Appraisals,emotions and emotion regulation: An integrative approach

The present work aims to investigate the relation between appraisals, emotions, and emotion regulation strategies by creating a structural equation model which integrates these three aspects of the emotion process. To reach this aim, Italian students (N = 610) confronted with their high school diploma examination completed a questionnaire 3 weeks before the beginning of the exam. Results showed that they experienced primarily three types of emotions—anxiety/fear, frustration/powerlessness, positive emotions—which were related to specific appraisal profiles. Importantly, these appraisal profiles and emotions were associated with the use of different strategies for regulating emotions: anxiety/fear was associated with focusing on the exam, drug use, and an inability to distance oneself from the exam; frustration/powerlessness, with use of suppression, distancing, and drugs; positive emotion, with reappraisal and problem focused strategies. The effectiveness of these different strategies will be discussed.     

Impaired awareness of movement disorders in Parkinson’s disease

Background

This study analyzed the presence of awareness of movement disorders (dyskinesias and hypokinesias) in 25 patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and motor fluctuations (dyskinesias, wearing off, on–off fluctuations). Of the few studies that have dealt with this topic, none have analyzed the differences in the awareness of motor deficits by comparing the on and off states using motor scales and an extensive battery of tests to assess cognitive and behavioral functioning.

Methods

PD patients were compared on three different scales that we have devised to measure awareness of movement disorders: Global Awareness of Movement (GAM) Disorders, dyskinesia/hypo-bradykinesia rating scales.

Results

Data showed that PD patients had greater awareness and psychological suffering in the off state than in the on state. In particular, they were troubled by motor disabilities related to hypokinesias and had mood-related symptoms and a perception of disability in activities of daily living. Interestingly, patients only showed a selective reduction of awareness of movement disorders associated with executive functions and related to dyskinesias in the on state, compared to a preserved awareness of hypokinesias in the off state. On the contrary, no association with executive functions was found in the off state.

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that the dopaminergic overstimulation of mesocorticolimbic pathways may cause a dysfunction of prefrontal–subcortical connections related to the impaired insight.     

Assessment of Score Dependability of the Wisconsin Schizotypy Scales Using Generalizability Analysis

To investigate the reliability of the Wisconsin Schizotypy Scales, this study applied generalizability analysis with two college student samples who completed the scales at two time points. The results indicated that the Revised Social Anhedonia Scale had acceptable levels of score dependability, but that the score dependability for the other scales (the Physical Anhedonia Scale, the Perceptual Aberration Scale, and the Magical Ideation Scale) was below an acceptable level of .80. The patterns of variance components suggested that the scales’ items need improvement. Researchers can use the included tables to choose the number of items and occasions needed to get dependable score interpretations.     

What types of advice do decision-makers prefer?

In the decision-making literature, “advice” has typically been defined very restrictively, as a recommendation concerning which alternative the decision-maker should choose. The present paper examines decision-makers’ reactions to this and three additional types of advice (a recommendation concerning which alternative not to choose, information about alternatives, and a recommendation concerning how to make the decision), along with another common form of interpersonal assistance (Social Support), from the perspective of maximizing decision accuracy and maintaining decision autonomy. The role of situational and individual differences is also examined. Results from two multilevel policy-capturing studies indicate that, although they consider recommendations regarding which alternative to choose to be important in some contexts, decision-makers often prefer to receive a type of advice that is greatly understudied by researchers—namely, the provision of information about alternatives. The implications of these findings for the study of advice-taking are discussed, as are future research directions.     

Life Satisfaction,Sense of Coherence and Job Precariousness in Italian Young Adults

We investigated (in 95 Italians aged 19–29, of both genders, and who were all facing the transition to job): (1) the relationships between job precariousness, life satisfaction (LS), and the perception that the reality is comprehensible, manageable and meaningful (sense of coherence—SOC—Antonovsky 1987); (2) the potential buffering effect of SOC versus job precariousness on LS. The findings showed that (a) young adults with a higher level of education perceive less LS and higher manageability, and youths with a precarious job perceive reality as less controllable, manageable and meaningful; (b) manageability is positively related with satisfaction with close relationships and meaningfulness is positively related with LS in general; (c) meaningfulness also buffers the effect of job precariousness on satisfaction for close relationships; among precarious workers there is a curvilinear relationship with LS: youths with intermediate meaningfulness also show higher LS with respect to both low and high meaningfulness.     

Using self-determination theory to explain sport persistence and dropout in adolescent athletes

Motivational characteristics are influential in shaping adolescents' desire to persist in sport or to discontinue their sport participation. Self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000) was utilized as the theoretical framework for this study. This theory examines whether sustained participatory involvement, defined as continued participation in the sport through the next year, was influenced by individuals' self-determined motivation and by the fulfillment of the three basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Four hundred ninety two soccer players between the ages of 13 and 17 years comprised the sample. Results indicated sport dropout was explained by higher levels of amotivation, external regulation, and introjected regulation and by lower satisfaction of relatedness and autonomy needs. The findings of this study contribute to the knowledge base on sport dropout as they supported many of self-determination theory.     

Predicting the Vote: Implicit Attitudes as Predictors of the Future Behavior of Decided and Undecided Voters

Two studies assessed the predictive validity of implicit political attitudes in relation to voting behavior. In Study 1 , we demonstrated the validity of the adopted measure (i.e., the IAT; Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998 ) with a sample of voters who clearly sided with one of the opposing parties. In Study 2 , implicit political preferences were measured in a sample of undecided voters one month before the election, and actual voting behavior was assessed immediately after the election. Results demonstrated that implicit political attitudes were good predictors of future voting behaviors. These findings support the hypothesis of the presence of embryonic attitudes even in the case of those voters who at the explicit and conscious level deny any preference for one of the two opposing candidates.     

The effect of workplace byllying on insomnia: the role of psychological detachment and rumination

A recent number of studies have focused on the relations between psychosocial factors and sleep disturbances. Like other work-related stressors, workplace byllying is associated with several negative consequences. However, few studies have investigated the influence of workplace byllying on disturbed sleep. Insomnia is the most frequent sleep complaint. Several models have highlighted the importance of cognitive factors in the development and maintenance of insomnia. Cognitive styles such as psychological detachment and rumination may be relevant in this process. The aim of the present study is to examine the moderating role of psychological detachment and rumination on the relationship between workplace byllying and insomnia. To minimize the effect of common method variance, we tested our hypothesis using a research design in which we collected data at two points in time separated by 1 month. A total of 523 individuals responded to both phases, with 511 useable surveys. The results of the hierarchical multiple regression analysis provide evidence for the moderating role of psychological detachment and rumination in the workplace byllying process. Thus, these findings are in line with the cognitive models of insomnia.     

The social-cognitive model of achievement motivation in physical education

Our objective in this study was to test the new social-cognitive model of achievement motivation in a physical education setting. Research was conducted on a sample of 895 physical education students, ages 12 to 16 years. We measured perception of the motivational climate conveyed by the teacher, implicit beliefs of ability, perceived competence, 2 x 2 achievement goals and self-determined motivation. We carried out structural equation modeling to analyse the relationships among variables. Results showed that task climate positively predicted incremental belief, whereas ego climate positively predicted entity belief. Both climates positively predicted perceived competence. Incremental belief positively predicted mastery-approach goals, performance-approach goals and avoidance goals, whereas entity belief positively predicted performance-approach goals and avoidance goals. Perceived competence positively predicted mastery-approach and performance-approach goals. Mastery-approach goal positively predicted self-determined motivation, whereas performance-approach goal and avoidance goals negatively predicted self-determined motivation.     

The users of an online psychological advice service: a sociodemographic analysis

Although online psychological services and research based on them are increasing rapidly, it is not that easy to find investigations that focus on the kind of people that demand them. To know their profile could help to improve the online psychological services that are offered to them. For this purpose, we analysed the sociodemographic characteristics of 1052 participants, all of them having posed a psychological question to our online advice service. The relations between sociodemographics and variables related to the psychological consultation are analysed herein. Features such as age distribution, a high proportion of long-term problems, the large quantity of questions from Latin America, or the under representation of the lowest socioeconomic and educational levels could lead to clinical, social and legal implications that we comment on in this work.