Agnaldo Garcia

Aspectos da amizade de adolescentes portadores de diabetes e câncer

This paper analyzes certain aspects of friendships amongst adolescents with diabetes mellitus and cancer, including a record of the reaction to the diagnosis, in addition to companionship, self-disclosure and intimacy, social support, conflict and the expectations from a friendship. Twelve participants were interviewed, including three with diabetes and three of their friends, and three individuals who had cancer and three friends. These friendships were largely similar to typical friendships, particularly in terms of companionship and the existence of conflict. On the other hand, the diabetes or cancer seem to affect some aspects of friendship. Social support becomes more important and asymmetric. Self-disclosure and intimacy are more tentative when it comes to the subject of the disease. The expectations of friendship emphasize social support. Our data also suggest that friends may grow apart or become closer as a result of a chronic disease such as cancer or diabetes.

Cooperación en las Ciencias del Comportamiento Latinoamericanas: Una Investigación Documental

A survey based on Psycinfo, from 2001 to 2010, about scientific cooperation among of at least two countries in Latin America, in Behavioral Sciences, resulted in 528 publications. The countries with the highest participation were Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile and Peru.Publications included 281 productions exclusively Latin American and 247 publications with the participation of one or more countries from other continents. The three areas that showed the largest number ofpublications were Psychological Disorders and Physical Health; Mental Health: Treatment andPrevention, and Physiological Psychologyand Neuroscience. 157 journals published only one article while 95 published two or more items. The main journal has published 62 papers in cooperation. 459 articles indicated the methodology employed, and 435 were empirical studies and 24 were literature reviewsor meta-analyzes. The data are analyzed and discussed in view of possible ways to expand cooperation and attempted to quantify the cooperation between researchers.

Desenvolvimento de uma medida multidimensional para avaliação de qualidade em relacionamentos românticos - Aquarela-R

This paper presents results about the development of a new psychological measure for quality assessment in romantic relationships. The Scale for Quality Assessment in Romantic Relationships (Aquarela-R) follows the parameters of a semantic differential (SD) and it is proposed to directly assess five cognitive, affective and behavioral dimensions of romantic relationships: (a) commitment, (b) intimacy, (c) love, (d) sexual relationship, and (e) communication. Two studies comprised the research: the first was a study of the semantics of descriptors, and the second one was about development of the measure. Three hundred eighty eight people participated in this survey, 211 (54.4%) were males and the average age of the participants was 28.2 years old (SD = 9.1 years). The final measure showed consistent results in terms of its factorial and external validity as well as Cronbachs alpha indices of reliability higher than .90 in all factors.

Evidências de validade da Escala Triangular do Amor de Sternberg - Reduzida (ETAS-R)

Evidence of validity of Sternbergs Triangular Love Scale -Short Version (ETAS-R) Sternbergs triangular theory of love is a model in which love is composed by three essential aspects: intimacy, passion and commitment. The aim of the study was to verify the aspects of construct validity and component reliability of a measure and theory of love in a Brazilian sample. 1.530 individuals participated in this study, 660 males and 870 females, divided in two sub-samples. The results from exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses indicate the confirmation of the triangular structure of the measure and the phenomenon in this Brazilian sample. The precision and reliability of the scale were adequate and above 0.80. The results of this study recommended the use of the measure to study the phenomenon.

Amigos, amigos: negócios à parte?

This study aimed to examine how male executives of the financial sector conceive friendship in the labor environment and perceive the social support they receive from friends. Ten executives of the financial sector responsible for the strategic area were interviewed seeking information about the influence of friendship at work in the construction of instrumental, emotional and informational support of these executives. The type of research is qualitative and the method used was the case study using the narrative interview technique. Therefore were conducted structured interviews with the executives. The gathered data was analyzed qualitatively. Despite the impersonal and abstract nature attributed to people in the labor environment by some contemporary theoreticians and by organizations, that consider the organizational environment as a neutral place and free from manifestations of a social and affective order, all participants acknowledged the presence of friendship relations in the labor environment. Although, the concept of friendship varies depending on the researched person, but, independent of the concept adopted, all interviewees said that the friendships represents an important source of social support, in its instrumental, emotional and informational forms.

Psychological Research Collaboration and Visibility in Iberoamerica

The phenomenon of collaboration is an increasing trend in many fields of science, including that of psychology. In Iberoamerican psychology, collaboration occurs on a local and international level. The aim of the study was to evaluate the levels of collaboration in Iberoamerica, using as a baseline the level of worldwide collaboration in psychology in 2012. We collected data from the Scopus database and analyzed it by cluster distribution. Analysis of the sample found within-country collaboration prominent among Iberoamerican psychologists. Findings indicated that in Iberoamerica there is significantly less global collaboration than in other regions, although Iberoamerican scientists are receptive to the idea and acknowledge its potential.

Genetic and adoptive motherhood: Stress, marital relationship, and child care support

In this paper we characterize adoptive and genetic motherhood with or without stress indicators. Participants were 86 mothers (36 adoptive, 50 genetic) with children from 0 to 12 years old. They answered questions about focal child and mother profile, marital relationship, child care support and the Lipps Stress Symptoms Inventory for Adults. Results showed that mothers in both groups reported child care support, but there was more participation of nonrelatives in the care of adoptive children and relatives in the care of genetic children. There was greater marital stability and less conflict with the arrival of the child in the adoptive families and predominance of stress indicators in genetic mothers. We concluded that, although there are differences between adoptive and genetic motherhood, these do not imply advantages for one versus the other. Moreover, marital stability related to the adoption process and sociodemographic characteristics of adoptive mothers may have contributed to lower prevalence of stress.

Os primórdios da amizade na infância: a perspectiva materna

The investigation of the ontogenetic friendship origin presents conceptual and methodological difficulties. This article investigated how mothers of children between one and three years old perceived their children’s first friendships. Twenty mothers between 24 and 48 years old were interviewed based on a pre-established script. Results indicate that the mothers’ concept of friendship was very positive. Their children’s friends network was formed by children from the family, neighborhood or religious communities. The main activity shared with friends was playing. Mothers facilitate the encounter of their children with friends or potential friends and served as mediators between socio-cultural patterns and friendships, contributing to the construction of these friendships in accordance to socio-cultural expectations. The first friendships were identified at around 18 months. It is concluded that mothers actively participated in the formation of their children’s first friendships.A investigacao da origem ontogenetica da amizade apresenta dificuldades conceituais e metodologicas. O presente artigo investigou como maes de criancas entre um e tres anos percebiam as primeiras amizades de seus filhos. Vinte maes entre 24 e 48 anos foram entrevistadas com base em um roteiro pre-estabelecido. Os resultados indicaram que o conceito de amizade das maes era muito positivo. A rede de amigos dos filhos era formada por criancas da familia, da vizinhanca ou de comunidades religiosas. A principal atividade compartilhada com amigos foi o brincar. As maes facilitavam o encontro dos filhos com amigos ou amigos em potencial e serviam de mediadoras entre os padroes socio-culturais e essas amizades, contribuindo para a sua construcao de acordo com as expectativas socio-culturais. As primeiras amizades foram identificadas por volta dos 18 meses. Pode-se concluir que as maes participavam ativamente da formacao das primeiras amizades dos filhos.

Escala de crenças sobre amor romântico: indicadores de validade e precisão

Aspects of beliefs commonly interact in the dynamics of romantic relationships, thus influencing aspects of the perception, expectations and relationship strategies, among others. This research aimed to construct and validate a measure assessing beliefs about love in a Brazilian sample and verify its dimensional structure. A total of 1,530 individuals participated in this study, 660 of these being males and 870 females: The sample was divided into two sub-samples. The results showed a psychometric instrument with adequate parameters of precision and a confirmed structure of six-dimensional factors styles of love in a Brazilian sample: eros, agape, ludus, storge, mania and pragma.

Amizades internacionais de universitários brasileiros: um estudo exploratório

International friendships of Brazilian college students: an exploratory investigation. International friendships involving individuals from different nations and cultures have not been widely investigated. This paper investigated the international friendships of Brazilian college students with the participation of 120 students, 46 males and 74 females, who answered a questionnaire with open and closed questions on international friends network, communication with friends, friendship beginnings, shared interests and difficulties in friendships and the perception of the friend’s country. In sum, 331 friends from 59 countries have been mentioned. Friendships usually started by personal contact but they were maintained by Internet. The theoretical framework proposed by Hinde was used to discuss and interpret data. It is suggested that international friendships should serve as basis for fostering cultural and scientific cooperation among countries.