Considerable attention in recent years has focused on the consequences of social comparisons and has suggested that learning that one's outcomes or abilities compare unfavorably to others' is an unpleasant, if not painful experience. Indeed, upward comparisons have been shown to result in negative affect, loss of self-esteem, stress symptoms, and…

Individual differences in the ability to connect thoughts to emotions were studied with 321 participants who read the writings of a target group and guessed the emotions of targets. Findings are interpreted to mean that some forms of emotional problem solving require emotional openness as well as general intelligence. (SLD)

Several self-report studies of mood and activity have produced evidence of culturally biased theories which people share about the relationship between affect and behavior. In these studies, biased reporting may have been increased by taking mood and activity ratings concurrently rather than employing lagged independent ratings. To identify…

Virtually all counseling theories have viewed counselor empathic ability as an important condition for counseling, while the concept of countertransference, any therapist feelings or attitudes toward the client, has had a much shakier history. A two-part counseling analogue was designed to examine the relationship of male counselor trainees'…

Examined the hypothesis that subject differences in conceptual complexity (CC) may mediate individuals' cognitive and emotional responses toward problem situations. Results showed high-CC individuals reported more internal attributions and fewer negative task statements and showed less increase in negative mood. (Author)

Examines the coherence of attachment organization during late adolescence in a sample of 53 college freshmen. Three kinds of working models were assessed with the Adult Attachment Interview: Dismissing of Attachment, Secure, and Preoccupied with Attachment. Findings are interpreted in terms of different styles of affect regulation and…

Examined differences between students who perceived themselves as "successful" and "unsuccessful" problem solvers. Results revealed "successful" and "unsuccessful" problem solvers differed in number of problems acknowledged, on self-report ratings about the personal problem solving process, and on ratings made by interviewers on several cognitive…

A distinction is drawn between students' ability to understand information and their personal acceptance and valuing of that information. Results of a small-scale study are used to suggest that students may differ in their levels of acceptance of information. Ideas regarding possible future research are discussed. (Author/JMD)

Responses to attitude and activity preference surveys were compared for the degrees of real and perceived similarity within male and female undergraduate friendship pairs. Activity preference similarity was substantially greater than attitudinal similarity. Friends' attitudinal similarity was no greater than strangers'. Activity similarity was a…

This study investigated the role that emotional factors play in learning about sexual health and in adopting sexually healthy behaviors. Learning about health and adopting healthy behaviors hinges on two variables: the desire to avoid illness and a belief that one can avoid threats to health through personal action. This paper reports on…

Although research in nonverbal communication is in its seventh decade, the origins of individual differences in nonverbl sensitivity remain. To investigate the relationship between family norms of emotional expression and nonverbal communication, 64 college students completed the Family Expressiveness Questionnaire, were videotaped while…

The development and validation of the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA), a self-report instrument for use with adolescents, is described. Item content of the instrument was suggested by Bowlby's theoretical formulations concerning the nature of feelings toward attachment figures. A hierarchical regression model was employed to…

Effects of response mode, response format, perceived response style, sex, and anonymity on raw scale scores and extreme response tendencies for two distinct measures of affective behavior were investigated. The two measures were a self-acceptance scale developed by J.R. Phillips and the Machiavellianism IV scale. Where (response mode) and how…

Undergraduates rated their affective reactions to hypothetical test performances under four success conditions. Then, in the role of teachers, they administered rewards to hypothetical students under identical conditions. Both positive self-evaluation and teacher praise were greatest when success followed effort. Perceptions of ability also…

Investigates numerous individual difference measures to determine their underlying dimensions, to contrast their predictive validities and to evaluate their contributions in a causal model of second language acquisition. Findings indicate that substantial links exist among affective measures and achievement. (56 references) (Author/CK)