Refugees in the media: Exploring a vicious cycle of frustrated psychological needs,selective exposure,and hostile intergroup attitudes

Two research objectives underlay the present research. First, we tested how frustrated psychological needs caused by the refugee-influx influence the endorsement and selection of refugee-relevant information. Second, we tested how information selection processes contribute to the development of exclusionary attitudes that counteract the integration of refugees into host countries. In a laboratory study (n = 181), frustrated psychological needs decreased participants’ endorsement of a refugee-friendly essay (vs. a control essay). Additionally, frustrated needs led to a biased selection of refugee-hostile over refugee-friendly information and such selection biases, in turn, predicted higher levels of ingroup defense and prejudice toward refugees. The findings imply that host societies’ receptiveness to refugees is influenced by the maintenance of basic psychological needs.     

Do your Dark Side Traits Fit? Dysfunctional Personalities in Different Work Sectors

This study investigates differences in “dark side” traits between those in the public and private sectors, as well as between managers in three distinct industries. In all, 5,693 British adults were tested, roughly half of whom clearly worked in public sector jobs and half in the private sector. We also tested three groups of people (total 1,102) working in very different sectors: finance, insurance, and emergency services. They all completed the Hogan Development Survey (HDS; Hogan & Hogan, 1997), which is a measure of dysfunctional personality styles or potential management derailers. It has 11 dimensions and three higher order factors. Multivariate and univariate analyses of co‐variance (controlling for sex, age, and social desirability) and logistic regressions showed many significant differences, with private sector employees scoring higher on the factor Moving Against/Cluster B and lower on the factor Moving Away/Cluster A. The analysis of the three groups showed that those in the emergency services differed on most traits while Finance and Insurance industry personnel were very similar.     

Working memory predicts subsequent episodic memory decline during healthy cognitive aging: evidence from a cross-lagged panel design

Aging adults experience declines in working memory and episodic memory, however, it is unclear how these declines operate over time. Decreased working memory may be associated with early changes in episodic memory, by reducing older adults’ ability to meaningfully integrate new information into pre-existing schemas and recall information without the assistance of cues. Given the increased prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease, and concerns based on subjective memory changes, it is important to understand how these processes interact over time. To assess the relationship between working memory and episodic memory during healthy cognitive aging, we performed neuropsychological assessments at multiple time points in a sample of 310 community-dwelling older adults. Using a cross-lagged panel design, we demonstrated that the lagged associations between working memory and later episodic free recall were 50% larger than the lagged associations between episodic recall and later working memory, suggesting working memory may be a useful metric of future episodic memory decline.     

Empirical evidence of tourist satisfaction and loyalty in the case of Bucharest—A partial least squares structural equation modelling approach

Tourist satisfaction (TS), tourist loyalty (TL), the decision to revisit a destination and the choice to recommend it to acquaintances can have a decisive influence on inbound tourist flows. These influencing factors are closely related to tourist behaviour. The main objective of this study was to investigate TS and loyalty of both foreign and Romanian tourists in Bucharest, by testing under-examined and new variables. The hypotheses and conceptual research model were based on the following antecedents and consequences of TS: tourists' expectations and travel motivations (TEM), destination authenticity and infrastructure quality, destination safety (DS), tourists' emotions (TE) and TL. The analysis was unique in testing the effect of novelty-seeking tourists' desire to extend their stay on their expectations and motivations. The mediating effect of TE on the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty was also tested for the first time. Data were collected using a 24-item online questionnaire. The data were modelled with partial least squares structural equation modelling. Based on 122 valid responses processed with SmartPLS software, the results confirm most of the research hypotheses. The findings reveal that tourists' desire to extend the length of stay on their expectations and motivations has the highest statistical contribution to TEM. Furthermore, a statistically insignificant relationship between DS and TS was identified. The findings are useful for all stakeholders of tourism development in Bucharest.     

How many ways can you die? Multiple biological deaths as a consequence of the multiple concepts of an organism

Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics - According to the mainstream position in the bioethical definition of death debate, death is to be equated with the cessation of an organism. Given such a...