Close Partners Research Articles

Who can spot a potential problem gambler? Testing “it takes one to know one” and acquaintanceship effects in a university student population

AbstractHow easy is it for individuals to detect low to moderate levels of problem gambling tendencies in others? Are individuals who have problem gambling tendencies themselves, or are close relationship partners, more accurate judges? We examine these questions in two studies involving a total of 336 interacting dyads drawn largely from a university student population. In Study 1 all pairs were strangers, whereas in Study 2 approximately half of the pairs were close. After the “judge” observed the “target” complete a gambling task, the dyad had a face‐to‐face discussion, with topics including favorite pastimes and personal weaknesses. Judges estimated the target's problem gambling tendencies, and both judges and targets self‐reported their own gambling tendencies. There was evidence of modest, albeit somewhat inconsistent, accuracy in individuals’ judgments of the other person's problem gambling tendencies, but no “it takes one to know one” or acquaintanceship effects were apparent. Results also indicated that judges evidenced a projection bias, whereby they saw the target as similar to themselves, especially within close pairs. These results reveal that even after minimal interaction with a stranger individuals can be able to judge the person's gambling tendencies with some accuracy. At the same time, our findings indicating that close others and those with problem gambling tendencies themselves are not more or less tuned in to the early signs of a problem than anyone else suggest that it would be inappropriate to be especially convinced by—or skeptical of—these individuals’ judgments.

Barriers and Facilitators for Exclusive Breastfeeding in Women's Biopsychosocial Spheres According to Primary Care Midwives in Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain).

(1) The objective of our study is to determine, from a primary care midwife’s perspective, which biopsychosocial factors can favour or be detrimental to exclusive breast feeding. (2) The study was carried out in Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain) and is based on qualitative methodology. Twenty in-depth interviews were carried out with midwives working in primary care centres in Tenerife, using a content analysis approach. The transcript data was then encoded following an inductive approach. (3) According to the perceptions of the primary care midwives who were interviewed, the barriers and facilitators that influence exclusive breastfeeding related to the biopsychosocial spheres of women are, at an individual level, the physical and emotional aspects during the postnatal period; at the relationship level, the presence or not of support from the close family and partner; at the community level, the environment and social networks the new mothers may have; and at the work level, characteristics of jobs and early return to work. (4) The findings of our research can help healthcare professionals to approach the promotion and encouragement of exclusive breast feeding at each of the levels studied, with the aim of increasing rates following recommendations issued by The World Health Organization.

An evolutionary approach to grief-related rumination: Construction and validation of the Bereavement Analytical Rumination Questionnaire

There has been little evolutionarily oriented empirical research on the intense, repetitive thoughts—ruminations—that often occur during grief. We used evolutionary theory to develop a new instrument for evaluating grief-related rumination titled the Bereavement Analytical Rumination Questionnaire (BARQ) operationalized by two dimensions: root cause analysis (RCA), the analysis of the cause of the loss; and reinvestment analysis (RIA), the analysis of how to reinvest time and effort in meaningful (presumably fitness enhancing) activities. We administered the BARQ to a sample of people seeking help for grief from non-profit organizations (619 completers) and tested several evolutionary predictions about grief-related rumination. The sample had several signs of severe grief, making it clinically relevant (sleep disturbances, chronicity, psychotropic drug use). Rumination was higher among antidepressant users, suggesting that rumination is related to depression. We also found evidence that grief-related rumination is modulated by circumstances (e.g., type of loss, age and gender of the participant, age of the deceased, traumatic death), which suggests adaptive regulation. Our most important results are consistent with inclusive fitness theory. Specifically, the pattern suggests that as people grow older, they spend less time ruminating about the causes of direct fitness losses (the loss of their own children), and they spend more time ruminating about the causes of indirect fitness losses (e.g., the loss of young non-parental, non-offspring relatives). We also found a sex or gender difference in grief-related rumination that is consistent with other evidence that women have a greater impact on the survival of close relatives (particularly, children and grandchildren), as well as evidence that women have more to lose with the loss of a close social partner. Overall, we found little support for the hypothesis that grief-related rumination is disordered.

Merged minds: Generalized shared reality in dyadic relationships.

Many everyday conversations, whether between close partners or strangers interacting for the first time, are about the world external to their relationship, such as music, food, or current events. Yet, the focus of most research on interpersonal relationships to date has been on the ways in which partners perceive each other and their relationship. We propose that one critical aspect of interpersonal interactions is developing a sense of dyadic, generalized shared reality-the subjective experience of sharing a set of inner states (e.g., thoughts, feelings, or beliefs) in common with a particular interaction partner about the world in general, including the world external to the relationship. Across 9 studies, we use mixed methods to investigate the unique role of generalized shared reality in interpersonal interactions, both between close partners and strangers. We hypothesize that generalized shared reality predicts how people connect with each other and perceive the world around them. We also investigate the observable, dyadic behavioral signatures of generalized shared reality in interpersonal interactions. Finally, we examine the motivation to uphold an existing sense of generalized shared reality. We hypothesize that couples high on baseline generalized shared reality exhibit motivated, dyadic interaction behaviors to reaffirm their generalized shared reality in the face of experimentally manipulated threat. By identifying a unique dimension of everyday interactions, these studies aim to capture a critical aspect of the lived subjective experience of human relationships that has not been captured before. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Joint Video Self-Modeling for Persons With Traumatic Brain Injury and Their Partners: A Case Series.

Purpose Individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) experience impairments to self-regulation and social communication that strain relationships. Video self-modeling (VSM) provides visible and audible, tangible evidence of what they do well and what could improve. Conducting such training in the context of authentic exchanges with their everyday partners may support positive change in social communication. The present investigation sought to evaluate indices of improved social communication. Method A mixed-methods design was employed for this case series investigation. Quantitative measures include pre- and postoutcomes on goal attainment scales (GASs) and measures of conversational effectiveness. Qualitative measures include responsiveness to video-supported prompts, conversational behaviors, and metacognitive statements. Results Participants perceived gains on GAS of 3-4 SDs, as well as perceived improvements on the La Trobe Communication Questionnaire. Those gains were validated by gains on the adapted Measure of Participation in Conversation and Measure of Skill in Supported Conversation. Individuals with TBI and their partners reached consensus on most goals and postintervention La Trobe Communication Questionnaire ratings. Participants made accurate judgments about their behaviors at a high rate, given video review. Conversational behaviors and use of metacognitive statements varied across participants and conversational contexts. Field notes and session transcripts provide evidence that both dyads increased internalization of VSM goals and purpose. Conclusions Joint VSM shows promise as a method for eliciting accurate self-assessments among individuals with TBI and their close partners. Both dyads perceived positive gains in interactions within and outside their dyads. Furthermore, joint VSM and GAS appear to improve self-awareness and internalization of VSM goals and purpose.

China’s Approach to the Institutionalization of Trilateral Economic Cooperation

In 2019, Trilateral Cooperation celebrated its 20th anniversary. As China, Japan and South Korea are close trade partners, economic cooperation is a focal point in Trilateral Cooperation. This paper endeavours to examine and explain China’s approach towards the institutionalization of trilateral economic cooperation from 1999 to 2019. The findings indicate that China was supportive towards institutionalizing trilateral economic cooperation, but it was less proactive in recent years. This is explained by two factors, namely, (a) the declining economic interdependence between China and other member states and (b) the shift in China’s regional strategy with the introduction of new regional initiatives by China, especially the Belt and Road Initiative. The findings of this study cast doubt on the critical juncture approach and the alternative explanation on balancing which perceives China’s participation in Trilateral Cooperation primarily through the lens of Sino-US relations.

The Impact of Collaboration Network on Water Resource Governance Performance: Evidence from China's Yangtze River Delta Region.

Existing studies rarely examine the relationship between network structure and network performance. To fill this research gap, this article collects inter-local collaboration network data from 41 cities in the Yangtze River Delta region of China from 2009 to 2015. Based on the institutional collective action framework and social capital theory, we propose bridging and bonding hypotheses regarding the impact of network structures on governance performance. We employ social network analysis and panel data regression models to test the hypotheses. The results show that the coefficients for closeness centrality and clustering coefficient are statistically significant in this analysis, Wuxi played a central role in the collaboration network and the region had formed a close partner network, confirming the positive effect of bridging and bonding network social capital structures on network performance.

Teachers’ and parents’ meaning making of children’s learning in transition from preschool to school for children with intellectual disability

ABSTRACT This study aimed to explore parents’ and teachers’ meaning making of children’s learning in transitions from preschool to school, for 5-7-year-old children with intellectual disability (ID). Although educational transitions is a growing area of research there is limited research about educational transitions of children with ID. These children often need individual adaptations in pedagogical settings and children with ID are most dependent on supportive persons for learning. In a Swedish context, the transitions from preschool to school of eight children with ID were studied during one year. Forty-seven interviews with parents, preschool- and school teachers were performed on three occasions pre- and post-transition. The interviews were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results showed that the master themes ‘Organising for Child Well-being’, ‘Adapting Strategies for Learning’, and ‘Processing Time’ constituted how parents and teachers perceived and responded to the children’s learning. Individualisation of transitions is needed and should be built up by close and tentative adaptations that prevail over transitions. This study shows that for children with ID learning is a social process where close partners are very important for child well-being, and thus learning.

Hydrocarbons support the global diplomacy of the Kurdistan Region

This article empirically examines the competition of the world’s counties for the establishment of their diplomatic relations with non-state actor. It is underlined that the government of the Kurdistan region, which has used “soft power” to draw attention of the states. Among other tools, hydrocarbons (oil and gas) placed the main soft power policy of the Kurdistan government for its global movement. It is proven that the economic and hydrocarbon ambitions have led states to overpass their traditional understanding of global diplomacy; and this further inspires some of the previously antagonistic states to reshape their relations with non-state actor towards considering a close partner. The drawn conclusions correlated with the idea that the Kurdistan government would be more actively involved in the global diplomacy due to its oil and gas wealth.

Explaining Cooperation in the Council of the EU Before and After the Brexit Referendum

This article focuses on the impact of the UK’s decision to leave the EU on cooperation within the Council of the EU. It does so by studying how cooperation between member states has changed from the period before the Brexit referendum to the period after. In the emerging literature on Brexit, it has been highlighted that member states that have been close partners to the UK will have to (and have started to) adjust their cooperation behaviour and form new alliances. While the structure of cooperation in the Council is often understood to be stable over time, suggesting that cooperation is mainly driven by structurally determined preferences that don’t easily change, a major event such as Brexit may force remaining member states to restructure their cooperation behaviour. Accordingly, it is expected and tested whether less structurally determined preferences have grown in importance for shaping patterns of cooperation in the immediate period following the Brexit referendum. Using survey data based on interviews with member state negotiators to the Council, asking about their network ties, compiled both in the period before and after Brexit referendum of 2016, it is shown that structurally determined preferences are important in both periods and that more volatile ideologically-based preferences on the EU integration dimension and GAL-TAN dimension have become important following the referendum. The article is informative both for those interested in the effects of Brexit on EU institutions, as well as those more generally interested in causes of cooperation patterns in the Council.

Hydrocarbon fuels as a basis of the Kurdistan region’s global diplomacy

The author of the article empirically studies the way countries are competing for establishing diplomatic relations with a non-governmental actor. The author focuses on the government of the Kurdistan region which uses its soft power to attract the attention of countries. Among other instruments, hydrocarbon fuels (oil and gas) were the main driving force of the Kurdistan region’s soft power. The author proves that economic and hydrocarbon ambitions have made the countries transform their traditional understanding of global diplomacy which inspires some former antagonist states to rebuild their relations with a non-governmental actor even more, and even to consider it as their close partner. The conclusions of the research correspond with the idea that the Kurdistan region will more actively participate in global diplomacy as it is rich in oil and gas resources.   

An unlikely partnership? New Zealand–South Korea bilateral cooperation and Antarctic order

Abstract While the Antarctic Treaty System intended to keep Antarctica an area of international cooperation and science free from militarisation and international conflict, the region has not been completely shielded from global power transitions, such as decolonisation and the end of the Cold War. Presently, emerging countries from Asia are increasingly willing to invest in polar infrastructure and science on the back of their growing influence in world politics. South Korea has also invested heavily in its Antarctic infrastructure and capabilities recently and has been identified as an actor with economic and political interests that are potentially challenging for the existing Antarctic order. This article first assesses the extent and performance of the growing bilateral cooperation between South Korea and one of its closest partners, New Zealand, a country with strong vested interests in the status quo order. How did the cooperation develop between these two actors with ostensibly diverging interests? This article finds that what may have been a friction–laden relationship, actually developed into a win-win partnership for both countries. The article then moves on to offer an explanation for how this productive relationship was made possible by utilising a mutual socialisation approach that explores socio-structural processes around status accommodation.

Review of Costa Rican Agricultural Exports: Banana, Coffee, & Pineapple

Costa Rica is one of the world’s leading exporters of bananas and pineapple, as well as one of the largest producers of coffee in North America. These three exports make up the backbone of Costa Rican agriculture, which accounts for almost 5% (4.6% to be exact) of its GDP and employs 12.5% of Costa Rica’s workforce. In fact, over 10% of the world’s exported pineapples are grown in Costa Rica. Moreover, Costa Rica is a very close trading partner with many European countries and the United States especially. Given the aforementioned information, hopefully one may understand why an analysis of Costa Rican agricultural production and exports are important. Dually, there exists a relative lack of literature on Costa Rican agricultural economy when compared to other Latin American nations, and this void of published work should be filled. Not only is the industry very important for Costa Rica, but the United States and some European nations rely on Costa Rican exports of banana and pineapple. This paper seeks to contribute greater understanding within economic literature on Costa Rican agricultural exports, and demonstrate which direction Costa Rica’s exports should move in the future. This paper seeks to answer the question of what role Costa Rica currently plays in global agriculture production, and which way it should move in the near future. Analyzing Costa Rica’s production possibilities in regards to its main three agricultural crop exports may help improve efficiency, promote a more environmentally friendly agriculture industry, and even marginally increase GDP. Furthermore, this research may open the door for greater discourse on current trends of exports in the global south and the re-evaluation of the comparative advantages among developing states currently. This is to say that this paper may be the spring board with which more literature and discussion may come from in regards to agricultural exports and development in the global south. This paper finds that Costa Rica should look to slightly increasing production of Pineapple and Coffee, while slightly reducing banana production.

VIETNAM AND INDIA’S APPROACH TO THE INDO-PACIFIC REGION: IMPLICATION FOR BILATERAL RELATION PROMOTION

There have been tectonic shifts in the Indo-Pacific region, impacting relations among international actors, including traditionally close partners like Vietnam and India. By using the approach of realism and constructivism in international relations, this paper discusses Vietnam and India’s approach to the Indo-Pacific region to expand their substantive strategic relationship. The paper finds out that geopolitical changes in the Indo-Pacific directly influence the bilateral relation and create challenges as well as opportunities. By using the SWOT model, the paper analyzes driving factors and challenges to the Vietnam- India relations. Through the findings, it suggests both countries need to take advantages of the regional cooperation to further Vietnam-India’s strategic comprehensive partnership.

Arbitration’s Blade: International Arbitration and the Rule of Law

The legitimacy of a system of dispute resolution depends intrinsically on the trust and confidence of its users in its decision-making processes, and that in turn rests on the general adherence of those processes to the values and principles that constitute the rule of law. While international arbitration has long been a close partner of the courts in sustaining the rule of law, some of arbitration’s key features and practices – such as its consent-based limitations, its predisposition toward confidentiality, its longstanding practice of permitting parties to unilaterally appoint arbitrators, and its philosophy that parties have no right to a right answer – mean that arbitration supports an attenuated model of the rule of law. That is largely the result of conscious decisions to forgo certain rule of law values in order to realize other goals. But the problem of rising costs and delays, underpinned by arbitration’s growing procedural rigidity and lack of agility, exacts a heavy price on arbitration’s users and their confidence in arbitration, without obvious returns. We must be cognizant of arbitration’s sacrifice in terms of rule of law values when seeking to advance other objectives, and regularly reflect on whether those gains are still worth their cost. International arbitration, Rule of law, Consent, Arbitrability, Confidentiality, Multiparty disputes, Party appointment of arbitrators, Accessibility, Costs, Delays

Relational surprise experiences as a unique form of relational maintenance

This study presents an initial exploration and conceptualization of relational surprise experiences (RSEs) as communication phenomenon involving strategic relational maintenance behaviors with potential for positive and negative outcomes. University students in the Southeastern United States (N = 203) described a RSE that occurred with a close relational partner (romantic partner, friend, or family member), explained how deception was used to achieve the surprise, and reported relational benefits and drawbacks in an online survey. Seven types of RSEs were reported including gifts, events, visits, and destinations. Responses revealed that people considered surprises as relationally beneficial with minimal drawbacks. Although over one-third of the participants described their partner’s pants perceived the surprise as a violation of relational rules. Some participants reported both benefits and drawbacks to RSEs, thereby illuminating a nuance for traditional relational maintenance typologies. This study establishes a path to explore implications of RSEs for individual and relational satisfaction, happiness, and well-being.

Only Friends Can Betray You: International Rivalry and Domestic Politics

ABSTRACT This article argues that dramatic political change in State A poses a threat to the interests that other states B share with it. The more salient those interests are to State B, the greater the threat posed by domestic political change within State A. Thus major changes in one state place the leaders of formerly friendly states into a domain of losses, motivating risk-seeking behavior in hopes of reversing these losses. Conversely, the new leaders of the state undergoing domestic political change initiate similarly risk-seeking behavior to defend their new endowments. The conflicts that result sow the seeds of long-lasting enmity (rivalry) between former partners. I test this argument in a dataset of rivalry onset during the period 1950–2005 and find evidence that in the wake of dramatic political change in State A, rivalries are most likely to form between A and its close partners.

Mind-mindedness versus mentalistic interpretations of behavior: Is mind-mindedness a relational construct?

Mind-mindedness is a measure of the tendency to represent significant others in internal state terms and is central to supportive parent-infant relationships. The two studies reported here explored whether mind-mindedness generalizes to representations of unknown individuals, using a novel task that assessed individual differences in adults' tendency to interpret others' behavior with reference to their internal states: the Unknown Mother-Infant Interaction Task (UMIIT). We compared UMIIT performance with measures of mind-mindedness from (a) adults' descriptions of close friends and partners (Study 1, N=96) and (b) mothers' appropriate versus nonattuned comments on their infants' internal states (Study 2, N=56). In line with the proposal that mind-mindedness is a relational construct, UMIIT performance was unrelated to mind-mindedness in both studies.

Empathy and Coping: Older Adults’ Interpersonal Tensions and Mood throughout the Day

Introduction: Scholars have proposed that empathy is a key feature of strong social ties, but less is known about the role empathy plays when tensions arise. Objective: We examined whether older adults’ empathy was associated with (a) coping strategies for interpersonal tensions, and (b) mood when there were tensions throughout the day. We also explored whether coping strategies explained the potential buffering effect of empathy on older adults’ momentary mood. Methods: Older adults (N = 302) from the Daily Experiences and Well-Being Study completed a baseline survey on empathy and coping strategies. They also completed ecological momentary assessments every 3 hours each day for 5–6 days, which included questions about interpersonal tensions and mood. This study considered tensions with close partners (e.g., family and friends) and with non-close partners (e.g., acquaintances and service providers). Results: In the face of interpersonal tensions, more empathic older adults reported using more constructive and less destructive coping strategies than less empathic older adults, regardless of their closeness to social partners. Being more empathic also buffered older adults’ mood when tensions occurred with close partners, but this buffering effect was not mediated by older adults’ general preference for coping strategies. Conclusion: This study advances our understanding of empathy and interpersonal tensions in later life, with a focus on daily experiences.

МУСТАҚИЛЛИК ЙИЛЛАРИДА ЎЗБЕКИСТОННИНГ МАЛАЙЗИЯ БИЛАН ХАЛҚ ДИПЛОМАТИЯСИ АЛОҚАЛАРИ

Today, Malaysia is one of the most developed countries in Southeast Asia and a close partner of Uzbekistan in the region. Taking into account the peculiarities of the development and achievements of the countries of Southeast Asia, the Government of Uzbekistan from the first years of independence has paid special attention to the establishment and development of cooperation with Malaysia