Thayer and Lane‘s (2000) neurovisceral integration model and self-control research, Segerstrom and Nes (2007) have implicated heart rate variability as a variable of interest in the future study of the physiology of forgiveness.
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A Time Sequence Model Applied to Forgiveness McCullough, Fincham, and Tsang (2003) have argued that one must understand forgiveness as a process occurring over time and not as a single-one-time assessment. For example, a single assessment occasion that measured heart rate, blood pressure, and skin conductance, cortisol, oxytocin, and heart rate variability—even if correlated with selfreported forgiveness might obscure processes in the body. Low physical arousal might be due to a non-reactive nervous system, agreeableness, some non-forgiving mental activities (e.g., acceptance or cognitively excusing the offense), or simply a low baseline level. Only by following individuals over time after a transgression—measuring both self-reports and physiology—can the investigator infer that forgiveness has occurred. McCullough et al. (2003) articulated a theoretical description of the process of how forgiveness might be thought to change over time. If we measured people‘s negative revenge and avoidance motivations and their benevolent motivations soon after an offense, it would not be surprising to find that the two people had different levels of negative motivations. They describe the difference as forbearance. The assumption is that the difference in different starting reactions is due to people being able to forbear responding with negative motivations. McCullough et al. (2003) proposed that transgression-related interpersonal motivations result from 3 psychological parameters: forbearance (i.e., abstinence from avoidance and revenge motivations, and maintenance of benevolence), trend forgiveness (i.e., reductions in avoidance and revenge, and increases in benevolence), and temporary forgiveness (i.e., transient reductions in avoidance and revenge, and transient increases in benevolence). No study has measured the physiological responses of these three psychological parameters.
Emotional Conditioning Model Applied to Forgiveness Worthington (1998) observed that unforgiveness often involved fear and anxiety over being hurt or offended or wounded again by the perpetrator or by others. Does the degree to which fear and anxiety is present after a transgression change the physical responding? Worthington (1998) theorized that fear conditioning is at the root of some unforgiveness, even though additional emotional and cognitive manipulation occurs in producing unforgiveness. When people are hurt, they are fear conditioned, somewhat like a rat is classically conditioned. To demonstrate this theory, imagine an unforgiving person who is hurt from an offense, injustice, or rejection (i.e., the unconditioned stimulus) from an offender (i.e., the conditioned stimulus). Fear and anger are associated with the offender. Afterwards, if the unforgiving person sees the offender again he or she becomes tense (i.e., ―freezing‖). The stress-response system is activated. The person tries to avoid or withdraw from the offender to reduce contact (i.e., ―flight‖). If withdrawal is not possible, then anger, retaliation, and defensive fighting occur (i.e., ―fighting‖). If the fighting is not beneficial or is selfdestructive, the person may show signs of depression. The same pattern is, of course, observed in primates in both captivity and in the wild: freeze, ignite the stress system, withdraw, fight, and perhaps submit (LeDoux, 1996; Sapolsky, 2005). LeDoux has described the neural pathways activated by fear conditioning, concentrating particularly on mediation through the amygdala.
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Berry et al. (2005), in their fourth study within a single article, examined different types of rumination and the mediational role of such rumination. Vengeful rumination about interpersonal hurts and offenses is crucial in establishing and maintaining negative affects such as hostility and anger. Vengeful rumination, however, did not mediate the relationship of forgivingness with (a) fearfulness or (b) avoidance motivations (which have been hypothesized to be related to fearful and/or depressive rumination). These results added to the hypothesis that differential content of rumination following transgressions plays a role in determining the affective and motivational responses to transgressions.
The Broaden and Build Model of Positive Emotions Applied to Forgiveness Emotional forgiveness involves the emotional replacement of negative with positive other-oriented emotions (Exline et al., 2003). Worthington (2006) elaborated on Exline et al.‘s theoretical review. He suggested that an unforgiving person forgives bit by bit as he or she has a brief experience of empathy, sympathy, compassion, or love toward the offender. Gradually, negative emotion is replaced. We suggest there that replacement occurs in discrete quanta—in neutrality, which is what a group-averaged curve would look like. However, if we are to measure physiological responses, we must realize that mental events in the forgiven tend to be discretely bounded—say ten minutes of positive interaction here and twenty minutes of empathic or loving fantasy there. Physiological responses are hypothesized to mirror such experiences. One‘s net negativity will gradually give way to emotional neutrality (Worthington, 2006). If the offender is a stranger or person with whom one does not care to continue to interact, emotional forgiveness ceases with an emotionally neutral state. Much emotional forgiveness, however, occurs within valued ongoing relationships (e.g., romantic partners, family member, church members, friends). In those cases, forgivers likely continue to seek more positive emotional experiences, which result in a net positive emotion. In these cases, Frederickson‘s (1998) Broaden and Build model of positive emotions should be considered. Positive emotional states broaden one‘s perceptual field, which can allow an unforgiving person to perceive more good qualities of the partner, accelerating empathy and love. Furthermore, positive emotional states can also build emotional spiritual, can coping resources. Physiologically, positive emotions can have a variety of salutary effects (Salovey, Rothman, Detweiler, and Steward, 2000). They can boost immune system functioning as measured by salivary immunoglobulin-A (salivary IgA). Physiologically, positive emotions may also promote health through other mechanisms (Fredrickson, 1998). In short, several theoretical literatures within the psychological literature are applicable to forgiveness. In these well-developed literatures, substantial research has investigated physiological processes. If researchers delve into those literatures, new hypotheses manifest in the study of the relatively recent topic of forgiveness.
REVIEW OF EMPIRICAL RESEARCH Our objective in the present chapter is to provide a theoretically informed critical review of the research that has accumulated on the physiology of unforgiveness and forgiveness. Having reviewed theories that potentially could inform research on the physiology of
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forgiveness, we now seek to critically review the 19 studies we identified. The detailed summaries of the participants, variables, design, measures, and major findings are provided in Table 1. Given space limitations of the chapter, we will not repeat details in the text but refer readers to the Table, which is available from the first author,
[email protected]. Below, we will discuss our analyses of each section of the summary table. Participants. The 19 studies that were found most relevant to forgiveness or unforgiveness and their physiological correlates assessed a variety of participants. Of the 19 studies, 9 examined students. Four studied adults in general (Farrow et al., 2001; Lawler et al., 2008; Seybold et al., 2001; Tibhits et al., 2006). One studied young Christian adults (Witvliet et al., 2008). Two focused on females (Edmonson, 2004; Standard, 2004). One investigated PTSD patients (Farrow et al., 2005). On one hand, college students are overrepresented. Community-based studies are rare. Various communities have different norms. Would people in Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, or Hindu worship setting respond similarly to similar offenses? Probably not. All studies involve Western individualistic worldviews. Would similar findings obtain in collectivistic societies? Substantial research in collectivistic cultures exists (for a review and conceptualization of collectivistic forgiveness see Hook et al., 2009), but none of that research investigates physiological reactions. The elderly have not been studied physiologically. Toussaint, Williams, Musick, and Everson (2001) that the elderly show health effects of unforgiving traits whereas people younger than 65 do not. More study is needed on people between ages 45 and 65, especially in business or elder care settings. In short, the diversity of samples must be increased. With studies that intend to measure physiological responses to some kind of mental activity such as an emotions or moods, it may be helpful to investigate participants who have a particular physiological dysfunction. In studying the normal brain verses the PTSD-affected brain, for example, we can see differences in functioning when participants are asked to be involved with a mental task of forgiving (see Farrow et al., 2005). In particular, it is important to study PTSD patients. It is important to understand the physiology of PTSD itself. Reactions to stress involve the body as well as the mind. An automatic stress response is normal whenever an emergency disrupts or severely tests adaptive capacity. As the body mobilizes to confront the crisis, the adrenal hormones cortisol and epinephrine begin to circulate, responding to chemical signals passed through the pituitary gland from the hypothalamus, deep in the brain. The chemical messengers dopamine and norepinephrine are released in the sympathetic nervous system. Muscles tense and heart rate, blood pressure, and respiratory rate rise. Both when people experience a trauma and when they recall it, people who develop PTSD show higher arousal levels than other survivors of the same catastrophe— more activity in the sympathetic nervous system, higher levels of adrenaline, and a greater rise in heart rate and blood pressure. Yet PTSD patients may have lower than average levels of cortisol, which supplies a feedback mechanism that turns off the alarm when the emergency is over (McEwen, 2002). When cortisol reaches a critical level, the brain responds by deactivating the sympathetic system and suppressing the release of adrenaline. The sympathetic nervous system activates the amygdala, a brain region that coordinates responses to fear and anger, storing emotionally significant memories that are needed for survival. These memories in turn can influence later physical reactions. The form of the memories may also be affected. If the alarm is never completely turned off, the experience is not assimilated normally and may return as nightmares and other intrusive experiences. Farrow et al. (2005) sought to elucidate the effect of non-combat-related PTSD on the
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physiology of social cognition. Thirteen patients with PTSD underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while they (1) speculated on another's intention during a transgression, (2) tried to empathize with the transgressor, and (3) made judgments of the forgivability of others' actions. In each case, brain activity was compared to a baseline of social reasoning judgments. The specific regions of the brain activated by empathy and forgivability judgments changed with symptom resolution in PTSD. Farrow et al. concluded that time and therapy may contribute to normalizing the neural response to these social cognition tasks. One strategy not yet employed in forgiveness research is to study patients with specific brain lesions to infer brain function. Damasio (1999) has argued that emotions have at least three different manifestations: a physiological response (blood pressure, heart rate, etc.), behavioral response (smile, run away, etc.) and a subjective response (i.e., the conscious awareness of the experience—happiness, fear, etc.). If, for example, a stroke patient with damage to the region of the brain responsible for the conscious experience of emotion watches a scary movie, he or she may show physiological and behavioral changes that are associated with fear in a person without the brain damage. For example, the stroke-injured person can move the eyes away from screen (behavioral response) and may physiologically respond to the fear by elevated skin conductance, blood pressure, and heart rate. However, if the person is asked what he or she feels, the person will not be able to articulate a conscious feeling of fear. Such patients lack the subjective conscious assessment of their emotion. If we study participants that have this kind of damage to their brain, we can perhaps understand better the physiological responses of the emotions such as resentment, vengefulness, anger, and fear. We can also study the emotional and behavioral experience of empathy, sympathy, compassion, and love as they function to replace the unforgiving emotions. Variables. The 19 studies have focused on different physiological and biological indices associated with forgiveness and unforgiveness. Twelve studies included peripheral physiological responses such as heart rate, blood pressure, skin conductance levels, facial electromyogaphic activity (EMG) at the corrugator (brow) and orbicularis oculi (under the eye) muscle regions. One study looked at immunological indices such as blood samples hematocrit levels, white blood, TxPA levels, T-helper/cytotoxic cell ratios (Seybold et al., 2001). Four studies examined salivary cortisol levels as response to forgiveness or unforgiveness (Berry and Worthington, 2001; Gregory, 2005; McCullough et al., 2007; Standard, 2004). One study used genetic markers (Kang et al., 2007). Kang, Namkoong, and Kim (2008) looked at the relationship of DNA with neurotransmitters and specific emotions related to forgiveness or unforgiveness. The genes that control the stress response and its expression keep most people on a fairly even keel, only occasionally priming the body for fight or flight. Overactive or underactive stress responses may stem from slight differences in these genes. Although the biological basis of trait anger, anger expression, and forgiveness are not well understood, there has been growing evidence that anger-related dispositions are heritable and associated with genetic polymorphisms. Kang and colleagues investigated the possible relationship between anger and forgiveness traits and the dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158 Met polymorphisms in healthy Korean subjects. The findings suggested a possible relationship between anger expression styles and forgiveness traits and dopaminergic dysfunction. It is obvious from the results of this recent study that more research yields better understanding in the relationship of heredity to emotional dispositions in general. Tsuang et al. (2005)
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surveyed genetic theory and practice within the theoretical framework of Worthington‘s (2006) stress-and-coping theory. Specifically, they hypothesized genetic mechanisms behind the expression of empathy as an emotional replacement as Worthington had theorized. Such analyses, based on theory, are needed to guide future research. We described Farrow and his colleagues‘s studies in regard to PTSD, but let us now critique their method. They assessed brain functioning (using fMRI) while making judgments about social events or the amount of injustice involved in various scenarios. Participants‘ scans for such baseline judgments are aggregated into a baseline template. Participants then judge the forgivability of various injustices. A forgivability template of brain functioning can be created. Then, the two templates can be subtracted yielding the essence of brain activity unique to forgivability judgments (Farrow et al., 2001). Farrow et al. (2005) subsequently used such a net forgivability template to determine the degree to which people had forgiven following therapy. One might question whether making a judgment about how forgivable an event is—in the abstract—maps faithfully onto whether people actually forgive a transgression. Worthington differentiated decisional and emotional forgiveness, and the method employed by Farrow et al. seems more applicable to assessing decisional than emotional forgiving. Chemical markers. More studies that focus on different class of hormones and neurotransmitters that are somehow correlated to the stress response are needed. For example, a few of the studies have looked at salivary cotisol, which is associated with stresss. But what about other indicators such as oxytocin (i.e., a peptide associated with emotional bonding, which theoretically should be affected by forgiving). Also, catecholamines could serve as measures of stress. Measures of immune functioning, such as cytokines or SIgA, could also be assayed. The neuroendocrine and physiological systems related to stress have long been subjected to study. More recently, the corresponding systems promoting anti-stress and restoration have also come into focus. Uvnas-Moberg and Pettersson (2005), for example, examined the physiological and psychological mechanisms that protect and heal the body and psyche. The nonapeptide oxytocin, originally known to stimulate labor and milk ejection, appears to play an important role in this regard. Oxytocin can induce anti-stress-like effects such as reduction of blood pressure and cortisol levels. It increases pain thresholds, exerts an anxiolytic-like effect and stimulates various types of positive social interaction. In addition, it promotes growth and healing. Repeated exposure to oxytocin may cause long-lasting effects by influencing the activity of other transmitter systems, a pattern which makes oxytocin potentially clinically relevant. Purely psychological mechanisms may trigger the release of oxytocin. One way to incorporate the study of oxytocin with forgiveness studies is to measure the levels of this chemical in individuals participating in experimental studies before and after forgiveness interventions, especially because one of the aims of most forgiveness interventions is to increase and promote positive interaction. Epinephrine and norepinephrine are the catecholamines most commonly measured in stress experiments, and both increase under stress. This suggests that more studies need to tailored around measuring theses chemicals as indicators of stress. Increases such as these can suppress aspects of immune function, including natural killer cell (cells that attack antigens without having recognized them first) activity. Increases in catacholemines may also rapidly alter cell numbers via redistribution (Naliboff et al., 1991).
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Measures. The 19 studies employed different measures to examine the physiological correlates of forgiveness and unforgiveness. Twelve of the studies used instruments that could collect physiological data (blood pressure, heart rate, skin conductance, salivary cortisol, and etc.). Medical instruments that measure immunological indices, cortisol level, and functional brain regions have been employed to measure physiological responses. Many of the studies have also used a battery of questionnaires to measure emotional variables such as empathy, fear, anger, ruminations, revenge and many more related to forgiveness and injustice. Berry and Worthington (2001) used questionnaires about quality of romantic relationship and about forgiveness, which were correlated with salivary cortisol levels. Participants in unhappy relationships had higher cortisol reactivity upon thinking about their partner (indicating higher stress) than did those in unhappy or failed relationships. Correlational studies similar to this can assess subjective perceptions of individual‘s level of happiness and relate them chemical changes in body. However, these correlational studies do not create a strong link between the mental perceptions and the physiological responses. More studies need to be designed that try to directly link these mental events to physiological events. Only four experimental studies attempted to decipher this causational link (Farrow et al., 2005; Gregory, 2005; Standard, 2004; Tibbits et al., 2006). Cortisol might also be a problematic measure of stressfulness associated with unforgiveness. It is sensitive to many external factors, such as time of day, point in the menstrual cycle, amount of time spent resting, what one is thinking about when resting, consumption of caffeine prior to the test (Kirschbaum, Wuest, and Hellhammer, 1992). Salivary cortisol has been used to date. For many, insertion of a catheter or even withdrawal of blood is in itself stressful, and instigates cortisol spikes. Furthermore, cortisol might be inappropriate for measuring acute reactions to the imagination of a transgression or of forgiving the transgression. Such restrictions on using cortisol might suggest that a search for other markers would be fruitful. Design. Most of the 19 studies used correlational designs. Four of the studies were experimental. Of those, three employed forgiveness interventions (Gregory 2005; Standard, 2004; Tibbits et al., 2006) and one used cognitive behavioral therapy (Farrow et al., 2005). Experimental studies that use interventions are a great tool to investigate the physiological correlates of mental states and activities such as holding grudge, ruminating, forgiving, seeking revenge, and experiencing emotions such as fear and anger. There are few direct experimental studies that look at the cause and effect relationship of physiology and mental factors related to forgiveness and unforgiveness. Findings. Most of the findings from the 19 studies support the conceptualization of forgiveness and unforgiveness within a stress-and-coping framework. In the sections below, we summarize and critique three major findings: (1) viewing unforgiveness as a stress reaction, (2) viewing forgiveness as one coping strategy, and (3) viewing forbearance as another coping strategy. Unforgiveness can be seen as a stress reaction to interpersonal offenses. The stress reaction involves a complex set of physiological processes to help people deal with stress that persists. The duration of a stressor may be virtually instantaneous, such as seeing a snake at one‘s feet. Generally, this results in amygdala-mediated conditioned responding (LeDoux, 1996) and less immediate cortical responding as the person processes the meaning of the stimuli. The amygdala-mediated responding releases the vagal nerve inhibition of pathways and structures associated with the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). It thus invigorates rapid behavioral avoidance or escape from an acute stressor. Direct inervation of the adrenals
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also occurs, which provides rapid response to a stressor—although a bit slower than the release of the ―vagal brake.‖ Additionally, epinephrine acts through the endocrine system to prolong arousal. Some stressors produce slower responses than seeing a snake at one‘s feet. Slower mechanisms, such as the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) cascade, can elevate SNS responding and maintain its elevation until cortisol, adrenaline, and other gluccocorticoids and catecholanines degrade. Direct SNS activation also can stimulate the stress response. Research has accumulated concerning unforgiveness as an interpersonal stress response. Typically, the way this has been investigated is to ask participants to (a) recall a real transgression and ruminate about it, or (b) place oneself in an imaginative situation by reading and thinking about a plausible scenario involving a transgression. The logic of such studies is as follows. Typically, unforgiveness toward an offender is not continually experienced. Rather, internal or external triggers stimulate a victim‘s memory, rumination, or imaginal anticipation of future interactions with the offender. Thus, having participants remember, ruminate about, or engage in plausible imaginal fantasy are precisely the cognitive tasks that are associated with real unforgiveness or forgiveness. Some investigators have measured transient reactions upon cuing recall, rumination, or imagination. Witvliet and Lawler have most often done this (see various studies by Lawler et al., 2003 [two], 2005 [two], and 2008; also Lawler-Row et al., 2006, 2007; Witvliet et al., 2001, 2002, and 2008 [two]). Notably, fast-acting response systems have not been measured. One might conceive of a study involving tracking brain activity as one watches a movie in which an unexpected, sudden, and perhaps violent mishap occurs to a protagonist with whom the participant has identified empathically. Strong immediate SNS responses, due to release of the vagal brake, could provide clues to who might be at risk for developing unforgiveness frequently (i.e., as a trait). Forgiveness is a coping response. Forgiveness is only one of many coping responses, and thus far we have presented substantial evidence to this effect. Thus, we will not present additional evidence. Forbearance is also a coping response. Besides forgiveness, there are numerous alternative coping responses (i.e., seeing justice done, turning the issue over to God, accepting and moving on). The physiological responses associated with each of the alternatives to forgiving needs to be detailed. To show the open questions that surround some of the alternatives to forgiving, we take one—forbearance—which may be important in societal and international relations (Hook, Worthington, and Utsey, 2009). Forbearance is effortfully suppressing one‘s emotional responses and aggressive or hostile behaviors (Worthington, 2006). Forbearance may be contrasted with decisional forgiveness. Decisional forgiveness seeks to act prosocially and with good will while forbearance is aimed at forcibly squelching negative emotional expression (i.e., often called suppression) in combination with striving not to act negatively. Little attention has been given empirically to forbearance. McCullough, Fincham, and Tsang (2003) defined forbearance as simply the reduction of negative vengeful and avoidant responding of an offended party between an investigator‘s first measurement of vengeful and avoidant motivations and the initial offense. The determination of such forbearance depends on assumptions that (a) one can reliably plot a curve of forgiveness over time that is linear or log-linear; (b) forgiveness is continuous rather than discrete or discontinuous; (c) the smooth curve can be extrapolated backwards to t = 0, the moment of offense; and (d) forbearance is
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not really an effortful process that one strives to engage in, but is, in fact, a part of a continuous process with forgiving. Some of these assumptions are dubious. First, McCullough has shown that reductions of negative motivations, on the average, can be represented by a decreasing function as collapsed across a sample of participants not involved in an intervention (McCullough, 2008). The researcher can calculate a backwards-extrapolated value of unforgiving motivations at t = 0, on the average. The researcher subtracts the t=1 initial measurement from the extrapolated t=0 baseline, and the result is deemed forbearance. The correspondence of such forgiveness as being continuous with most individuals’ phenomenological experience of forgiveness as herky-jerky is doubtful, though the smooth curve accurately represents a sample‘s experiences. Second, forgiveness might not be a steady decline of emotions. Rather, it could occur as a discrete decision (Exline et al., 2003), and that decision might suddenly and discontinuously accelerate emotional forgiveness. Third, extrapolating backward between an early measurement within the first week after a transgression (see McCullough et al., 2007) and t = 0 might not be an accurate depiction of the course of unforgiveness. Worthington and Wade (1999) suggested that immediately after a transgression, primary emotions like anger and fear dominate. They argued that in fact, unforgiveness increases over time (at least in the times immediately following a transgression—not decreases as McCullough, Fincham, and Tsang (2003) theorized—as the victim elaborates and ruminates about the transgression and its consequences. (True, time does erode already established unforgiveness.) Thus, the assumption that one may extrapolate backwards to a high level of unforgiveness at time t = 0 may be inaccurate. Fourth, McCullough et al. (2003) define forbearance in a way that seems to be at odds with most people‘s common sense usage. Most people consider forbearance as an active suppression of (a) actions, (b) motivations, (c) emotions, and (d) sometimes cognition, not as mere loss of vengeful motives due to the passage of time. Forbearance seems to be common in many collectivistic cultures (for a review, see Hook, Worthington, and Utsey, 2009). Negative behavior towards an offender is often suppressed for the sake of preserving group harmony. In collectivistic cultures, even though sometimes people make a decision to forgive, they rarely report emotion forgiveness. People may attempt to suppress negative emotions as well as behaviors and they express this effort as forbearing. Gross (2001) has reviewed the literature on the sequelae of suppression. Negative health consequences often ensue. Because forbearance (understood as suppression) is so frequent in collectivistic groups, it deserves vigorous investigation. As yet, no good theory has been articulated, no self-report measures created and supported psychometrically, and no studies of the physiology of forbearance performed. Acceptance is yet another alternative coping mechanism. Jacobson and Christensen (1996) developed Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy. To have a successful marriage, couples need to develop the ability to change what can be change but to accept the unchangeable. Integrative behavioral couple therapy creates a context in which partners seek to accept in each other what cannot be changed. While acceptance is not equated with forgiveness, it reduces unforgiveness and can reduce the size of the injustice gap. Acceptance lowers the sense of injustice by reducing expectations for justice. As the injustice gap shrinks, physiological reactivity and arousal decrease. Jacobson and Christensen (1996) offer clinical detail on how to change couple behavior, and when it is unchangeable, to accept the immutability. Acceptance has been examined physiologically by Gottman (1994). In fact, couple research in the behavioral couple therapy and integrative behavioral couple therapy
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has provided a wealth of data that researchers who study the physiology of forgiveness might draw upon. What is being considered to be forgiveness makes a crucial difference. In many of the articles, forgiveness has been used as an umbrella term that actually might hide several processes. Furthermore, the term is often used in imprecise ways among laypeople and even scientists. Traditionally, researchers have not been in full accord about what forgiveness means. Progress toward agreement about definitions has been made in recent years (Worthington, 2005). One of the main lessons of our review is this: if the physiological study of forgiveness processes is to progress, researchers must be increasingly precise in defining what they are measuring when they study ―forgiveness.‖ Importantly, one‘s theoretical understanding of the processes surrounding a transgression will strongly inform what and how one measures forgiveness.
CONCLUSION Viewing forgiveness as a coping mechanism to the stress response to a transgression (i.e., unforgiveness) suggests a number of conclusions. First, it is possible to employ such a stressand-coping theory to inform future research on physiological aspects of unforgiveness and forgiveness. Second, many aspects of the physiology of forgiveness have seen one or two studies. But systematic study is needed to map the terrain. Most attention has been focused on peripheral physiology. Brain scanning, biochemistry, and genetics are barely touched and are priority areas for future research. Third, definitions of forgiveness differentiate within each group: (1) grudges, vengeance, versus resentment, (2) decisional versus emotional forgiveness, (3) vengeance, avoidance, benevolence, versus conciliation motives, (4) offenders who are strangers versus those who are in valued and continuing relationships, and (5) contexts versus cultures. However, to date, studies of physiological experience have not made such differentiations. Future research needs to take theoretical differences into account. The rich interweaving of theories and findings can take forgiveness research into many uncharted waters. In fact, we conclude that there are many undiscovered lands in this quest for discovery. We suggest that the field of understanding the physiological substrate and processes of forgiveness is like the time after Columbus had discovered (or rediscovered) the new world of North America. Initial forays had been made in the wilderness, but the entire country lay open for discovery. Undoubtedly, researchers—like French explorers from the North, Spanish from the South, English from the East, and Native Americans who had explored the country for years—can all contribute discovery by collaborating. Through integrating various theoretical approaches and methods and valuing each, we can learn about the richness of forgiveness.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Portions of this research were supported by the Fetzer Institute, grant 2254.01, on the multidimensional assessment of forgiveness.
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Advances in Psychology Research. Volume 78 Ed: Alexandra M. Columbus
ISBN: 978-1-61209-442-7 © 2011 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
Chapter 10
THE EFFECT OF SEXUALLY EXPLICIT RAP MUSIC ON SEXUAL ATTITUDES, NORMS, AND BEHAVIORS Lucrezia M. Alcorn and Anthony F. Lemieux Purchase College, State University of New York, USA
ABSTRACT In this chapter, we review the recent literature on music and social influence, with a particular emphasis on the influence of music on sexual attitudes and behaviors. We also present an experimental study that provided an empirical investigation of the relationships between sexually explicit rap music and sexual attitudes, perceived norms, and behaviors. Results indicated no significant short-term effects of rap music on the expression of sexual attitudes or perception of norms. However, we found marginal support for sexually explicit rap in priming condom-related sexual behavior.
INTRODUCTION The relationship between sexually explicit rap music and its influence on sexual behaviors has been widely assumed (e.g., Gore; Steinem; the American Academy of Pediatrics, the PTA, the National Coalition on Television Violence, and the Parents‘ Media Resource Center, as discussed in Hansen, 1995) although little empirical research has directly addressed this issue. Proponents of censorship base their arguments primarily on the notion that rap music features content of seemingly dubious moral standing, without providing empirical evidence that exposure to this type of music actually causes deleterious effects among listeners. Rap has been a particular target, and its criticisms have included both social and aesthetic aspects (see Lemieux, 2000 for a detailed discussion). Because of the substantial amount of negative attention that rap has generated, it is important to understand the biases inherent in its evaluation (see North and Hargreaves, 2008 for a detailed review). The fundamental logic of the campaigns to censor or ‗sanitize‘ rap music, in particular, has been
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to assume that the messages in the music are particularly influential among its listeners. In this chapter, we present research that tests the core of this claim by focusing on the potential for sexually explicit rap music to influence attitudes, perceived social norms, and behaviors related to sexuality. A complex issue raised by the focus on rap music is the assumption that it exists in a vacuum—where it may be the primary influence. However, in reality, music is just one component of a larger multimedia market that is rapidly expanding (North and Hargreaves, 2008). And in downplaying the importance of the broader social and cultural context, procensorship campaigners seem to disregard the irony, satire, and witticisms that are often present in rap music. Following from this, it seems that the most ardent critics of rap focus on the explicit ―sex and drugs‖ content of rap music and presume that these are at the root of ongoing social problems. As mentioned earlier, there is a limited amount of experimental evidence available to support the notion that this music causes changes in sexual attitudes and behaviors, and it is not clear which aspects of the media cause the effect. Part of the problem is that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to publish null results in scientific journals, which means that unpublished data could exist that shows non-significant or no effects of rap music on sexual attitudes and behaviors (North and Hargreaves, 2008). It stands to reason that if listening to rap music were to cause changes in attitude and behavior irrespective of other potential mediating factors, then we would expect to see these effects among all rap music fans. The research that does exist appears to indicate that specific individual differences among listeners, such as psychological vulnerability, and a predisposition towards unhealthy attitudes and behaviors, may play a significant role (North and Hargreaves, 2008). Given the serious implications of censorship and the assumptions that it is predicated upon, it is necessary that researchers closely examine the relationship between listening to sexually explicit rap music and changes in attitudes, perceived norms, expectations, and behaviors. Few studies have focused on the sexual content and impact of music alone on sexual attitudes and behaviors. The research presented here addresses these issues directly.
The Influence of Media on Sexual Attitudes The majority of research that pertains to the role of entertainment media in the sexual socialization of youth has focused on the sexual content and potential impact of primetime comedies and dramas, daytime soap operas, music videos, and magazines (North, Hargreaves, and Tarrant, 2002). An increase in the expectations of the prevalence of sexual activity, and in the acceptance of stereotypical and casual attitudes regarding sex resulting from the sustained and involved exposure to sexually oriented material, has been demonstrated in numerous studies. Greater exposure to sexual content has also occasionally been linked to a greater degree of sexual experience (e.g., Ward, 2003). Holder-Nevins and Bain (2001) examined whether adolescent girls‘ sexual feelings and behavior would be influenced by exposure to sexually explicit lyrics in Jamaican dancehall music. This correlational study involved the random selection of 50 sexually active female adolescents. A second group of 50 girls who had never engaged in sexual activity was matched for age and social class. While Holder-Nevins and Bain hypothesized that Jamaican
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female adolescents would be more likely to engage in sexual intercourse at an early age, they instead found that this type of music was not linked to sexual feelings by either group. The questionnaire they designed to examine the hypothetical link between sexual activity and the feelings invoked by Jamaican dance hall music revealed that listening to North American soul music elicited more feelings of sexual intimacy among those who were sexually active. Although the results suggest that different genres of music have different implications for sexual attitudes and possibly for sexual behaviors, the research has some methodological limitations that must be considered when generalizing on the basis of the study‘s conclusions. Holder-Nevins and Bain (2001) conducted a correlational study, which related the frequency of exposure to music to measures of various behaviors. Any effects that may result from prolonged exposure to the music in question are reflected in this particular approach; therein lies its advantage. However, the ability to attribute any effects to one specific cause, while ruling out the impact of others, is not possible. In this particular study, the correlational approach does not allow for a clear determination of whether exposure to music is the cause of certain behaviors, or vice versa. For instance: Do unsafe sexual behaviors stem from exposure to specific types of music, or is the attraction to a specific type of music borne of one‘s behavior (e.g., North, Hargreaves, and Tarrant, 2002)? Rather, correlational studies indicate that although there may be a relationship between rap music and certain behaviors, there may be a larger, over-arching issue that may be the true cause of both listening to this music and certain behaviors (North and Hargreaves, 2008). Although the data of HolderNevins and Bain show that there are indeed significant relationships, the answers to questions about causality remain unclear, and call for a between-subjects pre and post design, which would better allow for precise stimulus control and the determination of cause and effect.
The Influence of Rap Music on Sexual Aggression In addition to pop music that contains graphic depictions of sexual acts, there exist many expressions of negative and sexist attitudes about women within rap music. Women are frequently objectified, and this has fueled concern that rap music reinforces, or justifies, the idea that coercive sexual activity is acceptable to and desired by women (Barongan and Hall, 1995). Critics argue that listening to rap music may influence people to act in more sexually aggressive and violent ways towards women (Johnson, Adams, Ashburn, and Reed, 1995). The literature on the influence of misogynistic rap music on sexual aggression against women is relevant to the broader study of the influence of sexually explicit rap in a number of ways. First, the claim that exposure to music videos containing images of women in sexually marginalized roles (of which there are similarly abundant depictions in the rap music that was addressed in this study) results in perception and attitude change, has been substantiated. In one study, participants‘ judgments of male-female interactions changed dramatically after watching rock videos, which contained depictions of women in sexually subordinate roles (Hansen and Hansen, 1988). Second, a study by Johnson et al. (1995) revealed that female participants who watched rap music videos which contained images of women in sexually subordinate roles, expressed greater acceptance of teen dating violence thereafter, than did females who did not watch the videos. Johnson et al. explained these findings by citing a robust priming research literature,
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which indicates that exposure to verbal, visual, or auditory stimuli fosters a person‘s temporary access to certain pieces of information, and this in turn affects subsequent judgments and attitudes (e.g., Reyes, Thompson, and Bower, 1980; Srull and Wyer, 1980). It therefore seems plausible that exposure to sexually explicit music could potentially increase the accessibility of information related to sexual risk-taking behavior, which could then lead to greater acceptance of casual attitudes about sex, and perhaps affect the self-reported likelihood of engaging in such behaviors. Barongan and Hall (1995) articulated a similar reasoning for the results of their study, in which a significantly greater number of men showed a sexually aggressive film vignette to a female confederate after hearing misogynistic rap music than did men who listened to neutral rap music. Barongan and Hall theorized that the misogynous rap music had a priming effect on the participants‘ subsequent decisions about which film to show. They argued that the medium through which this content was presented (socially acceptable music that is readily accessible to a wide population) facilitated the acceptance of sexual violence against women. The same principles were applied to the present investigation; that is, because sexually explicit rap music is not restricted in the way that pornographic materials are, the music might serve to legitimize the cognitive distortion that sexual violence is acceptable. This is important because if the listeners‘ condone the lyrical messages of the music, it opens up the possibility that they may be more likely to engage in those behaviors themselves. The findings of Wester, Crown, Quatman, and Heesacker (1997) suggest that brief exposure to misogynistic rap music leads male listeners with little prior exposure to sexually violent rap music, to view their relationships with women as more adversarial, as compared with those that are not exposed to misogynistic rap music. Given these results, one might expect that men with preexisting misogynistic attitudes would manifest greater changes in attitude. Applying this thinking to the potential relationship between sexually explicit rap music, sexual attitudes, and behaviors, it seemed possible that long-term exposure to sexually explicit material might foster casual attitudes about sexual interactions by facilitating the encoding of permissive messages. The likelihood of attitude change increases when this type of encoding occurs because it enables greater attitude accessibility. Listening to sexually explicit rap may serve as a prime for individuals that are already familiar with this type of music, but for people that are unfamiliar with this type of music, sexually permissive attitudes might actually originate from short-term exposure to rap music. In other words, in addition to any longer-term effects, there might be the potential of sexually explicit rap music to momentarily influence sexual attitudes and behavior immediately after exposure.
Unpacking Media Influence: The Roles of Viewing Amount and Viewer Involvement Collectively, the research that examines television‘s role in the sexual socialization process provides evidence that there is a link between the amount of time spent watching sexually oriented programming and viewer‘s sexual attitudes, expectations, and behaviors (see Ward and Rivadeneyra, 1999 for review). Ward and Rivadeneyra (1999) note however, that the majority of studies that examine the impact of television viewing focus solely on the amount of exposure to sexually oriented programming, and do not take into account other
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dimensions of viewing which may influence viewer‘s attitudes, expectations, and behaviors. In order to better understand television‘s role in the sexual socialization process they examined dimensions of viewing involvement. Their argument is predicated upon the idea that the degree to which viewer‘s feel connected to the material and are involved in the viewing experience, will dictate the extent to which they are influenced by it. This was relevant to the conceptualization of the study we present here because it is likely that factors other than amount of exposure, influence the relationship between listening to sexually explicit rap music and sexual beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. Ward and Rivadeneyra (1999) presented five dimensions of viewer involvement, which were based on a number of theoretical perspectives. They first considered what they termed viewing motivation, and defined as viewers‘ expected uses of television. Rubin (1994), a proponent of a uses-and-gratifications perspective, posits that people seek out and use media based on a desire to gratify specific needs. More specifically, evidence suggests that media use is more purpose driven than ritualized, thus lending support to Ward and Rivadeneyra‘s hypothesis that viewers who use television to obtain information about the world, would be more likely to be influenced by its content. The second dimension of involvement, termed level of active viewing, addresses the ways in which differing levels of audience activity may enhance or impede media effects. Kim and Rubin (1997) argue that a person‘s selectivity, attention to, and involvement with the content viewed (i.e., facilitative activity) is a positive predictor of media effects, while avoidance, distraction, and skepticism (i.e., inhibitory activity) is a negative predictor of media effects. In keeping with this line of research, Ward and Rivadeneyra (1999) predicted that sexually oriented television content would have a greater impact on viewer‘s who watch television in a more facilitative manner. The third dimension of involvement examines the perceived realism of the portrayals. Evidence supports the premise that television‘s impact will increase, the more realistic its content is perceived to be (Huston, Wartella, and Donnerstein, 1998). One individual difference that seemed likely to influence the degree to which an individual is influenced by lyrical content in the music, is how realistic that individual perceives the actions represented in the lyrical content to be. Indeed the idea that people would consider content that most closely mirrors reality more important seems like a reasonable way to process information. But while Ward and Rivadeneyra (1999) explained the role of perceived realism within the context of the cultivation theory, Taylor (2005) explained the salience of perceived realism in mediating the relationship between viewing sexual television and sexual, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors in terms of its relationship to the social cognitive theory (SCT; Bandura, 1986, 1994, 2002) and the information-processing model (Huesmann, 1997, 1998). Bandura posits that people will be more likely to imitate a model‘s behavior if the models portrayal is realistic (Bandura, 2002: Bandura, Ross, and Ross, 1963). According to the information-processing model developed by Huesmann (1997, 1998), cognitive scripts contain both procedural information (in this case, how to perform a sexual act) and declarative information (a sexual behaviors‘ meaning or implication), and are established through observational learning and conditioning. Scripts also impart information about when a sexual behavior is appropriate or should be expected. More specifically, the most captivating elements of a person‘s environment are the most likely to be attended to and incorporated into developing scripts, and this would inevitably include music, and other interesting aspects of one‘s environment. In this way, listening to sexually explicit rap music
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that describes sexual acts in realistic detail would be expected to contribute to the development of a person‘s sexual scripts. The information processing model developed by Huesmann (1997, 1998) is an efficient way in which to consider the possible effects of listening to sexually explicit music, although it has primarily been utilized within the context of sexually explicit television content. Scripts guide behavior and attention to the interpretation of stimuli and media content, in this case music, and can influence and guide scripts resulting in both short-term and long-term effects. Scripts shape the development and content of ideas, which is referred to as learning, and constitutes a long-term effect, as well as influence which existing scripts are accessible for use, which constitutes a short-term effect (often referred to as priming). In short, Taylor‘s (2005) work suggests that listening to sexually explicit rap music could directly influence a person‘s behavior by guiding the expression of their beliefs and attitudes regarding appropriate sexual interaction, and that repeated exposure to sexually explicit rap music might make relevant scripts chronically available, thus informing future sexual interactions. The fourth and fifth dimensions of involvement, identification and perceived relevance to the self, address the personal connections with television portrayals. Ward and Rivadeneyra (1999) propose that the extent to which a viewer identifies with television figures, or perceives the content to be pertinent to their own lives, will influence the degree of effect. The formulations of these dimensions are outgrowths of Greenberg‘s drench hypothesis (1988) and Bandura‘s models of Social Learning (1986; 1994). Greenberg asserts that a character portrayal, which strongly resonates with viewers may have more of an impact on attitudes, expectations, and behaviors than the sheer frequency of television characters and behaviors viewed. In a similar vein, Bandura‘s Social Learning Theory (1963) posits that individuals will be more likely to imitate a behavior if the model, in this case rap artists, are rewarded and not punished for their behavior. The findings of Ward and Rivadeneyra (1999) and Taylor (2005) informed the development of the critical research questions and hypotheses, which are the basis of the study presented here. The critical research questions and hypotheses were as follows: First, we aimed to determine whether or not sexually explicit rap music influences attitudes, perceived norms, expectations, and behaviors. In keeping with the information processing model, we expected that short-term exposure to rap music with explicit sexual content would be unlikely to produce lasting changes in an individual‘s sexual scripts, but it might influence which behavioral scripts were used in the short term. Second, we attempted to identify a number of listener involvement characteristics that might influence the nature or degree of such effects. For the purposes of this study, listener involvement was defined to include listening motivation, level of active listening (listening habits), perceived realism, and level of identification with the performer. With regard to these four dimensions of listener involvement, we expected that the potential effects of listening to sexually explicit rap music would be stronger among viewers who were more highly motivated to listen to rap music to intentionally gather information about sex. Third, we expected that those who were active listeners, and engaged in more facilitative activity, which includes selectivity, attention, and involvement, would be more likely to be influenced by the music because they would be more interested and invested in the content of the music. Fourth, we expected that individuals who listened to music containing graphic depictions of sexual acts and who perceived those depictions to be more realistic, would be more likely to endorse the messages espoused in the music, than individuals who listened to
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the same depictions and perceived them to be relatively less realistic. According to the information processing model, the belief that the lyrical content of the music is more realistic would make listeners more inclined to place importance on what they listen to, and attend to it more carefully, which would result in a greater influence of the listened music content in activating or altering existing scripts which guide behavior. Finally, we expected that the influence of the music‘s sexual content would be stronger among listeners who more closely identified or connected with the portrayals. An individual may or may not strongly identify with the rappers race, gender, socioeconomic status, values, or propensity to partake in certain behaviors, and the degree to which the individual is affected by the music, will vary accordingly. Notwithstanding the fact that the relationships described above are bi-directional, and listeners‘ preexisting sexual attitudes and expectations affect their listening choices, the aim of the study was to examine the ways in which sexually explicit rap music‘s might shape listeners‘ conceptions of sexuality. Rap music‘s reach and impact will be more accurately understood when documented by systematic research on the specific variables that we report on in this chapter.
METHOD Experimental Design A between-subjects design was employed with two levels of the independent variable, one being the sexually explicit music condition (treatment), and the other being the neutral music condition (control). The factors of listening involvement were treated as independent variables in the statistical analyses. The dependent variables consisted of the participant‘s scores on the sexual attitudes and behavioral measures. Participants completed a series of measures, and listened to and evaluated three songs based on the condition to which they were randomly assigned.
Participants Participants were 50 undergraduates (25 females, 25 males) recruited from an introductory psychology course at Purchase College, State University of New York. They completed a pre-test measure that included questions about their music preference, and sexual attitude measures (see Appendix A), during a regularly scheduled Introduction to Psychology class. Participants were then selected on the basis of their preference for rap music because based on previous findings, when people do not like a particular form of music, then they are not likely to pay much attention to or be influenced by it. In exchange for their participation in a ―study about dating and relationships,‖ participants received course credit or ten dollars. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 32, with a mean age of 19.4 years.
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Measures of Listening Motivations and Habits This study focused on the impact of exposure to mainstream rap music. This particular sub-genre of rap was selected above other types, because our focus was on sexual content that is heard by a wide audience and is frequently played on the radio, and to whom listeners can connect or identify. Three aspects of viewing were assessed: frequency, general involvement (5 dimensions), and perceptions of sexual content.
Frequency To measure listening amounts, a list of was provided of 9 different musical genres. Using a 5-point scale, that ranged from 1 (everyday / almost everyday) to 5 (once a month or less), participants indicated how often they listen to music from each particular genre. Participants were also asked to indicate how many hours they listened to music on an average weekday, as well as how many hours they listened to music on a average weekend. General Involvement The second group of measures assessed participants‘ general involvement during exposure to the rap music. One measure titled ―Listening Motivations‖ examined the degree to which listeners listen to music to learn about the world. Here participants were asked to rate each of 17 possible motivations for listening to music. Individual motives reflecting this learning and general listening motivation perspective were extracted from a measure Ward and Rivadeneyra (1999) developed. To rate each motivation, participants used a 5-point Likert scale that ranged from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The intitial Cronbach‘s alpha reported for the entire scale was (α = .78), and two subscales were created to assess several aspects of listener motivation that would have particular relevance for the current research. The first subscale that was created from the composite Listening Motivations scale, was the Education Learning Value subscale which consists of 4 statements. Examples of motivations from this subscale include ―because it gives me a chance to reflect on life‖ and ―to learn about people from ethnic and cultural backgrounds different from my own.‖ The second subscale that was created was the Communication of Feelings subscale, which consists of 3 statements. Examples of motivations from this subscale include ―because it engenders feelings for the opposite sex‖ and ―because I am sexually attracted to the musical performer.‖ The final alphas were acceptable, as they exceeded .6 for each subscale (Educational α = .66, Feelings α = .72). A second measure assessed how active or passive each participant was as a listener. This instrument was based on three types of audience activity outlined by Ward and Rivadeneyra (1999) that tap several dimensions of facilitative activity. The first aspect, selectivity in exposure seeking, reflects the degree to which listeners intend to enter the communication setting. The second, involvement during exposure, reflects the degree to which viewers either attend to the communication situation, or engage in information processing of the messages presented. The third dimension, post-exposure use, reflects the extent to which viewers use the messages acquired in their social or psychological life. All these dimensions were assessed in one measure titled Music Listening Habits. These items were based partly on items from Ward and Rivadeneyra (1999). A list of 26 statements was developed reflecting the different aspects of active listening. Examples of listening habits statements from these
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subscales include ―I often set aside time in my day, specifically to listen to music‖, ―I often become quite involved in the music I listen to and can easily sympathize with what the artist is singing or rapping about‖, and ―I frequently talk to others about what music I‘ve recently listened to.‖ Eight items measured selectivity in exposure seeking, 17 items measured involvement during exposure, and nine items measured post-exposure use of the music. Agreement with each statement was rated using a 5-point Likert scale that ranged from 1 (not at all like me) to 5 (very much like me). Again, several individual items were removed from each subscale where results indicated that doing so would strengthen the cohesiveness of each sub-scale, and this resulted in each of the 3 subscales being reduced to 4, 11, and 8 item subscales, respectively. The final alphas exceeded .7 for each subscale (Selectivity = .70, Involvement = .73, and Use = .79).
Perceptions of Sexual Content in the Music The remaining viewer involvement variables assessed participants‘ perceptions of the type of sexual content presented in the music. Participants rated the situation presented in the lyrical content, along with their level of identification with the rapper. For the identification measure, which was comprised of 8 statements about the rapper‘s lifestyle and actions, participants rated the extent to which they agreed or didn‘t agree with these statements using a 5-point Likert scale that ranged from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly disagree). The perceived realism measure, which was comprised of 18 statements, assessed the degree to which each participant perceived the lyrical content of the music to be realistic through a measure patterned after on developed by Ward and Rivadeneyra (1999). After participants had listened to all 3 songs, they rated the songs collectively for their level of realism using a 5-point scale that ranged from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Scores from all 3 songs were then averaged to form a composite perceived realism score.
Sexual Outcome Measures All the measures utilized in this study, with the exception of the norm perceptions and expectations sub-scales, were adapted from measures used by Ward and Rivadeneyra (1999) to reflect the listening, rather than viewing experience. A set of sexual outcome measures were selected and/or created to reflect two dimensions of participants‘ sexuality: their attitudes, and their expectations and norm perceptions about their own behavior and attitudes, as well as others.
Attitudes about Sexuality Participants‘ attitudes toward dating, sexual roles, and romantic relationships, were assessed using the Attitudes toward Dating and Relationships measure modified for the current study. Because a critical goal of this study was to determine whether exposure to sexually explicit rap increases listener‘s acceptance of the types of attitudes and values frequently presented in this musical genre, it was decided that the best outcome measure would be one that incorporated the exact types of values typically portrayed. Accordingly, the coding system used in Ward and Rivadeneyra‘s (1999) analysis of televisions sexual content was adapted to capture respondents‘ attitudes toward a number of themes about sexuality
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common in the larger culture and on television. A list of 23 statements was developed and organized into three larger categories based on this analysis. A Men Are Sex Driven Orientation to sexuality was represented by eight statements which defined sexual relations between men and women in terms of men‘s inability to resist sexual urges and remain monogamous. Here, sex is seen as the natural outgrowth of men‘s readiness and willingness to have sex. Six statements, which portrayed dating, and sexual relations as a game or competition represented a Recreational Orientation to sexuality. Here, the sexual double standard prevails, and males and females are viewed as being on opposing teams (―battle-ofthe-sexes‖), taking different roles, and using sex as the object of exchange. Finally, a Women Are Sexual Objects Orientation to sexuality was represented by nine statements, which emphasized that women should expect their interactions with men to be solely based on their physical appearance. Participants rated their level of agreement with each statement using a 5point Likert scale that ranged from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). A full formatted version of the sexual attitudes measure (pre and post) is included in Appendix B. Prior to any subsequent statistical analyses, reliability analyses of this measure and its three subscales were conducted. The Men Are Sex Driven Orientation and Women Are Sexual Objects Orientation subscales were reliable at both times (time 1 = .77, time 2 = .82) and (time 1 = .67, time 2 = .66), respectively. Examples of statements from these subscales include ―It‘s difficult for men to resist sexual urges and to remain monogamous‖, ―An attractive woman should expect sexual advances and learn how to handle them‖, and ―A good way to reward or punish someone is by giving or withholding sex.‖ Two items were removed from the Recreational Orientation subscale to improve the cohesiveness of this subscale, bringing the final alphas to .65 (time 1) and .62 (time 2).
Sexual Expectations and Perceived Norms To assess participants‘ expectations and perceived norms about the level of sexual activity among their peers and condom use, 4 out of the 12 risk-related or recreational sexual behaviors that Ward had selected from the general literature on sexual risks (e. g., Metzler Noell, and Biglan, 1992) were revised using the wording from the information, motivation, and behavioral skills (IMB) model of AIDS risk behavior change (J.D. Fisher and Fisher, 1992; W. A. Fisher and Fisher, 1993). The other 7 statements, which pertained to condom use, were drawn directly from this model. For each statement, participants were asked to rate their level of agreement with each statement using a 5-point Likert scale that ranged from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The four items that pertained to recreational sexual behaviors, and 2 items that pertained to condoms use were removed because results indicated that doing so would strengthen the cohesiveness of the scale, and led to the formation of the Perceived Social Normative Support for Condom Use subscale, which was reliable at both times (time 1 = .84, time 2 = .89). Examples of the statements include ―Most people that are important to me think I should buy latex condoms‖ and ―Most people that are important to me think my partner(s) and I should always use latex condoms during sexual intercourse.‖ A complete list of items that comprise the scales and subscales for all of the listener involvement and sexual outcome measures, as well as their reliabilities, is presented in Appendix C.
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Sexual Behavior In addition to measuring the effects of rap music on sexual attitudes, the experimenter wanted to explore whether or not there could be a positive effect of this music on behavior. One of the most important aspects of safe sex is the use of condoms, so a condom-related behavioral measure was included, which was to see how many condoms each participant would take after listening to the music.
Stimuli To examine the potential effects of sexually explicit rap music on sexual attitudes and behaviors, a number of rap artists were identified that were known both from research and personal knowledge, to write, record, and produce songs that are highly sexual in nature. From a play-list of roughly 35 songs, the song-list was narrowed down to 6 songs: 3 that are sexually explicit in nature, and 3 that are not. The songs that were selected were released after 1995 because it was important that they be popular and commercial, and reach a broad audience. In essence, the goal was to investigate music that is played often in various media formats, and has the potential to be all the more influential because of its wide distribution. To play music during experimental sessions, a Sony 5-Disc CD changer was connected to a 4Channel PreSonus headphone amplifier. Participants listened to the music through Sony MDR-7505 Headphones. Participants in the sexually explicit music condition listened to three sexually explicit rap songs. In the treatment condition, the three songs were: (a) ―Wait (The Whisper Song)‖ (Ying Yang Twins, 2005, track 10); (b) ―Play‖ (David Banner, 2005, track 5); and (c) ―Oochie Wally‖ (QB Finest, 2000, track 7). The rap songs in this group contained frequent and explicit references to sex. Participants in the neutral music condition also listened to three nonsexually explicit rap songs. In the control condition the five songs were: (a) ―Got Yourself a Gun‖ (Nas, 2001, track 3); (b) ―Shook Ones, Pt.II‖ (Mobb Deep, 1995, track 15); and (c) ―Get By‖ (Talib Kweli, 2002, track 3). These songs didn‘t contain any significant references to sex and were primarily concerned with partying, making money, and references to the problems of social injustice facing African-Americans in America.
Procedure As mentioned earlier, participants completed a pre-screen measure that included questions about their music preference, and the pre-sexual attitude measures, during a regularly scheduled Introduction to Psychology class. They were selected to participate in the study based on their preference for rap music, and each participant was tested individually so that they would not be influenced by other participants‘ reactions to the music. As each of the participants arrived for his/her individual sessions, the experimenter asked the participant to take a seat at the desk adjacent to the experimenter experimenter‘s desk. Then the experimenter explained that they would be participating in a study to determine their attitudes towards a number of social topics, in particular, listeners‘ perceptions of dating and relationships as they are portrayed in rap music. Participants were assured of their anonymity and given an opportunity to withdraw from the experiment at any point without penalty. All participants agreed to participate and provided informed consent.
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Following completion of the informed consent pages, participants were handed the first experimental packet and instructed to complete a series of questions about demographic and music preference information, followed by a number of measures in which they were asked to rate how strongly they agreed or disagreed with a number of statements pertaining to listening motivations and habits using a 5-point Likert scale. Upon completion of these pages, the experimenter handed the participant the second experimental packet, and began to play the first of three songs for the participants according to the experimental condition to which they were randomly assigned. Participants in both conditions were asked not to begin writing their responses to the music until playback was completed. After each song played, participants completed a series of questions about the theme of the music to determine their comprehension of the lyrics, as well as indicate how discomforting the music was, and whether or not they had listened to the song prior to this experiment. Participants also answered questions about how sexually explicit they perceived the music to be, and whether or not they liked or disliked the song. In addition, they were asked to rate their level of identification with the rapper using a 5-point Likert scale. The experimenter observed the progress of participants as they completed the items. Once the participant had completed all of the items, the next song was played and the sequence was initiated again. At this point, the participants were informed that the experimenter needed to step outside into the hall for a moment, and were handed a third experimental packet which they could complete by themselves. The experimenter wanted to give participants a chance to complete the measures privately, and also create the opportunity for them to take condoms, a sexually related behavior, which could be measured in a fairly unobtrusive way. In addition to a bowl of condoms, there were two bowls of candy placed on the desk in order to ensure that the experimental setting wasn‘t awkward and mimicked typical college health settings in which students can obtain condoms. At this point, the participants were asked to rate the level of perceived realism collectively for all songs using a 5-point Likert scale, after which they completed the post-sexual attitudes measures, which were identical to those administered in the pre-screen measure. After the participant exited the experimental room with packet in hand, the experimenter asked the participant what they thought the study was about (manipulation check), after which they were provided with a copy of the debriefing. To ensure the integrity of the participant pool, participants were instructed to avoid any discussion of experimental details until after all experimental sessions were completed. Following the participant‘s departure, the experimenter reentered the experimental room to count and record the number of condoms present in the bowl. For the typical participant, the duration of the study was 45 minutes.
RESULTS Preliminary Analysis Descriptive statistics of the independent and dependent variables are provided in Table 1 for each condition. In general, there was little variation in the way people responded to questions regarding their listening behaviors and sexual attitudes. Preliminary analyses were
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also conducted examining zero-order correlations between the key viewer involvement variables and the sexual outcome measures.
Note. Marginally significant difference (F(1,48) = 3.3, p = .07) in the number of condoms taken based on experimental condition. Figure 1. Number of condoms taken based on experimental condition.
Note. Significant interaction of time and gender on perceived social normative support for condoms within the treatment condition (F (1, 21) = 9.91, p < .01). Figure 2. Perceived norm support for condom use at time 1 and time 2.
Overview of Analysis For each of the outcome variables of interest, a repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to compare differential rates of change between participants in control and treatment conditions. This analytic strategy was employed because it accounts for change in participants‘ scores over time, while testing whether other factors, including the five dimensions of viewer involvement, had a significant effect on the change of scores from time 1 to time 2. By computing these change scores and by conducting repeated measures analyses that examine differences over time, the change that occurs within participants is
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relatively isolated with respect to other variables. Analyses are based on differential rates of change, which minimizes the impact of pretest differences, thus limiting the potential effects of factors that are not of direct concern to the researcher. The first set of analyses tested the premises of the information processing model. More specifically, whether listening to rap music would have an affect on sexual attitudes, expectations, and perceived norms. We hypothesized that short-term exposure to this type of music would not produce lasting changes in attitudes expressed thereafter. In order to examine this, a series of 2 (condition) x 2 (time) mixed design ANOVAs were conducted, with condition as the between subjects variable, and time as the within subjects variable. Results of each ANOVA indicated no significant main effects of condition or time, and no significant interactions on sexual attitudes, expectations, or perceived norms (all F‘s < 1). To test the hypothesis that the music would influence short-term behavior, a independent samples t-test was conducted on the number of condoms taken. Results indicated that there was a marginally significant difference between conditions, such that participants in the sexually explicit condition (M = 2.84, SD = 3.55) took more condoms that those in the nonsexually explicit condition (M = 1.32, SD = 2.16), t (48) = 31.83, p = .07. The large range (012 condoms taken) coupled with the size of the standard deviation accounts for the marginal significance (Refer to Figure 1). While the there was no significant interaction between condition and pre and post sexual attitudes measures, there were a few noteworthy relationships that emerged when we treated gender as an independent variable. Initially, change scores were computed (time 2-time 1), and differences in change were examined via a linear regression analysis. This indicated that there was change over time in sexual attitudes, but that the change was localized among gender within the treatment condition. Two 2 (condition) x 2 (gender) x 2 (time) mixed ANOVAs were conducted in which time was treated as the within subjects variable, with the perceived social norm support for condom use and women as sexual objects subscales as the dependent variables. Within the treatment condition, there was a significant time by gender interaction, indicating that women became more likely to have the perception that the social norm approves or recommends the use of condoms, while men became less likely to affirm or to have the perception that the social norm approves or recommends the use of condoms (F (1, 21) = 9.91, p < .05; Refer to Figure 2). In addition, there was a significant time by gender interaction for the women are sexual objects subscale, indicating that women changed in the direction of being less likely to affirm that women should think about or expect their interactions with men to be based on sexuality and appearance, while men were more likely to affirm that women should expect their interactions with men to be based on sexuality and appearance (F(1, 19) = 4.39, p < .05). In the control conditions, no such interactions were observed, the relationships holds when controlling for listening motivation (Refer to Figure 3). We also predicted that a number of dimensions of listening involvement would influence the extent to which participants were affected by the music. This hypothesis was tested by a MANCOVA in which condition and gender were treated as independent variables, and the five dimensions of viewing involvement were included as covariates in the analysis. The change scores for sexual attitudes, perceived norms, and expectations were included as the dependent variables.
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Table 1. Descriptives of Key Variables by Condition Treatment Group Variable
Control Group
Mean
S.D.
Mean
S.D.
Average Liking Across Songs
2.41
1.03
3.75
.89
Sexual Explicitness of Songs
4.69
.63
1.68
.60
Discomfort Level
2.83
1.35
1.37
.53
3.42
.44
3.37
.57
Educational/Learning Value
2.99
.73
2.94
.88
Communication of Feelings
2.81
.92
2.63
.82
Selectivity Before
3.13
.83
3.28
1.00
Involvement During
3.22
.44
3.39
.72
Use After
2.92
.61
3.15
.87
Identification
1.61
.66
2.43
.75
Perceived Realism
2.60
.50
2.89
.61
Men Are Sex Driven
-.20
.49
-.09
.62
Dating Is A Game
.01
.45
.12
.67
Women Are Sexual Objects
-.19
.50
-.05
.46
Perceived Social Norm Support
.14
.69
13
.82
2.84
3.56
1.32
2.16
General Reactions
Viewer Involvement Listening Motivation (overall)
Listening Habits (Active Listening)
Sexual Outcome Measures
For Condom Use # of Condoms Taken
Table 2. Correlations between Viewer Involvement Variables and Sexual Outcomes Men Are Sex Driven Change from Time1 to Time 2: Viewer Involvement Listening Motivation (overall) Educational/Learning Value Communication of Feelings Listening Habits (Active Listening) Selectivity Before Involvement During Use After Identification Perceived Realism Active Viewing
* p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p< .001.
Dating Is A Game
Women Are Sexual Objects
Perceived Social Norm Support For Condoms
# of Condoms Taken
.32*
.28*
.32*
.30*
.35* .30*
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Lucrezia M. Alcorn and Anthony F. Lemieux Table 3. Correlations between Gender/Condition and Viewer Involvement Variables/Sexual Outcomes/General Reactions Gender General Reactions Average Liking Across Songs Sexual Explicitness of Songs Discomfort Level Viewer Involvement Listening Motivation (overall) Educational/Learning Value Communication of Feelings Listening Habits (Active Listening) Selectivity Before Involvement During Use After Identification Perceived Realism Sexual Outcome Measures Men Are Sex Driven Dating Is A Game Women Are Sexual Objects Perceived Social Norm Support For Condom Use # of Condoms Taken
Condition .58** -.93** -.59**
.36* .29*
.51*
.44*
* p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p< .001.
Note. Significant interaction of time and gender on women are sexual objects subscale (F(1, 19) = 4.39, p < .05). Figure 3. Attitudes about viewing women as sexual objects at time 1 to time 2
Contrary to our initial hypothesis, the five dimensions of viewing involvement, which were treated as covariates in the analysis, did not influence the extent to which the manipulated variable affected the outcome measures. In addition, there were no significant three-way interactions between the treatment, viewer involvement variables, and change in pre and post sexual attitude measures. Correlational analyses were conducted, between the five viewer involvement variables and the sexual outcome variables. These results are summarized and presented in Table 2. For the most part, the viewer involvement variables did not correlate with the participants‘ sexual attitudes, expectations, perceived norms, or behavior. However, several interesting correlations emerged between gender, condition, viewer involvement variables, sexual outcomes, and general reactions to the music, which speak to the power of the manipulation (refer to Table 3).
Table 4. Correlations between General Reaction Measures and Viewer Involvement Variables Liking Average General Reactions Average Liking Across Songs Sexual Explicitness of Songs Discomfort Level Viewer Involvement Variables Listening Motivation (overall) Educational/Learni ng Value Communication of Feelings Listening Habits Selectivity Before Involvement During Use After Identification Perceived Realism
Sexual Explicitness
Discomfort Level
-.62**
-.66**
Listening Motivation
Learning Value
Comm. Feelings
Habits Before
Habits During
Habits After
.49**
.37**
.49*
.58**
Identifi cation
Perceived Realism
.81**
.71** .61**
* p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p< .001.
-.53** -.31*
-.58** -.37*
.73**
.32*
.32*
.39** .47**
.43**
.76**
.53**
.63**
30*
.35* .58**
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First it‘s important to note that there was a negative correlation between condition and the sexual explicitness of the song (r = -.93, p < .01), which indicates that people in the treatment condition found the music to be sexually explicit, and were discomforted by it (r = -.59, p < .01). In addition, there was a positive correlation between condition and average liking across the songs (r = .58, p < .01), such that people in the control condition liked the music more than those in the treatment condition (refer to Table 4). Participants also identified more with the rappers in the control condition (r = .51, p < .05), than those in the treatment condition. With respect to gender, there was an unexpected positive correlation between gender and communication of feelings (r = .29, p < .05), making it appear that women more than men, listen to music in order to express or communicate their internal feelings to another person, or because it engenders feelings for the opposite sex. In summary, with respect to the manipulation, there was no main effect of condition: the experimental manipulation did not influence change between the pre and post sexual attitude measures. The extent to which the manipulated variable affected the outcome measures was not influenced by the viewer involvement variables. There were also no significant three-way interactions between the treatment, viewer involvement variables, and change in pre and post sexual attitude measures. However, in the treatment condition we found that there was a significant time by gender interaction in the perceived norms about condom use subscale, indicating that women became more likely to have the perception that the social norm approves or recommends the use of condoms, while men became less likely to affirm or to have the perception that the social norm approves or recommends the use of condoms. There was also a significant time by gender interaction in the treat condition with regard to the women are sexual objects subscale, which indicates that women changed in the direction of being less likely to affirm that women should think about, or expect, their interactions with men to be based sexuality and appearance, while men were more likely to affirm that women should expect their interactions with me to be based on sexuality and appearance. In terms of the behavioral measure, there was a marginally significant difference in the number of condoms taken based on the experimental condition, such that participants in the treatment condition took more condoms than those in the control condition.
CONCLUSION The goal of this study was to examine how music listening might relate to young adults‘ sexual attitudes and behaviors, using an experimental research design. The pattern of results indicates that in general, there was no significant relationship between listening to sexually explicit rap music and sexual attitudes, perceived norms, and expectations. There may be some differences based on gender, but we can‘t say definitively that it was related to exposure to sexually explicit rap music because of the lack of a significant three-way interaction. In addition, the extent to which the music affected the outcome measures was not influenced by the viewer involvement variables that were examined. A marginally significant effect was found with regards to participants‘ behavior, such that those assigned to the sexually explicit condition took a marginally greater number of condoms than those in the control condition. Thus, it appears as if listening to sexually explicit rap music does not influence sexual attitudes per se, but may influence behavior in the short term. This essentially lends support to the in the information processing model, which posits that
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exposure to various forms of media will be unlikely to produce lasting changes in an individual‘s sexual scripts, but may influence which scripts are used to guide decisions and behaviors in the short term. In this case, short-term exposure to sexually explicit rap did not produce lasting changes in attitudes expressed thereafter, but it did serve as a prime, which influenced which scripts were used to guide behavioral decisions in the short term. This conceptual model accounts for the lack of results in regards to sexual attitudes, and at the same time explains the marginal significance in the number of condoms taken. These findings should be interpreted cautiously, however, for a number of reasons. While this experimental research allowed us to directly investigate whether exposure to sexually explicit rap music caused sexual attitudes, perceived norms, expectations, and behaviors to change, it was also prone to demand characteristics, such that the participants might have been able to guess the hypothesis under investigation, which would guide their response to the stimuli. It is reasonable to expect that the majority of our participants were aware of the link between exposure to sexually explicit rap and sexual attitudes and behaviors. Accordingly, if they are asked to listen to sexually explicit rap music, and then answer a number of questions about their sexual attitudes, it is likely that this conscious awareness of what is ‗expected‘ could plausibly influence their responses. Given that they were psychology undergraduates, they were probably the most highly sensitized group of people to the hypothetical effects of rap music on behavior. Second, it is not clear whether the effects of rap music found within an experimental setting translate to real-world environments. Even if this research provided unequivocal support for a rap music-sexual permissive attitude link, we could not say with confidence that listening to this music precipitates sexual risk-taking behaviors, just merely that exposure to this music could predispose a person toward engaging in that kind of behavior. It also seems that a person‘s recognition of the real consequences of sexual risk taking behavior would diminish any sexual proclivities primed by the music (North and Hargreaves, 2008). Third, in focusing on the lyrical content of rap music, it is natural to assume that the marginally significant behavioral effect in this study is attributable solely to the lyrical content, but there is also the actual music to consider. This study raises interesting questions about the power of music alone, and the potential interplay between the music, lyrics, and attitudes and behaviors. Perhaps it is wise to think about this behavioral effect as being not only influenced by scripts but also by specific elements of the music (i.e., rhythm, harmony, melody, structure, texture, etc.) and the overall emotional quality of the music. It is also important to consider that the context in which they listened to this music may not have been conducive to attitude and norm perception change. Many of the participants indicated that they listen to this type only within nightclubs or social gatherings. Interestingly, many women noted that they listen to this kind of rap solely for the beat and music and do not in any way condone the sexual content of the lyrics. This suggests that people may be deliberately ignoring or overlooking the lyrical content of the music in order to enjoy the rhythmic and melodic component of the music, which many participants noted ―was the best kind of music to dance to.‖ In addition, many participants indicated that they liked rap music generally but that they listened to other types of rap music that did not contain explicit sexual content. Just because participants indicated that they liked rap on the pre-screen measures doesn‘t necessarily mean that they listen to or enjoy this particular sub-type of rap. The lack of direct experimental results could also be attributed to the fact that the listeners were college undergraduates, most of whom are sexually experienced. It is possible
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that this population of college students would be less susceptible to absorbing messages espoused in the music by virtue of their older age and greater level of sexual experience. But what about younger people? Different effects might be observed among younger audiences whose beliefs and attitudes about sex might not yet be established (Taylor, 2005). Indeed, this study and Ward‘s (2003) raise a number of interesting questions that could inform further research concerning the impact of sexually explicit rap music on listeners. First, do listeners view this music in a positive or negative way, and even if it‘s in neutral way, what are the implications of this passive acceptance, however benevolent? Is this simply a reflection of the way younger generations view sex in an increasingly uninhibited media culture? In other words, we need to gather more information about how listeners interpret the messages in rap music. Second, we also need to begin to investigate how reactions to this music are influenced by participants‘ previous music listening history and cultural and ethnic background. By extension, researchers should expand the demographics of samples tested beyond North America because different countries have vastly different cultural attitudes about sex in general, along with its role and representation in the arts (North and Hargreaves, 2008). Third, future research could directly investigate the role that intervening variables such as self-esteem, family environment, education, and socio-economic status play in the relationship between listening to sexually explicit rap music and sexual attitudes and behaviors. In short, what seems clear from the limited evidence available as well as the new data that we present here is that the relationship between sexually explicit rap music and sexual attitudes and behaviors is quite complex and warrants additional consideration.
REFERENCES Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Bandura, A. (1994). Social cognitive theory of mass communication. In J. Bryant and D. Zillmann (Eds.), Media effects: Advances in theory and research (2nd Edition) (pp. 6090). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Bandura, A. (2002). Social cognitive theory of mass communication. In J. Bryant and D. Zillmann (Eds.), Media effects: Advances in theory and research (2nd Edition) (pp. 121154). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Bandura, A., Ross, D., and Ross, S.A. (1963). Imitation of film-mediated aggressive models. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 66, 3-11. Banner, David. (2005). Play. On Certified [CD]. Santa Monica, CA: Universal Music Group. Barongan, C., and Hall, G.C.N. (1995). The influence of misogynous rap music on sexual aggression against women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 29, 195-207. Fisher, J.D., and Fisher, W.A. (1992). Changing AIDS risk behavior. Psychological Bulletin, 11, 455-474. Fisher, W.A., and Fisher, J.D. (1993). A general social psychological model for changing AIDS risk behavior. In J. Pryor and G.Reeder (Eds.), The social psychology of HIV infection (pp. 127-153). Hillsdale, NJ. Erlbaum. Greenberg, B.S. (1988). Some uncommon television images and the drench hypothesis. In S. Oskamp (Ed.), Television as a social issue (pp. 88-102). Newbury Park,CA: Sage.
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Hansen, C.H. (1995). Predicting cognitive and behavioral effects of gangsta rap. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 16, 43-52. Hansen, C.H., and Hansen, R.D. (1988). Priming stereotypic appraisal of social interactions: How rock music videos can change what‘s seen when boy meets girl. Sex Roles, 19, 287316. Holder-Nevins, D., and Bain, B. (2001). Popular music and sexual behavior among female adolescents in Jamaica-A case: control study. Special issue: HIV/AIDS and children in the English-speaking Caribbean. Journal of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Education for Adolescents and Children, 4, 149-160. Holmes, D. and Jackson, E. (2005). Wait (The Whisper Song) [Recorded by Ying Yang Twins]. On USA (united states of atlanta) [CD]. New York: TVT Records. Huesmann, L.R. (1997). Observational learning of violent behavior. In A. Raine, P.A. Brennen, D.P. Farrington, and S.A. Mednick (Eds.), Biosocial bases of violence (pp. 6988). New York: Plenum Press. Huesmann, L.R. (1998). The role of social information processing and cognitive schema in the acquisition and maintenance of habitual aggressive behavior. In R. G. Geen and E. Donnerstein (Eds.), Human aggression: Theories, research, and implications for social policy (pp.73-109). New York: Academic Press. Huston, A.C., Wartella, E., and Donnerstein, E. (1998). Measuring the effects of sexual content in the media. Menlo Park, CA: Kaiser Family Foundation. Johnson, A. and Muchita, K. (1995). Shoot Ones, Pt. II [Recorded by Mobb Deep]. On The infamous [CD]. New York: RCA Records. Johnson, J.D., Adams, M.S., Ashburn, L., and Reed, W. (1995). Differential gender effects of exposure to rap music on African American adolescents‘ acceptance of teen dating violence. Sex Roles, 33, 597-605. Jones, bin Olu Dara. (2000). Oochie Wally [Recorded by Bravehearts, Nas, and QB Finest]. On QB finest [CD]. New York: Columbia Records. Jones, bin Olu Dara. (2001). Got Ur Self A Gun [Record by Nas]. On Stillmatic [CD]. New York: Sony Music. Kim, J., and Rubin, A.M. (1997). The variable influence of audience activity on media effects. Communication Research, 24, 107-135. Kweli, Talib. (2002). Get By. On Quality [CD]. New York: Rawkus Records. Lemieux, A. F. (2000). Social influence on the social and aesthetic aspects of music preferences. Unpublished Master‘s Thesis: University of Connecticut. Storrs, CT. Metzler, C.W., Noell, J., and Biglan, A. (1992). The validation of a construct of high-risk sexual behavior in hetero-sexual adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Research, 7, 233249. North, A.C., and Hargreaves, D.J. (2008). ‗Problem music‘ and subcultures. In D.J. Hargreaves and A.C. North (Eds.), The social and applied psychology of music (pp.143236). New York: Oxford University Press. North, A.C., Hargreaves, D.J., and Tarrant, M. (2002). Social psychology and music education. In R. Colwell. and C. Richardson (Eds.), The New Handbook of Research on Music Teaching and Learning (pp. 604-625). New York: Oxford University Press. Reyes, R.M., Thompson, W.C., and Bower, G.H. (1980). Judgmental biases resulting from differing availabilities of arguments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 2-12.
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Rubin, A.M. (1994). Media uses and effects: A uses-and-gratifications perspective. In J. Bryant and D. Zillman (Eds.) Media effects: Advances in theory and research (pp.417436). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Srull, T., and Wyer, R. (1980). Category accessibility and social perception: Some implications for the study of person memory and interpersonal judgments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38, 141-154. Taylor, L.D. (2005) Effects of visual and verbal sexual television content and perceived realism on attitudes and beliefs. The Journal of Sex Research, 42, 130-137. Ward, L.M. (2003). Understanding the role of entertainment media in the sexual socialization of American youth: A review of empirical research. Developmental Review, 23, 347-388. Ward, L., and Rivadeneyra, R. (1999). Contributions of entertainment television to adolescents‘ sexual attitudes and expectations: The role of viewing amount versus viewer involvement. The Journal of Sex Research, 36, 237-249. Wester, S.R., Crown, C.L., Quatman, G.L., and Heesacker, M. (1997). The influence of sexually violent rap music on attitudes of men with little prior exposure. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 497-508.
APPENDIX A. FULL-FORMATTED VERSION OF PRE-SCREEN MEASURE Pre-Screen to Participate in a Study about Music and Social Attidues Purchase College, State University of New York Purpose: You are being asked to complete a brief questionnaire in order to determine your eligibility in this study based on a number of criteria. If you meet the criteria for participation this study, you may be contacted by the experimenter, and invited to participate in the main study either for course credit or $10. Principal Investigator: Co-Investigator:
Lucrezia Alcorn Dr. Anthony Lemieux
Confidentiality: The background information collected in the form of this questionnaire will be kept confidential at all times. If you are invited and agree to participate, your name will not appear on any data collection sheet or questionnaire. Instead, you will be assigned a numerical participant code which is used in assigning questionnaires and tracking results. Only the researchers will see your name and subject number. All data you provide will be kept in the strictest confidence. Your signature acknowledges that you have read the information and willingly sign this consent form.
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I have read the above statements and I understand my rights. _________________________________________________ Name (Signature) •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Please provide the following information in the case that you are contacted to participate in the main study. _________________________________________________ Name (Printed) _________________________________________________ Phone Number _________________________________________________ Email Address •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Please tell us how much you like each of the following types of music using the scale shown below. Write your response on the line to the left of each style of music. 1 = Dislike Very Much 2 = Dislike A Little 3 = No Opinion 4 = Like A Little 5 = Like Very Much
_____RandB _____Country _____Pop
_____Classical _____Rock _____Jazz
_____Reggae _____Rap/Hip-Hop
Attitudes about Dating and Relationships There are lots of opinions about dating and relationships. We are interested in what you think. Below are statements that reflect different opinions. Please read each statement and decide how much you agree or disagree with it. Then for each statement, check the one response option that best reflects your personal opinions. SD = Strongly Disagree D = Disagree N = Neither Agree Nor Disagree A = Agree SA = Strongly Agree
1. Men are mostly interested in women as potential sex partners and don‘t want to be ―just friends‖ with a woman. 2. It‘s difficult for men to resist sexual urges and to remain monogamous. 3. It is natural for a man to want to admire or ogle women and to comment on their bodies, even if he has a girlfriend. 4. Something is wrong with a guy who turns down a chance to have sex.
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5. Men who are ―good with the ladies‖ and who can get any woman into bed are cool. 6. Men are always ready and willing for sex; they think about it all the time. 7. It is only natural for a man to make sexual advances toward a woman he finds attractive. 8. Men are sex driven and have trouble being faithful. 9. Dating is basically a game, a battle of the sexes, where both males and females try to gain the upper hand and manipulate each other. 10. Dating is a game or recreational sport. 11. Sexual activity is desirable as early in a relationship as possible. 12. A good way to reward or punish someone is by giving or withholding sex. 13. You don‘t need a relationship to have good sex; all you need are two people who are attracted to each other. 14. A man will be most successful in meeting or picking up women if he has a ―rap‖ or uses flattering, sexy, or cute pick-up lines. 15. Women are sexual objects whose value is based on their physical appearance. 16. An attractive woman should expect sexual advances and should learn how to handle them. 17. Women should be more concerned about their appearance than men. 18. Using her body and looks is the best way for a woman to attract a man. 19. Women should spend a lot of time trying to be pretty; no one wants to date a woman who has ―let herself go.‖ 20. There‘s nothing wrong with men whistling at shapely women. 21. It bothers me when a man is interested in a woman only if she is pretty. 22. There is nothing wrong with men being primarily interested in a woman‘s body. 23. Being with an attractive woman gives a man prestige. 24. Most people that are important to me have had sexual intercourse at least once. 25. Most people that are important to me have had sex on a hook-up or with someone that they just met. 26. Most people that are important to me have gotten drunk and engaged in sexual behavior that they later regretted. 27. Most people that are important to me have intentionally use alcohol or drugs to lose inhibitions about sex. 28. Most people that are important to me have had more than 10 sexual partners overall. 29. Most people that are important to me will usually have sex without using condoms. 30. Most people that are important to me think I should talk about safer sex with my partner(s) before having sex with them. 31. Most people that are important to me think I should try to persuade my partner(s) to practice only safer sex. 32. Most people that are important to me think I should buy latex condoms. 33. Most people that are important to me think I should always have latex condoms handy. 34. Most people that are important to me think my partner(s) and I should always use latex condoms during sexual intercourse.
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APPENDIX B. FULL-FORMATTED VERSION OF SEXUAL ATTITUDES MEASURE Attitudes about Dating and Relationships There are lots of opinions about dating and relationships. We are interested in what you think. Below are statements that reflect different opinions. Please read each statement and decide how much you agree or disagree with it. Then for each statement, check the one response option that best reflects your personal opinions. SD = Strongly Disagree D = Disagree N = Neither Agree Nor Disagree A = Agree
SA = Strongly Agree
1. Men are mostly interested in women as potential sex partners and don‘t want to be ―just friends‖ with a woman. 2. It‘s difficult for men to resist sexual urges and to remain monogamous. 3. It is natural for a man to want to admire or ogle women and to comment on their bodies, even if he has a girlfriend. 4. Something is wrong with a guy who turns down a chance to have sex. 5. Men who are ―good with the ladies‖ and who can get any woman into bed are cool. 6. Men are always ready and willing for sex; they think about it all the time. 7. It is only natural for a man to make sexual advances toward a woman he finds attractive. 8. Men are sex driven and have trouble being faithful. 9. Dating is basically a game, a battle of the sexes, where both males and females try to gain the upper hand and manipulate each other. 10. Dating is a game or recreational sport. 11. Sexual activity is desirable as early in a relationship as possible. 12. A good way to reward or punish someone is by giving or withholding sex. 13. You don‘t need a relationship to have good sex; all you need are two people who are attracted to each other. 14. A man will be most successful in meeting or picking up women if he has a ―rap‖ or uses flattering, sexy, or cute pick-up lines. 15. Women are sexual objects whose value is based on their physical appearance. 16. An attractive woman should expect sexual advances and should learn how to handle them. 17. Women should be more concerned about their appearance than men. 18. Using her body and looks is the best way for a woman to attract a man. 19. Women should spend a lot of time trying to be pretty; no one wants to date a woman who has ―let herself go.‖ 20. There‘s nothing wrong with men whistling at shapely women. 21. It bothers me when a man is interested in a woman only if she is pretty. 22. There is nothing wrong with men being primarily interested in a woman‘s body. 23. Being with an attractive woman gives a man prestige. 24. Most people that are important to me have had sexual intercourse at least once. 25. Most people that are important to me have had sex on a hook-up or with someone that
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they just met. 26. Most people that are important to me have gotten drunk and engaged in sexual behavior that they later regretted. 27. Most people that are important to me have intentionally use alcohol or drugs to lose inhibitions about sex. 28. Most people that are important to me have had more than 10 sexual partners overall. 29. Most people that are important to me will usually have sex without using condoms. 30. Most people that are important to me think I should talk about safer sex with my partner(s) before having sex with them. 31. Most people that are important to me think I should try to persuade my partner(s) to practice only safer sex. 32. Most people that are important to me think I should buy latex condoms. 33. Most people that are important to me think I should always have latex condoms handy. 34. Most people that are important to me think my partner(s) and I should always use latex condoms during sexual intercourse.
APPENDIX C. ITEMS THAT MAKE UP EACH SUB SCALE AND ASSOCIATED RELIABILITIES Scale and Sub-Scale Title Sexual Attitudes: Men Are Sex Driven (subscale)
Scale and Sub-Scale Title
Item (* indicates reverse coding)
1.) Men are mostly interested in women as potential sex partners and don‘t want to be ―just friends‖ with a woman. 2.) It‘s difficult for men to resist sexual urges and to remain monogamous. 3.) It is natural for a man to want to admire or ogle women and to comment on their bodies, even if he has a girlfriend. 4.) Something is wrong with a guy who turns down a chance to have sex. 5.) Men who are ―good with the ladies‖ and who can get any woman into bed are cool. Item (* indicates reverse coding)
6.) Men are always ready and willing for sex; they think about it all the time. 7.) It is only natural for a man to make sexual advances toward a woman he finds attractive. 8.) Men are sex driven and have trouble being faithful.
Reliability at Time 1 (α)
.77
Reliability at Time 1 (α)
Reliability at Time 2 (α)
.82
Reliability at Time 2 (α)
The Effect of Sexually Explicit Rap Music on Sexual Attitudes… Sexual Attitudes: Dating Is A Game (subscale)
Sexual Attitudes: Women Are Sexual Objects (subscale)
Scale and Sub-Scale Title Sexual Attitudes: Perceived Social Norm Support for Condoms (subscale)
181
1.) Dating is basically a game, a battle of the sexes, where both males and females try to gain the upper hand and manipulate each other. 2.) Dating is a game or recreational sport.
3.) Sexual activity is desirable as early in a relationship as possible. 4.) A good way to reward or punish someone is by giving or withholding sex. 1.) Women are sexual objects whose value is based on their physical appearance. 2.) An attractive woman should expect sexual advance and should learn how to handle them. 3.) Women should be more concerned about their appearance than men. 4.) Using her body and looks is the best way for a woman to attract a man. 5.) Women should spend a lot of time trying to be pretty; no one wants to date a woman who has ―let herself go.‖ 6.) There‘s nothing wrong with men whistling at shapely women. 7.) It bothers me when a man is interested in a woman only if she is pretty.* 8.) There‘s nothing wrong with men being primarily interested in a woman‘s body. 9.) Being with an attractive woman gives a man prestige. Item (* indicates reverse coding)
1.) Most people that are important to me think I should talk about safer sex with my partner(s) before having sex with them. 2.) Most people that are important to me think I should try to persuade my partner(s) to practice only safer sex. 3.) Most people that are important to me think I should buy latex condoms. 4.) Most people that are important to me think I should always have latex condoms handy. 5.) Most people that are important to me think my partner(s) and I should always use latex condoms during sexual intercourse.
.65
.62
.67
.66
Reliability at Time 1 (α)
Reliability at Time 2 (α)
.84
.89
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Lucrezia M. Alcorn and Anthony F. Lemieux Appendix C – (Continued)
Listening Habits: Selectivity Before Exposure (subscale)
Listening Habits: Involvement During Exposure (subscale)
1.) I usually get my favorite artists albums as soon as they come out. 2.) I often set aside time in my day, specifically to listen to music. 3.) There are certain musical artists that I really make a point to follow all of their music. 4.) I usually attempt to listen to an artist‘s album from start to finish. 1.) While listening to music, I often try to track the lyrical/musical development of an artist from one song/album to another. 2.) While listening to music, I often try to pick out the flaws and mistakes. 3.) While listening to music, I often try to pick out the subtle intricacies in the music. 4.) I generally get frustrated if I have trouble following the lyrics, or if the lyrics don‘t make any sense to me. 5.) While listening to music, I often notice and comment on the quality of the music or the aesthetic presentation of the artist. 6.) I often become quite involved in the music I listen to and can easily sympathize with what the artist is singing about. 7.) I frequently sing along to the music. 8.) While listening to the music, I often think about how the situations presented in the lyrics relate to situations in my own life. 9.) While listening to a music album, I often think about how the theme of the music develops across the entire album. 10.) I often try to guess how a particular musical artist that I am not familiar with, will sound. 11.) While listening to certain types of music, I often make judgments about the appropriateness of the morals and messages presented.
.70
.73
The Effect of Sexually Explicit Rap Music on Sexual Attitudes… Scale and Sub-Scale Title Listening Habits: Use After Exposure (subscale)
Listening Motivations: Educational / Learning Value (subscale)
Listening Motivation: Communication of Feelings (subscale)
Item (* indicates reverse coding)
1.) Sometimes people described in the lyrics of songs are in my dreams. 2.) Sometimes the musical artists I listen to are in my dreams. 3.) I often think about how the people described in the lyrics of the music are similar to people I know. 4.) Frequently lyrical expressions, musical styles, or particular themes or situations presented in music will spark interesting discussions. 5.) I often think about the particular of music I listen to a few days after I‘ve listened to it. 6.) I frequently talk to others about what music I‘ve recently listened to. 7.) I often have given people advice based on messages I‘ve gathered from lyrical messages presented in the music I listen to. 8) I often retell stories or talk about information about the music and musical artists I listen to. 1.) I listen to music: to learn about people from ethnic and cultural backgrounds different from my own. 2.) I listen to music: because it teaches me things not learned in school. 3.) I listen to music: because I look up to musical artists as role models. 4.) I listen to music: because it gives me a chance to reflect on my own life. 1.) I listen to music: in order to express and communicate my internal feelings to another person. 2.) I listen to music: because it engenders feelings for the opposite sex. 3.) I listen to music: because I am sexually attracted to the musical performer.
Reliability at Time 1 (α)
.79
.66
.72
183
Reliability at Time 2 (α)
Advances in Psychology Research. Volume 78 Ed: Alexandra M. Columbus
ISBN: 978-1-61209-442-7 © 2011 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
Chapter 11
TREATMENTS FOR CYSTIC FIBROSIS: THE ROLE OF ADHERENCE, IMPORTANCE AND BURDEN Lynn B. Myers Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences Brunel University, UK
ABSTRACT Introduction. Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most frequent lethal genetic disease of childhood. Nowadays due to improvements in treatment most people with CF can lead fairly normal lives. To achieve this people with CF need daily treatment consisting of various medications, chest physical therapy and pancreatic enzymes as well as paying attention to dietary needs. There has been a gradual but significant improvement in the life expectancy of CF patients due to advances in the efficacy of treatment. So what was considered a disease of childhood has now also become a chronic condition of adulthood. The current study investigated factors associated with treatments in adults with CF. Method. Participants were 563 adults with CF recruited from the UK‘s Cystic Fibrosis Trust mailing list. Patients rated adherence to each treatment and reported any other treatments e.g. complementary therapies. Other measures included importance of each treatment, burden of each treatments and demographic information. Results. The mean number of current treatments was high (10.49). Adherence varied with different behaviors, with the highest adherence for enzymes, insulin and antibiotics and lowest for physical therapy, exercise, overnight feeding and dietary supplements. Statistical analyses were correlations and Analysis of Variance. Adherence was correlated with importance and burden for the majority of treatments, meaning high adherence was related to high importance and low burden. Treatments varied in importance, with insulin and antibiotics rated the highest and dietary treatments the lowest. For burden, treatments which
Address for correspondence: Professor Lynn B. Myers. Centre for the Study of Health & Well-Being, Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Brunel University. Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 3PH. UK. Email
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Lynn B. Myers are administered by injection or are time consuming were rated the highest e.g. insulin, nebulized medications, with easily administered treatments rated the lowest e.g. oral steroids, enzymes. For most treatments importance and burden were positively correlated, meaning that the more important the treatment the least troublesome it was rated. Nearly a quarter reported using some form of complimentary therapy with more females reporting such use. However, over 50% said that CF never or only occasionally interfered with their enjoyment of life. There were few gender differences, but some age differences. Conclusion .Results from this study provide an insight into treatments for adults with CF, indicating a complex picture of adherence and indicate that adherence, importance and burden are usually related.
INTRODUCTION Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most frequent lethal genetic disease of childhood to afflict Caucasians, with a frequency of approximately 1 in 3200 live births, [1] [2]. It is less common in non-white populations, with approximately 1 in 15,000 live births in Black, 1 in 9200 in Hispanic and 1 in 10,000 in Asian people [1]. It is inherited as a recessive trait and requires two mutations in order for the disease to be manifested. One in 22 people of European descent carry one gene for CF, making it the most common recessive genetic disease among them [3]. There are around 100,000 individuals with CF worldwide, with an estimated 30,000 individuals with CF in the United States [4] and around 8000 individuals in the UK [5]. The genetic abnormality present in CF results in the blocking of chloride transport through cells, which then further results in the production of abnormal sticky secretions. This subsequently severely damages several organs in the body, including the lungs, liver, pancreas and intestines [6]. Twenty percent of adults with CF have associated diabetes mellitus [7]. In recent years, medical and technological advances such as early diagnosis, specialist care, more effective treatments and organ transplantation, have resulted in a rise in the median international survival age from 8 years in 1974, to 21 years in 1998 [8]. The median predicted survival in 2004 has been estimated to be between 32-40 years [9] [10]. It has been predicted that in the UK the median survival age for individuals born in 2000 will be over 50 years of age [9]. So what was considered a disease of childhood has now also become a chronic condition of adulthood, with almost half of all people with CF in the United States adults [11] and over 3500 adults in the UK over 17 years [9]. Individuals with CF have potentially to adhere to many treatments. As lung infections are very common, individuals with CF may take antibiotics orally, inhaled by nebulizer or intravenously. Bronchodilator drugs open the airways by relaxing the surrounding muscles and they relieve tightness and shortness of breath. Steroids reduce inflammation in the airways and DNase breaks down mucus making it easier to clear. CF also affects the pancreas, so enzyme supplements need to be taken with meals and snacks to replace pancreatic enzymes [11] [12]. Nutritional supplements such as vitamin and dietary supplements, high fat diet and possibly overnight feeding help to compensate for ineffective digestion. Bones can be affected by a lack of minerals, which can cause osteoporosis which can be treated by medication. People with CF may develop CF-related diabetes which is usually treated with insulin. Regular chest physical therapy and exercise helps prevents deterioration of the lungs and improves physical bulk and strength [11] [12]. People with CF
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also attend regular clinics. Therefore, good adherence to a number of therapies is crucial for individuals with CF However, poor adherence to treatment is well recognized, and approximately 50% of people with chronic conditions do not adhere to treatment [13] and adherence reduces with the complexity of treatment [14]. Adherence varies with different CF treatments, with overall high rates for medication and low rates for chest physiotherapy [15] [16] [17]. In one study [17] adults with CF rated a range of adherence behaviors on a 7 point scale. The neutral midpoint of 4 (i.e. average) was taken to indicate neither adherent nor non-adherent behavior. Adherence scores significantly above the midpoint were called ―high adherence behaviors‖ and adherence scores significantly below the midpoint were called ―low adherence behaviors‖. High adherence behaviors were antibiotics, other medication, pancreatic enzymes, vitamins and nebulizers. High calorie meals and exercise did not significantly differ from the average. Physical therapy was a low adherence behavior. One of the reasons for adherence issues in CF could be that a high number of treatments can mean high burden/demand. For example, in an Australian study which followed up children with serious chronic illnesses for two years, they found that 48 children with CF reported spending a mean of 73.6 minutes per day on completing their treatment and 5.8 treatments per day. There was a negative correlation between lung function and treatment time -- the worst lung function, the more treatment time [18]. A recent study of 204 adults with CF from 10 treatment centers throughout the United States reported a median of 7 daily therapies and spending 108 minutes daily on treatments [19] suggesting an increase in number of treatments and burden in adults with CF. Similarly, an earlier study reported that adults with CF took a mean of 7 treatments per day. [20]. Another possible correlate of adherence could be perceived importance of each treatment and a recent study suggested that adherence and importance of treatment in CF are related [21]. However, the age range in this study was very wide, from 1.6 years to 40.6 years, with only 9 participants over 20 years of age. There were 14 patients under 10 years of age, whose views would most likely be that of their parents. There were also 11 patients aged between 10 and 20. Therefore, the study could not be considered to be an investigation of pediatric CF, adolescent CF or adult CF. In addition, the treatments were grouped into types of treatment rather than actual treatments -- physical therapy, respiratory medication, digestive medication and nutritional supplements. Consequently, no conclusions can be made about adherence or importance of individual treatments. The current study aimed to explore adherence in more detail. It was an investigation of adults with CF chosen from a national database in order to obtain a wide range of responses. Adherence to individual therapies was investigated together with perceived importance and perceived burden of each therapy. As well as prescribed therapies, this study asked respondents about complementary treatments and medication which can be bought over-thecounter and do not need a doctor's prescription. Participants were also asked about whether CF has an effect on their lifestyle. Any relationships with age and gender were explored.
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METHOD Participants Questionnaires were sent to everyone over 18 years with CF on the UK‘s Cystic Fibrosis Trust mailing list as part of a study on living with cystic fibrosis. There were 563 usable replies (39.8% response rate). There were 310 females and 253 males, mean age 27.85 years, range 18 to 66. Median age was 26 years.
Measures A questionnaire was developed for the study to explore aspects of treatment in CF. In order to minimize social desirability effects in this self-report measure, instructions were framed such that variations in how and when people adhered to their treatment regimens was taken as the norm: For example, the beginning of the questionnaire states ―Many people we have talked to say that they look after their CF in a way that suits them, rather than following recommendations to the last detail. We are interested in how you look after your CF and how 1you feel about the different treatments‖. This wording was taken from other studies on adherence and chronic illnesses [22] [23].
Treatments Participants were asked whether various treatments were part of their current personal routine. These were taken from the literature, discussions with health care professionals and people with CF. They were 17 potential treatments and one CF-relevant behavior: antibiotics (oral, nebulized, intravenous), bronchodilators (inhaled, nebulized), steroids (inhaled, oral), DNase, vitamins, dietary supplements, pancreatic enzymes, high fat diet, overnight feeding, medication for thin bones (osteoporosis treatment), physiotherapy (physical therapy), exercise, insulin and clinic visits. Importance of each treatment was measured on a 6 point scale where 1 was very unimportant, and 6 was very important. Burden of each treatment. To minimize any social desirability effect, the term ―troublesome‖ was used, instead of burden. Participants how troublesome they found each treatment. This was measured on a 4 point scale where 1 was very troublesome and 4 was not at all troublesome.
Adherence to Treatment Treatments classes were as previously described: antibiotics, bronchodilators, steroids, DNase, vitamins, dietary supplements, pancreatic enzymes, high fat diet, overnight feeding, medication for thin bones, physiotherapy, exercise, insulin and clinic visits. These were
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measured on a 5 point scale: 1 (never) 2 (hardly ever) 3 (sometimes) 4 (almost always) and 5 (always). Almost always/always was considered as ―adherent behavior.‖ Non- Prescribed Treatments was measured with one item asking participants whether they treat their CF with treatments that are not prescribed by the doctor (for example, cough medicine, pain killers, remedies for stomach ache etc). This was measured on a 5 point scale where 1 was anchored at never and 5 was anchored at all of the time. Complementary treatments. Participants were asked whether they used any of the following complementary therapies to help their CF: herbal therapies, homoeopathic therapies, acupuncture, massage, reflexology, aromatherapy, transcutaneous electronic nerve stimulation (TENS) and magnetic therapy. They were also asked whether they used complementary therapies instead of their usual CF treatments. This was measured on a 5 point scale where 1 was anchored at never and 5 was anchored at all of the time.
Lifestyle This was measured with two items. Participants were asked whether during the last few weeks (a) their treatments have interfered with other things they wanted to do and (b) they found that their treatments have interfered with their enjoyment of life. These items were measured on a 6 point scale where 1 was anchored at all of the time and 6 was anchored at never.
Demographic Information Participants were asked to indicate their age and gender.
RESULTS Due to be large numbers of variables significance levels were set at p. <.01. Unless otherwise stated, significant findings are at the p <.01 level.
Prescribed Treatments and Clinic Attendance No one reported taking every treatment (see table 1). Out of a possible 17 treatments, the mean number of treatments was 10.49, standard deviation 3.07. A high number of participants reported taking antibiotics (oral antibiotics, N= 505; intravenous antibiotics, N= 426; nebulized antibiotics N= 417) as well as pancreatic enzymes (N= 521); dietary treatments (vitamins N= 535, high fat diet, N= 467) and undertaking exercise and physiotherapy (N= 545, N= 528, respectively). Unsurprisingly, fewer people were taking insulin (N= 153), medication for thin bones (N= 121) and overnight feeding (N= 101) . In addition, the majority of participants attended CF clinics (N = 563).
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N 153 426 521 505 417 551 231 265 545 219 528 323 121 280 535 467 294 101
Mean (SD) 5.90 (0.37) 5.73 (0.85) 5.71 (0.90) 5.35 (1.01) 5.20 (1.13) 5.17 (1.09) 5.15 (1.22) 5.03 (1.18) 4.99 (1.13) 4.97 (1.25) 4.89 (1.36) 4.69 (1.31) 4.66 (1.20) 4.57 (1.26) 4.56 (1.27) 4.34 (1.51) 4.28 (1.51) 4.25 (1.80)
Importance of Treatments All treatments were considered relatively important (see table 1). To highlight this, even the treatment rated the least important, overnight feeding, was significantly higher than the hypothetical average (one sample t-test, t (100) = 4.17, p <0.001). However, treatments did vary in how important they were considered, with insulin and antibiotics rated the highest. Clinic visits were also rated highly. The lowest rated treatments involved diet - these were vitamins, high fat diet, dietary supplements and overnight feeding.
Burden of Treatment There was more variation for burden of treatment than for importance of treatment, with treatments that required more effort being rated as more highly ―troublesome‖ (see table 2). For example, treatments that are administered by injection (intravenous antibiotics and insulin) and treatments which are time consuming - physiotherapy, overnight feeding, DNase, nebulized medications as well as clinic visits were rated high on this scale. However, treatments which are easily administered and not time-consuming were rated as the least troublesome -- inhaled steroids, inhaled bronchodilators, vitamins, oral steroids, oral antibiotics, pancreatic enzymes, high-fat diet, dietary supplements, and treatment for thin bones.
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Table 2. Burden of Treatment Treatment
Mean (SD)
Intravenous antibiotics Physiotherapy Overnight feeding Nebulized antibiotics DNase Insulin Clinic visits Nebulized bronchodilators Exercise Medication for thin bones Dietary supplements High fat diet Pancreatic enzymes Oral antibiotics Oral steroids Inhaled steroids Vitamins Inhaled bronchodilators
1.93 (1.00) 2.17 (1.00) 2.20 (0.95) 2.48 (0.92) 2.81 (0.93) 2.82 (1.06) 2.82 (0.94) 3.00 (0.92) 3.00 (1.00) 3.15 (0.94) 3.23 (0.93) 3.42 (0.86) 3.48 (0.81) 3.53 (0.70) 3.53 (0.80) 3.53 (0.76) 3.69 (0.63) 3.57 (0.72)
correlation with importance of treatment 0.03 0.21** 0.41** 0.14** 0.25** 0.02 0.24** 0.26** 0.31** 0.13 0.29** 0.24** 0.11 0.16** 0.18 0 22** 0.21** 0.25**
# low scores are high burden. ** p. <.01.
The Relationship between Importance and Burden of Individual Treatments Most treatments (12 out of 17) were positively correlated with burden, meaning that the more important the treatment the least troublesome it was rated (see table 2). This correlation was the highest for overnight feeding, which was rated as a treatment high on burden. Importance and burden were not correlated with two treatments which are administered by injection (insulin and intravenous antibiotics).
Adherence to Treatments Participants self-reported varying levels of adherence (see table 3). Considering always/almost always as ―adherent behavior,‖ the highest levels were for pancreatic enzymes and insulin (94.3%, 89.8% respectively). This was followed by antibiotics, vitamins, DNase, bronchodilators and steroids (81.8%, 80.6%, and 75.8%, 33.4% respectively). Lower adherence was found for clinic visits, medication for thin bones, and high-fat diet (69.3%, 67.3% and 57.4% respectively). Adherence was reported as under 50% for four of the
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behaviors. These were physiotherapy, exercise, overnight feeding and dietary supplements (48.0%, 47.6%, 47.1% and 43.0% respectively). Adherence was correlated with importance and burden for the majority of treatments, meaning high adherence is related to high importance and low burden (see table 3). There were no significant correlations for some of the non-tablet treatments: intravenous antibiotics, nebulized antibiotics, nebulized steroids and inhaled steroids.
Main Relationships between Treatment and Demographic Variables Females rated overnight feeding as being significantly more important than males (females, mean = 4.62, standard deviation = 1.75; males, mean = 3.68, standard deviation = 1.73; F (1, 99) = 7.09, p < .005) and were significantly more likely to adhere (females, mean = 3.30, standard deviation = 1.49; males, mean = 2.08, standard deviation = 1.41; F (1, 99) = 22.86, p < .001). Table 3. Adherence and correlations with importance and burden Behavior
Correlations N
Mean & SD
r (importance)
Pancreatic enzymes Insulin Antibiotics
521 153 544
4.67 (0.90) 4.54 (1.07) 4.52 (0.82)
Vitamins DNase Steroids
535 265 280
4.33 (1.00) 4.24 (1.04) 4.14 (1.20)
Bronchodilators
351
4.13 (1.05)
Clinic visits Medication thin bones High fat diet Exercise Dietary supplements Physiotherapy Overnight feeding
557 121 466 548 296 529 101
3.89 (0.90) 3.84 (1.36) 3.68 (1.22) 3.49 (1.13) 3.37 (1.22) 3.13 (1.43) 2.69 (1.56)
.45** .35** .28** (oral) .07 (nebulized) .11 (intravenous) .44** .43** .33 (oral) .15 (inhaled) .46** (inhaled) .25** (nebulized) .21** .29** .66** .47** .52** .54** .83**
r (burden) .30** .15 .26** .04 .12 .40** .31** .25** .06 .38** .25** .30** .21** .23** .53** .28** .29** .40**
**p. <.01.
Age was significantly positively correlated with importance of oral antibiotics (r = 0.13), nebulized antibiotics (r = 0.19), inhaled steroids (r = 0.18), vitamins (r = 0.19) and clinic
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visits (r = 0.21).This means that for these treatments higher age was associated with higher importance. For burden, age was significantly correlated with oral antibiotics (r = 0.13), vitamins (r = 0.13), DNase (r = 0.19) and enzymes (r = 0.19). This means that higher age was associated with these treatments as being seen as less troublesome. For adherence, only vitamins was significantly negatively correlated with age (r = =0 -.17) meaning that being older was associated with poorer adherence to vitamins. The other significant correlations were positive, meaning that being older was associated with better adherence. These were for nebulizers (r = 0.22), DNase (r = 0.18) and treatment for thin bones (r = 0.23).
Other Treatments Five hundred sixty one participants answered whether they cared for their CF with nonprescribed treatments: 132 (23.5%) said never: 133 (23.7 %) said hardly ever; 216 (38.5 %) said sometimes; 40 (7.15 %) said almost always and 40 (7.15 %) said always. There were no age or gender differences.
Complementary Therapies The percentage of participants using complementary therapies is reported in table 4. Significantly more females compared to males used massage, aromatherapy, reflexology, acupuncture and magnetic therapy (² = 14.99, df = 1, p <.001;² = 8.92, df = 1, p <.01; ² = 8.38, df = 1, p <.005; ² = 7.31, df = 1, p <.01; ² = 3.89, df = 1, p <.01; respectively). There were no significant correlations with age. Five hundred and fifty participants answered whether they used complementary therapies instead of their usual CF treatments: 509 (92.5%) said never: 26 (4.7%) said hardly ever; 11 (2%) said sometimes; 3 (0.6%) said almost always and one (0.2%) said always. There were no age or gender differences. Table 4. Percentage of participants using complementary therapies Treatment Massage Herbal Aromatherapy Reflexology Homeopathic TENS Acupuncture Magnetic therapy
Yes % 22.4 19.2 17.1 11.3 9.2 7.2 6.8 2.8
No % 77.6 80.8 82.9 88.7 90.8 92.8 93.4 97.2
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Lifestyle Five hundred and sixty one participants answered whether during the last few weeks treatments have interfered with other things they wanted to do: 59 (10.5 %) said all of the time: 65 (11.6 %) said most of the time; 72 (12.8 %) said a good bit of the time; 129 (23 %) said sometimes, 109 (19.4 %) said occasionally and 127 (22.7 %) said never. There were no age or gender differences.] Five hundred and twenty one participants answered whether during the last few weeks treatments had interfered with their enjoyment of life: 51 (9 %) said all of the time: 48 (18.60 %) said most of the time; 35 (13.40 %) said a good bit of the time; 103 (18.4 %) said sometimes, 120 (21.4 %) said occasionally and 164 (29.2 %) said never. There were no age or gender differences.
CONCLUSION As predicted, results from the study suggest a complicated picture of beliefs and adherence to treatment in adults with CF. This is unsurprising as patients with CF are required to undertake multiple treatments, and in this study adults with CF reported being on a high number of treatments at the time of the study: a mean of 10 out of a possible 17 treatments. This is higher than previous studies that reported around seven. [19] [20]. This could have been due to the nature of the current study in which detailed accounts of treatments were obtained than in other studies [19] [20] [21]. For example, rather than just finding out whether individuals were taking antibiotics, the current study asked about oral antibiotics, nebulized antibiotics and intravenous antibiotics separately. Similarly, for steroids information was obtained about oral and nebulized steroids separately. As with previous studies, the levels of adherence varied with treatments [15] [16] [17]. Many of the medical treatments were high on adherence e.g. enzymes, insulin, steroids and bronchodilators whereas many of the non-medical treatments were low on adherence: these were high fat diet, dietary supplements, exercise, physical therapy and overnight feeding. In addition, nearly a third of individuals reported that they do not always attend clinic appointments. As clinic visits are central to health in CF, these results are of concern and should be investigated in more detail in future studies. The current study asked participants to rate their adherence behaviors i.e. they selfreported their behaviors. Although the design of the study attempted to minimize social desirability effects, it is well known that self-report measures of adherence tend to be higher than objective methods, such as pill counting or electronic monitoring [13]. Therefore, the actual levels of adherence may have been lower than reported. No treatment was considered unimportant, although there was variation in self-reported importance of each treatment. Insulin and intravenous antibiotics were considered the most important. This may have been due to the underlying serious reasons for needing the treatments. Antibiotics are taking intravenously if the individual with CF has a severe chest infection. Similarly, the consequences of not taking insulin as prescribed for diabetes are high, with the strong possibility of serious complications, highlighting the importance of insulin. In fact, studies on non-CF individuals with diabetes indicate that insulin is the most adhered to part of the regimen [24]. The fact that, unlike the majority of other treatments,
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intravenous antibiotics and insulin adherence were not related to burden of treatment are indicative that they are perceived differently to other treatments. Unsurprisingly, for most other treatments the high importance was related to low burden. This study found that for the majority of treatments, adherence and importance were positively correlated. This means that high adherence was related to high importance. This replicates and extends findings a previous study [21]. Unlike the previous study which had a low number of participants over a far too wide age range and only investigated broad classes of treatments, the current study had a large number of solely adult participants and investigated individual treatments. Therefore, the finding of positive correlations between adherence and importance can be seen as robust, at least in adults. Individuals rated different treatments as varying in burden. Those treatments that are administered by injection: intravenous antibiotics and insulin, and those that can be considered time-consuming: physical therapy, overnight feeding, DNase, nebulized medications as well as clinic visits were rated high burden. However, treatments which are easily administered and not time-consuming were rated as low burden -- inhaled steroids, inhaled bronchodilators and oral treatments: vitamins, oral steroids, oral antibiotics, pancreatic enzymes, high-fat diet, dietary supplements, and treatment for thin bones. Previous studies have indicated that physical therapy is a low adherence behavior [15] [16] [17]. Detailed quantitative and qualitative data from the current study has been reported elsewhere and suggest that physical therapy is high on demand/burden [25]. We found that quantitatively, the three main reasons for not adhering to physical therapy regime were ―No time in the morning/generally‖, ―I do exercises instead‖, and ―I‘m too tired in the evening‖. Participants were also asked in detail about reasons for doing or not doing physical therapy and results showed that many respondents found it a burden fitting in treatments with the rest of their life. For example, one participant said ―…..with working full time and trying to lead a normal life, physio [ physical therapy] comes down the list. I could spend the day treating CF and not living a full life‖. Similarly, ―…..if I have to be somewhere at 9am then I have to get up 2.5 hours earlier to incorporate my treatment as well as manly things. Sex ….shower, physio [physical therapy] nebulized drugs, exercise, eat. It‘s hard to do everything‖ p.920 [25]. It would be useful in further studies to investigate whether adherence and burden are related to the time taken for each treatment as well as other aspects of lifestyle. It has been well documented that survival is significantly lower for females compared to males from all ages and this gap has not changed over time [26]. Surprisingly, this study did not provide any further clues to this finding as there were few gender differences, except that females reported that overnight feeding is more important and they were more likely to be adherent. In fact, this is the opposite finding to another study on the dietary aspects of CF treatment which reported that females compared to males were less likely to adhere to a highfat diet [27]. Although adults with CF in this study reported taking many therapies recommended by their health care team, they also reported a high number of other therapies, with over three quarters reporting using some form of other treatments not prescribed by their doctor and nearly a quarter use some form of complimentary therapy, with more females reporting such use. Concerning lifestyle, results indicated that only a minority believe that CF interferes with their enjoyment of life and interfered with other things they wanted to do, suggesting that the
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majority have integrated CF into their lives and treatment per se is not seen as problematic. Overall, self-care behaviors were only occasionally related to age. There were some methodological limitations in the study. The response rate was lower than ideal, but it produced a sample size of 563 with a profile of responders matched the overall profile of the CF Trust‘s data base. By using the Trust‘s mailing list, there was a potential bias by sampling from a subset of people with CF who might have been more active in self-management. However, all similar studies are limited to those who choose freely to participate. There was a satisfactorily broad age range, from 18-65 as well as an almost even split of females (55%) and males (45%). In conclusion, this study provides an insight into the complexity surrounding treatments for adults with CF, indicating that adherence, importance and burden are usually related. Future studies should use a longitudinal design to investigate these findings in more detail with the aim of designing interventions to improve adherence in CF.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to thank Sandra Horn for helping to design the study and collect data and the Cystic Fibrosis Trust for allowing access to their mailing list.
REFERENCES [1]
Hamosh A, Fitz-Simmons SC, Macek M Jr et al. Comparison of the clinical manifestations of cystic fibrosis in black and white patients. J. Pediatr, 2002; 19: 575 606. [2] Lowton K. Double or quits: perceptions and management of organ transplantation by adults with cystic fibrosis. Soc. Sci Med. 2002; 56: 1355-1367. [3] Cystic Fibrosis Worldwide, Annual Report 2007. Worcester, Massachusetts. Cystic Fibrosis Worldwide, 2008. [4] Cystic Fibrosis Worldwide, Annual Report 2005. Worcester, Massachusetts. Cystic Fibrosis Worldwide, 2006. [5] Cystic Fibrosis Trust (2009). What is Cystic Fibrosis? http://www. CFtrust.org.uk/aboutCF/whatisCF/. Accessed February 4, 2009. [6] Welsh MJ, Smith AE. (1995). Cystic Fibrosis. Sci. Am. 1995; Dec: 512-519. [7] Conway SP. Cystic fibrosis: adult clinical aspects. Br. J. Hosp. Med. 1996; 55: 248252. [8] Fogarty A, Hubbard DM, Britton, J. International comparison of median age at death from cystic fibrosis. Chest 2000; 117: 1656-1660. [9] Dodge J, Lewis P, Stanton M, et al. Cystic Fibrosis Mortality and Survival in the UK: 1947 -- 2003. Eur. Respir J. 2007; 29: 522 – 526. [10] Yankaskas JR, Marshall BC, Sufian, B et al. Cystic Fibrosis adult care. Chest 2004; 125: 1S-39S. [11] Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, 2009. Living with Cystic Fibrosis. http://www.cff.org/ Accessed February 4 2009. [12] Davies J, Alton E, Bush, A. Cystic Fibrosis. BMJ 2007; 335: 1255-9.
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[13] Myers LB , Midence K. Methodological and conceptual issues in adherence. In: Myers LB , Midence K. ed. Adherence to Treatment in Medical Conditions Switzerland. Harwood Academic Publishers, 1988. [14] Cockburn J, Gibberd RW, Reid AL et al. Determinants of noncompliance with shortterm antibiotic regimens. BMJ 1987; 295: 814-818. [15] Abbott J, Dodd M, Bilton, D et al. Treatment compliance in adults with cystic fibrosis. Thorax 1993; 49: 115-120. [16] Kettler LJ, Sawyer SM, Winefield HR, et al. Determinants of adherence in adults with cystic fibrosis. Thorax 2001; 57; 459-464. [17] Myers LB, Myers F, The relationship between control beliefs and self-reported adherence in adults with Cystic Fibrosis. Psychol. Health Med 1999; 4: 387-392. [18] Zialan T, Sawyer M, Reynolds K. et al. Treatment burden and health-related quality of life of children with diabetes, cystic fibrosis and asthma. J. Paediatr. Child Health 2006; 42: 596 – 600. [19] Sawicki G, Sellers D, Robinson, W. High treatment burden in adults with cystic fibrosis: challenges to disease self management. J. Cyst. Fibros in press. [20] Conway SP, Pond MN, Hamnett T et al. Compliance with treatments in adult patients with cystic fibrosis. Thorax 1996; 51: 29-33. [21] Llorente R, Garcia, Martin J. Treatment compliance in children and adults with Cystic Fibrosis. J. Cyst. Fibros 2008; 7: 359 – 367. [22] Cooke L, Myers LB Derakshan N. Adherence, repressive coping and denial in asthma patients. Psychol. Health Med. 2003; 8: 35-44. [23] Griva K, Myers LB, Newman SN. Illness perceptions and self-efficacy beliefs in adolescents and young adults with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. Psychol. Health 2000, 15; 733-750. [24] Kravitz RL, Hays RD, Sherbourne CD et al. (1993) Recall of recommendations and adherence to advice among patients with chronic medical conditions. Arch. Intern Med. 1993; 153: 1869-1878. [25] Myers LB, Horn S . Adherence to chest physiotherapy in adults with cystic fibrosis. J. Health Psychol. 2006; 11: 915-916. [26] Rosenfield M,. Davis R, Fitzsimons S et al. Gender gap in cystic fibrosis mortality. Am. J. Epidemiol. 1997; 145: 794-803. [27] Patterson J. Wall M., Berge, J. et al. Gender differences in treatment adherence among youth with cystic fibrosis: Development of a new questionnaire. J. Cystic Fibros 2008; 7: 154-164.
Advances in Psychology Research. Volume 78 Ed: Alexandra M. Columbus
ISBN: 978-1-61209-442-7 © 2011 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
Chapter 12
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ADOLESCENTS’ MUSIC VIDEO VIEWING AND RISKY DRIVING: A TWO WAVE PANEL SURVEY Kathleen Beullens, Keith Roe and Jan Van den Bulck Leuven School for Mass Communication Research, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Parkstraat 45 (box 3603), 3000 Leuven, Belgium
ABSTRACT Purpose: Music video viewing is a very popular pastime among adolescents. The public criticism of music videos has encouraged researchers to examine the effects of music video exposure. Although an association between music video exposure and several health risk behaviors (e.g. drinking) has been found, the relationship between music video viewing and risky driving has remained largely unexamined. In this study the relationship between adolescents‘ music video viewing and risky driving such as driving after consuming alcohol and joy riding is explored. Methods: Participants were 354 adolescent males and females who participated in a panel study (2-year interval). Respondents were 17 or 18 years old during the first wave of data collection and did not have their driver‘s license yet. They completed a questionnaire on music video viewing, sensation seeking, aggression, attitudes towards joy riding and driving after the consumption of alcohol, and the intention to perform these behaviors in the future. Two years later the respondents had obtained their driver‘s license and were questioned on their actual risky driving behavior. The relationships between these constructs were analyzed using structural equation models. Results: The results indicate that music video viewing is indirectly associated with joy riding and driving after the consumption of alcohol through the attitudes towards these behaviors and the intention to perform these behaviors in the future. More music video viewing resulted in a more positive attitude towards risky driving, even after controlling for
Corresponding author: Kathleen Beullens, e-mail:
[email protected]; Tel: +32(0)16.32.32.19// +32(0)16.32.32.20 Fax: +32(0)16.32.33.12
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Kathleen Beullens, Keith Roe and Jan Van den Bulck sensation seeking and aggression. These attitudes are positively related to the intention to perform these reckless behaviors in the future and these intentions are, in turn, a good predictor of the actual risky driving behavior two years later. Conclusions: The results indicate that music video viewing during adolescence is an important and significant predictor of risky driving two years later.
INTRODUCTION Music video viewing is a very popular pastime among adolescents. A recent study by Beentjes, Konig and Krzeszewski (2008) found that adolescent boys as well as girls watch rap/hip-hop music videos at least 27 minutes a day on average. Several other studies have reported frequent music video viewing in different samples of young people (Sherman and Dominick, 1986; Sun and Lull, 1986). Van den Bulck and Beullens (2005) found that 40.8% of the 16-year-old girls and 36.2% of the boys of the same age viewed music videos almost every day. Another study by the same authors indicated that watching music videos was also a popular activity for slightly older adolescents (Beullens and Van den Bulck, 2008). Sun and Lull (1986) and Hansen and Hansen (2000) ascribe the popularity of music videos, first, to the positive effects of contemporary music on the mind and body of its listeners. Music listening induces generally pleasant feelings and reduces anxieties. Second, peer groups are often formed around specific musical preferences. As such music listening is important for the construction of both a self–identity and a group-identity. Third, they see music as an ―agent of socialization‖. Through the content of popular music young people learn the unwritten rules of their peers, which facilitates in-group identification and communication. By providing role models for adolescents, music artists also play a role in the identity formation of adolescents. The popularity of music videos has encouraged researchers to examine their content and their possible effects. Content analyses have indicated that there may be cause for concern. Gruber et al. (2005) found frequent references to the use of illicit substances, alcohol, and tobacco in their sample of music videos. 43% of the videos contained at least some evidence of these health risks. They appeared to be more prevalent in rap and hip-hop songs compared to other music videos. These results were in line with DuRant et al.‘s (1997b), who reported that rap music videos depict the most instances of smoking (30% of the videos in this genre) and alcohol use (27%), compared to other genres. Nevertheless health risk behaviors such as smoking and drinking were frequently encountered in other music genres also (DuRant et al, 1997b; Baxter et al., 1985). Risky sexual behavior also appears to be portrayed in music videos regularly. Baxter et al. (1985) stated that music television‘s content is highly sexual. 60% of the music videos in their sample contained images of sexual feelings or impulses such as embrace or other physical contact, provocative clothing, movements of a sexually suggestive nature etc. These results were confirmed by Sherman and Dominick (1986). Their study revealed that more than 75% of the music videos presented visibly sexual intimacy. These depictions were mostly implied rather than overt and were observed among different genres of music videos (Tapper and Thorson, 1994). Music videos‘ violent content has also received a lot of attention (e.g. Sherman and Dominick, 1986; Baxter et al., 1985; Sommerflanagan, Sommersflanagan and Davis, 1993).
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DuRant et al. (1997a) found that a substantial number of music videos portrayed violence and weapon carrying. About 20% of rap and rock videos contained overt violence. These depictions were found to be glamorized by the performers. According to Rich et al. (1998) 15% of the videos depicted violent behavior. Perpetrators of these acts were mostly males (78%). Similarly Smith and Boyson (2002) noted that 15% of music videos featured physical aggression. This appeared to be presented in an often realistic manner and without showing any negative consequences for the aggressors. Following DuRant et al. (1997a, 1997b) it may be argued that given the frequent depictions of health risk behaviors in music videos, even moderate viewers are frequently exposed to it. As several authors have stated, these positive portrayals of risky behaviors may influence their viewers (Bryant and Zillmann, 2002). Cultivation Theory proposes that frequent exposure to similar television content may, in the long term, lead to alterations in its viewers‘ perceptions and attitudes (Gerbner and Gross, 1976; Gerbner, Gross, Morgan and Signorielli, 1986). Social Cognitive Theory also suggests that exposure to music television may influence adolescents, but explains this relationship by the fact that popular artists, who serve as role models for adolescents, are engaging in the risky behaviors in music videos (Bandura, 2002). In these portrayals the engagement in risky behaviors is often legitimized, trivialized and glamorized thus potentially altering adolescents‘ perceptions of what is socially sanctioned (Bandura, 2002). As such it may reduce inhibitions to perform a behavior and may desensitize viewers. Ultimately this may lead to participation in the depicted forms of risk taking (Bandura, 2002; DuRant et al., 1997b). Priming theory argues that the exposure to certain images on television may trigger thoughts that are semantically related and influence later behavior (Roskos-Ewoldson, Roskos-Ewoldson and Carpentier, 2002). Following these media-effects theories, researchers have examined the relationship between music video viewing and several risky behaviors. Beentjes et al. (2008) found the amount of rap/hip-hop video viewing to be a significant predictor of the idea (among men and women) that women behave as sex objects and of the belief (only among men) that men are the most dominant partner in sexual relationships. Zhang, Miller and Harrison‘s (2008) study also indicated a relationship between exposure to music videos and sexual attitudes. The viewing of music videos with a sexually explicit content appeared to be positively related to participants‘ approval of premarital sex and their score on the double sexual standard scale. Antisocial behavior has also been shown to be associated with the consumption of music videos. Hansen and Hansen‘s (1990) experiment showed that even brief exposure to music videos with antisocial behavior such as a joyriding or defying parents and police resulted in more favourable evaluations of people engaging in antisocial behavior. Likewise it has been found that greater exposure to rap videos is correlated with the chance to have hit a teacher, to have been arrested, to have had a lot of sexual partners and to have used drugs or alcohol 12 months later (Wingood et al., 2003). Although several authors have examined the possible effects of music videos, the relationship with risky driving has remained largely unexamined.
AIM OF THE STUDY The aim of the current study is to examine whether frequent exposure to music videos is associated with several forms of risky driving. Statistics show that traffic accidents remain a
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cause for concern in many industrialised countries (World Health Organization, 2004). Young men appear to be at greater risk of being involved in a motor vehicle accident than most other groups in society (Belgische Instituut voor Verkeersveiligheid (BIVV), n.d., p. 16; Harré, 2000, p. 206). This is only partly explained by their inexperience as this group appears to be more inclined to take risks than other drivers (Arnett, Irwin and Halpern-Felsher, 2002; Ulleberg and Rundmo, 2002). Although it has been argued that there is a need for the examination of the portrayal of driving in the media and its effects (Arnett et al. 2002; Harré, 2000; Reinhardt-Rutland, 2007), virtually no research has dealt with this topic. This is even more remarkable given the fact that traffic accidents are an important cause of injury and death, and that other problem behavior has been found to be associated with media use. Therefore, the main research question of the current study is: RQ: Is the viewing of music videos during adolescence associated with risky driving two years later? This research question draws, upon a combination of cultivation theory (Gerbner and Gross, 1976; Gerbner et al., 1986) and Theory of Planned behavior (TPB) (Ajzen, 1991; Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). According to cultivation theory heavy viewers are constantly exposed to similar images on television. In the long term this exposure may result in a world view that is similar to the one that is depicted on television. Consequently the frequent exposure to images of risky driving on television may result in the development of perceptions and attitudes in line with these portrayals in heavy television viewers (Gerbner and Gross, 1976; Gerbner et al., 1986). Several content analyses have indicated that risky driving is very prevalent on television and that the risks associated with it are hardly ever shown. For Instance Greenberg and Atkin (1983) found that risky driving occurs more than 7 times an hour. Within a sample of 784 driving scenes they observed 1301 risky driving acts. Within these acts quick breaking, squealing brakes and screeching tires occurred most commonly. These risky driving acts appeared to be followed by death, injuries or legal penalties only seldom. Physical damage such as broken cars was slightly more prevalent. Furthermore the rate of the depiction of seatbelt use among drivers appeared to be rather low. Only 25% of the drivers were shown while wearing a seatbelt. Similarly, based on an analysis of the portrayal of risk behavior on prime –time television Will, Porter, Geller and DePasquale (2005) concluded that 26% of the television drivers wore seat belts. In 20% of the scenes risky driving such as speeding or neglecting a stop sign was observed. The potentially negative consequences associated with these behaviors were portrayed only infrequently. In 94% of the scenes there were no positive or negative consequences, the remaining 6% of the scenes comprised car crashes, wounded persons, police intervention and only one fatality. Other content analyses of the portrayal of risk taking on television (Greenberg and Gregg, 1998), movies (Greenberg and Thanki, 1997; Jacobson et al., 2001; Pelletier et al., 2000), reality television (Cowan, Jones and Ho, 2006), and even children‘s programming (Glik et al., 2005; Winston et al., 2000) came to similar conclusions. They indicated that, regardless of the prevalence of risk taking in television content, the harmful or beneficial consequences of this behavior were rarely shown and preventive practices such as seat belt wearing were hardly ever portrayed. Unfortunately only one content analysis of the depiction of risky driving in music videos was found. The early study of Baxter et al. (1985) indicated that transportation defined as the
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use of various types of vehicles or modes of conveyance, occurred in 35.5% of the music videos in their sample. How driving was framed in music videos was not examined in this study. However, given the fact that risky driving is often depicted in other program genres and that other risk behavior is frequently depicted in music videos, it is assumed that risky driving is very prevalent in music videos as well. Following this assumption and cultivation theory it can be hypothesized that the frequent viewing of music videos is associated with a more positive attitude towards risky driving. Following the Theory of Planned Behavior it can be assumed that these attitudes are an important indirect predictor of behavior, through the intention to perform this behavior (Ajzen, 1991; Perloff, 2003, p. 90). Behavioral intentions are assumed to ―… capture the motivational factors that influence a behavior, they are indicators of how hard people are willing to try, of how much effort they are planning to exert, in order to perform the behavior.‖ (Ajzen, 1991, p. 181). Within this theory, intention is partly determined by attitude. Armitage and Conner‘s (2001) meta-analysis of TPB studies indicated that attitudes are the strongest predictor of behavioral intentions, and intentions appeared to be the strongest predictor of later behavior (Armitage and Conner, 2001). Thus, although cultivation theory only deals with changes in perceptions or attitudes as a result of exposure to television and therefore does not in itself explain changes in behavior, social psychological theories such as the Theory of Planned Behavior have examined the relationship between attitudes and behavior extensively. The theoretical framework used in this study is based on the combination of both theories. It is assumed that the content of music videos is responsible for a possible relationship between music video viewing and risk behavior and that long-term exposure to music video viewing leads to changes in attitudes and ultimately behavior. This resulted in the following hypotheses. H1: The amount of music video viewing is a positive predictor of the attitudes towards risky driving H2: Attitudes towards risky driving are a good positive predictor of the intention to engage in this behavior. H3: The intention to engage in risky driving during adolescence is a positive predictor of actual driving behavior two years later. The model proposed in this study controlled for two personality characteristics: sensation seeking and aggression. An extensive amount of research has shown that these characteristics are associated with both risky driving and media use (a.o. Jonah, 1997; Arnett, Offer and Fine, 1997; Chliaoutakis, Demakakos et al., 2002; Dahlen and White, 2006;Ulleberg and Rundmo, 2003; Sümer, 2003). Arnett (1996), for instance, found that aggression and sensation seeking were positively associated with several forms of risk taking in traffic. Jonah‘s (1997) literature review indicated that a large majority of studies posited that sensation seeking is a positive predictor of several forms of reckless driving behavior. Correlations ranged between 0.30 and 0.40 depending on the scales used and the subgroups under examination. Gulliver and Begg (2007) found in their research on the personality factors predicting persistent risk taking in traffic that aggression was associated with risky driving behavior and crash risk. Ulleberg and Rundmo (2003) also emphasized the importance of the inclusion of personality characteristics in models examining the predictors of risky driving. They, however, propose a model in which sensation seeking and aggression (and a number of other characteristics) influence several forms of risky driving such as
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speeding and fun riding indirectly through the attitudes towards these behaviors. Fishbein (2000) and Fishbein and Cappella (2006) similarly regarded personality characteristics as indirect predictors of health behavior. Fishbein (2000) argued that personality characteristics predict perceptions. These in turn are the predictors of attitudes, which are, among others, the predictors of intentions (Fishbein and Cappella, 2006). Research has also indicated, however, that media use is associated with several personality characteristics (Perse, 1996; McNamara and Ballard, 1999; Potts, Dedmon and Halford, 1996; Weisskirch and Murphy, 2004; see Hall (2005a; 2005b) for an overview). People high in sensation seeking, for instance, appear to prefer arousing media content such as action and horror movies or erotic programs, and are more frequently exposed to these kind of programs (Perse, 1996; Zuckerman and Litle, 1986; Edwards, 1991; Schierman and Rowland, 1985). Low sensation seekers on the other hand seem to avoid violent or sexual media content and have a preference for programs such as musical films and romantic stories. These genres are in turn not appealing to viewers high in sensation seeking. Aggression has also been associated with a preference for specific media content. Aluja-Fabregat (2000), for example, found that adolescent boys who watch a lot of violent movies are more frequently described as aggressive and short-tempered by their teachers. Given the fact that music videos are expected to be rather arousing media and that research has shown that people high in sensation seeking and aggression prefer arousing media content, it is hypothesized that: H4: Aggression and sensation seeking are (direct) positive predictors of music video viewing. H5: Aggression and sensation seeking predict risky driving directly and indirectly through media use and the attitudes towards risk taking. The analyses controlled for total amount of television viewing as this study wants to examine the specific effect of music television viewing. In this study, two specific forms of risky driving are under examination, namely fun riding or joy riding and driving after the consumption of alcohol. It is assumed that both examples of risky driving regularly occur in music videos and therefore, following cultivation theory and TPB, exert an influence on adolescents‘ attitudes, intentions and behavior. Together hypotheses 1 to 5 lead to the hypothetical model proposed in figure 1. In the subsequent analyses, this model will be tested for several subgroups. Ajzen (1991, p. 188) suggested that the relative importance of the different concepts included in the TPB may differ across different populations (e.g. boys and girls). Research has also shown that, although all risk groups underestimate their actual crash risks, high risk groups such as young men under-assess their personal road-traffic risk even more than other risk groups do (e.g. young women) (Andersson and Lundborg, 2007). Therefore we expect gender to be a significant moderator of the relationship between music television viewing and risky driving. In sum, in the current study, a two wave panel study was used to examine whether adolescent boys‘ and girls‘ music video viewing predicts their risky driving two years later. Following cultivation theory and TPB it is hypothesized that this relationship is mediated through the attitudes towards reckless driving behavior and the intention to perform this behavior in the future.
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sensation seeking T1
music video viewing T1
attitudes T1
intentions T1
behavior T2
aggression T1 Total television viewing T1
Figure 1. Hypothetical model of the relationship between music video viewing and risky driving behavior.
METHOD Sample For the first wave of data collection questionnaires were administered to a stratified random sample of secondary school students in Flanders, Belgium. From the official list of secondary schools in Flanders 20 schools were randomly selected. These schools were contacted with the request to cooperate in a large-scale study on the relationship between media use and risk behavior among adolescents. When a school agreed to cooperate, all students from the fifth and sixth year were included in the sample. This selection procedure was repeated until 15 schools agreed to cooperate in the study. In the weeks following sample selection research assistants visited the selected schools to administer the questionnaires. The study was presented to the pupils as a study on leisure activities (part 1) and traffic (part 2). In total 2193 pupils filled out a standardized, selfadministered questionnaire including measures of television viewing and risky driving. 65.2% of the students were boys, 34.8% were girls. 41.7% of the respondents were born in 1988, 36.5% in 1989 (M=1988, StD=.93), thus the large majority of our respondents were 17 or 18 years old at time 1. In Flanders a definitive driver‘s license can only be obtained at the age of 18. A large majority (91.3%) of the respondents in the first wave did not yet have their driver‘s license during data collection. As a result, their actual driving behavior was not assessed in the questionnaire. The strict confidentiality of the respondents‘ answers was stressed before as well as after the completion of the questionnaire. Next, the respondents were informed that a follow-up study was planned two years later and they were asked whether they agreed to cooperate in the second part of the study. Students who promised to collaborate were asked to provide their home address as well as their e-mail address. In total 89.5% agreed to take part in the second wave of the study and provided their home address, 71.3% provided their e-mail address. Two years after the first wave of datacollection the second wave was administered. First, a follow-up websurvey was sent to all the students who had provided their e-mail account. 31.5% of the e-mails returned to the sender because of mistakes in the e-mail addresses or because the addresses did not exist anymore. In line with the Total Design Method (Billiet and Carton, 2001), two follow-up e-mails were sent after the first contact. In sum this resulted in the completion of 552 websurveys, this is 51.5% of the respondents who provided a correct e-mail address.
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Second, respondents who had not yet answered were sent a paper version of the questionnaire and a stamped and addressed envelope at their home address. Two weeks later a letter was sent to thank all the respondents who had already taken part in the second wave of the study and to encourage the others to fill out the questionnaire and send it back to the researcher. Two weeks later a third reminder (which included a new questionnaire and return envelope) was sent to those respondents who had not yet answered. In total this resulted in 552 completed questionnaires. The postal survey and the websurvey together resulted in a response of 1104 respondents. Thus 50% of the respondents who completed the first questionnaire took part in the second wave of the study. The aim of the current study is to examine the relationship between music video viewing during adolescence and risky driving two years later. Only those respondents who completed both waves and had obtained their driver‘s license in the second wave of the study were kept for the analyses. This is a subsample of 354 young persons, 62.7% were boys, 37.3% girls, 53.8% were born in 1988, 29.7% in 1989 and 14.4% in 1987. Consequently most of the respondents in the subsample on which the analyses were run were 17 or 18 years old at time 1 and 19 or 20 years old at time 2. 42% of the boys and 31.1% of the girls without driver‘s license at time 1 had obtained their driver‘s license at time 2 (χ²=11.832, df=1, p<.01). The study and sampling method were approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and permission to interview the children was obtained from the legal guardians of the children.
Measures Music video exposure was measured as part of a long list of television content types. Respondents had to answer ‗how often do you watch music videos‘ on a scale (0) never, (1) a few times a year, (2) about once a month, (3) a few times a month, (4) about once a week, (5) a few times a week, (6) (almost) every day (Van den Bulck, Beullens and Mulder, 2006). Total television viewing volume was assessed using a timeline for each day of the week. The timelines began at 7.00 A.M. and ended at 04.00 A.M. They consisted of 42 checkboxes, each representing a half hour of possible television viewing time. For each day of the week, respondents were asked to mark the period(s) of time on which they normally watch TV on that particular day. Total television viewing time (in hours) per week was obtained by counting the marked checkboxes for each respondent and dividing the result by two. Total television viewing in hours per day was obtained by dividing that variable by seven (Eggermont, 2006). Ulleberg and Rundmo (2002) validated an instrument to measure young drivers‘ risk taking attitudes. This instrument consists of 11 dimensions, 2 of them - attitudes towards joyriding (fun riding) and drinking and driving - were translated into Dutch and used in the questionnaire. A principal components factor analysis with Varimax rotation yielded the same factor structure as Ulleberg and Rundmo found. Cronbach‘s Alpha was calculated for each factor: funriding (α=. 78) and drinking and driving (α=.75). Sensation Seeking was questioned using Arnett‘s Inventory of Sensation Seeking (AISS). Haynes, Miles and Clements (2000) analyzed AISS and Zuckerman‘s sensation seeking scale Form V and concluded that a modified version of AISS provides a more appropriate measure
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of sensation seeking. The original AISS consists of 20 items and is made up of two subscales: intensity and novelty. For the current study only the intensity factor was used in the analyses, since it was felt that this factor was most closely related to music video viewing. Principal components analysis indicated that 6 items of the original scale loaded on the intensity factor. Two items were removed from the factor since they referred to media content (e.g. ‗I like a movie where there are a lot of explosions and car chases‘). 4 variables (items 8, 16, 18, 20 from the original scale) loaded onto the intensity factor and were kept in the analyses (Cronbach‘s Alpha =. 57). Physical aggression was measured using Buss and Perry‘s (1992) Aggression questionnaire (Cronbach‘s Alpha=.81). Responses for both personality characteristics ranged from (1) do not agree at all, (2) do not agree, (3) agree to (4) totally agree. Respondents‘ intention to engage in fun riding and driving after consuming alcohol was measured as part of a series of questions regarding risky driving behavior. Intention has been defined by Fishbein and Ajzen (1975, p. 288) as ―[…] a person‘s subjective probability that he will perform some behavior‖. Respondents had to indicate whether they thought they would (1) drive faster than allowed, (2) drive while they might have had too much alcohol, (3) drive while they had definitely had too much alcohol, (4) take risks to make driving more fun in the future. Response categories were (0) never, (1) seldom, (2) sometimes, (3) often, (4) very often and (5) always. Item 1 and 4 were used as dependent measure for fun riding. Items 2 and 3 both loaded on the latent drinking and driving variable. Actual fun riding was measured using 2 questions: (1) How often do you drive fast for the thrill of it?, (2) How often do you take risks when driving to make driving more fun? Response categories were (0) never, (1) seldom, (2) sometimes, (3) often, (4) very often and (5) always. These items are part of Begg and Langley‘s (2004) risky driving scale. Driving after the consumption of alcohol was measured by 2 items. In the last year, how often have you (1) driven a car while you may had too much alcohol?, (2) driven a car while you definitively had too much alcohol? It is the aim of the study to test whether music video viewing succeeds in predicting emerging adults‘ fun riding and driving after the consumption of alcohol. Therefore music video viewing, attitudes and intentions were measured at time 1 and actual risky driving behavior was measured at time 2.
Analyses To assess the relationships between music video viewing and fun riding (model 1) and driving after consuming alcohol (model 2), a structural equation model was estimated using Amos TM 15.0. In the current study we are mainly interested in the relationship between music video viewing, risk taking attitudes, risky driving intentions and actual reckless driving. Measures of intensity and aggression were included in the models as potential confounders as it has been shown that these constructs are related to risky driving (Jonah, 1997; Gulliver and Begg, 2004) and media use (Hall, 2005ab). The total amount of television viewing was also added as a control variable. Several other variables have been shown to be explain specific behavior (cfr. Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991)). These constructs were not added to our models since the inclusion of constructs that have been shown to correlate with our
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dependent variable, but were not hypothesized to correlate with our exposure variables, would have increased the fit of the structural equation models artificially.
RESULTS Descriptive Statistics Prevalence of Music Video Viewing 31.6% of the respondents in the sample never viewed music videos, 26.2% watched them several times a year, 13.7% about once a month, 12.8% a few times a month, 10.5% about once a week, 5.2% at least several times a week. Prevalence of Risky Driving More than 50% of the respondents in the sample admitted to driving, at least occasionally, faster than allowed because they found this behavior exciting. 14.1% reported doing this sometimes, 5.2% often and 3.2% very often or always. 64.5% reported never taking risks in order to make driving more fun. Nevertheless, 22.8% indicated to engage in this behavior seldom, 9.0% sometimes and 3.8% at least often. Driving after the consumption of alcohol was less prevalent. 80.6% of the respondents never drove after they might have had too much alcohol, 14.6% admitted to having engaged in this behavior in the previous 12 months seldom, 2% about once a month, 2% a few times a month and 0.9% at least once a week. 91.6% never took the car when they definitely had consumed too much alcohol.
Model 1. Music Video Viewing and Fun Riding It was hypothesized that the personality characteristics aggression and the intensity factor would directly predict media use, attitudes towards risky driving and actual risky driving behavior. Music television viewing was hypothesized to be a positive predictor of risk taking attitudes, which in turn were expected to predict intentions toward risk taking in traffic. Following TPB intentions were hypothesized to be a good direct predictor of risky driving at time 2. Total amount of television viewing was added to the model as a control variable. Maximum likelihood estimates provided support for the proposed model (χ²=384.062; p=.000; df=198; CMIN/df=1.940; CFI=.913; RMSEA=.052). However several of the standardized regression coefficients were not significant (e.g. total television viewing was not a significant predictor of attitudes toward fun riding). Following Aish and Jöreskog (1990, p. 441) a new model was tested without these relationships. The respecified model fitted the data well (χ²=396.539; p=.000; df=205; CMIN/df=1.934; CFI=.910; RMSEA=.051) (see figure 2). Music video viewing during adolescence appeared to be an indirect predictor of fun riding two years later (standardized regression coefficient γ=.24), while the total amount of television viewing was not.
item 1 item 2 item 3
,53 ,44 ,60
intensity SS T1
item 4
item 1
item 2
,29 ,68
,66
item 1
,65
item 2
,80
item 3 ,72 ,49
attitudes fun riding T1
total amount of tv viewing a day T1
item 2
item 1 ,90
,27 ,70
,72
item 1 ,82
item 2 ,85
,49
intention fun riding T1
,36 ,43
fun riding T2
,24
item 3
,47 ,49 ,53
item 4 item 5
music video viewing T1
,70 ,78
Physical aggressionT1
item 6 ,56 ,63 ,58
item 7 item 8 item 9
,44
chi²=396,539 df=205 CMIN/df=1,934 p=,000 CFI=,910 RMSEA=,051
Figure 2. Model 1: The relationship between music television viewing and fun riding Standardized regressioncoefficients are significant at p<.05.
item 1 ,31
item 2
,52 ,48
item 3 item 4
,63
item 1 intensity SS T1
item 2
,30
-,12
item 1
Total amount of tv viewing a day T1
,61
item 3
item 1
attitudes driving after alcohol consumption T1
item 2 item 1
,89 ,73
,61 ,82 ,12
,72
,30 ,55
intentions driving after ,30 alcohol consumption T1
,90
item 2 ,89 ,12
driving after alcohol consumption T2
,15
item 2 ,56 ,47 ,50
item 3 item 4
music video viewing T1 ,14
,13
,51
item 5
,70 ,44
item 6 ,58
item 7 item 8 item 9
physical aggression T1
,78 ,63
chi²=372,758 df=203 CMIN/DF=1,836 p=,000 CFI=,915 RMSEA=,049
Figure 3. Model 2: The relationship between music television viewing and driving after the consumption of alcohol. Standardized regression coefficients are significant at p<.05.
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This relationship was mediated through the attitudes towards fun riding and adolescent‘s intentions to engage in this behavior in the future. In total 36.1% of the variance in fun riding was explained by its predictors in the model. A multiple group analysis was executed in order to examine whether gender moderated the relationship between exposure to music television viewing and fun riding. The fit indices indicated that this model fitted the data for boys as well as girls (χ²=626.321; p=.000; df=410; CMIN/df=1.528; CFI=.871; RMSEA=.039) and that there was no significant difference between the standardized regression coefficients of the relationship between music video viewing and attitudes towards risky driving in both groups.
Model 2. Music Video Viewing and Driving after the Consumption of Alcohol The second model examined whether music video viewing during adolescence succeeded in predicting a significant part of the variance in driving after the consumption of alcohol two years later. The data provided a good fit for this model (χ²=370.226; p=.000; df=198; CMIN/df=1.870; CFI=.913; RMSEA=.050). Once more certain relationships appeared to be non-significant and these associations were removed from the model (cf. Aish and Jöreskog, 1990, p. 441). In the renewed version (χ²=372.758; p=.000; df=203; CMIN/df=1.836; CFI=.915; RMSEA=.049) there was no relationship between the intensity factor of sensation seeking and both measures of television viewing. Aggression was only a significant predictor of total television viewing and was indirectly associated with driving after the consumption of alcohol. As hypothesized, music television viewing was a positive direct predictor of the attitudes toward driving after consuming alcohol (standardized regression coefficient γ=.15). This relationship remained significant when the total amount of television viewing was controlled for. This last variable was negatively related to attitudes (γ=-.12). Music television viewing appeared to be a significantly better predictor of driving after the consumption of alcohol than total television viewing was (Critical ratio for differences =-3.220). Following TPB attitudes were a good predictor of intentions measured at time 1 (γ=.55), intentions (γ=.30) in turn succeeded in predicting a significant part of the variance in actual driving after the consumption of alcohol at time 2. In total 12% of the variance in the dependent variable in the model was explained by its predictors. Multiple group analyses were used in order to assess whether the model applied to boys as well as girls. Fit indices indicated that the model fitted for both groups (χ²=592.069; p=.000; df=406; CMIN/df=1.458; CFI=.890; RMSEA=.036). However, an inspection of the standardized regression coefficients in both models indicated that the relationship between music television viewing and attitudes towards driving under the influence of alcohol was significant for girls (γ=.24) but not for boys.
DISCUSSION Music video viewing is a very popular pastime among adolescents. Popular debate about the potential impact of music videos has encouraged researchers to examine the effects of music video exposure. Nevertheless, the relationship between music video viewing and risky driving has remained largely unexamined. In this study the relationship between adolescents‘
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music video viewing and risky driving such as driving after consuming alcohol and joy riding was explored. The analyses indicated that adolescents‘ music video viewing was a small, indirect predictor of their joy riding and driving under the influence of alcohol 2 years later. More music video viewing resulted in a more positive attitude towards risky driving (hypothesis 1). These attitudes predicted adolescents‘ intentions to drive riskily (hypothesis 2) which in turn predicted their actual later driving behavior (hypothesis 3). This relationship between music television viewing and reckless driving remained significant after controlling for the personality characteristics physical aggression and the intensity factor of sensation seeking and after controlling for the total amount of television viewing per day. This signifies, first, that there is something specific about music videos which cannot be explained by general television viewing. Second, the relationship between media use and risk taking cannot be explained by the personality characteristics that frequent music television viewers and risk takers may both have in common since these characteristics were controlled for in the models. However respecifications had to be made to the models because intensity and aggression did not appear to be good predictors of music television viewing or the attitudes toward risky driving as we had hypothesised. Thus, hypothesis 4 and 5 were only partly confirmed by the data. Multiple group analyses indicated that the models applied to boys as well as girls. Several explanations can be put forward in order to explain the relationships in our models. First, following cultivation theory and TPB long term exposure to images of risky driving behavior may have an impact on respondents‘ later driving behavior through a change in attitudes and intentions. We hypothesized that this relationship is explained by the specific content of music videos. We assume that risky driving is very prevalent in music videos and that this behavior is depicted in a glamorized way. Driving behavior in this television genre has, however, not yet been examined fully. A second explanation for the results found in this study might therefore be that music television viewing and risky driving are both characteristics of a similar lifestyle. Problem Behavior Theory (PBT) proposes that different kinds of risk taking co-occur and comprise a pattern or cluster of risk-taking (Donovan and Jessor, 1985; Bina et al., 2006). Studies have shown that the viewing of one kind of risk behavior on television may result in engaging in other kinds of risky behavior if these behaviors share a similar meaning for the adolescent (Krcmar and Greene, 2000). Thus, according to PBT, even if no risky driving is depicted in music videos, it is possible that frequent music video viewing and risky driving are both part of a cluster of problem behaviors. In this explanation music television viewing is not the cause of risk taking but another form of risky behavior. This offers a potential explanation of the process by which the viewing of risk behavior in music videos may result in traffic related risk taking. Further research is necessary to determine by which mechanisms the relationship between music television viewing and risky driving occurs and whether music video viewing can be regarded as a cause or as a form of problem behavior. Despite this discussion about causality, the results of this study remain interesting in that they show that adolescents‘ music video viewing succeeds in partly predicting their risk behavior two years later. It shows that a group of risky drivers can be identified before they have their driver‘s license and before they are exposed to the risks. This means that these young people may be addressed (through their media use) with prevention campaigns before they actually start driving and become exposed to the risk of getting hurt in a crash.
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The present study has several limitations. First, even though structural equations were used, panel data do not establish causality unequivocally. Experimental studies may be required to examine further the relationship between music television viewing and risky driving. Second, content analytic research should try to asses the portrayal of traffic related risk taking in music videos. If we know whether or not risky driving is present in music videos and how it is framed, this will provide insight into the relationship between these concepts. The current study proposed a theoretical framework which included elements of Cultivation Theory and TPB. However, not all concepts of TPB were assessed in the study and preferably all concepts should be tested by using several measures. Further research should try to integrate these theories in order to explore the processes through which media exposure is related to risky driving (Beullens and Van den Bulck, 2008). For the same reason research should examine the meanings adolescents attribute to specific risk behaviors.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT This study was funded by a subsidy from the Flemish Fund for Scientific research (FWO).
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Advances in Psychology Research. Volume 78 Ed: Alexandra M. Columbus
ISBN: 978-1-61209-442-7 © 2011 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
Chapter 13
EXTRAVERSION AND THE AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM: AN ALTERNATIVE TO EYSENCK’S THEORY David Lester The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, USA Othello: Give me your hand. This hand is moist, my lady. Desdemona: It hath felt no age nor known no sorrow. Othello: This argues fruitfulness and liberal heart. Hot, hot, and moist. This hand of yours requires A sequester from liberty, fasting, and prayer. Much castigation, exercise devout; For here‘s a young and sweating devil here That commonly rebels. Shakespeare‘s Othello, Act 3, Scene iv
ABSTRACT An hypothesis is proposed that balance in the autonomic nervous system is the physiological basis for extraversion-introversion, with extraverts as S-types and introverts as P-types.
Eysenck (1967) proposed that the physiological basis for the personality dimension of extraversion was inhibition in the central nervous system, controlled by the reticular activating system. The sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) was the physiological basis for neuroticism, controlled by the limbic system. The present paper suggests an alternative physiological basis based on an earlier proposal by Lester (1974).
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The ANS consists of two divisions. The sympathetic division has a catabolic action and prepares the organism for action. Blood is diverted to the somatic muscles in order to fuel their activity, heart rate and blood pressure rise, the breathing rate increases, the bronchial tubes to the lungs dilate, and sweating increases to cool the body. In contrast, the parasympathetic division has an anabolic function, reverses these changes diverts blood to the digestive system and increases the digestive and storage processes. It has been proposed that there is always a balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic arousal (Broverman, et al., 1968), and the first appearance of this proposal was by Eppinger and Hess (1917) who classified people as vagotonics (parasympathetic predominance) and non-vagotonics or sympathicotonics (sympathetic predominance). This balance depends on the situation in which the organism finds itself and also on the current stimulation. But there may also be individual differences so that, even at rest, one system predominates over the other. Individuals with a dominant parasympathetic division have excessive salivation, dry palms, a slow heart rate and high intestinal motility (that is, their stomachs frequently growl). Individuals with a dominant sympathetic division have dry mouths, moist palms (cold, clammy hands) and a fast heart rate at rest. Eppinger and Hess‘s notion of ANS balance fell out of favor, but it influenced later researchers, including Wenger (1966) and has merit (van Toller, 1979; Shields, 1983). Lester (1974) proposed that introverts have a dominant parasympathetic division (Ptypes) while extraverts have a dominant sympathetic division (S-types). Lester also argued that P-types and S-types differed on a number of other personality traits, all of which were associated. P-type were augmenters rather than reducers (Petrie, 1967), ectomorphs rather than mesomorphs and endomorphs (Sheldon, 1942), sensitizers rather than repressors (Byrne, 1964) and field independent rather than field-dependent (Witkin, 1965). For example, Eysenck (1967) argued that extraverts, by virtue of having inhibitory central nervous systems, were insensitive to stimuli, including pain. In Petrie‘s (1967) terminology, extraverts are reducers. Petrie found that chlorpromazine (which depresses adrenergic function and so increases parasympathetic dominance) makes people more augmenting. On the other hand, alcohol (which according to Eysenck makes introverts act extraverted) changes augmenters into reducers. Thus, it may be concluded that augmenters (and, therefore, introverts) are P-types while reducers (and, therefore, extraverts) are S-types. Research has occasionally reported that physiological arousal increases fieldindependence in individuals. For example, Callaway (1959) found that drug-induced physiological arousal increases field-independence on the embedded figures test. Fieldindependent individuals have been shown to have greater autonomic reactivity to stimuli (that is, sympathetic activation) (e.g., Hein, et al., 1965). Broverman, et al. (1968) concluded that field-independence was related to a less dominant sympathetic system (and, therefore, a relatively dominant parasympathetic system).
MEASURING AUTONOMIC BALANCE Wenger (1966) used a variety of physiological measures to assess ANS balance and, for example, reported that anxiety neurotics have sympathetic predominance, but the use of multiple physiological measures has never became very popular as a measure of balance in ANS among researchers. More recently, the heart rate and diastolic pressure has been used to
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measure ANS balance (Grigoryan, et al., 2005), and heart rate variability and the high frequency EKG component have been used to measure sympathetic and parasympathetic activity, respectively (Ahrens, et al., 2007; Lechin, et al., 2004). Grijalva and Lindholm (1982) suggested that the lateral hypothalamus was associated with the parasympathetic division while the ventromedial hypothalamus was associated with the sympathetic division, providing a central nervous system basis for ANS balance. Plutchik and Conte (1974) devised a questionnaire whose items tap ANS balance, such as, Usually my hands are - A cool, B warm, and I have noticed that - A my mouth tends to feel dry, B I tend to salivate a lot. Lester (1981) refined the items as a measure of ANS balance and, in a sample of college students, found that sympathetic predominance was weakly associated with high neuroticism and psychoticism scores, but only for males, supporting Eysenck‘s theory and not Lester‘s theory. Lester (1983), however, found that somatotonia, a personality dimension measuring aggressive extraversion associated with mesomorphy in Sheldon‘s (1942) theory of personality, was associated with sympathetic predominance, consistent with Lester‘s theory. Lester and Berry (1998) found that introversion scores were associated with parasympathetic predominance, as predicted by Lester‘s theory. Stern, et al. (1980) argued that pupil dilation is sympathetically governed while pupil constriction is parasympathetically governed, and Holmes (1967) suggested that pupil constriction and dilation might be a useful measure of ANS balance. He reported that students, whose pupils constricted slowly to light and more quickly to dark, were more extraverted, but no more neurotic, than fast constrictors. Lester and Kimmel (1989) found that extraverts dilated faster in the dark.1 Other correlates of ANS balance have been reported. For example, Grigoryan, et al. (2005) found that people with low nonverbal intelligence scores were mostly sympathicotonics while those with high scores were mostly vagotonics.
CONCLUSION It can be seen that the results of the research on ANS balance and extraversion are not altogether consistent. However, some of the results do support the hypothesis that introverts are P-types while extraverts are S-types, and it might be fruitful to pursue this hypothesis with better designed studies and more methodologically sound measures of ANS balance.
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The results in the table in Lester and Kimmel‘s report seem to contradict the description of the results in the text.
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Callaway, E. (1959). The influence of amobarbital (amylbarbitone) and methamphetamine on the focus of attention. Journal of Mental Science, 105, 382-392. Eppinger, H., and Hess, L. (1917). Vagotonia. New York: Nervous and Mental Disease Publishing Company. Eysenck, H. J. (1967). The biological basis of personality. Springfield, IL: Charles Thomas. Grigoryan, V. G., Stepanyan, Y., Agababyan, A. R., Arakelyan, A. N., and Arutyunyan, A. N. (2005). Effect of the execution of a maze task on regulatory mechanisms of the autonomic nervous system in subjects with different levels of nonverbal intelligence. Human Physiology, 31(3), 50-54. Grijalva, C. V., and Lindholm, E. (1982). The role of the autonomic nervous system in hypothalamic feeding syndromes. Appetite, 3, 111-124. Hein, P., Cohen, S., and Shmavonian, B. M. (1965). Perceptual mode and Pavlovian typology. In J. Wortis (Ed.) Recent advances in biological psychiatry, Volume 7, pp. 7178. New York: Plenum. Holmes, D. (1967). Pupillary response, conditioning and personality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 5, 98-103. Lechin, F., van der Dus, B., and Lechin, A. E. (2004). Autonomic nervous system assessment throughout the wake-sleep cycle and stress. Psychosomatic Medicine, 66, 974-976. Lester, D. (1974). A physiological basis for personality traits. Springfield, IL: Charles Thomas. Lester, D. (1981). Neuroticism, psychoticism, and autonomic nervous system balance. Biological Psychiatry, 16, 683-685. Lester, D. (1983). Constructing a questionnaire measure of autonomic nervous system balance. Research Communications in Psychology, Psychiatry and Behavior, 8, 353-356. Lester, D., and Berry, D. (1998). Autonomic nervous system balance and introversion. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 87, 882. Lester, D., and Kimmel, H. (1989). Autonomic nervous system balance. Personality and Individual Differences, 10, 373-374. Petrie, A. (1967). Individuality in pain and suffering. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Plutchik, R., and Conte, H. (1974). Sex differences in reported psychophysiological reactivity. Psychological Reports, 35, 1221-1222. Sheldon, W. H. (1942). The varieties of temperament. New York: Harper. Shields, S. A. (1983). Development of autonomic nervous system responsivity in children. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 6, 291-319. Stern, R. M., Ray, W., and Davis, C. (1980). Psychophysiological recording. New York: Oxford University Press. van Toller, C. (1979). The nervous body. New York: Wiley. Wenger, M. A. (1966). Studies of autonomic balance. Psychophysiology, 2, 173-186. Witkin, H. (1965). Psychological differentiation and forms of pathology. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 70, 317-336.
Advances in Psychology Research. Volume 78 Ed: Alexandra M. Columbus
ISBN: 978-1-61209-442-7 © 2011 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
Chapter 14
EXTRAVERSION AND INTERVIEWING FOR EMPLOYMENT Joshua Fogel1 and Mayer Schneider2 1 2
Department of Economics, Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY, USA Department of Psychology, Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY, USA
ABSTRACT The personality trait of extraversion is often used as a factor for understanding and predicting successful job applicants. This article reviews the empirical research from scholarly journals on what is known about extraversion and job interviews. The search terms of ―(extraversion) AND (employment or job) AND (interview)‖ were searched in the databases of Medline, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Business Source Premier from the year of 1998 to 2008. The article reviews 21 articles. Almost all of the reviewed articles indicate that extraversion is associated with positive outcomes for employment interviews, promotion interviews, and also better job performance. Individuals that evaluate applicants for new jobs or consider current employees for promotion should assess extraversion as part of this initial hiring or promotion process.
Keywords: extraversion, employment, interviewing, big five.
INTRODUCTION The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics offers a number of job interview tips in their popular guide titled, ―Occupational Outlook Handbook.‖ These tips are grouped into 4 areas of preparation (e.g. research beforehand about the organization), personal appearance (e.g.,
Correspondence: Joshua Fogel, Ph.D. Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, Department of Economics, 218A 2900 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11210, USA. Phone: (718) 951-3857. Fax: (718) 9514867. e-mail:
[email protected]
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dress in an appropriate manner), the interview (e.g., show enthusiasm), and information to bring to an interview (e.g., bring a resume) (U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2007). One area not mentioned is about being aware of how one‘s personality comes across during an interview. Some employers formally assess prospective employees with personality tests. One popular test often used to screen employees for retail jobs is the Unicru test. This is a multiple-choice test that includes 5 response choices ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree (Wikipedia, 2009). Occupational personality scales used for personnel selection can be grouped into categories of integrity tests, violence scales, stress tolerance scales, and customer service scales (Ones and Viswesvaran, 2001). Integrity tests are used to assess dependability, integrity, and honesty. Some common tests include the London House Personnel Selection Inventory, the PDI Employment Inventory, and the Hogan Personality Inventory. Violence scales are used to assess the potential for violent behaviors at a job. Some common scales include those included as part of the integrity tests of the Inwald Personality Inventory and London House Personnel Selection Inventory. Stress tolerance scales assess the potential to handle pressure at work. Some common scales include the Hogan Personality Inventory Stress Tolerance Scale, the Employee Attitude Inventory Job Burnout Scale, the PEOPLE Survey Wellness Scale, and the PEAK Procedure Stress Scale. Customer service scales are used to assess the potential for serving customers well. Some common scales include the PDI Customer Service Inventory, the Hogan Personality Inventory Service Orientation Scale, and the London House Customer Relations Scale (Ones and Viswesvaran, 2001). Besides formal personality tests, interviews are often used to assess a number of characteristics. A number of studies and reviews indicate that interviews are a valid approach that is associated with understanding employee performance at a job (Huffcutt, Conway, Roth, and Stone, 2001). One meta-analysis categorized 7 major constructs assessed in an employment interview. Of these constructs, personality was the most popular dimension rated in an interview at 35%. Applied social skills were rated next at 28%. The other major constructs ranged from 16% for mental capacity to as low as 3% for organizational fit (Huffcutt et al., 2001). In a meta-analysis published in 2002 (Posthuma, Morgeson, and Campion, 2002), the authors report increased interest in research about personality and interviewing since an earlier review published in 1989 which only reviewed 2 studies (Harris, 1989). In their review (Posthuma et al., 2002), they retrieved 26 published studies about personality and interviewing done since 1989. In this article, we comprehensively review the specific personality construct of extraversion. We conduct this review on all the data-based articles published in peer reviewed journals on the topic of extraversion and interviewing for a job over a 10-year time span from 1998 to 2008.
METHOD Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria All inclusion and exclusion criteria were determined a-priori before searching in the relevant databases. Studies were included if they were either qualitative or quantitative
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articles with empirical data about the association of extraversion with interviewing for 1) a new job, or 2) seeking a transfer or promotion in the same company. Studies were excluded if they were 1) from non-peer reviewed journals, 2) theoretical articles, 3) contained anecdotal information, and 4) were not written in English.
Search Strategy On January 13, 2009, a number of databases were searched for all the relevant studies from the year of 1998 to that date. The search strategy consisted of the three sets of terms: (extraversion) AND (employment or job) AND (interview). Both the subject headings and text words in the titles and abstracts were searched for these terms. Databases searched used the Ebsco interface and included Medline, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Business Source Premier. Also, a search was done by reading the relevant retrieved articles to ascertain if there were any other relevant articles of interest.
RESULTS The search retrieved 3 hits with Medline, 17 hits with PsycINFO, 0 hits with CINAHL, and 11 hits with Business Source Premier. These hits were not all unique, as there was overlap in the articles retrieved from these databases. Overall 17 different articles were deemed relevant and were included in the review. Also, 4 additional articles (Ones and Viswesvaran, 1999; Barrick, Mount, and Strauss, 2000; Spector, Schneider, Vance, and Hezlett, 2000; Brown, Barrick, and Franke, 2002) were found from reading the retrieved relevant articles. In total, 21 different articles were included in the review. The Table summarizes some details about the 21 reviewed articles. The articles were published from the years of 1998 to 2008. All of the 21 articles contained quantitative research and three of the articles (Sumer, Sumer, Demirutku, and Cifci, 2001; Van Dam, 2003; Moy, 2006) also contained qualitative research. Almost half were studies of young adults with samples from college students (n = 8) and high school graduating seniors (n = 1). Extraversion measures used varied greatly, with some studies using multiple measures of extraversion. Most of the samples were from the United States (n = 14) with the rest from Europe and Asia (n = 7). Almost all the articles used a cross-sectional study design and only three articles (Burger and Caldwell, 1998; Caldwell and Burger, 2000; Tay, Ange, and Dyne, 2006) used a longitudinal study design. Below are brief summaries about all the included and reviewed articles. They are grouped into 7 categories by choice of extraversion measure used. These categories include: Goldberg‘s Five-Factor Model, Abridged Big Five Factor Circumplex Model, Personal Characteristics Inventory, NEO-Personality Inventory / NEO- Five Factor Inventory, Eysenck Personality Inventory, International Personality Item Pool, and self-created measures.
Table 1. Characteristics of Extraversion Studies Reviewed Study Reference
Study Type
Sample
Extraversion Measure
Location
Study Design
Barrick et al., 2000
Quantitative
73 college undergraduates
Quantitative
73 college undergraduates
Burger and Caldwell, 2000 Caldwell and Burger, 1998 Cook et al., 2000
Quantitative
134 college graduating seniors
Midwestern U.S. Midwestern U.S. U.S.
Cross-sectional
Brown et al., 2002
Quantitative
134 college graduating seniors
U.S.
Longitudinal
Quantitative
136 college undergraduates
Five-Factor Model (Goldberg) Five-Factor Model (Goldberg) NEO-FFI (Costa and McCrae) NEO-FFI (Costa and McCrae) EPI
Cross-sectional
DeGroot and Kluemper, 2007 Furnham and Miller, 2008 Huffcutt et al., 2001 Lazar et al., 2004 Lievens et al., 2005 Morgeson et al., 2005
Quantitative
154 store associates
Quantitative
425 job applicants for call center
U.K.
Cross-sectional
Quantitative Quantitative Quantitative Quantitative
93 district managers 445 high school seniors 163 store supervisors 90 steel mill employees
Five-Factor Model (Goldberg) NEO-FFI (Costa and McCrae) Self-created EPI Self-created PCI
South Florida (U.S.) U.S.
Cross-sectional Cross-sectional Cross-sectional Cross-sectional
Moy, 2006
Quantitative, Qualitative Quantitative
300 interviewers, 85 interviewers
Self-created
U.S. Israel Belgium Midwestern U.S. Hong Kong
96 managers 76 police officers
Southwestern U.S. U.S.
Cross-sectional
Quantitative
Five-Factor Model (Goldberg) EPI
Ones and Viswesvaran, 1999 Osborn et al., 1998
Cross-sectional Longitudinal
Cross-sectional
Cross-sectional
Cross-sectional
Table 1. (Continued) Study Reference
Study Type
Sample
Extraversion Measure
Location
Study Design
Spector et al., 2000
Quantitative
429 managers, non-management
U.S.
Cross-sectional
Stewart et al., 2008
Quantitative
98 college undergraduates
NEO-PI (Costa and McCrae) PCI
Cross-sectional
Sumer et al., 2001
Quantitative, Qualitative Quantitative Quantitative, Qualitative Quantitative
447 military officers, 62 military officers 229 college graduating seniors 720 job applicants
Self-created
Midwestern U.S. Turkey
PCI AB5C
Singapore Netherlands
Longitudinal Cross-sectional
59 college undergraduates
IPIP
U.S.
Cross-sectional
Quantitative
130 sales/customer service applicants, 195 customer service representatives, 144 clerical employees, 122 office workers
Hogan Personality Inventory, OPQ, PCI, IPIP, AB5C
U.S.
Cross-sectional
Tay et al., 2006 Van Dam, 2003 Weiss and Feldman, 2006 Witt, 2002
Cross-sectional
Note: AB5C = Abridged Big Five Factor Circumplex Model, EPI = Eysenck Personality Inventory, IPIP = International Personality Item Pool, NEO-FFI = Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Five-Factor Inventory, NEO-PI = Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory, OPQ = Occupational Personality Questionnaire, PCI = Personal Characteristics Inventory, U.S. = United States
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Goldberg’s Five-Factor Model Ones and Viswesvaran (1999) conducted a study of 96 managers that had selected or managed individuals to be sent as expatriates to work away from their native country. No information was provided about the gender of the managers. The study used a policy capturing design which focused on what the managers believed was actually important as opposed to what they rated as important. In this design, indirect questions are used to determine what is actually important. The study used a five-factor approach of personality to measure the personality traits that the managers may look for when interviewing and deciding upon appropriate candidates. These five factors were emotional stability, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. They measured extraversion using the descriptors from Goldberg (1992) consisting of questions on introverted versus extroverted, shy versus assertive, and quiet versus talkative. Four outcomes relevant to these expatriates performing well overseas were analyzed. The independent variables were each of the five factors of personality. For the outcomes of assessing the chances of completing the overseas assignment, establishing good relationships with the locals, and chances of performing the job well, extraversion was rated the least important trait of these five factors of personality. For adjusting to the overseas location, extraversion was the next to least important trait with the least important trait being openness to experience. Barrick et al. (2000) conducted a study using 73 college undergraduate business majors. In the study, participants went for a mock interview and were then rated on their personality by a friend, interviewer, stranger, and their own self-rating. The majority of the sample were women (68%) and the majority of the friends were women (76%). The interviewers (n=26) were approximately half men (54%) and each interviewed up to three students. The stranger assessments were from the above interviewers but for those whom they did not previously know. Many of the interviewers performed more than one interview. As practice with interviewing could change one‘s opinion about another‘s personality, the interviews were classified into early and later interviews. The first interview was classified as an early interview. The second or later interviews were classified as later interviews. A five-factor model of personality was used as the measure of personality traits. These factors were emotional stability, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Extraversion was measured using a shortened version of the adjective checklist of Goldberg (1992) and focused on the characteristics of being sociable, active, and energetic. With regard to assessing extraversion, for both early and later interviews, there were moderate positive correlations for interviewer and friend ratings, and also small positive correlations for interviewer and stranger ratings. However, for interviewer and self ratings, early interviews had a small positive correlation while later interviews had a moderate positive correlation. This may have occurred due to the interviewers obtaining more practice by changing interview style since they completed a post-interview personality questionnaire after completing each interview. A similar correlation pattern was seen for friend, stranger, and self ratings with regard to low structure interviews and high structure interviews where low structure interviews had similar correlation values as early interviewers and high structure interviews had similar correlation values as later interviewers. With regard to jobrelated versus non job-specific interviews, friend ratings had moderate positive correlations
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for both types of interviews, stranger had small positive correlation for job-related interviews and weak positive correlation for non job-specific interviews, and self had moderate positive correlation for job-related interviews and small positive correlation for non job-specific interviews. With regard to types of interview categorized as situational, behavioral, or both situational/behavioral, friend had moderate positive correlations except for situational/behavioral where there was a small positive correlation, stranger had small positive correlations for all types, and self had moderate positive correlations for all types. In a multivariate hierarchical linear regression analysis, self-ratings for extraversion were significantly related to evaluations of the suitability of an applicant for the job while interviewer, friend, and stranger ratings were not. Brown et al. (2002) conducted a study of 73 college undergraduate business students comprised of 68% women using the same sample and design as Barrick et al. (2000). The study examined techniques used by applicants for ―impression management‖ (i.e., trying to make a positive impression during an interview). It examined self-promotion (mentioning positive accomplishments), other-focused (discussing common interests with interviewer, non-job topics), and non-verbal (smiling, eye-contact) impression tactics. In correlational analyses, extraversion was significantly associated with interviewee selfpromotion, interviewer perceived similarity, and interviewer perception of person-job fit during the interviews. Extraversion was not significantly associated with interviewee otherfocused impression tactics and interviewee non-verbal impression tactics. In a multivariate path analysis, interviewee extraversion was associated with interviewee self-promotion which was then associated with interviewer person-job fit. DeGroot and Kluemper (2007) conducted a study of 154 store associates of a retail chain comprised of 9% men and 91% women. Extraversion was measured based on unipolar markers developed by Goldberg (1992) for the five-factor approach to personality. Participants were asked to rate themselves on extraversion for two scenarios, how they were outside of work and how they were at work. The study also measured job performance from supervisors, interviewee ratings, and vocal attractiveness from a combination of five vocal characteristics. A situational interview of questions that pertain to the job being interviewed for was developed by 49 employees of different stores in the retail chain. Outside-work extraversion and at-work extraversion were positively correlated with each other and also with interviewer rating. However, only at-work extraversion was positively correlated with performance ratings and vocal attractiveness. In a multivariate regression analysis, at-work extraversion was also significantly associated with job performance.
Abridged Big Five Factor Circumplex Model Witt (2002) conducted a study on four samples. Sample 1 consisted of 130 applicants for a sales and customer service position in a financial services company and was comprised of 51% men and 49% women. Sample 2 consisted of 195 customer service representatives in a health maintenance organization and was comprised of 24% men and 76% women. Sample 3 consisted of 144 clerical employees from a distribution services firm and was comprised of 20% men and 80% women. Sample 4 consisted of 122 volunteer office workers in 15 organizations and was comprised of 20% men and 80% women. The samples each used a
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different measure of extraversion. The sociability scale of the Hogan Personality Inventory (Hogan and Hogan, 1992) was used as a proxy measure for extraversion in sample 1. The Occupational Personality Questionnaire (Saville, Holdsworth, Nyfield, Cramp and Mabey, 1984) was used for sample 2 with the scales of outgoing, affiliative, and emotional control used to measure extraversion. The extraversion scale of the Personality Characteristics Inventory (Mount and Barrick, 1995) was used for sample 3. The scale of extraversion measured by the five-factor markers in the International Personality Item Pool (Goldberg, 1999) was used for sample 4. The study design was based on the Abridged Big Five Circumplex Model (AB5C; Hofstee, de Raad and Goldberg, 1992). In the AB5C model, a trait is comprised of its loading on any two of the five factors from the five-factor approach of personality. Outcomes were interview performance in sample 1 and job performance in samples 2, 3, and 4. Extraversion was found to be positively correlated with interview performance in sample 1 but not with job performance in samples 2, 3, and 4. In the multivariate regression analyses, the interaction of extraversion and conscientiousness was associated with being hired in sample 1 and with better job performance in samples 2, 3, and 4. In sample 1, those high on extraversion and conscientiousness had a higher probability of being selected and received higher performance ratings than either those high on extraversion and low on conscientiousness, or those high on extraversion and average on conscientiousness. In samples 2, 3, and 4, performance ratings were higher for highconscientiousness extraverts than low-conscientiousness extraverts. Also, extraversion was negatively associated with job performance among those with low conscientiousness. Van Dam (2003) conducted a study of 720 job applicants comprised of 50% men and 50% women. The participants were divided into three levels of jobs (i.e., sales, banking, and management) with 240 applicants in each level comprised of 50% men and 50% women. The interview was designed to have low structure and interviewers wrote descriptions of job applicants on handwritten notes during and after the interview. The study was qualitative in this aspect and applied the different adjectives that the interviewers had written down to the Abridged Big Five Factor Circumplex Model (AB5C; Hofstee, de Raad, and Goldberg, 1992). Adjectives were assigned based on previous research assigning various adjectives to particular traits. Those adjectives not previously studied were classified and assigned by experienced raters. The traits were then made into a personality profile for the job applicants and were used as the measure of their personality. From the 15 most popular adjectives used by interviewers, four adjectives of friendly, kind, go-ahead, and initiating were categorized as indicative of extraversion while serious was indicative of low extraversion. Extraversion was the second most frequently referred to trait by interviewers with extraversion noted 22.4% of the time. Only agreeableness was higher at 24.5%. In addition, 7 of the 8 interviewers did not have any correlation between their employment recommendation and the trait of extraversion seen for the interviewee.
Personal Characteristics Inventory Witt (2002) conducted a study using the Personal Characteristics Inventory (PCI; Mount and Barrick, 1995) to measure extraversion. This study was discussed above in the section of the Abridged Big Five Factor Circumplex Model.
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Morgeson, Reider, and Campion (2005) conducted a study of 90 employees of a steel corporation mill comprised of 94% men and 6% women. Extraversion was measured with the PCI (Mount, Barrick, Laffitte, and Callans, 1999). The purpose of the study was to examine if a structured interview could evaluate an individual for a job involving teamwork. Contextual performance (interpersonal relationships, job dedication, individual initiative) of employees as well as task performance (efficiency, planning and organizing, using equipment) of employees were both measured through ratings by department managers. Teamwork knowledge and social skills were also measured. Extraversion was positively correlated with contextual performance and not correlated with social skills, task performance, or teamwork knowledge. Also, the three aspects of personality (sociability, need for recognition, leadership orientation) that comprised extraversion on the PCI were also examined. All had positive correlations to the overall extraversion score and also to contextual performance. Tay et al. (2006) conducted a study of 229 graduating accounting seniors from a Singapore university and was comprised of 26% men and 74% women. The study was longitudinal with the first questionnaire distributed to those asked to interview at a CPA firm and the second questionnaire five months later after the interviews and job offers. Extraversion was measured with the PCI (Barrick, Mount, and Strauss, 1993). Interview success was measured by the number of job offers received. The study also measured interviewing self-efficacy (personal judgment of interviewing capabilities) and locus of causality. Extraversion was positively correlated with men, interview success, initial interviewing self-efficacy measured from the first questionnaire, and subsequent interviewing self-efficacy as measured from the follow-up questionnaire. However, extraversion was not correlated with academic achievement and leadership experience. In the multivariate regression analyses, extraversion was associated with interview success and initial interviewing self-efficacy. However, when initial interviewing self-efficacy was included in the model with the outcome of interview success, extraversion was no longer significantly associated with interview success. Stewart, Dustin, Barrick, and Darnold (2008) conducted a study of 98 college undergraduates comprised of 49% men and 51% women. Extraversion was measured with the PCI (Mount, Barrick, and Wonderlic Consulting 2002). Participants were also measured on their handshakes by five raters, their appearance by four raters, and whether the interviewer assessed them as suitable for the job. Extraversion was positively correlated with interviewer assessment, overall handshake score, and strength and vigor of the handshake. However, extraversion was not correlated with professional dress, physical attractiveness, eye contact, or duration and grip of the handshake. In a path analysis, extraversion had a direct positive association with handshake rating and interviewer assessment of job suitability.
NEO-Personality Inventory / NEO-Five-Factor Inventory Spector et al. (2000) conducted a study of 429 employees in an assessment center that were 92% executives/managers and 8% non-management. The sample was 74% men, 21% women, and 5% unknown gender. The California Personality Inventory was used to classify participants into four of the five factors from the NEO-PI (Costa and McRae, 1985). These four factors were extraversion, emotional stability, openness to experience, and
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conscientiousness. Extraversion was measured with items from the California Personality Inventory scales of dominance, sociability, social presence, self-acceptance, and empathy. With regard to extraversion, it was significantly associated with scores for manager role play and a measure of interpersonal and problem solving attributes. Caldwell and Burger (1998) conducted a longitudinal study of 134 graduating college seniors with a 74% response rate for the follow-up questionnaire. No information was provided about the gender of the students. The study used the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI; Costa and McCrae, 1989) to measure personality traits. The five factors used in this model were neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. The study also included questions on social preparation for an interview grouped into categories of participants seeking information about the company from friends, family, or someone in the company, or seeking information about the job from someone with a similar job before going on the interview. Interviewing success was measured with two outcomes of follow-up interviews and job offers. Follow-up interviews were measured by the number of follow-up interviews received divided by the number of initial screening interviews. Job offers were measured by the number of job offers received divided by the number of initial interviews. Extraversion was positively correlated with using social preparation for an interview. Extraversion was also positively correlated with follow-up interviews and more job offers. The overall best predictor from the five personality traits for more job offers was extraversion. Burger and Caldwell (2000) conducted a longitudinal study of 134 graduating college seniors with a 74% response rate for the follow-up questionnaire using the same sample and design as Caldwell and Burger (1998). Extraversion was measured by the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI; Costa and McCrae, 1989). The study also measured ways of searching for a job. Social search strategies was defined as searching for a job by asking friends, family, faculty members or talking to previous employers. Nonsocial search strategies was defined as searching for a job by reading newspaper ads, using employment agencies, and calling companies. Extraversion had a positive correlation with social search strategies and interviewing success and a negative correlation with nonsocial search strategies. However, in a regression analysis with the outcome of interviewing success, adjusting for positive affect (individuals active, content, and satisfied with their lives) was significant while extraversion was not. Furnham and Miller (2008) conducted a study of 425 applicants for an advertisement of a job in a call center for selling insurance. The sample consisted of 36% men and 64% women. The interview was conducted over the phone, as the job required phone skills. Applicants were rated on articulation, friendliness, and energy. Applicants were then invited for a faceto-face interview and were administered the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI; Costa and McCrae, 1992) to measure their personality characteristics (including extraversion) and also a customer service aptitude test. Extraversion was positively correlated with women, friendliness, energy, and the total score for articulation, friendliness, and energy but not articulation by itself. Also, extraversion was positively correlated with the customer service aptitude test.
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Eysenck Personality Inventory Osborn, Field, and Veres (1998) conducted a study of 76 police officers being interviewed for promotion. The sample was 97% men with 71.6% men who were white and 28.4% of the men who were black. The 3% women (n=2) were white. The Eysenck Personality Inventory Form A (Eysenck and Eysenck, 1968) was used to measure extraversion-introversion. The study also incorporated a self-monitoring scale to measure between high and low self-monitors concerning how much they try to change their behavior to match the social cues around them. The study found that high self-monitors had greater extraversion than low self-monitors. There was also an interaction between self-monitoring and extraversion. Participants that were extraverted and high on self-monitoring were assessed as performing better on interviews than those that were introverted and high on selfmonitoring. In addition, those that were extraverted and low on self-monitoring were assessed as performing worse on interviews than those that were introverted and low on selfmonitoring. Cook, Vance, and Spector (2000) conducted a study of 136 college undergraduate students comprised of 43% men and 57% women. The Eysenck Personality Inventory (Eysenck and Eysenck, 1963) was used to measure extraversion and neuroticism. The study also measured if individuals were high on Type A/achievement striving (hard-driving, competitive, success motivated), trait anxiety, and internal/external locus of control. Participants received a structured interview simulating an interview for the position of an assistant manager at a drug store. Extraversion was positively correlated with interviewee performance, with individuals higher on the extraversion scale being rated as performing better by the interviewers. Extraversion was also positively correlated with being high on Type A/achievement, self-esteem, internal locus of control, and self-monitoring while being negatively correlated with trait anxiety. Lazar, Kravetz, and Zinger (2004) conducted a study of 445 applicants for combat field instructor in the Israeli Defense Forces with a sample comprised of female high school seniors. There were 93 raters who were combat field instructors and predominately female. Each applicant was typically rated by six raters. Rater extraversion was measured using the Eysenck Personality Inventory Form A (Eysenck and Eysenck, 1968). The study also measured applicant self-monitoring and social anxiety. With regard to applicant selfmonitoring, interviewers who were high on extraversion had a positive correlation for applicant increased self-monitoring and interviewer rating of applicant suitability. However, interviewers who were low on extraversion had a negative correlation for increased applicant self-monitoring and interviewer rating of applicant suitability. With regard to applicant social anxiety, interviewers who were high on extraversion had varied correlations for applicant increased social anxiety and interviewer rating of applicant suitability, with some positive and some negative. Interviewers who were low on extraversion had a negative correlation for increased applicant social anxiety and interviewer rating of applicant suitability.
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International Personality Item Pool Witt (2002) conducted a study using the International Personality Item Pool (Goldberg, 1999) to measure extraversion. This study is discussed above in the section for the Abridged Big Five Factor Circumplex Model. Weiss and Feldman (2006) conducted a study of 59 college undergraduates comprised of 17% men and 83% women. Participants were assigned to one of two conditions in which they were told that the job required either technical skills or interpersonal skills. Participants were deceived into believing that this was a real job interview and that it was separate from the previous experiment. After participants were debriefed, they were asked to indicate what lies they had told during the interview. The lies were coded into three impression-management tactics: self-promotion (tries to show that one possesses qualities that the interviewer seeks), enhancements (convinces interviewer to believe that one has positive traits), and entitlements (takes credit for positive work). Extraversion was measured with the International Personality Item Pool (International Personality Item Pool, 2001). Also, a self-monitoring scale was included. Extraversion was positively correlated with the number of lies told during the interview. For the impression-management tactics, extraversion was positively correlated with self-promotion but not enhancement. In addition, extraversion was positively correlated with self-monitoring.
Self-Created Measures Sumer et al. (2001) conducted two studies to identify attributes to select officers. The first study was conducted on 62 officers from the army (n=15), navy (n=15), gendarme (n=15), and the air force (n=17) comprised of 84% men and 16% women. The study was qualitative and participants answered 16 open-ended questions about job analytic information. Content analysis was used to compile a list of the 72 attributes mentioned most frequently as important for the job as an officer. The top 20 attributes included interpersonal relationships, which are related to extraversion. The second study was comprised of 447 officers with 91% men and 9% women. Participants were asked to rate 83 attributes (72 of which were from the previous study) that would be relevant to the job of an officer. Exploratory factor analysis found five factors of conscientiousness-self-discipline, military factor, self-confidence, agreeableness-extraversion, and leadership. The factor representing agreeablenessextraversion consisted of items including interpersonal relationships, sociability, assertiveness, empathy, agreeableness, and feedback seeking. The factor accounting for most of the variance at 37.33% was conscientiousness-self-discipline, while agreeablenessextraversion was the second to lowest at 2.86% of the variance. A confirmatory factor analysis also suggested support for this obtained factor structure. Huffcutt, Weekley, Wiesner, Degroot, and Jones (2001) conducted a study of 93 district managers of a national merchandise chain comprised of 97% men and 3% women. A consulting firm developed a measure of personality based on the five-factor approach to personality. The personalities measured were extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness to experience, and emotional stability/neuroticism. No reference to the definition of extraversion used was given. The study also used two interview formats, a situational
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interview and a behavior description interview. Situational interviews give hypothetical situations that may occur on the job for applicants to respond to, while behavior description interviews have applicants relate past experiences that are relevant to the job. The interviews had 10 questions measuring three general areas of management skills including action, general leadership, and interpersonal relations that were added together for a total score. Participants were also rated on their job performance by their regional manager. Extraversion was positively correlated with behavior description interviews scores. However, there was no correlation between extraversion and either situational interviews scores or job performance ratings. Lievens, Highhouse, and De Corte (2005) conducted a study of 163 retail store supervisors comprised of 31% men and 69% women. Performance profiles for hypothetical job applicants were constructed for the supervisors to evaluate. The personal characteristics in the profiles were based on the five-factor approach to personality and included an evaluation of extraversion for the applicant and a general mental ability score. No formal personality measure was specified as being used as the theoretical framework for creating these personality profiles for the hypothetical job applicants. The study tested three conditions. In the first condition, there was a control condition where no information was provided to participants on how the profiles were obtained. In the second condition, participants were told that the five personality factors were obtained from an unstructured interview while general mental ability was obtained by a paper and pencil test. In the third condition, participants were told that the five personality factors were obtained by a paper and pencil test and that general mental ability was obtained from an unstructured interview. The results were that for the first condition, extraversion was ranked after agreeableness, conscientiousness, and general mental ability. For the second and third conditions, only extraversion and general mental ability were significantly associated with the decision to hire the applicant. In the second condition, extraversion was more strongly associated with the decision to hire the applicant than general mental ability. In the third condition, the reverse occurred where general mental ability was more strongly associated with the decision to hire the applicant than extraversion. This demonstrates that supervisors gave more importance to extraversion when told that it was obtained from an unstructured interview as opposed to a paper and pencil test. Moy (2006) conducted a study in two phases in Hong Kong. The first phase had 85 interviewers from companies that placed job advertisements identify qualities that they felt were important for college graduates to have in an employment setting. These qualities were classified into 160 adjectives which were then condensed into attributes that included five which were ideal for the applicants to have (i.e., ideal five), and five which were observable and used to assess applicants during an interview (i.e., observable five). Attributes referring to extraversion were included in the observable five. Profiles of applicants were then computer generated with scores on how they ranked for the ideal five and observable five. The second phase of the study had 300 individuals who were responsible for interviewing applicants selfrate how desirable applicants were based on their profiles. No information was provided about the gender for the samples in either phase one or phase two. For the ideal five, conscientiousness was rated as most important. For the observable five, extraversion was rated as most important. However, when divided by eight industries, this pattern existed only for the five industries of wholesale/retail/important/export/hotel/catering sector, manufacturing, community/social/personal services, finance/insurance/real estate, and
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construction. For the three industries of business services, IT/high technology, and transport/communications, extraversion was second in importance after speaking English. Also, conjoint analysis was used to rate the observable five. Extraversion was rated as second in importance after speaking English. Also, for the observable five, extraversion accounted for 30.69% of the attributes that comprise a successful applicant.
CONCLUSION With regard to studies that measured extraversion using Goldberg‘s Five-Factor Model, three of the four studies found relationships between extraversion and job-related topics. Extraversion was found to be related to job suitability (Barrick, Patton, and Haugland, 2000), the interviewer‘s perception of the person-job fit (Brown, Barrick, and Franke, 2002), and with performance ratings at work (DeGroot and Kluemper, 2007). It is possible that the study by Ones and Viswesvaran (1999) did not find an association with extraversion because of the job position they were researching. That study examined what managers look for in applicants for positions as expatriates. As these jobs involve adapting to other cultures and dealing across cultural boundaries, extraversion may not be as important for receiving a job as other personality characteristics such as openness to experience or conscientiousness. In addition, it is possible that an individual that is extraverted in his/her own culture may not be so when faced with the culture shock of living among another culture. If so, extraversion would not be viewed as an attribute that could help an applicant in a position as an expatriate. With regard to studies that measured extraversion using the Abridged Big Five Factor Circumplex Model, extraversion had mixed results relating to interview performance. One study showed an association with interview performance (Witt, 2002) while in the other study (Van Dam, 2003), although extraversion was the most referred to trait preferred by interviewers, the interviewer‘s employment recommendations were not associated with interviewee extraversion (Van Dam, 2003). Extraversion as measured by the Abridged Big Five Factor Circumplex Model may need further research. With regard to studies that measured extraversion using the Personal Characteristics Interview, all four studies found aspects of extraversion to be related to job performance or interview success. However, for one study (Witt, 2002), only high-conscientiousness extraverts and not low-conscientiousness extraverts had a relationship to performance ratings. It is possible that this mixed finding for extraversion by Witt (2002) is because the sample consisted of clerical employees where extraversion may not play a significant role in job performance. Clerical work may rely less on skills associated with extraversion and more on conscientiousness or being productive. With regard to studies that measured extraversion using the NEO approach, three of four studies showed relationships for extraversion. One study in unadjusted analyses (Burger and Caldwell, 2000) showed relationships for extraversion. However, the multivariate analysis showed that positive affect and not extraversion was the key factor associated with interviewing success. Regardless of which extraversion measure used, it may be useful for further research to compare both extraversion and positive affect to determine whether one or the other or some combination of both is associated with successful interviewing skills. With regard to studies that measured extraversion using the Eysenck Personality Inventory, extraversion was related to job or interview performance. This pattern of the
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importance of extraversion with regard to interviewing performance was also noted among adolescents too (Lazar et al., 2004). With regard to studies that measured extraversion using the International Personality Item Pool, extraversion was related to interview performance and as explained above for the study by Witt (2002) that high-conscientiousness extraverts and not low-conscientiousness extraverts had a relationship to job performance ratings. With regard to studies that measured extraversion using self-created approaches, there were mixed results. One study showed only minimal importance for extraversion (Sumer et al., 2001). However, the study findings are limited as there was a combined agreeablenessextraversion measure and not a pure extraversion measure. The other three studies show some positive and some negative associations for extraversion. These studies are all limited in that their measures of extraversion were self-created and not reliable and valid measures of extraversion. In summary, this chapter reviews the role of extraversion for interviews and job performance. The overall findings from the reviewed articles indicate that extraversion is associated with successful outcomes during interviews and better job performance. Those evaluating applicants for new jobs or for promotion should assess for extraversion as part of this hiring and promotion process.
REFERENCES Barrick, M.R., Mount, M.K., and Strauss, J.P. (1993). Conscientiousness and performance of sales representatives: Test of the mediating effects of goal setting. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 715-722. Barrick, M. R., Patton, G. K., and Haugland, S. N. (2000). Accuracy of interviewer judgments of job applicant personality traits. Personnel Psychology, 53, 925-951. Brown, A. K., Barrick, M. R., and Franke, M. (2002). Applicant impression management: Dispositional influences and consequences for recruiter perceptions of fit and similarity. Journal of Management, 28(1), 27-46. Burger, J. M., and Caldwell, D. F. (2000). Personality, social activities, job-search behavior and interview success: Distinguishing between PANAS trait positive effect and NEO extraversion. Motivation and Emotion, 24(1), 51-62. Caldwell, D. F., and Burger, J. M. (1998). Personality characteristics of job applicants and success in screening interviews. Personnel Psychology, 51, 119-136. Cook, K. W., Vance, C. A., and Spector, P. E. (2000). The relation of candidate personality with selection-interview outcomes. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 30(4), 867885. Costa, P. T. Jr., and McCrae, R. R. (1985). The NEO Personality Inventory Manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources. Costa, P. T. Jr., and McCrae, R. R. (1989). The NEO PI/FFI Manual Supplement. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources. Costa, P. T. Jr., and McCrae, R. R. (1992). The NEO-FFI Professional Manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
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DeGroot, T., and Kluemper, D. (2007). Evidence of predictive and incremental validity of personality factors, vocal attractiveness and the situational interview. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 15(1), 30-39. Eysenck, H. J., and Eysenck, S. B. G. (1963). Eysenck Personality Inventory: Form A. San Diego, CA: Educational and Industrial Testing Service. Eysenck, H. J., and Eysenck, S. B. G. (1968). Manual for the Eysenck Personality Inventory. San Diego, CA: Educational and Industrial Testing Service. Furnham, A., and Miller, T. (2008). Personality, attention to detail and telephone manner. Social Behavior and Personality, 36(2), 177-182. Goldberg, L. R. (1992). The development of markers for the Big-Five factor structure. Psychological Assessment, 4, 26-42. Goldberg, L. R. (1999). A broad-bandwidth, public-domain, personality inventory measuring the lower-level facets of several five-factor models. In I. Merviedle, I. J. Deary, F. De Fruyt, and F. Ostendorf (Eds.), Personality Psychology in Europe: Vol. 7, 7-28. Tilburg, The Netherlands: Tilburg University Press. Harris, M. M. (1989). Reconsidering the employment interview: A review of recent literature and suggestions for future research. Personnel Psychology, 42, 691-726. Hofstee, W. K. B., de Raad, B., and Goldberg, L. (1992). Integration of the big five and circumplex approaches to trait structure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 563-576. Hogan, R. T., and Hogan, J. (1992). Hogan Personality Inventory Manual. Tulsa, OK: Hogan Assessment Systems. Huffcutt, A. I., Conway, J. M., Roth, P. L., and Stone, N. J. (2001). Identification and metaanalytic assessment of psychological constructs measured in employment interviews. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(5), 897-913. Huffcutt, A. I., Weekley, J. A., Wiesner, W. H., Degroot, T. G., and Jones, C. (2001). Comparison of situational and behavior description interview questions for higher-level positions. Personnel Psychology, 54, 619-644. International Personality Item Pool. (2001). A scientific collaboratory for the development of advanced measures of personality traits and other individual differences. Retrieved September 21, 2001, from http://ipip.ori.org Lazar, A., Kravetz, S., and Zinger, A. (2004). Moderating effects of rater personality on the relation between candidate self-monitoring and selection interview ratings. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 12(4), 321-326. Lievens, F., Highhouse, S., and De Corte, W. (2005). The importance of traits and abilities in supervisors‘ hirability decisions as a function of method of assessment. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 78, 453-470. Morgeson, F. P., Reider, M. H., and Campion, M. A. (2005). Selecting individuals in team settings: The importance of social skills, personality characteristics, and teamwork knowledge. Personnel Psychology, 58, 583-611. Mount, M. K., and Barrick, M. R. (1995). Manual for the Personal Characteristics Inventory. Libertyville, IL: Wonderlic. Mount, M. K., Barrick, M. R., Laffitte, L.J., and Callans, M.C. (1999). Administrator’s Guide for the Personal Characteristics Inventory. Libertyville, IL: Wonderlic. Mount, M. K., Barrick, M. R., and Wonderlic Consulting (2002). Personal Characteristics Inventory. Libertyville, IL: Wonderlic.
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Moy, J. W. (2006). Are employers assessing the right traits in hiring? Evidence from Hong Kong companies. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 17(4), 734754. Ones, D. S., and Viswesvaran, C. (1999). Relative importance of personality dimensions for expatriate selection: A policy capturing study. Human Performance, 12(3/4), 275-294. Ones, D. S., and Viswesvaran, C. (2001). Integrity tests and other criterion-focused occupational personality scales (COPS) used in personnel selection. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 9(1/2), 31-39. Osborn, S. M., Field, H. S., and Veres, J. G. (1998). Introversion-extraversion, selfmonitoring, and applicant performance in a situational panel interview: A field study. Journal of Business and Psychology, 13(2), 143-156. Posthuma, R. A., Morgeson, F. P., and Campion, M. A. (2002). Beyond employment interview validity: A comprehensive narrative review of recent research and trends over time. Personnel Psychology, 55, 1-81. Saville, P., Holdsworth, R., Nyfield, G., Cramp, L., and Mabey, W. (1984). Occupational Personality Questionnaire Manual. Thames Ditton, Surrey, UK: Saville-Holdsworth, Ltd. Spector, P. E., Schneider, J. R., Vance, C. A., and Hezlett, S. A. (2000). The relation of cognitive ability and personality traits to assessment center performance. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 30(7), 1474-1491. Stewart, G. L., Dustin, S. L., Barrick, M R., and Darnold, T. C. (2008). Exploring the handshake in employment interviews. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(5), 1139-1146. Sumer, H. C., Sumer, N., Demirutku, K., and Cifci, O. S. (2001). Using a personality-oriented job analysis to identity attributes to be assessed in officer selection. Military Psychology, 13(3), 129-146. Tay, C., Ang, S., and Dyne, L. V. (2006). Personality, biographical characteristics, and job interview success: A longitudinal study of the mediating effects of interviewing selfefficacy and the moderating effects of internal locus of causality. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(2), 446-454. U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2007). Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2008-2009 Edition. Washington, DC: Author. Available at http://www.bls.gov/oco/oco20045.htm . Accessed April 13, 2009. Van Dam, K. (2003). Trait perception in the employment interview: A five-factor model perspective. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 11(1), 43-55. Weiss, B., and Feldman, R. S. (2006). Looking good and lying to do it: Deception as an impression management strategy in job interviews. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 36(4), 1070-1086. Wikipedia (2009). Unicru. Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicru . Accessed April 13, 2009. Witt, L. A. (2002). The interactive effects of extraversion and conscientiousness on performance. Journal of Management, 28(6), 835-851.
INDEX A absorption, 22, 31, 32, 35 abstraction, 79, 93 Abstraction, 95 abuse, ix, 35, 98, 99, 105, 107, 110 access, 72, 83, 86, 92, 133, 158, 196 accessibility, 158, 176 accountability, 99, 105 accounting, 231, 234 acculturation, 18, 20, 30, 32, 34, 35, 103, 106, 109 acupuncture, 189, 193 acute stress, 146 adaptation, 1, 5, 6, 9, 18, 19, 22, 29, 31, 33, 34, 35, 109, 119 adjustment, vii, viii, 2, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 34, 35, 91 adolescent boys, 200, 204 adolescents, vii, xi, 1, 3, 4, 8, 13, 14, 34, 60, 62, 121, 156, 175, 176, 197, 199, 200, 201, 204, 205, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 217, 237 adrenaline, 136, 143, 147 adulthood, x, 60, 150, 185, 186, 214 adults, viii, x, xi, 11, 33, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 62, 78, 80, 87, 116, 143, 151, 172, 185, 186, 187, 194, 195, 196, 197, 207, 214, 215, 217, 225 advertisements, 235 aesthetic, 84, 90, 155, 175, 182 affective dimension, 87 affective disorder, 114 African-American, 165 age, viii, xi, 4, 20, 23, 28, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 46, 47, 49, 52, 53, 64, 71, 104, 114, 115, 126, 127, 130, 156, 161, 174, 186, 187, 188, 189, 193, 194, 195, 196, 200, 205, 219 agencies, 100, 232 aggression, x, xi, 30, 123, 128, 138, 140, 157, 174, 175, 199, 200, 201, 203, 204, 207, 208, 212, 216
aggressive behavior, 175 aggressiveness, 213 AIDS, 164, 174, 175 airways, 186 alcohol consumption, 126, 132, 133, 134 alcohol use, 133, 134, 200, 217 Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, 127, 133 alcoholics, 114 alcoholism, 119 alienation, 19 altruism, ix, 81, 92 American Psychological Association, ix, 98, 106, 111 amygdala, 141, 143, 146 anatomy, 150 anger, 24, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 146, 148, 151, 214 ANOVA, 25, 43, 44, 45, 49, 66, 68, 72, 167, 168 ANS, 219, 220, 221 anterior cingulate cortex, 91 anthropology, 94 antibiotic, 197 antisocial behavior, 201, 215 anxiety, 6, 11, 21, 120, 140, 141, 220, 233 APA, 97, 99 applied psychology, 175 appointments, 194 aptitude, 232 arousal, 138, 139, 141, 143, 147, 148, 216, 220 articulation, 232 Asia, 225 assault, 106, 107, 109 assertiveness, 3, 234 assessment, vii, 2, 5, 34, 61, 78, 138, 141, 144, 149, 222, 231, 238, 239 asthma, 35, 197 asymmetry, 21 attachment, 151 auditory stimuli, 158 authenticity, 91
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authorities, ix, 31, 97, 98, 100, 104 autonomic nervous system, xi, 219, 221, 222 avoidance, 139, 141, 142, 146, 149, 159 awareness, 82, 83, 99, 104, 105, 144, 173
B background information, 127, 176 balance of power, 33 bandwidth, 238 base, 40, 41, 90, 105, 124, 127, 155, 196 battered women, 105, 108, 109, 110, 111 behavioral change, 100, 144 behavioral intentions, 203 behaviors, x, xi, 147, 148, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 164, 165, 166, 172, 173, 174, 185, 187, 192, 194, 196, 199, 200, 201, 202, 204, 212, 213, 224 Belgium, 199, 205, 226 benefits, 30, 136 bias, 196 binge drinking, 124, 127, 132 biochemistry, 149 biological psychiatry, 222 births, 186 blame, 101, 104, 121 blood, 120, 136, 137, 138, 141, 143, 144, 145, 146, 220 blood group, 120 blood pressure, 136, 137, 138, 141, 143, 144, 145, 146, 220 body image, 86 bonding, 109, 145 bones, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 195 borderline personality disorder, 3 brain, 90, 91, 136, 137, 139, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 150, 151 brain activity, 144, 145, 147 brain damage, 144 brain functioning, 139, 145 breathing, 220 breathing rate, 220 Broadcasting, 214, 216, 217 Buddhism, 89, 92, 93, 94 Bureau of Labor Statistics, 223, 239
C campaigns, 104, 105, 155, 212 cancer, 136 candidates, 77, 228 capitalism, 126, 133 cardiovascular disease, 150 Caribbean, 175
catecholamines, 145 catheter, 146 cation, 183 Caucasians, 186 causal deduction, 78 causality, 79, 88, 157, 212, 213, 231, 239 causation, 78, 138 censorship, 155, 156 central executive, 38, 55 central nervous system, 136, 139, 219, 220, 221 CFI, 208, 211 challenges, 18, 103, 197 chemical, 3, 143, 145, 146 chemicals, 145 Chicago, 106, 111, 222 childcare, 32 childhood, x, 60, 185, 186 children, vii, viii, 2, 10, 18, 22, 23, 24, 27, 28, 33, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 60, 62, 78, 80, 87, 104, 175, 187, 197, 202, 206, 215, 217, 222 Chile, 114 Christianity, 92, 152 chronic illness, 187, 188 circulation, 88 class, 145, 161, 165 classes, 188, 195 classification, 48 cleaning, 24 clients, 5 climate, 19, 99, 100, 102, 103, 104, 105 clinical assessment, 5 clinical psychology, 1, 91 closure, 62, 80 clothing, 200 cocaine, 114, 120 coding, 38, 39, 40, 41, 46, 47, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 163, 180, 181, 183 cognition, x, 34, 54, 82, 88, 92, 135, 140, 144, 148 cognitive abilities, 221 cognitive ability, 239 cognitive capacity, 77 cognitive development, 39, 59 cognitive level, 12 cognitive perspective, 3, 86 cognitive process, 46, 52 cognitive processing, 46, 52 cognitive science, 79, 80, 82, 88, 92 cognitive style, 119 cognitive tasks, 147 cognitive theory, 159, 174, 213 college students, 115, 119, 120, 143, 174, 217, 221, 225
Index commercial, 165 common rule, 89 common sense, 88, 148 communication, 9, 20, 24, 30, 82, 85, 87, 89, 90, 162, 172, 174, 200, 213 communities, 31, 33, 100, 101, 102, 107, 111, 143 community, 19, 21, 35, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 114, 116, 235 compassion, ix, 81, 89, 92, 139, 142, 144 compensation, 35 complexity, 54, 187, 196 complications, 12, 194 comprehension, ix, 61, 62, 80, 81, 84, 85, 86, 87, 92, 166 conception, 7, 87, 89 conceptual model, 173 conceptualization, 143, 146, 159, 213 conciliation, 149 conditional inferences, 79 conditioned stimulus, 141 conditioning, 141, 159, 222 conduct disorder, 2, 12 conductance, 136, 137, 141, 144, 146 conference, 90 confidentiality, 205 configuration, 43, 51 configurations, 38, 43, 90 conflict, 6, 19, 21, 22, 24, 32, 139, 151 conflict resolution, 24 conscientiousness, 228, 230, 232, 234, 235, 236, 237, 239 conscious awareness, 144, 173 consciousness, 92, 150 consensus, 99, 105 consent, 41, 47, 165, 166, 176 constituents, 62 construction, 33, 60, 82, 109, 134, 200, 236 consumption, xi, 116, 124, 125, 126, 127, 132, 133, 134, 146, 199, 201, 204, 207, 208, 210, 211 consumption frequency, 127 consumption patterns, 124 content analysis, 202, 215, 216 control condition, 165, 168, 172, 235 control group, vii, 1, 4, 5, 7, 8 controlled studies, 135 controversies, 107, 109 convergence, 132 conversational norms, 76 correlation, 25, 28, 29, 106, 172, 187, 191, 228, 230, 232, 233, 235 correlations, xi, 25, 28, 114, 116, 167, 170, 185, 192, 193, 195, 228, 231, 233 cortex, 91
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cortisol, 135, 136, 137, 140, 141, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 151, 152 cough, 189 Council of Europe, 97, 107 country of origin, vii, 17, 20, 22, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 creativity, 2, 6 criminal justice system, 107 criticism, xi, 199 critics, 156 cross-sectional study, 225 CRP, 14 cues, viii, 57, 59, 62, 63, 64, 233 cultivation, 159, 202, 203, 204, 212 cultural barriers, 111 cultural beliefs, 20 cultural differences, 22, 107 cultural transformation, 19 culture, x, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 31, 102, 110, 123, 124, 164, 174, 236 curriculum, 1 customer service, 224, 227, 229, 232 customers, 224 cystic fibrosis, 188, 196, 197 cytokines, 145
D dance, 10, 11, 157, 173 danger, 92, 102, 105 data collection, xi, 124, 130, 138, 176, 199, 205 data set, 130 database, 187 deaths, 119 deduction, 71, 78 deductive reasoning, 61, 63 demand characteristic, 173 democracy, 24 demography, 127, 132 denial, 9, 58, 100, 197 Department of Justice, 106 dependent variable, 72, 128, 129, 133, 161, 166, 168, 208, 211 depression, 10, 21, 32, 34, 119, 120, 140, 141 deprivation, 101, 102 despair, 19 deterrence, 100, 104 developmental change, 40 deviation, 168, 189, 192 diabetes, 186, 194, 197 diagnosis, 2, 14, 186 diastolic pressure, 220 diet, 186, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 194, 195 differential rates, 167
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Index
disappointment, 24 disclosure, 132 discriminant analysis, 133 discrimination, viii, 19, 57, 63, 64, 65, 66, 68, 69, 71, 72, 75, 77 disorder, 2, 9, 102, 103, 108, 110, 111, 114, 150 dispersion, 76, 77 disposition, 121 dissatisfaction, 30, 127 distress, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 29, 30, 33, 34, 35, 106 distribution, 74, 120, 165, 229 disturbances, 18 divergent thinking, 4 diversity, 7, 143 divorce rates, 116 DNA, 144 DNase, 186, 188, 190, 191, 192, 193, 195 doctors, 115 domestic violence, vii, ix, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111 dominance, 220, 232 dopamine, 143, 144 dopaminergic, 144 drawing, 60, 125, 128 drinking pattern, 107, 124, 127, 131, 132 drinking patterns, 107, 127, 132 drinking styles, x, 123, 124, 126, 132 drug addict, 120 drugs, 133, 156, 178, 180, 186, 195, 201 dual task, viii, 37 dysthymia, 120
E ecology, 106, 109, 110 economic power, 21 economic status, 174 economics, 107, 214 education, 1, 19, 20, 21, 23, 28, 29, 35, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 127, 174, 175 Efficiency, 14 egalitarianism, vii, 17, 21, 29 EKG, 221 elaboration, 3, 4, 6 elders, 19 e-mail, 1, 17, 199, 205, 223 emergency, 38, 143 EMG, 137, 144 emigration, 2 emotion, 6, 82, 111, 136, 140, 142, 144, 148, 150, 151, 152, 153 emotion regulation, 152 emotional conflict, 139 emotional dispositions, 144
emotional distress, 20 emotional experience, x, 135, 142 emotional responses, 147 emotional stability, 12, 228, 231, 234 emotional state, vii, 10, 17, 25, 29, 32, 83, 91, 142 emotional well-being, 18 empathy, ix, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 137, 139, 142, 144, 145, 146, 150, 232, 234 employees, xii, 223, 224, 226, 227, 229, 231, 236 employers, 224, 232, 239 employment, xii, 23, 28, 29, 34, 223, 224, 225, 230, 232, 235, 236, 238, 239 employment status, 23, 28 encoding, vii, viii, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42, 47, 51, 52, 54, 158 encouragement, 105 endocrine, 147 endocrine system, 147 energy, 9, 140, 232 enforcement, ix, 98, 100, 101, 214 England, 34, 78 environment, 18, 20, 30, 88, 99, 100, 101, 104, 110, 159, 174 enzyme, 186 enzymes, x, xi, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195 epidemic, 107, 109 epidemiology, 108 epinephrine, 136, 143, 147 episodic memory, 91 equality, vii, 17, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31 equilibrium, 18 equipment, 231 ethics, 87, 92 ethnic background, 174 ethnic groups, 23, 32 ethnicity, 103 EU, 129 Europe, 97, 98, 103, 107, 118, 124, 225, 238 European Commission, 98, 107 European Community, 124 European integration, 132 European Union, 98, 108 everyday life, 102 evidence, 40, 50, 53, 55, 59, 77, 80, 116, 135, 136, 144, 147, 155, 156, 158, 159, 174, 200 evolution, 4, 7, 11, 82, 151 executive processes, 53 exercise, xi, 150, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 192, 194, 195, 219
Index experiences, x, 20, 33, 90, 91, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, 134, 137, 138, 142, 143, 148, 235 experimental condition, viii, 51, 52, 53, 57, 64, 67, 68, 69, 70, 72, 73, 74, 166, 167, 172 experimental design, 1, 4, 5, 7, 46, 138 exploration, 151, 152 exposure, xi, 18, 22, 108, 145, 155, 156, 157, 158, 160, 162, 163, 168, 172, 173, 175, 176, 199, 201, 202, 203, 206, 208, 211, 212, 213, 214, 217 external locus of control, 233 external validation, 5, 8 extraversion, vii, ix, xi, 113, 114, 115, 116, 118, 119, 120, 219, 221, 223, 224, 225, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 239 extreme poverty, 103
F factor analysis, x, 116, 123, 128, 206, 215, 234 fairness, 33 families, 18, 19, 22, 23, 31, 32, 34, 35, 106, 107, 109 family conflict, 29, 32 family environment, 174 family life, 18, 19, 20 family members, 18, 19, 20, 22, 31, 101 family relationships, 19, 32 family support, 20 family violence, ix, 30, 98, 107, 108, 109, 110 fantasy, 2, 142, 147 fat, 186, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 194, 195 fear, 101, 110, 111, 136, 138, 139, 140, 141, 143, 144, 146, 148, 151 feedback, 140, 143, 234 feelings, ix, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 19, 29, 30, 31, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 87, 105, 127, 128, 129, 139, 156, 162, 172, 183, 200 female partner, 35 fibrosis, x, 185, 186, 188, 196, 197 films, 204, 213 financial, 24, 229 Finland, 124 five-factor model, 228, 238, 239 flight, 141, 144 force, 20, 101, 104, 125, 234 foreign language, 3, 23 foreign language vocabulary, 3 formal education, 19 formation, 164, 200 foundations, 93, 127, 174 France, 79, 81, 107 free association, 3 freedom, 126 freedom of choice, 126
245
freezing, 11, 141 frequencies, 69, 74 frequency distribution, x, 123, 124, 128 Freud, 82, 84, 86, 89, 93 friendship, 100 functional changes, 31 functional MRI, 137 funding, 133 fusion, 83
G gender differences, xi, 22, 35, 186, 193, 194, 195 gender effects, 175 gender identity, 30 gender ideology, 30 gender role, 20, 21, 31, 34, 103, 106, 216 general intelligence, 77 genes, 144 genetic disease, x, 185, 186 genetic factors, 137 genetic marker, 144 genetics, 149 genre, 162, 163, 200, 212, 215, 216 gifted, vii, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 12 giftedness, 2 gland, 143 globalization, 125 goal setting, 237 God, 92, 139, 140, 147 graduate students, 115 group identification, 200 growth, 103, 145, 152 guidelines, 106 guilt, 24, 127, 128, 129
H happiness, 24, 144, 146 harbors, 139 harmony, 148, 150, 173 healing, 145, 152 health, x, xi, 12, 32, 34, 35, 92, 99, 111, 124, 127, 128, 130, 132, 133, 135, 136, 139, 142, 143, 148, 150, 151, 152, 153, 166, 188, 194, 195, 197, 199, 200, 201, 204, 217, 229 health care, 188, 195 health care professionals, 188 health effects, 143 health risks, 153, 200 heart rate, 136, 137, 138, 140, 141, 143, 144, 146, 220 helping behavior, 109 high fat, 186, 188, 189, 190, 194
246
Index
high school, 41, 47, 115, 225, 226, 233 hiring, xii, 223, 237, 239 history, 3, 4, 82, 91, 114, 115, 116, 118, 174 HIV, 174, 175, 215 HIV/AIDS, 175 homes, 21, 23, 126 homework, 24 homicide, 120 homicide rates, 120 honesty, 91, 224 Hong Kong, 226, 235, 239 hopelessness, 19, 119 hormones, 139, 143, 145 host, 18, 19, 20, 22, 30, 31 hostility, 138, 139, 142, 150 human, 59, 61, 62, 78, 80, 82, 83, 88, 106 human condition, 60 human development, 106 human experience, 88 Human Resource Management, 239 humanistic perspective, 90 Hunter, 137, 150 husband, 21, 30, 91 hypothalamus, 143, 147, 221 hypothesis, xi, 4, 46, 47, 50, 51, 52, 53, 76, 93, 142, 159, 160, 168, 170, 173, 174, 212, 219, 221
I identification, ix, 81, 82, 83, 84, 92, 127, 160, 163, 166, 200 identity, 2, 22, 30, 31, 34, 35, 39, 40, 55, 85, 86, 200, 239 ideology, 21, 30, 31, 33 idiosyncratic, 69, 74, 76 illicit substances, 200, 215 image, 7, 10, 52, 54, 86 imagery, 138, 152 images, 3, 90, 157, 174, 200, 201, 202, 212 imagination, 3, 87, 91, 137, 138, 146, 147 imitation, 82, 84, 92 immigrants, vii, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 103, 108 immigration, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 108 immune function, 145 immune system, 142 immunoglobulin, 142 impacts, 2 implicit knowledge, 86 improvements, x, 185 impulses, 200 impulsive, 113, 140 impulsiveness, 140
impulsivity, 5, 6, 9, 118 in vivo, 151 incidence, 21, 102, 104, 109 income, 21, 104 independence, 18, 220 independent variable, 4, 28, 29, 129, 161, 168, 228 indirect measure, 116 individual differences, 77, 78, 156, 220, 238 individualism, 125, 126 individuals, 18, 20, 33, 77, 86, 100, 105, 116, 141, 145, 148, 158, 160, 186, 194, 220, 228, 232, 233, 235, 238 induction, 3, 5, 6 industries, 235 infection, 174, 194 inferences, viii, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 78, 79 inflammation, 186 information processing, 160, 161, 162, 168, 172, 175 information retrieval, 80 informed consent, 165, 166 ingredients, 99 inhibition, vii, 1, 2, 4, 12, 62, 80, 100, 104, 108, 139, 146, 150, 219, 221 initial state, 71 injury prevention, 217 inner world, 84 insecurity, 102 insertion, 146 instinct, 151 Institute of Justice, 107 institutions, 18, 125 insulin, xi, 185, 186, 188, 189, 190, 191, 194, 195, 197 insulin dependent diabetes, 197 integration, 11, 22, 30, 31, 33, 39, 91, 132, 140, 152 integrity, 166, 224 intelligence, 2, 77, 221, 222 intelligence scores, 221 intentionality, 85 interaction effect, 25, 132 interaction effects, 132 interference, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 51, 52, 55 internal consistency, 5, 24 interpersonal conflict, 102, 151 interpersonal conflicts, 102 interpersonal relations, 89, 231, 234, 235 interpersonal relationships, 231, 234 interpersonal skills, 234 intervention, 4, 99, 137, 148, 152, 202 intimacy, 133, 157, 200 intimate partner violence, ix, 97, 103, 107, 108 intoxication, 124, 125, 127, 130, 132, 133
Index intravenous antibiotics, 189, 190, 191, 192, 194, 195 intravenously, 186, 194 introversion, ix, xi, 113, 114, 115, 116, 118, 120, 121, 219, 221, 222, 233 inversion, 60, 76 isolation, 19, 103 Israel, vii, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 35, 134, 226 issues, 2, 20, 22, 30, 35, 38, 93, 99, 105, 107, 119, 125, 127, 156, 187, 197, 216 Italy, 37, 41, 47, 57
J Jamaica, 175 Jews, 19, 32 job performance, xii, 223, 229, 230, 235, 236, 237 job position, 236 job-search, 237 Jordan, 217 joyriding, 201, 206 junior high school, 41, 47 justification, 88
K kindergarten, 41 kindergarten children, 41 kinesthesis, 84 kinship, 100
L labeling, 54 landscapes, 102 languages, 23 Latin America, 107 law enforcement, ix, 98, 100, 101 lead, x, 19, 21, 50, 140, 158, 185, 195, 201, 204 leadership, 231, 234, 235 learning, 3, 4, 20, 38, 54, 77, 119, 159, 160, 162, 175 learning skills, 3 legal protection, 101 leisure, 8, 9, 205 lesions, 144 level of education, 127 liberalization, 20 liberty, 219 life expectancy, x, 185 life satisfaction, 29 lifetime, ix, 97 light, 8, 82, 87, 88, 221 limbic system, 219 Limitations, 32 liver, 186
247
living arrangements, 23 location information, 39, 51, 55 locus, 231, 233, 239 longitudinal study, 225, 232, 239 long-term memory, 61 love, 10, 11, 35, 133, 139, 142, 144
M magazines, 156 magnetic resonance, 144 magnetic resonance imaging, 144 majority, xi, 124, 130, 156, 158, 173, 185, 189, 192, 194, 195, 196, 203, 205, 228 man, 85, 88, 89, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181 management, 196, 197, 227, 229, 230, 231, 234, 235, 237, 239 manipulation, 64, 71, 141, 166, 170, 172 MANOVA, 23, 25 manufacturing, 235 mapping, 61, 78 marital conflict, 34 marital partners, 33 marital power relations, 30 marital quality, vii, 17, 22, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 33 marital status, 20, 23 markers, 145, 146, 229, 230, 238 marriage, 21, 23, 24, 28, 29, 32, 104, 108, 148 married couples, 23 mass, 33, 174, 213 mass communication, 174, 213 materials, 158 matrix, viii, 37, 42, 43, 47, 48, 49, 51 matter, iv, 88, 92, 105, 139 measurement, 5, 110, 119, 135, 137, 147, 148 measurements, 91, 138 media, 105, 156, 159, 160, 165, 173, 174, 175, 176, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 207, 208, 212, 213 median, 8, 186, 187, 196 mediation, 12, 83, 86, 141 medical, 19, 118, 153, 186, 194, 197 medication, 12, 186, 187, 188, 189, 191 medicine, 13, 189 memory, vii, viii, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 46, 47, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 61, 77, 79, 91, 137, 147, 176 memory capacity, 77 memory function, 40 memory processes, 52 mental ability, 235 mental activity, 138, 143 mental capacity, 224 mental health, 34, 35, 92, 150 mental health professionals, 92 mental illness, 29
248
Index
mental model, 59, 60, 61, 76, 77, 78, 79 mental representation, ix, 81, 82 mental simulation, 83, 84, 93 mental state, 92, 126, 146 mental states, 92, 126, 146 merchandise, 234 Merleau-Ponty, 85, 87, 88, 94 messages, 100, 105, 156, 158, 160, 162, 174, 182, 183, 217 messengers, 143 meta-analysis, 203, 224 metacognition, 91 metaphor, 98 methamphetamine, 222 methodology, vii, viii, 1, 4, 5, 8, 37, 41, 46, 89, 116 metropolitan areas, 132 Microsoft, 48 Microsoft Word, 48 middle class, 41, 47 migration, 19 military, 227, 234 Ministry of Education, 97 minorities, 103 minority groups, 104 models, xi, 28, 59, 60, 61, 76, 77, 78, 111, 132, 159, 160, 174, 183, 199, 200, 201, 203, 207, 211, 212, 215, 238 modern society, 126 modernism, 125 modernization, 125 modifications, xii modules, 77 monitoring, 134, 194, 233, 234 Moon, 20, 34 morale, 93, 94 morality, 83, 93, 126 Morocco, 21 mortality, 197 motivation, 3, 4, 22, 54, 159, 160, 162, 164, 168 MPI, 114, 115 MRI, 136, 137, 144 mucus, 186 multidimensional, 149 multimedia, 156 multivariate analysis, 236 multivariate regression analyses, 230, 231 muscles, 186, 220 music therapy, vii, 1, 3, 5, 6 music videos, xi, 156, 157, 175, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 206, 208, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217 mutations, 186 mutilation, 120
N narratives, 125 national character, 120 Native Americans, 149 natural killer cell, 145 nebulizer, 186 negative attitudes, 3, 124 negative consequences, 101, 124, 133, 201, 202 negative effects, 125, 129, 132 negative emotions, 24, 148 negative experiences, 125, 128 negative influences, 127 negative mood, 140 negative outcomes, 125 negativity, 142 neglect, 100 neighborhood characteristics, 102 NEO Personality inventory, 119 nerve, 146, 189 nervous system, xi, 136, 139, 141, 143, 146, 219, 220, 221, 222 Netherlands, 34, 227, 238 networking, 34 neural network, 91 neural networks, 91 neurons, 92, 93 neuropsychology, 55 neurotransmitters, 144, 145 neutral, 61, 89, 142, 158, 161, 165, 174, 187 neutral music, 161, 165 New Zealand, 114 nightmares, 9, 143 norepinephrine, 143, 145 North America, 149, 157, 174 Norway, 124 nostalgia, 10 null, 156 nursery school, 47
O objectivity, 85, 89, 90 observational learning, 159 one sample t-test, 190 openness, 228, 231, 232, 234, 236 openness to experience, 228, 231, 232, 234, 236 operations, 83 opiates, 114 opportunities, 18, 22 optimism, 31 oral antibiotic, 189, 190, 192, 193, 194, 195 oral antibiotics, 189, 190, 192, 193, 194, 195
Index ordinal data, 6 organ, 186, 196 organism, 220 organizing, 231 organs, 186 osteoporosis, 186, 188 otherness, 89, 90 overlap, 76, 90, 225
P pain, 72, 84, 90, 91, 145, 189, 220, 222 pairing, 86 pancreas, 186 parallel, 19 parameter estimates, 69, 74 parasympathetic activity, 221 parents, 2, 5, 9, 10, 22, 23, 33, 41, 47, 187, 201 parietal cortex, 92 path analysis, 229, 231 pathology, 222 pathophysiology, 151 pathways, 141, 146, 151, 152 peak experience, 90 Pearson correlations, 25 peer group, 11, 200 peer review, 224, 225 penalties, 202 peptide, 145 perceived norms, x, 155, 156, 160, 164, 168, 170, 172, 173 percentage frequency, 68, 74 percentile, 4 performance, 4, 14, 24, 38, 39, 40, 41, 45, 46, 47, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 64, 224, 229, 230, 231, 233, 235, 236, 237, 239 performance ratings, 229, 230, 235, 236, 237 performers, 201 peripheral nervous system, 136 permit, 8, 63, 139 perpetrators, 100, 101, 104 personal development, 30 personal history, 3, 4 personal qualities, 31 personal relations, 217 personal relationship, 217 personal responsibility, 105, 108 personality, xi, 2, 3, 7, 8, 12, 115, 116, 119, 120, 121, 137, 139, 150, 203, 204, 207, 208, 212, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 239 personality characteristics, 119, 203, 204, 207, 208, 212, 232, 236, 238 personality dimensions, 239
249
personality disorder, 2, 3, 115 personality factors, 203, 235, 238 personality research, 221 personality scales, 224, 239 personality test, 115, 116, 224 personality traits, 220, 222, 228, 232, 237, 238, 239 pharmaceutical, 65 phenomenology, ix, 81, 82, 83, 88, 89, 90, 92 Philadelphia, 133, 153 phobia, 12 physical abuse, 98 physical aggression, 201, 212, 216 physical attractiveness, 231 physical environment, 110 physical health, 127, 136, 150, 151 physical therapy, x, xi, 185, 186, 187, 188, 194, 195 Physiological, v, 135, 137, 138, 142, 152 physiological arousal, 220 physiological correlates, 137, 138, 139, 143, 146 physiological mechanisms, x, 135 physiology, 135, 136, 137, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 146, 148, 149, 151, 152 pilot study, 23 pituitary gland, 143 playing, 9, 10 pleasure, x, 8, 123, 125, 126, 128, 129, 130 polarity, 79 police, ix, 98, 101, 109, 111, 201, 202, 226, 233 policy, 33, 106, 107, 108, 109, 111, 124, 175, 228, 239 policy issues, 107 politics, 133 polymorphisms, 144, 151 population, ix, 12, 18, 19, 23, 25, 28, 35, 97, 103, 104, 107, 127, 132, 158, 174 population group, 127 population growth, 103 positive attitudes, 124 positive correlation, 172, 195, 228, 231, 232, 233 positive emotions, 30, 142, 150 posttraumatic stress, 150 poverty, 11, 103, 107 power relations, 20, 21, 22, 30 predictor variables, x, 123, 132 preparation, iv, 223, 232 preschool, 54 preschool children, 54 preschoolers, 54 prestige, 178, 179, 181 prevention, vii, 1, 12, 99, 103, 106, 109, 212, 215, 216, 217 primacy, ix, 81, 89 priming, x, 144, 155, 157, 158, 160
250
Index
principal component analysis, 128, 129 principles, 4, 60, 62, 78, 79, 83, 87, 102, 158 prior knowledge, 59, 64, 71 probability, 60, 79, 102, 152, 207, 230 problem behavior, 202, 212 Problem Behavior Theory, 212 problem behaviors, 212 problem drinkers, 129 problem drinking, 124 problem solving, 232 productivity, 6 professionals, 92, 188 programming, 158, 202 project, 85 projective test, vii, 1, 3, 6, 8 proposition, 62, 90 protection, 107 psychiatric diagnosis, 2 psychiatric patients, 113, 114, 115 psychiatry, 94, 222 psychoanalysis, 84 psychological distress, 18, 20, 21, 29, 35 psychological problems, 2 psychological stress, 151 psychological variables, 152 psychological well-being, vii, 17, 22, 29, 31, 32, 33, 119 psychologist, 1, 83 psychology, vii, 1, 2, 64, 71, 78, 80, 83, 88, 91, 93, 150, 153, 161, 173, 174, 175, 215 psychopathology, 8, 90 psychoses, 12 psychotherapy, vii, 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 12, 94 psychoticism, 113, 114, 115, 116, 119, 120, 221, 222 PTSD, 143, 145 public awareness, 104, 105 public concern, 99, 105 public education, 103, 104, 105, 107 public health, 124 public opinion, 111, 133 public policy, 107, 111 public service, 105 punishment, 9
Q qualitative research, 225 quality of life, 197 quanta, 142 quantitative research, 225 questionnaire, xi, 7, 9, 24, 65, 71, 157, 176, 188, 197, 199, 205, 206, 207, 221, 222, 228, 231, 232
R race, 106, 161, 216 radio, 105, 162 rap music, x, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 165, 168, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 200, 217 rape, 139 rating scale, 5, 6 rationality, 80 reactions, 2, 9, 30, 32, 33, 101, 109, 110, 141, 143, 146, 147, 165, 170, 174 reactivity, 135, 146, 148, 150, 151, 220, 222 reading, viii, 57, 65, 66, 76, 147, 225, 232 real estate, 235 realism, 11, 159, 160, 163, 166, 176 reality, 77, 91, 92, 156, 159, 202 reasoning, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 71, 77, 78, 79, 80, 82, 85, 87, 88, 144, 158 recall, 40, 41, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 49, 50, 51, 53, 55, 138, 143, 147 recalling, 137, 138 reciprocity, 85 recognition, 40, 85, 87, 173, 231 recommendations, iv, 124, 188, 197, 236 reconciliation, 153 reconstruction, viii, 37, 39 recovery, 150 recreational, 164, 178, 179, 181 redistribution, 145 reductionism, 87 reference system, 91 refugees, 9 regression, x, 23, 27, 28, 69, 71, 75, 114, 123, 128, 129, 131, 168, 208, 210, 211, 229, 230, 231, 232 regression analysis, 28, 131, 168, 229, 232 regression model, 28, 114 rejection, 11, 66, 68, 71, 72, 141 relationship quality, 150 relaxation, 3, 129 relevance, 31, 77, 84, 90, 103, 160, 162 reliability, 5, 24, 164 religion, 19 remorse, 9, 127, 128, 129 René Descartes, 13 replacement, 139, 142, 145 repression, 119 researchers, x, xi, 20, 21, 23, 91, 98, 135, 140, 142, 149, 156, 174, 176, 199, 200, 201, 211, 220 resentment, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 144, 149, 151 resolution, 24, 144, 150 resources, 18, 20, 33, 142 respiratory rate, 143
Index response, x, 23, 41, 61, 90, 100, 101, 106, 135, 139, 141, 143, 144, 145, 147, 149, 150, 151, 173, 177, 179, 188, 196, 206, 222, 224, 232 responsivity, 222 restoration, 11, 145 restrictions, 124, 146 restructuring, 3, 8 retail, 224, 229, 235 retaliation, 141 reticular activating system, 219 rhythm, 11, 173 rights, iv, 22, 177 risk, xi, 12, 32, 34, 35, 89, 103, 110, 119, 120, 121, 127, 133, 147, 158, 164, 173, 174, 175, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 212, 213, 217 risk factors, 32, 35, 110, 119, 121 risks, 164, 202, 204, 207, 208, 212, 214 risk-taking, 158, 173, 212 RMSEA, 208, 211 romantic relationship, 146, 163 Romanticism, 83 root, 72, 140, 141, 156 roots, 87 rules, 77, 79, 87, 89, 92, 200 rural areas, 19 Russia, 20
S safety, 100, 111, 216, 217 schizophrenia, 92 schizophrenic patients, 119 school, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 11, 12, 38, 42, 47, 48, 82, 115, 183, 205, 225, 226, 233 school failure, 2, 8 science, 79, 80, 88, 89, 94 scope, 88 screening, 232, 237 scripts, 159, 160, 161, 173 SCT, 159 search terms, xii, 223 secondary school students, 205 secondary schools, 205 security, 24, 29, 33 segregation, 103 selectivity, 159, 160, 162 self esteem, 33 self-confidence, 234 self-consciousness, 92 self-control, x, 135, 140, 150 self-discipline, 234 self-efficacy, 197, 231, 239 self-esteem, 3, 4, 31, 174, 233
251
self-image, 7 self-interest, 136 self-monitoring, 233, 234, 238, 239 self-promotion, 229, 234 self-reports, 138, 141 semantic memory, 79 semantics, 79 sensation, xi, 199, 200, 203, 204, 206, 211, 212, 214, 215, 217 sensation seeking, xi, 199, 200, 203, 204, 206, 211, 212, 214, 215, 217 sensations, 84 sensitivity, 2, 6, 7, 12, 83 sensitization, 119, 221 serotonin, 136 sertraline, 221 services, iv, 19, 98, 229, 235 sex, 126, 127, 128, 129, 132, 151, 156, 158, 160, 162, 164, 165, 172, 174, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 183, 201, 221 sex differences, 151, 221 sexual activity, 156, 157, 164 sexual behavior, x, 155, 157, 159, 164, 175, 178, 180, 200 sexual feelings, 156, 200 sexual intercourse, 157, 164, 178, 179, 180, 181 sexual violence, 106, 108, 158 sexuality, x, 123, 128, 156, 161, 163, 168, 172 shape, 47, 71, 102, 160, 161 shelter, 108 shock, 19, 33, 91, 236 shortness of breath, 186 short-term memory, 41, 54, 55 showing, viii, 7, 39, 44, 45, 50, 57, 62, 201 significance level, 189 simulation, 83, 84, 93 Singapore, 227, 231 skin, 136, 137, 141, 144, 146 sociability, 113, 118, 230, 231, 232, 234 social activities, 237 social anxiety, 233 social attitudes, 99, 105 social capital, 99 social change, 126 social circle, 98, 101, 104, 105 social class, 156 social cognition, 34, 82, 144 social comparison, 34 social consensus, 105 social consequences, 80, 134 social construct, 109 social context, 98, 104, 105 social control, 99, 102, 104, 107, 109
252 social desirability, 188, 194 social environment, 99, 100, 101, 104 social events, 145 social exclusion, 9 social identity, 34, 86 social indicator, 116 social influence, x, 155 social information processing, 175 social interactions, 86, 175 social learning, 119 social learning theory, 119 social life, 127 social network, 35, 99, 109 social norms, 105, 156 social perception, 176 social policy, 109, 175 social problems, 156 social psychology, 153, 174 social relations, 82 social relationships, 82 social resources, 18 social responsibility, 104, 105 social sciences, 101 social services, 19 social skills, 224, 231, 238 social status, 18, 34 social support, 18, 20, 118, 119 socialization, 109, 156, 158, 176, 200, 215 society, ix, 18, 19, 22, 30, 31, 80, 98, 125, 202 socioeconomic status, 161 sociology, 83, 123 solution, 18, 128 Soviet Union, 19, 21, 22, 23, 28, 29, 30, 35 Spain, 97, 103, 108, 109 spatial and temporal order, 54 spatial information, 51 spatial location, 38, 39 spatial memory, 39, 54, 55, 56 spatial processing, 52 specialisation, 90 species, 82, 86 speech, 40, 41, 89 spending, 187 spousal relations, 29, 31 spousal support, 32 stability, 12, 228, 231, 234 standard deviation, 25, 67, 73, 168, 189, 192 standard error, 43, 44, 45, 46, 49, 50 standard of living, 24 state, vii, 10, 17, 24, 25, 26, 29, 32, 71, 76, 83, 89, 90, 91, 142 states, viii, 57, 59, 60, 82, 91, 116, 120, 126, 127, 139, 142, 146, 151, 175, 188
Index statistics, 5, 6, 166 steel, 226, 231 steroids, xi, 186, 188, 190, 191, 192, 194, 195 stimulus, 3, 42, 47, 50, 52, 91, 141, 157 stomach, 189 storage, 54, 220 stress, x, 2, 19, 20, 21, 22, 32, 34, 35, 119, 135, 138, 139, 141, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 149, 150, 151, 152, 222, 224 stressors, 18, 138, 147 stroke, 144 structure, 61, 62, 79, 88, 107, 126, 127, 173, 206, 228, 230, 234, 238 style, 124, 125, 126, 127, 132, 151, 177, 228 subgroups, vii, viii, 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 17, 28, 29, 30, 203, 204 subjective experience, 82 subjectivity, ix, 81, 82, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 92, 93, 126 subsidy, 213 substance abuse, 35 substitution, 83 substrate, 149 substrates, 140 suicidal behavior, vii, 118, 119, 120, 121 suicidal ideation, 114, 115, 116, 118, 119 suicide, 9, 113, 114, 115, 116, 118, 119, 120, 121 suicide attempters, 113, 120 suicide attempts, 114, 115, 118, 119 suicide completers, 119 suicide rate, 116 Sun, 200, 216 supervisors, 226, 229, 235, 238 suppression, 38, 40, 41, 43, 44, 45, 46, 50, 51, 52, 53, 147, 148 survey, ix, 32, 35, 98, 106, 111, 124, 125, 126, 127, 130, 134, 206 survival, 143, 186, 195 survivors, 100, 109, 110, 143 Sweden, x, 32, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 129, 132, 133 Switzerland, 197 syllogisms, viii, 57, 59, 60, 63, 64, 65, 66, 71, 72, 74, 75 symmetry, 62 sympathetic nervous system, 143, 146 sympathy, ix, 81, 82, 83, 84, 139, 142, 144 symptoms, 7, 8, 12, 21, 22, 34, 35, 120 syndrome, vii, 1, 15 synthesis, 151, 216, 217 system analysis, 151
Index
T tactics, 229, 234 target, 9, 91, 105, 155 task interference, 41 task performance, 231 tax teachers, 2, 24, 115, 204 techniques, 3, 91, 92, 229 technological advances, 186 technologies, 138 technology, 236 telephone, 126, 238 television viewing, 158, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 215 temperament, 222 tension, 19, 139 testing, 42, 48, 167, 216 textbook, 94 texture, 173 thalamus, 91 theoretical approaches, 149 therapeutic intervention, 3, 12 therapeutic interventions, 3, 12 therapeutic process, 2, 3 therapeutic relationship, 84, 90, 92 therapist, 1, 84, 89, 91 therapy, vii, x, xi, 1, 3, 5, 6, 11, 12, 34, 144, 145, 146, 148, 150, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 193, 194, 195 third dimension, 159, 162 thoughts, 9, 83, 120, 201, 216 threats, 78, 116, 140 three-way interaction, 68, 73, 170, 172 time frame, 128 time periods, 132 tobacco, 200, 215 traditional gender role, 21, 31 training, viii, 3, 57, 63, 64, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 152 trait anxiety, 233 traits, 24, 118, 119, 137, 143, 144, 150, 151, 220, 222, 228, 230, 232, 234, 237, 238, 239 transference, 3 transformation, 54, 126 transformations, 19, 133 transfusion, 83 transgression, x, 135, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 151 translation, 40 transmission, 19 transplantation, 186, 196 transport, 186, 236
253
transportation, 202 trauma, 18, 29, 33, 35, 143 traumatic events, 20 treatment, vii, x, xi, 1, 4, 7, 12, 33, 35, 91, 106, 107, 108, 114, 133, 161, 165, 167, 168, 170, 172, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197
U UK, x, 55, 78, 185, 186, 188, 196, 239 unconditioned, 141 unhappiness, 151 United, 34, 35, 54, 106, 107, 186, 187, 223, 225, 227 United Kingdom, 35, 54 United States, 34, 106, 107, 186, 187, 223, 225, 227 universe, 82 urban, 35, 104, 110, 130 urbanicity, 104 urbanisation, 127 USA, 98, 113, 135, 155, 175, 219, 223
V vacuum, 156 Valencia, 97 validation, 5, 8, 175 variables, vii, viii, x, 1, 6, 7, 8, 20, 22, 25, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 34, 57, 64, 66, 68, 69, 71, 72, 119, 123, 124, 127, 128, 129, 130, 132, 135, 136, 137, 138, 143, 146, 152, 161, 163, 166, 167, 168, 170, 172, 174, 189, 207, 228 variations, 10, 136, 188 varieties, 151, 222 vehicles, 203 vein, 160 victimization, 99, 101, 103, 104, 106, 110 victims, ix, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 107, 109, 216 video, xi, 157, 199, 200, 201, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 211, 212, 213, 215, 216, 217 videos, xi, 156, 157, 175, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 206, 208, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217 violence, vii, ix, 21, 30, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 120, 157, 158, 175, 201, 213, 215, 216, 217, 224 violent behavior, 100, 175, 201, 224 violent crime, 110 vision, 83, 92, 127 vitamins, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 195 vocabulary, 3, 89 vulnerability, 22, 92, 120, 156
254
Index
W Washington, 106, 107, 110, 111, 151, 239 watches, 144, 147 water, 11 wealth, 149 well-being, vii, 17, 18, 22, 29, 31, 32, 33, 83, 119, 136, 152 Western countries, 20 WHO, 99, 127, 133, 134 wholesale, 235 withdrawal, 141, 146
witnesses, 101, 104 workers, 98, 100, 105, 227, 229 working memory, viii, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 46, 51, 53, 54, 55, 77 World Health Organization, ix, 97, 99, 111, 133, 134, 202, 217 worldwide, 186
Y young adults, 172, 197, 215, 217, 225 young people, 114, 117, 119, 200, 212 young women, 204