Parental attachment and conflict behavior: Implications for offspring's attachment, loneliness, and relationship satisfaction

This study assessed the implications of parental attachment security and parental conflict behavior for offspring's relational adjustment (attachment security, loneliness, and relationship satisfaction). Further, reports of parental conflict behavior were obtained from both parents and offspring, addressing questions regarding agreement between reporters and the origin and extent of discrepant perceptions. Results revealed consistent patterns of conflict behavior and moderate agreement between reporters. However, offspring reported parental conflict behavior more negatively than parents, especially when offspring or parents were anxious about relationships. Parental attachment security had direct associations with offspring's relationship anxiety, whereas associations between parental attachment and offspring's loneliness and discomfort with closeness were mediated by parental conflict behavior. Parental conflict behavior was also associated with offspring's relationship satisfaction. The results are discussed in terms of the mechanisms involved in the intergenerational transmission of relationship difficulties.

The association between number of homework assignments completed during a lifestyle physical activity intervention and scores on transtheoretical measures

An assumption of theory-based physical activity interventions is that active participation positively affects the theoretical constructs upon which the intervention is based. This assumption is rarely tested. This study assessed whether participation, defined as completion of homework, in a lifestyle physical activity intervention was associated with changes over 6 months in constructs the homework addressed: the behavioral and cognitive processes of change, self-efficacy, and decisional balance (the pros and cons). Participants were 244 sedentary adults aged 25 to 75 years. They completed an average of 12 of 20 homework assignments. Those completing at least two-thirds of the homework (n = 113) had greater changes in the theoretical constructs from pretest to posttest than those completing less (n = 90). Post-hoc analyses suggest that completing theory-based homework may impact the processes of change and self-efficacy in lifestyle physical activity interventions and, therefore, are warranted in future interventions.

The impact of individualist and collectivist group norms on evaluations of dissenting group members

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the impact of individualist and collectivist norms on evaluations of dissenting group members. In the first experiment (N = 113), group norms prescribing individualism or collectivism were manipulated and participants were asked to evaluate a group member who expressed an attitude dissenting from or concordant with the group. In line with predictions, group members with concordant attitudes were evaluated more positively than group members with dissenting attitudes when norms prescribed collectivism. However, for high identifiers, we found an attenuation of the preference for Concordant over dissenting attitudes when norms prescribed individualism. These findings were replicated in a second experiment (N= 87), where dissent was operationalized in a way that did not reveal the content of the attitude. The discussion focused on the importance of individualist norms for broadening latitudes of acceptable group member behavior. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Understanding the multidimensionality of group development

This article presents a three-dimensional definition space of the group development literature that differentiates group development models on three dimensions: content, population, and path dependency. The multidimensional conceptualization structures and integrates the vast group development literature, enabling direct comparison of competing theories. The utility of this definition space is demonstrated by using the relative positioning of two seemingly competing group development models-the punctuated equilibrium model and the integrative model-to demonstrate their complementarity. The authors also show how organizational researchers and practitioners can use the three-dimensional definition space to select an appropriate theoretical model for the group or group process with which they are working.

When group members admit to being conformist: The role of relative intragroup status in conformity self-reports

Five studies examined the hypothesis that people will strategically portray the self as being more g-roup influenced the more junior they feel within the group. Among social psychologists (Study 1), ratings of self-conformity by g-roup members were greater when the status of the participant was low than when it was high. These effects were replicated in Studies 2, 3, and 4 in which relative intragroup status was manipulated. In Study 3, the authors found junior group members described themselves as more conformist than senior members when they were addressing an ingroup audience, but when they were addressing an outgroup audience the effect disappeared. Furthermore, junior members (but not senior members) rated themselves as more conformist when they were led to believe their responses were public than when responses were private (Study 5). The discussion focuses on the strategic processes underlying low-status group members' self-reports of group influence and the functional role of conformity in groups.

Differentiation between and within groups: The influence of individualist and collectivist group norms

The power of individualist and collectivist group norms to influence intergroup and inter-individual differentiation was examined in three studies. Study I revealed that intergroup differentiation was lower when group norms prescribed individualism than when they prescribed collectivism. However inter-individual differentiation was higher when group norms endorsed individualism than when they promoted collectivism. In Studies 2 and 3 we found evidence for the moderating effect of group salience on the relationship between norms and differentiation. Specifically, the effect that individualist group norms reduced intergroup differentiation but enhanced inter-individual differentiation was more pronounced when group salience was high rather than low. This finding demonstrates that conformity to a group norm prescribing individualism influences the manner in which positive differentiation is expressed. The discussion focuses on the caveats of introducing individualist group norms when attempting to reduce intergroup differentiation. Copyright (c) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Dysprosodic speech following basal ganglia insult: Toward a conceptual framework for the study of cerebral representation of prosody

Progress in understanding brain/behavior relationships in adult-acquired dysprosody has led to models of cortical hemispheric representation of prosodic processing based on functional (linguistic vs affective) or physical (timing vs pitch) parameters. These explanatory perspectives have not been reconciled, and also a number of neurobehavior syndromes that include dysprosody among their neurological signs have not yet been integrated. In addition to expanding the functional perspective on prosody, some of these syndromes have implicated a significant role of subcortical nuclei in prosodic competence. In this article, two patients with acquired dysprosodic speech following damage to basal ganglia nuclei were evaluated using behavioral, acoustic, cognitive, and radiographic approaches. Selective quantitative measures were performed on each individual’s performance to provide detailed verification and clarification of clinical observations, and to test hypotheses regarding prosodic function. These studies, combined with a review of related clinical research findings, exemplify the value of a broader perspective on the neurobehavioral dysfunction underlying acquired adult dysprosodic speech, and lead to a new, proposed conceptual framework for the cerebral representation of prosody.

Motivations for group membership: The role of subjective importance and uncertainty reduction

An experiment was conducted to investigate the idea that an important motive for identifying with social groups is to reduce subjective uncertainty, particularly uncertainty on subjectively important dimensions that have implications for the self-concept (e.g., Hogg, 1996; Hogg & Mullin, 1999). When people are uncertain on a dimension that is subjectively important, they self-categorize in terms of an available social categorization and, thus, exhibit group behaviors. To test this general hypothesis, group membership, task uncertainty, and task importance were manipulated in a 2 x 2 x 2 between-participants design (N = 128), under relatively minimal group conditions. Ingroup identification and desire for consensual validation of specific attitudes were the key dependent measures, but we also measured social awareness. All three predictions were supported. Participants identified with their group (H1), and desired to obtain consensual validation from ingroup members (H2) when they were uncertain about their judgments on important dimensions, indicating that uncertainty reduction motivated participants towards embracing group membership. In addition, identification mediated the interactive effect of the independent variables on consensual validation (H3), and the experimental results were not associated with an increased sense of social awareness and, therefore, were unlikely to represent only behavioral compliance with generic social norms. Some implications of this research in the study of cults and totalist groups and the explication of genocide and group violence are discussed.

The role of team identification in the dissimilarity-conflict relationship

This study examined the role of team identification in the dissimilarity and conflict relationship. We tested competing predictions that team identification would either mediate or moderate the positive associations between visible (age, gender and ethnic background), professional (background) and value dissimilarity and task and relationship conflict. Data was collected from 27 MBA student teams twice during a semester. Multilevel modelling and a longitudinal design were used. Results showed that value dissimilarity was positively associated with task and relationship conflict at Time 2. Its effects on relationship conflict at Time 1 were moderated by team identification. Team identification also moderated the effects of gender, age and ethnic dissimilarity on task conflict at Time 2, and the effects of gender and professional dissimilarity on relationship conflict at Time 2. No support was obtained for the mediating role of team identification on the associations between dissimilarity and conflict, or for changes in the effects of dissimilarity over time.