Unselfish Motivations and Deviance: An Empirical Examination of Social Concern Theory among South Korean Adolescents

ABSTRACT

The study tested the mediating role of social concern – or intrinsic unselfish motivations – in the relationship among teacher bonds, deviant peer association, and youth delinquency in Korea, a cultural setting that promotes social concern. Multi-group path analysis with nationally representative data of Korean adolescents (N = 2,089) indicated that teacher bonds predicted lower levels of delinquency, whereas deviant peer association predicted higher levels. Bonding with teachers was significantly related to social concern; however, social concern predicted less deviant behavior for boys only. Prevention policies that improve the quality of teacher-youth relationships may more effectively restrain self-interested behavior than intensified punishment.     

新西兰华人移民基督徒宗教应对的心理测量特性

本研究评估简版宗教应对(Religious Coping)量表(Brief-RCOPE,B-RCOPE)汉化版在151名新西兰华人移民基督徒中的信度与效度。探索性因子分析提取积极宗教应对(PRC)、消极宗教应对(NRC)两个因子,PRC、NRC及整体Cronbach’s α系数分别为0.859、0.746以及0.757;第7个、第13个项目因子载荷偏低;PRC与心理韧性显著正相关,NRC与生活满意度显著负相关,问卷实证效度较好。汉化B-RCOPE适用于华人基督徒群体。条目7和13需要更大样本做进一步研究。     

The role of inhibitory control in the development of analogical reasoning: From general to specific

This study examined the role of inhibitory control in the development of analogical reasoning using inter-task priming paradigms. In Experiment 1, 25 seven-year-olds, 27 nine-year-olds, and 27 adults completed Stroop tasks, which activated general inhibitory control ability, before analogical reasoning tasks. Children and adults performed faster on analogical reasoning tasks when they were primed by Stroop tasks. This priming effect was found to be stronger in children than in adults. In Experiment 2, 25 seven-year-olds, 28 nine-year-olds, and 28 adults completed relative number matching tasks, a more task-relevant inhibitory control task, before analogical reasoning tasks. The children and adults performed faster on analogical reasoning tasks when primed by relative number matching tasks. The priming effect was greater in seven-year-olds than in nine-year-olds and was greater in nine-year-olds than in adults. Thus, inhibitory control, whether assessed with general or specific tasks, played a priming role in analogical reasoning.     

Blue Monday Is Real for Suicide: A Case–Control Study of 188,601 Suicides

Many studies have reported that suicides tend to occur on Mondays. However, owing to a lack of controls, conclusive findings on the potential effects of a day of the week on suicides have been lacking. We analyzed public data for causes of death from 1997 to 2015 in the Republic of Korea. Accidental death was used as a control group. The probability of suicide on each day of the week according to age group was calculated. A total of 377,204 deaths (188,601 suicides and 188,603 accidental deaths) were used. The frequency of suicide was highest on Monday and decreased throughout the week until Saturday. Accidental death was highest on Saturday and showed no variations according to weekday. For people in their teens and 20s, the probabilities of suicide on Monday were 9% and 10% higher, respectively, than those on Sunday. As age increased, the differences in suicide probability according to the day of the week were attenuated. The so‐called Blue Monday effect is real, particularly for people in their teens and 20s. Suicide prevention strategies that aim to attenuate the burden and stress of Mondays should be planned.