<p> Research has shown that being a mental health therapist (MHT) is an extremely stressful vocation and often leads to burnout (Gibson, 2009). Evidence supports that humor and mindfulness assist in mitigating the negative effects of stress and burnout (Malinoski, 2013; Brown &amp; Ryan, 2003). It is also known that the effective use of humor (McGhee, 2010a) and mindfulness practices (Hayes, 2005) can be learned, practiced, and integrated into daily interactions across the lifespan. This research examined humor styles, trait mindfulness, and burnout of 94 licensed MHTs in community mental health centers located in Western Massachusetts in an attempt to add to research regarding burnout and protective factors that may minimize the impact of burnout. </p><p> Results found that MHTs with higher scores of trait mindfulness reported reduced levels of burnout, which supports existing research. Additionally, those reporting higher frequency of maladaptive styles of humor tend to report higher levels of Depersonalization. MHTs who reported the regular use of affiliative types of humor reported a lower rate of Emotional Exhaustion. These findings may be used to inform future pre-service and in-service training of MHTs to include attention to the possible protective factors of adaptive humor styles and trait mindfulness in an effort to prevent burnout among practicing MHTs thereby improving longevity in the field.</p>

<p> Limited research on creativity in delinquents concluded they were generally not creative, and delinquents who <i>were</i> creative tended to express creativity in the domains of crime and violence. None of this research examined creativity in delinquents with testing validated to measure both the divergent-exploratory and convergent-integrative thinking processes, now considered essential and interdependent elements of creative thinking. Further, no studies empirically examined creative products for violent and criminal content. The present study used archival data from an adapted Evaluation of Potential Creativity (EPoC) to analyze the creative potential of adolescents in a juvenile detention center relative to a reference group of adolescents in the general population. The adapted EPoC assessed creative potential in the graphic and verbal domains of divergent-exploratory thinking and the graphic domain of convergent-integrative thinking. Drawings from the adapted EPoC were also analyzed for presence and level of unsolicited violent content. </p><p> Delinquents demonstrated lower levels of creativity than adolescents of the general population in the graphic domain of both divergent-exploratory and convergent-integrative thinking. However, there was no difference in level of creativity between delinquents and adolescents of the general population in the verbal domain of divergent-exploratory thinking. In addition, delinquency did not moderate the relationship between creativity and production of unsolicited violent content in drawings; high levels of creativity in both delinquents and adolescents of the general population were associated with the production of high levels of unsolicited violent content in drawings. </p><p> The finding of no difference in levels of verbal creativity between delinquents and adolescents of the general population may suggest both groups share a common deficiency in verbal creativity due to environmental and pedagogic factors; specifically, an art bias equating creativity with graphic but not verbal creativity, and a teacher preference for students oriented toward the visual arts. The finding associating high levels of creativity with high levels of unsolicited violent content in drawings for both delinquents and adolescents of the general population may be related to the observed tendency of all creative adolescents to draw a greater volume of content overall, indicating drawing violent content is commonplace and disassociated from delinquency.</p>

There has been much debate in the literature regarding the use and abuse of projective drawings in clinical and school settings. The criticism has largely centered around interpretation and use of indicators within these drawings that have not achieved consensus in the research regarding their validity. This study attempts to bridge the gap between those opposed and those in support of projective drawings. It does this by illustrating that valid indicators can be found within projective drawings provided accurate, sensitive and reliable tools are available to measure these indicators. This research analyzed the relationship between pencil pressure used during drawing and State and Trait anxiety. A highly accurate and precise pressure sensitive palette was used to reliably and objectively measure the degree of pencil pressure used by the participants during three drawing tests, including the Draw a Person, Bender-Gestalt Visual Motor Integration Test, and the drawing of an automobile (n = 50). The State Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children assessed the participants' levels of State and Trait anxiety. Results indicated that individuals with higher levels of Trait anxiety used significantly less pencil pressure on all three drawing measures than individuals with lower levels of Trait anxiety. Further, individuals with high and low levels of State anxiety used significantly more pencil pressure on all three drawing measures than individuals with medium levels of State anxiety. The implications of these findings, as well as considerations for future research are discussed.

<p> The Fullerton Ontological Confusion (FOC) scale was constructed to address the issues of inconsistent theory and inadequate measurement regarding paranormal, superstitious, magical, and supernatural (PSMS) beliefs. For the FOC scale, PSMS beliefs were defined as confusions of ontology, or the misattribution of core knowledge belief categories. The FOC was empirically evaluated under an Item Response Theory framework using the nominal response model (NRM) to estimate item parameters and the Wald test to evaluate within-item category variation. Using the NRM and the Wald test, the FOC scale items were revised to yield a measure that was optimally formatted and informative. Correlational analysis was used to validate the FOC scale by testing the hypothesized relationships to theoretically related and unrelated constructs. The FOC scale was found to have a good degree of validity with most of the testable validation hypotheses being supported. Compared to the available existing measures, the FOC scale could be used as a more pure and informative measure for PSMS beliefs. </p>

<p> This hermeneutic study explores the phenomenon of love-suicide using Cleopatra VII as a case study. This research explores a variety of depth psychological perspectives of death and destruction, suicide, and romantic love in order to gain an understanding of the meaning of death for the psyche and the archetypal underpinnings of suicide in the context of romantic love. Through investigating how the experiences and situations generated by love and generated in love may enliven the archetypal energy of suicide, defined as &ldquo;destructive reconstruction,&rdquo; this investigation establishes a basis for the notion that the shadow side of love may pull the soul to suicide. </p><p> This study uses the myth of Cleopatra&rsquo;s love-suicide to test the ideas developed regarding the soul&rsquo;s pull to suicide in romantic love. By imagining and exploring the projections and identifications Cleopatra may have held and how they may have impacted her love relationship with Antony and her suicide, this study demonstrates how the alchemy of being in love can deconstruct and reconstruct psyche and how love can dissolve the ego and materialize new life. The study concludes that this deconstructive process, an alchemical dissolution, is directed by the Self and ultimately may lead to physical death. This study&rsquo;s symbolic inquiry into Cleopatra&rsquo;s love-suicide illustrates that unlocking the mausoleum of the heart and exposing the interior darkness is a destructive process that is also potentially creative. That is, it may uncover the buried treasure within or bury the body that houses it.</p>

The heritability of personality was addressed using a psychophysiological measure, midfrontal EEG asymmetry, and a paper and pencil measure, the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ). The degree to which midfrontal EEG asymmetry was correlated with the scales of the MPQ was assessed. Relatively greater right midfrontal EEG asymmetry was associated with higher Absorption and Negative Emotionality scores in both the Cz and linked mastoid reference schemes in females, but not in males. Relatively greater right midfrontal EEG asymmetry was also associated with higher Traditionalism and Positive Emotionality scores in the Cz reference scheme in females but not in males. Midfrontal EEG asymmetry was found to be modestly heritable in females, but not in males. Further, each of the scales of the MPQ correlated with midfrontal EEG asymmetry demonstrated moderate to high heritability. A bivariate Cholesky model was used to estimate the heritability of the phenotypic correlations between midfrontal EEG asymmetry and each of the scales with which it was related. Only the midfrontal EEG Asymmetry/Negative Emotionality Cholesky model demonstrated sufficient fit the observed data. According to this model, common genetic effects accounted for approximately 40% of the observed phenotypic correlation between midfrontal EEG asymmetry and Negative Emotionality.

Psychophysiological responses (e.g. startle blink magnitude and ERPs) have demonstrated sensitivity to individual differences in humans (e.g. Patrick, Bradley, & Lang, 1993), as well as discriminating between the valence and arousal qualities of affective stimuli such as photographs depicting varying emotional content. The present study examines startle blink responses and event-related potential (ERP) measures in students, selected based on their level of socialization, as they viewed 54 slides that fell into one of three affective categories (pleasant, neutral, unpleasant). Results supported a slightly modified version of a theory suggesting that attentional processes are modified by the affective environment (Cuthbert et al., (2000)). Results did not support hypotheses predicting that low socialized individuals would respond to affective stimuli in much the same way as true psychopaths do.

A good deal of research suggests that high self-esteem individuals cope with failure by engaging in self-serving biases that allow them to deny the negative implications of failure. If high self-esteem individuals cope successfully with failure through a process of denial, then making it easier for low self-esteem individuals to deny negative feedback might allow them to cope successfully with failure too. To test this notion, high and low self-esteem participants took a test of creativity and were given feedback that they were either creative or non-creative. Following this procedure, the ease of denial of the feedback was manipulated by telling the participants that the creativity test was either highly valid or invalid. Participants' evaluations of the test, positive and negative mood, and self-ratings on creativity were then assessed. It was expected that high self-esteem participants would generally make more self-serving evaluations of the test than low self-esteem individuals, and as a result, experience more pleasant affect and view themselves more positively on creativity than low self-esteem individuals following negative feedback. However, it was also expected that if the negative feedback was easy to deny, low self-esteem individuals would be just as self-serving as high self-esteem individuals in their evaluations of the test and experience a similar increase in positive mood, and rate themselves higher on creativity. The results did not support these predictions. Both high and low self-esteem individuals made self-serving evaluations of the test regardless of the ease of denial manipulation. Limitations of the current research and directions for future research are discussed.

This study used qualitative methods to investigate successful individuals who had a learning disability. Six participants, three men and three women, along with their family members and significant others were interviewed. A participant observation was also conducted during each participant's typical day at work. Four common characteristics were found among the participants. These characteristics were organizational skills, drive, a match between strengths and career, and interpersonal competence. The characteristics identified by the study were similar to those found by Gerber and Ginsberg (1990); however, it was noted that over-reliance on one characteristic and an inability to adjust to success often created difficulties. Further, job satisfaction and eminence in one's field did not always mean self-fulfillment, happiness, and psychological maturity. A definition of success which suggests a balance between career, family, and social activities was given. The study noted that a key element in coping with a learning disability was that the individuals understood both their strengths and weakness. Family members indicated that the transition from school to adult life was critical and that the role of parent and family members' perceptions about the participants usually needed to be adjusted. Older participants indicated that having a son or a daughter who had a learning disability helped them to come to terms with their disability. They also noted the importance of having a diagnosis, so they could reframe their self-perception in terms of a condition rather than a sense of mental incompetence or laziness. Recommendations for future research in this field were presented.

Cardiac Vagal Tone (CVT) has been shown to predict a number of important emotional and behavioral outcomes. Although CVT has been proposed as an index of emotion regulation (Porges et al., 1994), little research to date has sought to explore the link between CVT and broader conceptual variables relating to personality and self-regulation. The present study measured CVT (using respiratory sinus arrhythmia) across five-minute baseline, suppression, and recovery periods in participants (n = 102) who had previously completed a short form of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale and the Openness to Experience subscale of the NEO-PI. Response latencies for Ideal and Ought self-guides (Higgins, 1997) were collected in order to assess the relationship between self-regulatory style and CVT. Defensiveness, non-Openness, and increased Ought-self accessibility were hypothesized to predict reduced CVT, and reduced capacity to suppress of CVT. Data revealed that participants suppressed CVT during a serial counting task, and higher CVT was predicted by lower social anxiety scores. Defensiveness predicted generally lower mean CVT scores across conditions, but no difference in the degree of change for CVT from baseline to suppression, or suppression to recovery. The relationship between defensiveness and mean CVT levels was moderated by gender, with defensiveness predicting significant differences in CVT for men only (higher defensiveness correlating to lower CVT). Neither Openness nor self-guide accessibility was related to CVT levels, and defensiveness did not moderate the relationship between CVT and Openness. Supplemental analyses suggest that behavioral inhibition scores (BIS) may interact with gender in predicting CVT, with low-BIS men exhibiting higher CVT than high-BIS men, and low- and high-BIS women showing an inverted (but non-significant) pattern. The results imply that CVT may be a more conceptually distinct variable than had been predicted, but also raise questions about the nature of defensiveness for men and women, and the validity of self-report personality measures.