W. Larry Gregory

Beliefs in Conspiracies

This study used canonical correlation to examine the relationship of 11 individual difference variables to two measures of beliefs in conspiracies. Undergraduates were administered a questionnaire that included these two measures (beliefs in specific conspiracies and attitudes toward the existence of conspiracies) and scales assessing the 11 variables. High levels of anomie, authoritarianism, and powerlessness, along with a low level of self-esteem, were related to beliefs in specific conspiracies, whereas high levels of external locus of control and hostility, along with a low level of trust, were related to attitudes toward the existence of conspiracies in general. These findings support the idea that beliefs in conspiracies are related to feelings of alienation, powerlessness, hostility, and being disadvantaged. There was no support for the idea that people believe in conspiracies because they provide simplified explanations of complex events. History is a conspiracy, set in motion by demonic forces of almost transcendent power. (Hofstadter, 1965, p. 29) Conspiracies involve multiple actors working together in secret to achieve hidden goals that are perceived to be unlawful or malevolent (Zonis & Joseph, 1994). Beliefs in conspiracies abound in our society, as they do in other societies (Graumann & Moscovici, 1987; Hofstadter, 1965; Moynihan, 1985; Robins & Post, 1997; Zonis & Joseph, 1994). For instance, national opinion polls generally find that 85 to 90% of Americans believe that Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone in killing President Kennedy (Goertzel, 1994). A random sample of New Jersey

No evidence for menstrual synchrony in lesbian couples.

Menstrual synchrony was investigated in a sample of 29 cohabiting lesbian couples, ranging in age from 22 to 48 years. One or both partners kept prospective daily records of variables including menses onset dates, intimate contact, and sexual activity. All women reported daily intimate interaction with their partners; none reported intimate interaction with men. Despite these potentially optimal conditions for the manifestation of synchrony, the differences between dyad members in menses onset dates were distributed randomly, and there was no evidence of convergence. In fact, most dyads exhibited divergence of onset dates. Reasons for lack of synchrony in this sample are discussed; one conclusion is that there is no solid evidence that menstrual synchrony is a stable attribute of past or contemporary human populations.

SCENARIOS AND ACCEPTANCE OF FORECASTS

Scenarios are stories that depict some future event. We reviewed the research in which scenarios were created either by researchers or by research participants with or without structured guidelines. Regardless of how scenarios are created, they have been shown to alter people’s expectations about the depicted events. Evidence suggests that the ease with which a scenario is imagined or constructed, or the plausibility of a scenario, upwardly biases beliefs that the depicted event could occur. In some instances, attitudes or behaviors consistent with the altered expectancies have been observed. For example, persons who imagined subscribing to cable television were more likely to have favorable attitudes toward cable television and to subscribe than those receiving standard sales information, and mental health clinic clients who imagined remaining in therapy for at least four sessions were less likely to drop out prematurely than clients who simply received information on remaining in therapy. Practitioners who wish to alter clients’ expectancies regarding specific events can provide scenarios that (a) depict the occurrence of an event using concrete examples (not abstract information), (b) contain representative events, (c) contain easily recalled supporting evidence, (d) contain events linked by causal connections, (e) ask clients to project themselves into the situation, (f) require clients to describe how they acted and felt in the situation, (g) use plausible elements in the story, (h) include reasons why the events occur, (i) require clients to explain the outcomes, (j) take into account clients’ experiences with the topic, and (k) avoid causing reactance or boomerang effects in clients who might resent blatant influence attempts. We make additional recommendations concerning the situation in which clients are exposed to scenarios and the use of multiple scenarios.

Self-Relevant Scenarios as an Indirect Means of Attitude Change:

Two experiments with college students are reported that examined the effects of imagining detailed scenarios depicting events happening to self. Experiment I established that students who read and imagined a scenario depicting their involvement in an automobile accident had elevated expectancies for the occurrence of an automobile accident, compared with control condition students. Experiment 2 extended the effects of imagined scenarios to include cognitions tangential to those directly depicted in the scenario. Subjects who imagined having automobile accidents were found, in a separate context minimizing demand characteristics, to be more favorably disposed toward legislation related to traffic safety (e.g., requiring motorists to wear seat belts). The results are discussed in relation to research on attitudes.

Sexual behavior in lesbian and heterosexual women: relations with menstrual cycle phase and partner availability

Using a prospective design over three complete menstrual cycles, 147 heterosexual and 89 lesbian women made daily recordings of their basal body temperature (BBT), cervical mucus status, menses, and completed a daily checklist of various sexual behaviors (including sexual self-stimulation and sexual activity with a partner). They also gave their age, height, weight, age at menarche, number of pregnancies, duration of sleep, tobacco, caffeine, and alcohol use, and whether they had a live-in sexual partner. Using BBT, cervical mucus status, and menses information, cycle days were grouped into five discrete phases: menses, follicular, ovulatory, early luteal, and premenstrual. Daily frequencies of sexual behavior with a partner and autosexual behavior were computed for each phase. Mixed ANOVAs on the resultant proportional data revealed similar patterns for autosexual behavior across the phases for both heterosexuals and lesbians who did not have a live-in partner, in which autosexual behavior was highest during the follicular and ovulatory phases. For those with live-in partners, autosexual behavior did not vary across the phases. Lesbians engaged in more autosexual behavior overall. Allosexual behavior peaked during the follicular phase for both heterosexuals and lesbians, and the phasic pattern was unrelated to live-in partner status. Additional analyses suggest that the observed patterns were unrelated to anticipated changes in sexual activity due to menses. Results are discussed in terms of social variables and hormonal fluctuations associated with the menstrual cycle.

Heterosexual activity and cycle length variability: Effect of gynecological maturity ☆ ☆☆

Previous studies linking heterosexual activity to womens menstrual cycle variability have failed to take into account the effects of gynecological maturity. One hundred thirty-two women, all at least seven years postmenarche and not using birth control pills, completed daily records of their cycles and their heterosexual behavior. Data from women classified as sexually celibate or as regularly sexually active (having sex at least once per week in every nonmenstruating week) replicated previous findings while controlling for gynecological maturity: Women classified as celibate had more variable cycles than women who engaged regularly in heterosexual activity. An interaction between gynecological maturity and sexual status was also found, precluding a comparison involving women who were sexually active on an irregular basis. The interaction revealed that increased gynecological maturity is associated with less variable cycles in the sexually sporadic women, but is not associated with cycle variability in either celibate or sexually regular women. Possible biological mechanisms for these findings and their implications are discussed.

The generality of negative hierarchically restrictive behaviours

Previous research has shown that when an actor engages in a negative hierarchically restrictive behaviour, a strong correspondent trait attribution is made and this behaviour is expected to generalize across situations (Trafimow, 2001). This paper discusses three experiments that examined the effects of extreme situations and perceived morality of the actor on the way in which participants make trait attributions, and the extent to which those behaviours are expected to generalize to other situations. Findings from Experiments 1 and 2 indicate that even negative hierarchically restrictive behaviours do not always lead to strong correspondent inferences if the situation in which the initial behaviour was performed was sufficiently extreme. Experiment 3 served to support these findings and cleared up questions from the first two experiments. Findings supported the hypothesis that some situations inhibit negative trait attributions and behaviour generalizations. Furthermore, findings indicate that the perception of the morality of the actor determines whether or not a negative hierarchically restrictive behaviour will lead to a negative trait attribution and generalization.

HETEROSEXUAL ACTIVITY: RELATIONSHIP WITH OVARIAN FUNCTION

Previous research demonstrated a relationship between the temporal pattern of heterosexual activity and an index of ovarian functioning. In the current study, this relationship was investigated in 147 menstruating heterosexual women (aged 19-53). They kept prospective daily records of menses, basal body temperature, sexual activity, and other behaviors for three consecutive menstrual cycles. In contrast to previous findings, women with intermediate levels of sexual activity displayed more frequent optimal menstrual cycles. Pheromones, semen absorption, and orgasm-related changes were tested as mediators for a causal influence of sexual activity on ovarian functioning; none was supported. Exploratory analyses tested the hypothesis that anovulatory cycles (with presumably lower progesterone) would display more sexual activity than ovulatory cycles. This hypothesis was supported, and the difference in sexual activity was limited to the second half of the cycle, after ovulation would have occurred. Thus, the findings incorporate temporal precedence of ovulation to support the idea that physiological processes influence the level of sexual activity in heterosexual women.

Maladjustment in statistical minorities within ethnically unbalanced classrooms

Ascertained if being a member of a statistical minority influences childrens adjustment in school, as measured by the AML, a teacher-administered adjustment rating scale. Teachers from a southwest school district evaluated elementary students on aggressive, acting-out behaviors, moody-internalized behaviors, and learning difficulties. Analyses conducted on 376 students revealed significant effects of statistical minority status on certain dimensions of adjustment ratings for both Hispanic and Anglo students. Hispanic students in the statistical minority received poorer ratings on the moodiness dimension of the AML than nonminority Hispanic students. Anglo students in the statistical minority received poorer ratings on the aggression dimension of the AML than nonminority Anglo students. These results were interpreted in terms of cultural differences in coping with statistical minority status. Traits commonly exhibited within a culture may intensify and be perceived as maladaptive when stress resulting from being a minority occurs. Implications of the finding that statistical minority status within the school environment influences adjustment are discussed.

Locus of Control and Cue Explication

Decision time at a complex task was assessed for internal and external subjects who were previously given an instructional set which offered a reward for successful performance or made no mention of a reward. The results revealed that externals performed as well as internals under reward instructions, but did significantly worse than internals when a reward was not mentioned. These results were interpreted as support for Lefcourts(1967) suggestion that cue explication is critical for externals but not internals. Implications for further research are discussed.