The authors' evaluate criticisms by Miller and Brofenbrenner of their earlier article. While agreeing with Miller that psychologists should be aware of the social requisites of a culture and subculture in formulating their evaluations of character, Miller's other views were not supported by their data. The Brofenbrenner critique was judged…

States that the social conditions that produce cults are favorable today and that those young people who are attracted to cult membership are idealistic, innocent, inquisitive, independent, identity-seeking, insecure, and vulnerable. Suggests that educators can help students be aware of the seriousness of the problems cults can cause. (TJ)

When not understood as normal consequences of growth and aging, sexual fluctuations can be the source of personal and marital distress. Discussed are sexual behavior norms as they change from infancy to old age. (Author/CJ)

Nonverbal behavior is used to communicate feelings, likings, and preferences. Practicing counselors could probably be more helpful to their clients if they would become more efficient in the interpretation of nonverbal behavior. (Author)

Counselors should not treat psychological conversion as a sacred process best dealt with by the theologians. Counselors should not criticize clients' religious beliefs based on doctrine but should acknowledge psychological conversion as a departure from spiritual understanding and subsequently help clients clarify religious anxiety within a…

Investigated the influence on group formation of feedback provided by potential members. Results indicated choices students made varied according to the pertinence of the feedback to the characteristics of the problem. Suggests a sociometric choice in the form of attraction to the feedback provider could indicate the existence of such pertinence.…

Investigated the relation between the understanding of desires for change and marital satisfaction. Subjects consisted of two samples, 77 married couples and 75 cohabiting and married couples. In both samples, the discrepancy index indicated that understanding was significantly positively correlated with marital satisfaction. (Author)

A dark side of modernization parallels the numerous and obvious positive social impacts. Current social, political, economic, and ecological plights have been viewed as manifestations of a broader cultural crisis caused by adherence to a "reductionist" approach to reality. Reality, indeed, can only be understood in terms of process and…

Suggests that man cannot survive without a system of some kind for predicting the course of events. It does not matter that the system may be false on another system's terms, so long as it identifies experiences in a way which enables people to attach meaning to them and respond. (Author/AM)

Evaluation of the Worker Loneliness Questionnaire, with 51 persons with mild, moderate, and severe mental retardation found the measure to be a reliable instrument with this population. Results showed some individuals were lonely; however, this was not a pervasive feeling. (Author/DB)

The dramatic ups and downs so often witnessed in adolescents are the result of changes in their brain activity. It is vital that the emotional and psychological needs that arise from such intense brain development are acknowledged and addressed so that middle school becomes a safe environment for the budding adults.

Relationships are examined between support types (emotional, instrumental, and nonintimate social participation), gender, sex role orientation, and stress level. Dependent variables include need, perceived availability, and satisfaction. Effects of sex role orientation on perceptions of social support appear circumscribed. (MCK)

A psychological consequence for children physically abused in their own homes is a pattern of behavior that perpetuates their role of scapegoat with peers and adults outside their homes. (JH)

Asserts that "the best way to grasp the human significance of photography is...to think of camera, film, and tripod as...evolutionary developments as much a part of human nature as the opposable thumb" and examines what people prefer to photograph, the photographer subject relationship, the psychology of the photographer and pictures as creators…

If the selection of a spouse is based on the unconscious wish to correct disturbances which previously existed in the parent child relationship, the marriage is threatened from the start. This article examines motivations derived from early developmental phases which form convictions which later become the nucleus for mate choice. (Author/CJ)