Presents two studies that explored the effects of music perceived as calming and relaxing on arithmetic and memory performance tasks of 10- to 12-year-old children. Reports that the calming music led to better performance on both tasks when compared with the non-music condition. Includes references. (CMK)

Four themes emerged from analysis of interviews with an Australian college graduate: uncertainty, inflated expectations, the work experience paradox, and difficult adjustment. Insights included beliefs and expectations about the opportunities from a college education and the likelihood of procrastination about life-altering decisions. (Contains 76…

Investigates relationships among spirituality, social support, childhood maltreatment and symptoms of distress among a sample of college students. Significant associations were found for maltreatment with high symptoms of distress, low spiritual well-being, and low social support from family; and symptoms of distress with low spiritual well-being…

A study involving 84 participants (ages 11-18) who were suspended from school for disciplinary reasons found that participants who scored low on extraversion and neuroticism traits identified in Eysenck's theory of personality scored significantly lower on self-reported behavior problems than those scoring high on the two traits. (Contains…

Examined client nonverbal behaviors to determine correspondence to client-reported reactions and therapist-perceived reactions to therapist intervention. Found (1) horizontal head movements associated with client reports and therapist perceptions of therapeutic work reactions; (2) vertical head movements associated with client reports of supported…

Investigates vocal stress as an indicator of deception or truth telling, using descriptive, narrative, and emotionally eliciting questions in simulated job interviews with Chinese immigrants. Finds the validity of the vocal stress index as a measure of stress and discomfort limited to prepared lies and responses requiring an emotional response.…

Studies the effects of preexposure briefings upon male undergraduate communication students viewing films portraying violence against women. Concludes that viewings preceded by antirape messages and by the writing of antirape papers by the students themselves made students more likely to sympathize with female victims of violence. (SG)

Analyzes the way task proceedings engender emotional reactions, the conditions under which these are expressed in positive and negative socioemotional behavior, and the effect of such behavior on the status hierarchy in informal task groups. Suggests that the expression of socioemotional behavior in task groups is deeply intertwined with the…

Explores the effects of live television coverage of the space shuttle Challenger disaster on school children. Finds that children tended to react according to gender stereotypes of impersonal regret versus personal involvement and respond with either a cognitive orientation or a social and emotional orientation. (MS)

Provides case material that demonstrates the emotional response of homosexual men to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Discusses denial, anger, rage, guilt, and shame experienced by these men with an emphasis on the human dimensions of AIDS. Concludes that most powerful contribution of counselors is their willingness to "be with" persons…

Examines the degree of cultural similarity and specificity in the emotional experiences of subjects from the United States and Japan. Found a high degree of cultural agreement in the antecedent/evaluation process, but some differences in relative/expressive aspects of emotion. (Author/BJV)

Examines hemispheric differences in cortical arousal as a function of positive and negative emotional television scenes. Finds that (1) the processing of emotional content is hemispherically asymmetric; and (2) negative material produced greater cortical arousal in the right hemisphere and positive material greater arousal in the left. (MS)

Reports on a survey of college students, indicating that the experience of intense, enduring fright after media exposure is common. Finds that individuals who experience this fright are likely to receive high scores on Mehrabian's Stimulus Screening Scale and Miller's Behavioral Style Scale. (MS)

Explores ways in which mothers and their 30-35 month-old children discussed emotional aspects of past experiences. Results suggest that, with daughters, mothers focus more on positive emotions and tend not to attribute negative emotions to the child, but with sons, positive and negative emotions are discussed equally. (Author/MW)

Investigates influence of three variables--sex of stimulus person, sex type of subject, and sex of subject--on ratings of the social perception of anger expression. Finds that the variables were important predictors of perceptions of anger, and that type of anger response unexpectedly influenced ratings. (MW)