Zur Differenzierung zwischen unsicheren und aggressiven Teilnehmern beim Gruppentraining Sozialer Kompetenzen (GSK) im Straf- und Maßregelvollzug

The cognitive-behavioural group training for social competence “GSK” [16] has proven to also be effective in the penal system [28]. The present study examines if a targeted differentiating assessment prior to the intervention and a thereon based homogeneous group composition with regard to insecure and aggressive behaviour patterns can enhance the effectiveness of the “GSK” in the penal system and in a forensic hospital unit. Altogether 48 male delinquents across both settings were therefore divided into a “homogeneous insecure” group, a “homogeneous aggressive” group and a “heterogeneous” group. Pre-post-comparisons show that the intervention is effective for all three groups and also in both settings, the penal system and the forensic hospital unit. The “homogeneous aggressive” group revealed the strongest intervention effects.     

“Change my selfie”: Relationships between self-objectification and selfie-behavior in young Italian women

Self-objectification is a pervasive phenomenon, related to specific socio-cultural context, that can lead to many psychological and interpersonal consequences. With the present study, we investigated the correlates of self-objectification in young Italian women analyzing both its traditional antecedents and its consequences for self-presentation on social network sites (SNS). A total of 676 Italian university female students completed a self-reported questionnaire on self-objectification, internalization of a thin-ideal and related influences, internalized sexism, self-esteem, SNS use, selfie-posting on SNS and selfies’ manipulation. Results indicated that media and peers, but not family pressures, were positively associated with thin-ideal internalization, which, in turn, was positively associated with self-objectification. Moreover, both sexism and self-esteem were significantly associated with self-objectification. Regarding self-objectification consequences for SNS usage, results revealed that self-objectification was positively associated with time spent on SNS, frequency of selfie-posting and selfie-editing. It was concluded that objectification theory can be extended into the context of image-related behaviors on SNS. Results suggest that young women with low self-esteem, traditional attitudes toward gender roles and high levels of internalization of thin-ideal may report high levels of self-objectification which, in turn, may be related to specific self-promotion behaviors on social media. The limitations of the present study, particularly in terms of sampling and implications for future research on selfie-behavior are discussed.     

Perceiving arousal and valence in facial expressions: Differences between children and adults

Arousal and valence have long been studied as the two primary dimensions for the perception of emotional stimuli such as facial expressions. Prior correlational studies that tested emotion perception along these dimensions found broad similarities between adults and children. However, few studies looked for direct differences between children and adults in these dimensions beyond correlation. We tested 9-year-old children and adults on rating positive and negative facial stimuli based on emotional arousal and valence. Despite high significant correlations between children’s and adults’ ratings, our findings also showed significant differences between children and adults in terms of rating values: Children rated all expressions as significantly more positive than adults in valence. Children also rated positive emotions as more arousing than adults. Our results show that although perception of facial emotions along arousal and valence follows similar patterns in children and adults, some differences in ratings persist, and vary by emotion type.     

Sensitivity to the Sampling Process Emerges From the Principle of Efficiency

Humans can seamlessly infer other people's preferences, based on what they do. Broadly, two types of accounts have been proposed to explain different aspects of this ability. The first account focuses on spatial information: Agents' efficient navigation in space reveals what they like. The second account focuses on statistical information: Uncommon choices reveal stronger preferences. Together, these two lines of research suggest that we have two distinct capacities for inferring preferences. Here we propose that this is not the case, and that spatial‐based and statistical‐based preference inferences can be explained by the assumption that agents are efficient alone. We show that people's sensitivity to spatial and statistical information when they infer preferences is best predicted by a computational model of the principle of efficiency, and that this model outperforms dual‐system models, even when the latter are fit to participant judgments. Our results suggest that, as adults, a unified understanding of agency under the principle of efficiency underlies our ability to infer preferences.     

Psychometric properties of the Coping Response Inventory with Brazilian adolescents

To analyze the psychometric properties of the Coping Response Inventory-Youth Form (CRI-Y) and its applicability, 426 Brazilian adolescents (43.3% boys, 56.7% girls), ages 12 to 18 years (M = 16.5, SD = 1.6), completed the authorized Brazilian/Portuguese version of the 1993 original. Analysis showed higher use of Approach coping and Emotional Discharge by the girls. The inventory showed internal consistency reliability was similar to that of the original scale. A two-factor structure reflecting Approach and Avoidance coping was found; however, the distribution of loadings of specific coping scales on this two-factor structure did not fit the original Moos model. The criterion validity analyzed by the use of the Youth Self-Report showed significant positive relation between the Avoidance dimension and Psychopathological symptoms for boys and girls. Data were discussed with respect to coping theory, assessment, and cultural influences.