Self-efficacy as a health-protective resource in teachers? A biopsychological approach

OBJECTIVE: To examine the psychobiological correlates of self-efficacy in teachers. DESIGN: Study 1 examined associations between teacher self-efficacy and cardiac activation on a working day and Study 2 assessed the cortisol morning response in teachers with varying levels of teacher self-efficacy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Teacher self-efficacy was assessed by questionnaire. In Study 1 heart rate, heart rate variability, and locomotor activity were recorded by 22 hours ambulatory monitoring and subjective measures of stress and strain were obtained. Study 2 assessed the cortisol response to awakening to obtain a measure of HPA-axis activation and teachers filled in a questionnaire on physical complaints. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Study 1 found that self-efficacy proved protective for psychological well-being. Moreover, after controlling for locomotor activity, demographic, and lifestyle variables, self-efficacy was associated with elevated heart rate and attenuated heart rate variability during school and leisure time, respectively, but not during the night, thus questioning the health-implications of self-efficacy. Study 2 found that teachers high in self-efficacy exhibited an attenuated cortisol response to awakening and fewer cardiac complaints. The results of both studies are compatible with the view that teacher self-efficacy might act as a physiological toughening agent with possibly favorable health outcomes.     

School alienation and academic achievement in Switzerland and Luxembourg: a longitudinal perspective

Early adolescence represents a particularly sensitive period in the life of young learners, which is accompanied by an increase in school alienation. Due to its harmful nature (Hascher and Hadjar...     

Time Use,Unemployment, and Well-Being: An Empirical Analysis Using British Time-Use Data

Journal of Happiness Studies - We use nationally representative data from the UK Time-Use Survey 2014/2015 to investigate how a person’s employment status is related to time use and cognitive...     

Effects of implicit fear of failure on cognitive processing: A diffusion model analysis

Whereas previous studies suggest that individuals with high implicit fear of failure (FF) perform worse on various indicators of general performance, the underlying mechanisms of this effect have not yet been understood. In our experimental study, 280 participants worked on a binary color discrimination task. Half of the participants were frustrated by means of negative performance feedback, while the control group received mainly positive feedback. We employed a diffusion model analysis (Ratcliff in Psychol Rev 85(2):59–108, 1978) to disentangle the different components involved in the execution of the task. Results revealed that participants in the frustration condition adopted more conservative decision settings (threshold separation parameter of the diffusion model). Besides, high implicit FF was related to slow information accumulation (drift), and this relation was stronger in the frustration condition. Participants with higher FF further showed reduced learning rates during the task. Task related intrusive thoughts are discussed as mechanism for reduced performance of high FF individuals. We conclude that diffusion model analyses can contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the effects of psychological motives.     

Modular Semantics for Theories: An Approach to Paraconsistent Reasoning

Some scientific theories are inconsistent, yet non-trivial and meaningful. How is that possible? The present paper aims to show that we can analyse the inferential use of such theories in terms of consistent compositions of the applications of universal axioms. This technique will be represented by a preferred models semantics, which allows us to accept the instances of universal axioms selectively. For such a semantics to be developed, the framework of partial structures by da Costa and French will be extended by a few elements of the Sneed formalism, also known as the structuralist approach to science.     

Risk seeking for losses modulates the functional connectivity of the default mode and left frontoparietal networks in young males

Value-based decision making (VBDM) is a principle that states that humans and other species adapt their behavior according to the dynamic subjective values of the chosen or unchosen options. The neural bases of this process have been extensively investigated using task-based fMRI and lesion studies. However, the growing field of resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) may shed light on the organization and function of brain connections across different decision-making domains. With this aim, we used independent component analysis to study the brain network dynamics in a large cohort of young males (N = 145) and the relationship of these dynamics with VBDM. Participants completed a battery of behavioral tests that evaluated delay aversion, risk seeking for losses, risk aversion for gains, and loss aversion, followed by an RSFC scan session. We identified a set of large-scale brain networks and conducted our analysis only on the default mode network (DMN) and networks comprising cognitive control, appetitive-driven, and reward-processing regions. Higher risk seeking for losses was associated with increased connectivity between medial temporal regions, frontal regions, and the DMN. Higher risk seeking for losses was also associated with increased coupling between the left frontoparietal network and occipital cortices. These associations illustrate the participation of brain regions involved in prospective thinking, affective decision making, and visual processing in participants who are greater risk-seekers, and they demonstrate the sensitivity of RSFC to detect brain connectivity differences associated with distinct VBDM parameters.     

Prevalence and correlates of ICD-11 adjustment disorder: Findings from the Zurich Adjustment Disorder Study

Background/Objective: The 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) will provide a new definition of adjustment disorder (AjD). The aim of the present study is to report on prevalence and correlates of ICD-11 AjD in a high-risk sample. Method: Three hundred thirty persons who had lost their job involuntarily were sampled by local job centres. The Munich Composite International Diagnostic Interview was administered with a new AjD module. Associations between AjD and correlates were investigated with logistic regression analyses. Results: 27.3% of the participants reported the AjD core symptom pattern. 13.8% men and 17.2% women met diagnostic guidelines of ICD-11 AjD. Prevalence increased with age and exposure to multiple stressors. The AjD core symptom pattern was associated with various sociodemographic correlates (e. g., lower financial household budget), whereas the full ICD-11 diagnosis including the exclusion algorithm was not. Regarding work-related factors, AjD occurred with a lower probability if the last job position had higher responsibilities and more general confidence for the future. Conclusions: ICD-11 AjD has a high prevalence among persons who lost their jobs involuntarily. Healthcare professionals should be aware of this problem. Research to investigate the ICD-11 AjD concept in the general populations and other subpopulations is needed.     

Can Technological Artefacts Be Moral Agents?

In this paper we discuss the hypothesis that, ‘moral agency is distributed over both humans and technological artefacts’, recently proposed by Peter-Paul Verbeek. We present some arguments for thinking that Verbeek is mistaken. We argue that artefacts such as bridges, word processors, or bombs can never be (part of) moral agents. After having discussed some possible responses, as well as a moderate view proposed by Illies and Meijers, we conclude that technological artefacts are neutral tools that are at most bearers of instrumental value.