Exploring the validity of scores from the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) in Burundi: A multi-strategy approach

The present study aimed to validate the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) in Burundi, through a multi-strategy approach used in cross-cultural studies. Respondents were 906 health workers (men = 56%; caregivers 60%). They responded to a bilingual version of RSES. We utilised Confirmatory Factorial Analysis (CFA) with structural equation modelling and a back translation test to explore the structure of the RSES and the reliability of scores from the scale. Data from an independent sample were analysed for the reliability of scores assessment. CFA results suggested that the global RSES factor was likely contaminated by a method-effect; mainly associated with negatively worded items. Internal consistencies and a back-translation test demonstrated that the negatively worded items were unsuitable in this context. The independent sample study confirmed poor reliability and internal consistency of scores for both alternative language versions of the RSES. Our data suggested that an overall cultural effect, rather than a merely specific language effect, may undermine the cross-cultural transportability of the Western scale.     

Low‐price guarantees as advertisement strategy and compensation policy: The more,the better?

Companies sometimes employ a “lowest price or more than the difference back” policy (i.e., a price‐beating guarantee). We investigated whether such a policy is more effective to attract and retain customers than when the exact price difference is promised (i.e., a price‐matching guarantee). The first study revealed that about 60% of the marketers and shop owners in our sample thought that beating price differences is a more effective strategy than matching price differences. However, the four subsequent studies challenged this assumption. Specifically, the advertisement as well as the provision of price‐beating refunds did not have an incremental positive effect on customers' general attitudes in terms of trust, brand perception, loyalty, and shopping intentions beyond the level that was already reached by price‐matching refunds. Moreover, our mediation analyses revealed that the null effect of price‐matching versus price‐beating was mediated by fairness perceptions. From a theoretical perspective, these results are in line with a fairness account, which holds that people do not only evaluate the economic value of an outcome, but also take equality considerations into account. Because price‐beating is literally more expensive than price‐matching, from a practical point of view, companies should be informed that the employment of a price‐beating guarantee is a cost‐ineffective advertisement strategy and compensation policy.     

Who am I? Differential effects of three contemplative mental trainings on emotional word use in self-descriptions

In a large-scale longitudinal mental training study, we examined whether learning different contemplative practices can change the emotional content of people’s self-concept as assessed through emotional word use in the Twenty Statement Test. During three 3-month training modules, participants learned distinct practices targeting attentional, socio-affective, or socio-cognitive capacities, or were re-tested. Emotional word use specifically increased after socio-cognitive training including perspective-taking on self and others, compared to attentional and socio-affective compassion-based trainings, and retest-controls. Overall, our findings demonstrate training-induced behavioral plasticity of the emotional self-concept content in healthy adults and could indicate greater emotional granularity. These findings can inform future interventions in mental health, given that alterations in self-referential processing are a common contributing factor in psychopathology.     

Regularization and a general linear model for event-related potential estimation

The usual event-related potential (ERP) estimation is the average across epochs time-locked on stimuli of interest. These stimuli are repeated several times to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and only one evoked potential is estimated inside the temporal window of interest. Consequently, the average estimation does not take into account other neural responses within the same epoch that are due to short inter stimuli intervals. These adjacent neural responses may overlap and distort the evoked potential of interest. This overlapping process is a significant issue for the eye fixation-related potential (EFRP) technique in which the epochs are time-locked on the ocular fixations. The inter fixation intervals are not experimentally controlled and can be shorter than the neural response’s latency. To begin, the Tikhonov regularization, applied to the classical average estimation, was introduced to improve the SNR for a given number of trials. The generalized cross validation was chosen to obtain the optimal value of the ridge parameter. Then, to deal with the issue of overlapping, the general linear model (GLM), was used to extract all neural responses inside an epoch. Finally, the regularization was also applied to it. The models (the classical average and the GLM with and without regularization) were compared on both simulated data and real datasets from a visual scene exploration in co-registration with an eye-tracker, and from a P300 Speller experiment. The regularization was found to improve the estimation by average for a given number of trials. The GLM was more robust and efficient, its efficiency actually reinforced by the regularization.     

Neural response to evaluating depression predicts perceivers’ mental health treatment recommendations

Nonstigmatized perceivers’ initial evaluations of stigmatized individuals have profound consequences for the well-being of those stigmatized individuals. However, the mechanism by which this occurs remains underexplored. Specifically, what beliefs about the stigmatized condition (stigma-related beliefs) shape how nonstigmatized perceivers evaluate and behave toward stigmatized individuals? We examined these questions with respect to depression-related stigmatization because depression is highly stigmatized and nondepressed individuals’ behavior (e.g., willingness to recommend treatment) directly relates to removing stigma and increasing well-being. In Study 1, we identified common stigma-related beliefs associated with depression (e.g., not a serious illness, controllable, threatening), and found that only perceptions that depression is a serious condition predicted nondepressed perceivers’ willingness to recommend mental health treatment. Moreover, perceivers’ beliefs that depression is a distressing condition mediated the relationship between perceived seriousness and treatment recommendations (Study 1). In Study 2, we used fMRI to disentangle the potential processes connecting distress to nondepressed perceivers’ self-reported treatment intentions. Heightened activity in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC)—a region widely implicated in evaluating others—and the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC)—a region widely implicated in regulating negative emotions—emerged when nondepressed perceivers evaluated individuals who were ostensibly depressed. Beliefs that depression is a distressing condition mediated the relationship between dmPFC (but not vlPFC) activity and nondepressed individuals’ self-reported treatment recommendations.     

Intrusive thoughts in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder and non-clinical participants: a comparison using the International Intrusive Thought Interview Schedule

The International Intrusive Thought Interview Schedule (IITIS) was used to assess and compare the unwanted intrusive thoughts (UITs) reported in a group of patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and a non-clinical group. Although all participants reported at least one type of intrusion, OCD patients experienced more intrusive thoughts than non-clinical participants, and this difference was statistically significant. In the OCD group, intrusive thoughts were more frequent, interfered more with daily life, were considered to be more important to get out of the mind, and were more difficult to stop than in non-clinical participants. The two groups did not differ significantly in terms of five appraisals of the most distressing intrusive thought. One appraisal (importance) was used far more by the OCD group than the non-clinical group. For three appraisals (intolerance of anxiety, need to control, and intolerance of uncertainty), the difference was smaller. Only two of the strategies for controlling the most upsetting intrusive thought (ritual and avoidance) were of value in differentiating between the two groups. The IITIS (an instrument used to assess intrusions in non-clinical samples) appears to be of value for the assessment of patients with OCD.     

生命意义感获取的心理机制及其影响因素

生命意义感体验对个体身心健康有重要的影响,其相关研究也已开始受到心理学各个领域的广泛关注。生命意义感获得与维持的理论研究主要是包括意义感层次模型、意义感构建模型及意义感维持与流动模型。大五人格、心理模拟、积极/消极情绪和亲社会行为是影响个体生命意义感体验的主要因素。未来研究要进一步探讨生命意义感产生的影响因素,完善相关的理论模型,并要从时间序列的角度探讨意义感的产生过程,并对生命意义感获得及维持的跨文化差异进行探讨。     

Predicting dental attendance from dental hygienists’ autonomy support and patients’ autonomous motivation: A randomised clinical trial

Objective: To test the hypothesis that a Self-Determination Theory (SDT) intervention designed to promote oral health care competence in an autonomy-supportive way would predict change in caries competence relative to standard care. Further, to test the SDT process path-model hypotheses with: (1) the intervention and individual differences in relative autonomous locus of causality (RALOC) predicting increases in caries competence, which in turn would positively predict dental attendance; (2) RALOC negatively predicting dental anxiety, which would negatively predict dental attendance; (3) RALOC and caries disease referred to the dentist after an autonomy-supportive clinical exam directly positively predicting dental attendance; and (4) the intervention moderating the link between RALOC and dental attendance.

Design: A randomised two-group experiment was conducted at a dental clinic with 138 patients (M_age = 23.31 yr., SD = 3.5), with pre- and post-measures in a period of 5.5 months.

Results: The experimental model was supported. The SDT path model fit the data well and supported the hypotheses explaining 63% of the variance in dental attendance.

Conclusions: Patients personality (RALOC) and hygienists promoting oral health care competence in an autonomy-supportive way, performance of autonomy-supportive clinical exams and reductions of anxiety for dental treatment have important practical implications for patients’ dental attendance.     

The assessment of organizational culture in cross‐cultural settings: Investigating the psychometric quality and cultural equivalence of three quantitative instruments

This study tested the psychometric quality and cultural equivalence of the German versions of three instruments for measuring organizational culture: the Denison Organizational Culture Survey (DOCS), the Organizational Culture Profile (OCP), and the Global leadership & organizational behavior effectiveness survey (GLOBE). Using an organizational sample from the banking industry, we analyzed the metric equivalence (by means of assessing the psychometric quality), the conceptual equivalence (by means of assessing the construct validity) as well as the linguistic and functional equivalence of the three instruments. The results indicate that the psychometric properties and the equivalence of the DOCS and the OCP can be summarized as satisfactory. In contrast, reliability indices of the GLOBE scales were far below recommended thresholds and results regarding its construct validity were unsatisfying. Conceptual equivalence could therefore not be assumed. Avenues for future research and implications for practitioners are discussed. In addition, the authors created and tested a German translation of the OCP scales and an adapted version of the German DOCS scales.