Personality Traits, Interpersonal Identity, and Relationship Stability: Longitudinal Linkages in Late Adolescence and Young Adulthood

Adolescence and young adulthood are characterized by important changes in personality, changes toward a more stable identity, and the establishment of intimate relationships. We examined the role of personality traits in establishing intimate relationships, the interplay between personality traits and interpersonal identity processes during these relationships, and the role of interpersonal identity processes and personality traits in the dissolution thereof. For this purpose, we used longitudinal data on 424 female college students (mean age at T1 = 18.6 years; Sample 1) and 390 late adolescents drawn from a community sample (56.7 % female; mean age at T1 = 19.7 years; Sample 2). Especially highly extraverted individuals were likely to become involved in a relationship. Neuroticism was associated negatively, and Agreeableness and Conscientiousness were associated positively with a stronger sense of interpersonal identity within intimate relationships. Finally, the importance of interpersonal identity processes was underscored by the fact that these processes, and not so much personality traits, predicted relational breakups. Overall, the present study provides important insights into the role of personality and identity in the initiation, maintenance, and dissolution of intimate relationships in late adolescence and young adulthood.     

Justice after Transition: On the Choices Successor Elites Make in Dealing with the Past

The author looks at one component of transitions to democracy: the strategies successor elites develop to deal with injustices committed by the previous, authoritarian regime. He compares post-transition justice in Belgium, France, and The Netherlands after World War II and in Eastem Europe after the fall of communism. He discusses several factors that influence policy choices. Among the most influenrial are the legacy of the past regime, the internutwnal legal context at the time of the passage to democracy, and the mode of transition and its ensuing impact on the balance of power between the old and the new order.     

A plan analysis of pedophile sexual abusers' motivations for treatment: a qualitative pilot study

Many authors have suggested adapting treatment programs to the specific needs of sexual abusers. However, little research has been conducted to understand what these patients seek in therapy or what elements play a key role in keeping them in treatment. In this pilot study, fifteen (N=15) pedophile sexual abusers from La Macaza clinic for sexual abusers were interviewed. Plan analysis was used to investigate the most prevalent components involved in staying in or leaving therapy. Results suggest that many components involved in the plans leading to doing and to avoiding treatment were similar. Differences were found in regards to the outcome of confrontations with the therapists, a tendency to isolate and overcomply, guilt related to the abuse, a need for a stable environment, and a need to be accepted. These results are discussed along with possible ways to improve the patients' involvement in treatment.     

Deliberative Democracy and Liberal Rights

Many liberals cannot help distrusting deliberative democracy theory. In their view, the theory offers no sufficient guarantee that the outcomes of democratic deliberation will be respectful of individual interests generating what they conceive as basic moral rights. The purpose of this text is to provide one argument showing that liberal rights are sufficiently protected within deliberative democracy theory. The argument does not rest on the idea of moral rights or material justice. It rests on the conditions of legitimate law deliberative democracy theory presupposes, namely, the conditions that make concrete the idea of legitimacy as "actual public justification."     

La capacité d'analyse des politiques au gouvernement du Québec : Résultats du sondage auprès de fonctionnaires québécois

Abstract: This research note complements the work of Howlett et al. on the capacity of Canadian governments for public policy‐making. The new public management wave was driven by the notion of a need for improved service delivery to the population. A number of authors, including Metcalfe, pointed out that the government was then neglecting management in favour of “policy advice.” It was fashionable to show interest in policy but not in management. After decades spent seeking greater efficiency, have we gone too far in the other direction? Do governments have the capacity to develop public policy? Have those responsible for developing public policy received the training they require? This research note addresses the Quebec portion of the Canada‐wide survey on the capacity for public policy‐making. It complements the analysis by presenting the results of the survey conducted among public servants in Quebec. We placed particular emphasis on university education and the retraining of the public servants who work on developing and formulating public policy.