Evidence is reviewed which suggests that there may be little or no direct introspective access to higher order cognitive processes. Subjects are sometimes (a) unaware of the existence of a stimulus that importantly influenced a response, (b) unaware of the existence of the response, and (c) unaware that the stimulus has affected the response. It is proposed that when people attempt to report on their cognitive processes, that is, on the processes mediating the effects of a stimulus on a response, they do not do so on the basis of any true introspection. Instead, their reports are based on a priori, implicit causal theories, or judgments about the extent to which a particular stimulus is a plausible cause of a given response. This suggests that though people may not be able to observe directly their cognitive processes, they will sometimes be able to report accurately about them. Accurate reports will occur when influential stimuli are salient and are plausible causes of the responses they produce, and will not occur when stimuli are not salient or are not plausible causes.

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Telling more than we can know: Verbal reports on mental processes.

Major perspectives concerning stress are presented with the goal of clarifying the nature of what has proved to be a heuristic but vague construct. Current conceptualizations of stress are challenged as being too phenomenological and ambiguous, and consequently, not given to direct empirical testing. Indeed, it is argued that researchers have tended to avoid the problem of defining stress, choosing to study stress without reference to a clear framework. A new stress model called the model of conservation of resources is presented as an alternative. This resource-oriented model is based on the supposition that people strive to retain, project, and build resources and that what is threatening to them is the potential or actual loss of these valued resources. Implications of the model of conservation of resources for new research directions are discussed.

Conservation of resources. A new attempt at conceptualizing stress.

In this article the author reviews research evidence on the prevalence of mental disorders in lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals (LGBs) and shows, using meta-analyses, that LGBs have a higher prevalence of mental disorders than heterosexuals. The author offers a conceptual framework for understanding this excess in prevalence of disorder in terms of minority stress— explaining that stigma, prejudice, and discrimination create a hostile and stressful social environment that causes mental health problems. The model describes stress processes, including the experience of prejudice events, expectations of rejection, hiding and concealing, internalized homophobia, and ameliorative coping processes. This conceptual framework is the basis for the review of research evidence, suggestions for future research directions, and exploration of public policy implications. The study of mental health of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) populations has been complicated by the debate on the classification of homosexuality as a mental disorder during the 1960s and early 1970s. That debate posited a gay-affirmative perspective, which sought to declassify homosexuality, against a conservative perspective, which sought to retain the classification of homosexuality as a mental disorder (Bayer, 1981). Although the debate on classification ended in 1973 with the removal of homosexuality from the second edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM; American Psychiatric Association, 1973), its heritage has lasted. This heritage has tainted discussion on mental health of lesbians and gay men by associating— even equating— claims that LGB people have higher prevalences of mental disorders than heterosexual people with the historical antigay stance and the stigmatization of LGB persons (Bailey, 1999). However, a fresh look at the issues should make it clear that whether LGB populations have higher prevalences of mental disorders is unrelated to the classification of homosexuality as a mental disorder. A retrospective analysis would suggest that the attempt to find a scientific answer in that debate rested on flawed logic. The debated scientific question was, Is homosexuality a mental disorder? The operationalized research question that pervaded the debate was, Do homosexuals have high prevalences of mental disorders? But the research did not accurately operationalize the scientific question. The question of whether homosexuality should be considered a mental disorder is a question about classification. It can be answered by debating which behaviors, cognitions, or emotions should be considered indicators of a mental

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Prejudice, social stress, and mental health in lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations: conceptual issues and research evidence

Social behavior is ordinarily treated as being under conscious (if not always thoughtful) control. However, considerable evidence now supports the view that social behavior often operates in an implicit or unconscious fashion. The identifying feature of implicit cognition is that past experience influences judgment in a fashion not introspectively known by the actor. The present conclusion--that attitudes, self-esteem, and stereotypes have important implicit modes of operation--extends both the construct validity and predictive usefulness of these major theoretical constructs of social psychology. Methodologically, this review calls for increased use of indirect measures--which are imperative in studies of implicit cognition. The theorized ordinariness of implicit stereotyping is consistent with recent findings of discrimination by people who explicitly disavow prejudice. The finding that implicit cognitive effects are often reduced by focusing judges' attention on their judgment task provides a basis for evaluating applications (such as affirmative action) aimed at reducing such unintended discrimination.

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Implicit Social Cognition: Attitudes, Self-Esteem, and Stereotypes.

This article presents a theory of how different types of discrepancies between self-state representations are related to different kinds of emotional vulnerabilities. One domain of the self (actual; ideal; ought) and one standpoint on the self (own; significant other) constitute each type of self-state representation. It is proposed that different types of self-discrepancies represent different types of negative psychological situations that are associated with different kinds of discomfort. Discrepancies between the actual/own self-state (i.e., the self-concept) and ideal self-states (i.e., representations of an individual's beliefs about his or her own or a sitmifieant other's hopes, wishes, or aspirations for the individual) signify the absence of positive outcomes, which is associated with dejection-related emotions (e.g., disappointment, dissatisfaction, sadness). In contrast, discrepancies between the actual/own self-state and ought self-states (i.e., representations of an individual's beliefs about his or her own or a significant other's beliefs about the individual's duties, responsibilities, or obligations) signify the presence of negative outcomes, which is associated with agitation-related emotions (e.g., fear, threat, restlessness). Differences in both the relative magnitude and the accessibility of individuals' available types of self-discrepancies are predicted to be related to differences in the kinds of discomfort people are likely to experience. Correlational and experimental evidence supports the predictions of the model. Differences between self-discrepancy theory and (a) other theories of incompatible self-beliefs and (b) actual self negativity (e.g., low self-esteem) are discussed.

http://persweb.wabash.edu/facstaff/hortonr/articles%20for%20class/Higgins.pdf

Self-discrepancy: a theory relating self and affect.

“WHAT can men do, what do they do, and what do they want to do ?”—these are the uestions that Prof. Thorndike seeks to answer in a very comprehensive and elaborate treatise. His undertaking is inspired by the belief that man has the possibility of almost complete control of his fate if only he will be guided by science, and that his failures are attributable to ignorance or folly. The main approach is through biological psychology, but all the social sciences are appealed to and utilized in an effort to deal with the human problem as a whole. The relative immaturity of the sciences dealing with man is continually stressed, but it is claimed that they provide a body of facts and principles which are “far above zero knowledge”, and that even now they are capable of affording valuable guidance in the shaping of public policy. Human Nature and the Social Order By E. L. Thorndike. Pp. xx + 1020. (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1940.) 18s. net.

Human Nature and the Social Order

PROF. BURT'S aim in this important study is primarily practical; he wishes to afford to teachers, probation officers, and others, aid in the investigation and treatment of young offenders. His practical advice, however, is based upon an exact and scientific study of data collected by himself in the course of his work in connexion with the schools of the London County Council, and he brings to bear upon the treatment of his problems a breadth of outlook very rare in the previous studies of the etiology of crime. Very frequently these have been vitiated by over emphasis of selected cases, by preconceived notions as to the relative importance of heredity and environment as determinants of human conduct, by the absence of a sound anthropological and psychological basis. The Young Delinquent. By Prof. Cyril Burt. Pp. xx + 643. (London: University of London Press, Ltd., 1925.) 17s. 6d. net.

The Young Delinquent

THIS attractive little volume is an excellent introduction to the scientific study of the psychophysics of temperament and character. It deals in a critical and independent manner with the best recent work on types of physique and mentality, and also contains many interesting suggestions towards new lines of thought and investigation. Dr. Miller lays special stress, as is natural, on the work of Kretschmer, but he by no means neglects the work of the French and other schools. Perhaps the most important section is that which deals with the ‘physiological background,’ which gives, among other matters, a useful account of the functions of the internal secretions in relation to character and behaviour. Especially suggestive is Dr. Miller's discussion of the endocrine system as a link between metabolic processes and neural and mental processes, which throws light not only on the relation between mental and physical forms, but also on the more general problem of the relation between mind and body. Types of Mind and Body. By E. Miller. (Psyche Miniatures, Medical Series, No. 4.) Pp. 132 + 5 plates. (London: Kegan Paul and Co., Ltd., 1926.) 2s. 6d.net.

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Types of Mind and Body

THE principal thesis of this highly elaborate investigation is that there is a causal relationship between sexual opportunity and cultural condition. Sexual opportunity is measured by the kind and amount of regulation that societies employ for controlling or checking the sex impulses before and after marriage. Cultural condition is used in a very narrow sense to stand for the manner in which a people conceives of the power or powers in the universe, as judged by the outwardly observable steps that are taken to maintain right relations with it or them. Sex and Culture. By Dr. J. D. Unwin. Pp. xxiv + 676. (London: Oxford University Press, 1934.) 36s. net.

Sex and Culture

First published in 1931, L. T. Hobhouse is an amalgamation of the late social philosopher L. T. Hobhouse’s personal life and academic work. The first part of this volume is a brief biography by Mr. J. A. Hobson, with added impressions by personal friends and colleagues. It is followed by an account of his philosophy and sociology written by Professor Morris Ginsberg, his pupil and successor at the London School of Economics. Third section consists of some collected essays illustrative of his various capacities and interests. This book will be of interest to students of philosophy and sociology. 

Morris Ginsberg

Papers

Human Nature and the Social Order

The Young Delinquent

Types of Mind and Body

Sex and Culture

L. T. Hobhouse