1,720,977 research outputs found
The Role of Gender in the Relation Among Anxiety, Theory of Mind, and Well-Being in Early Adolescents
Full text linkThe relation between cognition and life satisfaction is shaped by several factors. The present research investigated whether mindreading skills are linked to subjective well-being and anxiety during the transition into adolescence. Specifically, our aim was to investigate individual differences in those constructs and gendered relational patterns. A sample of 142 Italian sixth- and seventh-graders (84 boys, M = 11.83 years, SD = 6.87 months) completed a theory-of-mind task, and questionnaires on perceptions of different anxiety subtypes and life satisfaction. In the total sample, no interrelations were found among the variables. Nonetheless, mediation analyses conducted separately by gender showed that, only among girls, higher theory-of-mind scores were associated with lower perception of life satisfaction through the mediation of higher generalized anxiety levels. Results suggest that the approach to adolescence may provide a timely intervention window to develop preventive programs that target internalizing symptoms and their cascade effects on young people’s well-being
Social and Cognitive Factors Associated With Preschoolers' Different Persuasive Styles
No full textPersuasion skills consist of a complex concoction of specific mental, emotional, and social abilities. Interest in this topic continues to grow; however, there remains limited knowledge on social and cognitive correlates of persuasion in childhood. The present study explores the interrelations among specific cognitive abilities, social skills, and persuasive strategies in preschool age. A sample of 86 (42 boys) children (Mage = 4.85 years, SD = 0.51) was administered a persuasion task, a language test, and a battery of theory of mind and executive functioning tasks. Preschool teachers rated children's social competence. Despite the low frequency of preschoolers' persuasion strategies, results showed significant links among theory of mind, executive functioning, social skills, and persuasion strategies. Results also showed a diverse range of skills that predicted children's persuasive styles. Findings will be discussed within the context of existing literature, considering implications for future research and educational practice
Theory-of-mind abilities and externalizing symptoms in late childhood: the role of maladaptive coping strategies
No full textPast studies show connections between children’s Theory-of-Mind (ToM) abilities and externalizing symptoms. Although studies show grade-school children with lower ToM abilities exhibit more conduct problems and less prosocial behaviors, few studies explore these connections in late childhood. The aim of the present study was to test the role of maladaptive coping strategies as a mediator of the link between ToM skills and externalizing symptoms in middle to late childhood. A sample of 455 Italian students (246 boys) participated in this short-term longitudinal study (Mage = 10.81 years, SD = 1.78 years). At Time 1 (start of the school year) and at Time 2 (four months later), students completed a ToM test, and self-reported about their coping strategies, while teachers evaluated students’ externalizing symptoms. Results showed ToM skills, externalizing coping strategies, and externalizing behaviors were significantly linked - concurrently and over time. Hayes’ PROCESS mediation tool showed that ToM skills were negatively associated with externalizing symptoms both directly and indirectly, through the partial mediation of externalizing coping strategies. These results have implications for educational programs that promote children’s ToM and their adaptive coping skills. Specifically, children with ToM challenges who are already at risk of showing higher externalizing symptoms over time should be especially targeted by specific interventions aimed to improve ToM and adaptive coping
Mindreading and assertiveness in school-aged children: The role of problem-solving coping strategies
No full textBeing assertive means being able to communicate to others our opinions, desires and feelings in a direct and positive way, without judging other people’s thoughts. In the school context, assertiveness can facilitate interpersonal relationships (Lane & Bowman, 2022). Assertive children are usually considered by teachers as socially mature and less aggressive (Diesendruck & Ben-Eliyahu, 2006). Interestingly, assertiveness has been found to be positively related to prosocial behavior in children performing well in making inferences about others' behaviors (Barrett & Yarrow, 1977). Nonetheless, theory-of-mind skills are also known to be associated with the capacity of forming and managing peer relationships, which includes abilities like understanding the needs of others and being assertive (Devine & Apperly, 2022; Peterson et al., 2007, 2016). In a recent work, Caputi and Schoenborn (2018) found novel associations between theory-of-mind skills and coping strategies. Specifically, children and preadolescents who were more proficient in a theory-of-mind task were more prone to use problem-solving strategies and less prone to use externalizing and trivializing strategies. The main aim of the present study was to investigate the links among theory-of-mind skills, coping strategies and assertiveness in school-aged children. A further aim was testing the hypothesis that problem-solving strategies mediate the relationship between theory-of-mind skills and assertiveness. A sample of 462 students (252 boys) attending 3rd to 8th grade was recruited in Northern Italy to participate in a short-term longitudinal study. Both at Time 1 (beginning of the school year) and at Time 2 (four months later), students completed a theory-of-mind test and self-reported about their coping strategies, while teachers were asked to evaluate students’ assertiveness. T1 theory-of-mind skills were positively associated with T2 assertiveness and T1 problem solving strategies; and negatively associated with T1 externalizing and trivializing strategies. T2 assertiveness was positively associated with T1 problem solving and distraction strategies. Hayes’ PROCESS mediation tool showed that theory-of-mind skills were associated with higher levels of assertiveness only through the mediation of higher use of problem-solving strategies. That is, the combination of higher mindreading skills with coping strategies based on active problem solving led to higher assertiveness perceived by teachers. The identification of such a mediation pattern suggests that assertiveness is an important interpersonal skill that indirectly relates to theory of mind, and partly develops thanks to the employment of adaptive coping strategies. That is, the more a child learns how to cope effectively with social dilemmas that may emerge during the school years, being skilled in ToM abilities may help them to be more assertive and stand up for themselves. As argued by Peterson and colleagues (2007), understanding others’ minds is crucial in complex social exchanges and learning how to cope with life events. When this ability is coupled with problem-solving strategies, children are viewed as more capable of asserting themselves appropriately, for example to express their voiced opinions, or when trying to convince peers. These results contribute to highlight a tight and complex link that connect mindreading abilities, coping strategies and social skills in school-aged children
THEORY OF MIND AND LONELINESS IN LATE CHILDHOOD: WHEN AND HOW DOES GENDER MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
No full textFeelings of loneliness reflect the perception of dissatisfaction with one’s interpersonal relationships, and correspond with feelings of sadness, emptiness, and isolation. Developmental trajectories of loneliness across middle childhood and adolescence show a general stability of loneliness from age 8 to age 15. Studies show links between children’s theory of mind (ToM) - or the ability to read the minds and emotions of others - and feelings of loneliness, although results are mixed. Some studies show proficient mindreaders are more lonely, whereas other show the reverse, skilled mindreading relates to higher feelings of social connection (less loneliness). To add to this complexity, few studies explore the combined influence of age and gender. Accordingly, the present study investigated ToM and loneliness in 462 Italian students (252 boys, Mage = 10.80 years, SD = 1.78 years) at the start of the school year (T1) and four months later (T2). At both timepoints students completed a ToM task, a self-report loneliness measure, and teachers evaluated students’ internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Results showed significant relations between ToM and loneliness, as well as significant interactions among gender and age on loneliness and ToM. Children who reported high feelings of loneliness were also rated as high internalizers by teachers. Implications for developmentally appropriate and gender-sensitive mental health and social emotional learning programs are discussed
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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