Volume 4 - 2001
|
|
Home
| Journal | Volume
5
Preference for Incorporating
Young Adults’ Religious Beliefs into Counseling Sessions
Tina-Marie Clark
Young adults may be particularly vulnerable to stressful experiences that might negatively impact their mental health and tap their limited coping abilities. Campus clinics provide one avenue for receiving help in times of need. However, so might prayer and religious counseling. The current study was designed to begin examining whether young adults perceive the inclusion of religious beliefs in counseling sessions as beneficial. Participants (n = 125) completed surveys on religious beliefs and practices. They also evaluated one of two scenarios depicting religious or traditional counseling sessions. Although no significant difference existed between participants who identified themselves as religious or non-religious in their assessment of the appropriateness of counseling or the need for counseling, results showed a positive association between stress susceptibility and lack of religiousness. The benefits of including religious beliefs in counseling sessions are discussed.
Gender Differences in the Perception of Friendship Intimacy: The Importance of Conversation Topic and Intimacy
Alyssa Peltzman & Kimberly Burns
College students (n = 104) were randomly assigned to reading one of four conversation-silhouette scenarios. Each packet contained either an intimate pose or non-intimate pose, paired with either an intimate conversation or a non-intimate conversation. The intimate pose depicted two seated genderless figures engaged in conversation, making direct eye contact. The non-intimate pose also depicted two genderless figures engaged in conversation, making indirect eye contact. Conversations were either issue-based or event-based. Participants then completed measures designed to assess social intimacy, isolation, loneliness, and emotional expressivity. Results indicated that the intimate pose was identified as more intimate than the non-intimate pose. Results also indicated that women rated their friendships as more intimate than men. Men reported that they were less intimate and expressive with their friends than women. Correlational analyses indicated that loneliness was inversely related to self-reported levels of social intimacy and emotional expressiveness for both genders.
Coming to the Aid of Another: The Impact of Victim and Witness Characteristics on Willingness to Offer Assistance
Lori Jayko
This study was designed to examine the influence of witness and victim characteristics on helping behavior. Participants included 287 volunteers who read a scenario portraying a hypothetical victim of a violent crime. Scenarios were varied by victim age and gender. Participants then completed measures assessing willingness to help, perceptions of physical competence, sensation-seeking, empathy, risk-taking, fear of crime, fears of physical danger, and crime experiences. Participants reported being more likely to assist youth and female victims. Middle-aged victims received the least help and were blamed the most. The situation was perceived as most dangerous for the elderly scenario victim. Implications of victim and witness characteristics, including risk-taking and sensation seeking are discussed.
Working the Night Shift: Its Effects on the Mind and Body
Vicki Milligan & Andrea Miller
Studies have shown that work-related fatigue often negatively impacts night-shift workers’ health, feelings of stress, their social relationships, and cognitive processes. This study was designed to compare day- and night- shift workers’ perceptions of their experiences and their performance on simple memory tasks. Participants (n = 120), half of whom worked the "grave-yard" shift, were asked to complete a series of self-rating scales, followed by four memory tasks. Results showed that across nearly all measures, night-shift employees rated themselves more negatively than day-shift workers. Specifically, night-shift employees’ scores indicated high levels of physical stress symptoms and daily stress, loneliness and depression, and low self-esteem. These workers also preformed more slowly and less accurately on the memory tasks than day-workers. Concerns for the risks these employees’ faces, as well as risks potentially faced by those left in their charges, are discussed.
Effects of Labeling on Perceived Traits and Desirability of Individuals with Mental Illness
Annemarie Anziano
This study investigated the effects of stereotyping the mentally ill as deviant and their perceived traits and desirability as part of the community. Participants (n = 120) were presented with one of four scenarios portraying a hypothetical neighbor with either a diagnosis of schizophrenia or asthma and receiving or not receiving treatment. The participants were then asked to rate the scenario characters’ characteristics, the need for social distance and dangerousness, as well as their own knowledge of mental illness, degree of empathy, and experience with the mentally ill. In general, results showed that the schizophrenic character was rated as more deviant than the asthmatic character. With respect to perceived degree of dangerousness, characters under treatment for physical or mental illness were viewed as equally non-dangerous. However, a physically ill character was viewed as more dangerous in the community than a schizophrenic patient. Finally, the schizophrenic not under treatment was viewed as least dangerous and the untreated asthmatic as most dangerousness. Knowledge of mental illness and interest with human services did impact perceptions.