Mental Health Issues of Women Prisoners in Karachi Pakistan

Abstract The present research aimed at exploring the mental health issues of women prisoners in a Karachi jail. Th

Affective interpersonal touch in close relationships: a cross-cultural perspective

Interpersonal touch behavior differs across cultures, yet no study to date has systematically tested for cultural variation in affective touch, nor examined the factors that might account for this variability. Here, over 14,000 individuals from 45 countries were asked whether they embraced, stroked, kissed, or hugged their partner, friends, and youngest child during the week preceding the study. We then examined a range of hypothesized individual-level factors (sex, age, parasitic history, conservatism, religiosity, and preferred interpersonal distance) and cultural-level factors (regional temperature, parasite stress, regional conservatism, collectivism, and religiosity) in predicting these affective-touching behaviors. Our results indicate that affective touch was most prevalent in relationships with partners and children, and its diversity was relatively higher in warmer, less conservative, and religious countries, and among younger, female, and liberal people. This research allows for a broad and integrated view of the bases of cross-cultural variability in affective touch

Expression of Aggressive Tendencies in the Drawings of Children and Youth Who Survived the Northern Pakistan Earthquake

The study focused on the presence of aggressive tendencies in the drawings of children who survived the northern Pakistan earthquake. The data was collected one year after the earthquake from Sahara Children Academy (Mallot Tehsil) and Surbuland (camp school set up by the Army at District Bagh). The sample consisted of 75 children (44 boys and 31 girls) age range from 5 to 15 years with a mean age of 8 years. The Human Figure Drawing as projective test (Koppitz, 1969) was used. The drawings were analyzed utilizing a list of emotional indicators for aggression. The list, consisting of 24 indicators, was drawn from the literature on assessment of human figure drawings (Gilbert, 1980). The results indicated the presence of aggressive tendencies among these children with straight lines as the most frequently occurring indicator among both genders. Chi square analysis was conducted to compare males and females for the frequency of occurrence of emotional indicators in drawings. Findings reflect significant differences in frequency of occurrence of aggression related indicators between genders with calculated X2 =4.37,

Universality of the triangular theory of love: Adaptation and psychometric properties of the triangular love scale in 25 countries

The Triangular Theory of Love (measured with Sternberg\u27s Triangular Love Scale - STLS) is a prominent theoretical concept in empirical research on love. To expand the culturally homogeneous body of previous psychometric research regarding the STLS, we conducted a large-scale cross-cultural study with the use of this scale. In total, we examined more than 11,000 respondents, but as a result of applied exclusion criteria, the final analyses were based on a sample of 7332 participants from 25 countries (from all inhabited continents). We tested configural invariance, metric invariance, and scalar invariance, all of which confirmed the cultural universality of the theoretical construct of love analyzed in our study. We also observed that levels of love components differ depending on relationship duration, following the dynamics suggested in the Triangular Theory of Love. Supplementary files with all our data, including results on love intensity across different countries along with STLS versions adapted in a few dozen languages, will further enable more extensive research on the Triangular Theory of Love