Christopher Bagley

Neuroticism and Extraversion in Responses to Coopersmith's Self-Esteem Inventory

A two-factor principal components analysis of data from the Coopersmith Self-esteem Inventory for 274 English adolescents produced for both sexes two independent components. These correlated, as hypothesized, with Eysencks Neuroticism and Extraversion.

Occupational class and symptoms of depression

Abstract Literature has been reviewed on the relationship between depression and social class. The bulk of this literature suggests that there is a link between depression and higher occupational status. This link is clearest in the case of manic depressive psychosis. Literature concerning three possible causes of this phenomenon have been examined. It has been concluded that there may be in some cultures diagnostic biases in which symptoms of depression manifested by lower class patients are not recognised; that the personality of some individuals which predisposes them to successful striving may also predispose them to depressive illness; and that certain class positions (and upward social mobility) may be associated with kinds of stress which might dispose individuals to depression.

Suicidal behaviour and suicidal ideation in adolescents: A problem for counsellors in education

Abstract Some of the research findings on the prevalence, causes and possible prevention of suicidal behaviour and suicidal ideation in adolescents, including students, are reviewed. Both completed and attempted suicide (parasuicide) in teenagers is increasing. A number of factors appear to be associated with suicidal behaviour: cultural factors such as those arising from the stresses of discrimination; disorganised and unstable family life, especially that which involves the child in early separation from a parent; sexual imbalances in educational institutions; and an increase in anomie which is associated in the young with a variety of self-indulgent behaviour. Some data on suicidal ideation in a sample of English adolescents are reported, with suggestions for using such questionnaire data for identifying teenagers in need of counselling.

Authoritarianism, Status Integration, and Suicide

Gibbs and Martins theory of status integration and suicide has been examined in the light of some criticisms of this theory. The original data of Gibbs and Martin on status integration in 30 American states have been reanalysed, including data on authoritarianism, inequality, and murder. These last three variables were found to be better predictors of suicide rates than status integration. When the variables in the analysis were controlled on one another, the correlation of authoritarianism with suicide was slightly increased, while the correlation of status integration fell to an insignificant level. These findings have been interpreted in the light of Durkheims original formulations concerning normative integration and suicide rates. It is suggested that lack of status integration (occupying atypical status sets) occurs in non-authoritarian communities because of the unconstrained social mobility of individuals. Such individuals are more prone to suicide than individuals who are constrained by community norms from moving into atypical combinations of status.

The Orthogonality of Religious and Racialist/Punitive Attitudes in Three Societies

Summary The Conservatism Scale, a recently developed reliable and valid measure of social attitudes, was completed by Dutch, English, and New Zealand samples. The samples were not matched, and differed significantly on a number of demographic variables. Separate principal component analyses were carried out for each of the three samples. In each of the analyses the first two components which emerged loaded on religious and racialist-punitive items, respectively. In each case the correlation of these two factors with each other was virtually zero.

Race Relations and the Press: An Empirical Analysis

To what extent does the press foster, and reinforce attitudes in the field of race relations? There is no precise answer to this question. In one sphere, however, mass media appear to have a direct and appreciable effect on public attitudes and behaviour in that area where their content, in the form of advertisements, directly sets out to influence attitudes to commercial products. Evidence given to the National Commission on the Causes and

Demographic Predictors of Conservatism and Racial Prejudice

Samoan-born mothers who were confined in New Zealand in 1972 was 465 (a drop of 53% from the previous year). Table 1 shows the published (and amended) number of Western Samoan-born women and Other Places-born women confined in recent years. A crosscheck on the birthplaces of fathers for the nuptial confinements shows that Samoan-born husbands was the single largest group of husbands of Samoan-born wives for the years 1961-71. Likewise the residual birthplace category Other Countries was the sing’e largest birthplace category for husbands of Other Country-born wives. It seems probable that the Samoa, Western and Other Countries categories have bcen interchanged again in the 1972 table, in both the columns and the rows.