Self-critical Rumination and Associated Metacognitions as Mediators of the Relationship Between Perfectionism and Self-esteem

Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy - Past research has shown that perfectionism, can negatively impact self-esteem. However, the mediating factors that explain this...     

Snitching versus reporting: A qualitative analysis of barriers and facilitators to addressing safety concerns among high school students

Social Psychology of Education - Creating effective school-wide safety mechanisms depends on understanding students' previous experiences of reporting, however, students may also be...     

Extensive occupational finger use delays age effects in tactileperception—an ERP study

Tactile expertise, resulting from extensive use of hands, has previously been shown to improve tactile perception in blind people and musicians and to be associated with changes in the central processing of tactile information. This study investigated whether expertise, due to precise and deliberate use of the fingers at work, relates to improved tactile perception and whether this expertise interacts with age. A tactile pattern and a frequency discrimination task were conducted while ERPs were measured in experts and nonexperts of two age groups within middle adulthood. Independently of age, accuracy was better in experts than in nonexperts in both tasks. Somatosensory N70 amplitudes were larger with increasing age and for experts than for nonexperts. P100 amplitudes were smaller in experts than in nonexperts in the frequency discrimination task. In the pattern discrimination task, P300 difference wave amplitude was reduced in experts and late middle-aged adults. In the frequency discrimination task, P300 was more equally distributed in late middle-aged adults. We conclude that extensive, dexterous manual work leads to acquisition of tactile expertise and that this expertise might delay, but not counteract, age effects on tactile perception. Comparable neurophysiological changes induced by age and expertise presumably have different underlying mechanisms. Enlarged somatosensory N70 amplitudes might result from reduced inhibition in older adults but from enhanced, specific excitability of the somatosensory cortex in experts. Regarding P300, smaller amplitudes might indicate fewer available resources in older adults and, by contrast, a reduced need to engage as much cognitive effort to the task in experts.     

Employability and Employees’ Well‐Being: Mediation by Job Insecurity1

The current study's aims are twofold: first, we investigate the relationship between employability and both work‐related (engagement) and general (life satisfaction) well‐being. Second, we study how employability may be relevant in times of high job insecurity. Specifically, we hypothesise (1) a positive relationship between employability and employees’ well‐being, (2) a negative relationship between employability and job insecurity, and (3) a negative relationship between job insecurity and employees’ well‐being, so that (4) job insecurity mediates the relationship between employability and employees’ well‐being. Results based on a sample of 559 respondents from divisions of seven Belgian organisations support our hypotheses. We conclude that employability may be a means to secure one's labour market position, rather than a means to cope with job insecurity. Les objectifs de cette étude sont doubles: nous étudions d’abord la relation entre l’employabilité et à la fois le bien‐être relatif au travail (implication) et le bien‐être global (la satisfaction provenant de l’existence). Ensuite, nous nous interrogeons sur la pertinence de l’employabilité en période de grande insécurité professionnelle. Plus précisément, nous posons les hypothèses 1) d’une relation positive entre l’employabilité et le bien‐être des employés, 2) d’une relation négative entre l’employabilité et l’insécurité professionnelle et 3) d’une relation négative entre l’insécurité professionnelle et le bien‐être des salariés, si bien que 4) l’insécurité professionnelle régule la relation entre l’employabilité et le bien‐être des salariés. Les résultats issus d’un échantillon de 559 répondants provenant de départements de sept organisations belges confortent nos hypothèses. On conclut que l’employabilité peut être une façon de sécuriser sa situation sur le marché du travail plutôt qu’un moyen pour affronter l’insécurité professionnelle.     

The Power of Analogies for Imagining and Governing Emerging Technologies

The emergence of new technologies regularly involves comparisons with previous innovations. For instance, analogies with asbestos and genetically modified organisms have played a crucial role in the early societal debate about nanotechnology. This article explores the power of analogies in such debates and how they could be effectively and responsibly employed for imagining and governing emerging technologies in general and nanotechnology in particular. First, the concept of analogical imagination is developed to capture the explorative and anticipatory potential of analogies. Yet analogies do not simply stimulate imagination, they also restrict it by framing emerging technologies in specific ways. Thus, second, the article argues that tracing the rhetorical and persuasive power of analogical arguments is essential for understanding how analogies are constructed to legitimise assessments, funding policies, and governance approaches. Third, the article addresses factors that account for the persuasiveness of analogies in debates about emerging technologies. The article concludes with reflections on how analogical imagination and an enhanced analogical sensibility for framing and persuasive effects can foster responsible research and innovation (RRI).     

Hospitality and Embodied Encounters in Educational Spaces

This short paper responds to the essays by Shilpi Sinha, Shaireen Rasheed, and Lyudmila Bryzzheva. It considers how racial inequality between teachers and students affects the possibilities of educational hospitality, both in cases of white teachers teaching racialized students and in cases of racialized teachers teaching white students. The response takes a phenomenological turn, considering the relative vulnerability of bodies that encounter each other in educational spaces which, themselves, are not neutral.     

“What matters to us”: The portrait values questionnaire to measure couple values

No previous studies have analyzed values as qualities of relational microsystems, such as the romantic couple. Based on Schwartz's Theory of Human Values, this study examines the psychometric properties of the Portrait Couple Values Questionnaire (PCVQ). It measures four couple value dimensions: conservation, openness to change, self-enhancement, and self-transcendence. Five hundred and forty-six Italian respondents (54.1% women), aged 41.52 years (SD = 7.19; range 23–63) and having a couple relationship, have filled in an anonymous online questionnaire. The results show the good psychometric properties of the PCVQ. The Confirmatory Factor Analysis Magnifying Glass Strategy shows good indexes of fit for each value dimension, except for the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) for openness to change, thus confirming that the PCVQ measures the four values with satisfactory internal consistency. The Multidimensional Scaling results, by showing a Stress-1 index of 0.07, confirm the circular structure of values because the four value dimensions are in the position predicted by Schwartz's model. Participants' personal and couple values are highly but not perfectly correlated, suggesting that couple values are a related but distinct construct compared to personal values. This study's contribution lies in introducing an innovative construct into the literature on values and couples, proposing a scale to assess it.