Correction to: From Teachers’ Work Engagement to Pupils’ Positive Affect: a Weekly Diary Study on the Role of Pupils’ Autonomous Motivation

Applied Research in Quality of Life - A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-021-09935-5     

Predator-elicited foot shakes in wall lizards (Podarcis muralis): evidence for a pursuit-deterrent function

Under certain circumstances, prey may inform potential predators of their unprofitability by means of pursuit-deterrent signals. The evidence for pursuit-deterrent signaling in reptiles is scant and taxonomically biased. Wall lizards, Podarcis muralis (Squamata: Lacertidae) produce several distinct types of stereotyped foot shake displays, of which one, performed in antipredator contexts, is a likely candidate for a pursuit-deterrent function. We investigated this possibility by recording the responses of lizards in the field to a slowly approaching human acting as a surrogate predator. In addition to starting and flight initiation distances, we measured the presence of foot shakes, the leg that was shaken, and the distance from the observer at which the display was performed (display distance). Of a total of 484 approaches, 109 (22.5%) elicited foot shake displays. Roughly half the lizards displayed from the location where they were first sighted, while the other half moved a short distance, then displayed. There was no left-right preference in the leg used to display, but most lizards displayed with the leg closer to the approaching predator. Juveniles and subadults had smaller flight initiation distances than adult lizards. There were no sex-related differences in starting or flight initiation distances, but females, for a given distance, were more likely to display than males. Foot shake display frequency declined abruptly at 1 m. If lizards waited until the surrogate predator was this close, they mostly fled without displaying. Our results show that antipredator foot shaking in P. muralis is consistent with expectations from pursuit-deterrent theory.     

Long-term improvement in coping skills following multimodal treatment in war veterans with chronic PTSD

Due to the long-lasting and resistant symptoms characteristic of chronic combat posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), its treatment is complex and often requires a tailored therapeutic approach incorporating both psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy. A multimodal approach of psychoeducative, sociotherapeutic, and dynamically oriented trauma-focused groups is described. We assessed the short- and long-term effectiveness of this therapeutic program by monitoring its impact on PTSD symptoms, depression, neurotic symptoms, coping skills, and quality of life for three years. The findings revealed short-term reduction in the symptoms of PTSD and depression, while the long-term results were manifested as the increased use of all coping mechanisms and a greater level of obsession.     

Do Applicants Fake Their Personality Questionnaire Responses and How Successful are Their Attempts? A Case of Military Pilot Cadet Selection

This paper presents the results of three interrelated studies investigating the occurrence of response distortion on personality questionnaires within selection and the success of applicants in faking situations. In Study 1, comparison of the Big Five personality scores obtained from applicants in a military pilot cadet selection procedure with participants responding honestly, faking good, and faking an ideal candidate revealed that applicants responded more desirable than participants responding honestly but less desirable than respondents under fake instructions. The occurrence of faking within the military pilot selection process was replicated in Study 2 using the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and another comparison group. Finally, in Study 3, comparison of personality profiles obtained in selection and ‘fake job’ situations with experts' estimates indicated that participants were partially successful in faking the desirable profile.     

Search for meaning,finding meaning and adjustment in women following miscarriage: A longitudinal study

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the associations between meaning making and psychological adjustment in 127 women who experienced a miscarriage.

Design: A longitudinal and controlled study design was employed.

Main outcome measures: Meaning-making variables and distress outcomes were examined at four, seven and 16?weeks after miscarriage, in two groups of women, one who had medical investigations of the cause of their loss, and a control group receiving standard care.

Results: Search for meaning was very common and it declined with time after miscarriage. By seven weeks post-loss, more than half the women reported that they had found meaning/understood why the miscarriage happened. Providing information about the cause of the loss was associated with finding meaning. A decline in the search for meaning and finding meaning at seven weeks post-miscarriage, predicted levels of distress at 16?weeks, whilst controlling for the initial distress and for significant background factors.

Conclusions: This study provides support for the notion that search for meaning is very common following negative life events, such as miscarriage, and that finding meaning is important in many peoples’ process of adjustment. Providing information about the cause of the loss facilitates finding meaning.     

Entrevista con E. Ribes lñesta

RESUMEN

En su entrevista con Joan Riera y Josep Roca, Ribes Iñesta profundiza en los enfoques del interconductismo desde posiciones cercanas a Kantor y replantea el objeto de la psicología en términos de relación o interacción, desarrollando cómo se enfoca el pensamiento desde esta perspectiva y valorando otras concepciones organocéntricas, cognitivas y etológicas. Entre otras cuestiones, el autor explica que no existen diferentes áreas -tales como la motivación o el aprendizajesino que todo es lo mismo pero visto desde perspectivas diferentes, ejemplificando los problemas de nominalismo y segmentación en psicología al desglosar el concepto de memoria. En la última parte de la entrevista se enumeran los pasos necesarios para construir una psicología científica, finalizando con una visión prometedora del papel social del psicólogo como informador de educadores. Los comentarios de ambos entrevistadores acerca del autor y su obra introducen esta sección.     

O,Holy Simplicity! registering a religion in Slovenia

A Global Ethic for Global Politics and Economics by Hans Küng. London: SCM Press, 1997, xvii + 315 pp. Paperback, £14.95.

Methodism in Russia and the Baltic States: History and Renewal edited by S. T. Kimbrough, Jr. Nashville: Abingdon, 1995, 253 pp. Paperback.     

The role of schizoid personality,peritraumatic dissociation and behavioral activation system in a case of parricide

The goal of this paper is to emphasize several important details through a case study of parricide: a) the schizoid personality structure as a potential basis for brutal offenses, b) the role of dissociation during the commitment of crime; and c) the contribution of non-standard psychological assessment instruments and Gray's reinforcement sensitivity theory in illuminating the killer's personality and motivation for the offense. A parricide case was analyzed through psychiatric examination, standard clinical psychological assessment, and Behavioral Inhibition and Activation Scales based on Gray's theory. It was determined that the perpetrator suffered from schizoid personality disorder and that there were visible signs of peritraumatic dissociation at the moment he committed the offense. It was concluded that: a) a schizoid personality sometimes become a perpetrator of a brutal offense in situations where he feels he is in danger of punishment, and his personal space is being threatened, b) dissociation, activated by murder itself, can help the murderer to protect himself from a traumatic situation which overcomes his resources, and c) Gray's theory can serve as a framework for understanding individual cases as this one.     

Working in the hidden economy: Associations with the latent benefits and psychological health

Hidden economy working can provide income and cushion the financial hardship during unemployment; can it also substitute for some latent functions of regular employment? According to Jahoda's theory, the latent functions include the time structure, regular shared experience, information about personal identity, a link with the collective purpose, and enforced regular activity. This article explores whether the undeclared working reduces the degree of deprivation of these functions during unemployment and, consequently, improves the psychological health of a person. The data were collected from a sample of unemployed persons (N = 1138) registered with the Croatian Employment Bureau. A series of questions about their day-to-day activities were used to estimate the amount of undeclared working, an ad hoc developed scale to assess the extent of their latent deprivation, and the SF-36 Health Survey to measure their psychological health. The ANCOVA revealed that the participants who were often engaged in the hidden economy working exhibited reduced latent deprivation and improved psychological health compared to those who were sometimes engaged. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that their better psychological health was partially mediated through reduced latent deprivation. However, the unemployed who were never engaged in undeclared working exhibited a relatively high psychological health as well.