Vol.11,No.1 September,1995　

Title
Implicit Theories of Stress : A Cross-Cultural Comparison between Japanese and Malaysians
Author
Ai Girl TAN (University of Munich)
Summary
Implicit theories of stress in two cultures, the Japanese and the Malaysian, were investigated on the basis of a questionnaire which consisted of 43 life events (Holmes and Rahe, 1967). 169 Malaysian and 200 Japanese university students were asked to rate the degree of stress they had experienced, and/or expected to experience, if the events have yet to happen. The results were: (1) Although implicit theories of stress varied from group to group and over time, similar structures of stress were found for all samples through the analysis of the Hayashi Third Method of Quantification: distress-eustress and hypostress-hyperstress. (2) The Malaysian of Chinese descent had an equally high correlation (0.81, the Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient) with the Malaysian of Malay descent and with the Japanese. (3) The Japanese rated most of the life events higher than the Malaysian on a 7-point Likert scale.
Key words
implicit theory, degree of stress, life event, eustress, distress
Title
The relationship between self-disclosure and psychological well-being in adolescence
Author
Minoru WADA (Tokyo Gakugei University)
Summary
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between self-disclosure and psychological well-being. Psychological well-being is defined as a satisfaction with one's life and being in a good mood. Each subject rated the quantity and the willingness to disclose him or herself to close friends of the same sex. Subjects were 247 (91 male and 156 female) undergraduates. The major findings were as follows: 1. Male subjects had more differences in quantity of disclosure or the willingness of disclosure than females, but they expressed concern that they had no chance to disclose themselves more openly. 2. Female subjects expressed more psychological well-being than males. 3. When they have a larger quantity of self-disclosure, they tend to have more psychological well-being. The females had more willingness to disclose themselves, but they tend to have more psychological well-being. That is, it was suggested that the relationship between self-disclosure and psychological well-being was curvilinear.
Key words
quantity to disclose, willingness to disclose, psychological well-being, curvilinear relationship, same-sex close friends
Title
A study of belief formation and its change (4) : Analysis of belief-system enhancement/maintenance by cult mind-control
Author
Kimiaki NISHIDA (University of Shizuoka, Faculty of International Relations )
Summary
This paper reports an analysis of enhancement and maintenance of one's belief system by means of using cult mind-control techniques. The study analyzed mainly using a questionnaire administered to 272 persons of former cult members, furthermore with the use of content analysis of textbook on dogma, video tapes of the dogma and interviews wiht the former cult members. The result of factor analysis from the questionnaire data revealed that the cult mind-control techniques have produced following six situational factors for enhancement and maintenance of one's belief system; namely they are 1) restriction of freedom, 2) restriction of sexual emotion, 3) physical exhaustion, 4) avoidance of outgroups, 5) reward and punishment and 6) time pressure. It could be concluded from this result and other studies that the following three psychological factors influence the enhancement and maintenance of one's belief system that controls behavior; 1) conditioning, 2) self-deception, 3) cognitive dissonance. Furthermore, the controls of information processing operate in the following four dimensions; 1) gain-loss effect, 2) systematization, 3) priming effect and 4) threatening messages. In addition, the reinforcement of group memberships were enchanced by 1) selective exposure to stimuli and 2) strengthening social identity. It was also found that factor of physiological stress facilitates these controls.
Key words
cult mind-control, belief system, information-processing, group process, physiological stress
Title
Affect and cognition in Heiderian balance and imbalance situations
Author
Hidetaka OKUDA (Department of Sociology, Chukyo University)
Summary
The pleasantness and expectations of occurrences in Heider's (1958) balance and imbalance situations were explored. In study 1, 35 male and 65 female undergraduate students rated the pleasantness which they felt on imagining the agreement'or disagreement with attractive or repulsivefriends. Though pleasantness and unpleasantness were stronger in balance than in imbalancesituations, the judgments of them were rather easier in the former than the latter situations. Instudy 2, the pleasantness rated by 64 male and 43 female undergraduates in the hypothetical situationsof agreement or disagreement with attractive, neutal, or repulsive others was also stronger inbalance than in imbalance situations. However, they expected the balance situations to occur moreoften than imbalance situations. These results imply that the affective and cognitive processes inbalanced or imbalanced situations are different, which support conflict model rather than balance theory.
Key words
affect, agreement, attraction, balance, cognition, conflict
Title
An experimental study on the illusory correlation between population of the group size and attractiveness of group members
Author
Shinkichi SUGIMORI (Faculty of Humanities, Department of Psychology and Education, Tokyo Kasei University)
Summary
The fact that there is an illusory correlation between groups of small size and a biased impression toward members was revealed in this study. 106 items consisting of the description of likableness and unlikableness of group members were constructed in study 1. Based on this result, study 2 was administered which was to replicate Hamilton and Giffords' study in 1976, using Japanese subjects. The result of study 2 differed consistently from the Hamilton and Gifford study (1976) in the following important points: i.e., the number of unlikable members in small groups (consisting of 13 members) was consistently overestimated. This unique pattern suggested the existence of an association between small group sizes and negative bias toward group members. To explore this hypothesis further, two stimulus groups were presented in study 3. The two groups were identical in size and composition members, which were drawn from different sizes of population. The results strongly supported the hypothesis in that the proportion of unlikable members was overestimated, and the impression of the stimulus group, which was drawn from smaller population size was relatively unfavorable.
Key words
illusory correlation, conceptual replication, negativity bias, instruction effect, population size
Title
Social support by telephone communication and psychological health among adult women
Author
Katsuhide MOROI (Shizuoka University)
Summary
This study examined (1) the factor structures of social support by telephone communication and (2) the relationship between social support factors and psychological health (self-esteem, loneliness). Several scales were administered to adult women who lived in municipal housing-development apartments. The scales measuring social support were consisted of items asking the frequencies of receiving and providing support by telephone communication. Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale and the 8-item version of the UCLA Loneliness Scale were also assessed. According to the factor analysis of received support, seven factors were obtained and named as follows: positive feedback, guidance/emotional support, gratification of affiliation need, confirmation of intimacy, caring, lending, co-behavior. The factor analysis of provided support identified seven factors, labeled emotional support, positive feedback, guidance, caring, confirmation of intimacy, co-behavior, money-lending, respectively. Exchanges of social support were more related to loneliness than self-esteem. The factors scores of received support explained a larger proportion of the variance in loneliness scores than those of the provided support did, whereas each of received support and provided support contributed uniquely to self-esteem. The effects of social support factors on psychological health were discussed. Finally, the usefulness of telephone communication in social support system for the aged was suggested.
Key words
social support, telephone communication, loneliness, self-esteem
Title
An attempt to construct a scale to measure sensibilities to indebtedness
Author
Atsushi AIKAWA (Tokyo Gakugei University)
Mamoru YOSHIMORI (Hiroshima University)
Summary
Three studies were conducted to construct a scale to measure sensibilities to indebtedness and to examine the reliability and validity of the scale. In Study I, university students and adult non-students completed an original version of the Indebtedness Scale along with some other scales assessing tendencies theoretically correlated with sensibilities to indebtedness. Through item analyses, 18 items were selected as the final version of Indebtedness Scale (IS-18). The IS-18 showed a high internal consistency (α = .850) and a high test-retest reliability (r=.778). In Study I and Study II, significant correlations were observed between the IS-18 score and the measures of self-consciousness, formality ideology, social skills, and self-esteem. There was no correlation between the score and Social Desirability Scale. In Study III, university students placed themselves in the role of hypothetical students confronted with 7 different situations in which they had been helped from others. They answered a question regarding the magnitude of indebtedness in each situation. The total score of the magnitude of indebtedness in 7 situations was positively correlated with IS-18 score.
Key words
indebtedness, scale validity, scale reliability, personality trait, recipient reactions to aid