The List of Social Situation Problems: Reliability and validity in an adolescent Spanish-speaking sample

The aim of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the Spanish translation of the List of Social Situation Problems (LSSP; S. H. Spence, 1980). The questionnaire was administered to a sample of 388 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18. Exploratory factor analysis identified four factors: Social Anxiety, Adult Oppositional, Assertiveness, and Making Friends, which accounted for 26.64% of the variance. Internal consistency of the total scale was high (alpha = .86). Correlations between the LSSP and two self-report measures of social anxiety, the Questionnaire about Interpersonal Difficulties for Adolescents (r = .45) and the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (r = .48), were statistically significant. A significant difference was found between LSSP total scores for adolescents with and without social anxiety (d = 1.14), supporting the construct validity of the scale.

The effects of a song-singing programme on the affective speaking intonation of people with traumatic brain injury

Primary objective: To examine changes in the relationship between intonation, voice range and mood following music therapy programmes in people with traumatic brain injury. Research design: Data from four case studies were pooled and effect size, ANOVA and correlation calculations were performed to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment. Methods and procedures: Subjects sang three self-selected songs for 15 sessions. Speaking fundamental frequency, fundamental frequency variability, slope, voice range and mood were analysed pre- and post-session. Results: Immediate treatment effects were not found. Long-term improvements in affective intonation were found in three subjects, especially in fundamental frequency. Voice range improved over time and was positively correlated with the three intonation components. Mood scale data showed that immediate effects were in the negative direction whereas there weres increases in positive mood state in the longer-term. Conclusions: Findings suggest that, in the long-term, song singing can improve vocal range and mood and enhance the affective intonation styles of people with TBI.

Speaking for others: The pros and cons of group advocates using collective language

We examined how rhetorical style affects evaluations of group advocates, and how these evaluations are moderated by group identification. University students were given a letter to the editor defending student welfare. The argument was either constructed using personal language ('I believe') or collective language ('we believe'). Furthermore, the letter was either attributed to an official advocate (president of the student union) or an unofficial advocate (a rank-and-file member of the student body). Consistent with the social identity perspective, participants who showed strong identification as a university student thought that the group would feel better represented by official advocates using collective rather than personal language. Low identifiers, however, did not rate the rhetorical styles differently on representativeness. Furthermore, low identifiers (but not high identifiers) rated official advocates as more likable and more effective when they used personal rather than collective language. The discussion focuses on the conflict low identifiers might feel between (a) needing to homogenize with other group members in order to maximize the influence and political effectiveness of their message at the collective level, and (b) protecting themselves against categorization threat.

A multicultural study of stereotyping in English-speaking countries

Citizens of 9 different English-speaking countries (N = 619) evaluated the average, or typical, citizen of 5 English-speaking countries (Great Britain, Canada, Nigeria, United States, Australia) on 9 pairs of bipolar adjectives. Participants were drawn from Australia, Botswana, Canada, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, the United States, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. There were statistically significant similarities in the rankings of the 5 stimulus countries on 8 of the 9 adjective dimensions and a strong convergence of autostereotypes and heterostereotypes on many traits. The results relate to previous stereotyping research and traditional methods of assessing the accuracy of national stereotypes.