Self-esteem Among Chinese Cohorts: Its Temporal Trend and Its Relationships with Socioecological Factors, 1993–2016

Self-esteem affects individuals in a variety of psychological processes substantially and extensively. While an increase in self-esteem over time was observed in the USA, different patterns of temporal change in self-esteem were observed in other societies. We analysed the responses (n = 305 229) collected between 1993 and 2016 from 609 articles to examine the patterns of temporal change in self-esteem in China and its relations with socioecological conditions. Additionally, we explored the patterns in different groups, including secondary school students (158 samples; n = 97 751), college students (427 samples; n = 153 474), and community participants (232 samples; n = 54 004). Some major findings were noted: (i) overall, the level of self-esteem increased over time. However, we also found a significant curvilinear trend in self-esteem with a decline followed by a recent increase; (ii) some evidence for the relationship between socioecological factors and self-esteem was obtained; and (iii) the patterns varied in different cohort groups. Specifically, secondary school students showed a different pattern, in which their self-esteem level did not show a significant linear trend and was not correlated with the examined socioecological factors. The implications on the theories for the relationship between personality characteristics and socioecological conditions were discussed.     

Relations between maternal power-assertive parenting and adjustment in Chinese children: A longitudinal study

This 1-year longitudinal study examined relations between maternal power-assertive parenting and children's social, academic and psychological adjustment in China. Participants were 316 elementary school children (mean age = 11 years, 153 boys). Maternal power-assertive parenting was assessed using children's self-reports. Data on children's social and school adjustment were obtained from peer evaluations and teacher ratings. In addition, children completed measures of loneliness and depression. Cross-lagged analyses indicated that whereas maternal power-assertive parenting was only related to later academic adjustment, children's adjustment in socioemotional and academic domains contributed to the prediction of later maternal power-assertive parenting. The results were discussed in the Chinese context.     

Different roles of shared and vertical leadership in promoting team creativity: Cultivating and synthesizing team members’ individual creativity

Drawing on the componential model of creativity (Amabile), we examined how shared leadership and a formally appointed leader's transformational leadership jointly cultivate team creativity in two studies. We conducted an experiment with a sample of 109 undergraduate students (32 teams) enrolled in a business plan competition (Study 1) and a field survey based on multisource, time-lagged data collected from 251 full-time employees working on 64 research and development teams (Study 2). The results from both studies revealed that shared leadership enhanced team members’ individual creative self-efficacy and individual creativity, which in turn improved team creativity. Moreover, the results from Study 2 showed that a formally appointed leader's use of different transformational leadership behaviors had different impacts on individual and team creativity. Individual-focused transformational leadership strengthened the positive effect of shared leadership on team members’ average individual creativity, whereas group-focused transformational leadership facilitated the translation of teams with high average individual creativity into teams with high levels of team creativity. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

Conditional Direction Dependence Analysis: Evaluating the Causal Direction of Effects in Linear Models with Interaction Terms

Abstract

Direction dependence analysis (DDA) makes use of higher than second moment information of variables (x and y) to detect potential confounding and to probe the causal direction of linear variable relations (i.e., whether x?→?y or y?→?x better approximates the underlying causal mechanism). The “true” predictor is assumed to be a continuous nonnormal exogenous variable. Existing methods compatible with DDA, however, are of limited use when the relation of a focal predictor and an outcome is affected by a moderator. This study presents a conditional direction dependence analysis (CDDA) framework which enables researchers to evaluate the causal direction of conditional regression effects. Monte–Carlo simulations were used to evaluate two different moderation scenarios: Study 1 evaluates the performance of CDDA tests when a moderator affects the strength of the causal effect x?→?y. Study 2 evaluates cases in which the causal direction itself (x?→?y vs y?→?x) depends on moderator values. Study 3 evaluates the robustness of DDA tests in the presence of functional model misspecifications. Results suggest that significance tests compatible with CDDA are suitable in both moderation scenarios, i.e., CDDA allows one to discern regions of a moderator in which the causal direction is uniquely identifiable. An empirical example is provided to illustrate the approach.     

The longitudinal association between social status insecurity and relational aggression: Moderation effects of social cognition about relational aggression

Previous research has shown that adolescents’ insecurity about their social status is related to their use of relational aggression. However, little is known about how adolescents’ social cognition may moderate this association. Employing a mixed-method approach and a short-term longitudinal design, this study addresses this issue by examining the moderation effects of attribution and outcome expectancies regarding relational aggression on the associations between social status insecurity and relational aggression among 476 Chinese adolescents (238 girls). The main results showed that self-serving attributions and instrumental outcome expectancies strengthened the positive and longitudinal association between social status insecurity and self-reported relational aggression. The findings of this study enrich our knowledge about the social cognitive processes pertinent to peer status and relational aggression among adolescents.     

学生学业和行为特征如何影响教师支持？来自个体和圈子层面的证据

教师支持是师生关系的重要指标,由教师和学生共同建构;学生的学业和行为特征会影响教师支持,但是以往研究主要关注学生个体特征的影响,极少考察学生所在小群体的作用。本研究以个体和其所在圈子的学业成就、亲社会行为、攻击行为为特征,考察其对教师支持的影响,结果发现：（1）个体的学业成就积极预测后续教师支持的增加;（2）在高学业成就圈子中,个体学业成就的提高能够预测教师支持的增加,而在低学业成就圈子则不能;（3）与男生相比,在低亲社会圈子中的女生获得的教师支持更少,而在高亲社会圈子中的女生则能够获得比男生更高的教师支持。     

父母严厉管教与儿童问题行为的关系:儿童自我控制的中介作用

为探讨父母严厉管教、儿童自我控制与儿童问题行为间的关系,采用中文版亲子冲突解决策略量表、社会技能评定量表和儿童行为核查量表对济南市两所公立学校的1097名小学四到六年级儿童及其父母双亲进行测查。结果发现：（1）父母心理攻击和体罚与儿童自我控制均呈显著负相关,与儿童内化和外化问题行为均呈显著正相关,儿童自我控制与其内化和外化问题行为均呈显著负相关;（2）父亲心理攻击可以显著正向预测儿童内化和外化问题行为,母亲体罚可以显著正向预测儿童外化问题行为;（3）儿童自我控制在父亲心理攻击和母亲体罚与儿童内外化问题行为之间起中介作用,在母亲心理攻击和父亲体罚与儿童内外化问题行为关系间的中介作用不显著,中介作用模型不存在显著的儿童性别差异。综上,本研究发现父母严厉管教不仅直接影响儿童的内外化问题行为,而且会通过降低儿童自我控制水平间接导致儿童问题行为的增多。     

意义疗法的理论、方法与技术:基于存在积极心理学的视角

意义疗法是以存在积极心理学为理论基础,以构建个体生命意义为目的,实现生活正负两极性的动态平衡,从而解决其心理困扰获得心理治愈与成长的一种整合性心理咨询与治疗方法。起源于Frankl意义学说的意义疗法是通往人类美好生活的路径,它源于对苦难生活所隐含意义的本质认识。在理论上,意义疗法以意义定向看世界为中心,以意义管理理论和双系统模型为支架; 在方法上,为保障意义获得,应遵循8个基本问题和12条原则,充分发挥意义源的作用,实现意义获得的双路径统一; 在技术上,灵活采用趋向性(PURE)策略、回避性(ABCDE)策略、以及双视角双通道策略或其它策略的整合。意义疗法因包含了精神成分而超越了心理动力学和个体心理学等传统心理治疗方式。未来研究还需明确意义疗法整合了哪些流派的具体方法和技术,细化意义疗法主要的技术与策略的操作步骤,考察成熟幸福感量表在中国文化下的适用性,以及充分整合质性与量化研究方法检验意义疗法在中国的适用性     

新冠疫情下过度胜任教师会进行知识共享吗?角色宽度自我效能感和知识共享意愿的链式中介作用

新冠肺炎疫情之下教育部要求教师利用网络平台“停课不停学”。本文以人-环境匹配理论为基础,探讨疫情之下过度胜任教师的知识共享行为。采用126份一线教师问卷调查数据,应用bootstrap进行了中介效应的检验。结果表明,过度胜任感较高的教师会产生更多的知识共享行为; 角色宽度自我效能感和知识共享意愿在过度胜任感影响知识共享行为过程中起中介作用,且角色自我效能感和知识共享意愿还存在链式中介作用。研究成果深化了过度胜任感影响教师知识共享行为作用机制的认识,在重大社会事件下探索过度胜任带来的积极影响,并提出相应的政策建议,为学校教师提升教学水平以更好地完成教育教学目标提供理论和实践依据。     

Attachment experience and cortisol recovery from romantic conflict among young Chinese couples: A dyadic analysis

Using a sample of young adults, the present study investigated how the participants' attachment to romantic partners was related to that with their parents and peers and how this specific attachment experience was associated with their physiological stress response. We examined 121 pairs of young Chinese (N = 242) heterosexual couples (men's age: 22.26 ± 2.40; women's age: 21.62 ± 2.22) and their attachment to parents, peers, and romantic partners as well as their cortisol recovery from romantic conflict. Robust actor–partner interdependence mediation models showed that women's insecure parental and peer attachment was associated with blunted cortisol recovery from romantic stress through their fearful attachment with romantic partners, whereas men's insecure parental and peer attachment was associated with their partners' adaptive cortisol recovery from romantic stress through their fearful romantic attachment. These findings suggested that women's hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal-axis functioning seemed to be more strongly associated with their own and their partners' attachment relationships compared to men.