Drawing upon a relatively understudied population and a unique observational task, the current study sought to examine how older couples' interactional behaviors during a relationship narrative task were associated with marital satisfaction over time. Using observational data from a sample of 64 older, higher-functioning married couples, we analyzed a series of Actor-Partner Independence Models (APIM) to explore how couples' interactional behaviors during a relationship narrative task were associated with spouses' marital satisfaction both concurrently and one year later. Analyses revealed that spouses' behaviors (e.g., expressions of positive affect, negative affect, communication skills, engagement) were associated with their self-reported marital satisfaction both at the time of the narrative and with changes in marital satisfaction. We found particularly robust evidence for the role of husbands' negative affect during the narrative task in predicting changes in both spouses' marital satisfaction over time. Our results indicate that researchers and clinicians should carefully consider the influence of development on the associations between spouses' behaviors and marital satisfaction. Further, those seeking to improve marriages in later life may need to consider the meaningful role that gender appears to play in shaping the marital experiences of older couples.

When individuals evaluate something as serious as sexual misconduct allegations in politics, they are often motivated to defend their party-but outside forces can reduce these partisan biases. We bridge work from political psychology with studies of social movements to theorize how the #MeToo movement helps to mitigate partisan-motivated evaluations of sexual misconduct. With a two-wave survey experiment, we find that partisans are more likely to view out-party members as guilty of sexual misconduct and that individuals less likely to reflect are particularly biased in their evaluations. We then turn to the #MeToo movement and its potential to promote reflection. We show that support for #MeToo is associated with more evenhanded evaluations of sexual misconduct in politics, particularly among those unlikely to reflect on their own. This study contributes to our broader understanding of how movements can induce reflection and moderate partisan-motivated reasoning among the mass public.

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A popular contemporary meme involves the social acceptability of “punching Nazis.” This phenomenon raises the question: what characteristics make a group or member of a group more or less “punch-able”? More broadly, what group attributes yield support for physical violence against them? In this study, we build on the extant psychology literature on intergroup processes to look at what leads individuals to find physical violence against a group acceptable, and if the factors that lead to such acceptance differ from those that lead to sheer affective intolerance. We use two experimental tasks to test expectations built on prominent theories. In a “real-world rating task,” participants evaluated a series of real-world groups and individuals with varying characteristics such as race, ideology, intelligence, warmth, and tendency toward violence. Also, in a conjoint experiment, participants chose between two groups in terms of which they would support being punched, as various attributes were manipulated such as race, expressed ideological values, partisanship, income, tendency toward violence, and being described as disgusting or threatening. We find consistent support for effects of political alignment (particularly, expressed ideological values related to dominance) and perceived tendency toward violence, as well as mixed findings for race and several other factors. These findings synthesize theories on intergroup conflict with contemporary findings on affective polarization.

The objective of the study was to evaluate adherence to two different diets that were implemented in a colon cancer prevention study. A total of 120 subjects were randomized to 6 months of individualized counseling for a Healthy Eating or a Mediterranean diet. The counseling was implemented starting with one face to face meeting with a registered dietitian followed by telephone counseling at the same intervals in both arms. A checklist was developed for assistance in meeting goals in both arms. The percentage of goals met in the two groups was similar with 87% of goals met in the Healthy Arm and 82% in the Mediterranean arm. Although the fruit and vegetable goals were lower in the Healthy arm, these goals were surpassed resulting in statistically similar fruit and vegetable intakes in the two groups (7.8 vs 8.1 servings/day). Carotenoid intakes and blood carotenoid levels also increased to similar extents in the two arms. These results indicate that individualized counseling for meeting Healthy People 2010 goals can result in better than expected compliance, resulting in carotenoid intakes similar to what can be achieved with a Mediterranean diet. Supported by grant NIH CA120381Grant Funding Source : NCI