Infantilizating speech, in which individuals speak to older adults as if they were children, is a communication style that affects the recipient's ability to form important relationships and elicit vital information. The purpose of the present study was to identify specific factors that may relate to the type of speech directed toward nursing home residents by staff members of those institutions, specifically infantilizing speech. The factors examined were knowledge about the aging process, attitudes toward the elderly, education and experience of nursing home staff, the extent to which infantilizing speech may be perceived as nurturing and respectful and the way it relates to ratings of satisfaction and competence of the patient. Fifty staff members of long term care facilities, including nurses and certified nursing assistants, participated in this study by filling out a questionnaire addressing the areas of interest. Regression analyses were carried out for each of the eight dependent variables in order to determine the effect of the designated independent variables. There were significant predictors for the dependent variables of respect and nurturance. Nurturance was rated as low by those with higher levels of knowledge (Beta = $-$.31, t = $-$2.21, p $<$.03, R$\sp2$ =.03). Fewer negative attitudes was also related to viewing infantilizing speech as more respectful (Beta = $-$.45, t = $-$3.18, p $<$.00, R$\sp2$ =.13) and nurturing (Beta = $-$.48, t = $-$3.47, p $<$.00, R$\sp2$ =.14) when compared to the neutral conditions. Recommendations are made for using these findings in the development of staff training programs.

An individual's social identity development in pluralistic societies going through an integration process has been little understood. A study was conducted on the Lebanese individual's social identity development. Based on a study of the theories of the psychology of social identity development, four Lebanese Identity development stages were proposed where an individual's social identity progresses from an unintegrated Lebanese, sectarian group identity, towards a more integrated Lebanese Identity. To test the validity of these stages, two research studies, a qualitative and a quantitative study, were conducted to explore the Lebanese social identity. In the qualitative study, open ended interviews of a number of Lebanese community leaders were conducted and analyzed. While the four proposed identity stages were reflected in the subjects' views, the majority of their views reflected a higher stage of identity development where the emphasis was on a civic society and the satisfaction of the individual's rights and needs as a basis of the integrated Lebanese social identity. These results were in agreement with the proposed Lebanese Identity development stages. Moreover, a quantitative research study examined the relationship between an individual's various socio-economic factors and their level of identity development. The results revealed that there is a strong relationship between an individual's level of identity development and the following socio-economic variables: Sectarian identity, profession, level of education, source of data collection, and nature of dual Lebanese nationality. In general, it was concluded that individuals had higher levels of Lebanese Identity development when they enjoyed a more secure life, had higher levels of communication and exposure to others in society as well as higher levels of education.

Historical accounts, clinical theory, and empirical research converge in suggesting that intimate attachment and feelings of attraction permeate the psychotherapy relationship. When ignored or mismanaged, feelings of attraction can result in transgressions of the therapeutic boundary, often in the form of therapist sexual misconduct. This study explored predoctoral psychology interns' clinical judgment and ethical reasoning in response to incidents of attraction in their clinical and educational relationships. Survey data from a cluster sample of 160 interns revealed that in the course of training, 95% experienced attraction in one or more of their clinical relationships, although 96.9% never seriously considered engaging in sexual contact with a client, and none actually engaged in contact. Similarly, 83.3% experienced attraction in one or more of their educational relationships, with 13.1% seriously having considered engaging in erotic contact with an educator, and 4.4% having done so. Content analysis indicates that attraction in clinical dyads is more likely to be evaluated as growth-promoting, whereas attraction in educational relationships is more likely to be evaluated as growth-inhibiting. Training environments are more likely to be described as supportive in their response to incidents of attraction within clinical dyads, and more likely to be described as unsupportive in their response to incidents of attraction within educational dyads. Ethical reasoning was assessed by means of analysis of self-generated narrative accounts of incidents of attraction in psychotherapy relationships. Narratives were interpreted for level of ethical reasoning using a model operationalized by Arnold (1945) and derived from Bakhtin's (1981) paradigm of authoritative discourse and internally persuasive discourse. Level of ethical reasoning was found to be unrelated to interns' global rating of their ethical training and their experiences of attraction. These results suggest that further examination is needed to identify the dimensions of ethical training which facilitate the development of more complex levels of ethical reasoning.

Life events, even those that are predictable over the course of a life, can create psychosocial stress. Survivors of catastrophic events may be particularly susceptible to the stress of life. While the aid and comfort available to those embedded in a social networks appear to help most weather the storms of life, there may be unique populations that are relatively immune to social support. Veterans of combat, owing to the extreme nature of war experiences, may be just such a population. Throughout the life course, combat veterans can experience psychological distress stemming from their war experiences. One manifestation of this distress is symptoms of combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A model was developed that would account for variation in symptoms of PTSD among veterans based on timing of military service, exposure to combat, current stressful life events, and level of social support available. This study examines determinants of reported symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder in veterans seeking ambulatory care at Department of Veterans Affairs facilities. Data derived from the pilot study for the Veterans Health Study, funded by the Department of Veteran Affairs, were used to assess whether veterans’ symptomatology may be viewed as an interplay between stress factors, specifically a history of exposure to combat and life events occurring within the last year, and perceived levels of current social support. The results indicate that stress factors, including combat exposure and current stressful life events, are major determinants of PTSD symptoms in veterans. Age at entry to the military and current levels of social support did not prove to be significant predictors of these symptoms in this sample.

Mainstream orientations to conflict management neglect to account for the long-term impact of emotional satisfaction during interpersonal interactions. Thus, this paper proposes a new approach to conflict management, the “Multi-Dimensional Orientation” (MDO), which builds upon prior notions of conflict management by incorporating affective and instrumental elements of conflict. The MDO suggests that people's short- and long-term relationship quality can be enhanced if their affective and instrumental needs during conflict situations are satisfied. To test hypotheses derived from the MDO, survey participants reported on a recent interpersonal conflict and their relationship quality with the other disputant during the reported conflict. Analyses revealed a positive relationship between the extent to which disputants' affective and instrumental needs were satisfied during the conflict and their assessments of their working and post-conflict relationship quality with one another. Affective satisfaction showed to be the more powerful predictor of long-term relationship satisfaction in general, although characteristics of the participants influenced affect's predictive power. In particular, gender differences emerged, showing that affective and instrumental satisfaction relate to long-term relationship quality for females, while for males long-term relationship quality relates only to instrumental satisfaction.

Drawing upon the emerging literature that examines differences in values about marriage, this study examined how broader cultural values of western societies, based in individualism, and eastern societies, based in collectivism, shape values about marriage. In comparing the marital value system of European Americans with that of Lebanese or Lebanese-Americans, a theory of cultural identity was utilized. While Americans were expected to value the self-reflective aspect of marriage, which nuclearizes marriage around the husband-wife relationship, the Lebanese were expected to value the familial aspect of marriage, which views the union as a relational entity, the value of which is closely connected to that of the family system. Using a Q sort technique—a method of rank ordering a set of statements about values of interest—two factors were extrapolated, indicating two distinct sets of values regarding marriage. The first cluster of individuals (Factor I) consisted of two thirds of the Americans sample and a quarter of the Lebanese sample. The second cluster (Factor II) consisted of a majority of the Lebanese and a single American participant. As hypothesized, the values highlighted in the first factor, or 'western'-driven factor, focused on romance; the endorsement of physical and psychological intimacy; and the belief that marriage is a private enterprise that only takes account of the marital values of the couple (i.e., 'couple' individualism). Also as hypothesized, the beliefs highlighted by the second factor, or Lebanese factor, focused on values such as psychological intimacy more than physical closeness as well as the importance of family, in particular their own parents, to marriage. Also important to this group was the endorsement of romanticism, particularly the idea of soul mate as marital partner. Demographic characteristics of the Lebanese sample indicated that education was a determining feature for distinguishing factor loadings. Specifically, we found that the Lebanese who loaded on the 'western'-driven factor were significantly more educated than their compatriots who loaded on the 'Lebanese' factor. With regards to gender, both a Q sort and ANOVA analysis found no differences within nationality or between nationalities, disconfirming previous research that American women are more communal (i.e., more 'eastern') than American men; and that women immigrants adopt the host cultures' values more readily than their male counterparts when such country provides more opportunity. Finally, we recommended that the development of a marital quality scale for Arabs in general should include items that reflect the values found in this study to be important to the majority of the Lebanese in addition to the traditionally 'western' items that were found to also be of value to this population.

The hypothesis that as relationship costs increase, relationship satisfaction decreases has not received consistent empirical support. This series of three studies introduces a potential moderating variable: appreciation. Some people may have their debts of time, energy, or resources replenished by feeling appreciated by their partner. As a result, these people would not experience the negative relationship traditionally expected between costs and relationship satisfaction. Instead, there should be a positive relationship between engaging in these communal behaviors and relationship satisfaction when there is appreciation in the relationship. In addition, receiving appreciation may change the way individuals feel about the routine tasks associated with being in a relationship and running a household. In Study 1, 98 college-students in romantic relationships answered a short survey. In Study 2, a similar survey was given to a sample of 123 married and cohabiting women with a mean age of 43 years. Participants assessed how appreciated they felt for chores (behaviors done for the household and only asked of the non-student sample) and for favors (behaviors done for their partner and asked of both samples). The findings demonstrated that the negative relationship between costly behaviors and relationship satisfaction can be reversed if people perceive a partner's appreciation for their efforts. In addition, people felt less obligated and more motivated to engage in these behaviors when appreciation was present. A third study brought the same questions to a controlled laboratory study. Ninety college-students completed a boring task. They received either a reward, appreciation, or neither. The participants then rated the task, the experimenter, and their willingness to participate again in the future. No differences were found between the three experimental groups.

Understanding the development and expression of conflict management styles within sibling relationships has important implications for identifying interventions for fostering children's social competence. The present study investigated the relationship between parents' early and concurrent marital conflict resolution styles and their first-grade child's use of constructive and destructive conflict management strategies with their siblings. Using both Social Learning Theory (Bandura, 1969) and Family Systems Theory (Minuchin, 1985), the current study explored parents' styles of marital conflict resolution as predictors of children's observed sibling conflict strategies. Participants included 50 mothers and fathers, their first-grade child and next younger sibling, within a 3.5 year range. Families from the project were drawn from a larger longitudinal study investigating the transition to parenthood in 153 working-class, dual-earner couples. Self-report scales measuring marital conflict resolution (e.g., Positive Problem Solving, Engagement, Withdrawal, and Compliance) were completed by each parent across the transition to parenthood and five years later when their oldest child entered the first grade. At a 5-year follow-up home visit, parents rated their oldest child's behavior toward their sibling across three dimensions (e.g., Positive Involvement, Conflict and Rivalry, Avoidance). In addition, videotaped free-play sibling observations were conducted to assess sibling positive and negative connectedness as well as sibling conflict resolution styles. Observational data revealed that fathers' use of compliance strategies was associated with siblings' greater likelihood of being classified as using only destructive strategies and engaging in fewer conflicts. Mothers' conflict styles were more strongly implicated in parent reports of sibling behavior. Parents' conflict resolution styles were most linked to negative sibling interactions, rather than positive involvement. The findings highlight the balance of destructive marital conflict styles relative to constructive styles in understanding parent reports of the sibling relationship. Future research should consider particular couple patterns of conflict styles as potential influences on sibling conflict behaviors.

There is an increase in the diagnosis of mental illness in the inmate population within correctional facilities in the United States. Most of these inmates are male, and many of them are fathers of minor children. Although fathers are plentiful among inmate populations, there is a lack of empirical research on incarcerated fathers, and even less on those with mental illness. This study contributes to extant literature on incarcerated fathers by examining the effects on a type of social support (visitation) on depression symptomatology, using stress process and behavioral theory to frame the study. A handful of studies suggest that social support is linked to positive adjustment during incarceration, and positive adjustment may buffer symptoms of depression. Specifically, I addressed whether amount of visitation or type of visitor is associated with reports of depressive symptoms in a sample of 400 fathers diagnosed with depression and incarcerated with the Florida Department of Corrections. After controlling for a number of variables known to influence visitation and depression, results showed that visitation was related to a lack of increase in reports of depressive symptoms 12 months after incarceration and fewer reports of depressive symptoms. Post hoc testing revealed a significant difference between inmates receiving zero visitations and those receiving 1-5 visits. Further, results also showed that the type of visitor (spouse/girlfriend, child, or parent vs. sibling, friend, or other relative) did not specifically affect changes in depressive symptoms. Recommendations are made for future research that aim to enhance successful prison adjustment, maintenance of social support systems, and reentry policy initiatives for the incarcerated fathers suffering from depression. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Family and Child Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Summer Semester 2015. / June 25, 2015. / behavioral theory, depression, incarceration, social support, visitation / Includes bibliographical references. / Kay Pasley, Professor Directing Thesis; Melinda Gonzales-Backen, Committee Member; Stephen Tripodi, Committee Member.

Religious people tend to reject causing harm on classic moral dilemmas where harm maximizes overall outcomes (consistent with deontology; inconsistent with utilitarianism), but the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear. We propose that this lack of clarity stems in part from a common method issue in classic moral dilemma research. Namely, although most theorizing about dilemmas assumes that inclinations to avoid harm are independent of inclinations to maximize outcomes, typical dilemma analyses pit these two considerations against each other, making them necessarily inverted. Therefore, previous research on religiosity and moral dilemma judgments cannot ascertain whether religious people are particularly inclined to avoid harm, disinclined to maximize outcomes, or evince a more complex pattern of inclinations. To avoid this methodological issue, in the current work, we used process dissociation to independently quantify outcome-maximizing (utilitarian) and harm-avoidance (deontological) response inclinations underpinning classic relative dilemma judgments and tested several possible mediators between religiosity and these response inclinations. In three studies (N = 1,042), we replicated the common finding that religiosity predicted rejection of harm in classic dilemmas. However, process dissociation revealed that religiosity predicted both increased harm-avoidance and decreased outcome-maximization. Moreover, across multiple studies, religiosity predicted endorsement of divine command beliefs, which mediated reduced utilitarian inclinations. Religiosity also predicted empathic concern, which mediated increased deontological inclinations. Additionally, religiosity predicted moral absolutism, which mediated increases on both inclinations, as well as fatalism, which mediated decreases in both inclinations. These parallel findings canceled out for relative judgments. Study 3 clarified that most of these findings are specific to intrinsic religiosity; extrinsic religiosity shows a somewhat different pattern of results. Together, these findings suggest that religious people are not as ‘purely deontological’ as previously thought—rather, religiosity influences moral judgments through a complex web of cognitive and affective constructs that both increase tendencies to avoid harm regardless of the outcomes and decrease concerns for maximizing situational outcomes. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Spring Semester 2018. / April 10, 2018. / lay meta-ethics, moral dilemmas, process dissociation, religion / Includes bibliographical references. / Paul Conway, Professor Directing Thesis; Jon Maner, Committee Member; Chris Schatschneider, Committee Member.