Anton F. de Man

Correlates of Sexual Aggression Among Male University Students

Eighty-six male undergraduate university students in Canada participated in a study of the relation between sexual aggression and the variables of sex role stereotyping, fraternity affiliation, participation in athletics, hostility toward women, aggressive drive, aggressive attitude, alcohol use, and masculinity. Multiple regression analysis identified physical aggression, sex role stereotyping, and fraternity affiliation as best predictors of sexual aggression.

VERBAL MEMORY ELICITED BY AMBIENT ODOR

This study examined whether an ambient odor can act as a contextual cue for retrieval of verbal stimuli. Subjects (N = 47) learned a list of 24 words while exposed to one of two odors (either jasmine incense or Lauren perfume) and subsequently relearned the list with either the same or the alternative odor present. Superior memory for the word list was found when the odor present during the relearning session was the same one that had been present at the time of initial learning, thereby demonstrating context-dependent memory. There were no differences in initial learning between the two odor conditions. No differences in pleasantness or intensity were found between the odors.

EXTRAVERSION AND NEUROTICISM IN TEAM SPORT PARTICIPANTS, INDIVIDUAL SPORT PARTICIPANTS, AND NONPARTICIPANTS '

Scores on Extraversion and on Neuroticism as measured by the Eysenck Personality Inventory were compared for 90 undergraduate team sport participants, individual sport participants, and nonparticipants (43 men, 47 women, M age = 20.3 yr.). From past research and Eysencks biological theory of personality, it was hypothesized that sport participants would score higher on Extraversion and lower on Neuroticism than nonparticipants, and that team participants would score higher on Extraversion and perhaps higher on Neuroticism than individual sport participants. By comparing scores for students in first year and final year, it was also investigated whether pre-existing personality differences drew people to sport (the gravitational hypothesis) or whether personality changed as a function of sport participation (the developmental hypothesis). The main findings were that team participants scored higher on Extraversion than both individual sport participants and nonparticipants, and that test scores did not change over time, supporting the gravitational hypothesis for Extraversion.

Factors in Perception of Earthquake Hazard

130 subjects participated in a study of the relationship between selected predictors and responses to potential earthquake hazard. The results of backstep regression analyses indicated (a) that amount of education was the best predictor from those selected of perceived probability of earthquake occurrence, (b) that estimation of potential damage was related to number of damage reduction measures, perceived reliability of official support systems, and expectation of earthquake, and (c) that trait-anxiety and expectation of earthquake accounted for a significant percentage of the variance in acknowledged anxiety in response to prediction of an earthquake.

Correlates of Responses to Two Potential Hazards

Abstract Eighty-six adults participated in the present study of the relationships among selected predictors and responses to potential earthquake and flood hazard. Results indicated (a) that length of residence was the best predictor of perceived probability of earthquake occurrence, whereas no predictors were identified for flood probability; (b) that estimation of potential earthquake damage was related to perceived reliability of official support systems, number of damage reduction measures, and trait anxiety, whereas flood damage estimation was associated with flood expectation, perceived reliability of agencies, severity of previously experienced damages, and education; and (c) that trait anxiety and availability of safety items in the home accounted for a significant percentage of the variance in acknowledged anxiety in response to an earthquake prediction, whereas damage expectation and previously experienced damage emerged as predictors of acknowledged anxiety in response to a flood prediction.

Autonomy-Control Variation in Child Rearing and Level of Self-Acceptance in Young Adults

Summary Thirty-six young adults participated in a study exploring the relationship between autonomy-control variation in child rearing and level of self-regard in early adult life. Results disclosed that Ss of the autonomy group reported higher levels of self-acceptance than those of the control group. The findings are discussed in relation to Coopersmiths observations regarding the antecedents of self-esteem.

Personality and Culture: A Comparison of Francophones and Anglophones in Québec

The authors compared the personality characteristics of Québec Francophones (25 women, 25 men) and Anglophones (25 women, 25 men) aged 16-64 years. Each participant completed a French or English version of 3 personality inventories that measured (a) extraversion (2 scales), (b) neuroticism (2 scales), (c) psychoticism, (d) lying, (e) openness to experience, (f) conscientiousness, (g) agreeableness, (h) conservatism, and (i) altruism. Francophones scored higher than did Anglophones on psychoticism and on 1 measure of extraversion, and Anglophones scored higher than did Francophones on conservatism, but the 2 groups did not differ on the other personality traits. Men scored higher than did women on psychoticism, and women scored higher than did men on conscientiousness and agreeableness. Conservatism and altruism increased with age. The authors discuss the results in the context of cross-cultural theory and research on personality.

Authoritarian and Socially Restrictive Attitudes toward Mental Patients in Mental Health Volunteers and Nonvolunteers

31 French-Canadian mental health volunteers and 43 nonvolunteers participated in a study of the relationship between Authoritarian and Socially Restrictive attitudes toward mental patients and the variables of volunteer status, age, sex, education, having a mentally ill family member, Locus of Control, Extraversion, Psychoticism, Neuroticism, and Social Desirability. Bivariate and partial (Social Desirability effects removed) correlations suggested that scores on Authoritarian and Socially Restrictive attitudes are higher among older, less educated, less extraverted men and women who are not volunteers. Although volunteers compared to nonvolunteers had lower scores on Authoritarian and Socially Restrictive attitudes, they did not differ in terms of age, having a mentally ill family member or scores on Locus of Control, Extraversion, Psychoticism, Neuroticism, and Social Desirability; however, volunteers were better educated.

Assignment of Responsibility and Flood Hazard in Catahoula County, Louisiana:

This exploratory study tested the proposition that the worse the consequences of a geophysical event, the greater the tendency of observers to assign responsibility for the disaster to some appropriate person. More specifically, the investigation tested the hypothesis that a fictitious official in charge of levee maintenance would be assigned increasing responsibility for a riverine flooding as its severity increased. Results were in line with the hypothesis, but for women only. Subsequent analyses of alternative variables suggested that in men assignment of responsibility is related to the degree to which the subjects were certain that the official had performed his job, rather than to severity of consequences.

Trait Anxiety, Perception of Potential Nuclear Hazard, and State Anxiety:

89 residents of an area located near a designated nuclear site took part in an investigation of the relationship between trait-anxiety and perceptions of potential nuclear disaster and between such perceptions and state anxiety. No significant correlation was found between trait-anxiety and expectation of future accidents or between this measure of anxiety and estimation of potential damage. Expectation of an accident and estimation of damage were significantly related to state anxiety.