The Relationship Between Perceived Parental Attitudes and Shyness among Turkish Youth: Fear of Negative Evaluation and Self-esteem as Mediators

The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between three perceived parental attitudes and shyness, testing self-esteem and fear of negative evaluation as mediators. The study used a total of 492 undergraduate students in Turkey. Data was collected through measures of shyness, fear of negative evaluation, self-esteem, and perceived parental attitudes. The proposed model was estimated using path analysis. Goodness of fit statistics showed that the model fit the data well. Results indicated that parental acceptance/involvement predicted self-esteem; perceived parental strictness/supervision predicted fear of negative evaluation; and perceived parental psychological autonomy predicted self-esteem. Self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between parental acceptance/involvement and shyness, whereas it fully mediated the relationship between parental psychological autonomy and shyness. Fear of negative evaluation fully mediated the relationship between parental strictness/supervision and shyness. In addition, the relationship between self-esteem and shyness was partially mediated by fear of negative evaluation. The findings provided evidence for the propositions that parental attitudes are important in the development of self-image and fears of rejection which result in the experience of shyness.     

Cultivating the Places of Knowledge

The discussion of universities anddemocracy has conventionally dealt first andforemost with the curriculum, or with thespirit of openness and tolerance whichcharacterises the scientific inquiry. In thisarticle I have added a discussion of thesituatedness of knowledge and knowledgeproduction, and, consequently, a discussion ofthe situated character of other roles of theuniversity, including the democratic role. Inthe light of the regress of political partiesand traditional popular movements – phenomenawhich seem to be true both as regardsmembership numbers and as regards level ofactivity – the role as a locally andregionally situated meeting place for avitalisation and defence of democracy seems apromising one for the contemporary university.The article has also emphasised the linksbetween culture, social capital (``the socialfabric') in the surrounding society, and theeconomic growth and welfare of the city andregion. With concepts such as Bildung (oreducation), civic competence (or civility), andculture, and I have tried to draw our attentionto the actual ``places of knowledge,' whoseimportance will certainly grow in the years tocome. The care, the cultivation, and thequalification of these places into supportinginfrastructures for cultural life, creativity,industry, and democracy should be seen as acoherent, holistic mission. It needsrecognition, and articulation, by all those whoare interested in the university as asignificant social factor: politicians,industry, the cultural sector, localcommunities, and, obviously, the academiccommunity itself.     

A Comprehensive Model of Entrepreneur Role Stress Antecedents and Consequences

Purpose  The aim of this study was to systematize findings in role stress research into original and conceptually important abstract higher-order constructs and to develop and test a comprehensive structural equation model that examined such expanded conceptualizations of antecedents and consequences to entrepreneur role stress. Design/Methodology/Approach  Model tests were performed on data from a sample of 282 Swedish entrepreneurs (a usable rate of 22.5%) engaged in their first-year of venture activities. We used structural equation modeling, mediation tests and tests for common method bias to test the appropriateness of the model. Findings  We found that role stress can be explained by expansions of lower-ranked, less abstract constructs embedded in a multiple-indicator model of venture technology, venture environment, and entrepreneur personality. The analysis confirmed that role stress is an important mediator and that it has pronounced relationships to expanded conceptualizations of role-related rewards and exhaustion. Implications  This study advance role stress theory and existing knowledge about entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship when it introduces role stress and suggests it mediates the effects from personality traits, organizational and environmental characteristics, on higher-order conceptualizations of rewards and exhaustion. Originality/Value  With contributions from several distinct disciplines over a half decade, prior research has not paid much attention to show how role stress research can benefit from more abstract conceptualizations and empirical evaluation. By synthesizing and developing expanded higher-level conceptualizations that link diversities, we show that expanded conceptualizations effectively enable to introduce role stress to entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship.     

Relationship of seat belt use to health and driver behaviors

Seat belts are effective safety devices for protecting car occupants from injuries and fatalities in road vehicle accidents. Seat belt use has been reported to be related to some health and driving-related behaviors. The aim of the present study was to investigate to what degree seat belt use can be seen as health behavior or driver behavior. Participants were 252 licensed Turkish drivers (180 males, 72 females) with the mean age of 30.8 (SD = 12.15). A questionnaire including questions related to health-related behaviors, driver behaviors and seat belt use was used. Results of factor analysis showed that seat belt use in front seat grouped with driver behaviors (e.g., driving errors and violations) but not with health-related behaviors (e.g., healthy diet and sports participation). Regression analyses showed that seat belt use in back seat; and, regular walking and adequate sleep were positively related to seat belt use in front seat, whereas being male, driving errors and smoking frequency were negatively related to seat belt use in front seat. The present findings suggest that seat belt use can be considered in the context of driver behaviors such as driving errors and violations.     

You are not alone – adolescents’ experiences of participation in a structured skills training group for ADHD

Little is known about how adolescents with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience participating in group therapy, an important factor to consider when developing treatment methods for this age group. This study aimed to explore how adolescents with ADHD experience participating in a structured skills training group program based on dialectical behavioral therapy. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 adolescents (15–18 years of age) with ADHD after participating in a structured skills training group. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and qualitative content analysis were used to analyze the text. The participants emphasized the value of meeting other adolescents with ADHD and the opportunity to exchange experiences, strategies and tips. Participating in the group treatment made the adolescents realize that they were not alone, and feelings of togetherness and an increased acceptance of themselves were described. The participants associated the treatment with elevated knowledge and understanding, for example, about ADHD, their own functioning and helpful strategies. They also described emotional and behavioral changes, such as higher self-esteem, fewer inter-personal conflicts and improved concentration. Activating and experiential exercises were considered important elements of the treatment, and the participants expressed a need for a variation of exercises, as well as more time for practicing skills, discussions and breaks. The results indicate that the group format add an extra value to the treatment and that the use of an active approach throughout the treatment is of importance for this group of patients.     

Recollective experience in odor recognition: Influences of adult age and familiarity

We examined recollective experience in odor memory as a function of age, intention to learn, and familiarity. Young and older adults studied a set of familiar and unfamiliar odors with incidental or intentional encoding instructions. At recognition, participants indicated whether their response was based on explicit recollection (remembering), a feeling of familiarity (knowing), or guessing. The results indicated no age-related differences in the distribution of experiential responses for unfamiliar odors. By contrast, for familiar odors the young demonstrated more explicit recollection than the older adults, who produced more know and guess responses. Intention to learn was unrelated to recollective experience. In addition, the observed age differences in remember responses for familiar odors were eliminated when odor naming was statistically controlled. This suggests that age-related deficits in activating specific odor knowledge (i.e., odor names) play an important role for age differences in recollective experience of olfactory information.