Size perception by vision and kinesthesia

When two sizes, one perceived by vision and the other by kinesthesia, are apparently equal, the physical relationship between them varies: The sizes may be equal, or the visual size may be larger than the kinesthetic size, or vice versa. In this study, the method of cross-modal matching and the method of magnitude production were used to explore the relationship between apparently equal sizes (5–40 cm) perceived by vision and by kinesthesia. The sizes were linear or circular, and the mode of standard presentation was visual, kinesthetic, or verbal. The size and the direction of the intermodal mismatch varied with the size of the standard. It was also found that an apparent length of movement varied with the direction of movement. In all conditions, the relationship between apparently equal visual and kinesthetic sizes was well approximated by a power function.     

Traumatization of group leaders in their work with displaced persons

Displaced persons are a special, threatened group of people, participants in this war, who were suddenly forced to abandon their homes. The majority of them were, overnight, left without anything they had, some even without their closest family. They all have one thing in common: they have all lost so much. Work with such people is directed toward overcoming their feelings of loss and abandonment and preventing psychical decompensation. Groups of displaced persons temporarily sheltered in the Rijeka region have been observed to be markedly regressed, with increased sensitivity, a low degree of tolerance, great demands on society and strongly expressed projective tendencies. Therapists suffer personal traumatization in working with displaced persons. This paper describes the reactions and feelings of group leaders caused by manifestations of group dynamics in different phases of exile.     

Temperament and behaviour problems in children: A multilevel analysis of cross-cultural differences

Early temperament attributes have been linked to emerging behaviour problems and significant long-term consequences; however, these relations are rarely examined cross-culturally. The present study addresses this gap, employing multilevel modelling to explain within- and between-culture variances with respect to temperament predicting a spectrum of behaviour problems across 14 nations from the Joint Effort Toddler Temperament Consortium (JETTC). A total of 865 children between 17 and 40 months, with approximately equal age distribution across this developmental period and about equivalent representation of genders, were recruited from 14 nations. Greater negative emotionality was associated with more internalizing problems, whereas higher surgency and effortful control predicted fewer internalizing difficulties. Controlling for age and gender, temperament explained significant within- and between-culture variances in internalizing and externalizing problems (at the broad-band and fine-grained levels), as well as sleep problems. For internalizing difficulties, temperament accounted for more between-culture variance. In contrast, for externalizing difficulties, temperament accounted more for how individuals within the same culture differed from their same-culture counterparts. The within-culture findings suggest universal patterns of temperament-problem relations, informing cultural adaptation of interventions; between-culture findings enhance understanding of the implications of the cultural niche for normative behaviour and adjustment.     

Spirituality and intentions to engage in Covid-19 protective behaviours

Accumulating evidence points to spirituality as a belief system that contributes to low trust in science, with self-identified spiritual individuals reporting high levels of unwarranted scepticism towards science in general and vaccination specifically. We investigated whether self-identified spirituality also predicts intentions to engage with Covid-19 protective measures during the pandemic. In Studies 1–3 (N = 774), we asked participants to report their spirituality and desire to be vaccinated against Covid-19 shortly after the first vaccine rollout. In Studies 2–3, we included measures of scepticism towards and intentions to comply with Covid-19 prevention measures (handwashing, wearing face coverings, distancing). As expected, stronger self-reported spirituality involved lower desire to be vaccinated, controlling for various worldview and demographic variables. Yet, we found no evidence for spirituality to predict scepticism towards other Covid-19 preventative behaviours or intentions to engage with them. Our findings corroborate and extend previous literature on science rejection, demonstrating that spirituality is uniquely involved in vaccine rejection.     

The mediation component of the hopelessness depression in relation to negative life events

A necessary test of the mediational processes component of the hopelessness theory of depression is to test whether the individuals who have negative attributional style and experience negative life events are likely to make negative attributions for the negative events they confront. The present study, using undergraduate students, find that the negative attributional style do not predict negative attributions subjects made for the negative life events they experience within a period of 3 months. However, subjects' negative attributions for the negative life events coupled with the experience of a high number of negative life events predicted their depressive symptomatology. The depressive symptomatology is found not to be mediated through hopelessness. The findings are discussed in relation to the hopelessness theory of depression.     

No evidence of other-race effect for Chinese faces in Malaysian non-Chinese population

The other-race effect (ORE) reflects poor recognition of faces of a different race to one's own. According to the expertise-individuation hypothesis, this phenomenon is a consequence of limited experience with other-race faces. Thus, similar experience with own and other-race faces should abolish the ORE. This study explores the ORE in a multi-racial country (i.e., Malaysia) by comparing Malaysian observers' face recognition for faces of a predominant racial group in Malaysia (i.e., Chinese) with faces from an uncommon group (i.e., Caucasian). Malaysian Chinese, Malays, and Malaysian Indians completed the Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT) and the CFMT-Chinese. Compared with the normative scores, Malaysian observers showed poor performance in the CFMT-Caucasian. Interestingly, Malays and Malaysian Indians observers' performance was identical to that of Malaysian Chinese in the CFMT-Chinese and to the normative scores of the test. These results demonstrate the relevance of experience in shaping the ORE.     

More than words: Rethinking sustainability communications through neuroscientific methods

In the era when the overarching problem of climate change, threatening the entire humanity and all life on earth, demands actions and behavioural change from all of the societal agents, including governments, organizations, companies and individuals, the world fails to achieve unity on the matter of existence of the problem, cause of the problem and on the solution of the problem. Since the scientific consensus on climate change is achieved, this article tries to examine why it is so hard to convey the message of needed behavioural change. The neuromarketing study presented in this article focuses on marketing communications that try to convey the message that would lead to the consumers' mental, emotional and behavioural change. Effectiveness of the branded environmental videos was evaluated utilizing the neuroscience approach. Electroencephalogram and an eye-tracking device were used to register the implicit brain reactions of the study participants viewing the branded videos. For comparison reasons, the branded videos selected for the study use two different approaches for conveying the message. The first approach relies on narrative, words and logic, whilst the second one appeals primarily to emotions. The aim of the study was to answer the question whether the words are enough or is there more to it?     

An examination of self-presentational concern of Turkish adolescents: an example of physical education setting

The purpose of this study was to examine self-presentational concern of Turkish adolescents with regard to the gender composition of physical education (PE) class and also to investigate the attitude toward PE and PE class preferences of Turkish adolescents based on this concern. A total of 1,807 eighth-grade students (936 females and 871 males) completed the Attitudes Toward Physical Education Scale and Social Physique Anxiety Scale (SPAS). The findings indicated that although self-presentational concern did not differ according to the gender composition of PE class, there was a significant difference in class preference among adolescents based on this concern with most of the females who had a high self-presentational concern preferring noncoed PE class. Additionally, no significant difference was found in attitude toward PE among self-presentational concern groups. These findings are discussed in relation to the sex composition of PE class and self-presentational concerns of adolescents.     

An examination of indexes for determining the number of clusters in binary data sets

The problem of choosing the correct number of clusters is as old as cluster analysis itself. A number of authors have suggested various indexes to facilitate this crucial decision. One of the most extensive comparative studies of indexes was conducted by Milligan and Cooper (1985). The present piece of work pursues the same goal under different conditions. In contrast to Milligan and Cooper's work, the emphasis here is on high-dimensional empirical binary data. Binary artificial data sets are constructed to reflect features typically encountered in real-world data situations in the field of marketing research. The simulation includes 162 binary data sets that are clustered by two different algorithms and lead to recommendations on the number of clusters for each index under consideration. Index results are evaluated and their performance is compared and analyzed.Author names are listed in alphabetical order.This piece of research was supported by the Austrian Science Foundation (FWF) under grant SFB#010 (Adaptive Information Systems and Modeling in Economics and Management Science).The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers and especially the associate editor for their helpful comments and suggestions.