Research Note: Beasts and Babies: Styles of Stereotyping

This research note presents a very brief summary of the argument we are developing for a much longer and more detailed journal article. Our aim here is to present the basic hypotheses that: 1) two main styles of stereotyping are used to either dehumanize or infantilize a target group, and 2) the selection of a style of stereotyping depends upon the extent to which the target group is perceived as a threat

Violence Goes to School

The growing problem of juvenile violence has found its way into all of our institutions, including our schools. More and more school administrators report having to deal with violence on an everyday basis and having to suspend students for carrying weapons or being involved in violent confrontations. In response, many observers have suggested solutions that are politically expedient, but simply won’t work. They fail to address the question of what makes violence so appealing to so many youngsters, in the first place. Without providing healthy alternatives to violence, all the training programs, counseling, and therapy will have little effect on our crime rate. We need a cultural revolution at the grass-roots level

The Interaction of Mindful Awareness and Acceptance in Couples Satisfaction

Past studies indicate that the awareness and acceptance facets of trait mindfulness both independently predict relationship satisfaction. However, this study hypothesized that the combination of awareness and acceptance might be a stronger contributor to relationship functioning than either in isolation. Regression analyses were used to test whether mindful awareness and acceptance interact in predicting couples satisfaction in a sample of dating or married college students (n = 138). Acceptance was positively associated with couples satisfaction, while awareness was unrelated. These two mindfulness facets interacted such that greater awareness was related to poorer satisfaction when acceptance was low, but was unrelated when acceptance was high. Conversely, greater acceptance was only related to greater satisfaction when awareness was moderate or high. These results suggest the combination of high awareness and low acceptance can be problematic for relationships, while at least moderate mindful awareness is needed for acceptance to be beneficial

Comparing Cognitive Fusion and Cognitive Reappraisal as Predictors of College Student Mental Health

Transdiagnostic cognitive behavioral interventions target different cognitive processes to promote mental health, including cognitive fusion and cognitive reappraisal. Determining the relative impact of cognitive fusion and reappraisal on a range of student mental health concerns could help interventions target psychopathological cognitive processes more effectively. Therefore, this study examined the longitudinal impact of cognitive fusion and reappraisal on mental health and functioning outcomes. A series of hierarchical regression models tested the effects of cognitive fusion and reappraisal in a sample of college students (n = 339). When controlling for reappraisal and baseline symptoms, fusion predicted distress, depression, generalized anxiety, social anxiety, hostility, academic distress, and student role problems 1 month later. Reappraisal predicted only student role problems longitudinally when controlling for fusion. These results suggest that cognitive fusion is a stronger predictor than reappraisal for a range of student mental health concerns and may be a particularly important target for improving student mental health