Characteristics of Peer Review Reports: Editor-Suggested Versus Author-Suggested Reviewers

Science and Engineering Ethics - Peer review is widely recognized as a mechanism for quality control of academic content. This research article aims at comparing the review reports and decisions of...     

Why We Believe in Democracy: Testing Theories of Attitude Functions and Democracy1

This study tested different attitude function theories, as well as hypotheses democratic theorists have developed regarding the bases of pro-democratic attitudes. Two hundred and sixty-six undergraduates explained why they believed in democracy, rating the aptness of 40 sentences operationalizing attitude functions, as well as the persuasiveness of six arguments framed in terms of these functions. Factor analysis suggested the existence of either four or six distinct attitude functions. Functional saliences were weakly predictive of persuasiveness ratings, and regression analyses revealed semipartial correlations between functions and age, estimated parents' income, and attitude strength. Implications were drawn for both functional theory and democratic theory and practice.     

The Participation and Motivations of Grant Peer Reviewers: A Comprehensive Survey

Science and Engineering Ethics - Scientific peer reviewers play an integral role in the grant selection process, yet very little has been reported on the levels of participation or the motivations...     

The Biological Findings in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Review1

In this paper the authors review the literature on biological and treatment studies of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and present current unifying hypotheses regarding the pathophysiology. The psychophysiological studies stress overarousal, while endocrine studies suggest a decreased Cortisol production in denial and low symptom states with increases in highly symptomatic states. Suggestive evidence is provided that PTSD is associated with permanent changes in brain mechanisms involving the locus coeruleus, amygdala, and the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis. Drug treatments are promising but not fully satisfactory as yet. Directions for further research are provided.     

儿童攻击和同伴关系的相关:20年研究的元分析

用多水平分析技术对近20年关于儿童攻击和同伴关系相关的研究结果进行的元分析显示,现有研究中关于攻击和同伴关系相关结果的变异程度比较大,总体来说攻击和同伴接受之间有负向相关关系,和同伴拒绝之间有正向相关关系。     

We Believe in Being Honest: Examining Subcultural Differences in the Acceptability of Deception1

Perceptions of lie acceptability vary as a function of the motivation for the lie, the relationship between deceiver and deceived, and the perceiver's cultural background. The current study examines the relation between one cultural background—that is, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‐Day Saints (LDS)—and perceptions of lie acceptability, and whether this varies as a function of lie and rater characteristics. Participants rated lie acceptability in 12 scenarios varying lie motivation and lie recipient. Overall, the LDS group rated lies as less acceptable than did the non‐LDS group, and lie acceptability varied according to lie motivation and lie recipient. Participant age was negatively correlated with lie acceptability. Implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.     

Parental Psychological Control and Peer Victimization among Chinese Adolescents: The Effect of Peer Pressure as a Mediator

Peer victimization is a serious problem among children and adolescents. Family and peers are two of the most proximal and influential microsystems for children. The present study examined the influence of parental psychological control and peer pressure on peer victimization. According to social learning theory and attachment theory, parent–child interactions may serve as a model of peer interactions. Therefore, we proposed the hypothesis that peer pressure functioned as a mediator in the association between parental psychological control and peer victimization. We tested this hypothesis in a sample of Chinese adolescents and examined whether this mediation model varied by gender. Participants were 2382 seventh grade students (1166 girls and 1216 boys) in Beijing, China. The results showed that both parental psychological control and peer pressure were positively associated with peer victimization in Chinese adolescents. Additionally, peer pressure partially mediated the effect of psychological control on peer victimization. Furthermore, multi-group comparisons showed that gender differences existed in the mediation model. The direct effect of psychological control on peer victimization was a little larger in boys, whereas the indirect effect was larger in girls. The findings suggest that parental psychological control contributes to peer victimization in non-Western culture as well. These findings also improve our understanding of the underlying mechanisms involved in peer victimization by interrelating family and peer factors.     

Delinquent Peer Influence on Childhood Delinquency: The Moderating Effect of Impulsivity

A link between delinquent peer affiliations and childhood delinquency has been consistently found in the literature. However, little to no research has examined how the characteristics of an individual may impact this association. Impulsivity may be an important individual characteristic to consider, as impulsivity is associated with childhood delinquency. Accordingly, the current study examined the potential moderating effect of impulsivity on the association between peer delinquency and child delinquency in a community sample of 89 children ranging from 9 to 12 years of age (mean = 10.4 ± 1.1 yrs). Findings suggest that at low levels of impulsivity peer delinquency and child delinquency were positively associated; however at high levels of impulsivity peer delinquency and child delinquency were not statistically related. These findings may suggest that children who exhibit low levels of impulsivity are particularly vulnerable to delinquent peer influences. Implications for findings are discussed.     

Peer Rejection and Internalizing Behavior: The Mediating Role of Peer Victimization in Preschool

The author examined the relationship among peer rejection, peer victimization, and internalizing behaviors. The author hypothesized that physical and relational victimization would have a different indirect effect on the relationship between peer rejection and internalizing behaviors. Participants were 94 preschool children (37 girls; average age 49.97 months) from two university preschools located in the northern part of the United States. The results indicated that internalizing behaviors predicted the mediating variables only regarding relational victimization. Relational victimization indirectly affected the association between peer rejection and internalizing behaviors. The study provides evidence of the mediating effect of victimization behaviors on the relationship among peer rejection, victimization, and internalizing behaviors.     

The Influence of Families on Early Adolescent School Connectedness: Evidence That This Association Varies with Adolescent Involvement in Peer Drinking Networks

School connectedness is central to the long term well-being of adolescents, and high quality parent–child relationships facilitate school connectedness. This study examined the extent to which family relationship quality is associated with the school connectedness of pre- and early teenagers, and how this association varies with adolescent involvement in peer drinking networks. The sample consisted of 7,372 10–14 year olds recruited from 231 schools in 30 Australian communities. Participants completed the Communities that Care youth survey. A multi-level model of school connectedness was used, with a random term for school-level variation. Key independent variables included family relationship quality, peer drinking networks, and school grade. Control variables included child gender, sensation seeking, depression, child alcohol use, parent education, and language spoken at home. For grade 6 students, the association of family relationship quality and school connectedness was lower when peer drinking networks were present, and this effect was nonsignificant for older (grade 8) students. Post hoc analyses indicated that the effect for family relationship quality on school connectedness was nonsignificant when adolescents in grade 6 reported that the majority of friends consumed alcohol. The results point to the importance of family-school partnerships in early intervention and prevention.     

The Why and How of Enabling the Integration of Social and Ethical Aspects in Research and Development

New and Emerging Science and Technology (NEST) based innovations, e.g. in the field of Life Sciences or Nanotechnology, frequently raise societal and political concerns. To address these concerns NEST researchers are expected to deploy socially responsible R&D practices. This requires researchers to integrate social and ethical aspects (SEAs) in their daily work. Many methods can facilitate such integration. Still, why and how researchers should and could use SEAs remains largely unclear. In this paper we aim to relate motivations for NEST researchers to include SEAs in their work, and the requirements to establish such integration from their perspectives, to existing approaches that can be used to establish integration of SEAs in the daily work of these NEST researchers. Based on our analyses, we argue that for the successful integration of SEAs in R&D practice, collaborative approaches between researchers and scholars from the social sciences and humanities seem the most successful. The only way to explore whether that is in fact the case, is by embarking on collaborative research endeavours.     

同伴排斥与青少年早期饮酒行为:同伴侵害和不良同伴的中介效应

采用同伴提名、同伴侵害问卷、不良同伴问卷和饮酒行为问卷调查广东地区4所普通初级中学1386名7年级学生,考察了同伴排斥与青少年早期饮酒行为的关系,以及同伴侵害和结交不良同伴在其中的链式中介效应。结果发现:(1)同伴排斥、同伴侵害和结交不良同伴均与青少年早期的饮酒行为呈显著正相关;(2)同伴侵害和结交不良同伴在同伴排斥影响青少年早期饮酒行为过程中的链式中介效应显著,即同伴排斥通过增加同伴侵害,从而提高结交不良同伴的风险,进而增加青少年早期的饮酒行为;(3)在控制同伴侵害和结交不良同伴后,同伴排斥对青少年早期的饮酒行为仍存在显著预测作用。     

Neurotherapy in Adult Management of Stress: Developmental Aspects of the Adult Immune System

Stress, defined as a stimulus, a response, and an interaction between the person and the environment is eventually present in everyday life. Nevertheless, stress can be both dangerous and uncomfortable. Stress influences the corticotropin??releasing factor and the locus ceruleus-norepinephrine systems, which in turn impact the hypothalamic?Cpituitary?Cadrenal axis and the autonomic nervous system. At the same time, stress directly affects the immune system. Treatment by means of an alternative approach such as neurotherapy can enhance the immune system and thereby improve the patient??s overall wellbeing.     

青少年应激及其应对研究综述

目前应激及应对问题的研究已经成为心理学界研究最多的重要课题之一,青少年的应激及应对问题更是其中非常重要的一部分,然而通过与成人应激及应对研究的比较发现,对于青少年的相关研究是不足的.文章结合国内外有关研究的现状,分析了当前应激及应对研究中存在的4个主要问题:(1)应激与应对的评定方法问题;(2)缺乏纵向研究与跨文化研究;(3)研究对象范围较窄,对大学生的研究偏多;(4)缺乏应用方面的研究,并对解决上述问题提出了一些建议.