New Article: Winstok, Effects of Childhood Experience of Violence on Young Israeli Adults’ Global Self-Esteem

Winstok, Zeev. “Effects of Childhood Experience of Violence Between Parents and/or Parent-to-Child Violence on Young Israeli Adults’ Global Self-Esteem.” Violence and Victims 30.4 (2015): 699-713.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1891/0886-6708.VV-D-13-00126

Abstract
The study examines long-term effects of family violence in childhood (violence between parents and/or parent-to-child violence) on adult self-esteem. Data were derived from a sample of 352 university students. Findings show that young adults not exposed to family violence in childhood report the highest self-esteem; lower self-esteem reports were by those experiencing one type of family violence; the lowest self-esteem was reported by those who experienced two types of family violence. In the latter two groups, self-esteem was also affected by frequency of violence. A linkage was identified between the family violence types examined: The more frequent one type of violence, the more frequent the other type. Theoretical and practical implications for the study of effects of family violence on child development are discussed.

 

New Article: Zeidner & Shani-Zinovich, Self-Concept in Gifted vs. Non-Identified Israeli Students

Zeidner, Moshe, and Inbal Shani-Zinovich. “A Comparison of Multiple Facets of Self-Concept in Gifted vs. Non-Identified Israeli Students.” High Ability Studies (early view; online first).

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13598139.2015.1095076

Abstract

This study compares facets of self-concept in gifted and non-identified Israeli adolescent students. The self-concept mean score profile of gifted vs. non-selected Israeli students was significantly different, with gifted students reporting higher mean levels of academic self-concept, but lower mean levels of social, personal, and physical self-concepts when compared with their non-identified counterparts. Overall, gifted students showed different patterns of self-concept than their peers. The data are discussed in view of theory and past research in the gifted literature.

 

 

New Article: Goren & Neter, Stereotypical Thinking and PTSD Symptoms among Israeli Youth

Goren, Chen, and Efrat Neter. “Stereotypical Thinking as a Mediating Factor in the Association between Exposure to Terror and PTSD Symptoms among Israeli Youth.” Anxiety, Stress & Coping (early view; online first).

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URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2016.1138288

 

Abstract

Background and Objectives: The negative impact of exposure to terror on mental health, as well as on the perceptions of each side of the conflict toward the other, is well-documented. However, the association between stereotyping, concomitant with perceived threat, and anxiety, was rarely investigated. The current study examined information processing attributes and exposure to terror as predictors of PTSD symptoms among youth at inter-group conflict, with stereotypical thinking toward a threatening out-group as a possible mediator. Design: Cross-sectional, with exposure to terror, need for cognitive structure (NCS), efficacy at fulfilling the need for closure (EFNC) and self-esteem, predicting stereotypical thinking and PTSD symptoms. Method: Ninth graders (N = 263) from two residential areas in Israel, varying in their degree of exposure to terror, responded to a self-report questionnaire tapping the above variables. Results: Stereotypical thinking was found to mediate the association between exposure to terror and PTSD symptoms, but not the association between the NCS and EFNC interaction and PTSD symptoms. Conclusions: The findings support Terror Management Theory, so that a negative and rigid perception makes it difficult to construct coherent world-view, thus contributing to aggregation of existential anxiety and PTSD symptoms.

 

 

 

New Article: Freud et al, Stuttering among People who Stutter from the Ultra-Orthodox and Secular Community

Freud, D., R. Ezrati-Vinacour, and N. Katz-Bernstein. “The Experience of Stuttering among People who Stutter from the Ultra-Orthodox and Secular Community in Israel.” Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 193 (2015): 304-305.

 
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.03.283
 
Abstract

Stuttering is a disorder which is manifested during a communicational interaction, and is experiential in nature. While the etiology for stuttering is still in question among researchers, most agree that the experience of stuttering may be highly related to various factors, of which environment plays a significant role. The environment of an individual has been described in circles (Bronfenbrenner, 1979), to depict the different layers which encompass the person in his daily life, such as family, friends, educational or work settings and strangers. Beyond those, the largest external circle of Bronfenbrenner (1979), i.e., the macro-system, represents society or culture. The behavior and approach of society to the PWS has been described repeatedly ascrucial towards the quality of life and coping strategies of the PWS. Negative attitudes and stereotypes towards PWS have been reported in several countries from around the world (Kuwait, Turkey, China) and specific behaviors towards PWS within African countries or Indian tribes have been described. Nevertheless, only few researches have explored the experience of stuttering within the social context. The present qualitative study explored the experience of stuttering within two opposing social groups in Israel: the ultra-Orthodox Jews and the secular Jews, in order to characterize the different needs of PWS in these groups and identify differences in their ability to cope with their stuttering, which might be the result of their specific social context. Eight adult PWS were recruited for this study, between the ages of 22-62 years: four ultra-Orthodox Jews and four secular Jews. In-depth interviews were conducted with each participant separately for two hours on average, using a semi-structured format which consisted of nineteen open ended questions. Questions included various topics, e.g. child and adolescence memories of living with stuttering, the influence of stuttering on the individual, self attitudes toward stuttering. After concluding the interviews, a transcript of each interview was achieved and analyzed. Analysis of the transcriptions was performed using concept driven and data driven strategies. Holistic reading of interviews suggested four main dimensions: the experience of stuttering across the life span, coping strategies with the stuttering, the experience of therapy, and personal insights. Each of these was then categorized into categories and sub categories. Initial analysis demonstrated a great emotional content, different anxiety experiences and special speech roles among ultra-orthodox interviewees in comparison to the secular interviewees. Our findings describe the experience of stuttering and its relation to the social context. However, it is also suggested that the experience of stuttering is “universal” and despite the different circumstances, similarities may be found in the individual’s coping strategies and experiences with therapy. Following the presentation of findings, clinical implications will be suggested.

 

 

 

New Article: Perez & Sasson-Levy, Avoiding Military Service in a Militaristic Society

Perez, Merav, and Orna Sasson-Levy. “Avoiding Military Service in a Militaristic Society: A Chronicle of Resistance to Hegemonic Masculinity.” Peace & Change 40.4 (2015): 462-88.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/pech.12143

 

Abstract

This article examines the connection between masculine identity and avoidance of military service in a militaristic society. Based on retrospective interviews with Israeli middle-class men who initiated their release from military service on medical–psychological grounds, we argue that this choice embodies resistance to patterns identified with the local hegemonic masculinity and that this resistance gradually intensifies over the life course. The first signs of opposition emerge in early adolescence, when the perception of self diverges from the conventional masculine mold. The emotionally charged encounter with the military deepens this resistance, which is then reinforced by the decision not to serve, and ultimately leads to the construction of the present nonconformist identity. The development of a nonconformist self that is not subject to the dictates of the local hegemonic masculinity demonstrates how in a militaristic society, even a personal decision not to serve becomes an act rife with gendered meanings and political significance.

 

 

 

New Article: Shoham et al, Impulsive and Compulsive Buying Behaviors among Israeli and U.S. Consumers

Shoham, Aviv, Yossi Gavish, and Sigal Segev. “A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Impulsive and Compulsive Buying Behaviors among Israeli and U.S. Consumers: The Influence of Personal Traits and Cultural Values.” Journal of International Consumer Marketing 27.3 (2015): 187-206.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08961530.2014.1000507

 

Abstract

This study tests a model to investigate the extent to which drivers of compulsive and impulsive buying behaviors overlap. The model includes personal and cultural antecedents for traits of consumer impulsiveness and compulsiveness and impulsive and compulsive buying behaviors as outcomes. Survey results from 336 Israeli and 595 U.S. consumers indicate that the personality antecedents envy, low self-esteem, and fantasizing generally drive consumer traits of impulsiveness and compulsiveness, though some differences exist between consumers in the U.S. and Israel. However, cultural orientations were found to be insignificant in driving traits of impulsiveness or compulsiveness.

New Article: Iancu et al, Social Anxiety Symptoms and Perfectionism among Israeli Jews and Arabs

Iancu, I., E. Bodner, S. Joubran, I. Ben Zion, and E. Ram. “Why Not the Best? Social Anxiety Symptoms and Perfectionism among Israeli Jews and Arabs: A Comparative Study.” Comprehensive Psychiatry  59 (2015): 33-44.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2014.11.010

 

Abstract

Background

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) has been repeatedly shown to be very prevalent in the Western society and is characterized by low self-esteem, pessimism, procrastination and also perfectionism. Very few studies on SAD have been done in the Middle East or in Arab countries, and no study tackled the relationship between social anxiety symptoms and perfectionism in non-Western samples.

Methods

We examined social anxiety symptoms and perfectionism in a group of 132 Israeli Jewish (IJ) and Israeli Arab (IA) students. Subjects completed the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS), the Negative Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ-N), the Positive Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ-P) and a socio-demographic questionnaire.

Results

The rate of SAD in our sample according to a LSAS score of 60 or more was 17.2% (IJ = 13.8%, IA = 19%, ns). The correlation between perfectionism and the LSAS was high in both groups, and in particular in the IJ group. The IA group had higher scores of social avoidance, of ATQ-P and of two of the MPS subscales: parental expectations and parental criticism. Concern over mistakes and negative automatic thoughts positively predicted social fear in the IJ group, whereas in the IA group being female, religious and less educated positively predicted social fear. Negative automatic thoughts and age positively predicted social avoidance in the IJ group. In general, the IJ and IA subjects showed higher social anxiety, higher ATQ-N scores and lower parental expectations as compared with non-clinical US samples.

Conclusions

Social anxiety symptoms and perfectionism are prevalent in Arab and Jewish students in Israel and seem to be closely related. Further studies among non-western minority groups may detect cultural influences on social anxiety and might add to the growing body of knowledge on this intriguing condition.

New Article: Barak-Brandes and Lachover, Mother–Daughter Discourse on Beauty and Body in an Israeli Campaign by Dove

Barak-Brandes, Sigal and Einat Lachover. “Branding Relations: Mother–Daughter Discourse on Beauty and Body in an Israeli Campaign by Dove.” Communication, Culture & Critique (early view; online first).

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/cccr.12111

 

Abstract

In March 2013, Unilever Israel, owner of the Dove brand, launched a new campaign calling for a dialogue between mothers and their adolescent daughters around the issue of self-esteem and body image. The Israeli campaign was part of the global “Campaign for Real Beauty” launched by Unilever in 2004. The Israeli campaign was run primarily on 2 Internet platforms that appeal to women, and was based mainly on the talk of “ordinary” mothers and daughters on online videos and blogs—ostensibly personal yet produced by advertisers. Based on discourse analysis and critical examination of the consumerist and postfeminist context in which the campaign was produced, this article explores how the mother–daughter relationship suggests a new sphere for processes of branding.