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A multifaceted, relationally focused intervention involving group and individual pre- and postnatal counseling, print resources, and community resources encouraged 390 fathers of newborn infants in Vietnam to responsively support mothers and work with them as a parenting team. Both partners completed questionnaires prebirth and 1-, 4-, and 9-months postbirth on measures of breastfeeding support, exclusive breastfeeding duration, relationship quality, and infant development. Compared to 412 comparison group couples, intervention couples evidenced greater father support, especially in terms of helping and responsiveness to the mother's needs. This support predicted longer exclusive breastfeeding duration, improved relationship quality, and higher levels of infant development at 9 months. Sensitively working together with mothers as a coordinated team enhanced couple's relationship functioning and improved children's developmental outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four studies (three Canadian, one African) tested whether lay understandings of hate are congruent with conceptualizing hate as a motive with the goal of diminishing or destroying a target's wellbeing (Rempel and Burris, Personal Relationships 12:297-313, 2005; Rempel and Sutherland, in: Aumer (ed) The psychology of love and hate in intimate relationships, Springer, Cham, 2016). A prototype approach showed that statements central to hate focused on the desire for a target to suffer harm (Study 1). Statements including the desire for target harm received higher hate ratings than those in which this desire was absent (Study 2). People were more likely to define an experience as hate when they spontaneously mentioned the intent to harm (Study 3). Hate attributions were higher when harm was a desired outcome rather than unwanted byproduct of goal pursuit (Study 4). Thus, lay attributions of hate consistently link with the perceived desire for a target to experience harm. The theoretical and practical implications of a motivational conceptualization of hate are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: To test whether emotional empathy is linked to altered perceptions of self in relation to other and/or context, participants read one of two tragic news stories and then completed a self-report empathy measure, as well as an abridged version of Mysticism scale either before or after the article. Exposure to a needy other in the story tended to result in greater self-reported mystical experience. Men with a history of mystical experience reported more empathy, but the latter was disconnected from on-line reports of mystical experience. Women’s history of mystical experience did not predict empathic responding overall, but their reported empathy was linked to on-line experiences of oneness, absorption into something larger, and space-time distortion with imputed religious significance. Directions for future research, including the possible facilitative role of oxytocin, are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Two studies explored variations in women's appraisals of acquaintance rapists. In Study 1, an acquaintance rapist was evaluated the least harshly when he was physically dominating but sexually dysfunctional. In Study 2, this softening of the rapist's perceived qualities was most evident when he attributed his sexual failure to a need for his victim's sexual consent. Acquaintance rape is therefore an interpersonal crime that can yield varied judgments of its perpetrators. In particular, some women may give more benefit of doubt to sexually violent men by relying on an 'adversary transformation' narrative in which the victim has tamed the rapist and harnessed his strength, passion, and other desirable qualities for herself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guided by their own amoebic self theory (C. T. Bums & J. K. Rempel, 2004), in 6 studies the authors explore the impact that involvement in an intimate relationship has on how a person appraises and responds to threat. They first show that people in relationship feel less constrained by their physical bodies compared with single people. In 3 subsequent studies involving physical size, blood/body donation, sexual activities, and responses to evil, they show that generalized sensitivity to bodily threat predicts self-protective reactions to specific physical threats among singles, but not among people in relationship, suggesting that intimate relationship involvement decreases the salience of the physical body. In the final pair of studies, they show that the salience of the physical body rebounds when people in relationship are primed, either subliminally or supraliminally, to think of themselves as distinct and separate from their partners. Thus, the present research shows how conceptualizing the self as "us" rather than "me" can transform an individual's response to the outside world, and highlights how physical cues in particular are affected by this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose an integrative theory of love and hate intended to help resolve problems and inconsistencies that have emerged from previous conceptualizations. We suggest that love is a motive based on the valuing of the other and is associated with the goal of preserving or promoting the other's well-being. Likewise, hate is a motive based on devaluing the other and is associated with the goal of diminishing or destroying the other's well-being. We further suggest that intense, powerful emotions may serve as eliciting experiences for different types of love and hate, and we discuss how benefiting or harming the other can be either an instrumental or an ultimate goal for the various forms of love and hate. Finally, we discuss some ways in which our theory can promote new directions in the future study of love and hate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This longitudinal study examined how male partners affect the breastfeeding decisions and behavior of first-time mothers. Based on the reasons model by Meichenbaum and Fong (1993), the breastfeeding reasons, intentions, and behavior of 317 first-time mothers were assessed prenatally and at six time points in the first year postpartum. In a prenatal assessment, men indicated their prescriptive beliefs about whether their partner should breastfeed at the same six time points. Men's prescriptive breastfeeding beliefs predicted the strength of their partners' breastfeeding intentions, over and above the women's own breastfeeding reasons, and they predicted breastfeeding behavior over and above the women's intentions. These results demonstrate the influence wielded by intimate partners and highlight the importance of focusing on partners' beliefs when predicting and intervening in health behavior decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to amoebic self theory, the boundary defining the self encompasses 3 levels of self- representation-bodily, social and spatial-symbolic. Study 1 related a newly developed measure of individual differences in sensitivity to boundary threat across these 3 domains to values and disgust sensitivity. Four subsequent studies focused on spatial-symbolic threat sensitivity and related it to right-wing authoritarianism, aversive reactions to unfamiliar out-groups, and revulsion to vermin. A final experiment illustrates how a salient spatial-symbolic threat (dust mites) can elicit reactions toward out-groups that closely parallel mortality salience effects observed in research inspired by terror management theory, even though dust mites do not elicit mortality concerns. The importance of preserving the familiar in order to preserve the self is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We studied 114 romantically involved women to examine empirically the psychological connections between menstruation and sexuality. As menstruation is a distinctive sign of both reproductive potential and sexual maturity, we hypothesized that the attitudes women have towards menstruation will correlate with their sexual attitudes, desires, and behavior. As predicted, a comfort with personal sexuality was associated with a comfort with menstruation as a normal, publicly acceptable event. This association remained after controlling for liberal attitudes and disgust sensitivity. In addition, women who had engaged in sexual relations with their current partner during menses were significantly more comfortable with menstruation, more aroused by romantic and unconventional sexual activities, and less sensitive to disgust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The attributional statements intimate partners communicate to one another were examined as a function of trust. In discussions by 35 married couples, 850 attributions and corresponding events were coded on dimensions of valence, globality, and locus. Results of regression and contingency analyses indicate that attributional statements expressed in high-trust relationships emphasized positive aspects of the relationship. Medium-trust couples actively engaged issues but focused more on negative events and explanations. Low-trust couples expressed more specific, less affectively extreme attributional statements that minimized the potential for increased conflict. Results could not be accounted for by relationship satisfaction. These findings also highlight the importance of focusing on features of the events for which attributions are expressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the relationship between women's attitudes about mate sexuality and the use of overt and covert pressure tactics to facilitate sex with reluctant or uninterested men. Measures of the likelihood of use of pressure tactics and of the acceptance of sexual stereotypes related to men's sexual interest and availability were completed by 234 women firm south-western Ontario. Women's reported likelihood of using both overt (β = .31, p < .001) and covert (β .30, p < .001) pressure tactics were associated with a belief in male sexual availability for married women, and with a disagreement with beliefs in a gender-dependent sex drive for unmarried women (β = -.32, p < .01). These results are discussed in terms of pervasive norms about men's sexual interest and the potential effects on men's and women's dating behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fathers' support can influence mothers' breastfeeding decisions and behavior. Potentially supportive behaviors have been reported in previous studies, but no studies have directly examined which, if any, of those actions are actually more likely to result in desired breastfeeding outcomes. The two studies reported in this paper address this gap by examining relationships between fathers' reported breastfeeding support and mothers' perceptions of received support and breastfeeding intentions, satisfaction, and duration. The Partner Breastfeeding Influence Scale (PBIS) was used in an online survey with 64 women and 41 men (34 couples) and a telephone survey with 80 mothers and 65 fathers (63 couples). Fathers' and mothers' reports of how often fathers engage in the types of support measured by the PBIS were used to predict breastfeeding intentions, satisfaction, and duration. In Study 1, responsiveness predicted breastfeeding success and satisfaction for men and satisfaction for women. However, mothers' intended breastfeeding duration was shorter when fathers both wanted them to breastfeed for a long time and were more appreciative and savvy about breastfeeding. In Study 2, when fathers reported being more appreciative and directly involved in breastfeeding, mothers reported shorter breastfeeding duration. In both studies, mothers' perceptions of their partners' responsiveness and fathers' reports of their own responsiveness predicted longer breastfeeding intentions and duration. These findings suggest that the most effective breastfeeding support is delivered using a sensitive, coordinated teamwork approach that is responsive to the mother's needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the extent to which fathers can be taught and encouraged to develop positive relationships with their children, especially in infancy, and the effects of this fathering intervention on infant development. A multifaceted relationally focused intervention was used to assist fathers in Vietnam to engage in responsive direct and indirect involvement with their infants and work together with the mother as part of a parenting team. Fathers and mothers from 13 communes in a rural and semiurban district were recruited to the intervention group. Intervention fathers received group and individual counseling before and after birth, an interactive print resource, community messages about fathering, and the opportunity to participate in a Fathers Club. Couples from 12 comparable communes in a noncontiguous district were recruited to the control group. Fathers and mothers completed questionnaires at the prebirth recruitment and at 1-, 4-, and 9-months postbirth. Intervention fathers demonstrated greater increase in knowledge and attitudes regarding father-infant relationships. Both fathers and mothers reported that fathers engaged in more affection, care-taking, and play in the early months of their infants' lives and fathers felt more attached to their infants right from birth. A developmental assessment at 9 months showed that intervention infants demonstrated higher levels of motor, language, and personal/social development. This study demonstrated that fathers can be taught to interact more sensitively, responsively, and effectively with their newborn infants. Their increased interaction and emotional attachment appears to lay the foundation for enhanced infant development. (PsycINFO Database Record [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]