This study explores the evolution of individual attitudes toward homosexuality in Chile during the period 1998–2018. Based on microdata from the International Social Survey Programme, it finds evidence of a significant rise in the share of people accepting homosexual relationships, from 5.4 percent to 38.5 percent of the population. Observable individual-level socioeconomic characteristics are responsible for only 3.6 percentage points of this shift. In particular, the increase in educational attainment and generational replacement help to explain this trend and account for an increase of 2.6 percentage points (roughly 45 percent of the initial level of acceptance). Nevertheless, the bulk of this shift is due to structural changes in Chilean society, which may have increased acceptance across all the demographic subgroups considered in the analysis.

The purpose of this research is to provide information about the state of psychotherapy in Argentina, as well as to study some variables involved in psychologists' evaluation of psychotherapy. A survey of 14 items was elaborated ad-hoc for this purpose, and administered to 226 psychologists from all over the country by mail and, in some cases, personally. Results suggest that the predisposition to apply techniques from different frameworks is associated with the amount of experience and with the perception of a bias concerning other theoretical focuses, although it is not related to the evaluation of the state of psychotherapy. On the other hand, in the view of psychologists, personal aspects of the therapeutic relationship are believed to be the most important factor in patients' change and effective progress.

Evaluative conditioning is best defined as an effect, that is, as a change in the valence of a stimulus that results from pairing the stimulus with another stimulus. This definition has several advantages that are made explicit in this paper. One of the advantages is that it clarifies that evaluative conditioning can be due to multiple processes. Therefore, the conditions under which evaluative conditioning is observed can depend on the processes that underlie a particular manifestation of evaluative conditioning. This could explain why there are so many conflicting results about the conditions under which evaluative conditioning can be found. Future research should adopt a meta-conditional approach that focuses not only on whether a certain condition is crucial for obtaining evaluative conditioning but should also examine when a certain condition is crucial.

This study analyzed the strategy of college men who give alcohol to girls to facilitate their acceptance when pursuing sexual relationships. It also studied the role of attitudes towards sexual assaults (rape myths) in the social perception of this practice; finally, this research examined how the fact that, in some cases, college women accept taking alcohol in their interactions with college men was perceived. Participants were 349 heterosexual students (154 men and 195 women) from the University of Granada. 28% of males reported having given alcohol to females in order to have sexual contacts with them, while 44% of females acknowledged having suffered this practice. Men, compared to women, were more favourable to this practice; however, this effect was moderated by their rape myths endorsements. It was also found that males and, in general, those participants who endorsed rape myths, tended to consider that girls who accept alcohol in their interactions with boys are promiscuous.

This study's interest relies on adolescents' social representations of unprotected sex, more precisely on the relationship between the attitude towards the preservative and the reason attribution for its non use. 1386 secondary school students took part in the study, in the Brazilian cities of Florianópolis, Itajaí and Balneário Camboriú. In order to verify reasons attributed by the students, we focused on the sample that had sexual experiences without using the condom during last year. Data was analyzed with software ALCESTE, which showed three different classes of explanations for the non use of the preservative: the moment of the intercourse (unpredictable and incontrollable), trust in the partner and the option of the contraceptive pill, instead of the preservatives, in avoiding pregnancy. The students' attitudes towards the preservative are less favourable among those who maintain sexual intercourse with known people. The results revealed two representations of AIDS: one of trust in the partner and another of the experience with sex and the preservative – the first one gives sense to the adolescents' experiences with known sexual partners and the second, with less known sexual partners.

Schools play a key role in transmitting attitudes towards sexual diversity. Many studies stress the importance of teachers' and other professionals' attitudes towards gay men and/or lesbian women. This study evaluates attitudes and prejudices toward homosexuality in a sample of 254 elementary and high school teachers in Barcelona and its surrounding area. The results obtained using a scale of overt and subtle prejudice and a scale of perceived discrepancy of values indicate that discrepancy between likely behavior and personal values was significantly greater in women, those who hold religious beliefs, churchgoers and people without any gay or lesbian acquaintances. Approximately 88% of the teachers showed no type of prejudiced attitudes towards gay men and lesbian women. The experience of proximity to gay men and/or lesbian women reduces not only the discrepancy between personal values and likely behavior but also the presence of homophobic prejudice. It would be advisable to expand specific teacher training in the subject of sexual diversity in order to reduce prejudicial attitudes, thus fostering non-stereotyped knowledge of homosexuality.

Hay abundantes datos para una presentación distorsionada del enfermo mental en los medios de comunicación. Sin embargo, se sabe sólo poco sobre sus repercusiones en las actitudes hacia las personas con trastornos mentales. Por tanto, investigamos la relación entre ver televisión y leer el periódico, por una parte, y el deseo de distancia social con respecto a las personas con esquizofrenia, por la otra. En 2001, se realizó un estudio representativo de la población en Alemania utilizando una entrevista personal completamente estructurada. Encontramos que el deseo de distancia social con respecto a las personas con esquizofrenia aumenta de manera casi continua con la cantidad de consumo de televisión. La asociación entre leer el periódico y la distancia social es menos pronunciada y depende del tipo de periódico que las personas lean. Ya que, obviamente, hay una relación entre el consumo de medios de comunicación y las actitudes hacia las personas con esquizofrenia, los mensajes imprecisos y unilaterales sobre los trastornos mentales se deben sustituir por mensajes precisos y más equilibrados.

Se estudiaron las actitudes de los estudiantes de medicina hacia el suicidio y los pacientes suicidas. El propósito era también determinar si las actitudes entre los estudiantes difieren al comienzo y al final de los estudios. El 63% (306 de 485) de los estudiantes de primer y último año rellenó un cuestionario que incluía sus propias actitudes sobre la muerte y el suicidio y las circunstancias psicosociales. El cálculo incluyó un análisis factorial sobre los elementos que describían las actitudes hacia los pacientes suicidas. En las actitudes hacia los pacientes influía el conocimiento de los trastornos mentales y los aspectos biológicos del comportamiento durante la educación. Los estudiantes de último año consideraban más a menudo que el suicidio es una expresión de enfermedad psiquiátrica y pensaban con más frecuencia que las personas que intentaban suicidarse no son responsables de sus propias acciones. El 34% y el 44% (ns) de los estudiantes en el primer y último año, respectivamente, comunicaron ideas suicidas en algún momento en su vida. Los estudiantes con estos antecedentes de pensamientos suicidas eran menos optimistas sobre la posibilidad de ayuda. Los síntomas depresivos/ansiosos en curso eran prevalentes en 36/305 (12%) estudiantes, pero no parecían afectar a sus actitudes hacia los pacientes. Los estudiantes femeninos habían buscado ayuda psicológica/psiquiátrica más a menudo que los masculinos (26% y 10%, P < 0,01).

Este estudio investigó las actitudes de los estudiantes de medicina hacia la psiquiatría como materia en el currículo médico a la vez que como elección de carrera. Antes e inmediatamente después de un programa de formación clínica de 8 semanas, se administraron tres cuestionarios independientes validados previamente sobre poblaciones de estudiantes de medicina. Los resultados indican que la percepción de la psiquiatría era positiva antes del período de prácticas y se hizo más positiva al concluir la formación. Al finalizar el período de prácticas, hubo un aumento en la proporción de estudiantes que indicaron que podrían decidir especializarse en psiquiatría. Las actitudes hacia la psiquiatría correlacionaban positivamente con los resultados del examen de psiquiatría. Los que pretendían especializarse en psiquiatría lograban puntuaciones significativamente más altas en el examen.