Darcy A. Reich

The brief sexual attitudes scale

The measurement of sexual attitudes is important, and ease of scale usability is one key aspect of measurement. This paper details three studies conducted to develop a briefer and thus more efficient version of the multidimensional Sexual Attitudes Scale (43 items; S. Hendrick & Hendrick, 1987b). The first two studies (I and II) employed existing data sets to develop a 23‐item version of the Sexual Attitudes Scale, using exploratory factor analysis in Study I and confirmatory factor analysis in Study II. The same four subscales of Permissiveness, Birth Control (formerly called Sexual Practices), Communion, and Instrumentality were retained in the 23‐item measure, called the Brief Sexual Attitudes Scale. Study III was a prospective data collection using only the 23 items composing the Brief Sexual Attitudes Scale. The four subscales were hypothesized to correlate with a number of relationship measures in predictable ways. Results indicated that the Brief Sexual Attitudes Scale is a reliable and valid measure of the four sexual attitudes and has strong psychometric properties. It should be effective and efficient for both research and clinical uses.

Disordered Eating Behavior and Obsessive Compulsive Symptoms in College Students: Cognitive and Affective Similarities

Few studies have examined the psychological similarities between disordered eating behavior and obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms. The present study examined relationships among disordered eating, OC symptoms, and three cognitive and affective variables (perfectionism, obsessive beliefs, and negative affect). The cognitive and affective variables were significantly associated with disordered eating and with OC symptoms in a sample of 160 college women. Results also indicated that perfectionism is an important link between disordered eating behavior and OC symptoms, although the nature of perfectionism differs somewhat for the two types of behavior. Implications of the current results and directions for future research are discussed.

Perceived Likelihood as a Measure of Optimism and Pessimism: Support for the Future Events Scale.

The Future Events Scale (FES; S. M. Andersen, 1990) is an expectancy-based measure of optimism and pessimism, grounded in cognitive theories of depression, with implications for clinical practice. Although ample research has documented the utility of the FES in predicting important cognitive and behavioral outcomes, psychometric data on the scale are lacking. The current article presents multisample analyses to show that the FES has clear factor structure, good reliability, and a theoretically meaningful nomological network. The FES is shown to be distinct from the best known measure of optimism and pessimism, the Life Orientation Test (M. F. Scheier & C. S. Carver, 1985). Applications are discussed.

Busy Perceivers and Ineffective Suppression Goals: A Critical Role for Distracter Thoughts

With limited cognitive resources, suppressing thoughts can be ineffective. The detrimental effects of cognitive load on suppression have typically been attributed to increased accessibility of avoided thoughts. However, little research has examined distracter thoughts and their contribution to these effects. In three studies, participants pursued suppression goals related to social judgments (e.g., avoid negative thoughts about a targets performance) with sufficient or diminished cognitive resources. Compared to suppressors not under cognitive load, suppressors under load drew more negative social inferences when pursuing a negative suppression goal and more positive inferences under a positive suppression goal; load did not similarly disrupt a concentration goal (i.e., focus on positive thoughts). Across studies, load reduced high-quality oppositely valenced distracter thoughts, and these distracter thoughts mediated the detrimental effects of load on social inferences. The discussion focuses on mechanisms underlying the effects of load on suppression, implications, and future directions for research on ironic processes.

Group Therapy Goals: A Comparison of Group Therapy Providers and Male Inmates.

ABSTRACT This study was designed to identify important process and content goals from the perspective of inmates and compare these goals to the goals identified by group therapists in a previous study conducted by Winterowd, Morgan, and Ferrell (2001). Utilizing survey data from 156 incarcerated adult males, an initial confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the factor structure for inmates’ goal importance ratings did not precisely mirror the group therapists’ ratings in Winterowd et al. A subsequent exploratory factor analysis revealed a five-factor model with the following goals: Self-Exploration and Coping Skills; Group Relationship Building and Cooperation; Substance Abuse; Prosocial Behavior and Healthy Lifestyle; and Institutional Relationships. Overall, these goals match the primary goals identified as important by therapists in Winterowd et al. However, inmates did not appear to draw distinctions between some of the goals identified by therapists. Implications for group therapy with male inmates are highlighted.

Investigating the influence of shame, depression, and distress tolerance on the relationship between internalized homophobia and binge eating in lesbian and bisexual women.

There is limited research evidence about the specific factors influencing disordered eating for lesbian and bisexual women. Therefore, this study investigated relationships among binge eating, internalized homophobia, shame, depression, and distress tolerance in a sample of lesbian (n=72) and bisexual women (n=66). Two hypotheses were tested. First, it was hypothesized that shame and depression would mediate the relationship between internalized homophobia and binge eating. Second, it was hypothesized that distress tolerance would moderate the relationship between shame and binge eating and the relationship between depression and binge eating in the mediation relationships proposed in the first hypothesis. Results indicated that shame was a significant mediator for the relationship between internalized homophobia and binge eating, that depression was not a significant mediator, and that distress tolerance did not moderate the significant mediation relationship between shame and binge eating. The data in this study also indicated that the proportions of lesbian and bisexual participants who reported binge eating and compensatory behavior did not differ significantly, but that bisexual participants reported significantly more depression and shame than lesbian participants.

Wanting to Be Different Predicts Nonmotivated Change: Actual-Desired Self-Discrepancies and Susceptibility to Subtle Change Inductions.

Actual–desired discrepancies in people’s self-concepts represent structural incongruities in their self-representations that can lead people to experience subjective conflict. Theory and research suggest that structural incongruities predict susceptibility to subtle influences like priming and conditioning. Although typically examined for their motivational properties, we hypothesized that because self-discrepancies represent structural incongruities in people’s self-concepts, they should also predict susceptibility to subtle influences on people’s active self-views. Across three studies, we found that subtle change inductions (self-evaluative conditioning and priming) exerted greater impact on active self-perceptions and behavior as actual–desired self-discrepancies increased in magnitude. Exploratory analyses suggested that these changes occurred regardless of the compatibility of the change induction with individuals’ desired self-views.

Misattribution of Affective Coherence Versus Incoherence in Subsequent Judgments

People experience pleasantness when they act toward a stimulus in an affectively coherent (e.g., approaching positive stimuli and avoiding negative stimuli) versus incoherent manner. Nevertheless, it is unclear how misattributing this pleasantness resulting from affective coherence can impact human judgment. To this end, we examined the impact of misattributing the pleasantness of affective coherence to a subsequent target (Study 1), depending on the saliency of the target (Study 2). We found that experiencing affective coherence led to more positive impressions of subsequently encountered targets than did experiencing affective incoherence. These results expand our understanding of the role affect can play in human judgment. We discuss some limitations and implications of these findings.