Understanding political radicalization: The two-pyramids model.

This article reviews some of the milestones of thinking about political radicalization, as scholars and security officials struggled after 9/11 to discern the precursors of terrorist violence. Recent criticism of the concept of radicalization has been recognized, leading to a 2-pyramids model that responds to the criticism by separating radicalization of opinion from radicalization of action. Security and research implications of the 2-pyramids model are briefly described, ending with a call for more attention to emotional experience in understanding both radicalization of opinion and radicalization of action. (PsycINFO Database Record

Mirrors in the head: cultural variation in objective self-awareness.

In a society where there are pronounced concerns for "face," people come to be especially focused on how they are being evaluated by others. We reasoned that Japanese should conceive of themselves in terms of how they think they are considered by others. This hypothesis was tested by contrasting Japanese and North American participants who were in front of a mirror with those who were not. In two studies, replicating past research, North Americans who were in front of a mirror were more self-critical and were less likely to cheat than were those who were not in front of a mirror. In contrast, Japanese participants were unaffected by the presence of the mirror.

PTSD, depression, prescription drug use, and health care utilization of Chinese workers affected by the WTC attacks.

This study assessed the impact of the World Trade Center (WTC) attacks on emotional problems, prescription drug usage, and utilization of medical and mental health services within the Chinese community in lower Manhattan. We administered a survey to 148 randomly selected Chinese workers affected by the WTC attacks in March 2003. Although nearly half of the respondents had elevated PTSD and/or elevated depression scores, only a few (4.4%) had talked to a counselor. However, nearly all (86%) reported having visited a physician at least once since September 11, 2001. Individuals with elevated PTSD scores were significantly more likely to have gone to a physician after 9/11. They were also more likely to have received prescription drugs and to indicate an interest in counseling after 9/11 than individuals with low PTSD scores. The findings highlight the role of the primary care physician as gatekeeper for mental health symptoms after a disaster. They further suggest that primary care physicians should use screening tools for depression and posttraumatic stress after a major disaster and that they should be sensitive to potential emotional problems that are associated with somatic complaints.

PTSD and depression among displaced Chinese workers after the World Trade Center attack: a follow-up study.

We conducted a follow-up assessment to assess the development of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depression among Chinese immigrants after the World Trade Center attack. Sixty-five Chinese displaced workers who were originally interviewed in May 2002 were re-interviewed in March 2003. Whereas depression scores decreased over time, average PTSD scores remained unchanged. The trajectory of posttraumatic stress symptoms was more complex, with an increasing number of individuals who show no or little emotional health problems and another increasing group of individuals with exacerbated posttraumatic stress symptoms. Although the mean values of the re-experiencing and hypervigilance cluster did not change over time, the mean value of the avoidance/numbing cluster increased significantly from time 1 (M= 4.60, SD = 4.98) to time 2 (M= 6.34, SD = 4.24), (F1.61=5.69,P= .02). A higher proportion of subjects met diagnostic criteria of PTSD at time 2 (27%) than at time 1 (21%). The study highlights the importance of ongoing mental health surveillance of diverse cultural and linguistic groups after a major traumatic event.

Watching your troubles away: television viewing as a stimulus for subjective self-awareness.

Three studies explored the role of television viewing in eliciting subjective self-awareness and positive self-feelings. Study 1 assessed the effects of self-awareness manipulations via exposure to a neutral television program on actual-ideal discrepancies. Those who watched television showed significantly smaller self-discrepancies than those who did not, independent of mood. Study 2 demonstrated the ecological validity of this finding by replicating it with people watching television in their own homes. Study 3 investigated whether manipulations of self-feelings affected television watching. Results indicated that those who received failure feedback watched television longer than those in a control condition who likewise watched television longer than those who received success feedback. Television appears to be an effective stimulus to direct the focus away from oneself and to render people less aware of how they are falling short of their standards.