Kimberly K. Powlishta

Accuracy of collateral source reports in very mild to mild dementia of the Alzheimer type

OBJECTIVES: To examine the reporting accuracy of collateral sources (knowledgeable informants) regarding very mild and mild dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) and to identify characteristics associated with collateral source accuracy.

Effects of Gender-Related Domain Violations and Sexual Orientation on Perceptions of Male and Female Targets: An Analogue Study

The current study examined factors that influenced heterosexual male and female raters’ evaluations of male and female targets who were gay or heterosexual, and who displayed varying gender roles (i.e., typical vs. atypical) in multiple domains (i.e., activities, traits, and appearance). Participants were 305 undergraduate students from a private, midwestern Jesuit institution who read vignettes describing one of 24 target types and then rated the target on possession of positive and negative characteristics, psychological adjustment, and on measures reflecting the participants’ anticipated behavior toward or comfort with the target. Results showed that gender atypical appearance and activity attributes (but not traits) were viewed more negatively than their gender typical counterparts. It was also found that male participants in particular viewed gay male targets as less desirable than lesbian and heterosexual male targets. These findings suggest a nuanced approach for understanding sexual prejudice, which incorporates a complex relationship among sex, gender, sexual orientation, and domain of gendered attributes.

Feeling grateful and envious: adolescents’ narratives of social emotions in identity and social development

Abstract Although the ubiquity of gratitude and envy would suggest they are important in the daily lives of adolescents, those social emotions have been relatively unexplored by psychologists. Interviews of 25 adolescents (ages 14 through 16) from the Midwestern US provided narrative accounts that revealed the contexts, antecedents, consequences and meanings of gratitude and envy in their daily lives. Transcripts were coded using an established procedure in the literature, and we present the findings at the thematic level. Adolescent gratitude was characterised by feeling cared for and special, while envy was driven by the desire for material possessions. Both emotions may reflect cultural individualism and contribute to social and identity development; for those adolescents gratitude provides recognition and validation of one’s personhood, and envy creates negative social comparisons that can either diminish self-worth or provide the impetus for improvement.