Trauma exposure heightens the risk of reckless behavior and is now included in DSM-5 posttraumatic stress disorder symptomatology. Individuals exposed to trauma may be likely to engage in reckless behavior because of negative changes in their worldview (referred to as disrupted worldview). The current study investigates the relationship between DSM-IV posttraumatic stress symptoms, disrupted worldview, and increased reckless behavior among 1145 students exposed to mass violence. Total posttraumatic stress symptomatology was associated with increased and persistent reckless behavior, supporting DSM-5 diagnostic inclusion. Although posttraumatic stress symptomatology predicted reckless behavior among those with varying levels of posttraumatic symptomatology, individuals with high symptomatology reported significantly higher recklessness. Disrupted worldview mediated the relationship between posttraumatic symptomatology and reckless behavior among individuals with high symptomatology, while only partially mediating the relationship among those with low symptomatology. These findings provide support for worldview disruptions as a mechanism by which prolonged reckless behavior may be manifested.
Theory highlights forgiveness as a dynamic process that unfolds over time, as well as a potential target for posttrauma therapy. Longitudinal research, however, is nonexistent in the trauma literature. Further, the adaptation of forgiveness for understanding mass violent events has yet to be tested. The current study examined a theory‐based hypothesis posing forgiveness as a mediator between posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms and posttraumatic growth (PTG) in the context of a mass university campus shooting. Results showed that forgiveness was a significant mediator of the indirect, positive relationship between Time 1 PTS and Time 1 and Time 2 PTG. Implications include considering mechanisms (e.g., forgiveness) that link PTS and PTG for application in future research and practice.
Self-handicapping is a strategic measure taken to protect an individual's insecure positive reputation when future success is uncertain. Present literature operationalizes self-handicapping narrowly, focusing on socially negative behaviors such as drinking and procrastination. The current research sought to broaden the conceptualization of selfhandicapping by considering socially positive behaviors. Eighty-nine female participants were given an impossible task allegedly targeting spatial reasoning ability and randomly assigned to groups based on feedback received (non-contingent success feedback vs. no feedback). Participants were then informed that they would be given time to practice and then retested. During their practice period, participants were given an opportunity to help a confederate. While few helped, participants who received NCSF spent significantly more time socializing than those who received no feedback. A second study evaluated the effectiveness of the previous manipulation. Fifty-eight females followed the same procedure as in study one and instead of practicing, they were asked to rate their performance during phase one, as well as their confidence regarding the upcoming task.Participants who received NCS (vs. no) feedback rated their performance on the target task significantly higher, but without a correspondingly high degree of confidence about replicating their performance. These findings suggest the study one manipulation was effective in creating an insecure positive reputation. The findings in these two studies suggest that behavioral self-handicapping among females may be more prevalent than SELF-HANDICAPPING iii previously thought, and that the self-handicapping construct may indeed be in need of broader conceptualization. Suggestions for future research are noted in the General Discussion.
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