How positive and negative contact experiences relate to identification and acculturation of persons with a migration background: Differentiating between majority,minority, and religious group identity

Badea, Jetten, Iyer, and Er-Rafiy proposed a model that specifies immigrants’ experienced rejection by majority and minority groups and social identification with these groups as predictors of their acculturation attitudes. The present research tested an extended version of this model by assessing (i) both positive and negative contact experiences with majority and minority groups, (ii) social identification with these groups and religious groups, and (iii) acculturation attitudes. We surveyed individuals with Greek (N = 186) and Turkish (N = 138) migration background living in Germany. The proposed model yielded a good fit with the empirical data and showed that positive and negative contact with majority and minority groups predicted minority members’ acculturation attitudes, mediated via identification with the majority, minority, and religious group. Our findings support the extended model and contribute to a broader understanding of contact–identification–acculturation links in the context of migration.     

Constructing Czechoslovakia: the meaning of "intelligence" in Czechoslovak educational discourse, 1900-1939

Before World War II, Czechoslovakia went through its constituting process, including the development of an educational system. We made an analysis of Czechoslovak discussions about educational uses of intelligence tests from a discourse-theoretic and social constructionist perspective. In particular, we examined which connotations became associated with the concept "intelligence" in educational scientific publications about possible educational uses of the newly introduced tests in the years 1900-1939. Results substantiate the inextricable entwining of the meaning of "intelligence" with the unique characteristics of the historical situation in Czechoslovakia before World War II.     

Are rating-based procedures reliable for derivation of typicality judgments from children?

The aim of the present study was to examine whether a rating-based procedure that has already been used by other investigators can be used for derivation of typicality ratings from children. The evidence reported in the study establishes that such a procedure cannot be reliably used for this purpose. The results show that children rated category items in terms of personal preferences rather than as a function of how representative they considered the items to be of their superordinate category. On the basis of these findings, an alternative method based on the family resemblance scores of the category members was proposed in order to derive typicality ratings from young children. This family resemblance method of obtaining typicality judgments may be useful to investigators interested in assessing how children process categorical information.     

Validity study of the Moral Judgment Test in Physical Education: development and preliminary validation

Teaching ethical behavior is an aspect of physical education. The purpose of the study was to present the construction and to estimate validity of a test which assesses physical education students' moral judgment, the Moral Judgment Test in Physical Education. The sample comprised 281 male and female participants (95 in Grades 7 to 9, 92 in Grades 10 to 12, and 94 university students), who completed Lind's Moral Judgment Test and the Moral Judgment Test-PE version. The validity of the latter was assessed using four criteria of Lind's moral theory. Analysis indicated that the Moral Judgment Test-PE had adequate construct validity and correlated positively, although relatively weakly, with the original test, so the new version has sufficient construct validity to be used in physical education.     

The Relationship Between Organizational Practices and Values with Burnout and Engagement

Organizational practices and values have the potential to reduce burnout and increase feelings of job engagement. The aim of the present study was to assess the relationship between organizational practices and values with burnout and engagement among a sample of nurses. Specifically, practices and values were operationalised as support, goals, innovation and rules. A cross-sectional study of 214 Nurses (response rate = 71.3%) working both inside a hospital and community health centers in the North of Greece was conducted. Participants did not differ in the examined variables with regard to gender, age, tenure or educational level. Analyses indicated that nurses working inside the hospital reported significantly higher scores on emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, and lower scores on dedication. Controlling for organizational practices, organizational values was negatively associated with emotional exhaustion, and positively associated with dedication. Consistent with the Job-Demands Resource (JD-R) model, both practices and values were significant resources for nurses. As predicted, organizational values were more significantly associated with burnout and engagement. The practical implications for practitioners are that interventions that are based on changing values have the potential to ameliorate feelings of exhaustion and buffer feelings of dedication. Organizational culture is established as an important element of work behaviors. The present study was to first to assess practices and values among a sample of Greek healthcare professionals. The research provides evidence that in healthcare values are more important than practices with regard to well-being.     

Evaluation of students’ social ability: Greek version of checklists for aggressive behaviour and social insecurity in elementary education

The school environment plays an important role in children’s socialization. The present report was concerned with the study of aggressive behaviour and social insecurity among elementary school students in Greece. For this purpose, Petermann and Petermann’s (2001; 2003) checklists for structured observation of aggressive behaviour (Checklist of Aggressive Behaviour; CAB) and social insecurity (Checklist of Social Insecure Behaviour; CSIB) were used. The primary aim was to examine the psychometric characteristics of the Greek versions of CAB and CSIB. Overall, 500 Greek elementary school students (M _age  = 9.46  ±  1.7) participated in the study. Students’ social behaviour was evaluated by their teachers. Confirmatory factor analysis results showed adequate factorial structure for both checklists, the χ² was significant, and absolute and incremental fit indices were at acceptable levels. Internal consistency coefficients were also at satisfactory and acceptable levels. The analysis of correlation provided evidence on the construct validity of the checklists. No gender differences were found in all aspects of aggressive and socially insecure behaviours. The findings of the study provide initial evidence on the validity and reliability of the checklists and imply that they are valuable instruments for the assessment of aggression and social insecurity in the school context.

Aggressive and socially insecure behaviors in kindergarten and elementary school students: a comparative study concerning gender,age and geographical background of children in Northern Greece

Social Psychology of Education - Aggression and social insecurity in children have received a lot of attention in recent research. In the current study the purpose was to examine whether specific...