Positive Self-views Research Articles

Evaluation of a multifaceted vaginal health program in gynecologic cancer patients experiencing sexual dysfunction: A randomized controlled trial

Objectives: To characterize those seeking treatment at a female sexual medicine (FSM) program and examine their sexual/vaginal health issues. The program was established to address the consequences of cancer treatment on vaginal health and sexuality. Methods: A limitedwaiver of authorizationwas obtained to evaluate the FSM Program. Demographic and medical information and FSM clinical assessment forms from 509 new visits were analyzed. The FSM clinical assessment form consists of a clinician evaluation form with the Vaginal Assessment Scale (VAS); patient-reported outcomes (PROs), including the Sexual ActivityQuestionnaire (SAQ), Sexual Self-SchemaScale (SSSS), and Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI); and exploratory items. Results: Of the 509 patients, 493 (97%) completed PROs. Due to staff changes, 253 of these women also received pelvic examinations. Most of the women seeking treatment had histories of breast (260 [51%]) or gynecologic (190 [37%]) cancer. Other cancers included colorectal/anal (35 [7%]), skin (20 [4%]), gastric/genitourinary (17 [3%]), andhematologic (17 [3%]). Eighty-one percent of patients weremarried or partnered. The median age was 51.6 years (mean, 51 years). On pelvic examination, approximately two-thirds of patients had elevated vaginal pH scores (5– 6.5 [35%] or 6.5+ [33%]) andminimal (62%) or no (5%) vaginal moisture. Eighty-seven patients (44%) experienced pain during their examinations (25%mild, 12%moderate, 2% severe). Fifty-three percent of patientswere sexually active, but only 43% felt confident about sexual activity. The degree of concern about sexual function/vaginal health was significant, with a mean of 7.9 on a scale of 0 (not at all) to 10 (very much). Approximately half had moderate/severe dryness (133 [51%]) and dyspareunia (120 [46%]) per the VAS. The mean SSSS score was 60.7, indicating a slightly positive sexual self-view. However, 93% (429) had an FSFI score below 26, suggesting sexual dysfunction. Conclusions: At initial consultation, women reported symptoms of vaginal dryness, pain, and sexual dysfunction. Pelvic examinations for many women revealed elevated vaginal pH, lack of moisture, and discomfort with the examination itself. Future analyses will examine changes over time. Our goal is to provide information, strategies, and support to improve symptomswhile promoting confidence about sexual/ vaginal health.

Negative and positive consequences of adolescent cancer 10 years after diagnosis: an interview‐based longitudinal study in Sweden

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to provide insight into survivor-reported negative and positive consequences of cancer during adolescence 10 years after diagnosis and compare these with consequences reported 3 and 4 years after diagnosis.MethodsThree, 4, and 10 years after diagnosis, survivors of adolescent cancer were interviewed about negative and positive consequences due to their cancer experience. Manifest content analysis was used to identify categories of reported consequences. Categories of consequences 10 years after diagnosis were compared with consequences reported 3 and 4 years after diagnosis.ResultsSeven categories of negative consequences were identified: bodily concerns, existential thoughts about loss and life (new at 10 years), psychological problems, difficulties interacting with others, health worries (new), fertility concerns (new), and frustrations about health care (new); and six categories of positive consequences: positive view of life, positive view of self, compassion for others (new), close relationships, gained knowledge about disease and health care, and financial gains. Consistent with previous time points, bodily concerns were reported most often. The majority of survivors (n = 22) reported both negative and positive consequences of their former disease. Few reported only negative (n = 2) or only positive consequences (n = 4).ConclusionsTen years after diagnosis, most survivors reported both negative and positive consequences. New themes, relevant to young adulthood and long-term survival, were identified. Health care professionals treating young adult survivors may anticipate and address problems regarding physical health, fertility, and health care but may also reinforce positive affect by addressing survivors' positive views of life, sense of self, and close relationships.

Service employees and self-verification: The roles of occupational stigma consciousness and core self-evaluations

Despite the growing number and importance of service occupations, we know little about how jobholders’ perceptions of societal stigmas of service jobs influence their identification with and attitudes towards work. The present study presents a framework that accords key roles to research on occupational stigma consciousness and the verification of employees’ self-views (i.e. core self-evaluations) to understand employees’ responses to occupational stigmatization. Survey responses from call center employees revealed a negative relationship between occupational stigma consciousness and occupational identification and work meaningfulness and a positive relationship between occupational stigma consciousness and organizational production deviant behaviors for employees who have a positive self-view. Opposite patterns of results surfaced for employees who have a lower positive self-view.

Attachment-Related Consequences of War Captivity and Trajectories of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A 17-Year Longitudinal Study

Attachment security contributes to resilience in times of stress, but it can be disrupted by traumatic events that shatter positive views of self and others. We followed Israeli ex-POWs of the Yom Kippur War over 17 years and examined associations between trajectories of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and disruptions in the regulatory functions of the attachment system. Fifty-nine ex-POWs and 39 control veterans from the same war who had reported on PTSD 18, 30, and 35 years after the war performed laboratory cognitive tasks assessing activation of mental representations of security in response to threat and the ability of these representations to color neutral stimuli with positive affect and reduce access to trauma-related thoughts. As compared to controls, ex-POWs with persistent PTSD over the 17-year period exhibited dramatic disruptions in the soothing and healing functions of attachment security representations. These disruptions were not evident among ex-POWs with a worsening PTSD trajectory or a stable resilience trajectory. The implications of attachment-system functioning for understanding posttraumatic processes are discussed.

Charting the life course: age differences and validity of beliefs about lifespan development.

This study examined how children (9 years), adolescents (13 to 15 years), younger adults (21 to 26 years), and older adults (70 to 76 years) chart age gradients of cognitive and social functioning from childhood to old age. Participants (N = 156) rated typical performance levels in different life phases for 10 aspects of cognitive and social functioning. Compared with older participants, children expected lower performance levels and higher temporal stability, particularly during adulthood and into old age, and showed lower interindividual consensus in their ratings. Individuals in all 4 age groups recognized that fluid cognitive abilities reach their developmental peak earlier in life and decline more steeply thereafter than crystallized cognitive abilities. Older adults and, to a lesser extent, children evaluated their own current functioning as being better than that of their typical age peers. Furthermore, older adults charted typical cognitive development in middle and earlier late adulthood more positively than the participants in the other 3 age groups, which possibly reflects a partial externalization of their own positive self-views and a self-enhancing bias. Comparisons with life span gradients of cognitive performance (McArdle, Ferrer-Caja, Hamagami, & Woodcock, 2002) suggest that the ratings of adolescents and younger adults were in better agreement with empirically observed average performance trajectories than the ratings of children and older adults. We conclude that beliefs about normative cognitive and social aspects of life span development emerge in late middle childhood, solidify into culturally shared scripts by mid-adolescence, and remain subject to further change into old age.

The construction of moral agency in mother–child conversations about helping and hurting across childhood and adolescence.

This study examined mother-child conversations about children's and adolescents' past harmful and helpful actions. The sample included 100 mothers and their 7-, 11-, or 16-year-old children; each dyad discussed events when the child (a) helped a friend and (b) hurt a friend. Analyses suggested that conversations about help may serve to facilitate children's sense of themselves as prosocial moral agents; mothers focused on children's feelings of pride, positive judgments of the child's behavior, and positive insights about the child's characteristics that could be drawn from the event. In turn, conversations about harm were more elaborated and contentious than those about help, and reflected more complex maternal goals; although mothers highlighted children's wrongdoing (e.g., by noting negative consequences of the child's actions for others), they also engaged in a variety of strategies that may support children's ability to reconcile their harmful actions with a positive self-view (e.g., by noting what children did do well or their capacity for repair). With respect to age effects, results revealed that older children played an increasingly active and spontaneous role in discussions. Furthermore, as compared with 7-year-olds, conversations with 11- and 16-year-olds focused more on psychological insights that could be drawn from experiences and less on children's concrete harmful and helpful actions. Overall, results illuminate the processes whereby conversations with mothers may further children's developing understandings of their own and others' moral agency, and how discussions of prosocial and transgressive moral experiences may provide distinct but complementary opportunities for moral socialization.

The Great Recession

Based on Greenfield’s theory of social change and human development, we predicted that adolescents’ values, behaviors, and self-assessments would become more collectivistic and less individualistic during the Great Recession (2008–2010) compared to the prerecession period (2004-2006), thereby reversing long-term trends from the 1970s. Data came from Monitoring the Future, a nationally representative yearly survey of 12th graders. Concern for others and environmentalism increased from the prerecession period to recession, reversing long-term declines. Long-term trends toward increasing materialism partially reversed: Wanting a job making lots of money continued to increase, the increase in the importance of money leveled off, and the increase in desiring to own expensive material items reversed. Long-term trends toward increasingly positive self-views continued. Correlations with economic indicators (median income, employment rate) over the entire time period (1976–2010) showed that collectivism was high and individualism was low during times of economic deprivation, consistent with Greenfield’s theory.

A Lifespan Perspective on Dependency and Self-Criticism: Age-Related Differences from 18 to 59

A sizeable body of research suggests that self-definition and relatedness represent two fundamental developmental streams across the lifespan (Blatt in Psychoanal Study Child 29:107–157, 1974; Blatt and Luyten in Dev Psychopathol 21:793–814, 2009). Adverse developmental experiences have been found to affect personality development leading to high levels of self-criticism or dependency. No research to date has examined the developmental trends of these factors across the lifespan or the moderating impact of important life experiences. In a sample of 3,586 Canadians aged 18–59, age-related differences in self-criticism and dependency were examined. Analyses were replicated in a multicultural sample of 612 Canadians and 647 individuals born and currently living on the continent of Asia. Controlling for both neuroticism and depressive symptoms, results showed that self-criticism and dependency decreased linearly across the lifespan in both samples and across cultures; however, the decrease in self-criticism was steeper for men compared to women, while the decrease in dependency was steeper for those without children compared to those with children. Furthermore, participants who were in a romantic relationship showed lower levels of self-criticism and higher levels of dependency compared to those who were not in a romantic relationship. Results suggest that people may develop a healthier view of close relationships with others and acquire more positive self-views over the course of their lives.

Identity challenged: Taiwanese women migrating to Australia

This article investigates the experiences of Taiwanese women who migrated to Australia between 1980 and 2005. It is part of a larger project about the migration experiences of Taiwanese women who moved to Australia and to Canada with the aim of providing a direction for facilitating cultural transition for future female migrants. The article presents some of the findings from 21 semi-structured interviews which were conducted between July and October 2011, shedding light on the role that gender, age at the time of migration and family situation play in debates around cultural identity and the place of Taiwanese women in Australia. Relational-cultural theory serves as the theoretical framework for the central argument that – in spite of the differences between younger women and those in their 30s and 40s in relation to the motivation to migrate and ways to connect – the ability to build new relationships in Australia while maintaining existing ones in Taiwan is essential to establishing a positive view of self, and consequently to successful migration.

Fragile Self-Esteem and Alcohol-Related Negative Consequences Among College Student Drinkers

The pattern of alcohol consumption among college students and its negative consequences have been extensively studied. The purpose of the present study was to gain a better understanding of the connection between self-esteem and alcohol use among college students. Participants were 623 undergraduates who completed measures of self-esteem level (i.e., an overall evaluation of one's own value and worth), contingent self-esteem (i.e., what an individual believes he or she must accomplish in order to have value and worth as a person), alcohol use, harmful drinking patterns, and negative consequences of alcohol use. Our results show that individuals who possess high levels of self-esteem that are contingent (their positive self-views are strongly influenced by whether they have met the goals or standards they have set for themselves) report more alcohol-related negative consequences than individuals with noncontingent high self-esteem. Implications of these findings for understanding the connection between sel...

Changes in Positive Self-Views Mediate the Effect of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder.

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is thought to be characterized by maladaptive self-views. This study investigated whether (1) patients with SAD (n=75) differ at baseline from healthy controls (HC; n=43) in negative and positive self-views, (2) Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for SAD vs. waitlist control (WL) produces statistically and clinically significant changes in negative and positive self-views, (3) changes in self-views mediate the effect of CBT on social anxiety symptoms, and (4) changes in self-views during CBT related to social anxiety symptoms at 1-year post-CBT. As expected, patients endorsed more negative and fewer positive self-views than HC at baseline. Compared to WL, CBT yielded statistically and clinically significant changes, specifically, fewer negative and more positive self-views. Mediational analysis indicated that increased positive (but not reduced negative) self-views mediated the effect of CBT on social anxiety reduction. Correlational analyses determined that increased positive self-views were associated with social anxiety symptom reduction at 1-year-post-CBT.

The Evidence for Generation Me and Against Generation We

According to the empirical evidence, today’s emerging adults (Millennials/GenY, born after 1980) are more Generation Me than Generation We when compared to previous generations. Five data sets show a generational increase in narcissism, including one that demonstrates significant increases when a confound is controlled. College and child samples increase in self-esteem over the generations. Some high school samples show no change, though high school students increasingly embrace other overly positive self-views. In nationally representative samples of high school and college students, values have shifted toward extrinsic (money, fame, and image) concerns and away from intrinsic (community, affiliation) concerns. These trends have mostly negative consequences, such as lower empathy, less concern for others, and less civic engagement (e.g., interest in social issues, government, and politics). Parents and teachers should focus on teaching children and adolescents the values of hard work and consideration for others instead of an inflated sense of self.

Overwhelming Evidence for Generation Me

Documenting trends in young people’s self-reported traits and attitudes is empirical research, not a complaint or a stereotype. Rising cultural individualism has both good consequences (more gender equality) and more negative ones (narcissism, mental health issues). Arnett seems to believe we should embrace studies of cultural change only if they find positive trends. A total of 11 studies show a generational increase in narcissism, 7 using noncollege samples. They include respondents from high school age to adults, four different ways of measuring narcissism, three different research methods, four different ways of recruiting respondents, three different countries, and eight sets of authors. Eleven additional samples show increases in positive self-views. Perspective taking, empathy, and concern for others have declined, not increased. Narcissism is not related to teen pregnancy or car accidents. An enormous body of research finds generational increases in anxiety, depression, and mental health issues, most in noncollege samples.

Approach temperament, anger, and evaluation: Resolving a paradox.

Factor analytic investigations into the structure of naturalistically observed self-reported mood suggest that anger loads together with avoidance temperament markers, such as fear and anxiety. However, when anger is examined following experimental manipulation, it appears to relate more to approach temperament markers, such as determined and active. We explored 1 potential reason why there is a discrepancy between naturalistically collected self-reported mood versus experimental manipulation of affect with regard to the location of anger in the mood space. We propose that evaluation--endorsing items of similar valence regardless of their semantic content--confounds the self-reported structure of mood. The evaluative dimension of self-reported mood does not appear to represent actual behavior, because it combines items with contradictory semantic content as long as they have similar valence. For example, someone with a positive self-view may endorse both calm and excited while denying sluggish and manic, and so forth, even though these items describe opposite traits. Isolating evaluation across 4 inventories and samples showed that anger clustered together with approach temperament markers. We conclude that isolating evaluation generates a self-reported structure of mood that aligns more closely with experimental investigations.

Preface

Preface Daniel Kurtzer (bio) Amidst the tragedies and anguish of the Arab-Israeli conflict, there is also a fair share of irony. This usually takes the form of policies or actions or perceptions by one side that focus on one issue or are directed at a certain goal but which—unintentionally—serve a very different purpose. An intriguing example is in the growing academic field of narratives. Israelis and Palestinians justify their actions and words in terms of advancing the goal of peace. However, the actions of the two sides and the failure of repeated diplomatic attempts to resolve the conflict clearly are driving the two sides farther apart. The political and psychological chasm between them is widening and deepening continuously. Possibilities that seemed to exist just a decade ago now seem remote. Breakthroughs that offered tremendous promise are now discredited. And yet, as this special issue Shared Narratives—A Palestinian-Israeli Dialogue demonstrates so lucidly, the ways that each side sees itself—that is, the narratives that the two sides have developed to justify their stances and positions—are becoming increasingly parallel as our understanding of history unfolds. Rather than narratives becoming yet another obstacle to overcome, narratives are fast becoming a possible bridge to mutual understanding. Indeed, for both sides, looking at each other is fast becoming the same as looking in the mirror. This special issue, an important complement to the earlier to Shared Histories1, amply illustrates this phenomenon. Both sides claim and religiously adhere to the same historical values and narratives: • Both sides promote the justice of their respective positions and the absence of justice of the positions of the other side. • Both sides have critical security needs. • Both sides assign serious value to the issue of patriotism and attachment to the political community. • Both sides are attached to the (same) land. • Both sides attach high value to national unity (even if that is an elusive goal in both communities). • Both sides hold a positive self-view of their own group, warranted or not. [End Page vii] • Both sides have experienced victimhood. • Both sides demand acknowledgment of their respective narrative. • Both sides increasingly define the conflict as existential nationalism. So, the parties act in ways that drive them further apart, and they negotiate in ways that deepen the core issues under consideration, even as their explanations of what drives and motivates them narrow to the point of reflecting mirror images of themselves. The intellectual absurdity of this paradox cries out for a reasoned bridge of understanding. In this respect, Shared Narratives will contribute to our appreciation of the problem, and it will surely yield dividends in our understanding of what drives Israelis and Palestinians. It is with great hope that this volume will impact the understanding of policymakers, as they try to develop strategies and tactics that advance their own interests while not negating the interests of the other side. The search for peace need not result in a zero-sum outcome, in which one side wins and the other loses. A positive sum result is achievable, wherein both sides achieve enough—but not all—of their requirements as to make the outcome acceptable. By understanding their shared narratives and shared histories, Israelis and Palestinians can move closer to the peace that both seek and require. Daniel Kurtzer Daniel C. Kurtzer is Professor of Middle East Policy Studies at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He served as US Ambassador to Israel and Egypt. His recent publications include: The Peace Puzzle: America’s Quest for Arab-Israeli Peace, 1989–2011 (Ithaca, 2013); ed. Pathways to Peace: America and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (New York, 2012); Negotiating Arab-Israeli Peace: American Leadership in the Middle East (Washington, D.C., 2008). Notes 1. Paul Scham, Walid Salem, Benjamin Pogrund, Shared Histories: A Palestinian-Israeli Dialogue (Walnut Creek, CA, 2006). [End Page viii] Copyright © 2013 Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Ben-Gurion Research Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism

Effects of high consensus information on attitude change in a forced compliance paradigm: Implications toward maintaining positive self-views

Effects of high consensus information on attitude change in a forced compliance paradigm: Implications toward maintaining positive self-views

Effects of estimated consensus on restoring positive self-views

Effects of estimated consensus on restoring positive self-views

Why Threats Trigger Compensatory Reactions: The Need for Coherence and Quest for Self-Verification

There is considerable agreement that threatening people's beliefs may trigger compensatory activity designed to reaffirm the beliefs that have been challenged. Disagreement reigns, however, regarding the nature of the mechanism that underlies such compensatory activity. We propose that the desire for coherence that motivates self-verification processes underlies these processes. For example, research on self-verification has demonstrated that just as people with positive self-views react to negative evaluations by amplifying their efforts to confirm their positive self-views, people with negative self-views react to positive evaluations by amplifying their efforts to confirm negative self-views. Further, whereas past research on self-verification strivings demonstrate that coherence strivings motivate efforts to confirm negative as well as positive self-views, recent work on meaning maintenance activities indicates that people work to verify implicit as well as explicit self-views.

Generational Increases in Agentic Self-evaluations among American College Students, 1966–2009

Compared to previous generations, more American college students now rate themselves as above average on attributes such as academic ability, drive to achieve, leadership ability, public speaking ability, self-confidence, and writing ability (based on a nationally representative sample collected 1966–2009; N = 6.5 million). These birth cohort differences are similar with controls for race and gender and occurred despite the college population becoming less selective. Trends in positive self-views are correlated with grade inflation (which increased d = 0.81), but are not explained by changes in objective performance (e.g., SAT scores have declined, d = −0.22) or effort (time spent studying is down, d = − 0.31). Broad cultural shifts emphasizing positive self-views have apparently resulted in enhanced self-evaluations on agentic domains. Self-evaluations on communal attributes, such as understanding others, cooperativeness, and spirituality, either decreased or were unchanged.

Do people want to be flattered or understood? The cross-cultural universality of self-verification

Researchers have recently debated the cultural generalizability of the motive to promote positive, self-enhancing beliefs about the self. Here we broaden the debate to include the generalizability of the self-verification motive, which encourages people to confirm their self-views, whether negative or positive. In two studies, participants from individualist and collectivist cultures rated the accuracy of positive vs. negative evaluations. Support for positivity strivings emerged in that participants from collectivist cultures (India and Taiwan) imputed more accuracy to positive than negative evaluations; participants from an individualist culture (U.S.A.) displayed positivity strivings in Experiment 2 only. These positivity strivings, however, were qualified by participants' own self-views. In both collectivist and individualist cultures, the tendency to embrace positive evaluations was most pronounced among participants with positive self-views; indeed, in Experiment 1, participants with negative self-views rated negative evaluations as more accurate than positive evaluations. Such findings support the universality of self-verification strivings and underscore the importance of measuring self-views when attempting to identify basic self-motives.