Discusses the rationale of studying kinesics of affective instability, describes the phenonmenon of affective instability, examines the role of kinesics in the overall process of communication, and presents three case studies. (Author/AM)

Tested Cooper and Fazio's dissonance model. Subjects made arguments that were consistent or inconsistent with their attitudes and were provided feedback about consequences. Attitude-change effect only occurred when behaviors were both inconsistent and resulted in aversive consequences. Results suggest that cognitive inconsistency may be necessary…

Investigated the effects of reading one of four priming stimuli stories (control, consenting sex, rape, or family) on males' evaluations of, and emotional reactions to, two videotaped date-rape scenarios. Results supported the concepts of a macho personality and revealed interactive effects for both the rape and family prime. (RJM)

Recounts story of one child in class for severely emotionally disturbed children and how her singing comforted others in foster care. Illustrates the unique rite of passage that occurs when one child who has been tossed out into the world to survive on her own begins to heal another child. (Author/JDM)

In two experiments, affect-based and cognition-based attitudes toward a person were induced by varying sequence of affective and cognitive information presented to subjects while holding content constant. Results indicated affect-based attitudes were most effectively changed by affective persuasive appeals, whether these appeals were produced by…

To characterize infant reactions to jealousy evocation, 94 6-month-olds and their mothers were videotaped in an episode where the mothers directed positive attention toward a lifelike doll, and in 2 contrasting interactions: face-to-face play and a still-face perturbation. Cross-context comparisons of affects and behaviors revealed that jealousy…

Affective and Neutral Tasks (faces with negative or neutral content, with different lighting and orientation) requiring reaction time judgments of poser identity were administered to 32 participants. Speed and accuracy were better for the Affective than Neutral Task, consistent with literature suggesting facilitation of performance by affective…

Positive affect, an index of psychological well-being, is a known predictor of functionality and health in later life. Measures typically studied include joy, happiness, and subjective well-being, but less often interest--a positive emotion with functional properties that differ from joy or happiness. Following differential emotions theory, the…

Personality and gender differences in close same-sex friendship needs and experiences were investigated in two samples. Participants were 312 university students (217 women, M age = 19.5) and 491 preadolescents (269 girls, M age = 11.87). Participants completed several questionnaires yielding scores for communion and agency (personality), communal…

Cognitive styles are the lenses through which individuals habitually process information from their environment. In this study, we evaluated whether different cognitive style individual difference variables, such as explanatory style and dispositional optimism, could predict changes in affective state over time in community-dwelling older adults.…

Current educational research suggests that emotions can either enhance or inhibit the ability to learn, with social and cultural influences causing changes in behavior and altering biological processes. In this exploratory study researchers utilized a qualitative design to seek insight into student emotions associated with school attitude and…

The prevalence, etiology, and consequences of adolescent risk behavior have stimulated much research. The current study examined relationships among anger and depressive symptomatology (DS), risk perception, self-restraint, and adolescent risk behavior. Telephone surveys were conducted with 290 14- to 20-year-olds (173 females; M = 15.98 years).…

Depression and marital maladjustment measures were taken of all couples attending a clinic. A significant correlation between depression and marital maladjustment was found for self-report data and was replicated by therapists' ratings. Marital ratings of either spouse were related to men's depression ratings, and minimally related to women's.…

This monograph was written to help teachers, counselors, and parents who live and work with adolescents. It explains the psychological tasks of adolescence, separation from parents, and identity formation. Guidelines are provided for adolescent and parental development in several areas. An overview of regressive adaptation focuses on expressions…

While little research has been done in the area of shyness and most of that has been descriptive, both theory and research suggest that investigation of expectancy of success and attributional style differences between shy and not-shy individuals is warranted. Very shy (N=49) or not-shy (N=48) female subjects, selected from an initial group of 698…