Integrated learning communities as a peer support initiative for first year university students

Peer Mentoring schemes tend to be developed as retention strategies, however, they can also serve other purposes (psychosocial or career-related). However, evidence of the effectiveness of these presents mixed results and less is known about the horizontal peer support schemes which may help students capitalize on existing peer relationships. We developed an integrated learning communities (ILC) peer support scheme, building on the theoretical principles of social identity theory, which we embedded within our existing teaching framework and designed functional activities. Collective activities were undertaken to promote the processes of social identity with the intention that these may foster social and academic integration experiences. This intervention was undertaken with an entire cohort of first year undergraduate psychology students. We conducted semi-structured interviews with a self-selected sample of these students (N = 17). Thematic analysis revealed two main themes, each with two sub-themes. These were: “Divergent Experiences” with the sub-themes of “dependent on people” and “types of support”, and “Good idea in principle” with the sub-themes of “Theory ≠ Practice” and “Dependent on student engagement”. Although identifying with a peer group was not transparent in the interviews, the existence of a peer support scheme was perceived positively by students which might explain the success of the newly developed student-led Psychology Society. Indeed, this Psychology Society can provide a lasting framework for further amplification of the student voice. We conclude that our embedded ILC was both feasible and potentially valuable, but it is crucial for the peer support approach to have transactional significance.     

Young immigrants in Norway: The role of national and ethnic identity in immigrants’ integration

The present work investigates the endorsement, antecedents, relationships, and consequences of young immigrants’ social identities in Norway. Despite increasing numbers of refugees and immigrants entering Norway in recent years, little is known about the relationship between immigrants’ different social identities and their feeling of integration into Norwegian society. The main goal of the present research is to fill this gap by investigating whether relationships found in other European countries replicate in the Norwegian context. In line with theoretical considerations and earlier international findings, results from two studies with different immigrant groups (Study 1: high school students; N = 97; Study 2: university students; N = 93) show that the more young immigrants in Norway endorse their national (i.e., Norwegian) identity, the less they endorse their ethnic identity (e.g., Kurdish). We further show that perceived conflict between the two cultures cannot explain the negative relationship between national and ethnic identity. In addition, immigrants’ national identity endorsement is positively related to their dual identity endorsement (e.g., Kurdish-Norwegian). Positive contact with members of the receiving society predicts young immigrants’ feeling of being integrated in Norwegian society and this relationship is mediated by national identity. Results are discussed in terms of the crucial role social identities play in immigrants’ feeling of integration into European societies.     

Continuum between Relational and Therapeutic Models of Self-help in Mental Health: A Qualitative Approach

Self-help groups are generally described as “group[s] composed of individuals who meet on a regular basis to help one another cope with a life problem” (APA, 2019). Yet, it is challenging to find a univocal definition of self-help groups. Scholars usually use different labels to highlight various features of self-help groups, suggesting the need for further inquiry regarding commonalities and differences. The level of professional involvement is one of the most disputed factors influencing whether a group is considered to belong to the “self-help family.” The present qualitative study aimed to understand how professional support in Tuscany, Italy can influence the organizational choices of these groups (place for meetings, admission criteria, timing, etc.), as well as the personal beliefs of members. The study included 17 self-help groups. During 13 focus groups meetings, 92 participants were interviewed; then, we individually interviewed 19 facilitators and six additional key informants from mental health settings. We used a grounded theory approach, and we discussed the emerging models with participants at a public event. Results show the emergence of two theoretical models to define self-help groups, not to be interpreted as mutually exclusive. The “relational model” refers to self-help groups whose main feature is to guarantee the acquisition of specific skills (social comparison skills, active listening, and empathy), while the “therapeutic model” seems to represent a kind of assimilation of other types of interventions.     

A combination of combat experience,early abduction,and severe traumatization fuels appetitive aggression and violence among abductees of rebel war in Northern Uganda

Individuals who perpetrate violence may likely perceive violence as appealing and infliction of violence to derive pleasure is termed as appetitive aggression. Individuals who were abducted as children into an armed group often experience a higher number of traumatic event types, that is traumatic load and are usually socialized in a violence-endorsing environment. This study aims to investigate the interaction between age at initial abduction with that of traumatic load, and their influence on appetitive aggression along with perpetration of violent acts by former members of an armed rebel group of both sexes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted among a target group of formerly abducted rebel-war survivors (including participants with and without combat experience) from Northern Uganda. Participants included 596 women and 570 men with N = 1,166 (M_age = 32.58, SD_age = 9.76, range: 18–80 years). We conducted robust linear regression models to investigate the influence of age at initial abduction, traumatic load, combat experience, and biological sex on appetitive aggression as well as their perpetrated violent acts. Our study shows, appetitive aggression and the number of perpetrated violent acts were specifically increased in individuals who were abducted young, experienced several traumatic events in their lifetime, and with previous combat experience. For perpetrated violence men showed increased levels whereas for appetitive aggression the association was independent of biological sex. Therefore, early abducted individuals with a higher traumatic load, who have combat experience, need to be given special intervention to prevent any further violence.     

To Challenge the Morning Lark and the Night Owl: Using Smartphone Sensing Data to Investigate Day–Night Behaviour Patterns

For decades, day–night patterns in behaviour have been investigated by asking people about their sleep–wake timing, their diurnal activity patterns, and their sleep duration. We demonstrate that the increasing digitalization of lifestyle offers new possibilities for research to investigate day–night patterns and related traits with the help of behavioural data. Using smartphone sensing, we collected in vivo data from 597 participants across several weeks and extracted behavioural day–night pattern indicators. Using this data, we explored three popular research topics. First, we focused on individual differences in day–night patterns by investigating whether ‘morning larks’ and ‘night owls’ manifest in smartphone-sensed behavioural indicators. Second, we examined whether personality traits are related to day–night patterns. Finally, exploring social jetlag, we investigated whether traits and work weekly day–night behaviours influence day–night patterns on weekends. Our findings highlight that behavioural data play an essential role in understanding daily routines and their relations to personality traits. We discuss how psychological research can integrate new behavioural approaches to study personality.     

Perceived discrimination is associated with poorer health and well‐being outcomes among Pacific peoples in New Zealand

Our study investigated the association between perceived discrimination and outcomes related to health and well‐being for Pacific adults in New Zealand. We examined personal and group discrimination from the 2013 wave of the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (n = 429 women and 196 men). Personal discrimination was associated with poorer health and well‐being outcomes (higher psychological distress and lower self‐esteem, subjective evaluation of health, satisfaction with life and personal well‐being). Group discrimination, in contrast, was associated with poorer well‐being but not health outcomes (lower subjective evaluation of health and personal well‐being). These findings corroborate previous research and highlight the corrosive effect of discrimination towards health and well‐being among Pacific communities in New Zealand.     

The Ethical Interest of Frankenstein; Or,the Modern Prometheus: A Literature Review 200 Years After Its Publication

Science and Engineering Ethics - Two hundred years after it was first published, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, the modern Prometheus remains relevant. This novel has endured because of its...     

Face detection in 2‐ to 6‐month‐old infants is influenced by gaze direction and species

Humans detect faces efficiently from a young age. Face detection is critical for infants to identify and learn from relevant social stimuli in their environments. Faces with eye contact are an especially salient stimulus, and attention to the eyes in infancy is linked to the emergence of later sociality. Despite the importance of both of these early social skills—attending to faces and attending to the eyes—surprisingly little is known about how they interact. We used eye tracking to explore whether eye contact influences infants' face detection. Longitudinally, we examined 2‐, 4‐, and 6‐month‐olds' (N = 65) visual scanning of complex image arrays with human and animal faces varying in eye contact and head orientation. Across all ages, infants displayed superior detection of faces with eye contact; however, this effect varied as a function of species and head orientation. Infants were more attentive to human than animal faces and were more sensitive to eye and head orientation for human faces compared to animal faces. Unexpectedly, human faces with both averted heads and eyes received the most attention. This pattern may reflect the early emergence of gaze following—the ability to look where another individual looks—which begins to develop around this age. Infants may be especially interested in averted gaze faces, providing early scaffolding for joint attention. This study represents the first investigation to document infants' attention patterns to faces systematically varying in their attentional states. Together, these findings suggest that infants develop early, specialized functional conspecific face detection.     

Effect of social organisation on interspecific differences in overmarking behaviour of foals in African equids

Animal Cognition - Overmarking remains an unstudied topic in juvenile mammals. We have previously documented a very high rate of overmarking by foals in four captive African equid species: mountain...