Biomedical subjects

Nick Haslam

Publications and source records attributed to Nick Haslam.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2007

Humanizing the self: moderators of the attribution of lesser humanness to others.

Three studies investigated moderators of the tendency to attribute greater humanness to the self than to others, an interpersonal counterpart of outgroup infra-humanization. Study 1 demonstrated that this self-humanizing effect is reduced when the other is the focus of comparison. Study 2 showed that the effect is reduced when the other is individuated. Study 3 indicated that empathy does not moderate self-humanizing: Self-humanizing failed to correlate negatively with dispositional empathy or perspective-taking. Study 3 also indicated that abstract construal moderates the self-humanizing effect using a temporal comparison. Participants rated their future self, but not their past self, as less human than their present self. Studies 1 and 3 also showed that self-humanizing is greater for undesirable traits: People may view their failings as "only human." All findings were distinct from those attributable to self-enhancement. Self-humanizing may reflect a combination of egocentrism, focalism, abstract representation of others, and motivated processes.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Conceptual beliefs about human values and their implications: human nature beliefs predict value importance, value trade-offs, and responses to value-laden rhetoric.

Beliefs that may underlie the importance of human values were investigated in 4 studies, drawing on research that distinguishes natural-kind (natural), nominal-kind (conventional), and artifact (functional) beliefs. Values were best characterized by artifact and nominal-kind beliefs, as well as a natural-kind belief specific to the social domain, "human nature" (Studies 1 and 2). The extent to which values were considered central to human nature was associated with value importance in both Australia and Japan (Study 2), and experimentally manipulating human nature beliefs influenced value importance (Study 3). Beyond their association with importance, human nature beliefs predicted participants' reactions to value trade-offs (Study 1) and to value-laden rhetorical statements (Study 4). Human nature beliefs therefore play a central role in the psychology of values.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

The latent structure of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a taxometric analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To test whether the latent structure of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is best understood as categorical or dimensional in samples of 1774 children (aged 6-12 years) and 1222 adolescents (aged 13-17 years) drawn from an Australian epidemiological study. METHOD: Two taxometric procedures (MAXEIG and MAMBAC) examined ADHD symptom measures assessed by diagnostic interview and parental ratings. RESULTS: Consistent with behavioural genetic research, findings fail to support the view that a latent category underpins ADHD. CONCLUSIONS: ADHD is best modelled as a continuum among both children and adolescents, and no discrete dysfunction can therefore be assumed to cause it. The placement of the diagnostic threshold should therefore be decided on pragmatic grounds (e.g. impairment or need for treatment).

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Bias in psychopathology research.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Biases are frequently invoked in psychopathology research, either as core features of particular forms of psychopathology or as errors and distortions that affect psychiatric assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and research methodology. This review provides an overview of recent research on the forms of bias that are commonly examined in the field. RECENT FINDINGS: Recent research has made a number of advances in the analysis of cognitive and affective biases underpinning psychopathology: the effect of rating and other biases on psychiatric assessment and diagnosis; the role of race and gender in psychiatric practice; financial and institutional influences on psychiatric services; and several biases affecting research methodology, study design, and statistical inference. SUMMARY: Bias has several distinct meanings, and encompasses a disparate set of phenomena, so no over-arching conclusion about the place of bias in psychopathology research can be drawn. Recent work, however, makes solid progress toward a better understanding of systematic distortions and how they can be recognized and reduced.

Affect↗

PubMed2006

Essentialist beliefs about homosexuality: structure and implications for prejudice.

The structure of beliefs about the nature of homosexuality, and their association with antigay attitudes, were examined in three studies (Ns = 309, 487, and 216). Contrary to previous research, three dimensions were obtained: the belief that homosexuality is biologically based, immutable, and fixed early in life; the belief that it is cross-culturally and historically universal; and the belief that it constitutes a discrete, entitative type with defining features. Study 1 supported a three-factor structure for essentialist beliefs about male homosexuality. Study 2 replicated this structure with confirmatory factor analysis, extended it to beliefs about lesbianism, showed that all three dimensions predicted antigay attitudes, and demonstrated that essentialist beliefs mediate associations between prejudice and gender, ethnicity, and religiosity. Study 3 replicated the belief structure and mediation effects in a community sample and showed that essentialist beliefs predict antigay prejudice independently of right-wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, and political conservatism.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Dehumanization: an integrative review.

The concept of dehumanization lacks a systematic theoretical basis, and research that addresses it has yet to be integrated. Manifestations and theories of dehumanization are reviewed, and a new model is developed. Two forms of dehumanization are proposed, involving the denial to others of 2 distinct senses of humanness: characteristics that are uniquely human and those that constitute human nature. Denying uniquely human attributes to others represents them as animal-like, and denying human nature to others represents them as objects or automata. Cognitive underpinnings of the "animalistic" and "mechanistic" forms of dehumanization are proposed. An expanded sense of dehumanization emerges, in which the phenomenon is not unitary, is not restricted to the intergroup context, and does not occur only under conditions of conflict or extreme negative evaluation. Instead, dehumanization becomes an everyday social phenomenon, rooted in ordinary social-cognitive processes.

Commodification↗

PubMed2005

Predisplacement and postdisplacement factors associated with mental health of refugees and internally displaced persons: a meta-analysis.

CONTEXT: The global refugee crisis requires that researchers, policymakers, and clinicians comprehend the magnitude of the psychological consequences of forced displacement and the factors that moderate them. To date, no empirical synthesis of research on these issues has been undertaken. OBJECTIVE: To meta-analytically establish the extent of compromised mental health among refugees (including internally displaced persons, asylum seekers, and stateless persons) using a worldwide study sample. Potential moderators of mental health outcomes were examined, including enduring contextual variables (eg, postdisplacement accommodation and economic opportunity) and refugee characteristics. DATA SOURCES: Published studies (1959-2002) were obtained using broad searches of computerized databases (PsycINFO and PILOTS), manual searches of reference lists, and interviews with prominent authors. STUDY SELECTION: Studies were selected if they investigated a refugee group and at least 1 nonrefugee comparison group and reported 1 or more quantitative group comparison on measures of psychopathology. Fifty-six reports met inclusion criteria (4.4% of identified reports), yielding 59 independent comparisons and including 67,294 participants (22,221 refugees and 45,073 nonrefugees). DATA EXTRACTION: Data on study and report characteristics, study participant characteristics, and statistical outcomes were extracted using a coding manual and subjected to blind recoding, which indicated high reliability. Methodological quality information was coded to assess potential sources of bias. DATA SYNTHESIS: Effect size estimates for the refugee-nonrefugee comparisons were averaged across psychopathology measures within studies and weighted by sample size. The weighted mean effect size was 0.41 (SD, 0.02; range, -1.36 to 2.91 [SE, 0.01]), indicating that refugees had moderately poorer outcomes. Postdisplacement conditions moderated mental health outcomes. Worse outcomes were observed for refugees living in institutional accommodation, experiencing restricted economic opportunity, displaced internally within their own country, repatriated to a country they had previously fled, or whose initiating conflict was unresolved. Refugees who were older, more educated, and female and who had higher predisplacement socioeconomic status and rural residence also had worse outcomes. Methodological differences between studies affected effect sizes. CONCLUSIONS: The sociopolitical context of the refugee experience is associated with refugee mental health. Humanitarian efforts that improve these conditions are likely to have positive impacts.

Emigration and Immigration↗

PubMed2005

Testing the latent structure of posttraumatic stress disorder: a taxometric study of combat veterans.

Since the diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) first appeared in the psychiatric nomenclature in 1980, considerable debate has revolved around the nature of the condition. Specifically, is PTSD best conceptualized as one end of a continuum of human response to traumatic stress or does it represent a discontinuous latent category? Two taxometric procedures were used to investigate this issue in a random community sample of 692 Australian combat veterans, using structured interview and self-report instruments to assess PTSD symptomatology. Findings favored a dimensional model of PTSD, consistent with previous taxometric work on treatment-seeking samples (A. Ruscio, Ruscio, & Keane, 2002). Implications are drawn for the conceptualization, etiology, and assessment of PTSD.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

The lay concept of childhood mental disorder.

The structure of lay people's concepts of childhood mental disorder was investigated in a questionnaire study and examined for convergence with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV). Eighty-four undergraduates who had no formal education in abnormal psychology rated 54 conditions--36 DSM-IV childhood disorders and 18 non-disorders--on features proposed in technical definitions of mental disorder. The lay concept of childhood mental disorder was narrower than the DSM-IV, although most conditions were perceived to warrant professional help. Three dimensions described beliefs about childhood psychopathology: social deviancy, harmful dysfunction, and harmful environment. Harmful dysfunction was related to mental disorder and help seeking judgments.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

More human than you: attributing humanness to self and others.

People typically evaluate their in-groups more favorably than out-groups and themselves more favorably than others. Research on infrahumanization also suggests a preferential attribution of the "human essence" to in-groups, independent of in-group favoritism. The authors propose a corresponding phenomenon in interpersonal comparisons: People attribute greater humanness to themselves than to others, independent of self-enhancement. Study 1 and a pilot study demonstrated 2 distinct understandings of humanness--traits representing human nature and those that are uniquely human--and showed that only the former traits are understood as inhering essences. In Study 2, participants rated themselves higher than their peers on human nature traits but not on uniquely human traits, independent of self-enhancement. Study 3 replicated this "self-humanization" effect and indicated that it is partially mediated by attribution of greater depth to self versus others. Study 4 replicated the effect experimentally. Thus, people perceive themselves to be more essentially human than others.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

The implicit structure of positive characteristics.

The implicit structure of positive character traits was examined in two studies of 190 and 100 undergraduates. Participants judged the pairwise covariation or semantic similarity of 42 positive characteristics using a sorting or a rating task. Characteristics were drawn from a new classification of strengths and virtues, the Five-Factor Model, and a taxonomy of values. Participants showed consistent patterns of perceived association among the characteristics across the study conditions. Multidimensional scaling yielded three consistent dimensions underlying these judgments ("warmth vs. self-control," "vivacity vs. decency," and "wisdom vs. power"). Cluster analyses yielded six consistent groupings-"self-control," "love," "wisdom," "drive," "vivacity," and "collaboration"-that corresponded only moderately to the virtue classification. All three taxonomies were systematically related to this implicit structure, but none captured it satisfactorily on its own. Revisions to positive psychology's classification of strengths are proposed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Essentialist beliefs about personality and their implications.

Two studies examine implicit theories about the nature of personality characteristics, asking whether they are understood as underlying essences. Consistent with the hypothesis, essentialist beliefs about personality formed a coherent and replicable set. Personality characteristics differed systematically in the extent to which they were judged to be discrete, biologically based, immutable, informative, consistent across situations, and deeply inherent within the person. In Study 1, the extent to which characteristics were essentialized was positively associated with their perceived desirability, prevalence, and emotionality. In Study 2, essentialized characteristics were judged to be particularly important for defining people's identity, for forming impressions of people, and for communicating about a third person. The findings indicate that people understand some personality attributes in an essentialist fashion, that these attributes are taken to be valued elements of a shared human nature, and that they are particularly central to social identity and judgment.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Relational tendencies associated with broad personality dimensions.

Out-patients (N = 76) completed measures of interpersonal motives and construals derived from relational models theory and a five-factor model personality questionnaire. A broader range of associations between personality dimensions and relational tendencies was obtained than interpersonal circle theorists propose, with dimensions other than extraversion and agreeableness having distinctive relational correlates. The interpersonal domain of personality may therefore be somewhat broader than many mainstream personality theorists suppose.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Computer-assisted cognitive rehabilitation reduces negative symptoms in the severely mentally ill.

Thirty-four-day treatment program clients diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were randomly assigned to a computer-assisted cognitive rehabilitation (CACR) group or a wait-list Control group. CACR clients received 16 CACR sessions over an 8-week period. Measures of cognitive functioning, negative symptoms and self-esteem were administered at the beginning and end of this period. CACR clients showed greater improvement in cognitive functioning (verbal memory and attention) and negative symptoms. Symptom reduction was not mediated by raised self-esteem. CACR's effects may go beyond cognitive remediation to include some of the most disabling and refractory clinical features of schizophrenia.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Body image and eating disturbance among south Asian-American women: the role of racial teasing.

OBJECTIVE: Acculturation and loss of ethnic identification have been proposed as risk factors for eating and body image disturbance among women of color. This study investigated whether being teased about racial or ethnic features might also play a role in these disturbances in minority women. METHODS: One hundred twenty-two college women of South Asian descent completed questionnaire measures of disturbed eating behavior, body image dissatisfaction, distress, self-esteem, acculturation, ethnic identification, and racial teasing. RESULTS: History of hurtful racial teasing, but not acculturation or ethnic disidentification, was associated with disturbed eating and body image, even after controlling for distress, self-esteem, and body mass. CONCLUSION: The psychological impact of racial teasing may be a potent but neglected source of eating and body image disturbance among minority women.

Acculturation↗

PubMed2003

The dimensional view of personality disorders: a review of the taxometric evidence.

The dimensional view of personality disorders (PDs) represents these conditions as extreme variants of normal personality continua. This widely held view underpins efforts to characterize PDs in terms of established systems of personality description and to overhaul classification of PDs along dimensional lines. A review of 21 taxometric studies of PDs and related variables calls an unqualified version of this view into question. Analyses of the three PDs investigated to date strongly support taxonic (i.e., categorical or discontinuous) models. Implications for the conceptualization and classification of PDs are drawn.

Humans↗

PubMed2003

A taxometric study of borderline personality disorder.

Taxometric methodology was used to determine whether borderline personality disorder (BPD) represents a taxon that is categorically distinct from normal personality or whether it falls on a dimensional continuum with normality. Two taxometric procedures were used with a sample of 1,389 outpatients assessed for BPD symptoms by semistructured interview. The procedures indicated that BPD does not represent a latent category. Implications are drawn for the conceptualization and etiology of BPD, and for the categorical versus dimensional status of personality disorders in general.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Categorical versus dimensional models of mental disorder: the taxometric evidence.

OBJECTIVE: To review studies of the categorical versus dimensional status of mental disorders that employ taxometric methodology. METHOD: A comprehensive qualitative review of all published taxometric studies of psychopathology. RESULTS: Categorical and dimensional models each receive well-replicated support for some groups of mental disorders. Studies favour categorical models for melancholia, eating disorders, pathological dissociation, and schizotypal and antisocial personality disorders. Dimensional models tend to be favoured for the broad neurotic spectrum--general depression, generalized anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder--and for borderline personality disorder. CONCLUSIONS: Taxometric research clarifies the latent structure of psychopathology in ways that have implications for the classification, assessment, explanation and conceptualization of mental disorder.

Humans↗