Bullying Victimization and Use of Substances in High School: Does Religiosity Moderate the Association?

Alcohol, tobacco and other drug use continue to pose serious public health concerns among youth. Bullying victimization has been identified as a risk factor and religiosity a protective factor for adolescent substance use. No previous research has examined the potential moderating role of religiosity. We explore the association between bullying victimization and substance use in adolescents with low and high levels of religiosity. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with a representative sample of high school students in greater Beirut. Binary and multinomial logistic models were used, adjusting for demographics, and stratified by level of religiosity. Of the 986 students responding to the survey, 65% were females; 48% had experienced some form of bullying; and 52% self-rated as low in religiosity. Between 10 and 30% were current users of alcohol or tobacco. Students of lower religiosity levels who had been bullied were more likely to use substances than those who self-rated as high religiosity. Religiosity may be a potential moderator of the association between being bullied and substance use, but the exact mechanisms and underlying reasons need further investigation.

     

The wrongs of racist beliefs

Philosophical Studies - We care not only about how people treat us, but also what they believe of us. If I believe that you’re a bad tipper given your race, I’ve wronged you. But, what...     

Paid Work and Domestic Labor in Disadvantaged Communities on the Outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon

This article explored the association between economic activity and the contribution to domestic labor in a Middle Eastern society. Analyses were carried out on cross-sectional survey data from 5,998 individuals, aged between 18 and 64 years, in three poor communities in the suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon. Domestic labor was evaluated with a composite index that takes into account both the type of task performed and the level of involvement. Housework categories included core household chores, care giving, financial management, home management, and home/car maintenance. Results showed that women continue to do most of the domestic labor in the three communities. However, women’s load of domestic labor decreased as they joined the labor market, whereas men’s contribution to domestic labor increased with involvement in paid work. Relatively speaking, the difference in contribution to housework between house members engaged and not engaged in paid labor was much higher for women than it was for men.     

The homogeneity assumption in differential prediction analysis: does it really matter?

In simulation studies, the F test for differences in regression slopes has tended to distort nominal Type I and II error rates when the 2 subgroup error variances exceeded a 1.50:1 ratio. This study examines the frequency and extent that this ratio is violated within data sets relevant to applied psychology. The General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) validity study database contained ability data and overall job performance ratings. The Project A military database contained both ability and personality data, along with job performance factor scores and an overall job performance rating. Results suggest that subgroup (White-Black, male-female) error variances are often homogeneous enough to support F test results from past empirical work. Enough heterogeneity was found, however, to urge applied psychologists investigating differential prediction to explore their data and consider the possibility of alternative statistical tests.     

Stopping Criteria in Sequential Choice

The essential decision in sequential choice is not which alternative to choose but when to stop acquiring additional information and commit to the leading alternative. Two studies investigate individuals’ stopping strategies. The key difference between the two studies is whether the experimenter or subjects controlled the order in which information was acquired. We hypothesize that subjects’ stopping criteria do not remain fixed, but are sensitive to acquisition costs and to the achieved progress during the choice. Across both studies 21 of 26 subjects exhibited significant adaptation. We also found an effort-reducing heuristic, stopping after all attributes in a predetermined set of core attributes had been acquired. As expected, use of this Core Attributes heuristic was greater when subjects controlled the order in which information was acquired. Both adaptation and the Core Attributes heuristic are compatible with the adaptive view of decision making and with the cost-benefit framework more generally.     

Investigating differential prediction by gender in employment-oriented personality measures

Gender-based differential prediction of job performance in employment-oriented personality measures has been left virtually unexamined. The use of 3 personality composites from the U.S. Army's instrument to predict 5 dimensions of job performance across 9 military jobs was investigated. Differential prediction, occurring in one third of the cases, was predominantly in the form of overprediction of female performances (i.e., higher male intercepts); slope differences were not found at above-chance levels. Female performance on the Effort and Leadership dimension was overpredicted in 90% of all predictor-criterion-job combinations, suggesting the measurement of this performance dimension as the source of the differential prediction rather than bias in the personality measures. Findings of overprediction of female performance parallel those of research investigating differential prediction by race in the ability domain.