Carol L. Gohm

An examination of sexual violence against college women

This investigation examined college womens experiences with unwanted sexual contact. Participants completed a questionnaire assessing the incidence of various types of forced sexual contact the women had experienced since enrolling in college. Demographic and situational variables associated with these incidents of sexual violence were also obtained. It was observed that since enrolling in college, 27% of the sample had experienced unwanted sexual contact ranging from kissing and petting to oral, anal, or vaginal intercourse. Type of sexual violence, perpetrator characteristics, and racial differences regarding types of unwanted sexual contact were examined. The implications of the data are discussed.

College Women and Sexual Assault: The Role of Sex-related Alcohol Expectancies

This study examined the relationship between alcohol, sex-related alcohol expectancies, and sexual assaults among women college students. Participants completed measures of sexual behaviors, sexual victimization experiences, sex related alcohol expectancies, and drinking habits. Based on participants’ responses women were categorized as having experienced no assault, unwanted sexual contact, sexual coercion, attempted rape, and rape. It was observed across groups that relative to controls, women reporting attempted rape and rape consumed higher levels of alcohol. Within group comparisons revealed that relative to controls, victimized women endorsed higher levels of sex-related alcohol expectancies. In the prediction of severity of sexual victimization, regression analyses revealed an interaction between alcohol consumption and expectancy of vulnerability to sexual coercion. At higher levels of alcohol consumption women endorsing high vulnerability to sexual coercion experienced more severe victimatization. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Mutual Self-Enhancement in Japan and the United States

The authors address the debate on pancultural self-enhancement by suggesting that some Japanese enhance their self-worth by praising and receiving praise from others included in the self. The authors call this process “mutual self-enhancement” and validated a scale for its measurement in Japan and the United States. Mutual self-enhancement was positively correlated with including others in the self, relational self-construal, family support, and sympathy. Mutual self-enhancement was not related to the interdependent self, collectivism, and approval from others, confirming that the process involves including others in the self via self-expansion rather than fitting into an interdependent relationship network. Future studies based on the self-expansion model will consider the inclusion of in-group members in the self as an important part of mutual self-enhancement that predicts well-being in East Asian countries such as Japan.

Phased Training for High-Reliability Occupations Live-Fire Exercises for Civilian Firefighters

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess whether the stress reduction effects of phased training culminating in repeated exposure to a stressful scenario generalize to new scenarios. Background: High-reliability occupations require personnel to operate in stressful situations involving complex environments, high degrees of uncertainty and time pressure, and severe consequences for mistakes. One method of training for such environments culminates in practice in high-fidelity, highly stressful simulations. For some domains, realism necessitates large-scale, difficult-to-modify physical simulations. This necessity often results in repeated exposure to one or very few scenarios. The literature gives reason to question whether the stress reduction effects of such exposure transfer to new scenarios. Method: Anxiety and cognitive difficulties were measured among firefighter trainees during three live-fire drills. For each trainee, two drills involved the same scenario, and the other involved a new scenario that was structurally similar to the repeated scenario. Results: As predicted, anxiety and cognitive difficulties decreased across repetitions of the same scenario. However, the reduction did not generalize to a new scenario, and a nontrivial portion of the sample showed signs of negative transfer. Conclusion: Repeated exposure to the same stressful scenario as the final phase of training has limited practical value for stress reduction. Methods for expanding the range of scenarios to which trainees are exposed or for increasing the value of the exposure are recommended. Application: The findings could help improve design of training programs for high-reliability occupations.

The Computer Aversion, Attitudes, and Familiarity Index (CAAFI): A Measure for the Study of Computer-Related Constructs:

The purpose of this study was to systematically develop an instrument to measure computer aversion, computer attitudes, and computer familiarity. The study is an extension of previous research (Schulenberg, 2002). Development involved item generation, pilot testing, and exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The measure was administered to psychology students drawn from two universities (N = 854; N = 400, respectively). The three hypothesized factors emerged, as well as an additional computer aversion factor. The measure possesses good content validity and factorial validity, as well as solid internal consistency reliability. Implications of this study, considerations, and directions for future research are discussed.

Predicted and experienced affective responses to the outcome of the 2008 U.S. presidential election.

People typically have intense feelings about politics. Therefore, it was no surprise that the campaign and eventual election of Barack Obama were highly anticipated and emotionally charged events, making it and the emotion experienced afterward a useful situation in which to replicate prior research showing that people typically overestimate the intensity and duration of their future affective states. Consequently, it was expected that Obama supporters and McCain supporters might overestimate the intensity of their affective responses to the outcome of the election. Data showed that while McCain supporters underestimated how happy they would be following the election, Obama supporters accurately predicted how happy they would be following the election. These data provide descriptive information on the accuracy of peoples predicted reactions to the 2008 U.S. presidential election. The findings are discussed in the context of the broad literature and this specific and unique event.