Changes in college students' socioeconomic status aspirations during the COVID-19 pandemic

Although university students tend to be optimistic about their future socioeconomic status (SES), little is known how their SES aspirations changed during the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using latent growth curve modeling techniques, we examined changes in subjective SES aspirations for students who began college before the pandemic (cohort 1; Fall 2019) and students who began college during the pandemic (cohort 2; Fall 2020). Moreover, we assessed how SES indicators (i.e., subjective family SES; first-generation status; low-income status) and a contextual financial indicator (i.e., pandemic-related financial impacts) predicted changes in SES aspirations for both groups of students. Although SES aspirations were similar at the beginning of college for both groups of students, students who began college before the pandemic experienced a greater rate of downward change between the baseline assessment and the assessment shortly after the pandemic began. In both cohorts, students from higher-SES families had higher SES aspirations at the beginning of college and steeper rates of downward change. Furthermore, despite having similar SES aspirations at the beginning of college, first-generation students whose first year was interrupted by the pandemic experienced steeper downward changes in their SES aspirations. However, pandemic-related financial impacts did not predict this downward change for either cohort. Our findings suggest that uncertainty in the early stages of the pandemic may have led to cautiousness in students' aspirations for their future SES attainment, particularly for first-generation students.     

The impact of the “Attachment and Biobehavioural Catch-Up” program on attachment related parent behavior—A systematic review

“Attachment and Biobehavioural Catch-Up” (ABC) is a 10 session home visiting program, grounded in attachment theory. It aims to improve child emotion regulation, attachment and behavioral outcomes through changing caregivers’ attachment related behaviors. There is increasing evidence with respect to the effectiveness of ABC in producing positive child outcomes, but the intervention's direct effect on parent outcomes remains unclear. This review examined the association of ABC with attachment related parent outcomes. The PubMed, EMBASE, PyschINFO and SCOPUS databases were searched for relevant studies in August 2021, and again in April 2022. The eligibility criteria for included studies were (1) infants aged 0–27 months at time of the ABC intervention, (2) “at risk” parents, (3) controlled trials published in peer-reviewed journals and (4) utilized a measure of attachment related parent outcomes. Eleven eligible studies were included. The findings showed ABC had a significant small to medium effect on a variety of attachment related parent outcomes among parents presenting with multiple psychosocial risk factors. “Sensitivity” was measured most frequently, with small to medium main effect sizes recorded at follow-up, compared to controls. Implications for the clinical effectiveness of the ABC program in community settings are discussed. Future research should clarify who ABC is most effective for and how it compares to similar interventions.     

It's only a dream if you wake up: Young adults' achievement expectations,opportunities, and meritocratic beliefs

The present paper examines university graduates' beliefs about how meritocratic socioeconomic status (SES) attainment in U.S. society is for themselves (merit agency beliefs) and for most other people (merit societal beliefs), and how these distinct beliefs are differentially associated with labour market experiences and achievement‐goal attitudes and expectations in the aftermath of the Great Recession. Data from a 10‐month longitudinal study of 217 graduates from the 2013 class of a large public U.S. university were analysed using multilevel modelling. The results indicate that most participants optimistically expected to attain upward social mobility. Furthermore, participants' merit agency beliefs were reflective of their labour market prospects and experiences, and calibrated their achievement‐goal attitudes and expectations. However, participants' merit societal beliefs were not associated with these labour market experiences and achievement‐goal attitudes and expectations. The distinction between merit agency beliefs and merit societal beliefs may be motivationally beneficial by allowing individuals to continue striving toward the uncertain long‐term goal pursuit of upward social mobility despite the short‐term struggles and setbacks many young adults are likely to experience in the aftermath of the Great Recession.     

Traditional God Images and Attitudes Towards Voluntary Euthanasia

I use data from the General Social Survey (N = 8905) to evaluate whether imagining God in traditional ways is associated with attitudes towards voluntary euthanasia. Bivariate analysis reveals that individuals who imagine God as a father, a master, and a king have negative attitudes towards voluntary euthanasia. The associations between imagining God as a father and as a master and attitudes towards voluntary euthanasia hold after controlling for religious affiliation, frequency of religious attendance, views of the Bible, and other sociodemographic characteristics that predict attitudes towards voluntary euthanasia; however, the association between imagining God as a king do not. I also find that while there is no association between imagining God as a judge on voluntary euthanasia attitudes at the bivariate level, there is a significant and positive association with having favorable voluntary euthanasia attitudes in the full model, revealing a suppression effect. These findings highlight the importance of evaluating if different, distinct beliefs about the same religious object have differential associations with social attitudes and behaviors.     

Situational influences on ethical sensemaking: Performance pressure,interpersonal conflict,and the recipient of consequences

Multiple situational influences are often present in organizational ethical dilemmas. This article explores the influences of recipient of the consequence, performance pressure, and interpersonal conflict on sensemaking processes, metacognitive reasoning strategies, and decision ethicality. Results suggest that decision ethicality is greater when individuals are the recipients of consequences. In addition, individuals analyzed causes of the dilemma to a greater extent when faced with low interpersonal conflict and when consequences occurred at an individual level. Individuals in the low interpersonal conflict condition anticipated consequences, looked within, and considered others more than those in the high interpersonal conflict condition. Additional research on performance pressure is needed given that the manipulation used in this study was not effective. Implications for theory and practice of ethics in organizational settings are discussed.     

Generalizability in the Mediation Effects of Parental Expectations on Children’s Cognitive Ability and Self-concept

Previous research involving Hong Kong Chinese parents and their children showed that parental home involvement, beliefs of their children’s cognitive ability and their expectations for academic achievement mediated the relationship between their children’s cognitive ability and school achievement scores. This mediation effect was interpreted as the cognitive-affect model of academic achievement. The current research confirms the generalizability of the findings and tests the hypothesis that there are cultural differences in the mediation effects with the inclusion of non-Chinese students and their parents as a comparison group. The responses from 103 Chinese speaking (CS) and 163 non-Chinese speaking (NCS) primary students and parents from two schools in Hong Kong were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Student measures included self-concept, cognitive ability and academic achievement in mathematics, English and Chinese. Parent measures included home involvement, beliefs of their child’s cognitive ability and expectations of academic success. Initial model showed that parental expectations mediate the link between cognitive ability and academic achievement for both CS and NCS groups, with parental involvement predicting English achievement for only the NCS group. After the inclusion of academic self-concept, the model showed that CS parental expectations also mediate the link between self-concept and academic achievement. However, the model showed that the parental expectations of NCS play a lesser role in mediating the link between academic self-concept and their children’s academic achievement. Despite the differences, the results provide evidence for the generalizability of the cognitive-affect model.     

What is Working,What is Not,and What We Need to Know: a Meta-Analytic Review of Business Ethics Instruction

Requirements for business ethics education and organizational ethics trainings mark an important step in encouraging ethical behavior among business students and professionals. However, the lack of specificity in these guidelines as to how, what, and where business ethics should be taught has led to stark differences in approaches and content. The present effort uses meta-analytic procedures to examine the effectiveness of current approaches across organizational ethics trainings and business school courses. to provide practical suggestions for business ethics interventions and research. Thus, the primary questions driving this research are as follows: (1) what course characteristics moderate the effectiveness of ethics instruction?, and (2) have ethics education and training efforts improved? Findings suggest that professional, focused, and workshop-based training programs are especially effective for improving business ethics. However, results also reveal considerable problems with many of the criteria used to evaluate the effectiveness of business ethics interventions. Practical suggestions for course design and evaluation in business ethics efforts are discussed along with future research needs.     

Body elimination attitude family resemblance in Kuwait

The purpose of the present study was to determine the family resemblance of attitude toward body elimination in Kuwaiti participants. This study was conceptualized in the context of the theories of moral development, importance of cleanliness in the Muslim religion, cross-cultural differences in personal hygiene practices, previous research reporting an association between family attitudes and body elimination attitude, and health implications. The 24-item Likert-type format Body Elimination Attitude Scale-Revised was administered to 277 Kuwaiti high school students and 437 of their parents. Females scored higher, indicating greater disgust, than the males. Moreover, sons' body elimination attitude correlated more strongly with fathers' attitude (r = .85) than with that of the mothers (r = .64). Daughters' attitude was similarly associated with the fathers' (r = .89) and the mothers' attitude (r = .86). The high correlations were discussed within the context of Kuwait having a collectivistic culture with authoritarian parenting style. The higher adolescent correlations, and in particular the boys' correlation with fathers than with mothers, was explained in terms of the more dominant role of the Muslim father in the family. Public health and future research implications were suggested. A theoretical formulation was advanced in which "ideal" body elimination attitude is relative rather than absolute, and is a function of one's life circumstances, one's occupation, one's culture and subculture, and the society that one lives in.