Modernity and Happiness – The Case of Germany

The question asked in this article is whether modern societies enable the individual to lead a happier life. It was hoped during the Age of the Enlightenment that rationally designed social conditions would lead in the future to greater prosperity, more security and increased happiness for all. Only a little of this optimism has survived into the twentieth century. In their studies on anomie, sociologists such as Durkheim, Merton and Sennett have drawn attention to the darker sides of progress. Current theories of anomie – explicit social critiques – entirely ignore the successes of modernity and discuss only its crises. In these theories, anomie is described as a structural feature of modern societies, whose destructive consequences are manifested by growing alienation, increasing social isolation and rising suicidality. Empirical analyses of data from Germany show, however, that these theses diverge from the reality. Despite rapid processes of modernisation, anomic patterns of perception and behaviour have not become more widespread over the last 20 years; on the contrary, in some areas anomie has decreased significantly. Proceeding from this insight, this article proposes a correction of those models of anomie that are blind to progress. The crises of modernity are confronted with its successes, which have helped considerably to reduce anomic reactions and to stabilise subjective well-being at a high level. Finally, the article points out that this is not a stable equilibrium, rather that temporal and structural imbalances may occur in the course of modernisation processes, whose magnitudes may, however, be curbed – albeit not entirely or in every respect.     

Still underdetected – Social norms and collective efficacy predict the acceptance of electric vehicles in Germany

The role of social identity variables for predicting environmental decisions may often be underdetected by psychological lay people. Applying this to the acceptance of electric vehicles (EVs) in Germany we investigated whether social norms and collective efficacy predict EV acceptance and what psychological laypersons who are either EV experts or EV non-experts think predicts EV acceptance. In preliminary interview studies we explored the beliefs of EV experts and EV non-experts. In a survey study, we then tested whether cost-related advantages and disadvantages were predictive of EV acceptance and whether norms and collective efficacy have independent effects even when controlling for cost-related factors and demographic variables. Results suggest that both EV experts and EV non-experts considered cost-related factors as much more important than social identity processes. However, hierarchical regression analyses of the survey data showed that norms and collective efficacy have equal or even stronger effects on acceptance than cost-related factors. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.     

Motivation and active travel in adolescent girls and boys in Germany – Findings from the ARRIVE study

Active travel (using an active mode of transport such as walking or cycling) contributes to the accumulation of daily physical activity and thus holds potential for promoting health. To promote active travel among adolescents an in-depth understanding of determinants from a sex/gender perspective is needed. Within Self-Determination Theory (SDT), it is proposed that the quality of an individuals’ motivation (i.e., the degree to which it is autonomous) determines the extent to which they engage in particular behaviors and perform them effectively. As part of the ARRIVE study, the aim of this research was to investigate the relationship between motivation and active travel in adolescent boys (N = 263, M_age = 12.92) and girls (N = 254, M_age = 13.21) from a nationwide German sample. Results showed significant group differences between male and female adolescents in the proportion of trips traveled actively, intrinsic motivation and amotivation. Logistic regression analyses demonstrated different relationships of the different types of motivation proposed within SDT on active travel behavior depending on sex/gender. In the total sample, integrated and identified regulation increased the odds of active travel (by 15.8 %, and 20.3 % respectively), whereas amotivation decreased the odds by 23.0 %. Intrinsic motivation and controlled forms of extrinsic motivation (i.e. introjected and external regulation) did not significantly change the odds of active travel. Separate sex/gender-specific analyses were conducted. For boys, only identified regulation significantly increased the odds of active travel (by 40.2 %) and amotivation significantly decreased the odds (by 18.8 %). In girls, integrated (by 25.3 %) and external (by 20.3 %) regulation significantly increased the odds of active travel, while amotivation (26.6 %) significantly decreased the odds. We conclude that disparities exist in the relationship among different regulation types with active travel behavior between adolescent boys and girls, and that findings contradictory to SDT might result from the specific context of traveling to a destination. Considering the regression analyses findings, future interventions to promote active travel among adolescents should incorporate sex/gender-sensitive development, because some behavioral regulations might not be equally effective among girls and boys.     

Good refugees,bad migrants? Intergroup helping orientations toward refugees,migrants, and economic migrants in Germany

The present study examined the effect of group labels on helping behavioral intentions toward displaced people in Germany. Specifically, it examined the impact of different labels evoking either voluntary or forced migration (i.e., migrants, economic migrants, and refugees) on different helping orientations (e.g., dependency vs. autonomy-oriented helping) and if these effects occur via perceived intergroup threat, warmth and competence stereotypes. Participants (N = 304) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions (refugee vs. migrant vs. economic migrant) and read fabricated case vignettes, featuring a displaced person who arrived in Germany recently. Results showed that, as predicted, the use of different group labels affected the helping orientations of host society members, as well as, the stereotypes they held. No significant label effects were found for intergroup threat. While the label refugee evoked dependency-oriented helping intentions and triggered paternalistic stereotypes, the label economic migrants increased opposition to help, decreased help affirmation and evoked envious stereotypes. Practical implications to strengthen peaceful intergroup relations between host society members and newcomers are discussed.     

Water clubs in residential care: is it the water or the club that enhances health and well-being?

Recent research suggests that establishing water clubs in care homes can counteract the dangers of dehydration and enhance residents' health and well-being. This study provided an experimental test of this idea, and also explored the possibility that it is the social interaction that clubs provide which delivers health-related benefits. Consistent with this hypothesis, the study found no evidence that, on its own, increased focus on water consumption enhanced residents' health or well-being. However, residents who took part in water clubs showed improved levels of perceived social support, and those who participated in water and control clubs showed beneficial outcomes in terms of the number of General Practitioner calls they required. Consistent with a social identity approach to health and well-being, a mediation analysis also indicated that clubs achieve these positive outcomes by providing social support that helps to build a shared sense of social identity among residents.     

Water clubs in residential care: Is it the water or the club that enhances health and well-being?

Recent research suggests that establishing water clubs in care homes can counteract the dangers of dehydration and enhance residents’ health and well-being. This study provided an experimental test of this idea, and also explored the possibility that it is the social interaction that clubs provide which delivers health-related benefits. Consistent with this hypothesis, the study found no evidence that, on its own, increased focus on water consumption enhanced residents’ health or well-being. However, residents who took part in water clubs showed improved levels of perceived social support, and those who participated in water and control clubs showed beneficial outcomes in terms of the number of General Practitioner calls they required. Consistent with a social identity approach to health and well-being, a mediation analysis also indicated that clubs achieve these positive outcomes by providing social support that helps to build a shared sense of social identity among residents.     

The impact of identity leadership on team functioning and well-being in team sport: Is psychological safety the missing link?

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of psychological safety in explaining the impact of identity leadership on team performance and athlete well-being. Adopting a cross-sectional survey design, 289 handball players rated the identity leadership skills of their coach, their captain, and the informal leaders in the team, as well as various performance- and well-being-related measures. Structural equation modelling (controlling for the nested structure of our data) revealed that by demonstrating identity leadership, coaches, captains, and in particular informal athlete leaders, all had a unique contribution in strengthening their team members’ identification with their team. By this shared sense of ‘us’, athletes felt psychologically safe in their team to speak up, provide input, and take risks. In line with our hypotheses, this sense of psychological safety acted as a mediator between identity leadership and two subsequent pathways: (1) a team-oriented pathway in which psychological safety inspired good teamwork, which fostered team resilience and, in turn, enhanced athletes’ satisfaction with their team’s performance; and (2) an individual-oriented pathway wherein psychological safety buffered against athletes’ burnout, thereby enhancing their health. In addition to these pathways mediated by psychological safety, the informal leaders directly influenced the performance pathway (with total effect sizes being 10 times larger than those of coaches and team captains), whereas coaches had a direct influence on the health pathway (with total effect sizes being three times larger than those of informal leaders and captains). Given the often-underestimated importance of the informal leaders, sport teams can be recommended to adopt a structure of shared leadership in which team members are encouraged to engage in identity leadership. In conclusion, we found that by nurturing a shared sense of ‘we’ and ‘us’ within the team, leaders are able to foster a psychologically safe environment, which in turn paves the way for an optimal team functioning and a healthier team.     

Why did I right that? Factors that influence the production of homophone substitution errors

Despite considerable research on language production errors involving speech, little research exists in the complementary domain of writing. Two experiments investigated the production of homophone substitution errors, which occur when a contextually appropriate word (e.g., beech) is replaced with its homophone (e.g., beach tree). Participants wrote down auditorily presented sentences containing dominant or subordinate homophones. Homophones were preceded by a lexical prime that overlapped in phonology and orthography (e.g., teacher) or only orthography (e.g., headmaster) with the target homophone. Results showed more substitution errors when the context elicited a subordinate homophone than when it elicited a dominant homophone. Furthermore, both types of primes equivalently increased production of homophone errors relative to control words (e.g., lawyer), suggesting that only orthographic overlap between the prime and target was necessary to influence errors. These results are explained within dual-route models of spelling, which postulate an interaction between lexical and sublexical routes when spelling.     

Why did I right that? Factors that influence the production of homophone substitution errors

Despite considerable research on language production errors involving speech, little research exists in the complementary domain of writing. Two experiments investigated the production of homophone substitution errors, which occur when a contextually appropriate word (e.g., beech) is replaced with its homophone (e.g., beach tree). Participants wrote down auditorily presented sentences containing dominant or subordinate homophones. Homophones were preceded by a lexical prime that overlapped in phonology and orthography (e.g., teacher) or only orthography (e.g., headmaster) with the target homophone. Results showed more substitution errors when the context elicited a subordinate homophone than when it elicited a dominant homophone. Furthermore, both types of primes equivalently increased production of homophone errors relative to control words (e.g., lawyer), suggesting that only orthographic overlap between the prime and target was necessary to influence errors. These results are explained within dual-route models of spelling, which postulate an interaction between lexical and sublexical routes when spelling.     

Reasons and Value – in Defence of the Buck-Passing Account

In this article, I will defend the so-called buck-passing theory of value. According to this theory, claims about the value of an object refer to the reason-providing properties of the object. The concept of value can thus be analyzed in terms of reasons and the properties of objects that provide them for us. Reasons in this context are considerations that count in favour of certain attitudes. There are four other possibilities of how the connection between reasons and value might be formulated. For example, we can claim that value is a property that provides us with reasons to choose an option that has this property. I argue that none of these four other options can ultimately be defended, and therefore the buck-passing account is the one we ought to accept as the correct one. The case for the buck-passing account becomes even stronger, when we examine the weak points of the most pressing criticism against this account thus far.     

Incorporating Muslim migrants in western nation states – a comparison of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany

This article analyses how nation states respond to religious diversity produced by migration. Drawing on research results from a comparative macro-sociological study on the incorporation of Muslims in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, it is argued that both the claims of recognition and the modes of symbolic and organizational incorporation are shaped by varying institutional arrangements of political organization, collective identity, and religion. Yet recent convergences in the development of multicultural forms of incorporation and the inclusion of religion as a legitimate category of identity in the public sphere suggest that these institutional arrangements are equally transformed under the influence of transnational discourses of human rights.     

Meditation,well-being and cognition in heartfulness meditators – A pilot study

Meditative practices can vary considerably in technique as well as their effects. Heartfulness is a popular meditation technique that includes in its repertoire, a unique passive form of meditation. We carried out a pilot study recruiting male heartfulness meditators (proficient n = 24, with 6–28 years of meditation experience; novice n = 24, 5 to 16 months of experience) and subsequently recruited matched controls (n = 15). We examined well-being, and carried out high-density EEG recordings to examine indices of meditation and cognition in these groups. Well-being scores were significantly higher for the proficient meditators as compared to novice and intermediate for the controls. We did not find any group differences in cognitive processing. During meditation, enhanced occipital gamma was found in proficient meditators as compared to controls. We discuss the findings from this pilot study and suggest avenues for future research.     

Regional Disparities in Employment of High-Skilled Foreigners – Determinants and Options for Labour Migration Policy in Germany

We investigate the regional disparities in high-skilled foreign employment in Germany. The importance of different factors that influence highly qualified migrants’ decision to migrate to specific regions and especially the role of labour migration policy is analysed. Our results show that labour market variables and the supply of tertiary education are important for the location choice. Based on these empirical results, we discuss options of decentralised labour migration policy in Germany.     

The pillars of strength for first-grade adjustment – Parental and children's character strengths and the transition to elementary school

The present study aimed to explore the relations between parental and children's character strengths and children's school adjustment during the critical period of school entry. Participants were 479 parents and 16 first-grade teachers of 479 first-grade schoolchildren from five public elementary schools in Israel. Children's and parents’ character strengths were measured by parental questionnaires, based on the Values in Action inventories of strengths. In addition, teachers completed questionnaires about their students’ cognitive, social, emotional, and behavioral school adjustment. Findings showed that parents’ intellectual, interpersonal, and temperance strengths were positively related to their children's school adjustment. In addition, children's intellectual, interpersonal, group-interaction, temperance, and transcendence strengths were positively related to broad aspects of first-grade adjustment. The present study provides an initial exploration of the contribution of personal and parental strengths to young children's optimal adjustment to elementary school.     

Factors that influence the acceptance of future shared automated vehicles – A focus group study with United Kingdom drivers

The development of Shared Automated Vehicles (SAVs) is well underway to provide mobility as a service (MaaS) and bring benefits such as reduced traffic congestion, reduced reliance on privately owned vehicles and increased independence to non-drivers. To realise the benefits of SAVs, adoption by private vehicle users is crucial. Previous research has shown this subset of users as the least likely to adopt SAVs, and it is not well understood what factors are important to achieve such adoption. The purpose of this study is to obtain an in-depth understanding of attitudes, perceptions and preferences that influence the acceptance of future SAVs for drivers. This paper presents the results from an online asynchronous focus group study with 21 British drivers as participants. From the analysis, Service Quality, Trust and Price Value emerged as the three most prominent factors to understand user acceptance of SAVs. These three main factors may be of prime importance for convincing naïve private car owners to accept high-speed SAVs. Productive use of travel time has been frequently mentioned in previous research as a benefit of vehicle automation but was scarcely mentioned by participants in this study. Shared Space Quality in introduced as an indicator for Service Quality, together with Security and Trusting Co-passengers as two indicators of Trust. Based on the findings, this paper concludes with a conceptual SAV technology acceptance model is introduced, with the results added as extended model predictors to the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2).     

Self-rated adjustment and sex-typing on the Bem Sex-Role Inventory: Is masculinity the primary predictor of adjustment?

Questions concerning the relationship between self-rated adjustment and the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) were examined in two studies. In Study I, whether sex-typing was defined by Bem's original t-test criterion or the newer median-split criterion, superior adjustment was associated with androgynous vs. traditional typing only among women, not men. Also in conflict with the androgyny position, adjustment differences among sex-types were accounted for by differences in masculinity, not in femininity or androgyny per se. The greater contribution of masculinity vs. femininity to self-rated adjustment may be exaggerated because BSRI femininity includes items which do not load on a unidimensional femininity factor. In Study II, inspection of these unrelated items suggested that they reduce the desirability of BSRI femininity, thereby reducing its relationship to adjustment. Comparisons between standard BSRI scoring and an alternative based on unidimensional subscales revealed that the alternative femininity subscale was judged to be more desirable, and it reduced the degree of difference between masculinity and femininity in their relationships to adjustment. Superior adjustment, however, was again associated with androgynous vs. traditional sex-typing only among women, and adjustment differences among sex-types were again accounted for by differences in masculinity.The authors acknowledge the assistance of the following persons who helped in the administration, scoring, or preparation of questionnaire materials: Jill Jamison, Eric Isberg, Kay Peter, Steve Zalinger, Walter Davis, James Ball, Mark Jensen, and Heidi Sanft. Correspondence should addressed to Dr. Louise Silvern, Psychology Department, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309.     

Intra-couple similarity in dyadic coping and partners’ adjustment to the birth of a child

Unlike individual perceptions of a couple's functioning, couple-level protective factors against poor adjustment to the birth of a child have rarely been studied. This study examined similarity or reciprocal exchanges in dyadic coping (DC) during pregnancy (T1) and at 6 weeks postpartum (T2) and its associations with both partners’ adjustment at 6–9 months postpartum (T3). Ninety-two Portuguese couples provided data on DC, internalizing symptoms, dyadic adjustment and parenting stress. An individual's perceived similarity at T1 positively predicted his or her own internalizing symptoms at T3. One partner's perceived similarity at T2 negatively predicted the other partner's internalizing symptoms and parenting stress at T3. These associations controlled for stereotype effects (i.e., similarity due to shared cultural norms and values). Both partners’ adjustment seems to benefit from unique similarity within the couple after childbirth, while complementarity in DC during pregnancy appears to be more beneficial in the long term. Our findings suggest important refinements to DC-based interventions already aimed to promote similarity in DC.     

“If It Helps,I’ll Carry On”: Factors Supporting the Participation of Native and Immigrant Youth in Belgium and Germany

In this article we propose looking into some factors for Civic Participation and the intention to continue to participate among local (Study I) and immigrant (Study II) young people living in Belgium and Germany. In Study I, 1,079 young people (M_age = 19.23, 44.9% males) completed a self-report questionnaire asking about their Civic Participation. Multiple linear regressions reveal (a) evidence of a pool of variables significantly linked to Civic Participation: Institutional Trust, Collective-Efficacy, Parents’ and Peers’ Support, Political Interest, Motivations and (b) that Civic Participation, along with the mediation of the Participation's Efficacy, explains the Intention to Continue to Participate. An explanatory model was constructed on participation and the Intention to Continue to Participate on behalf of the native youth. This model is invariant between the two countries. In Study II, 276 young Turkish immigrants (M_age = 20.80, 49.3% males) recruited in Belgium and Germany filled out the same questionnaire as in Study I. The same analysis was conducted as for Study I, and they provided the same results as the native group, highlighting the invariance of the model between natives and immigrants. Applicative repercussions are discussed.     

How Might We Address the Factors that Contribute to the Scarcity of Philosophers Who Are Women and/or of Color?

Professional philosophy in the US remains relatively homogenous. I use four anecdotes to amplify some of the practices that may contribute to the dearth of underrepresented philosophers. Each anecdote highlights a different problem—lack of proper mentoring, stereotype threat, difficulties navigating sexism, and a sense of exclusion. Although I discuss each of these issues separately, it is certainly the case that these (and other issues) can and often do occur concurrently. I offer preliminary thoughts on how these problems could be addressed while keeping in mind that philosophy in the US is a microcosm of the larger US society.