Separate Roles for State and Trait Anxiety in the Formation of SHU Syndrome: Testing a Moderated Mediation Hypothesis

It has been proposed that state anxiety, aroused when an inmate is initially placed in restrictive housing, interacts with the sequestering Special Housing Unit (SHU) environment to overtax the individual's already limited coping resources, and promotes later emotional problems and psychological deterioration. This study tested a SHU syndrome hypothesis with a moderated mediation path analysis of 69 male inmates. Results revealed that group status (general population vs. restrictive housing) interacted with state anxiety to increase trait anxiety and ineffective coping, which then gave rise to higher staff ratings of psychological disturbance in inmates with no prior history of mental illness.

Are People More Satisfied with Democracy When They Feel They Won the Election? No

Citizens who voted for a party ending up in government are more satisfied with democracy than those who supported a party that ends up in the opposition. The assumption is that voting for a party that is included in the government produces a perception of having won the election, which increases one’s level of satisfaction with democracy. This (assumed) mediation has never been directly tested. In this research note, we provide the first empirical test of this mediation using data from the Making Electoral Democracy Work project, which includes a question tapping whether the respondent perceives the party she voted for won or lost the election. We do not find support for the mediation hypothesis. We conclude that the meaning of the higher (lower) satisfaction observed among those who voted for a party included in the government (or in the opposition) remains ambiguous. Our research has important implications for the conceptualization of what it means to win or lose an election.

Reading Comprehension Predictors in European Portuguese Adults

Research on the predictors of reading comprehension has been largely focused on school-aged children and mainly in opaque orthographies, hindering the generalization of the results to adult populations and more transparent orthographies. In the present study, we aim to test two versions of the Simple View of Reading (SVR): the original model and an extended version, including reading fluency and vocabulary. Additional mediation models were analyzed to verify if other reading comprehension predictors (rapid automatized naming, phonological decoding, phonological awareness, morphological awareness, and working memory) have direct effects or if they are mediated through word reading and reading fluency. A sample of 67 typical adult Portuguese readers participated in this study. The SVR model accounted for 27% of the variance in reading comprehension, with oral language comprehension displaying a larger contribution than word reading. In the extended SVR model, reading fluency and vocabulary provided an additional and significant contribution of 7% to the explained variance. Moreover, vocabulary influenced reading comprehension directly and indirectly, via oral language comprehension. In the final mediation model, the total mediation hypothesis was rejected, and only morphological awareness showed a direct effect on reading comprehension. These results provide preliminary evidence that the SVR (with the possible addition of vocabulary) might be a reliable model to explain reading comprehension in adult typical readers in a semitransparent orthography. Furthermore, oral language comprehension and vocabulary were the best predictors in the study, suggesting that remediation programs addressing reading comprehension in adults should promote these abilities.

"Direct threats require decisive action": An investigation on how levels of political conservatism change in the face of economic, natural and social threats

<p>The extant literature has suggested that threatening time periods and situations can enhance people’s political conservatism levels. This thesis provides a systematic examination of the impact of societal threat on political conservatism, and whether distinct types of threat (economic, natural, and social) differentially impact political conservatism. In particular, the present research examines two main competing hypotheses. The conservative shift hypothesis (Jost, Glaser, Kruglanski, & Sulloway, 2003b) postulates that people become more politically conservative during/after threatening periods. The cultural worldview enhancement hypothesis (Pyszczynski, Solomon, & Greenberg, 2003) postulates that people tend to cling more strongly to what they believe when their death is made salient, be it a more conservative or liberal political belief – we assume that societal threat could also make mortality salient, enhancing a held political worldview. Additionally, the present research also examines in more depth how societal threat impacts political conservatism. The dual-process mediation hypothesis suggests that the impact of societal threat on political conservatism happens via variables in the dual-process motivational (DPM; Duckitt, 2001) model, being differentially mediated by world beliefs (dangerous and competitive) and socio-political attitudes (right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation). Finally and because the direct impact of threat on authoritarianism has been questioned (Feldman & Stenner, 1997), the activation of authoritarianism by social threat hypothesis suggests an interaction between social threat and previous levels of right-wing authoritarianism in predicting political conservatism and variables in the DPM model. Seven empirical studies were carried out to test these hypotheses using different methodological designs. The correlational findings of Study 1 showed that the DPM model was useful in predicting political conservatism. The mix-method findings of Study 2A showed that economic, natural, and social threats have distinct psychological meanings. Based on these initial findings, two mix-method studies were conducted to develop textual (Study 2B) and pictorial (Study 2C) experimental stimuli depicting economic, natural and social threat scenarios plus a control scenario. Three experiments were then conducted to test the complete set of hypotheses: Study 3A was completed online with textual stimuli, Study 3B was completed in a lab with textual stimuli, and Study 3C was completed in a lab with pictorial stimuli. Overall, the experimental findings provided more support for the conservative shift hypothesis with participants showing greater conservative political orientation after the threat manipulation (compared to the control condition) in Study 3C. However, this effect did not generalise to other measures of political conservatism (right-wing political orientation, conservative voting intention and preference for political discourses of conservative parties). Additionally, some distinctions between threat types were observed. The dual-process mediation hypothesis was partially supported in Studies 3A and 3C. The threat manipulation impacted political conservatism indirectly via an increase in competitive world beliefs and an increase in RWA in Study 3A, while it impacted political conservatism via an increase in dangerous world beliefs and increases in right-wing authoritarianism and/or social dominance orientation in Study 3C. No empirical support was observed for both the cultural worldview enhancement and the activation of authoritarianism by social threat hypotheses. Overall, the present research suggests that it is possible to experimentally modify people’s political conservatism using threat manipulation, that threat enhances (at least to some extent) political conservatism, and that this impact may be differentially mediated by variables in the DPM model. These conclusions are discussed in more depth along with limitations and future directions in the general discussion of the thesis.</p>

"Direct threats require decisive action": An investigation on how levels of political conservatism change in the face of economic, natural and social threats

<p>The extant literature has suggested that threatening time periods and situations can enhance people’s political conservatism levels. This thesis provides a systematic examination of the impact of societal threat on political conservatism, and whether distinct types of threat (economic, natural, and social) differentially impact political conservatism. In particular, the present research examines two main competing hypotheses. The conservative shift hypothesis (Jost, Glaser, Kruglanski, & Sulloway, 2003b) postulates that people become more politically conservative during/after threatening periods. The cultural worldview enhancement hypothesis (Pyszczynski, Solomon, & Greenberg, 2003) postulates that people tend to cling more strongly to what they believe when their death is made salient, be it a more conservative or liberal political belief – we assume that societal threat could also make mortality salient, enhancing a held political worldview. Additionally, the present research also examines in more depth how societal threat impacts political conservatism. The dual-process mediation hypothesis suggests that the impact of societal threat on political conservatism happens via variables in the dual-process motivational (DPM; Duckitt, 2001) model, being differentially mediated by world beliefs (dangerous and competitive) and socio-political attitudes (right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation). Finally and because the direct impact of threat on authoritarianism has been questioned (Feldman & Stenner, 1997), the activation of authoritarianism by social threat hypothesis suggests an interaction between social threat and previous levels of right-wing authoritarianism in predicting political conservatism and variables in the DPM model. Seven empirical studies were carried out to test these hypotheses using different methodological designs. The correlational findings of Study 1 showed that the DPM model was useful in predicting political conservatism. The mix-method findings of Study 2A showed that economic, natural, and social threats have distinct psychological meanings. Based on these initial findings, two mix-method studies were conducted to develop textual (Study 2B) and pictorial (Study 2C) experimental stimuli depicting economic, natural and social threat scenarios plus a control scenario. Three experiments were then conducted to test the complete set of hypotheses: Study 3A was completed online with textual stimuli, Study 3B was completed in a lab with textual stimuli, and Study 3C was completed in a lab with pictorial stimuli. Overall, the experimental findings provided more support for the conservative shift hypothesis with participants showing greater conservative political orientation after the threat manipulation (compared to the control condition) in Study 3C. However, this effect did not generalise to other measures of political conservatism (right-wing political orientation, conservative voting intention and preference for political discourses of conservative parties). Additionally, some distinctions between threat types were observed. The dual-process mediation hypothesis was partially supported in Studies 3A and 3C. The threat manipulation impacted political conservatism indirectly via an increase in competitive world beliefs and an increase in RWA in Study 3A, while it impacted political conservatism via an increase in dangerous world beliefs and increases in right-wing authoritarianism and/or social dominance orientation in Study 3C. No empirical support was observed for both the cultural worldview enhancement and the activation of authoritarianism by social threat hypotheses. Overall, the present research suggests that it is possible to experimentally modify people’s political conservatism using threat manipulation, that threat enhances (at least to some extent) political conservatism, and that this impact may be differentially mediated by variables in the DPM model. These conclusions are discussed in more depth along with limitations and future directions in the general discussion of the thesis.</p>

Preen gland microbiota covary with major histocompatibility complex genotype in a songbird

Pathogen-mediated selection at the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is thought to promote MHC-based mate choice in vertebrates. Mounting evidence implicates odour in conveying MHC genotype, but the underlying mechanisms remain uncertain. MHC effects on odour may be mediated by odour-producing symbiotic microbes whose community structure is shaped by MHC genotype. In birds, preen oil is a primary source of body odour and similarity at MHC predicts similarity in preen oil composition. Hypothesizing that this relationship is mediated by symbiotic microbes, we characterized MHC genotype, preen gland microbial communities and preen oil chemistry of song sparrows ( Melospiza melodia ). Consistent with the microbial mediation hypothesis, pairwise similarity at MHC predicted similarity in preen gland microbiota. Counter to this hypothesis, overall microbial similarity did not predict chemical similarity of preen oil. However, permutation testing identified a maximally predictive set of microbial taxa that best reflect MHC genotype, and another set of taxa that best predict preen oil chemical composition. The relative strengths of relationships between MHC and microbes, microbes and preen oil, and MHC and preen oil suggest that MHC may affect host odour both directly and indirectly. Thus, birds may assess MHC genotypes based on both host-associated and microbially mediated odours.

Direct, Indirect and Conditional Indirect Effects of Communication and Career Anxiety on Perceived Stress during Interviews in University Students – A PLS SEM Model

By exploring the connections between communication and career anxiety and perceived stress, the current study contributes to a more nuanced appreciation of the university students’ emotional and psychological frame of mind during interviews. The study evaluates the direct, indirect and conditional indirect effect of CA on perceived stress PS during interviews. The study also presents a complex research model, based on Preacher, Rucker, and Hayes (2007) model where the independent variable CA has a moderating effect on FCA, which is the mediator. The model is validated using empirical data, sample size 177 with 124 males (70.1%), and 53 (29.9%) females, with PLS-SEM using Smart PLS 3 (3.2.9). To test the hypotheses formulated, two tests were conducted using the same sample; the first one verified the direct and mediating hypotheses, the next verified the moderated mediation hypothesis. The results indicate CA affects PS. Secondly, FCA mediates the effect of CA on PS. Moreover, the study confirms the effect of moderation as CA moderates the effect of FCA on PS, such that the relationship between FCA and PS is weaker when CA is small compared to when it’s high, however at very higher level the effect is seen to dampen and weaker. The implications are discussed.

Socioeconomic status, time preferences and pro-environmentalism

Future-oriented individuals tend to display more pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours, compared to those who are present-oriented. Investigating the determinants of time preferences could therefore shed light on factors that also influence environmentalism. A key factor that impacts time preferences is socioeconomic status (SES). Importantly, SES is also positively correlated with willingness to act for the environment. In this paper, we test whether time preferences partially mediate the relationship between SES and pro-environmentalism in three studies. In the first study, we tested the assumption that pro-environmental attitudes are positively correlated with SES on a large cross-sectional French sample (N = 15,924). We found expected results both with an objective and a subjective measure of SES. Then, we conducted an online study including a temporal discounting task, which allowed us to fully test the mediation hypothesis on British participants (N = 650). Our results suggest that the positive association between SES and pro-environmental attitudes is partially mediated by temporal discounting, but no significant mediated relationship was found for pro-environmental behaviour. Finally, we conducted a third study with an experimental setting, for which we recruited British participants who underestimated their position in the income distribution (N = 855). In the treatment group, participants received a correction of their misperception, in order to increase their perceived relative income. Although the expected shift towards increased preferences for the future was not observed, we found a moderated effect of the treatment on pro-environmentalism.

Authentic leadership and employee health: a conditional process model

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of authentic leadership (AL) on employees' health via employees' perception of climate of authenticity (PCA) across two studies. In study 2, the authors additionally explore the moderating role of employees' neuroticism.Design/methodology/approachThe hypotheses were tested across two studies using two-wave survey data. In study 1 (n = 104), the mediation hypothesis was tested. Study 2 (n = 146) extended study 1 and examined the moderated mediation model.FindingsAcross both studies, AL is positively related to employee health, and employees' perceived climate of authenticity mediates this relationship. Study 2 additionally shows that employees' neuroticism moderates this indirect effect such that perceived climate of authenticity instigated by AL is particularly conducive for employees high in neuroticism as opposed to those low in neuroticism.Practical implicationsFindings emphasize the health-promoting effect of AL. It is recommended that organizations cascade, through their leaders, emotional display rules that encourage genuine emotional expression.Originality/valueThis paper addresses gaps in the leadership literature through investigating perceived climate of authenticity, a mediating variable that lies at the heart of AL, and integrating the role of employees' personality in the leadership process.