The role of psychological control,socioeconomic status and academic achievement in parents' educational aspirations for their adolescent children

The present study examined the associations between mothers' and fathers' psychological control, socioeconomic status (SES) and their role in parents' educational aspirations for their adolescent children. Moreover, we examined to what extent SES and psychological control predicted their child's grade point average (GPA) and educational aspirations. A total of 1,034 Finnish adolescents aged 15 to 16 and their parents (720 mothers, 542 fathers) were surveyed at the beginning of the last grade of compulsory school. The results showed that the use of psychological control was more common among parents with lower SES. Moreover, the lower parents' SES was and the more psychological control they imposed, the lower were their educational aspirations for their adolescent children and lower was their child's GPA. The impact of SES was partially mediated by psychological control. The effects were similar for mothers and fathers.     

Idiom comprehension in French children: A cock-and-bull story

Both theory and empirical evidence suggest that adolescents engage in risk behaviour to gain mature status, thereby becoming popular among their peers. Using a cross-sectional design with 20 school classes from higher secondary schools in Austria and the Netherlands, associations between risk behaviour and social status in late adolescence were examined (N = 408, M_age = 16.95, SD = 0.81, 50% male). Popularity and likeability were assessed as distinct facets of social status in adolescence using peer nominations. Self-reported risk behaviour included alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use, as well as sexual intercourse. Using a latent variable approach, results showed that in accordance with our assumptions, risk behaviour was strongly associated with popularity, but not with likeability. This study shows that in Austria and the Netherlands, associations between risk behaviour and social status among peers are in line with findings from outside of Europe. Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed and proposals for future research are given.     

Positive emotion is associated with 6-year change in functional status in individuals aged 60 and older

Analyses examined both positive emotion (PE) at baseline and change in PE from baseline to follow up as predictors of change in functional status (FS). Initial models examined baseline PE, and change in PE, as predictors of change in FS adjusted for baseline PE, negative emotion (NE), FS, and age and gender. Final models included additional adjustments for frequency of social contact, marital status, body mass index, smoking status, drinking behavior, and comorbidity at baseline. Baseline PE was a predictor of change in FS, adjusted for NE, age, and gender (p?=?0.033). Additional covariates reduced the effect of baseline PE as a predictor of change in FS (p?=?0.115). Change in PE was a significant predictor of change in FS – increases in ratings of PE over time were associated with less decline in FS (p?=?0.001). The association for change in PE remained significant in the fully adjusted model (p?=?0.004). Results replicate our prior findings.     

God and Evolutionary Evil: Theodicy in the Light of Darwinism

Pain, suffering, death, and extinction have been intrinsic to the process of evolution by natural selection. This leads to a real problem of evolutionary theodicy, little addressed up to now in Christian theologies of creation. The problem has ontological, teleological, and soteriological aspects. The recent literature contains efforts to dismiss, disregard, or reframe the problem. The radical proposal that God has no long–term goals for creation, but merely keeps company with its unfolding, is one way forward. An alternative strategy to tackle the problem of evolutionary theodicy is outlined, with an implication for environmental ethics and suggestions for further work.     

中学生同伴交往接受和拒绝的归因研究

本研究参考国外相关量表的设计,结合我国实际,编制了中学生人际归因风格问卷,考察了人际归因风格和人格特征两个维度对中学生在同辈群体中的社会测量地位的影响程度。结果表明,这两者共同影响中学生的社会测量地位,被拒绝学生对正性事件的归因与其他学生存在显著差异,对负性事件的归因不存在显著差异。这提示我们,可以通过改变被拒绝学生不适当的人际归因方式来改善其同伴关系。     

Are Women Perceived as Engaging in More Maladaptive Worry Than Men? A Status Interpretation

Studies 1 and 2 addressed people's perceptions of women's and men's overall maladaptive worry. In Study 1, participants rated how they perceive women's and men's worry in general. In Study 2, participants rated the worry of either a woman or a man whom they know well. As expected in both studies, participants perceived women as experiencing more maladaptive worry than men. A second objective was to compare people's perceptions of women's and men's worry to their perceptions of low- and high-status individuals' worry to determine if a status model can account for the perception that women worry more than men. In Study 3, participants were presented a minimal instantiation of status (Conway, Pizzamiglio, & Mount, 1996). As expected, participants perceived low-status individuals as experiencing more maladaptive worry than high-status individuals. Findings are discussed in terms of gender stereotypes and theoretical models of gender.     

A Test of Evolutionary and Sociocultural Explanations of Reactions to Sexual Harassment

Although the field of evolutionary psychology has been perceived to generate predictions that are untestable, one potentially falsifiable prediction of the evolutionary approach is that women should be less upset by unwanted sexual advances from high than from low status men. Three experiments tested this hypothesis within a workplace and an academic setting. Across the first two experiments, women and men were actually more upset by perceived sexual harassment from higher than lower status members of the other sex. Results of Study 3 suggested that women only showed this difference when there was a power relationship involved. These results conflict with the evolutionary prediction and support a sociocultural explanation of reactions to sexual harassment; that is, that they are influenced by power differentials.     

Solo status, stereotype threat, and performance expectancies: Their effects on women’s performance

Women working in male-dominated environments may find themselves to be the only woman present, and that negative stereotypes about women persist in the environment. This experiment tested women’s performance in solo status (SS: being the only woman present) and under stereotype threat (ST: when women are stereotyped as poor performers). White male and female participants (157) learned information, then tested on it in an opposite-gender (SS) or same-gender group (nonsolo). In addition, the information was described as being traditional math material (ST) or a type of math information impervious to gender stereotypes (no threat). Women performed more poorly in SS than nonsolos, and under ST than no threat. Experiencing both factors was more detrimental to women’s performance than experiencing one or the other. Men’s performance was the same across all conditions. Performance expectancies partially mediated the effect of SS, but not ST, on performance.     

Effects of perceived social support and family demands on college students' mental well‐being: A cross‐cultural investigation

The effects of perceived social support and family demands on college students' mental well‐being (perceived stress and depression) were assessed in 2 samples of Jordanian and Turkish college students. Statistically significant negative correlations were found between perceived support and mental well‐being. Multiple regression analyses showed that perceived family support was a better predictor of mental well‐being for Jordanian students, while perceived support from friends was a better predictor of mental well‐being for Turkish students. Perceived family demands were stronger predictors of mental well‐being for participants from both ethnic groups. Jordanian and Turkish participants who perceived their families to be too demanding were more likely to report higher depression and stress levels. None of the interactions between social support or family demands and either of the 2 demographic variables were statistically significant. These findings provide a more nuanced view of the relationship between social support and mental health among college students, and point to the relevance of some cultural and situational factors. They also draw further attention to the detrimental effects of unrealistic family demands and pressures on the mental health of college youths.     

Family Environments and Children's Executive Function: The Mediating Role of Children's Affective State and Stress

There is increasing evidence that inadequate family environments (family material environment and family psychosocial environment) are not only social problems but also factors contributing to adverse neurocognitive outcomes. In the present study, the authors investigated the relationship among family environments, children's naturalistic affective state, self-reported stress, and executive functions in a sample of 157 Chinese families. These findings revealed that in inadequate family material environments, reduced children's cognitive flexibility is associated with increased naturalistic negative affectivity and self-reported stress. In addition, naturalistic negative affectivity mediated the association between family expressiveness and children's cognitive flexibility. The authors used a structural equation model to examine the mediation model hypothesis, and the results confirmed the mediating roles of naturalistic negative affectivity and self-reported stress between family environments and the cognitive flexibility of Chinese children. These findings indicate the importance of reducing stress and negative emotional state for improving cognitive functions in children of low socioeconomic status.