Comparing the Social Images of Youth In and Out of Residential Care

The literature indicates that youths in residential care have been associated with negative social images. However, there have been few studies focused on these social images, specifically, comparing them with the images of youths in normative contexts. To address this issue, we conducted two studies comparing the social images people have about youths in residential care to those they hold about youths living out of care. Both studies were conducted in Portugal: Study 1 explores these images through an open‐ended questionnaire; Study 2 examines these images with a quantitative instrument. Overall, the results indicate that the perception about youths in residential care was more negative than the perception about youths out of care. Additionally, the first study probed the effect of socioeconomic status of the youths on the social images held about them and the second examined the role of the respondents' professional contact with youth in care population on these social images. The implications of the social images people have about youth in residential care for the research and intervention towards the wellbeing of this population are discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Human Costs of Organizational Downsizing: Comparing Health Trends Between Leavers and Stayers

We studied health-related selection and consequences of an organizational downsizing among 886 municipal employees. Measurements of health indicators were conducted before any rumor of the downsizing and immediately after the downsizing 3 years later. Results of predownsizing health showed that those who did not find employment after the staff reductions were older employees with high preexisting morbidity. Those getting a new job elsewhere were younger and had better health already before the downsizing than the stayers. After the downsizing, deterioration of health was most likely in the stayers working in groups of major staff reductions and among the nonemployed leavers. In the reemployed leavers, the risk of increased health problems was lower than in others including employees working in no or minor downsizing groups.     

Socioeconomic status,perceived parental control,and authoritarianism: Development of authoritarianism in Iranian society

The purpose of the current study is to examine the relationship between socioeconomic status, parental control, and authoritarianism in Iran. A sample of 460 students was surveyed from Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz in Iran. Results demonstrated that subjective socioeconomic status, parental control, and parents' education have significant influence on authoritarianism. Further analysis showed that parental control partially mediates parents' education association with authoritarianism with a relatively high effect size. These findings highlight the importance of parental control and socioeconomic status in the development of authoritarianism in Iran. Furthermore, the higher authoritarianism of low socioeconomic status is mostly due to lower education levels rather than the income of the family. The findings were discussed with regards to literature as well as the socio‐cultural sphere of Iran.     

家庭学习环境对儿童早期学业和社会技能的作用

家庭学习环境作为个体出生后最先接触到的学习环境,对个体早期乃至未来一生的发展都有重要作用。本研究以181名年龄在53~67个月的学前儿童及其母亲为被试,考察了家庭学习环境对儿童早期语言、数学和社会技能的作用。结果发现:(1)控制个体性别、年龄后,家庭学习环境对儿童早期语言、数学和社会技能的解释率分别为9.2%、4.4%和9.6%,均大于家庭社会经济地位和学前教育经历对三方面技能的解释率;(2)进一步控制家庭社会经济地位和学前教育经历后,家庭学习环境仍可显著预测个体早期语言、数学和社会技能,解释率分别为7.4%、3.2%和8.5%;(3)家庭学习环境的不同方面与儿童早期发展不同方面的关系不同。其中,家庭学习活动是儿童早期语言和数学技能的重要预测变量,丰富生活经验是儿童早期社会技能的重要预测变量。     

Exploring the place of financial status in the good life: Income and meaning in life

Abstract

Two studies examined the association between income and meaning in life (MIL). Study 1 (N = 781) demonstrated that income and other measures of financial status are positively associated with MIL and other aspects of well-being. The association between income and MIL was partially explained by autonomy, competence, and perceptions of control. Study 2 (N = 123) examined people’s forecasts of how financial status would affect their future well-being. Having a middle class or upper-middle class income in the future was expected to result in higher MIL, happiness, and need satisfaction than a life with a low income, showing that people perceive income as tied to meaning. These studies demonstrate how financial status can contribute to actual and expected MIL.     

经济地位和计量地位:社会地位比较对主观幸福感的影响及其年龄差异

采用麦克阿瑟梯子启动方法对个体的社会地位比较进行启动,主要探讨社会经济地位和社会计量地位对年轻人和老年人主观幸福感作用的年龄差异。120名年轻人(27.26±4.80岁)和120名老年人(65.12±6.49岁)参加了正式实验。实验首先测量被试的主观幸福感,3~7天后启动社会地位比较,随后再次测量主观幸福感。社会地位比较分为4种启动条件,即经济上行比较、经济下行比较、计量上行比较和计量下行比较,被试被随机分配到其中一种启动条件。结果发现:年轻人的主观幸福感更容易受到社会经济地位比较的影响,而老年人的主观幸福感更容易受到社会计量地位比较的影响。由于原有的等级评定方式并未验证启动的有效性,补充实验通过对麦克阿瑟梯子进行改进降低了锚定化的影响,为启动的有效性提供了直接的证据。本研究验证了主观幸福感悖论,并从社会比较的角度解释了老年人维持主观幸福感的机制,同时改进了麦克阿瑟梯子等级评定方法使其适用于中国情境。     

低社会经济地位影响自我调节的神经机制

自我调节是个体为了实现目标并适应不断变化的环境而监控和调节自己的认知、情绪和行为的能力, 在成就、人际交往和健康等各个领域发挥着作用, 被视为是人类成功和幸福的关键。然而, 大量研究发现个体的社会经济地位越低, 自我调节能力越差。为了提高低社会经济地位者的自我调节能力, 必须深入考察低社会经济地位影响自我调节的机制。神经科学为此提供了独特而重要的信息：低社会经济地位改变了背外侧前额叶皮层、扣带回、腹内侧前额叶、杏仁核、海马体、腹侧纹状体的结构和功能, 进而影响了自我调节的各个成分(认知调节、情绪调节、行为调节)。未来研究除了对神经机制中每条因果链进行更严格地考察外, 还应将神经生物学与发展心理学联系起来深入揭示不同发展阶段低社会经济地位对自我调节的独特影响机制, 并关注低社会经济地位者在神经和行为层面特定反应的适应性, 在此基础上开发出系统、持续、有效的干预方案。     

Men's and Women's Reactions to Hypothetical Sexual Advances: The Role of Initiator Socioeconomic Status and Level of Coercion

Research on sexual coercion has revealed a beauty bias in that participants judge coercive sexual advances committed by attractive individuals as more acceptable than coercive advances committed by unattractive individuals. In this study, we examined the extent to which there exists a similar socioeconomic status bias in people's perceptions. Participants (N = 160) read 1 of 8 vignettes that depicted sexual advances and responded to several questions about the acceptability of the initiator's behavior. The coerciveness of the advance was manipulated by varying whether the touch occurred in a gentle manner with no threat or in a forceful manner with a threat of harm. Male participants always received a vignette that portrayed a woman initiating a sexual advance, and female participants always received a vignette that portrayed a man initiating a sexual advance. Socioeconomic status of the initiator was manipulated by what type of clothing he/she wore (shabby or expensive) and the car he/she drove (old or new). Results indicated that a gentle touch was more acceptable than a forceful touch, and men found sexual advances more acceptable than did women. Participants rated sexual advances by wealthy individuals as more acceptable than sexual advances by poor individuals. However, the greater acceptability of advances by wealthy individuals appeared to hold up only in the case of a gentle touch. In addition, men appeared to be more prone to the socioeconomic status bias than were women. Methodological limitations and future directions are discussed.     

Young European citizens: An individual by context perspective on adolescent European citizenship

Abstract

This study examined the effects of individual, school-level and country-level variables and their interactions on two components of adolescents’ active European citizenship: trust in European institutions and participation at the European level. For comparison, country-related institutional trust and participation were also predicted. Using multilevel regression models, we re-analysed a subsample of survey data from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study, collected from 14-year-old students (n = 72,466) in 22 European countries in 2009. Results showed that higher cognitive engagement with politics (e.g., political interest), more opportunities for learning about Europe at school, and country wealth and social equality were positively associated with both aspects of adolescents’ active European citizenship. In contrast to country-related participation, the participatory dimension of active European citizenship was also positively related to a higher socioeconomic status of adolescent’s classroom and family, an association that was more pronounced in less wealthy and post-communist countries.