What does it take to find a member of a different race attractive? In this research, we suggest that for Whites, attraction to Asians may be based, in part, on stereotypes and variations in Asians' racial appearance. Study 1 reveals that Asians are stereotyped as being more feminine and less masculine than other racial groups-characteristics considered appealing for women but not for men to possess. Study 2 examines how variation in racial appearance, phenotypic prototypicality (PP), shapes the degree to which Asians are gender stereotyped and how PP relates to perceptions of attractiveness. Higher PP Asian men are perceived as being less masculine and less physically attractive than lower PP Asian men. These findings inform theory on how within-group variation in racial appearance affects stereotyping and other social outcomes.

This pilot study evaluated the possibility that 2 interventions hypothesized to increase slower brain oscillations (e.g., theta) may enhance the efficacy of hypnosis treatment, given evidence that hypnotic responding is associated with slower brain oscillations. Thirty-two individuals with multiple sclerosis and chronic pain, fatigue, or both, were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 interventions thought to increase slow wave activity (mindfulness meditation or neurofeedback training) or no enhancing intervention, and then given 5 sessions of self-hypnosis training targeting their presenting symptoms. The findings supported the potential for both neurofeedback and mindfulness to enhance response to hypnosis treatment. Research using larger sample sizes to determine the generalizability of these findings is warranted.

Chronic pain is a significant health problem worldwide with limited pharmacological treatment options. This study evaluated the relative efficacy of four treatment sessions each of four nonpharmacological treatments: (1) hypnotic cognitive therapy (using hypnosis to alter the meaning of pain); (2) standard cognitive therapy; (3) hypnosis focused on pain reduction, and (4) pain education. One hundred seventy-three individuals with chronic pain were randomly assigned to receive four sessions of one of the four treatments. Primary (pain intensity) and secondary outcome measures were administered by assessors unaware of treatment allocation at pretreatment, post-treatment, and 3-, 6-and 12-month follow-up. Treatment effects were evaluated using ANOVA, a generalized estimating equation approach, or a Fisher Exact Test, depending on the outcome domain examined. All four treatments were associated with medium to large effect size improvements in pain intensity that maintained up to 12 months post-treatment. Pre-to posttreatment improvements were observed across the four treatment conditions on the secondary outcomes of pain interference and depressive symptoms, with some return towards pre-treatment levels at 12-months follow-up. No significant between group differences emerged in omnibus analyses, and few statistically significant between-group differences emerged in the planned pairwise analyses, although the two significant effects that did emerge favored hypnotic cognitive therapy. Future research is needed to determine if the significant differences that emerged are reliable.

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