Europe’s Journal of Psychology (PsychOpen)
Not a member yet
930 research outputs found
Sort by
Mediating Role of Resilience in the Relationships Between Fear of Happiness and Affect Balance, Satisfaction With Life, and Flourishing
No full textThe present study was a first attempt to examine the mediating role of resilience in the relationships between fear of happiness and affect balance, satisfaction with life, and flourishing. Participants consisted of 256 Turkish adults (174 males and 82 females) and aged between 18 and 62 years (M = 36.97, SD = 9.02). Participants completed measures assessing fear of happiness, affect balance, satisfaction with life, and flourishing. The results showed that fear of happiness was negatively correlated with resilience, affect balance, satisfaction with life, and flourishing, while resilience was positively correlated with affect balance, satisfaction with life, and flourishing. The results of mediation analysis showed that (a) resilience fully mediated the effect of fear of happiness upon flourishing, and satisfaction with life, (b) partially mediated the effect of fear of happiness upon affect balance. These findings suggest that resilience helps to explain the associations between fear of happiness and affect balance, satisfaction with life, and flourishing. This study elucidates the potential mechanism behind the association between fear of happiness and indicators of well-being
The Structure of Academic Self-Concept in Higher Education: Multidimensionality, Hierarchy, and Change During the Initial Study Phase
No full textAcademic self-concepts of ability are key factors in promoting education and learning throughout students’ school career. Yet we know little about their structure and structural change when students leave high school to face novel academic tasks. The present study investigated the structure and structural change of first-year students’ study-related self-concepts of ability. Data stems from a longitudinal study with two measurement points covering the initial study phase (t1: N = 341; age: M = 21.6; SD = 3.56; 57.5% female). Self-concepts were assessed regarding the participants’ study program and four of its subordinate subjects. Confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation models were used to compare structural models and to investigate structural stability and directional effects. Results support the assumption of multidimensionality (i.e., distinct self-concepts for different subjects) and hierarchy with a generic field-of-study-specific selfconcept at the apex. Specifying generic field-of-study-specific self-concept as a method factor (i.e., indicated by both subject-specific and field-of-study-specific items) was most consistent with theoretical assumptions. The structural model was invariant over the first months at university. Generic field-of-study-specific self-concept and subject-specific self-concepts largely developed independently from one another. The results emphasize the recently suggested conceptualization of generic self-concept as a method factor to reflect self-concept hierarchy. Self-concepts were structurally stable over time. Several significant horizontal effects (i.e., stability within subjects) suggest that students align their self-concepts closely to the curriculum they encounter in educational contexts and, therefore, may benefit from ample feedback on their performance to develop appropriate subject-specific self-concepts
From Controlled to Automatic Processes and Back Again: The Role of Contextual Features
No full textIn cognitive psychology, classical approaches categorize automatic and controlled processes from a dichotomous point of view. Automatic processes are believed to be rigid, whereas controlled processes are thought to be flexible. New theories have softened this dichotomous view. The aim of the present study is to examine the possibility of implementing flexibility in automatic processing through reliance on contextual features. One hundred and twenty subjects (mean age 22.4, SD = 4.2), 60 male and 60 female, participated in this study. An automatic sequence task (with and without contextual features) was used to test flexibility in automatic processing. Results showed that the use of contextual cues can increase flexibility in automatic processes. The results are discussed in light of new theories on softened automaticity
The Big Five, Aesthetic Judgment Styles, and Art Interest
No full textThe current study aimed to examine the associations between the Big Five personality dimensions, aesthetic judgment styles, and art interest. Participants (N = 253) were university students in Tehran, Iran. All participants completed measures of personality, aesthetic Judgment styles, and general interest in art. Results suggested that Openness to Experience was related to advanced styles of art judgment and interest in art-related activities. Regression analyses showed that sex (β = .18, t = 3.18, p = .002), Emotional Stability (β = .14, t = 2.47, p = .01), Openness to Experience (β = .18, t = 3.14, p = .002), symbolic aesthetic judgment style (β = .31, t = 4.63, p < .001), and concrete aesthetic judgment style (β = -.19, t = -3.25, p = .001) significantly predicted art interest. The role of personality and individual difference constructs in aesthetic judgment and art interest is discussed and future directions are outlined
Testing Intergroup Threat Theory: Realistic and Symbolic Threats, Religiosity and Gender as Predictors of Prejudice
No full textThe complex phenomenon of prejudice has been the focus of interest among social psychologists since the mid-20th century. The Intergroup Threat Theory (ITT) is one of the most efficient theoretical frameworks to identify the triggers of prejudice. In this study, using experimental design, we examined the effects of symbolic and realistic threats on prejudice that was measured by means of a modified social distance scale. The study participants were 611 undergraduate students from the country of Georgia. In addition to providing further support for ITT, the study showed that the level of religiosity moderated the effects between both types of threats and prejudice, although it had different indications for realistic and symbolic threats, while gender interacted only with symbolic threat. Implications of the findings are discussed
Online Discussion and the Moral Pathway to Identity Politicization and Collective Action
No full textResearch on the mobilizing potential of the Internet has produced some controversy between optimistic vs. skeptical perspectives. Although some attention has been paid to the effects of online discussions on collective participation, very little is known about how people’s experience of online interactions affects the key psychosocial predictors of collective action. The present research investigated whether use of the Internet as a channel for deliberation influenced the moral pathway to collective mobilization by shaping users’ politicized identity, thereby indirectly influencing collective action. Results showed that when people perceived online discussions as a constructive communication context, their politicized identity was imbued with the meaning of responding to a moral obligation, and willingness to participate in collective action was sustained. However, when participants perceived that online discussions were not constructive, their identification with the movement did not refer to moral obligation, and intention to participate in collective action was not sustained. Our discussion focuses on the need to deepen investigation of how people experience the particularities of interacting online, and on how this can affect psychosocial processes leading to collective action
Positive Variables in Adult Patients Who Are at Different Stages of a Naturalistic Psychotherapeutic Treatment
No full textThis study aimed twofold: 1) to study some positive variables (three paths to well-being, life satisfaction, overall well-being and meaning of life) in adult patients who are at different stages of a naturalistic cognitive behavioral psychotherapeutic treatment and 2) to analyze their relationship with the progress during treatment, therapeutic alliance and adherence to treatment from the therapist´s perspective. The sample was composed of 85 outpatients who were in psychotherapeutic treatment. Patients completed the Three Pathways to Well-being Scale, Meaning in Life Questionnaire, Satisfaction with Life Scale, Well-being Index and Symptom Checklist-90-Revised. Therapists completed treatment related data and an opinion survey of patient´s progress, adherence to treatment and therapeutic relationship. Findings showed positive variables to be higher at the final stage of psychotherapy, particularly higher satisfaction with life, engagement, well-being, and presence of meaning in life. Higher positive variables were moderately associated with more progress during treatment according to therapist’s perspective; however a low association was found with adherence to treatment and therapeutic relationship. No differences were found in positive variables according the type of prevalent symptoms
The Possible as a Field of Inquiry
No full textIn this editorial I introduce the possible as an emerging field of inquiry in psychology and related disciplines. Over the past decades, significant advances have been made in connected areas – counterfactual thinking, anticipation, prospection, imagination and creativity, etc. – and several calls have been formulated in the social sciences to study human beings and societies as systems that are open to possibility and to the future. However, engaging with the possible, in the sense of both becoming aware of it and actively exploring it, represents a subject in need of further theoretical elaboration. In this paper, I review several existing approaches to the possible before briefly outlining a new, sociocultural account. While the former are focused on cognitive processes and uphold the old dichotomy between the possible and the actual or real, the latter grows out of a social ontology grounded in notions of difference, positions, perspectives, reflexivity, and dialogue. In the end, I argue that a better understanding of the possible can help us cultivate it in both mind and society
Self-Esteem, Social Comparison, and Facebook Use
No full textFacebook use is very popular among young people, but many open issues remain regarding the individual traits that are antecedents of different behaviours enacted online. This study aimed to investigate whether the relationship between self-esteem and the amount of time on Facebook could be mediated by a tendency towards social comparison. Moreover, three different modalities of Facebook use were distinguished, i.e., social interaction, simulation, and search for relations. Because of gender differences in technology use and social comparison, the mediation models were tested separately for males and females. Data were collected by means of a self-report questionnaire with a sample of 250 undergraduate and graduate Italian students (mean age: 22.18 years). The relations were examined empirically by means of four structural equation models. The results revealed the role of orientation to social comparison in mediating the relations between low self-esteem and some indicators of Facebook use, i.e., daily hours on Facebook and the use of Facebook for simulation. For females, the use of Facebook for social interaction was directly influenced by high self-esteem and indirectly influenced by low self-esteem. Globally, the dimension of social comparison on Facebook emerged as more important for females than for males