Conversational and social responses to depressive interpersonal behavior.

Examined responses to depressive interpersonal behavior. 30 undergraduates interacted with a same-sex confederate for 7 min in the context of waiting together for an experiment to begin. Confederates employed either a depressed role (depressive interpersonal behavior and reporting serious deficits in functioning), a normal role (normal interpersonal behavior and reporting minimal deficits in functioning), or a physically ill role (normal interpersonal behavior and reporting serious deficits in functioning). Ss who interacted with a "depressive" responded with a higher rate of silences and directly negative comments and a lower rate of overall verbal responding. Their expressions of direct support were equivalent to those made to the "physically ill" confederates and greater than those in the normal condition. Ss also were more rejecting of partners who behaved in a depressed manner and described them in more negative terms and as having greater interpersonal impact than confederates in other roles. There were no induced mood differences. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-esteem moderates neuroendocrine and psychological responses to interpersonal rejection.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 98(6) of Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (see record 2010-09990-008). This article contained a misspelling in the last name of the first author in the below reference. The complete correct reference is included. The online version of the article has been corrected.] In this study, the authors investigated self-esteem as a moderator of psychological and physiological responses to interpersonal rejection and tested an integrative model detailing the mechanisms by which self-esteem may influence cognitive, affective, and physiological responses. Seventy-eight participants experienced an ambiguous interpersonal rejection (or no rejection) from an opposite sex partner in the context of an online dating interaction. Salivary cortisol was assessed at 5 times, and self-reported cognitive and affective responses were assessed. Compared with those with high self-esteem, individuals with low self-esteem responded to rejection by appraising themselves more negatively, making more self-blaming attributions, exhibiting greater cortisol reactivity, and derogating the rejector. Path analysis indicated that the link between low self-esteem and increased cortisol reactivity was mediated by self-blame attributions; cortisol reactivity, in turn, mediated the link between low self-esteem and increased partner derogation. Discussion centers on the role of self-esteem as part of a broader psychobiological system for regulating and responding to social threat and on implications for health outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reactions to racial discrimination: Emotional stress and help-seeking behaviors.

This study examines Black, Latino, Asian American, American Indian and Biracial participants' (N = 260) emotional and psychological reactions to encounters with racism, and the help-seeking strategies they used to deal with those reactions. This class of participants is important to study because its members are likely to live and/or work in racially diverse environments. Participants who reported direct experiences with racism had higher levels of anxiety, guilt/shame, hypervigilance, and positive emotions than those who did not. Racial harassment (hostility) was associated with more hypervigilant and anxious reactions than racial discrimination (avoidance). Help-seeking patterns indicated that people of Color were more likely to seek help from friends and family than from mental health professionals. Practice and research implications are addressed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Paradoxical autonomic responses to aversive stimuli in the developing rat.

The goals of this research were to determine (1) the change in heart rate elicited by aversive auditory stimuli in the laboratory rat at different ages and (2) the autonomic origins of those changes at each age. The results of the 1st 2 experiments showed that aversive white noise stimuli elicited cardiac deceleration in preweanling (16-day-old) rats and cardiac acceleration in weanling (23-day-old), periadolescent (30-day-old), and adult (60-day-old) rats. Subsequent experiments showed that (1) the decrease in heart rate elicited by the noise stimulus in preweanling rats was mediated by parasympathetic activation of the heart, (2) the stimulus-elicited increase in heart rate elicited by the noise in periadolescent rats was mediated by parasympathetic withdrawal of the heart, and (3) the noise-induced increase in heart rate in adult rats was primarily mediated by sympathetic activation of the heart. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Affective and behavioral responses to health-related social control.

Social control has the potential to encourage engagement in a healthy lifestyle, but its effectiveness may depend on the nature of the influence attempt. Participants (N = 282) described a situation in which someone attempted to influence their health-related behavior. Experiencing positive social control was associated with a greater tendency to change the behavior and less ignoring/doing nothing, whereas negative social control was associated with a lesser tendency to change the behavior and more hiding of unhealthy behavior. These associations could be accounted for by affective responses to the social control attempts. Results emphasize the need to better understand the regulatory influence of relationships on health behavior and the conditions under which social control is most likely to have health-promoting effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's interpersonal behaviors and the teacher–child relationship.

Relations between kindergartners' (N?=?199; M age?=?5 years 6 months) behavioral orientations and features of their 1st-grade teacher-child relationships (i.e., conflict, closeness, dependency) were examined longitudinally. Early behavioral orientations predicted teacher-chiId relationship quality in that (a) unique associations emerged between children's early antisocial behavior and features of their 1st-grade teacher-child relationships (i.e., negative relation with closeness, positive relation with conflict and dependency) and between asocial behavior and teacher-child dependency, and (b) prosocial behavior was correlated with but not uniquely related to any feature of children's 1st-grade teacher-child relationships. In addition, specific features of the teacher-child relationship (e.g., conflict) predicted changes in children's behavioral adjustment (e.g., decreasing prosocial behavior). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional conditioning to masked stimuli: Expectancies for aversive outcomes following nonrecognized fear-relevant stimuli.

The role of conscious awareness in human Pavlovian conditioning was examined in 2 experiments using masked fear-relevant (snakes and spiders; Experiments 1 and 2) and fear-irrelevant (flowers and mushrooms; Experiment 1) pictures as conditioned stimuli, a mild electric shock as the unconditioned stimulus, and skin conductance responses as the primary dependent variable. The conditioned stimuli were presented briefly (30 ms) and were effectively masked by an immediately following masking stimulus. Experiment 1 demonstrated nonconscious conditioning to fear-relevant but not to fear-irrelevant stimuli. Even though the participants could not recognize the stimuli in Experiment 2, they differentiated between masked stimuli predicting and not predicting shocks in expectancy ratings. However, expectancy ratings were not related to the conditioned autonomic response. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal attachment cognitions and prediction of symptomatic responses to interpersonal stress.

The authors tested a cognitive-interpersonal hypothesis of depression by examining the role of interpersonal cognitions in the prediction of depression associated with interpersonal stressors. A measure of adult attachment assessed interpersonal cognitions about ability to be close to others and to depend on others and anxiety about rejection and abandonment. Participants were women who had recently graduated from high school; they were followed for 1 year with extensive interview evaluation of life events, depression, and other symptomatology. Generally, cognitions, interpersonal events, and their interactions contributed to the prediction of interview-assessed depressive symptoms, but the effects were not specific to depression and predicted general symptomatology measured by diagnostic interviews as well, and results also varied by attachment subscale. Results were discussed in terms of a developmental psychopathology approach to disorders in young women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-defeating behaviors in organizations: The relationship between thwarted belonging and interpersonal work behaviors.

This multisource field study applied belongingness theory to examine whether thwarted belonging, defined as the perceived discrepancy between one's desired and actual levels of belonging with respect to one's coworkers, predicts interpersonal work behaviors that are self-defeating. Controlling for demographic variables, job type, justice constructs, and trust in organization in a multilevel regression analysis using data from 130 employees of a clinical chemical laboratory and their supervisors, the authors found that employees who perceive greater levels of desired coworker belonging than actual levels of coworker belonging were more likely to engage in interpersonally harmful and less likely to engage in interpersonally helpful behaviors. Implications for the application of belongingness theory to explain self-defeating behaviors in organizations are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dimensions of effective interpersonal communications: Specifying behavioral components.

Examined the language patterns of 10 trainees in a communication skills program. Factor analysis, supported by a pre-post distribution comparison as well as analysis of variance, suggested that effective communication may be defined in terms of appropriately referred emotional expressiveness. The usefulness of media therapy is noted, and implications for training and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional responses to other persons in everyday life situations.

Several times a day over a 4-wk period, 24 West German housewives recorded (a) characteristics of their momentary situation (place, activities, other persons present), (b) their mood states, and (c) their subjective explanations of those mood states. In addition to this time-sampling diary, Ss completed the 16PF twice. The type of social situations and the frequency with which they occurred to the Ss were significantly related to personality measures. Mood states, causal attributions of mood states, actualization, and satisfaction of motives were dependent on characteristics of the person and the environment. Results are discussed in terms of interaction between a person and the social situation. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional responses to art: From collation and arousal to cognition and emotion.

The study of emotional responses to art has remained curiously detached from the psychology of emotions. Historically, the leading tradition has been Daniel Berlyne's psychobiological model, embodied by the "new experimental aesthetics" movement of the 1970s. That theory explained hedonic qualities of art by referring to arousal-modifying "collative properties" of art, such as complexity, novelty, uncertainty, and conflict. Berlyne's influence on the experimental study of aesthetics has been enormous, largely for the better but also for the worse. Berlyne's suspicion of cognitive psychology led to an unproductive perseveration on arousal as the mechanism of "aesthetic responses." This article describes how appraisal theories of emotion inform the study of aesthetics. Appraisal theories make new predictions about emotional responses to art, expand the domain of aesthetic emotions beyond positive emotions such as interest and enjoyment, inform other theories (e.g., prototypicality models), and reinterpret past findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in electrophysiological and behavioral responses to NaCl taste.

We tested the hypothesis that sex differences in preference for NaCl are attributable to estrogen-mediated alterations in gustatory processing. Electrophysiological responses of the chorda tympani nerve to NaCl were blunted by estrogen treatment in ovariectomized female rats, suggesting that females are less sensitive to concentrated NaCl solutions during high estrogen conditions. In contrast, after a taste aversion was conditioned to 150-mM NaCl, estrogen- and oil-treated ovariectomized rats generalized the aversion to a lower concentration of NaCl than did males, suggesting that females are more sensitive to the taste of dilute NaCl solutions regardless of estrogen. Thus, sex differences in NaCl preferences may be attributable to differences in NaCl taste processing that involve both acute and developmental effects of estrogen. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differentiating bulimic-anorexic from normal families using interpersonal and behavioral observational systems.

Compared the ability of interpersonal and behavioral observational systems to differentiate 16 families with a bulimic-anorexic daughter (mean age 18.2 yrs) from 24 control families. Trained coders observed father–mother–daughter triads using 2 theoretically divergent observational systems: A. L. Robin and J. G. Weiss's (1980) Marital Interaction Coding System (MICS), a cognitive-behavioral approach, and the L. S. Benjamin et al (in press) Structural Analysis of Social Behavior (SASB), an interpersonal system. Results from discriminant and regression analyses of 4 types of parent–daughter interactions show that both the SASB and the MICS successfully discriminated between groups to similar extents and that each system added to the predictive power of the other. Jointly, the observational systems accounted for about 50% of the variance in the families' diagnostic status. The key variables from both observational systems were interpersonal codes, including positive and negative dimensions, whereas problem-solving codes did not distinguish the groups. The merits of the 2 observational systems are discussed. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of verbal evaluation feedback and interpersonal distance on behavioral compliance.

80 female clients were individually interviewed in the context of a weight-reduction clinic. In a 2 * 2 factorial design, a counselor offered either accepting or neutral verbal feedback for a client's self-disclosures and sat either at a "personal" or "social" distance from the client. A significant interaction was obtained, which showed that physical proximity strengthened adherence to a counselor's dieting recommendations when accepting feedback was offered and lowered compliance when neutral feedback was expressed. Results are discussed in terms of the notion of consistency in communicative channels. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral and cardiovascular responses to interpersonal challenges among male offspring of essential hypertensives.

Behavioral, cardiovascular, and self-report measures of cognitive and affective responses to 2 interpersonal challenges were examined among 20 men with a positive (FH+) and 20 with a negative (FH–) family history of hypertension. Heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) were measured throughout the laboratory session; Ss were requested to self-report positive and negative conditions, state anger, and state anxiety that occurred during interactions with a male and female confederate. Behavioral responses to interpersonal tasks were videotaped, coded, and categorized into 4 major groupings (positive verbal, positive nonverbal, negative verbal, and negative nonverbal). FH+ individuals exhibited significantly higher resting HR and systolic BP reactivity to both interactions than FH– counterparts. Analyses of behavioral responses for both interactions revealed significantly more negative verbal and nonverbal behavior and less positive nonverbal behavior among FH+ as compared with FH– Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of alcohol administration on psychophysiological and subjective-emotional responses to aversive stimulation in anxiety-sensitive women.

Examined the effects of anxiety-sensitivity (AS) levels, and 1.00 ml/kg alcohol, on autonomic and subjective-emotional responses to aversive stimulation (i.e., noise bursts). Ss were 30 university women divided into 3 AS groups (high, moderate, and low), on the basis of Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) scores. When sober, high-AS women provided higher emotional arousal ratings while anticipating the noise bursts than did low-AS women. Alcohol dampened the noise burst-anticipation ratings, particularly in the high-AS group. ASI scores were positively correlated with degree of sober skin conductance level (SCL) reactivity and with degree of alcohol dampening of SCL reactivity. Thus, high-AS women may use alcohol to normalize their anticipatory emotional and electrodermal overreactivity to threat. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive versus behavioral–interpersonal approaches to the group treatment of depressed college students.

Treated matched groups of 38 depressed undergraduates by behavioral–interpersonal (B–I) and cognitive treatments, each under 2 conditions. Both kinds of treatment proved more effective than no treatment, with some evidence of superiority of the B–I approach. The group treated by the B–I method under intensive conditions made the greatest absolute gains on self-report measures of depression (e.g., Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale) and also became the most interpersonally skillful. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Therapist session intentions in cognitive–behavioral and psychodynamic–interpersonal psychotherapy.

Theories of psychotherapy are implemented by therapists' intentional actions within sessions. This study examined the structure and construct validity of the Therapist Session Intentions (TSI) form. Ten therapists rated their therapeutic intentions following each of 2,305 therapy sessions of cognitive–behavioral or psychodynamic–interpersonal therapy in the Second Sheffield Psychotherapy Project. Seven conceptually coherent clusters of intentions, or therapeutic foci, were identified: treatment context, session structure, affect, obstacles, encouraging change, behavior, and cognition-insight. Contrasting patterns of therapeutic focus across treatments and changes in focus across sessions within treatments appeared conceptually coherent. Correlations across a subsample of sessions confirmed correspondences of the TSI foci with dimensions found previously in observers' ratings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributions as moderators of affective and behavioral responses to social failure.

Undergraduate women with a helpless or nonhelpless attributional style as measured by the Attributional Style Questionnaire were subjected to social failure or success (interaction with unresponsive or responsive confederates). Subsequently, each interacted with a second naive subject. As predicted, individuals with a helpless attributional style became depressed and hostile (as measured by the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List) after interacting with an unresponsive confederate. Furthermore, in comparison with nonhelpless subjects, helpless subjects who interacted with the unresponsive confederate evidenced more tension in their voices during both interactions and less pleasantness in their nonverbal behavior during the second interaction. Overall, the second group of subjects did not respond differently to the first group of subjects as an interactive function of attributions and experimental condition of the initial subjects. However, helpless subjects in the second group spoke less, were less nonverbally pleasant, and became more hostile than did nonhelpless subjects after interacting with individuals who had previously interacted with an unresponsive confederate. A consistent but unexpected pattern was found for nonhelpless subjects: They responded more adaptively to stressful than to nonstressful interactions. Results are interpreted as providing support for a vulnerability model of depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)