How do I see myself? A systematic review of identities in pro‐environmental behaviour research

Encouraging pro‐environmental behaviour (PEB) is an environmental and societal concern. Encouraging PEB focussing on how consumers see themselves (their identity) has blossomed. However, a theoretical assessment of this research is missing. Three main identity theories seem to best explain the research, specifically, and two‐fold, identity, and social identity theory (SIT), collectively known as the unified identity theory (UIT), and place identity theory (PIT). As these theories overlap more than differ in their understanding of identity, we argue that combining these theories is needed to avoid redundancies in identity theorizing, provide a universal approach to identity in terms of the processes and outcomes, and explain the PEB research most succinctly. Therefore, we understand identity similarly between the theories and offer a universal identity theory approach based on the theoretical definitions and assumptions. Finally, we demonstrate how the theory can be used to explain the research. Next, research was identified by conducting a systematic review using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses guidelines, where 62 studies were relevant. Multiple identities relevant for a given PEB are assumed and evidenced: 99. Identities are assumed to be either individually‐, group‐, and/or place‐focused, drawing on the specific subsets of the universal theory: identity theory, social identity theory, and place identity theory, respectively. Identities are assumed to relate to behaviour, where identity increased PEB with medium effect sizes. Finally, to move the field forward, we provide a theoretical framework of how to test identities in relation to other psychological variables relevant for PEB research.     

Psychometrics in Support of a Valid Assessment of Linguistic Minorities: Implications for the Test and Sampling Designs

In this study, we propose that the unique needs and characteristics of linguistic minorities should be considered throughout the test development process. Unlike most measurement invariance investigations in the assessment of linguistic minorities, which typically are conducted after test administration, we propose strategies that focus on the early stages of test development. Our approaches involve considering linguistic minorities in the selection of the test and sampling designs. We posit that joint consideration of these issues preemptively can strengthen the claims derived from tests used to assess linguistically diverse populations. This also will contribute to more psychometrically robust assessments, which can yield accurate and valid score-based inferences for linguistic minorities. To this end, we provide various examples and methodological approaches that can be used in the selection of the test and sampling designs that take these issues into consideration.     

Maintenance of Treatment Gains: A Comparison of Enhanced,Standard, and Self-directed Triple P-Positive Parenting Program

This report describes the 3 year outcomes of three different variants of the Triple P-Positive Parenting Program, a behavioural family intervention. Families were randomly assigned to one of three intervention conditions or to a waitlist condition. At 1 year follow-up there were similar improvements on observational and self-report measures of preschooler disruptive behaviour for Enhanced, Standard and Self Directed variants of Triple P. At 3 year follow-up (completed by 139 families), each condition showed a similar level of maintenance of intervention effects. Approximately 2/3 of preschoolers who were clinically elevated on measures of disruptive behaviour at pre-intervention moved from the clinical to the non-clinical range. Across conditions, there was a comparable preventive effect for each intervention for these high risk children. The implications of the findings for the development of brief, cost effective parenting interventions within a public health framework are discussed.     

Enhancing Initial Parental Engagement in Interventions for Parents of Young Children: A Systematic Review of Experimental Studies

Low rates of participation in parenting interventions may undermine their effectiveness. Although a wide range of strategies to engage parents in interventions are described in the literature, little is known about which engagement strategies are most effective in enhancing parental engagement. This systematic review explores effective engagement strategies to encourage initial parental engagement (recruitment, enrolment, and first attendance) in parenting interventions for parents of children aged 2–8 years old. This review was conducted based on the guidelines of the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions (Higgins and Green 2011) and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (Moher et al. 2009). Electronic systematic searches from January 1996 to August 2017 were conducted in PsycINFO, Scopus, ProQuest Social Sciences Journals, CINAHL, and PubMed databases. Eight studies met the inclusion criteria representing 1952 parents from four different countries. Of the engagement strategies tested in included studies (monetary incentive, setting, testimonial, advertisement, and engagement package), three strategies (advertisement, incentive, and engagement package) showed a significant effect on a stage of engagement, but none across stages. The low methodological quality of the selected studies limits their generalisability and thus provides limited evidence regarding effective engagement strategies to increase recruitment, enrolment, and first attendance rates in parenting interventions. There is a need for further, more methodologically rigorous, research evidence regarding how to engage parents more effectively in the early stages of parenting interventions.     

Serial dependence in position occurs at the time of perception

Observers perceive objects in the world as stable over space and time, even though the visual experience of those objects is often discontinuous and distorted due to masking, occlusion, camouflage, or noise. How are we able to easily and quickly achieve stable perception in spite of this constantly changing visual input? It was previously shown that observers experience serial dependence in the perception of features and objects, an effect that extends up to 15 seconds back in time. Here, we asked whether the visual system utilizes an object’s prior physical location to inform future position assignments in order to maximize location stability of an object over time. To test this, we presented subjects with small targets at random angular locations relative to central fixation in the peripheral visual field. Subjects reported the perceived location of the target on each trial by adjusting a cursor’s position to match its location. Subjects made consistent errors when reporting the perceived position of the target on the current trial, mislocalizing it toward the position of the target in the preceding two trials (Experiment 1). This pull in position perception occurred even when a response was not required on the previous trial (Experiment 2). In addition, we show that serial dependence in perceived position occurs immediately after stimulus presentation, and it is a fast stabilization mechanism that does not require a delay (Experiment 3). This indicates that serial dependence occurs for position representations and facilitates the stable perception of objects in space. Taken together with previous work, our results show that serial dependence occurs at many stages of visual processing, from initial position assignment to object categorization.     

Agonistic onset marks emotional changes and dispersal propensity in wild house mouse males (Mus domesticus)

The authors investigated implications of agonistic onset for anxiety and dispersive motivation in maturing wild house mouse males (Mus domesticus). Laboratory-kept fraternal pairs either developed agonistic dominance or stayed amicable during their first 2 months of life, when the authors assessed open-field behavior and dispersal propensity. State anxiety was lower in amicable than agonistic males and higher in subordinate than dominant ones. During subsequent dispersal trials, 1 dominant and 1 amicable male from 2 fraternal pairs were concomitantly introduced into seminatural enclosures containing 3 females. One male invariably became territorial. The defeated males, if previously dominant, dispersed at significantly higher rates than if previously amicable. The authors conclude that agonistic onset during development represents an adaptive behavioral switch from a submissive-philopatric to agonistic-dispersive coping strategy.     

Animalizing women and feminizing (vegan) men: The psychological intersections of sexism,speciesism, meat,and masculinity

Images of sexualized women depicted as animals or alongside meat are routinely used in advertising in Western culture. Philosophers and feminist scholars have long theorized that such imagery reflects the lower status of both women and animals (vs. men) in society and argued that prejudiced attitudes towards women (i.e., sexism) and animals (i.e., speciesism) are interconnected, with meat-eating as a core symbol of masculinity. Addressing these key ideas from ecofeminist theory, we review the psychological evidence on the associations between sexism, speciesism, meat, and masculinity. Research on the animalistic dehumanization of women provides evidence that sexism and speciesism are psychologically entangled and rooted in desires for group-based dominance and inequality. Furthermore, research on the symbolic value of meat corroborates its masculine value expressing dominance and power, and suggests that men who abstain from meat consumption (e.g., vegans) are feminized and devalued, particularly by those higher in sexism. We conclude that a greater recognition of the interconnected nature of patriarchal gender relations and practices of animal exploitation, including meat-eating, can help in efforts to improve the status of both women and animals.