Personality and context-related factors of helping and helping-related affect during early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 pandemic led to introduction of lockdown measures in many countries, while in Serbia the Government also introduced the curfew by which vulnerable groups of citizens were prohibited from leaving their homes at any time. In such a situation many citizens organized to voluntarily offer their help to those in isolation, which offered a unique opportunity to examine prosocial behavior in the natural setting of global crisis. This study examined the differences between non-helpers and helpers, as well as groups of helpers who provided their help to close or unknown others, in personality (prosocial tendencies, selfishness and communal narcissism) and context-related factors (situation specific empathy and fear) of prosocial behaviors. Additionally, the study also analyzed the helping-related affect among helpers, depending on the recipient of help and personality characteristics. Results revealed that groups of helpers with different recipients of help (close persons, unknown persons or both) were not different among each other, but they were different from non-helpers. Non-helpers were more selfish and had self-focused prosocial tendencies, and they showed less empathy towards people in isolation, compared to helper groups. However, the helping-related affect depended on the recipient of help and helper's personality traits. This study confirmed some previous findings and offered novel insights into factors related to helping in crises.     

A.R. Luria's role in the development of soviet psychology

Summary A.R. Luria is one of the most outstanding Soviet psychologists. He played a great role in the development of Soviet psychology and in the formulation of psychological problems on the basis of dialectical materialism. Together with L.S. Vygotskij and A.N. Leont'ev, he put forward a theory of the socio-historical genesis of higher, specifically human, mental functions. Luria carried out numerous investigations into the ontogenetic and historical development of these functions, as well as their disturbance with local brain lesions. As the founder, in the Soviet Union, of the new discipline of neuropsychology, he made a very significant contribution to the study of the cerebral mechanisms of mental activity.Originally published in Voprosy Psichologii 28 (4), 106–115 (1978), and translated by E. Scheerer. The translator gratefully acknowledges the help of Eunice and Josef Broek and Sonia Argyle     

A Phenomenological Study on the Experience of Syrian Asylum-Seekers and Refugees in the United States

Violence in Syria has displaced an unprecedented number of people from their homes. While couple/family therapy (C/MFT) scholars have explored migration experiences, particularly among refugees, there is still limited research using a bioecological framework. This exploratory study examined the experiences of Syrian asylum-seekers and refugees living in the United States using a qualitative phenomenological approach. Twelve Syrians (n = 8 men, n = 4 women) between 20 and 52 years of age (M = 35.8, SD = 10.7) were interviewed about their experiences across three stages of resettlement: (1) pre-resettlement, (2) resettlement/migration, and (3) post-resettlement. Findings suggest that the effects of conflict-induced displacement and resettlement permeate across multiple ecologies. These range from the individual and his or her interpersonal relationships to their larger community and society. C/MFTs should account for contextual factors while becoming familiar with the sociopolitical impact of displacement and resettlement in their clinical work with this population.     

Boys Just Don’t! Gender Stereotyping and Sanctioning of Counter-Stereotypical Behavior in Preschoolers

Sex Roles - Although children start to adopt gender stereotypes by the age of three, there is less evidence about how early they start to sanction other children’s counter-stereotypical...     

Progression along the bipolar spectrum: a longitudinal study of predictors of conversion from bipolar spectrum conditions to bipolar I and II disorders

Little longitudinal research has examined progression to more severe bipolar disorders in individuals with "soft" bipolar spectrum conditions. We examine rates and predictors of progression to bipolar I and II diagnoses in a nonpatient sample of college-age participants (n = 201) with high General Behavior Inventory scores and childhood or adolescent onset of "soft" bipolar spectrum disorders followed longitudinally for 4.5 years from the Longitudinal Investigation of Bipolar Spectrum (LIBS) project. Of 57 individuals with initial cyclothymia or bipolar disorder not otherwise specified (BiNOS) diagnoses, 42.1% progressed to a bipolar II diagnosis and 10.5% progressed to a bipolar I diagnosis. Of 144 individuals with initial bipolar II diagnoses, 17.4% progressed to a bipolar I diagnosis. Consistent with hypotheses derived from the clinical literature and the Behavioral Approach System (BAS) model of bipolar disorder, and controlling for relevant variables (length of follow-up, initial depressive and hypomanic symptoms, treatment-seeking, and family history), high BAS sensitivity (especially BAS Fun Seeking) predicted a greater likelihood of progression to bipolar II disorder, whereas early age of onset and high impulsivity predicted a greater likelihood of progression to bipolar I (high BAS sensitivity and Fun-Seeking also predicted progression to bipolar I when family history was not controlled). The interaction of high BAS and high Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) sensitivities also predicted greater likelihood of progression to bipolar I. We discuss implications of the findings for the bipolar spectrum concept, the BAS model of bipolar disorder, and early intervention efforts.     

Fathers' versus mothers' social referencing signals in relation to infant anxiety and avoidance: a visual cliff experiment

Infants use signals from others to guide their behavior when confronted with novel situations, a process called ‘social referencing’ (SR). Via SR, signs of parental anxiety can lead to infant anxiety. Little is known about differences in the effect of paternal and maternal SR signals on child anxiety. Using a visual cliff paradigm, we studied whether SR processes between fathers and their infants differed from mothers and their infants. Eighty‐one infants aged 10–15 months were randomly assigned to conduct the visual cliff task with their father (n = 41) or mother (n = 40). The infant was placed on the shallow side of the cliff and the parent, standing at the deep side, was instructed to encourage the infant to cross. Results showed that although mothers showed more intense facial expressions of encouragement than fathers, no differences occurred in how fast, and with how much anxiety, infants crossed the cliff with fathers and mothers. However, path analyses showed that paternal, but not maternal, expressed anxiety was positively associated with infant expressed anxiety and avoidance. For infants who participated with their mother, infants' anxious temperament was negatively associated with infant avoidance of the cliff. Infant anxious temperament moderated the link between paternal expressed anxiety and infant avoidance: the higher the level of infant anxious temperament the stronger the positive association between paternal expressed anxiety and infant's avoidance of the cliff. Lastly, parental encouragement was unrelated to infant expressed anxiety and avoidance. Our results suggest that SR processes between fathers and their infants differ from those between mothers and their infants.     

Stressors and Social Resources at Work: Examining the Buffering Effects of LMX,POS, and Their Interaction on Employee Attitudes

Journal of Business and Psychology - Numerous advancements have been made regarding how aspects of job roles and organizational environments affect work attitudes. However, less attention has been...     

Emotional suppression and well‐being in immigrants and majority group members in the Netherlands

We were interested in interethnic differences in emotional suppression. We propose a model in which suppression of specific emotional experiences (suppressive behaviours during interactions with others) mediates the relationship between emotional suppression tendency (intention to suppress emotions) and well‐being, operationalised as mood disturbance, life dissatisfaction and depressive and physical symptoms. The sample consisted of 427 majority group members and 344 non‐Western and 465 Western immigrants in the Netherlands. Non‐Western immigrants scored higher on emotional suppression tendency and lower on well‐being than the other groups. We did not find interethnic differences in suppression of specific emotional experiences. The full mediation model was supported in all groups. Interethnic differences in well‐being could not be accounted for by differences in emotional suppression.     

Fathers’ Challenging Parenting Behavior Prevents Social Anxiety Development in Their 4-Year-Old Children: A Longitudinal Observational Study

Recent models on parenting propose different roles for fathers and mothers in the development of child anxiety. Specifically, it is suggested that fathers’ challenging parenting behavior, in which the child is playfully encouraged to push her limits, buffers against child anxiety. In this longitudinal study, we explored whether the effect of challenging parenting on children’s social anxiety differed between fathers and mothers. Fathers and mothers from 94 families were separately observed with their two children (44 % girls), aged 2 and 4 years at Time 1, in three structured situations involving one puzzle task and two games. Overinvolved and challenging parenting behavior were coded. Child social anxiety was measured by observing the child’s response to a stranger at Time 1, and half a year later at Time 2, and by parental ratings. In line with predictions, father’s challenging parenting behavior predicted less subsequent observed social anxiety of the 4-year-old child. Mothers’ challenging behavior, however, predicted more observed social anxiety of the 4-year-old. Parents’ overinvolvement at Time 1 did not predict change in observed social anxiety of the 4-year-old child. For the 2-year-old child, maternal and paternal parenting behavior did not predict subsequent social anxiety, but early social anxiety marginally did. Parent-rated social anxiety was predicted by previous parental ratings of social anxiety, and not by parenting behavior. Challenging parenting behavior appears to have favorable effects on observed 4-year-old’s social anxiety when displayed by the father. Challenging parenting behavior emerges as an important focus for future research and interventions.     

Individual Differences in Antisocial Punishment in Public Goods Situations: The Interplay of Cortisol with Testosterone and Dominance

This research investigates which endocrinological and psychological factors are associated with individuals' tendency to engage in destructive antisocial punishment, that is, to costly punish cooperative individuals in public goods situations. In this work, we focus on the interplay of endogenous cortisol with testosterone and dominance. We applied the dual‐hormone hypothesis according to which testosterone is positively associated with destructive and dominant behavior but only in individuals with low levels of cortisol. Study 1 shows that individuals are more likely to engage in destructive antisocial punishment in a public goods game with the option to punish when their testosterone level is high, given that their level of cortisol is low, which bolsters the dual‐hormone hypothesis. In contrast, no significant interaction effect of testosterone and cortisol emerges for the punishment of uncooperative free‐riders (altruistic punishment). In a second study, we build on these findings and document that self‐reported dominance is only positively associated with antisocial punishment (but not with altruistic punishment) when cortisol is low. In sum, the results indicate the importance of taking endocrinological and psychological factors (and their interactions) into account in order to reach a comprehensive understanding of individuals' behavior in social dilemma situations. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.