Human and Global Identities: Different Prototypical Meanings of All-Inclusive Identities

The impact of identities encompassing all human beings (e.g., human and/or global identities) on intergroup relations is complex, with studies showing mostly positive (e.g., less dehumanization), but also negative (e.g., deflected responsibility for harm behavior), effects. However, different labels and measures have been used to examine the effects of these all-inclusive superordinate identities, without a systematic empirical examination of the extent to which they overlap or differ in their sociopsychological prototypical content. This study examined whether different labels activate the same contents in laypeople's conceptualization. Two hundred and forty-eight participants openly described one of six labels: “All humans everywhere”; “People all over the world”; “People from different countries around the world”; “Global citizens”; “Citizens of the world”; and “Members of world community.” Results from quantitative content analyses showed that the different labels activated different thematic attributes, representing differences in their core prototypical meaning. We propose that a general distinction should be made between labels that define membership based on human attributes (e.g., biological attributes) and those that evoke attributes characteristic of membership in a global political community (e.g., attitudinal attributes), as their effect on intergroup relations may vary accordingly.     

Anxiety and depression: Past,present, and future events

This article focuses on differences between anxiety and depression. The first study is concerned with the timing (past, present, future) of negative events associated with high levels of anxiety and depression in normal participants. Depression was associated more with past events than future events, whereas the opposite was the case with anxiety. These findings are consistent with those reported in several studies on clinical samples. In a second study, participants provided their emotional reactions to scenarios referring to negative events lying in the past or in the future with the future events being either uncertain or probable. Past events were associated with more depression and less anxiety than future events whether uncertain or probable. Probable future events were associated with more anxiety and depression than uncertain ones. Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Team adaptability and task cohesion as resources to the non-linear dynamics of workload and sickness absenteeism in firefighter teams

ABSTRACT

The current study builds on the non-linear Dynamic Systems (NDS) perspective to test the assumption that change in sickness absenteeism is non-linear, and that such change is due to workload, team adaptability and task cohesion. Participants were 37 firefighter teams (n = 250 individuals) from a main European capital city. The research hypotheses were tested using SPSS and the “cusp” package, in the statistical software R. The results suggest that change in sickness absenteeism behaviours over time is non-linear, with the cusp catastrophe model predicting such behaviours better than the linear and logistic models. In our model, task cohesion functions as an asymmetry factor (i.e., the independent variable that determines the strength and discrepancy between the two stable states of the dependent variable) leading to a linear change in sickness absenteeism. Interestingly, both workload and team adaptability function as bifurcation (i.e., the independent variable that determines the change between the two stable states of the order parameter) and asymmetry factors leading to non-linear and linear change in sickness absenteeism over time. This study contributes to the growing evidence that incorporating the NDS perspective enables a better understanding of action teams, namely those working in extreme environments.     

Psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire parent form

ABSTRACT

The Alabama Parenting Questionnaire parent form (APQ-P) is one of the most commonly used measures to assess parenting practices. The current study evaluated the psychometric properties of the APQ-P using a community sample of 499 Portuguese mothers of children and adolescents aged 10 to 17 years. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed adequate psychometric properties of a three-factor model (positive parenting, ineffective parenting, and poor monitoring) in a solution of 20-items. After comparing the three-factor model across children’s age groups (≤13 vs. ≥14), partial metric and partial scalar invariance were found. Items loadings were similar between groups for ineffective parenting and poor monitoring, and factor scores were similar between groups for positive parenting. The 20-item version can be an appropriate measure of parenting, relevant for research and intervention purposes. Future studies should validate the current findings in independent samples, and devote particular attention to different parenting practices across different children’s age groups.