Europe’s Journal of Psychology (PsychOpen)
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Psychometric Evaluation of the Serbian Adaptation of the Presentation of Online Self Scale (POSS) and Further Construct Validation
No full textThe Presentation of Self Scale (POSS) was designed to measure four aspects of online self-presentation behaviour: Ideal self, Multiple selves, Consistent self, and Online presentation preference. Very few scales have been developed to measure online-self presentation attitudes and behaviour in Serbia. Thus, there is a need to validate a Serbian language version of the POSS to support further investigation of an increasingly ubiquitous aspect of the daily lives of Serbian people. This study aimed to examine psychometric properties of the POSS in the Serbian context i.e., its reliability, factor validity, and construct validity. The study was conducted on a sample of 360 adults. The four-factor model was confirmed, and it is invariant across genders. The Ideal self, Multiple selves, and Online presentation preference scales converge and show a similar pattern of relationships with validity variables, with Ideal self and Multiple selves showing high profile similarity. These three scales are associated with less sensitivity to the expressive behaviour of others, greater fear of negative evaluation, social media addiction, anxiety, lower self-esteem, and less loneliness. On the other hand, the Consistent self-scale is generally unrelated to the other POSS scales and correlates with better sensitivity to the expressive behaviours of others, less fear of negative evaluation, but greater loneliness. The POSS proved to be useful for examining self-presentation behaviours in the Serbian cultural context. The study revealed two main self-presentational patterns: one that is inauthentic and facilitated by the features of online communication and the other that is authentic and related to better social sensitivity
An Investigation of the 10:20 Protection Rule for Detecting Aquatic Hazards
No full textSeven percent of all injury-related global deaths in 2019 were attributed to drowning, relating to 236,000 lives claimed and the stark reality persists that incidents of drowning continue to occur within zones overseen by trained lifeguards. Some lifeguard training agencies advocate the use of specific scan techniques and patterns and the 10:20 protection rule is recommended by a variety of lifeguarding agencies. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of the 10-second element of the 10:20 protection rule (referred to as the 10-second scan strategy) compared to a more natural scan strategy. Two 30-minute videos were developed capturing scripted and unscripted swimming pool hazards. Water safety experts were then employed to collectively review, identify, and achieve consensus on hazards. In a within-subject design, lifeguards (n = 25) were instructed to watch videos under two conditions (i.e., 10-second and natural scan conditions) and respond via whistle blow and vocal response. In the 10-second scan condition, lifeguards were instructed to use the 10:20 system of supervision and scan the zone every 10-seconds whilst supervising the pool. In the natural scan condition, lifeguards were told to follow a scan strategy that felt comfortable for them. The results demonstrated that there was no significant difference in the percentage of hazards detected in the 10-second scan condition compared to the natural scan condition. However, the results show that lifeguards were unable to execute the 10-second scan strategy (i.e., scanning the full zone every 10 seconds). While results show that hazard detection is similar in both conditions, lifeguards were not adhering to the 10-second scan and thus comparisons between the 10-second scan strategy and natural scanning are not possible. The key conclusion from this study is that it is not possible for lifeguards to scan the full zone every 10 seconds, despite explicit instructions to do so, and thus the 10:20 protection rule should be carefully considered if agencies are advocating it as an effective scanning strategy
Testing the Reliability of Anchoring Susceptibility Scores
No full textWhereas anchoring is a very robust and well-known effect that refers to the assimilation of numeric estimates toward previously considered numbers, the psychological mechanisms behind it have yet to be fully clarified. Research on theories on how susceptibility to anchoring is related to other personality parameters has not been able to provide sufficient empirical evidence of such relationships. A probable explanation is that anchoring scores lack reliability in most anchoring experiments. The present research examined whether reliability depends on the type of score used to capture anchoring susceptibility. In a classical anchoring experiment, men and women aged between 14 and 67 years (N = 78) were asked to estimate the true values of certain numbers (e.g., height of the Zugspitze mountain) after being confronted with either a high or a low anchor number. Four different anchoring scores that are commonly used to measure susceptibility to anchoring in anchoring research were computed for every person, as well as the scores’ reliabilities. The number and types of items were chosen to allow for reliable and valid measurement. Anchoring effects were present, but the reliabilities of all four scores were either very low or zero. These results reinforce the reliability problem that was also described by previous research. So far, there are no conditions under which anchoring susceptibility can be measured reliably, suggesting the development of new measures or even questioning the existence of individual differences in susceptibility to anchoring. In further research, other person-independent factors that may influence anchoring strength should be investigated to develop theories that can explain the psychological mechanisms behind anchoring
Affective Reactions When Learning That Our Answer Is Biased: The Role of Negative Feedback in the Arousal of Epistemic Emotions
No full textThis study investigated how different types of feedback influence emotional reactions in decision-making tasks involving high-confidence errors. The sample consisted of 596 undergraduate and postgraduate university students. Participants completed tasks and received either low informative feedback (indicating correctness) or high informative feedback (offering detailed explanations of correct answers). They reported their confidence levels and epistemic emotions of surprise, confusion, and curiosity. Participants reported epistemic emotions after each type of feedback. The results showed that confidence ratings did not differ between correct and incorrect answers. Incorrect answers elicited higher levels of surprise, curiosity, and confusion than correct answers. High informative feedback significantly reduced epistemic emotions, especially confusion, compared to low informative feedback. These results highlight the importance of detailed feedback in shaping epistemic emotions and enhancing learning in problem-solving contexts. Implications for research and teaching practices are discussed
Psychiatric Morbidity Among Youth Patients at Nakuru County Referral and Teaching Hospital in Kenya: A Cross-Sectional Study
No full textThere is a decreased life span of 10 – 15 years in persons with psychiatric illnesses in contrast with the public population; hence interventions on first onset may improve some end results. This article explores the psychiatric morbidity among youth patients of age group 18 – 35 years. The study implemented a cross-sectional descriptive design. The study was carried out at Nakuru County Referral and Teaching Hospital in Kenya: 385 youth patients were sampled for this study using simple random sampling. There were more female (55.3%) participants compared to male (44.7%). Marital status and employment status were found to have a statistically significant association with psychiatric morbidity. The singles (p = .024) had an OR (4.771) higher chance of having a psychiatric morbidity as compared to the married. On the other hand, those who were widow/widower (p = .016) had an OR (5.650) times of developing a mental illness compared to the married. In conclusion, the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity among youth outpatients of the age bracket 18 – 35 years at Nakuru County Referral and Teaching Hospital stands at 46.5%. Marital status and employment status were noted to have a statistically significant link with psychiatric morbidity. Regular psychological assessments should be conducted as part of treatment evaluations for patients to get other more interventions necessary for them, bettering their health outcome broadly
Memory and False Memory for Information That Is Either Expected or Unexpected Based on Age Stereotypes
No full textAge is a major social categorization information because it is one of the first attributes that is perceived about an individual. The present study used the misinformation paradigm to investigate memory and false memory for information that is either expected or unexpected based on age stereotypes. Young adults were presented with a passage depicting a crime. The passage also contained information about the physical performance and social behavior of the main character that was either expected (expected information condition) or unexpected (unexpected information condition) for his age. The main character was a young adult in the expected information condition and an older adult in the unexpected information condition. Next, misinformation was provided about a detail related to the crime. After a non-verbal filler task, participants recalled the exact sentences from the passage, and then they completed a forced-choice recognition test for them. Measures of attitudes toward older adults did not differ across the groups. The results revealed worse recognition memory for the sentences and higher false recognition of the misinformation in the expected information condition than in the unexpected information condition. The recall test revealed higher commission errors in the expected information condition than in the unexpected information condition. Commission errors were in general consistent with the information in the passage. The results imply that stereotypically expected information is automatically processed, making it more vulnerable to memory errors. The study contributes to the understanding of the memory processes underlying stereotyping that can lead to prejudice and discrimination
Behavioral and Neuropsychological Correlates of Emotion Regulation via Attentional Deployment: An Expanded Replication
No full textAttentional deployment (AD) constitutes an emotion regulation (ER) strategy that shifts the attentional focus to modulate the emotional experience. There are very few experimental paradigms that can study AD. One such task studies AD by using emotional images with zones of focus within them, to manipulate visual attention toward arousing or non-arousing portions of the scene. However, this task has only been implemented with participants inside a scanner and has no replications beyond the work of the original research group. In the present study, we replicated and extended a previously introduced AD task, implementing it with a sample of 55 adult participants. Our sample performed the task in a regular laboratory setting, including eye-tracking to monitor instruction following, and in addition, participants completed an attentional test. We replicated the original AD effect in a new population sample, although we found a lower effect size. We conceived and computed an estimate of AD abilities by comparing intensity and valence ratings across attentional conditions. We also analyzed the association between attention measured through the Attention Network Test (ANT) and AD capacities and found no relationship. The task can be used in the laboratory to analyze the AD process. Our replication and expansion of the AD task provide valuable insights into the behavioral and neuropsychological correlates of ER strategies
Feeling Threatened by the War in Ukraine: A Study in Italy on Identification, Entitativity and Attitudes Toward the EU
No full textRussia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 posed a practical and symbolic threat to EU citizens. Did this threat affect citizens’ identification with the EU? This was the main research question addressed in the current paper. In addition, we sought to evaluate whether the influence of perceived threat on the identification with the EU was mediated by perceived entitativity of the EU. Finally, we expected perceived threat to improve participants’ attitudes towards EU integration and enlargement, through the mediation of entitativity (Mediator 1) and identification with the EU (Mediator 2). We conducted a survey (N = 349, 186 females; Mage = 34.52) to assess this pattern of relations through structural equation models. Results show that perceived threat affects identification with the EU only indirectly, through the mediation of entitativity. In addition, perceived threat and entitativity have a significant indirect effect on attitude toward EU integration and attitude toward EU enlargement, yet they are directly associated only to the former. From a theoretical perspective, results are discussed in relation to previous research that shows the effect of perceived threat on identification, failing to consider the mediating role of entitativity. From a practical point of view, results may provide new insights on communication commonly used to reinforce the ingroup identity—mainly by threat-based strategies—through a re-consideration of the critical role of entitativity
One-Minute Silent Video Clips: A Database of Valence and Arousal
No full textResearchers in the behavioral and social sciences use linear discriminant analysis (LDA) for predictions of group membership (classification) and for identifying the variables most relevant to group separation among a set of continuous correlated variables (description). In these and other disciplines, longitudinal data are often collected which provide additional temporal information. Linear classification methods for repeated measures data are more sensitive to actual group differences by taking the complex correlations between time points and variables into account, but are rarely discussed in the literature. Moreover, psychometric data rarely fulfill the multivariate normality assumption.The article introduces a dataset consisting of 160 one-minute affective video clips with normative values of valence and arousal. Each video was evaluated by 30 subjects, while each subject evaluated at least 20 videos. Compared to previous attempts to collect affective videos, the dataset has several advantages. Firstly, the high number of videos in different valence categories allows researchers to compile appropriate subsets for their studies. Secondly, the approximately equal and conventional duration of videos makes it possible to use them in psychophysiological studies applying EEG, fMRI, peripheral polygraphy, posturography, TMS, etc. Thirdly, the exclusion of sound or speech that might provoke culture-dependent interpretation makes the dataset useful in different cultures. The relationship between valence and arousal showed a typical quadratic pattern, with very negative and very positive videos receiving higher levels of arousal. Several negative videos received greater arousal scores than the most positive ones, reflecting negativity bias. The dataset encompasses more than 50 videos of different valence (negative, neutral, and positive ones). We believe that it will permit researchers to select corresponding subsamples of videos from different categories for their studies
Associations Between Big-5 Personality Traits, Cognitive Ability, and Climate Beliefs and Behaviours: Results From a Longitudinal UK Birth Cohort
No full textAnthropogenic climate change is an existential threat to both humans and wider biodiversity. However, cumulatively, individuals’ actions can help to mitigate the impacts of climate change. Understanding the factors which shape individuals’ beliefs about climate change, and their environmental behaviours, is therefore crucial. Here, we explore whether individual differences—Big-5 personality traits and cognitive ability—are associated with climate beliefs and behaviours, using longitudinal data from a UK birth cohort study. Individual differences were measured when the participants were teenagers (aged 13 to 15 years), with climate beliefs and behaviours assessed at approximately age 30 years. These climate beliefs and behaviours included: belief that the climate is changing, concern over climate change, whether humans are to blame for climate change, whether individual actions can mitigate climate change, and whether they were undertaking a range of pro-environmental behaviours for climate reasons (e.g., reducing air travel, reducing meat/dairy consumption). Regression models were used to explore the associations between individual differences and climate belief and behaviour outcomes, adjusting for a range of relevant sociodemographic confounders. Overall, we found consistent positive associations between agreeableness, openness to experience and cognitive ability scores and environmental knowledge and action. Weaker, and more inconsistent, associations were reported for extraversion, conscientiousness and emotional stability. These results suggest that individual differences may shape an individual’s beliefs and actions regarding climate change, and potentially indicates groups where climate information campaigns could be targeted