A case-control study of hopelessness and suicidal behavior in the city of Athens,Greece. The role of the financial crisis

This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) in Greek patients with a recent suicide attempt, the predictive ability of BHS especially in terms of age and the possible effect of the financial crisis on hopelessness as it has been identified as a significant suicide risk factor. The study included a total of 510 individuals, citizens of Athens, Greece. Three hundred and forty individuals (170 attempted suicide patients, and 170 -age and gender- matched healthy individuals used as controls) completed BHS before the financial crisis onset (from 2009 to 2010). A sample of 170 healthy individuals also completed the BHS after the financial crisis onset (from 2013 to 2014), when the impact of the austerity measures was being felt by the Greek society. The Greek BHS version demonstrated good psychometric properties and a sufficient degree of internal consistency. Attempted suicide patients (M = 9) presented higher hopelessness than the controls (M = 3). The patients’ age positively correlated with hopelessness (r_s = .35, p < .001), and the ROC curve revealed that the BHS ability to discriminate the individuals with pathological rates of hopelessness from those without, strengthened as age increased. No significant differences were found between the individuals evaluated before (M = 3) and after (M = 3, p > .05) the crisis onset. Nevertheless, regarding the latter group, the women, the younger individuals, the less educated, the unemployed and the participants with low or mediocre self-reported financial status presented increased hopelessness. Our findings suggest that BHS could be a useful instrument especially when screening for suicide risk in people of older age, and that the financial crisis in Greece had a greater impact on subgroups of the population regarding hopelessness.     

Laboratory strength measures of talented and less talented Greek children ages 9 to 10 years

The purpose was twofold: (1) to assess whether laboratory tests can distinguish talented groups and less talented groups of children identified by their total scores in a battery of field tests and (2) to evaluate whether scores in field and laboratory tests are correlated. 36 children (ages 9 to 10 years) were divided into groups of higher and lower total scores on standing long jump, medicine ball throw, and sprint. Both groups were tested for maximum isometric force, force produced at the initial 100 msec., reactive force index, drop jump height, squat jump height, and maximum pedaling rate. Analysis showed the talented group had significantly (p < or = .05) higher scores on maximum isometric force, force produced in the initial 100 msec., and drop jump height than less talented children. Moderate to high correlations were found among scores for field performance tests with maximum pedaling rate. In conclusion, the laboratory tests distinguished the talented and less talented children in maximal isometric force, the force produced at the initial 100 msec., the reactive force index, and the drop jump height.     

Preliminary report: psychological assessment of Greek women with diabetes during pregnancy

23 Greek pregnant women with type 1 diabetes had a higher mean score on the Maudsley Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy than 13 women with gestational diabetes. Long-term changes in the lifestyle of the former may apparently lead to this higher mean. For those with gestational diabetes, higher scores of alexithymia were correlated with slightly worse glycemic control.     

Neuropsychological correlates of Greek alcoholic patients who report memory disturbances

We studied 40 male and 37 female (M age=63 yr.) Greek alcoholic patients and an equal number of control subjects. Both groups were evaluated with the Mini-Mental State Examination, the Syndrome Short Test, the Verbal Fluency Test (Category & Letter), the Clock Test, and the Digit Span (Forward and Backward from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised). Alcoholic patients had statistically significant lower scores on MMSE, Verbal Fluency Test, and Digit Span, and higher scores on the Syndrome Short Test, while positive correlations were found among MMSE, Verbal Fluency Test, Clock Test, Digit Span-Backward, and age. These findings point to frontal lobe dysfunction in Greek alcoholic patients which is not different from that shown in patients from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds.     

A Quantitative Perspective on Ethics in Large Team Science

The gradual crowding out of singleton and small team science by large team endeavors is challenging key features of research culture. It is therefore important for the future of scientific practice to reflect upon the individual scientist’s ethical responsibilities within teams. To facilitate this reflection we show labor force trends in the US revealing a skewed growth in academic ranks and increased levels of competition for promotion within the system; we analyze teaming trends across disciplines and national borders demonstrating why it is becoming difficult to distribute credit and to avoid conflicts of interest; and we use more than a century of Nobel prize data to show how science is outgrowing its old institutions of singleton awards. Of particular concern within the large team environment is the weakening of the mentor–mentee relation, which undermines the cultivation of virtue ethics across scientific generations. These trends and emerging organizational complexities call for a universal set of behavioral norms that transcend team heterogeneity and hierarchy. To this end, our expository analysis provides a survey of ethical issues in team settings to inform science ethics education and science policy.     

Judgment is not color blind: The impact of automatic color preference on product and advertising preferences

This research examines the colors white and black and highlights the importance of automatic preference for the color white over black in product choice and advertising contexts. Across three studies, we incorporate multiple Implicit Association Tests to assess automatic preferences for colors, products, races, and advertisements. In Study 1, we demonstrate an automatic color preference for white over black, show that this preference holds for Caucasian-Americans and African-Americans, and find that automatic color preference predicts automatic product preference of white over black-colored products. Study 2 extends these findings by showing that actual behavioral product choice is best predicted by a combination of automatic and explicit color preferences. In the advertising domain, Study 3 demonstrates how automatic color preference influences advertising responses and how it explains the lack of in-group preference by African-Americans in previous implicit studies of racial preference. Collectively, our research draws attention to the need to disentangle white and black as designation of colors versus racial groups, and offers significant and novel contributions to the work on color and race in consumer psychology.     

Personnel selection in the digital age: a review of validity and applicant reactions,and future research challenges

ABSTRACT

We present a targeted review of recent developments and advances in digital selection procedures (DSPs) with particular attention to advances in internet-based techniques. By reviewing the emergence of DSPs in selection research and practice, we highlight five main categories of methods (online applications, online psychometric testing, digital interviews, gamified assessment and social media). We discuss the evidence base for each of these DSP groups, focusing on construct and criterion validity, and applicant reactions to their use in organizations. Based on the findings of our review, we present a critique of the evidence base for DSPs in industrial, work and organizational psychology and set out an agenda for advancing research. We identify pressing gaps in our understanding of DSPs, and ten key questions to be answered. Given that DSPs are likely to depart further from traditional non-digital selection procedures in the future, a theme in this agenda is the need to establish a distinct and specific literature on DSPs, and to do so at a pace that reflects the speed of the underlying technological advancement. In concluding, we, therefore, issue a call to action for selection researchers in work and organizational psychology to commence a new and rigorous multidisciplinary programme of scientific study of DSPs.