Motivational–cognitive profiles of learners: Cluster movement

The present study was designed to identify the motivational–cognitive profiles of students in Singapore secondary schools using cluster movement. Five distinct motivated strategies for learning (MSL) profiles based on a sample of 304 students were revealed: those with low levels of motivational beliefs and cognition but high anxiety (Poor MSL); high motivational beliefs and cognition but low anxiety (Good MSL); moderate high motivational beliefs, cognition and anxiety (Average MSL); high motivational beliefs, cognition and anxiety (High MSL); and low motivational beliefs, cognition and anxiety (Low MSL). Findings of this study also showed cluster movement across two time points, revealing the shifts in cluster membership in terms of motivational–cognitive profiles over time. Students in Good MSL demonstrated the most adaptive learning profile and achieved the highest grades than other clusters. Our findings contributed to practical underpinnings of educational research as well as provided meaningful insights to both researchers and practitioners.     

Culture,types of social withdrawal,and children's beliefs: An integrative perspective

Cultural norms and values provide guidance for children to judge and evaluate specific behavioural characteristics including shyness, unsociability, and social avoidance. The perceptions and attitudes of children, in turn, determine how they exhibit and regulate their behaviours and how they respond to peers' behaviours in social interactions. Investigation of children's beliefs across societies may shed some light on the processes in which culture is involved in shaping the display and developmental significance of different types of social withdrawal. To achieve a better understanding of the role of children's beliefs in mediating cultural influence on development, it will be important to examine how children's beliefs about withdrawn behaviours are associated with patterns of social interactions and relationships in various circumstances.     

Support for rejection and reception policies toward asylum seekers in Italy: The role of conservative ideologies and legitimizing myths

ABSTRACT

Based on Social Dominance Theory (SDT), this study investigates the relationships between ideologically conservative attitudes (social dominance orientation, SDO; right-wing authoritarianism, RWA), legitimizing myths (false belief in asylum seekers as bogus; perception of in-group threats), and citizens’ support for restricted reception and rejection of asylum policies. A sample of 539 people living in Italy filled in an anonymous questionnaire administered using a cross-sectional design. The results support the expectations, showing that people high in SDO and RWA were more likely to hold the belief that asylum seekers are making false claims and to perceive that the latter pose a threat to the in-group, which in turn increased support for both of restrictive policies. Findings suggest that conservative ideologies can positively affect citizens’ support for restrictive asylum seeker policies based on both rejection and restricted reception by supplying ideological justification for not accommodating them in the host society.     

The development and validation of a Fear of Death Scale based on the cognitive approach of Avicenna

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to develop a culturally sensitive approach assessment instrument that measures cognitive beliefs related to Iranian Muslim salient fear of death. This paper discusses the development and validation of Avicenna Fear of Death Scale (AFDS). The results of confirmatory factor analysis resulted in an instrument (AFDS) consisting of five cognitive concerns related to the fear of death including complete annihilation, severe pain of death, consequences of sins, interpersonal attachment, and attachment to estate. Twenty-two statements overall were offered using a Likert scale to measure related cognitive beliefs. Results from a convenience sample of 291 college students, showed the AFDS to have favourable psychometric properties (e.g., adequate reliability and validity). The total alpha coefficient was .85, suggesting that the items have relatively high internal consistency and the item-total correlation between .28 and .63 (p<.001) indicates that the items are discriminating well. Overall, results suggest that cross-cultural differences render a culturally sensitive approach to assessment and diagnosis essential, and therefore a culture-based scale like Avicenna AFDS might be fruitful extensions of the current death anxiety scales like Templer Death Anxiety Scale within the context of Iranian-Islamic culture. This diagnostic tool can help in the cognitive treatment of fear of death.     

Young Chinese children's beliefs about the implications of subtypes of social withdrawal: A first look at social avoidance

The goal of this study was to examine young Chinese children's beliefs about the implications of different subtypes of social withdrawal (e.g., shyness, unsociability), including for the first time, social avoidance. Participants were 133 children in kindergarten (n = 58, M_age = 70.85 months) and grade 1 (n = 75, M_age = 83.49 months). Children were presented with vignettes describing hypothetical peers displaying shy, unsociable, avoidant, and socially competent behaviours and were then asked a series of questions to assess their beliefs about the implications of these different behaviours. Young children made distinctions between social withdrawal subtypes in terms of underlying motivations and emotions. Children also appeared to hold differential beliefs about the implications of different forms of social withdrawal: Of note, they anticipated that socially avoidant peers would experience the most negative outcomes. These findings provide some of the first evidence to suggest that social avoidance represents a distinct form of social withdrawal among young Chinese children. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of distinguishing between different subtypes of social withdrawal in Chinese culture.