Psychometric Properties and Measurement Invariance of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory - Short Version among Portuguese Youth

This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory - Short version (YPI-S) among a mixed-gender sample of 782 Portuguese youth (M = 15.87 years; SD = 1.72) collected in a school context. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis offered support for the expected 3-factor structure. Partial cross-gender measurement invariance and cross-sample measurement invariance of the YPI-S using a forensic sample of institutionalized males was established. The Portuguese version of the YPI-S showed adequate psychometric properties in terms of internal consistency, mean inter-item correlation, corrected item-total correlation, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. In support for criterion-related validity, the YPI-S also showed statistically significant associations with self-reported conduct disorder symptoms, alcohol abuse, and drug use. In terms of known-groups validity, males from the school sample scored lower than males from the forensic sample and higher than females from the school sample. The YPI-S seems to be a valuable brief and psychometrically reliable and valid self-report measure, which can be used to assess psychopathic traits in diverse samples of youth.     

Factor Structure,Internal Consistency and Criterion Validity of the Full‐form and Short‐form Versions of the Centrality of Events Scale in Young People

The perceived centrality of a traumatic event has been hypothesized to impact subsequent responses to that event and shown to be positively associated to a number of psychological problems. In order to understand the role of this construct in adjustment to stress and trauma, reliable and valid measures are needed. The objective of this study was to evaluate the factor structure, internal consistency and convergent validity of the full‐form and short‐forms of the Centrality of Event Scale when used with young people. A sample of 262 undergraduate students completed this study. Confirmatory factor analyses, Cronbach alpha coefficients and Pearson correlation coefficients were performed. The findings support a one‐factor structure of the full 20‐item and the short 7‐item versions. We also found that both versions provide reliable and valid scores when used with young people. We recommend the use of the 7‐item version to minimize assessment burden. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Are you willing to pay the price? The impact of corporate social (ir)responsibility on consumer behavior towards national and foreign brands

This research examines how the country of origin (national vs. foreign) affects the relation between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and consumers' willingness to pay and purchase intention. In the study, we adopted a first‐price sealed bid auction approach, using money in a “real‐world” setting. The results showed that CSR/corporate social irresponsibility (CSIR) affects consumer behavior and, particularly, consumers' willingness to pay and purchase intention. The study supports both the moderation hypothesis of country of origin in the relationship between CSR/CSIR and willingness to pay and between CSR/CSIR and purchase intention. In the globalization context, these results have important implications for brands' communication and marketing strategy and can stimulate important insights in organizations. Future research directions and limitations are also discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

When Stronger Knowledge Slows You Down: Semantic Relatedness Predicts Children's Co‐Activation of Related Items in a Visual Search Paradigm

A large literature suggests that the organization of words in semantic memory, reflecting meaningful relations among words and the concepts to which they refer, supports many cognitive processes, including memory encoding and retrieval, word learning, and inferential reasoning. The co‐activation of related items has been proposed as a mechanism by which semantic knowledge influences cognition, and contemporary accounts of semantic knowledge propose that this co‐activation is graded—that it depends on how strongly related the items are in semantic memory. Prior research with adults yielded evidence supporting this prediction; however, there is currently no evidence of graded co‐activation early in development. This study provides the first evidence that in children the co‐activation of related items depends on their relational strength in semantic memory. Participants (N = 84, age range: 3–9 years) were asked to identify a target (e.g., bone) amid distractors. Children's responses were slowed down by the presence of a related distractor (e.g., puppy) relative to unrelated distractors (e.g., flower)—suggesting that children co‐activated related items upon hearing the name of the target. Importantly, the degree of this co‐activation was predicted by the strength of the target–distractor relation, such that distractors more strongly related to the targets slowed down children to a larger extent. These findings have important implications for understanding how organized semantic knowledge affects other cognitive processes across development.     

Step changes in the intertrial interval in the midsession reversal task: Predicting pigeons' performance with the learning-to-time model

Our goal was to assess the role of timing in pigeons' performance in the midsession reversal task. In discrete-trial sessions, pigeons learned to discriminate between 2 stimuli, S1 and S2. Choices of S1 were reinforced only in the first half of the session and choices of S2 were reinforced only in the second half. Typically, pigeons choose S2 before the contingency reverses (anticipatory errors) and S1 after (perseverative errors), suggesting that they time the interval from the beginning of the session to the contingency reversal. To test this hypothesis, we exposed pigeons to a midsession reversal task and, depending on the group, either increased or decreased the ITI duration. We then contrasted the pigeons' performance with the predictions of the Learning-to-Time (LeT) model: In both conditions, preference was expected to reverse at the same time as in the previous sessions. When the ITI was doubled, pigeons' preference reversal occurred at half the trial number but at the same time as in the previous sessions. When the ITI was halved, pigeons' preference reversal occurred at a later trial but at an earlier time than in the previous sessions. Hence, pigeons' performance was only partially consistent with the predictions of LeT, suggesting that besides timing, other sources of control, such as the outcome of previous trials, seem to influence choice.     

Roger Swyneshed’s Obligationes: A Logical Game of Inference Recognition?

In [Dutilh Novaes, Medieval-obligations as logical Games of Consistency maintenance, synthese, (2004)], I proposed a reconstruction of Walter Burley’s theory of obligationes, based on the idea that Burley’s theory of obligationes could be seen as a logical game of consistency maintenance. In the present paper, I intend to test the game hypothesis on another important theory of obligationes, namely Roger Swyneshed’s theory. In his treatise on obligationes [edited by P.V. Spade, cf. Spade History and philosophy of Logic 3(1982) 1-32], Swyneshed introduced significant modifications to the general framework of obligationes. To compare the two theories, I apply the same formal apparatus used in the previous paper. It will become patent that Swyneshed’s theory is considerably different from Burley’s, among other reasons because the dynamic aspects that play a major role in the latter are simply not present in the former. My conclusion is that Swyneshed’s version of obligationes is not directed towards consistency maintenance, but rather towards inference recognition, and that it is, from a game-theoretical perspective, less interesting a theory than Burley’s.     

Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors May Be More Common and Severe Among People Identifying as a Sexual Minority

Research indicates that people who identify as a sexual minority are at higher risk of numerous negative outcomes, including self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITBs). The minority stress model proposes that people identifying as a sexual minority are at higher risk of these behaviors due to sexual orientation-specific stressors—however, it does not clarify whether SITBs will be more severe among these individuals. The present study tested whether SITBs are more common and more severe among people identifying as a sexual minority using several metrics, including frequency of SITB engagement, age of onset of SITB, desire to discontinue SITB engagement, and likelihood of future SITBs. Four independent research samples were used to test this model. Results were then combined and tested in an internal meta-analysis. Findings converge to indicate a longer and more severe course of SITB engagement among people identifying as a sexual minority. Future research is needed to replicate these findings and to advance the understanding of why this imbalance in risk and severity might exist, and how it can be prevented.     

Apathy or alienation? Political passivity among youths across eight European Union countries

Abstract

Political participation is one of the most studied aspects of the contemporary development of western democracies. A recent trend focuses the lack of political participation among younger generations. At the same time, the last decades have also witnessed a growth in the share of young European Union (EU) citizens who express alienation, and distrust toward social and political institutions at the national as well as the European level. By studying young people across different countries of the EU, the current study aims to examine if youths’ political passivity is better explained by political apathy or alienation. Our analyses are based on a comparative survey data collected by the Catch-EyoU project comprising approximately 4 454 late adolescents assembled from eight member countries of the EU. Results from logistic regressions predicting non-voting from apathy and alienation support the idea that political passivity is best understood as the result of political apathy. Moreover, it seems that the underlying separator of apathetic and alienated youths is cognitive awareness of political life. These results are discussed in relation to potentially built-in paradoxes of apathy present in efficient and well-functional welfare-state democracies.     

Conceptualizing psychopathic traits from an evolutionary-based perspective: An empirical study in a community sample of boys and girls

Although psychopathy has historically been associated with a lack of emotion, recent research has suggested that psychopathy may represent a tendency to externalize the experience of unpleasant emotions, including shame, which could be seen as an adaptive strategy within an evolutionary framework. However, more empirical research is needed to build on this argument. This study tested a novel evolutionary-based model involving pathways associating the impact of harsh rearing experiences (warmth and safeness experiences and traumatic shameful experiences) with psychopathic traits as well as the indirect effects of external shame and shame coping strategies in this association. This study also tested the invariance of this model across gender. A youth community sample (N = 703; 58.9% girls) completed self-report questionnaires on the impact of harsh rearing experiences, external shame, shame coping strategies, and psychopathic traits. The results suggested that the impact of harsh rearing experiences was directly and indirectly (through external shame and shame coping strategies) associated with psychopathic traits. The model partially explained the endorsement of psychopathic traits in boys and girls, although gender differences were found in some of the pathways. These findings offer support for conceptualizing psychopathic traits as an adaptive strategy to cope with the impact of harsh rearing experiences, opening new perspectives for prevention and treatment.