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Preprint non-residential fatherhood and academic engagement among Curaçaoan and Dutch young people
No full textGrowing up without biological father present in the home has been portrayed as disadvantageous for a range of child and adolescent outcomes. Yet, most studies focus on Western countries, lack cross-country comparisons, and look into outcomes of this family structure for children and young adolescents. As a consequence, we do not know whether correlates of non-residential fatherhood differ between countries and whether they exist in late adolescence and early adulthood as well. This study examined associations between non-residential fatherhood and academic engagement among Curaçaoan and Dutch adolescents and young adults on Curaçao and in the Netherlands. 528 Curaçaoan and 636 Dutch young people completed a digital questionnaire on household compositions and school-related behavioral and emotional (dis)engagement in educational settings in both countries. Because of measurement variance, we estimated structural equation models of academic engagement dimensions separately for Curaçaoan and Dutch participants. Growing up without biological father present in the home was not associated with academic engagement among Curaçaoan and Dutch participants. Additional analyses, however, showed that nonresidence of the biological father was negatively linked to Curaçaoan participants’ educational level. Associations between non-residential fatherhood and offspring later development might be more subtle and less systematic than existing literature suggests
Dynamics of Cumulative Advantage and Threats to Equity in Open Science - A Scoping Review
No full textOpen Science holds the promise to make scientific endeavours more inclusive, participatory, understandable, accessible, and re-usable for large audiences. However, making processes open will not per se drive wide re-use or participation unless also accompanied by the capacity (in terms of knowledge, skills, financial resources, technological readiness and motivation) to do so. These capacities vary considerably across regions, institutions and demographics. Those advantaged by such factors will remain potentially privileged, putting Open Science’s agenda of inclusivity at risk of propagating conditions of “cumulative advantage”. With this paper, we systematically scope existing research addressing the question: “What evidence and discourse exists in the literature about the ways in which dynamics and structures of inequality could persist or be exacerbated in the transition to Open Science, across disciplines, regions and demographics?” Aiming to synthesise findings, identify gaps in the literature, and inform future research and policy, our results identify threats to equity associated with all aspects of Open Science, including Open Access, Open/FAIR Data, Open Methods, Open Evaluation, Citizen Science, as well as its interfaces with society, industry and policy. Key threats include: stratifications of publishing due to the exclusionary nature of the author-pays model of Open Access; potential widening of the digital divide due to the infrastructure-dependent, highly situated nature of open data practices; risks of diminishing qualitative methodologies as “reproducibility” becomes synonymous with quality; new risks of bias and exclusion in means of transparent evaluation; and crucial asymmetries in the Open Science relationships with industry and the public, which privileges the former and fails to fully include the latter
User perceptions of long-term costs and benefits of MDMA use: Findings from a large online sample
No full textBackground. Previous research has focused on risks associated with non-clinical MDMA use, contrasting short-sighted hedonistic motivations with negative long-term consequences. User perceptions may be more nuanced, incorporating numerous underexplored positive long-term effects. We aimed to: (1) Assess MDMA user perceptions regarding both positive and negative long-term effects, and (2) Generate a large, open dataset with correlates to explore for future research.
Methods. 886 non-clinical MDMA users completed an online, opt-in survey, with self-reported measures of acute, subacute, and long-term effects, motivations, use context, and polydrug use.
Results. User perceptions of MDMA’s long-term effects were far more positive than negative. Respondents endorsed long-term increases in aesthetic appreciation, deeper social connections, and positive changes in life perspectives, among other positive outcomes. A minority of users reported negative effects (e.g. on concentration/memory and mood), which remain important. Long-term effects showed several correlations with acute effects and motivations, with use due to peer influence being repeatedly linked to lower positive and higher negative long-term effects.
Conclusion. MDMA users report getting much more than a momentary high from taking the drug. A nuanced appreciation of user perceptions can inform drug safety communication, and advance our understanding of drug effects by highlighting targets for further investigation
Potential for Collaboration: Differences Between Evolutionary Anthropology and Evolutionary Psychology as Scientific Disciplines
No full textIn a review of evolutionary analysis of human behavior, Alden Smith (2000) argues that evolutionary anthropology and evolutionary psychology should not be considered competing disciplines. If evolutionary anthropology and psychology were to become more collaborative, it would aid our understanding of human nature – regardless of the different assumptions and empirical methodology used by the two disciplines. The recent 10th anniversary of “The WEIRDEST people in the world” (Henrich et al, 2010) presents a good opportunity to assess the current state of the evolutionary social sciences. While scholars (e.g., Barrett, 2020) have provided thoughts on the future direction of the evolutionary social sciences, none have explicitly evaluated the degree to which the various subdisciplines within the evolutionary social sciences have moved toward greater collaboration over the past decade. The current study uses content analysis to systematically examine if the disciplines of evolutionary anthropology and psychology are becoming more collaborative by reporting the frequency of coauthored peer-reviewed papers published in Evolution and Human Behavior (EHB), the type of data, and the empirical methodology used in these papers. A total of 737 articles published in EHB between 2009 and 2020 were coded, and no evidence of increased frequency of anthropologist and psychologist collaborations was found. While evolutionary anthropologists and psychologists did not report different types of data or topics of interest, the methods for hypothesis testing were different. I discuss limitations for the current content analysis and review suggested future steps for unification
Thinking health-related behaviors in a climate change context: A narrative review
No full textBackground: Human activities have changed the environment so profoundly over the past two centuries that human-induced climate change is now posing serious health-related threats to current and future generations. Rapid action from all scientific fields, including behavioral medicine, is needed to contribute to both mitigation of, and adaption to, climate change. Purpose: This article aims to identify bi-directional associations between climate change impacts and health-related behaviors, as well as a set of key actions for the behavioral medicine community. Methods: We synthesized the existing literature about (i) the impacts of rising temperatures, extreme weather events, air pollution, and rising sea level on individual behaviors (e.g., eating behaviors, physical activity, sleep, substance use and preventive care) as well as the structural factors related to these behaviors (e.g., the food system); and (ii) the concurrent positive and negative roles that health-related behaviors can play in mitigation and adaptation to climate change. Results: Based on this literature review, we propose a first conceptual model of climate change and health-related behavior feedback loops. Key actions are proposed, with particular consideration for health equity implications of future behavioral interventions. Actions to bridge the fields of behavioral medicine and climate sciences are also proposed. Conclusions: We contend that climate change is among the most urgent issues facing all scientists and should become a central priority for the behavioral medicine community
Further evidence for the role of felt understanding in intergroup relations: Japanese and Chinese relations in Japan
No full textFelt understanding in intergroup context is the belief that members of an outgroup understand and accept ingroup members’ perspectives. A series of studies in Europe conducted by Livingstone, Fernández Rodríguez, and Rothers (2020) showed the unique effect of felt understanding in intergroup relations. The effects were apparent even when controlling for outgroup beliefs and metabeliefs. The present article reports a cross-cultural replication of the findings in Japanese and Chinese relations in Japan. Consistent with Livingstone et al. (2020), felt understanding uniquely predicted intergroup outcomes (e.g., action intentions, outgroup trust, and intergroup orientation). The effects remained significant after adjusting for multiplicity with multiple variables. However, there were two differences. Felt understanding did not predict (a) negative approach intentions and (b) institutional trust
Parental depressive and anxiety symptoms as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic: a birth cohort follow-up study
No full textBackground
During the COVID-19, significant rises in psychiatric symptomatology have been reported. However, very few studies have examined change in symptoms in comparison to pre-pandemic levels. Especially parents of young children may be particularly vulnerable due, for example, homeschooling and other caregiving responsibilities.
Aims
We examined the change in depressive and anxiety symptoms from pre-pandemic to pandemic period among parents, and the factors explaining the symptom levels and within-subject change.
Methods
The sample (N=651) consists of parents recruited to the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study in 2010-2015. Maternal and paternal depressive (EPDS) and anxiety symptoms (SCL-90) were measured using self-reports at 2 and 4 years of child’s age and during the pandemic in May 2020 around two months after the first COVID-19 cases were identified in Finland.
Results
Higher symptom level was associated with COVID-related stressors, being mother (vs. father), prior symptoms and prior negative life events. Importantly, there was a significant increase in both depressive and anxiety symptoms and in subjects scoring above the screening cut-off of depression from pre-pandemic to pandemic. The significant within-subject increase in symptoms was predicted by experiencing pandemic restrictions affecting free time and prior negative life events. The increase in symptoms more pronounced in mothers (Cohen’s d=0.38 and 0.30) versus fathers (Cohen’s d=0.19 and .00).
Conclusions
A remarkable increase in symptoms is observed among parents in a general population sample. The study has implications for identifying parents as well as providing support for families in the face of pandemic
Responses to Belief-Conflicting Information: Justification of Support for Donald Trump
No full textTwo studies take a dissonance theory perspective to understanding why individuals support Donald Trump as president of the United States despite accusations that he has engaged in sexual misconduct and illegal activity. Participants were randomly assigned to a dissonance condition in which they read an essay about Trump’s sexual misconduct or a neutral essay. They provided open-ended responses to 2 questions that asked why participants support Trump and how they justify their support given allegations against him. These responses were coded by a judge who was blind to condition. Study 1 was conducted 2 months before Trump was impeached. In this study, 7 categories of reasons for supporting Trump, and 3 categories of justification despite allegations, were identified. A comparison of conditions showed that participants in the dissonance condition were more likely to state that they disbelieved the accusations and less likely to state that Trump’s policies matter and not his personal life. Study 2 was conducted 2 days after the vote to impeach Trump, when high dissonance would be expected for all Trump supporters. Results replicated the categories of support and justification from Study 1, plus additional categories. A quasi-experimental comparison of These studies take a dissonance theory perspective to understanding why individuals support Donald Trump as president of the United States despite accusations that he has engaged in sexual misconduct and illegal activity. Participants provided open-ended responses to questions that asked why they support Trump and how they justify their support given the allegations against him. Study 1 was conducted 2 months before Trump was impeached for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. In this study, 7 categories of reasons for supporting Trump, and 3 categories of 22 justification despite allegations, were identified. Study 2 was conducted 2 days after a vote to impeach Trump. Study 3 was conducted 2 days after Trump was arraigned for his involvement in the Jan 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol Building. Results from Studies 2 and 3 replicated the categories of support and justification. Across studies, the reasons given to justify support of Trump despite allegations of wrongdoing were stating that they disbelieved the allegation, claiming that others do similar misdeeds, and stating that they care about his policies, not his personal life. A comparison of the 3 studies revealed that participants in Study 3 were more likely to justify their support for Trump by saying they disbelieved the allegations, and less likely to say that others do similar misdeeds or that they care about policies, compared to those in Studies 1 and 2. The current results suggest that individuals in a naturalistic context may choose a number of different strategies in response to information that conflicts with their important beliefs, including denying the veracity of information, increasing the importance of consonant information, and directing attention to the immoral acts of others. These results are unlike those of most laboratory research on dissonance theory, in which participants are given only one dissonance reduction opportunity
The Group Nurturance Inventory - Initial Psychometric Evaluation Using Rasch and Factor Analysis
No full text(26th of July 2021: published: https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-021-11474-5 ) Background
This paper describes the development and psychometric evaluation of a behavioral assessment instrument primarily intended for use with workgroups in any type of organization. The instrument was developed based on the Nurturing Environments framework which describes four domains important for health, well-being, and productivity; minimizing toxic social interactions, teaching and reinforcing prosocial behaviors, limiting opportunities for problem behaviors, and promoting psychological flexibility. The instrument is freely available to use and adapt under a CC-BY license and intended as a tool that is easy for any group to use and interpret to identify key behaviors to improve their psychosocial work environment.
Methods
Questionnaire data of perceived frequency of behaviors relevant to nurturance were collected from nine different organizations in Sweden. Data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis, Rasch analysis, and correlations to investigate relationships with relevant workplace measures.
Results
The results indicate that the 23-item instrument is usefully divided in two factors, which can be described as risk and protective factors. Toxic social behaviors make up the risk factor, while the protective factor includes prosocial behavior, behaviors that limit problems, and psychological flexibility. Rasch analysis showed that the response categories work as intended for all items, item fit is satisfactory, and there was no significant differential item functioning across age or gender. Targeting indicates that measurement precision is skewed towards lower levels of both factors, while item thresholds are distributed over the range of participant abilities, particularly for the protective factor. A Rasch score table is available for ordinal to interval data transformation.
Conclusions
This initial analysis shows promising results, while more data is needed to investigate group-level measurement properties and validation against concrete longitudinal outcomes. We provide recommendations for how to work in practice with a group based on their assessment data, and how to optimize the measurement precision further. By using a two-dimensional assessment with ratings of both frequency and perceived importance of behaviors the instrument can help facilitate a participatory group development process. The Group Nurturance Inventory is freely available to use and adapt for both commercial and non-commercial use and could help promote transparent assessment practices in organizational and group development
Agent Selection and Belief Polarization in Distributive Bargaining
No full textThe selection of an agent precedes most principal-agent relationships, but the consequences of this selection process remain largely unstudied. Across three preregistered experiments (N = 3,190), we show that principals choose agents who make overly aggressive offers. Principals' selection leads to worse outcomes than if they chose randomly or negotiated on their own behalf, and could be improved by unilaterally selecting less aggressive agents. These less-aggressive agents, however, fail to persist in the market. Principals neglect the increasing polarization of the agent pool, continue to select relatively aggressive agents, and become more polarized in their own beliefs