The psychology of romantic relationships: motivations and mate preferences.

Introduction: This study investigates motivations to engage in romantic relationships. We examine the structure of romantic motivations and their connections with personal values and mate preferences. Method: The study was conducted in Israel among young men and women looking for a romantic partner (n = 1,121, 40% male, age 18-30). Results: Data analysis demonstrated that basic romantic motivations form a circumplex that may be partitioned into four higher-order romantic motivations: love and care, family and children, status and resources, and sex and adventure. The romantic motivations formed a meaningful pattern of connections with higher-order values, thus confirming that context-specific motivations are derived from general motivational goals expressed in values. Personal value preferences and romantic motivations predicted the sought-after partner characteristics over and above sociodemographic variables. Values were indirectly (through romantic motivations) and directly connected to mate preferences. Discussion: The study advances our understanding of romantic relationships among young people and opens new directions for research and counseling.

Exposure to Terror Attacks and Traumatization Among Immigrants From the Former Soviet Union to Israel: The Positive Effects of Bicultural Identity and Bicultural Social Support.

THE STUDY GOALS: The study examines the connection between exposure to terror attacks from the Gaza Strip, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, cultural identities, and social support among immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) to Israel. SUBJECTS: The study was conducted using a community sample of immigrants from the FSU to Israel living within a radius of 60 kilometers from the Gaza Strip (n = 601). METHOD: The study was cross-sectional and used anonymous questionnaires. The following scales were applied: the Measure of Exposure to Terrorism (Pat-Horenczyk, R., Abramovitz, R., Peled, O., Brom, D., Daie, A., & Chemtob, C. M. (2007). Adolescent exposure to recurrent terrorism in Israel: Post-traumatic distress and functional impairment. Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 77 (1), 76-85), the PTSD Checklist - Civilian Version (Weathers, F., Litz, B., Herman, D., Huska, J., & Keane, T. (1993). The PTSD checklist (PCL): Reliability, validity, and diagnostic utility. Paper presented at the ninth annual meeting of the international society for traumatic stress studies), the Social Network Interview (Mueller, D. P. (1980). Social networks: a promising direction for research on the relationship of the social environment to psychiatric disorder. Social Science &Medicine-Medical Psychology & Medical Sociology, 14A (2), 147-161), the Scale of Identification with Cultural Groups (Roccas, S. (1997). Factors affecting identification with groups: Personality, group characteristics, and interaction between them. The Hebrew University), and the Scale of Adherence to Group Cultural Practices (Birman, D., & Tyler, F. B. (1994). Acculturation and alienation of Soviet Jewish refugees in the United States. Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs, 120 (1), 101-115). FINDINGS: The study results demonstrated that social support received from both the immigrant group and the larger society buffered the effect of exposure to terror attacks on PTSD symptoms among immigrants. Both components of cultural identity, identification with the group and adherence to the group's cultural practices, predicted social support received from the group. The effects were demonstrated for the support received from the immigrant group and the larger society. MAJOR IMPLICATIONS: The study results indicate that the immigrant group and the larger society may provide social support to immigrants in a stressful situation. The bicultural identity enables immigrants to receive social support from both cultural groups. Thus, the present study advances our understanding of the connection between the immigrants' bicultural identity and psychological well-being/distress. On the theoretical level, the present study advances our understanding of the immigrants' coping with the potentially traumatizing situations combining ideas of the conservation of resources (Hobfoll, S. E. (2011). Conservation of resources theory: Its implication for stress, health, and resilience. In S. Folkman (Ed.) The Oxford handbook of stress, health, and coping. Oxford University Press) and acculturation theories (Berry, J. W. (2005). Acculturation: Living successfully in two cultures. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 29 (6), 697-712). From the practical point of view, the study results indicate that for immigrants to cope successfully with life-threatening situations, helping services must ensure the immigrants' access to the resources of both the immigrant group and the larger society and strengthen the immigrants' bicultural identity.

Native and immigrant social workers working with immigrants: Appraisal of the immigrant group, acculturation orientations and burnout.

The present study investigates the effects of group appraisal and acculturation orientations on burnout of social workers working with immigrants. The study is based on the Threat-Benefit and the Acculturation Theories. The proposed theoretical model was tested in a sample of social workers working with immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) in Israel (n = 313). Amongst the study participants, 254 were Israeli born, and 59 were immigrants from the FSU. The results demonstrated that social workers' acculturation orientations mediate the connection between the appraisal of the immigrant group and the social workers' burnout when working with immigrants from this group. Specifically, appraisal of immigrants as beneficial for the receiving society was associated with a stronger orientation towards preserving the immigrant culture (ß = 0.22). On the other hand, appraisal of immigrants as threatening the receiving society was associated with a weaker orientation towards preserving the immigrant culture (ß = -0.21) and with a stronger orientation towards acquiring the majority culture by immigrants (ß = 0.12). A stronger acculturation orientation related to preserving the immigrant culture was associated with a lower level of burnout (ß = -0.13) and a higher sense of personal accomplishments of social workers working with immigrants (ß = 0.20). Immigrant social workers, compared to their native colleagues, reported a higher level of personal accomplishment (M[SD]IM  = 5.08[1.24] vs. M[SD]IS  = 4.21[1.39]) but also a higher level of burnout working with immigrant clients (M[SD]IM  = 1.88[0.83] vs. M[SD]IS  = 1.60[0.63]). The main conclusion following the present study relates to the importance of developing a positive appraisal of immigrants and accepting the immigrant culture for successful work with immigrants.

Positive and negative social contacts with immigrants from different groups: Investigating the role of group appraisal and opportunity for contact using network analysis.

What can enhance positive inter-group contacts in a world of mass immigration is a subject high on the theoretical and practical agenda. However, there is a lack of research examining how contacts with different immigrant groups are related to characteristics of the group, as perceived by the receiving society. Using Threat-Benefit Theory (Tartakovsky & Walsh, 2016a, 2016b, 2019, 2020), the present study examines how different domains of positive and negative appraisal of a specific immigrant group may relate to contacts with group members. Using a representative sample of 1600 adults in the majority of the Jewish population in Israel, we applied network analysis to examine relationships between threat-benefit appraisal, opportunities for contact and levels of positive and negative contacts with four immigrant groups: diaspora immigrants from Ethiopia, Western countries and the former Soviet Union and asylum seekers. Levels of contact were related to particular domains of appraisal, which differed across immigrant groups. However, opportunities for contact had a stronger association with contact than the appraisal. Results point to a theoretical need to develop nuanced models related to inter-group contact, which consider particular characteristics of the immigrant group as perceived by the local population.

The role of psychologists in international migration research: Complementing other expertise and an interdisciplinary way forward.

This research note addresses the current and potential future role of psychologists in the study of international migration. We review ways in which psychologists have contributed to the study of migration, as well as ways in which psychological scholarship could be integrated with work from other social science fields. Broadly, we discuss four major contributions that psychology brings to the study of international migration-studying migrants' internal psychological experiences, incorporating a developmental perspective, conducting experimental studies, and integrating across levels of analysis. Given the position of psychology as a 'hub science' connecting more traditional social sciences with health and medical sciences, we argue for a more prominent role for psychologists within the study of international migration. Such a role is intended to complement the roles of other social scientists and to create a more interdisciplinary way forward for the field of migration studies. The research note concludes with an agenda for further scholarship on migration.

Personal Value Preferences, Threat-Benefit Appraisal of Immigrants and Levels of Social Contact: Looking Through the Lens of the Stereotype Content Model.

The study examines a model proposing relationships between personal values, positive (i.e., benefits) and negative (i.e., threats) appraisal of immigrants, and social contact. Based on a values-attitudes-behavior paradigm, the study extends previous work on personal values and attitudes to immigrants by examining not only negative but also positive appraisal and their connection with social contact with immigrants. Using a representative sample of 1,600 adults in the majority population in Israel, results showed that higher preference for anxiety-avoidance values (self-enhancement and conservation) was related to higher levels of perceived threat and lower levels of benefit, while higher preference for anxiety-free values (self-transcendence and openness to change) was related to higher levels of perceived benefits and lower levels of threat. Greater opportunities for contact and perceived benefits and lower levels of threats were related to more social contact. The model showed good fit across the total sample, and across four diverse immigrant groups in Israel (diaspora immigrants from the Former Soviet Union, Ethiopia and Western countries, and asylum seekers). In line with a Stereotype Content Model, which suggests that group-specific stereotypes are related to social structural characteristics of the group, associations between variables differed by group. Results strengthen a theoretical conceptualization that posits an indirect relationship between personal value preferences and behavior through group appraisal. They highlight the importance of comprehensive conceptualizations including both positive and negative appraisal of immigrants, which take into account the way different groups may be appraised by the majority population.

Factors affecting the psychological well-being of immigrants: The role of group self-appraisal, social contacts, and perceived ethnic density.

OBJECTIVES: Using a threat-benefit theory (Tartakovsky & Walsh, 2016b, 2019; Walsh, Tartakovsky, & Shifter-David, 2018), we aimed to examine a new theoretical model in which the psychological well-being of immigrants is associated with the appraisal of their own immigrant group as bringing benefits (and not just threats) to the receiving society. The model suggests that group self-appraisal is related to psychological well-being, both directly and indirectly, through levels of social contact with the majority population and fellow immigrants. METHOD: The survey was conducted in a representative sample of 400 adult first-generation immigrants from the former Soviet Union (FSU) in Israel. The participants completed anonymous questionnaires examining the threat and benefit appraisal of their own immigrant group, levels of positive and negative contact with the majority population and fellow immigrants, perceived ethnic density (a subjective assessment of the proportion of FSU immigrants in one's neighborhood and at work), and psychological well-being. Structural equation modeling was used to test the theoretical model. RESULTS: Threat and benefit appraisal predicted psychological well-being both directly and indirectly, through levels of positive and negative social contact with the majority population and FSU immigrants. Perceived ethnic density predicted the psychological well-being of immigrants indirectly, through levels of positive and negative contact with the majority population and fellow immigrants. CONCLUSIONS: The study results corroborate a new theoretical model in which immigrants' self-appraisal of their group as both benefitting and threatening the receiving society can predict the immigrants' psychological well-being. This finding highlights the human need to feel that one's in-group is contributing to the society for the person's psychological well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Is there "smoke without fire"? Applying the theory of values to the study of motivational aspects of ethnic stereotypes: The case of Jewish stereotypes in Russia.

Few studies have examined to what extent commonly held stereotypes reflect real intergroup differences in motivational goals. Taking a values perspective (Schwartz et al., 2012), the study examines value preferences among Jews and Russians in Russia, to assess the extent to which commonly held stereotypes reflect values of group members. Results showed that Jews reported substantially higher levels of universalism-tolerance, benevolence (both caring and dependability), and tradition values, and lower levels of power (both dominance and resources), and universalism-nature values, than Russians. Results indicated that the widespread Jewish stereotypes of power, achievement, and rootlessness/cosmopolitanism are ungrounded, while the stereotypes of liberalism and particularism are upheld by the reported differences in the value preferences between Jews and the majority population in Russia. The present study underscores the importance of value comparisons between ethnic minority and majority groups for understanding their motivational goals and thus fighting prejudices and discrimination.

Personal values and immigrant group appraisal as predictors of voluntary contact with immigrants among majority students in Israel.

What predicts whether young people will establish contacts with immigrants? Students are at a pivotal point in which the campus environment can enable substantial contact with immigrants, and where world views and behavioural patterns are formed which can follow through their adult lives. Through a value-attitude-behavior paradigm we examine a conceptual model in which appraisal of an immigrant group as a threat and/or benefit to the host society mediates the relationship between personal values and contact. Findings among 252 students in Israel showed that (1) threat/benefit appraisal of immigrants predicted voluntary contact; (2) personal values of self-direction and hedonism directly predicted voluntary contact; and (3) Threat/benefit appraisal mediated the relationship between self-direction and power and contact. Results suggest that increasing awareness of benefits of immigrants can promote positive inter-group relations.

Value Preferences of Social Workers.

The current study examines value preferences of social workers in Israel. Using a theoretical framework of person-environment fit paradigm and theory of values, the study compared social workers (N = 641, mean age = 37.7 years, 91 percent female) with a representative sample of Israeli Jews (N = 1,600, mean age = 44.2, 52 percent female). Questionnaires included personal value preferences and sociodemographic variables (gender, age, education, religiosity, and immigrant status). Multivariate analysis of covariance showed that value preferences of social workers differed significantly from those of the general population. Analyses of covariance showed that social workers reported a higher preference for self-transcendence and a lower preference for conservation and self-enhancement values. Results have significance for the selection, training, and supervision of social workers. They suggest that it is important to assess to what extent selection processes for social workers are primarily recruiting social workers with shared values, thus creating an overly homogenous population of social workers. An understanding of personal value motivations can help social workers in their own process of self-development and growth, and to understand how the profession can fulfill their basic motivations.

Motivational goals, group identifications, and psychosocial adjustment of returning migrants: The case of Jews returning to Russia.

The present study investigated the motivational goals, group identifications, and psychosocial adjustment of Jews who returned to Russia after emigrating from the republics of the Former Soviet Union to different countries (n = 151). To gain a deeper understanding of these returning migrants, their traits were compared with those of Jews living in Russia who did not emigrate (n = 935). Compared to locals, returnees reported a higher preference for the openness to change and self-enhancement values and a lower preference for the conservation values; there was no difference in the self-transcendence values. Returning migrants had a relatively weak affiliation with the home country: they had a weaker identification with the home country than with the country of emigration, their identification with Russians was weaker than that among Jews who did not emigrate from Russia, and their intention to emigrate (again) from Russia was greater than that among locals. However, the Jewish identification of returning migrants was similar to that of locals. The adjustment of returning migrants varied across different dimensions: their economic adjustment was better than that of locals; however, the interpersonal adjustment of returnees was less successful than among locals.

Personal value preferences, group identifications, and cultural practices of Palestinian Israelis working in close contact with Jewish Israelis.

The present study investigates the connection between personal value preferences, group identifications, and cultural practices among Palestinian Israelis working in close contact with the Jewish population in Israel. One hundred twenty-two Palestinian Israelis participated in the study. The participants were employed in different professional positions in the Tel Aviv Metropolitan area and were recruited to the study using the snowball technique. A stronger national identification was associated with a higher preference for the security and conformity values, and a lower preference for the humility values. A stronger ethnic identification was associated with a lower preference for the security, power, and stimulation values. Group identifications mediated the connection between personal value preferences and cultural practices. A longer time working in close contact with the majority group and less frequent visits home were associated with a greater adherence to the majority group's cultural practices but not with adherence to the ethnic group's practices and not with the group identifications.

The motivational foundations of different therapeutic orientations as indicated by therapists' value preferences.

OBJECTIVE: The present study investigates the relationships between therapists' value preferences and their beliefs in the efficacy of the four main therapeutic orientations (cognitive behavior, psychodynamic, client-centered, and eco-systemic). METHOD: The study was conducted in Israel. Social workers practicing individual therapy in different psychosocial services participated in the study (n = 528). RESULTS: Personal value preferences explained a significant proportion of the variance in the social workers' beliefs in the efficacy of different therapeutic orientations. Each therapeutic orientation was associated with a specific pattern of value preferences, thus indicating that different therapeutic orientations promote or impede the attainment of the therapists' specific motivational goals. CONCLUSIONS: The study results' implications for understanding the motivational foundations of different therapeutic orientations are discussed, as well as their possible application for therapist training and practice.

Staff members of community services for people with intellectual disability and severe mental illness: values, attitudes, and burnout.

The study focused on the connections between the value preferences, attitudes toward community living, and burnout among staff members of community services for people with intellectual disability (n=126) and severe mental illness (n=96) in Israel. A higher preference for the self-transcendence values and a lower preference for the self-enhancement values were associated with the staff members' positive attitudes toward their clients' empowerment, a higher sense of similarity, and a negative attitude toward exclusion. In addition, a higher preference for the self-transcendence values and a lower preference for the self-enhancement values were associated with a lower level of depersonalization and a higher sense of professional accomplishment. Finally, a more positive attitude toward empowerment, a higher sense of similarity, and a more negative attitude toward exclusion were associated with a lower level of burnout.

Personal values and attitudes toward people living with HIV among health care providers in Kazakhstan.

Our study investigates the relationship between health care providers' personal value preferences and their attitudes toward people living with HIV (PLWH). The study was conducted among nurses (n = 38) and physicians (n = 87) working in HIV Centers in Kazakhstan. Significant relationships were found between the providers' personal value preferences and their attitudes toward PLWH: higher preferences for tradition and power values and lower preferences for benevolence values were associated with more negative attitudes toward PLWH. In addition, more years of experience working with PLWH was associated with more positive attitudes toward this population. Age, gender, family status, religiosity, occupation, and number of years working in health care were not related to the health care providers' attitudes toward PLWH. Theoretical and practical implications of the results obtained are discussed.

Therapeutic orientations, professional efficacy, and burnout among substance abuse social workers in Israel.

This study investigates the therapeutic orientations of substance abuse social workers and the relationship between these orientations and burnout. Ninety-two social workers who provided outpatient treatment to people suffering from substance-related disorders in Israel participated in the study. The results obtained demonstrated that the substance abuse social workers adhere more to the psychodynamic and ecosystemic therapeutic orientations than to the cognitive-behavioral orientation. A greater adherence to the cognitive-behavioral orientation was associated with a higher sense of professional efficacy; a greater adherence to the psychodynamic orientation was associated with a higher level of exhaustion; and greater adherence to the ecosystemic orientation was associated with lower levels of exhaustion and cynicism. Female social workers reported lower levels of exhaustion and cynicism. The cognitive-behavioral orientation mediated the connection between the social workers' experience in the field of substance abuse and two dimensions of burnout-exhaustion and professional efficacy. Significance of the findings for improving the well-being of substance abuse social workers and for the advancement of psychosocial services is discussed.

The mother and the motherland: their internal representations among immigrant and non-immigrant adolescents.

This paper studies associations between internal representations that adolescents hold for their mothers and internal representations of the country they belong to, and the extent to which such internal representations impact on psychological adjustment. Two studies were conducted: the first with 328 Russian adolescents in Russia, and the second with 178 Jewish adolescent immigrants from Russia in Israel. In both samples, representations of the mother as caring were significantly related to the adolescents' positive attitudes towards their country of living. In addition, the adolescents' positive attitudes towards country of living were significantly related to their psychological adjustment, over and above internal representations of mother. Findings suggest the importance of theories of internal representations for understanding the dynamics of the adolescents' attachment to social objects and their psychological adjustment.

Premigration ethnic and national identities: Jewish adolescents planning emigration from Russia and Ukraine to Israel.

The ethnic and national identities of Jewish high-school adolescents planning emigration from Russia and Ukraine to Israel were investigated about six months before their emigration. The national identities of adolescent emigrants (n = 243) were compared with those of non-emigrant Russian and Ukrainian adolescents (n = 740). The emigrants' attitude to their country of origin was less positive and their identification with Russians and Ukrainians was weaker as compared with the non-emigrant adolescents. In addition, the attitude of the emigrants towards Israel was more positive than their attitude to Russia or Ukraine. Finally, the emigrants' strongest identification was with the Jewish people, followed by identification with Israelis, while their weakest identification was with Russians and Ukrainians. Israeli and Jewish identities of the emigrant adolescents were positively correlated, and they were independent of the Russian and Ukrainian identities. Perceived discrimination was negatively correlated with the emigrants' attitude to Russia or Ukraine, and it was positively correlated with the emigrants' identification with Israelis and with the Jewish people. Jewish ethnicity was correlated with identification with Jewish people; however, it was not correlated with any component of the Israeli or Russian/Ukrainian identities. The study results indicate that in the premigration period emigrants form a multidimensional system of ethnic and national identities, which reflects their partial detachment from their homeland and affiliation with the country of provisional immigration. This premigration identity system may be termed "anticipatory" (cf. Merton, 1968), because it is not based on real contact with the country of provisional immigration, but rather on the emigrants' expectations. On the other hand, the premigration identities are reactive, in the sense that they reflect the emigrants' reaction to the perceived discrimination they experience in their country of origin. The results of the present study are discussed in light of social identity theory.

Mothers' acceptance-rejection of their children infected with HIV: the role of the mothers' social axioms, psychological distress, and relationships with the partner.

OBJECTIVE: The present study examines the effect of having a child infected with HIV on the mother-child relationship. The study also examines how the mother's social axioms, psychological distress, and relationships with her partner affect her parenting of the child infected with HIV. METHOD: The study was conducted in Kazakhstan in the wake of a children's HIV epidemic. Mothers of children infected with HIV (n = 53) were compared to mothers of healthy children (n = 97). RESULTS: Compared to mothers of healthy children, mothers of children infected with HIV reported a higher level of acceptance of their children as well as a stronger belief in the "reward for application" axiom, a higher level of religiosity, and better relationships with their partner. Among mothers of both healthy children and children infected with HIV, the belief in the "reward for application" axiom, a low level of social cynicism, and good relationships with their partner was associated with a higher level of acceptance of their children. Among mothers of healthy children but not among mothers of children infected with HIV, psychological distress was associated with a lower level of acceptance of their children. CONCLUSIONS: Mothers of children infected with HIV demonstrated a mobilization pattern of adjustment to their child's illness.