Meagan M. Patterson

Positive Psychological Interventions for Children: A Comparison of Gratitude and Best Possible Selves Approaches.

ABSTRACT Many studies have found benefits of positive psychological interventions, such as gratitude promotion or thinking about best possible selves, for adolescents and adults. Almost no research, however, has been conducted on the efficacy of such interventions for children. The authors’ primary goal was to compare the outcomes of gratitude promotion and best possible selves interventions to a control condition, using a sample of elementary school–aged children (N = 62, ages 5–11 years). Children participated in once-weekly intervention sessions in which they were asked to draw a picture of something for which they were grateful that day (gratitude condition), a future version of themselves as happy and engaged (best possible selves condition), or something they had done that day (control condition). Analyses of the content of childrens drawings indicated that children of this age were capable of articulating things for which they were grateful and positive future selves. Outcomes for the gratitude condition did not differ from the control condition; however, participants in the best possible selves condition showed greater gains in self-esteem than those in the gratitude or control conditions.

Effects of Physical Atypicality on Children's Social Identities and Intergroup Attitudes.

Individuals vary in the degree to which they are representative, or typical, of their social groups. To investigate the effects of atypicality on intergroup attitudes, elementary-school-age children (N = 97) attending a summer school program were assigned to novel color groups that included typical (blue or green) and atypical (light blue or light green) members. Childrens state self-esteem, ingroup identification, and intergroup attitudes (e.g., trait ratings, evaluations, peer preferences) were assessed following several weeks in the classroom. Results indicated that atypicality primarily affected childrens views of their ingroup. Among younger (but not older) children, atypical group members viewed themselves as more similar to — but less happy being a member of — their ingroup than typical group members.

When and Why Social Categorization Produces Inequality (and vice versa)

Ramaswami Mahalingam [2007, pp. 300–319] draws on his own and others’ empirical work on children’s and adults’ understanding of social categories to argue persuasively for the utility of a ‘folk sociology’ of social categorization and intergroup relations. In doing so, Mahalingam seeks to integrate two dominant perspectives on social categorization – cognitive-developmental and social constructivist views. He is to be commended for his admirable job of addressing (a) the role that power plays in the conceptualization of social groups, and (b) the role of myths and other cultural narratives in developing and reinforcing both power structures and social categories. In our commentary, we address two issues raised in Mahalingam’s paper. In the first section of our commentary, we highlight what we consider to be the greatest contribution of Mahalingam’s work, the spotlight that he shines on the role of power and status in social categorization and reasoning about social categories. In the second section, we discuss the ways in which Mahalingam’s model of the operation of a folk sociology is related to a recent theoretical account of the formation of social stereotypes and prejudice among children [Bigler & Liben, 2006, 2007].

A Qualitative Study of Urban, Chinese Middle-Class Mothers’ Parenting for Adolescents:

Through interviews with 22 middle-class mothers and their adolescent children, we explored contemporary approaches to parenting in urban China. The participants provided evidence of authoritative parenting style. We also examined the applicability of Chao’s construct of Chinese parenting guan (管) for adolescence; the participants seemed to support the idea, but viewed the underlying meaning of guan differently than described in earlier studies conducted with mothers of younger children. We thus argue that guanjiao (管教), which means “to govern and to educate/teach,” may be a more appropriate word to use than guan to describe urban, middle-class Chinese mothers’ approach to parenting of adolescents. The findings also suggest that neither Chao’s construct of guan nor Baumrind’s prototypes could fully capture its essence. Additional elements, such as modeling, self-sacrifice, and expression of affection through behavior, also emerged as common themes.

Group typicality, group loyalty and cognitive development

Over the course of childhood, childrens thinking about social groups changes in a variety of ways. Developmental Subjective Group Dynamics (DSGD) theory emphasizes childrens understanding of the importance of conforming to group norms. Abrams et al.s study, which uses DSGD theory as a framework, demonstrates the social cognitive skills underlying young elementary school childrens thinking about group norms. Future research on childrens thinking about groups and group norms should explore additional elements of this topic, including aspects of typicality beyond loyalty.

Perceptions of Parental Control in China: Effects of Cultural Values, Cultural Normativeness, and Perceived Parental Acceptance:

The purpose of this study was to examine Chinese young adults’ judgments, of parental control across a range of domains (e.g., clothing and friendship), whether judgments would be influenced by experimentally manipulated information regarding cultural values and cultural normativeness, and whether perceptions of parental acceptance/rejection influenced parental control judgments. Participants viewed parental control of training school and clothing more positively than parental control of friendship or use of physical discipline. Contrary to expectations, participants did not view parental control more positively when primed with information about cultural values. Surprisingly, participants’ views of parental control were more negative when primed with information about the high cultural normativeness of parental control as compared with neutral or low normativeness conditions. Regardless of type of control, participants viewed parental control more positively when control was perceived as based on love and acceptance rather than a desire to control the child.

Book Review: The psychological development of girls and women: Rethinking change in timeGreeneS. (2015). The psychological development of girls and women: Rethinking change in time (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge. 197 pp.

cal, historical, and economic contexts of their countries. Individually and collectively, the studies illustrate the importance of social, political, historical, and economic context in understanding the older women’s career development from a multidisciplinary perspective. The narratives convey the women’s voices, capturing their own perspectives of how these unique and common contexts influenced their career paths. Across diverse settings, the findings reflect global commonalities, including structural labor market barriers, occupational segregation, lower wages, higher job insecurity, and obstacles to advancement that persist despite women’s increased labor market participation and educational attainment. Gender affects occupational opportunity regardless of the country and its social, political, and economic status. Women confront these social, organizational, and structural barriers through compromise, adapting their career paths to the contexts and circumstances at various points in their life span, as Duarte pointed out in Chapter 17. The reflections presented in Part III convey the multidisciplinary relevance of the book to theorists, researchers, policy makers, and practitioners interested in understanding and advancing women’s work and their career development. Acknowledging feminism’s contribution to inspiring the contemporary revolution of career theory and practice, Blustein (Chapter 18) aptly noted how the findings contribute to furthering the discourse about careers and work. Blustein contends that the barriers women face are becoming the norm for most people across the world, raising the question of whether traditional career theories based on the experiences of White, middle-class men are adequate, given the global phenomenon of oppression and marginalization most workers experience. The experiences of women conveyed in the book are consistent with and extend emerging theories that are more flexible, context-focused, and inclusive of diverse perspectives and settings, such as career construction and life design (Savickas, 2013), counseling for work and relationships (Richardson, 2012), psychology of working (Blustein, 2013), and the relational theory of working (Blustein, 2011). The global experiences conveyed in this volume also have important implications for the practice of psychology, whether in organizations, in policy development, or in our work with clients. Given the level of discourse, the book is most appropriate for upper-level undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, researchers, and practitioners who have some prior knowledge of women’s work and career development. In order to understand and further women’s career development across their life span, we must consider its social, political, economic, and historical context from a global perspective in which women’s voices and their own construction of their experiences matter.