Europe’s Journal of Psychology (PsychOpen)
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“It’s Still an Animal That Died for Me.” Responsibility and Meat Consumption
No full textThe aim of this paper is to explore the way people engaging in a more or less strict reduction of their consumption of food of animal origin (de)construct their responsibility regarding the food production and distribution system. Starting from a description of the crisis in meat production, it contributes to the understanding of the way people who are sensitive to these issues position themselves by focusing on the notion of responsibility. Ciarán Benson’s work on positioning serves as theoretical background. Through the analysis of interviews and a qualitative experiment with people who changed their consumption of food of animal origin recently, several dimensions along which responsibility is constructed are identified. Those are 1) who bears responsibility, 2) towards whom or what, 3) the action that is considered, 4) the knowledge implicated and 5) the power to act in that situation. The main proposition of the paper is to enhance Benson’s approach through the inclusion of a collective “we.” The study took place in Switzerland, where meat consumption is the norm. This context also implies a certain room for maneuver in the choice of products, as well as the presence of debates around the ecological and ethical implications of meat production
Youth Participation in Psychological Literature: A Semantic Analysis of Scholarly Publications in the PsycInfo Database
No full textThe topic of youth participation in the public sphere has received increasing attention within recent psychological research. The literature remains somewhat fragmented between different conceptualizations varying in their specificity or broadness. The present study aims to map the current state of debate in psychology regarding youth civic and political participation and to identify the prevalent themes that characterize the research in the discipline from 1990 to 2016. A semantic content analysis with the software T-Lab was performed on a corpus of 1,777 publications retrieved from the PsycInfo database. The results highlight the increasing number of academic contributions on the topic, confirming the growing importance of the issue within psychology. The study sheds light on the spheres of participation, in which the discipline has attempted to make a contribution, namely: traditional and online political context, institutional civic education, adolescent development, and rights-based activism. Moreover, the findings reveal the existing opposing priorities of research that focus either on the explanation of specific forms of involvement or on the formation of future citizens. Within the thematic attention to young people’s civic and political development, there seem to be two general approaches that see youth in divergent ways: as citizens whose civic capacities are to be fostered or as targets for top-down training interventions. This systematic thematic review calls attention to the disparate ways in which youth participation is being addressed in psychology and highlights the need for greater theoretical integration in the field of study
A Cross-Lagged Panel Analysis of the Relationship between Neighborhood Sense of Community and School Sense of Community
No full textNeighborhood sense of community and school sense of community have been associated with important outcomes for adolescents. However, the complex interplay between neighborhood sense of community and school sense of community among adolescents is not clear. Moreover, the studies showing an association between neighborhood sense of community and school sense of community have been cross-sectional. The present study investigated the directionality of the relationship between neighborhood sense of community and school sense of community using a longitudinal cross-lagged design. Using structural equation modeling, a cross-lagged panel analysis revealed that school sense of community at Time 1 significantly predicts neighborhood sense of community at Time 2 even after controlling for neighborhood sense of community at Time 1. However, neighborhood sense of community at Time 1 did not predict school sense of community at Time 2. Results of this study support the theory that school sense of community can provide students with a bridge between school and community
Experimental Investigation Examining the Effects of Acute Exercise on Implicit Memory Function
No full textEmerging work suggests that acute exercise can enhance explicit memory function. Minimal research, however, has examined whether acute exercise is associated with implicit memory, which was the purpose of this study. Three separate experimental studies were computed (N = 120; Mean age = 21). In Experiment 1, participants were randomly assigned to either a moderate-intensity bout of acute exercise (15-minute) or engaged in a seated control task (15-minute), followed by the completion of a word-fragmentation implicit memory task. Experiment 2 replicated Experiment 1, but instead employed a higher-intensity exercise protocol. For Experiment 3, participants were randomly assigned to either a moderate-intensity bout of acute exercise (15-minute) or engaged in a seated control task (15-minute), followed by the completion of a real world, 3-dimensional implicit memory task. For Experiment 1, the exercise and control groups, respectively, had an implicit memory score of 7.0 (0.5) and 7.5 (0.6) (t(38) = 0.67, p = .51). For Experiment 2, the exercise and control groups, respectively, had an implicit memory score of 6.9 (1.9) and 7.8 (2.4) (t(38) = 1.27, p = .21). These findings suggest that exercise, and the intensity of exercise, does not alter implicit memory from a word fragmentation task. For Experiment 3, the exercise and control groups, respectively, had a discrimination implicit memory index score of 0.48 (0.18) and 0.29 (0.32) (t(38) = 2.16, p = .03). In conclusion, acute exercise does not influence a commonly used laboratory-based assessment of implicit memory but may enhance real world-related implicit memory function
Test of the Bifactor Model of Job-Related Affective Well-Being
No full textThe multidimensional measure of the job-related affective well-being developed by Warr (1990) is a frequently used tool estimating affect in the work context. Alternative factorial models of this measure were tested in previous studies. Recently a bifactor model has been proposed as alternative factorial structure recommended for multifaceted constructs. It allows capturing the global aspect of the construct along with the specificity of its subdimensions. We conducted two studies to test a bifactor model on Warr’s measure and to compare it to factor models proposed in earlier studies. This bifactor model identified one general factor in addition to four unique factors. Two studies were conducted among employees (Study 1; N = 869) and entrepreneurs (Study 2; N = 204). Results of both studies corroborate a four correlated factors model as superior to the bifactor model. The model with four unique but correlated factors representing anxiety, comfort, depression, and enthusiasm is a good representation of job-related affective well-being measured by Warr’s instrument, both in a sample of employees and entrepreneurs
The High Five Model:: Associations of the High Factors With Complete Mental Well-Being and Academic Adjustment in University Students
No full textTraditionally, models of positive personality traits have referred to moral characteristics. The High Five Model (HFM) is a factor model of individual positive traits based on an inductive psycho-lexical approach. Unlike other models, in the HFM the positive characteristics were freely determined by lay people, beyond any moral tones. The HFM comprises the following factors: erudition, peace, cheerfulness, honesty, and tenacity, known as “the high factors.” This model was shown to positively exceed the capacity of normal personality to predict emotional, social, and psychological well-being. Additionally, this model is negatively associated with non-transmissible diseases, psychopathological symptoms, and psychopathological personality traits. This study aimed to increase the validation of the HFM, by analyzing the relationships among this model and positive mental health, psychopathological symptoms, academic adjustment, and academic performance in university students. Another objective was to study the association between complete mental well-being (i.e., high well-being and low psychopathological symptomatology) and the high factors of the HFM. The sample consisted of 256 university students. Correlations were calculated, and the two-step cluster analysis was used to obtain profiles. The results showed that tenacity and erudition high factors are positively associated with academic achievement and academic adjustment. Finally, each of the high factors was positively associated with complete mental well-being. The HFM has a broad scope, as it is related not only to psychological variables (e.g., well-being or psychopathological symptomatology) but also to academic performance (e.g., adjustment and achievement) in university students
Global Citizenship: Buzzword or New Instrument for Educational Change?
No full textNo abstract available
“Dysrationalia” Among University Students: The Role of Cognitive Abilities, Different Aspects of Rational Thought and Self-Control in Explaining Epistemically Suspect Beliefs
No full textThe aim of the study was to investigate the role that cognitive abilities, rational thinking abilities, cognitive styles and self-control play in explaining the endorsement of epistemically suspect beliefs among university students. A total of 159 students participated in the study. We found that different aspects of rational thought (i.e. rational thinking abilities and cognitive styles) and self-control, but not intelligence, significantly predicted the endorsement of epistemically suspect beliefs. Based on these findings, it may be suggested that intelligence and rational thinking, although related, represent two fundamentally different constructs. Thus, deviations from rational thinking could be well described by the term “dysrationalia”, meaning the inability to think rationally despite having adequate intelligence. We discuss the implications of the results, as well as some drawbacks of the study
Autobiographical Memory, Personality, and Facebook Mementos
No full textThe present study analyzed the relationships between directive, self and social functions of autobiographical memory, personality traits, as defined by the Five Factor model, and the Facebook mementos. We defined Facebook mementos as objective measures of the textual (i.e., Facebook Status Updating) and visual (i.e., Photos uploading) information people record on their Facebook profiles. Questionnaires gathered data from a sample of 193 Italian Facebook users (148 female; 45 male; age M = 22.8, SD = 6.8). Results at path analysis using AMOS showed direct significant positive associations between personality traits related to extraversion, openness, neuroticism, conscientiousness and Facebook mementos. Extraversion and openness were positive precursors of the directive, self and social functions of autobiographical memory, whereas neuroticism predicted directive and self-functions, and conscientiousness was a positive precursor of the directive function of autobiographical memory. As well, indirect significant positive paths among extraversion, neuroticism, openness and the frequency of photos uploaded on Facebook for collecting life events have emerged via the mediation of the self-continuity function of autobiographical memory. In sum, the present study highlights how individual differences in motivations for using autobiographical memory for directive-behavior, self-continuity or social-bonding purposes deeply related with the personal experience of using social media as a repository tool for textual or visual information
The Associations Between Workplace Bullying and Physical or Psychological Negative Symptoms:: Anxiety and Depression as Mediators
No full textWorkplace bullying is a critical issue for its negative consequences on victims’ health and well-being. This study aimed at examining the intermediate roles of anxiety and depression, in the relations between workplace bullying as a predictor, and physical and psychological negative symptoms as outcomes. In particular, it was hypothesized that workplace bullying would be associated with higher anxiety and depression and, through them, with higher physical and psychological negative symptoms. We sampled 151 Italian employees, who called on a workplace bullying public clinical center as victims and filled a paper-and-pencil questionnaire. Results of bootstrapped regressions showed that only anxiety mediated the association of workplace bullying with negative physical symptoms while both anxiety and depression mediated its association with negative psychological symptoms. The results have implications for the development of appropriate intervention strategies for both prevention and clinical treatment. In particular, timely diagnosing and treating anxiety and depression could prevent subsequent problems related to psychological and physical symptoms such as colitis, headache, tiredness, nervousness, etc. Organizational interventions in terms of primary prevention are also discussed. From an empirical standpoint, the study contributed to disentangling the differential roles of anxiety and depression with respect to physical and psychological symptoms; moreover, overcoming a common limit of workplace bullying research, the current study was carried out on actual victims