Bayesian generalized structured component analysis

Generalized structured component analysis (GSCA) is a component-based approach to structural equation modelling, which adopts components of observed variables as proxies for latent variables and examines directional relationships among latent and observed variables. GSCA has been extended to deal with a wider range of data types, including discrete, multilevel or intensive longitudinal data, as well as to accommodate a greater variety of complex analyses such as latent moderation analysis, the capturing of cluster-level heterogeneity, and regularized analysis. To date, however, there has been no attempt to generalize the scope of GSCA into the Bayesian framework. In this paper, a novel extension of GSCA, called BGSCA, is proposed that estimates parameters within the Bayesian framework. BGSCA can be more attractive than the original GSCA for various reasons. For example, it can infer the probability distributions of random parameters, account for error variances in the measurement model, provide additional fit measures for model assessment and comparison from the Bayesian perspectives, and incorporate external information on parameters, which may be obtainable from past research, expert opinions, subjective beliefs or knowledge on the parameters. We utilize a Markov chain Monte Carlo method, the Gibbs sampler, to update the posterior distributions for the parameters of BGSCA. We conduct a simulation study to evaluate the performance of BGSCA. We also apply BGSCA to real data to demonstrate its empirical usefulness.     

Counselor Empathy; Religiosity; and Lesbian,Gay, and Bisexual Perspectives

Values-based conflicts, such as between counselor religiosity and ability to work with lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) clients, can present a challenge for counselors and trainees who seek to provide ethical and competent care. Because empathy can facilitate understanding a client's frame of reference, the authors examined the relationships between counselor religiosity, empathy, and LGB perspectives, as well as the potential mediating effects of empathy on values conflicts. The authors discuss implications for counselor education and practice.     

Deterministic blockmodelling of signed and two-mode networks: A tutorial with software and psychological examples

Deterministic blockmodelling is a well-established clustering method for both exploratory and confirmatory social network analysis seeking partitions of a set of actors so that actors within each cluster are similar with respect to their patterns of ties to other actors (or, in some cases, other objects when considering two-mode networks). Even though some of the historical foundations for certain types of blockmodelling stem from the psychological literature, applications of deterministic blockmodelling in psychological research are relatively rare. This scarcity is potentially attributable to three factors: a general unfamiliarity with relevant blockmodelling methods and applications; a lack of awareness of the value of partitioning network data for understanding group structures and processes; and the unavailability of such methods on software platforms familiar to most psychological researchers. To tackle the first two items, we provide a tutorial presenting a general framework for blockmodelling and describe two of the most important types of deterministic blockmodelling applications relevant to psychological research: structural balance partitioning and two-mode partitioning based on structural equivalence. To address the third problem, we developed a suite of software programs that are available as both Fortran executable files and compiled Fortran dynamic-link libraries that can be implemented in the R software system. We demonstrate these software programs using networks from the literature.     

Income and Satisfaction in Russia

The Russian Federation has undergone some drastic economic, social-cultural, and political changes since 1989. The income of nearly half of the population has sunk below the poverty line, which has had an enormous impact on their emotional life. In this study, the relationship between income and satisfaction in Russia was examined. Three theories – need, comparison, and personality theory – were considered. Data were drawn from the first three waves of the Russet panel study (1993–1995). Russians were a little more satisfied with their income and life when they had a higher income. A positive change in income caused an increase in income-satisfaction over a one-year period. Results also showed that there was a reciprocal relationship between income-satisfaction and life satisfaction, indicating that in addition to bottom-up effects, top-down mechanisms were also at work: life satisfaction is partly a sum of domain satisfactions, but it also reflects a more trait-like character. Furthermore, within comparison theory, social comparison had the largest effect on income-satisfaction, closely followed by income needed (person-environment fit theory), and income deserved (equity theory) with the smallest effect. The need effect of income on income-satisfaction became non-significant when controlled for these three comparison mechanisms. Correction for measurement error of relationships between the endogenous variables resulted in overall stronger effects.     

外资企业跨文化适应模式分析：结构方程建模

在总结国内外有关文献的基础上,编制了跨文化适应问卷,并运用此问卷调查了外资企业的314名高中层管理者,采用探索性、验证性因素分析和结构方程建模技术探讨跨文化适应的结构维度和适应模式。结果表明决策价值前提、人力资源利用、管理规范化构成了跨文化适应的管理决策维度;中外经理沟通、直接上下级关系、中高层团队合作构成跨文化适应的人际合作适应维度。跨文化适应与企业的经营绩效有十分密切的关系。     

幼儿社会性品质的结构维度及其对社会性行为的影响

本研究采用随机抽样法对22个小、中、大班共734名幼儿的社会性品质结构及其对社会性行为的影响进行了研究.因子分析表明,幼儿的社会性品质主要由同情心、自制力、责任心、自信心、克服困难的勇气与意志力等维度构成;主成分分析进一步表明同情心、自制力是幼儿社会性品质中最核心的成分.同情心、自制力是影响幼儿社会性行为(包括积极行为和消极行为)的最主要的社会性品质.     

互联网的使用对中老年人生活幸福感的影响

采用2018年中国健康与养老追踪调查数据(CHARLS),运用主成分回归和结构方程模型,探究互联网的使用对中国中老年人生活幸福感的影响。主成分回归的结果显示中老年人互联网使用程度、家庭情况以及其身体状况都会对其生活幸福感产生积极的影响,结构方程模型的结果显示中老年人家庭情况会直接或通过影响其互联网使用程度间接的对其身体状况产生积极的影响,进而提升其生活幸福感。     

Measuring Creativity with Planned Missing Data

This paper introduces a method for the assessment of creativity that relies on creativity tasks, a subjective evaluation procedure, and a planned missing data design that offers a drastic reduction in the overall implementation costs (administration time and scoring procedure). This method was tested on a sample of 149 people, using three creativity tasks as a basis. Participants were instructed to produce several ideas in each task and then to select what they considered to be their best two ideas (i.e., “Top 2” procedure; Silvia, Winterstein, Willse, Barona, et al., Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 2 , 2008 and 68). These ideas were then evaluated by a panel of peers and experts. Creativity ratings were analyzed with structural equations; measurement models were estimated for each task and correlations between factor-scores across the three tasks were investigated. Further insights regarding validity are provided through systematic investigation of the relationship between fluency scores, creativity ratings, intelligence tasks, self-reported idea generation abilities, and creative activities and achievements. Overall, the results support the viability of this new approach, providing evidence of convergent and discriminant validity. They are discussed in relation to past research and avenues for further extension are proposed.     

Predicting psychological service providers' empowerment in the light of the COVID‐19 pandemic outbreak: A structural equation modelling analysis

This study aimed to investigate the predictors of psychological service providers' empowerment in the light of the COVID‐19 pandemic outbreak. The researcher prepared a psychological service providers' empowerment scale that consisted of 28 items, and this scale was applied in a random sample consisting of 975 psychological service providers. The results showed that the empowerment scale has acceptable validity and reliability. The results of the exploratory factor analysis indicated that the 28 scale items saturate on seven factors, which accounted for 64.42% of the total variance of the scale: the first factor named expect psychological services effectiveness accounted for 27.86%, the second factor named self‐stimulation accounted for 9.71%, the third factor named responsibilities and duties accounted for 7.12%, the fourth factor named psychological services work environment accounted for 6.51%, the fifth factor named psychological service providers’ decision‐making accounted for 5.37%, the sixth factor named creative psychological service provider behaviour accounted for 4.45%, and the seventh factor named psychological services confidence accounted for 3.82% of the total variance of a psychological service providers' empowerment. In order to study the ability to predict the empowerment among psychological service providers, the researcher developed a structural model for psychological service providers' empowerment and then used the structural equation model analysis. The results showed that the proposed structural model of a psychological service providers' empowerment has goodness‐of‐fit, and these results emphasised the ability to predict psychological service providers' empowerment by seven tested factors.