A construct validation study of the Response Styles Questionnaire Rumination Scale in participants with a recent-onset major depressive episode

This study examined the construct validity and clinical utility of S. Nolen-Hoeksema's (1991) Response Styles Questionnaire (RSQ) Rumination scale. Eighty-eight participants with recent-onset major depressive episodes were assessed and followed for 6 months, using semistructured interviews and self-report inventories. The RSQ Rumination scale exhibited poor 6-month stability and appeared to be closely linked to participants' clinical status-mood state. The scale was significantly correlated with conceptually related constructs such as emotion-focused coping, negative affectivity-temperament, and self-criticism. However, baseline negative temperament and self-criticism predicted key aspects of the 6-month course and outcome of major depressive episodes, whereas baseline rumination did not. Finally, rumination appeared to be closely associated with the severity of the depressive episode, rather than defining a distinct clinical subtype.     

Claudia Card's Atrocity Paradigm

This paper deals with Claudia Card's important contributions to a theory of evil that steps out from traditional models of thinking about this problem (theodicies, metaphysical theories, etc.). Instead, our author seeks to explore important elements from other theorists (such as Kant and Nietzsche) in order to build up her ideas of what she calls the “atrocity paradigm.” This critical essay focuses mainly in the spaces where Card's conclusions need to rethink the limits and constraints of her theory.     

Spinal cord injured people: differences in psychological variables from a gender perspective

This ex post factor study is within the framework of studies dealing with the psychological aspects involved in the rehabilitation of people with physical handicaps from the perspective of gender. From this perspective, the study focuses on comparing and studying the differences between men and women using the EMELM Scale (Multidimensional Evaluative Scale for People with Spinal Cord Injury). Participants were 143 people -99 men and 44 women- with spinal cord injuries. The results showed no differences as a result of gender in any of the following psychological variables related to the spinal cord injury adjustment process: extraversion-neuroticism, motivation and anxiety, locus of control, current coping strategies, remembrance of coping strategies and depression. The implications of these results for future research are discussed.     

Assessment of tobacco craving by means of the affective image visualization paradigm

Smoking cues that increase craving are subjectively described by smokers as pleasant rather than unpleasant. However, it remains controversial whether the motivational nature of these smoking cues is consistent with an appetitive or aversion-relief model of tobacco craving. In the two studies presented here, the Bioinformational model of emotion proposed by Lang was used to address this issue. In study I, 40 smokers (10 males) assessed a set of tobacco-related pictures and a subset of standard pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant pictures in order to examine how craving relates to the three general dimensions of emotion: valence, arousal, and dominance. Results showed that the tobacco-related images were all assessed as appetitive, and craving was correlated positively with valence (r = .863, p < .0001) and arousal (r = .923, p < .0001) and negatively with dominance (r = −.504, p < .002). In study II, 24 female abstinent smokers were examined using Lang’s startle modulation paradigm in order to assess whether tobacco-related pictures, compared to standard pleasant and unpleasant ones, inhibited the startle response, consistent with an appetitive model of tobacco craving. Contrary to expectations, the startle response during visualization of tobacco-related pictures was more similar in magnitude to the response to unpleasant than to pleasant images, a finding inconsistent with an appetitive model of tobacco craving.     

A Research Note on Islam and Gender Egalitarianism: An Examination of Egyptian and Saudi Arabian Youth Attitudes

Despite the importance of young people in determining future trends in women's advancement in the predominantly Muslim countries of the Middle East, no quantitative study to date has focused exclusively on the relationship between Islamic religiosity and gender egalitarianism among youth in the region. Using data from the Youth, Emotional Energy, and Political Violence Survey, I investigate the relationship between Islamic religiosity and gender egalitarianism among youth in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, devoting special attention to gender differences within countries. Particular dimensions of Islamic religiosity have different effects on gender egalitarianism by group, reflecting social currents in each country's civic sphere. For young men in both contexts, orthodoxy and mosque attendance are negatively associated with gender egalitarianism. In contrast, for Egyptian young women self‐identified religiosity positively affects gender egalitarianism while for Saudi Arabian women, Islamic religiosity has no effect.     

Early sport involvement in young Portuguese basketball players

The purpose of this study was to examine the quantity and type of sporting activities undertaken by young Portuguese basketball players in early stages of athletic development. 750 basketball players aged between 12 and 16 years served as participants, grouped by sex and competitive level. The Skilled group comprised players representing the 9 highly ranked regional teams (n=378) while the Less-skilled group comprised the players representing the remaining 9 regional teams (n=372). All the participants filled out a previously validated questionnaire based on retrospective information linked to the training activities experienced throughout their involvement in sport. Results suggest that the majority of the players started practicing sports preferentially between 6 and 10 years. However, a significant number of players reported a later start, between 11 and 14 years of age. The pattern of sport involvement confirmed important divergences in the path reported by the players by the team's competitive level. The major findings of this study confirmed that players representing the highly ranked teams demonstrated a tendency to extend their training activities during longer periods during the week and throughout each season.     

Not all gifts are good: The potential practical costs of motivated gifts

People rely on support from others to accomplish mundane and momentous tasks. When asking for assistance, is it beneficial to incentivize a helper by offering a motivated gift (i.e., a gift with the hope of getting support in return)? Six studies (N > 2,500) examine the frequency and potential costs of motivated gifts. In Study 1, a third of Americans indicated that they had given a motivated gift at least once, while nearly two‐thirds believed they had received one. In Studies 2a–d, most participants who imagined receiving a motivated gift before a favor request reported lower willingness to help and anticipated satisfaction from helping than participants who imagined simply being asked for a favor. Finally, Study 3 replicates these findings with actual help provided among friends in a laboratory setting. Findings suggest that motivated gifts are relatively common but may sometimes undermine the assistance that people hope to receive.     

Temporal distance and veracity effects on the level of detail in statements about intentions

Construal level theory states that future events that are nearer in the future and events that are more likely to happen have lower construal levels, and therefore have less detail, than events that are further away and/or less likely to happen. Consistent with this theory, the number of details in a statement can be a moderately good cue to deception. If veracity and temporal distance both affect detail, detail may only be a good cue to deception about events that occur at certain temporal distances. This paper describes a study on whether temporal distance and veracity affect detail levels in statements about intentions. The results suggest that temporal distance and veracity do not affect detail levels in this dataset. Intentions that were completed also did not differ from uncompleted intentions. Overall, the study found no support for the hypothesised effects of temporal distance and veracity on level of detail.     

Prosocial rule breaking,ingroups and social norms: Parental decision-making about COVID-19 rule breaking in the UK

The British public generally adhered to COVID-19-related restrictions, but as the pandemic drew on, it became challenging for some populations. Parents with young children were identified as a vulnerable group. We collected rich, mixed-methods survey data from 99 UK-based parents (91 mothers) of children under 12, who described their lockdown transgressions. Household mixing was the most prevalent broken rule. Template analysis found that rule breaking was driven by ‘ingroup-level’ prosocial motivations to protect the mental and social health of family and loved ones, and that parents were ‘engaged’ decision-makers who underwent careful deliberation when deciding to break rules, making trade-offs, bending rules, mitigating risks, reaching consensus, and reacting to perceived rule injustices. Cumulative link models found that the perceived reasonableness of rule violations was predicted by social norms. Rules were broken by parents not for antisocial reasons, but for ‘ingroup-level’ prosocial reasons, linked to supporting loved ones.