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Incentives have surprisingly inconsistent effects when it comes to encouraging people to behave prosocially. Classical economic theory, according to which a specific behavior becomes more prevalent when it is rewarded, struggles to explain why incentives sometimes backfire. More recent theories therefore posit a reputational cost offsetting the benefits of receiving an incentive -- yet unexplained effects of incentives remain, for instance across incentive types and countries. We propose that social norms can offer an explanation for these inconsistencies. Ultimately, social norms determine the reputational costs or benefits resulting from a given behavior, and thus variation in the effect of incentives may reflect variation in norms. We implemented a formal model of prosocial behavior integrating social norms, which we empirically tested on the real-world prosocial behavior of blood donation. Blood donation is essential for many life-saving medical procedures, but also presents an ideal testing ground for our theory: Various incentive policies for blood donors exist across countries, enabling a comparative approach. Our preregistered analyses reveal that social norms can indeed account for the varying effects of financial and time incentives on individual-level blood donation behavior across 28 European countries. Incentives are associated with higher levels of prosociality when norms regarding the incentive are more positive. The results indicate that social norms play an important role in explaining the relationship between incentives and prosocial behavior. More generally, our approach highlights the potential of integrating theory from across the economic and behavioral sciences to generate novel insights, with tangible consequences for policy-making., 34 pages, 11 figures

Researchers posited that cross-cultural variations in cognitive dissonance processes could be attributed to differences in "self-construal". Previous cross-cultural studies investigating cognitive dissonance and the role of self-construal have been limited to the "free choice paradigm". However, concerns have been raised regarding the validity of this paradigm and the generalizability of its results. To address this gap, we plan to conduct a follow-up study of Vaidis et al.’s (In revision) RRR. In our study, we aim to examine the impact of self-construal on attitude change using an induced compliance paradigm across 18 countries, 13 languages, 34 laboratories, and 3107 participants. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: high-choice counterattitudinal essay writing (HC-CE), low-choice counterattitudinal essay writing (LC-CE), or high-choice neutral essay writing (HC-NE). We measured self-construal and attitude levels for each participant. We expect an interaction effect between the experimental conditions and self-construal (at both individual and country levels) on attitude change. Specifically, we expect that the induced compliance effect will be more pronounced when self-construal scores are high compared to when they are low. The findings from this study will enhance our understanding of cognitive dissonance theory and shed light on cross-cultural variations in its underlying processes.

The study aimed to measure Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) and fear level towards COVID-19 and explore its cross-cultural variances in knowledge by sociodemographic factors among the general population of 8 different countries over 5 continents. It was a cross-sectional online survey. This survey was conducted in April 2020 among 1296 participants using the “Google Form” platform. Considering the social distancing formula and pandemic situation, we collect data using popular social media networks. Univariate and bivariate analyses were used to explore the collected data on KAP, fear, and sociodemographic factors. Overall knowledge score was 9.7 ± 1.7 (out of 12), and gender differences (female vs male: 9.8 ± 1.6 vs 9.5 ± 1.9) were significant (p = 0.008) in the bivariate analysis. Knowledge score variances were found significant in some regions by gender, marital status, and education qualification. The highest and lowest mean knowledge scores were recorded in the Middle East (10.0 ± 1.7) and Europe (9.3 ± 2.0). Despite having a high fear score (22.5 ± 5.6 out of 35), 78.35% of respondents were positively and 81.7% in a good practice level. Fear score rankings: Middle East (1st; 23.8 ± 5.5), Europe (2nd; 23.2 ± 5.8), Africa (3rd; 22.7 ± 5.0), South Asia (4th; 22.1 ± 5.7), Oceania (5th; 21.9 ± 5.8), and North America (6th; 21.7 ± 5.5). Fear and knowledge were not correlated. KAP and fear variation exist among geographical regions. Gender, marital status, and education qualification are factors in knowledge variances for some regions. KAP and fear measures can help health education programs consider some sociodemographic factors and regions during an outbreak of highly contagious disease and uplift a positive attitude and good practice. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11469-021-00638-4.

Previous research suggested that the more individuals feel pressured not to experience negative emotions, the more they felt loneliness (Bastian, Koval, Erbas, Houben, Pe & Kuppens, 2015) and the higher levels of negative emotions and the lower well-being they reported (Bastian, Kuppens, Hornsey, Park, Koval & Uchida, 2012). These findings suggest that the more individuals perceived that they should not experience negative emotions, the lower levels of well-being or happiness they experience. Even though preceding research findings shed a light on when individuals have a stronger association between their perceived pressure not to experience negative emotions and levels of well-being, a good overview of when and how perceived pressure not to experience negative emotions is related to well-being is still lacking. Especially not enough research has been done in how emotion regulation or view on emotions could play a role in the association between perceived societal norm on disapproval of negative emotions and well-being. Our first aim was to replicate previous finding that the more individuals think that society disapprove negative emotions, the lower levels of well-being they experience. Second, as an extension of our first aim, we investigated whether the association between perceived societal disapproval on negative emotion and well-being varies across different cultures namely Australia, South Korea and Poland. As our third aim, we explored how views on emotion (malleability of emotion) and emotion regulation strategies (reappraisal, suppression, help-seeking) are related with perceived pressure not to experience negative emotion, well-being. In investigating these associations, as our fourth aim, we also explored whether these associations differ across cultures. Overall, multiple series of analyses for these four research aims revealed as follow; First, the more individuals perceived that their society does not approve negative emotions, the lower levels of well-being they experienced. Second, this association between perceived pressure not to experience negative emotions and well-being did not differ across countries. Third, (a) reappraisal, help-seeking and belief on malleability of emotions were positively associated with well-being and (b) negatively associated with perceived pressure not to experience negative emotions. In contrast, (c) suppression was negatively associated with levels of well-being while (d) positively correlated with perceived pressure not to experience negative emotions. Fourth, even though there was no noticeable systematic cultural difference in how views on emotions and emotion regulation strategies were associated with well-being, we found an interesting cultural difference in how suppression is associate with well-being; suppression was negative related with well-being in Australia and Poland but this association was not significant in South Korea. In addition the strength of (negative) association between suppression and well-being was significantly stronger in Australia then in South Korea. This goes in line with previous literature that emotion regulation plays different role across socio-cultural contexts (Kalokerinos, Greenaway, & Casey, 2017). In addition, we conducted an additional research examining whether how views on emotion (malleability of emotion) and emotion regulation strategies (reappraisal, suppression, help-seeking) moderate or mediate the association between perceived social disapproval on negative emotions and depressive symptoms. Our analyses, in line with previous findings, showed that when negative emotions is perceived to be disapproved by the society, individuals experience more severe levels of depressive symptoms. Furthermore, this research revealed individuals, who perceive emotions malleable or who actively deal with their negative emotions by reappraise them or ask help to others to deal with their emotions, not only have lower levels of depressive symptoms but also have less impact of perceived pressure not to experience negative emotions (SEDAS) on depressive symptoms. All in all, this research suggest that it is crucial to face negative emotions and actively find ways to deal with them instead of feeling pressured not to experience them or suppress them.

We aim to investigate the influence of culture and own-race effects on the relationship between body dissatisfaction and attentional bias towards low fat bodies. We will recruit Malaysian Chinese women in Malaysia and White Australian women in Australia. To measure attentional bias, participants will complete a dot probe task in which they are presented with own-race and other-race body stimuli.

Social interactions require their participants to represent each other’s beliefs. This is especially challenging when the individuals' beliefs contradict each other. Humans struggle with the task of holding two different, contradictory views about their environment in their minds. Interestingly, not only does inhibiting their own beliefs appear to be difficult, but in some situations, the beliefs of others interfere with their own behavior. It seems that humans automatically represent their partner’s view about the environment, even in situations where this point of view is irrelevant or even adverse. A research team around Kovács (2010) showed that even infants showed this interference towards the other person's belief (so-called altercentric interference/bias). In their study, the infants’ looking time was influenced by the false belief of an observing agent, even in situations where the infant was holding a true belief of the hiding location of a ball. Interestingly, these false beliefs not only modulated the looking time when the agent was present but also later when the agent was not present anymore. So far, most studies examining the altercentric interference were tested in WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic) populations, which is a known problem specifically for psychology studies (Nielsen et al., 2017). To claim that altercentric cognition is a human-specific “social sense” (Kovács et al., 2010), we need to study this trait cross-culturally. Therefore, one aim of this project is to study whether non-westernized populations (i.e., BaYaka and Bandongo, Likouala Region, Republic of the Congo) also show the altercentric interference effects.

Objectives: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) prevalence is similar across world regions. However, because informants' decision thresholds may vary between regions, these similarities may mask regional variations in actual ADHD behaviours. We tested this by comparing the relationship between informant's ratings and children's measured activity in United Kingdom (UK) and Hong Kong (HK) and then explored whether any national differences in endorsement thresholds discovered are linked to cultural variations in parenting factors. Methods: Parents rated the 18 ADHD symptoms in 112 three-to-five-year-old children stratified for ADHD symptom levels (49 girls and 63 boys; 55 from the UK and 57 from HK) and completed some parenting questionnaires. Children's task-related activity was measured using actometers. Results: In both groups, measured activity was positively correlated with hyperactivity/impulsivity (r = 0.44HK; r = 0.41UK). While HK children were less active than UK children (p

The article presents the results of the empirical testing of the authors model of the social-intellectual features of facial expressions recognition by the Russian and Asian students, and of the personal emotional, cultural and social intelligence. The importance of the research at the theoretical level is determined by the need for a cross-cultural social-psychological study of holistic constructs related to the personal social, cultural and emotional intelligence and recognition of emotions. At the practical level, the dynamics of Russian-Asian relations, in particular of the student mobility, explains the need for competent social-psychological support of foreign students in the internationally oriented university, which consists mainly of developing the intellectual potential and corresponding flexible skills. The authors empirically confirmed the hypothesis of the common grounds and specific features of the manifestation of structural, functional and substantial, dynamic and procedural components of the proposed model of intellectual personal manifestations in recognition of facial expressions. The hypothesis was empirically tested on the RUDN students (242 respondents) by the factor analysis: the study confirmed the common basis for the manifestation of structural components of the model (social-personal and active), presence of the substantial-regulatory factor in the substantial component, implementation of anticipation, adaptation and regulation in the functional component, reflective-evaluative manifestations in the substantial component, and manifestation of the dynamic and procedural components. Specific features of the model are determined by such differences as the unequal dynamics of each group of components (structural, functional, substantial) due to the cultural-social requirements and norms beyond the psychological domain, which require further research through the cultural-integrative and ethnic-specific conditions (theoretically also represented in the model).

Background Supragastric belching (SGB) may play a role in the pathophysiology of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs)-refractoriness in gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). SGB may be present in up to 40% of reflux symptoms in PPI-refractory GERD. Most reports on SGB have come from Western countries, and little is known about the prevalence and relevance of SGB in Asian refractory GERD patients. This study aimed at comparing the role of SGB in GERD patients in Japan and the UK. Methods We re-analyzed impedance-pH monitoring tracings from patients who were referred to tertiary centers in Japan and the UK due to PPI-refractory reflux symptoms. The prevalence of excessive SGB and the impact of SGB on reflux symptoms were compared between the two countries. Results Impedance-pH tracings from124 Japanese and 83 British patients were re-analyzed. Japanese patients were significantly younger and had smaller body mass index than the British (P P = 0.006). Logistic regression analysis showed that the geographical/cultural difference was the only factor associated with the different prevalence of SGB (odds ratio; 2.91, 95% CI 1.09–7.73, P = 0.032). SGB were related to typical reflux symptoms very rarely in Japan [0% (0–4.9)] compared to the UK [35% (0–54.1)] (P = 0.071). Conclusions The prevalence of SGB and their impact on reflux symptoms is significantly lower in Japan compared to the UK. The difference is not related to reflux parameters but might come from ethnic/cultural factors to be further characterized.

Unethical behaviours, such as blaming subordinates for their shortcomings, taking credit of others’ work, favouritism, and excessive publicising of ethical leadership failures are prominent among t...

Purpose: Cross-cultural comparisons based on ordinal Likert-type rating scales have been threatened by response style which is systematic tendencies to respond to items regardless of the item content. So, this study aimed to investigate the effect of extreme response style and acquisance response style on TIMSS 2015 data. Method: The sample of this descriptive study included eighth grade students of the countries Japan, Korea, Taipei, Turkey, Oman and Jordan. Students' responses to scale regarding value on mathematics were used. To examine the impact of response styles, partial credit model and partial credit model with response style were analyzed. Also, the estimates obtained from these models were compared Findings: It was found that response styles existed in TIMSS 2015 data. Furthermore, the number of the students selecting the extreme categories were found to be lower than that of the students selecting relatively middle response categories. Additionally, item thresholds of the extreme categories were found to be distorted leading to biased determination of item response curves. Implications for Research and Practice: The presence of the response style in the large-scale assessment which guides policy makers in their regulations in the educational systems and gives information to teachers in their practices lead researchers to examine and control the effect of them. (C) 2020 Ani Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved

Aim. To perform the comparative analysis adolescents’ use of moral self-justification mechanisms in various ethno-cultural conditions. Methodology. The method of moral responsibility alienation by S. Moore was used (adapted by Ya. A. Ledovaya et al.). 731 teenagers, aged from 13 to 18, from Russia and Azerbaijan took part in the study. Results. Taking into consideration the intensity of the moral freedom strategies use, three types of “moral freedom” (“passive users”, “active users”, “strategy of distorting the victim’s image”) are singled out; moral self-justification mechanisms preferred by adolescents are established. Cross-cultural differences in the application of moral self-justification mechanisms are revealed both for the sample as a whole and for gender groups. Research implications. The research results develop the ideas of cross-cultural peculiarities of adolescents’ behavior in moral choice conditions. The results can be used in adolescents’ personal development programs.

Background. The objective of this cross-cultural study was to analyze the differences in resilience, cognitive emotion regulation strategies (CERS), as well as psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic between Poland and Spain. Method. An online survey was conducted on a sample of 1,182 adults. A MANOVA analysis was carried out to examine the differences in the studied variables between these countries. This was followed by MANCOVA analysis to control for gender and age. Linear regression analyses segmented by country were conducted in order to identify psychological distress prediction models. Results. Polish population was characterized by higher levels of anxiety, less resilience and more maladaptive CERS during the lockdown. Spanish population was more affected by stress but used more adaptable CERS and was more resilient. Age and female gender appeared as risk factors of psychological distress in Spain. The psychological distress prediction models were found to be different between both countries: adaptive CERS was predictive only in Spain, and resilience was predictive only in Poland. Conclusions. This study could guide in initiatives for the promotion of psychological well-being as a way to prevent psychopathological disorders during the pandemic. Antecedentes. El objetivo de este estudio transcultural fue analizar las diferencias en resiliencia, estrategias de regulación cognitiva de las emociones (CERS) y distress psicológico durante la pandemia del COVID-19 en Polonia y España. Método. Se realizó una encuesta online en una muestra de 1,182 adultos. Se llevó a cabo un análisis MANOVA para examinar las diferencias en las variables estudiadas entre estos países. Esto fue seguido de un análisis MANCOVA controlando el sexo y la edad. Se realizaron análisis de regresión lineal segmentados por país con el fin de identificar modelos predictivos de distrés psicológico. Resultados. La población polaca se caracterizó por niveles más altos de ansiedad, menos resiliencia y más uso de CERS desadaptativas durante el confinamiento. La población española sufrió más estrés pero utilizó CERS adaptativas y fue más resiliente. La edad y el sexo femenino aparecieron como factores de riesgo de malestar psicológico en España. Se encontró que los modelos de predicción de distrés psicológico fueron diferentes en ambos países: las CERS adaptativas fueron predictivas en España y la resiliencia fue predictiva en Polonia. Conclusiones. Este estudio podría guiar en iniciativas para la promoción del bienestar psicológico como vía para prevenir trastornos psicopatológicos durante la pandemia.

This study attempts to understand motivators and de-motivators that influence the decisions of software students to take up and sustain software testing careers across four different countries, Canada, India, China, and Malaysia. Towards that end, we have developed a cross-sectional, but simple, survey-based instrument. In this study we investigated how software engineering and computer science students perceive and value what they do and their environmental settings. This study found that very few students are keen to take up software testing careers - why is this happening with such an important task in the software life cycle? The common advantages of a software testing career are learning opportunities and easiness of the job and the common drawbacks are tediousness, complexity, and missing the opportunity to do (software) development. Our findings highlight the importance of depicting software testing activities as a set of human-dependent tasks, and emphasizes the need for research that critically examines the way in which software testers view testing activities.

For much of 2020, countries around the world fought against the COVID-19 pandemic. Many countries went into lockdown to control the fast spread of the virus. The unusual restrictions and confinement of the lockdown brought about new challenges for people’s everyday lives. With flexibility, adaptability, and problem-solving at the core of its nature, creativity has the potential to help people cope with harsh and uncertain circumstances. Were people more, the same, or less creative in their everyday life during the period of lockdown, and in which ways? What are the emotions and motivations underlying their creative or non-creative behaviors? The current study aims to explore these questions from a cross-cultural perspective. A total of 754 comparable employee samples from three Chinese and three German cities were asked about their moods during the lockdown period, their self-rated level of creativity in daily lives before and during the lockdown, and their motivations behind their creative activities. Significant increases in creativity were observed in all everyday activities in both countries with only two exceptions in the German sample. Despite minor differences, a common pattern was found across cultures: whereas the activating positive mood could directly lead to the increase in creativity in some everyday activities, such a direct Mood-Creativity link was limited in the activating negative mood circumstances. In such circumstances, motivation intervened to enable the link to creativity. It was also found that this indirect effect of motivation between mood and creativity was more pronounced with the German participants.

A wide-range of personal and sensitive information are stored in users’ online accounts. Losing access, or an unauthorized access to one of those accounts could put them into the risks of privacy breach, cause financial loss, and compromise their accessibility to important information and documents. A large body of prior work focused on developing new schemes and strategies to protect users’ online security. However, there is a dearth in existing literature to understand users’ strategies and contingency plans to protect their online accounts once they lose access, or identify an unauthorized access to one of their accounts. We addressed this gap in our work, where we conducted semi-structured interview with 59 participants from three different countries: Bangladesh, Turkey, and USA. Our findings reveal the unawareness, misconceptions, and privacy and accessibility concerns of users, which refrain them from taking security-preserving steps to protect their online accounts. We also identified users’ prevention strategies that could put their online security into further risks.

BackgroundThe mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantining on children and young people (CYP) living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) has yet to be fully comprehended. CYP in LMICs are at utmost risk, given the COVID-19-related restrictions and social distancing measures, resulting in reduced access to school-based services for nutritional and mental health needs. This study examined mental health of CYP during the first COVID-19 lockdown in Zambia and Sierra Leone.MethodA total of 468 disabled and disadvantaged CYP aged 12 to 25 completed a planning tool that comprised the short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (SWEMWBS), as well as open-ended questions covering social connectedness, physical distancing and educational challenges during the lockdown. The community coaches screened individuals and families who could be eligible to receive emergency aid, and based on a convenience sample following distribution of aid, recipients were invited to complete the planning tool.ResultsThe data showed that participants in the global south have increasing anxieties and fears centred on accessing offline educational resources and income loss in the family effecting food security and their ability to return to education. Mean (SD) SWEMWBS scores for all participants in Zambia and Sierra Leone, were 19.61 (3.45) and 21.65 (2.84), respectively. Mental well-being scores were lower in females, children aged 12–14 and participants with two or more disabilities. Factors significantly associated with poor mental wellbeing in the sample were: type of disability, nationality, peer relationships, connection to others during the pandemic, knowledge about COVID-19, worry about the long-term impact of COVID-19, and the types of self-isolating.ConclusionThe study shows that participants who self-reported low levels of COVID-19 health literacy also scored low on the mental wellbeing self-assessment. Yet, despite undoubted limited resources, these CYP are doing well in identifying their needs and maintaining hope in the face of the problems associated with COVID-19 in countries where stigma persists around mental ill-health.

• What tourists gaze on varies across the three groups. • North American tourists prefer to gaze on water scenes. • European tourists have a preference for the scenes of foliage and sky. • Asian tourists like to present themselves in front of traditional buildings. • The three groups also show differences in places of interest.

Drivers have an important place in the traffic system when the human factor is taken into consideration. Drivers from different cultures are exposed to different values, norms, and traffic systems, and these differences may form various driver behaviors. Thus, traffic climate and individual values can impact driver behaviors. In this study, the relationships between Schwartz's individual values and traffic climate dimensions were examined. Clusters were then created from the traffic climate dimensions and individual values, and the differences in driver behavior within these clusters were investigated. In order to examine similarities and differences between countries, the results from 5 countries (Estonia, Greece, Kosovo, Russia, and Turkey)are presented. Correlational analyses indicated that, while internal requirements and self-transcendence are positively related in all countries, external affective demands and conservation are positively related in Estonia, Kosovo, Russia, and Turkey. Additionally, external affective demands and self-transcendence are positively related in Greece, Kosovo, Russia, and Turkey. A three-cluster structure fitted the data well in all of the five countries. Within-country differences were observed in clusters of Russian and Turkish data in terms of driver behaviors. The detailed results are presented and discussed in relation to the literature., European Commission Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant [645690]

We aimed to gain knowledge of possible sociodemographic predictors of long COVID and\ud whether long COVID was associated with health outcomes almost two years after the pandemic\ud outbreak. There were 1649 adults who participated in the study by completing a cross-sectional\ud online survey disseminated openly in Norway, the UK, the USA, and Australia between November\ud 2021 and January 2022. Participants were defined as having long COVID based on self-reports that\ud they had been infected by COVID-19 and were experiencing long-lasting COVID symptoms. Logistic\ud regression analyses were used to examine possible sociodemographic predictors, and multivariate\ud analysis of variance was used to examine whether long COVID status was associated with health\ud outcomes. None of the sociodemographic variables was significantly associated with reporting long\ud COVID. Having long COVID was associated with higher levels of psychological distress, fatigue,\ud and perceived stress. The effect of long COVID on health outcomes was greater among men than\ud among women. In conclusion, long COVID appeared across sociodemographic groups. People with\ud long COVID reported worsened health outcomes compared to those who had had COVID-19 but\ud without long-term symptoms. Men experiencing long COVID appear to be particularly vulnerable to\ud experiencing poorer health outcomes; health services may pay extra attention to potentially unnoticed\ud needs for support among men experiencing long COVID.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has brought about unprecedented uncertainty and challenges to the worldwide economy and people’s everyday life. Anecdotal and scientific evidence has documented the existence of a positive relationship between the experience of crisis and creativity. Though this appears to be ubiquitous, the crisis-creativity-well-being relationship has not been sufficiently examined across countries and using a working adult sample. The current study drew on a sample consisting of 1,420 employees from China (n= 489, 40% females), Germany (n= 599, 47% females), and the United States (n= 332, 43% females) to examine whether creativity can function as an effective means to cope with crisis and to achieve both flourishing and social well-being. Multivariate analyses showed that perceived impact of COVID-19 was positively related to creative process engagement, which was positively related to employees’ self-reported creative growth. Creative growth was associated with a higher level of flourishing well-being. This sequential mediation model was significant across the three samples. Creativity also mediated the relationship between perceived impact of COVID-19 and social well-being (social connectedness), but this connection was only found for the Chinese sample. Further data analyses revealed that individualism moderated this serial mediation model in that the positive coping effect of creativity on both flourishing and social well-being was stronger for individuals who hold more collectivistic views. Results of the study have implications for crisis management, personal development, and positive functioning of individuals and society.

Dialectical thinking refers to a constellation of beliefs that consist of expectation of change, tolerance of contradiction, and holism. The current research explored whether dialectical thinking would affect people's anticipation of climate change, which has been propagated globally. Study 1 compared the responses between Chinese participants, representing people from cultures that promote dialectical thinking, and North American participants, representing people from cultures that promote linear thinking. The results showed that Chinese participants demonstrated a stronger non-linear pattern regarding the anticipation of climate change as compared with American participants, in which Chinese participants were more likely to anticipate a stable trend but less likely to anticipate an increasing trend for global warming. Study 2 with a manipulation of dialectical and linear thinking was conducted and provided some generally supportive evidence for the causal relation between dialectical beliefs and the anticipation of climate change. Implications for cross-cultural environmental research and international climate change education programs were discussed. National Research Foundation (NRF) Published version This research was supported in part by the grant from the National Research Foundation Singapore (BSEWWT2017_04) awarded to KI, and the grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (71701219) and the Humanities and Social Sciences Foundation of the Ministry of Education of China (16YJC190011) awarded to LL.

Antecedentes: en los ensayos clínicos multinacionales en esclerosis múltiple (EM) es fundamental identificar diferencias entre países en calidad de vida (CV) para comprender la variabilidad de respuesta entre pacientes. Ningún estudio comparó la CV en EM entre España y EE. UU. Los objetivos de este estudio son: 1) comparar la CV y sintomatología depresiva entre pacientes españoles y estadounidenses, frente a datos normativos; 2) comparar la interrelación de tales constructos entre países; y 3) comparar predictores sociodemográficos y clínicos. Método: 114 participantes con EM fueron emparejados por género, discapacidad y educación. SF-36 y BDIFastScreen (BDI-FS) fueron las variables criterio. ANCOVA, correlaciones parciales y análisis de regresión múltiple fueron comparados entre países. Resultados: los españoles muestran peor sintomatología depresiva, CV y deterioro clínicamente significativo en todas las dimensiones, mientras que los estadounidenses presentan deterioro clínicamente significativo en dominios físicos. En España, más Dolor corporal se asoció con peor Funcionamiento social y Vitalidad; y peor Vitalidad se relacionó con peor Funcionamiento social. Además, Funcionamiento físico predijo BDI-FS mucho más entre los estadounidenses; pero en España, la discapacidad y Rol emocional predijeron mucho más BDI-FS y Salud mental, respectivamente. Conclusiones: los españoles muestran peor CV y sintomatología depresiva con mayor deterioro clínicamente significativo. Background: For multinational clinical trials in multiple sclerosis (MS), identifying cross-country differences on quality of life (QoL) is important for understanding patients’ response variability. No study has compared QoL between Spanish and American MS samples. This study aims to: 1) compare QoL and depressive symptomatology between Spanish and American patients, and against normative data; 2) compare the interrelationship between such constructs between countries; and 3) compare sociodemographic and clinical predictors on these outcomes. Method: 114 participants with MS were included and matched for gender, disability and education. The SF-36 Health Survey and BDI-FastScreen (BDI-FS) were the outcomes. ANCOVA, partial-correlations and multiple regression analyses were compared between countries. Results: Spaniards reported worse depressive symptomatology and QoL, and clinically significant impairment in all QoL dimensions, while Americans showed clinically significant impairment only in physical domains. Among Spaniards, more Bodily pain was more related to worse Social functioning and Vitality, and worse Vitality was more related to worse Social functioning than among Americans. From the regression models, Physical functioning predicted BDI-FS greater among Americans. Conversely, disability and Role-emotional predicted BDI-FS and Mental health, respectively, significantly stronger in Spain. Conclusions: Spaniards show worse QoL and depressive symptomatology and greater clinically significant impairment than the Americans.

To compensate for loss of business during the COVID-19 crisis, wineries in the tourism industry had to apply new strategies. In order to collect and compare these newly developed sustainable strategies, a cross-cultural study has been conducted in 2021. This study is based on a qualitative survey using purposeful sampling with key decision-makers of 70 wineries from the U.S., Australia, Germany, Hungary, and Romania covering wine growing countries both from the Old and New World. The aim was to identify new and sustainable initiatives and resilience strategies implemented to deal with the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, noting any cultural differences in each country’s response and to analyse the perspectives of wine tourism in the future. The findings highlight the wineries’ impressive focus on creativity and flexibility while also bringing attention to cultural differences. The insights form a preliminary suggestion for best practice strategies that businesses within wine tourism may consider helpful in their future business planning.

The aim of the present study was to analyse the factorial invariance of the Mac Donald and Mac In-tyre’s Generic Job Satisfaction Scale in Argentina and Brazil. Researchers developed an instrumental cross-sectional study on a non-probabilistic sample of workers (nArgentina = 663, nBrazil = 672). The results indicate that the scale is invariant at configural (SBχ2/gl= 2.06, gfi = .96, cfi = .97, rmsea = .03), metric (δgfi = .009, δcfi = .008, δrmsea = .006), and sca-lar levels (δgfi = .007, δcfi = .009, δrmsea = .004); whereas, partially invariant at a strict level. In turn, the comparison of latent and observed means shows that Brazilian participants are more satisfied with their jobs (MBrazil = 3.86, sdBrazil = .91, MArgentina = 3.52, sdArgentina = .90, t = 8.54, p < .000; cr = 11.062, p

The present study is the first to empirically test a hierarchical, positive-oriented model of the self and its relationship to second language (L2) achievement motivation, and compare it in three different cultural contexts of Japan, the United States, and Taiwan. Based on the L2 self-model (Lake, 2016), three levels of constructs were developed: Global Self (i.e., Flourishing, Curiosity, and Hope); Positive L2 domain self (i.e., interested-in-L2 self, harmonious passion for L2 learning, and mastery L2 goal orientation); and L2 Motivational Variables (i.e., reading, speaking and listening self-efficacy). A total of 667 students participated in this study, including 181 first-year college students in Japan, 159 high school students in Taiwan, and 327 community college students in the United States. All the participants were learning L2 in school. Results showed that the measures of positive global self, L2 domain self, and L2 motivational self all had a stronger relationship within their respective levels, and progressively weaker relationships as level of generality/specificity became more distal. Furthermore, the relationships among measures varied in the differing cultural contexts with the Japan-based student participants relatively lower on all measures. Implications for teacher educators in the L2 context have been discussed.

Students’ approaches to studying are generally viewed as essential for their learning outcomes and are often described as being either deep, strategic or surface. However, research on associations between study approaches and academic outcomes among occupational therapy students are rare, as are studies that include cross-cultural comparisons. The objective of this study was to assess the degree to which the deep, strategic, and surface approaches to studying were associated with occupational therapy students’ grade point average, in the total sample and when stratified by country, while controlling for age, gender and time spent on independent study. Seven hundred and twelve students from four countries (Australia, Norway, Hong Kong, and Singapore) completed the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students, and sum scores were calculated for the deep, strategic, and surface scales. Linear regression analyses were used to investigate associations between scale scores and grade point average, in the total sample and within each of the four sub-samples. The results showed that in the total sample, and in the Australia and Singapore sub-samples, none of the scales was associated with grade point average. In Hong Kong, lower deep approach scores and higher strategic approach scores were associated with higher grade point average. In Norway, higher strategic approach scores and lower surface approach scores were associated with higher grade point average. The study found that the approaches to studying scales were relevant for understanding academic performance among occupational therapy students in Norway and Hong Kong, but appeared less useful in the Australian and Singapore contexts.

Sustainable education requires the proper usage of technological devices. Among these is the smartphone, which is used by millions of young people around the world in today&rsquo, s society. The objective of this study was to understand the smartphone usage profile of Spanish and Italian university students. It also aimed to identify possible problematic uses, and the differences in smartphone use (or abuse) between the participating subjects. The study was descriptive and comparative, with the intentional sampling of N = 1412 subjects studying at the education faculties of the University of Alicante (UA) and the Suor Orsola Benincasa University (UNISOB). A previously-validated questionnaire with 27 items was employed during the 2019&ndash, 20 academic year. The data was analysed using the SPSS 25 programme. Descriptive and inferential analyses were carried out. The results obtained after the analysis of the data indicated that, of the four possible user types&mdash, occasional, habitual, at risk, and problematic&mdash, more than half of the sample identified themselves as habitual users. It can be concluded that there are significant differences between the universities: the UA students exhibited more problematic use than the UNISOB students. It is therefore necessary to prepare training programmes that are designed to avert problematic behaviours related to smartphone use.

The aim of this study was to explore the differences in musical preferences between Slovene and Croatian students. The sample consisted of 369 students from Slovenia and 371 students from Croatia. The results show that there are significant differences in musical preferences between Slovene and Croatian students. Furthermore, differences with regard to gender, age and study program were confirmed.

Background and aims: Gaming applications have become one of the main entertainment features on smartphones, and this could be potentially problematic in terms of dangerous, prohibited, and dependent use among a minority of individuals. A cross-national study was conducted in Belgium and Finland. The aim was to examine the relationship between gaming on smartphones and self-perceived problematic smartphone use via an online survey to ascertain potential predictors.\ud \ud Methods: The Short Version of the Problematic Mobile Phone Use Questionnaire (PMPUQ-SV) was administered to a sample comprising 899 participants (30% male; age range: 18–67 years).\ud \ud Results: Good validity and adequate reliability were confirmed regarding the PMPUQ-SV, especially the dependence subscale, but low prevalence rates were reported in both countries using the scale. Regression analysis showed that downloading, using Facebook, and being stressed contributed to problematic smartphone use. Anxiety emerged as predictor for dependence. Mobile games were used by one-third of the respective populations, but their use did not predict problematic smartphone use. Very few cross-cultural differences were found in relation to gaming through smartphones. \ud \ud Conclusion: Findings suggest mobile gaming does not appear to be problematic in Belgium and Finland.

Various aspects of construct validity of the Russian version of the Engagement with Beauty Scale (EBS 2.0) questionnaire was assessed using data of two previous studies conducted on convenient student samples: Russian (n = 183) and Azerbaijani (n = 99). Confirmatory factor analysis of multitrait-multimethod model provided evidence of EBS' good convergent and discriminant validity. The cross-cultural measurement invariance of the EBS factors was confirmed which allowed to compare indicators of two groups. No significant differences were found in the level of responsiveness to beauty between Russian and Azerbaijani youths. Generally girls scored higher than boys did, mostly on the natural and artistic beauty subscales. Russian young people in comparison to Azerbaijani ones displayed significantly stronger gender differences in general factor of engagement with beauty. The results didn’t show dependence on the age of respondents

Increased knowledge about the online search behavior of restaurant consumers is valuable to restaurant management and marketing professionals. However, people in different countries may demonstrate distinctive online search behaviors. There has been a lack of cross-cultural research on the online search behavior of restaurant consumers. In this paper, the periodic nature of online search behavior demonstrated by restaurant consumers from U.S. and China is analyzed and compared using Fourier transform and Parseval's theorem. The search interest records from Google and Baidu, respectively, are used. The results reveal that the online search behavior of restaurant consumers in the U.S. is strongly governed by weekly cycles but less dependent on annual cycles; however, the analogous consumer behavior in China exhibits less dependence on weekly cycles. The theoretical and practical implications of the research are discussed.

One of the most relevant public health issues among pediatric injuries concerns foreign body (FB) aspiration. The risk perception of choking hazards (CH) and risk perception, in general, are complex multifactorial problems that play a significant role in defining protective behavior. Risk prevention policies should take this aspect into account. A lack of scientific knowledge of FB injury risk perception may be evidenced in Brazil and other newly developed countries. This study aims to characterize the differences and peculiarities in risk perception of CH between Italian and Brazilian populations. The risk perception among adults in Italy and Brazil between September and October 2017 was investigated in a survey. A Multiple Correspondence Analysis was carried out to identify the latent components characterizing the risk perception in Italian and Brazilian population samples. The most relevant dimension characterizing risk perception is the “Professional–educational status and the related perception of Risk” (13% of factorial inertia). The Italians identify batteries and magnets as the most dangerous choking risks (20% of responses). On the other hand, Brazilian people, mainly manual laborers (22%) with secondary or primary education (94%), perceive coins as the most dangerous items (30% of responses, p &lt, 0.001). Socio-economic issues characterize the subjective risk perception of Italian and Brazilian survey respondents. In this framework, data-driven prevention strategies could be helpful to tailor intervention strategies to the cultural context to which they are addressed.

Anxiety disorders are one of the most widespread psychological diseases in adolescence, which may lead to impairment in several areas of life and has been demonstrated a risk factor of other psychiatric disorders. One of the most widely used self-report measures to assess multiple symptoms of anxiety in youth is the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS). Literature suggests that anxiety symptoms vary across cultures to some extent. It has been found that individuals from collectivistic culture report higher levels of anxiety disorders than those from individualistic culture. Poland is a country whose culture was traditionally collectivistic; but now Poland is undergoing social and economic system transformation, which is taking it closer to individualistic culture. However, SCAS has never been validated in Polish samples, and thus the current study aimed (1) to assess the psychometric properties (structural validity and reliability) of SCAS in a sample of 303 Polish adolescents, (2) to examine gender differences, (3) to test the divergent validity of SCAS by relating it to the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and (4) to compare the mean levels with Chinese (collectivistic) and Italian (individualistic) samples. The results confirmed that the Polish version of SCAS showed good reliability and validity. Polish girls showed higher physical injury and generalized anxiety/overanxious symptoms than boys. Furthermore, Polish adolescents reported higher levels of anxiety than Italian youth but lower levels of anxiety than their Chinese counterparts. Implications for professionals and researchers are discussed.

The paper presents the results of a cross-cultural study of empathy and professional burnout of Belarusian and Russian teachers. Interpersonal Reactivity Index by M. Davis (IRI) and Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) were used. The absence of statistically significant differences in the level of empathy and burnout of teachers in a cross-cultural context was shown. Socio-economic features of the functioning of the two countries’ educational systems can explain non-significant trends of the cross-cultural differences in the severity of burnout symptoms. Both in the Russian and Belarusian sample the relationship between emotional exhaustion as a symptom of burnout and personal distress as a “negative” empathic phenomenon was found. Significant correlations between the severity of burnout and “positive” empathic phenomena (perspective taking, fantasy, empathic concern) have not been found. This paper was prepared with the financial support of joint project “Development of empathy in socionomic professions” by Russian Foundation for Humanities (grant No.15-26-01007) and Belarusian Republican Foundation for Fundamental Research (grant No. G15R-028).

Este trabajo analiza la influencia de los valores culturales de un idioma al procesar la información de una página web sobre el riesgo percibido online, sobre el desarrollo de actitudes positivas hacia un sitio Web y sobre las lealtades hacia un destino turístico. Se propone un modelo basado en el TAM en el que el riesgo percibido online es el antecedente y la lealtad hacia el destino es el resultado final. Para lograr este objetivo y poner a prueba las hipótesis propuestas, se eligió un diseño experimental entre sujetos usando como variable independiente el idioma con dos niveles: Español vs. Inglés. La muestra final consta de 264 usuarios españoles, la mitad de los cuales navegó en español y la otra mitad en inglés. Los resultados demostraron que la dimensión cultural “control de incertidumbre” moderaba los efectos del riesgo percibido sobre la facilidad de uso percibida y la utilidad percibida. El efecto de la utilidad percibida y de la facilidad de uso percibida sobre la actitud hacia el sitio web depende de la variable orientación en el tiempo del idioma en el que se procesase la información. Las diferencias en la relación entre la actitud hacia el sitio web y la lealtad hacia el destino turístico no están moderadas por el lenguaje., This work analyzes whether the cultural values of a language influence when processing information from a website and its effect on the perceived risk online, on the development of positive attitudes toward a Web site and loyalties on the service offered therein. We propose an information-processing model based on TAM in which perceived risk online is an antecedent and consumer loyalty towards the service is the ultimate outcome In order to achieve this objective and test the proposed hypotheses, a between-subjects experimental design was chosen, using one independent variable namely with two level: processing language (Spanish vs. English). The final sample comprised 264 Spanish users. Half the sample browsed in Spanish, and the other half in English. The results demonstrated that the cultural dimension uncertainty avoidance moderates the effect of perceived risk on perceived ease of use and usefulness. Perceived ease of use or perceived usefulness influenced to attitude towards the website, depending on whether the language used to process the information on the site conveys cultural values with a shorter or longer-term orientation. Languages, as a cultural framework, didn´t moderate the relationship between attitude towards the website and loyalty towards the tourist destination.

A scale that does not measure the same structure in different cultures should not be used in the cross-cultural comparison-based studies. The validity of the scales should be tested primarily for the countries. In this study, as the evidence of validity of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015 science self-efficacy scale, the measurement invariance has been tested for different cultures. As determined in scientific studies, general self-efficacy is focused on more and this should be examined in academic self-efficacy known to be to student learning and achievement. In the analysis of the data, the measurement model is initially tested. Then, the measurement invariance is tested with a series of analysis. As a result, the scale confirms a unidimensional structure for each country. However, it has provided partial measurement invariance. This indicates that item-based analysis should be conducted.

Despite its importance, software testing is, arguably, the least understood part of the software life cycle and still the toughest to perform correctly. Many researchers and practitioners have been working to address the situation. However, most of the studies focus on the process and technology dimensions and only a few on the human dimension of testing, in spite of the reported relevance of human aspects of software testing. Testers need to understand various stakeholders' explicit and implicit requirements, be aware of how developers work individually and in teams, and develop skills to report test results wisely to stakeholders. These multifaceted qualifications lend vitality to the human dimension in software testing. Exploring this human dimension carefully may help understand testing in a better way.

A survey of logo colours was conducted using UK’s FTSE-100 data from 1984 to 2007 and Japan’s Tokyo Stock Exchange Market data in 2005. The results show that blue, red, white and black are the most popular for both UK and Japanese logos. Nevertheless, a number of colours show different preferences in the two countries. For instance, although white was popular (19%) for the commercial sector “Oil & Gas” in the UK, it was never used as a logo colour in Japan for this sector. A visual assessment was conducted to investigate whether there was any links between logo colour and commercial sector. The experimental results show that the colours that people might think of in association with specific commercial sectors may differ from the colours actually used in existing company logos.

The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to analyze the differential impact of the first COVID-19 lockdown (3 April 2020) on stress, health practices, and self-care activities across different Hispanic countries, age range, and gender groups. One thousand and eighty-two participants from Spain, Chile, Colombia, and Ecuador took part in this study. Irrespective of the country, and controlling for income level, young people, especially females, suffered a greater level of stress, perceived the situation as more severe, showed less adherence to health guidelines, and reported lower levels of health consciousness, in comparison to their male peers and older groups. However, in the case of self-care, it seems that older and female groups are generally more involved in self-care activities and adopt more healthy daily routines. These results are mostly similar between Colombia, Ecuador, and Spain. However, Chile showed some different tendencies, as males reported higher levels of healthy daily routines and better adherence to health guidelines compared to females and people over the age of 60. Differences between countries, genders, and age ranges should be considered in order to improve health recommendations and adherence to guidelines. Moreover, developing community action and intersectoral strategies with a gender-based approach could help to reduce health inequalities and increase the success of people’s adherence to health guidelines and self-care-promoting interventions. Future studies should be addressed to explore the possible causations of such differences in more cultural-distant samples and at later stages of the current outbreak Publication of this article was funded by the Academic Articles Publication Fund of Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ, University of Navarra and University of San Buenaventura.

The objectives of the present study were to (1) evaluate prevalence of orthorexia nervosa (ON) in university students in Spain and Poland, (2) assess differences in ON and eating disorder (ED) pathology in both samples and (3) examine the relationship between ON and ED symptoms among Spanish and Polish university students. Eight hundred and sixty university students participated in the present study (Mage = 21.17 &plusmn, 3.38, MBMI = 22.57 &plusmn, 3.76). The Spanish and Polish samples comprised 485 and 375 students, respectively. The D&uuml, sseldorf Orthorexia Scale and the Eating Disorder Inventory were used in the present study. ON prevalence rates of 2.3% and 2.9%, respectively, are found in the Spanish and Polish samples. Compared to Polish students, Spanish university students reported increased drive for thinness and lower body dissatisfaction, lower level of ineffectiveness and lower level of interpersonal distrust. ON was positively related to drive for thinness, bulimia, body dissatisfaction, perfectionism interoceptive awareness (in both Spanish and Polish students) and ineffectiveness (in Spanish students). Our findings suggest that ON significantly overlaps with ED symptoms, which is in line with recent studies. Longitudinal studies are needed to assess how ON develops in a sample of young adults and whether it develops in isolation of or in parallel with ED pathology.

This article aims to explore the key factors on e-commerce adoption from elements of social psychology, such as attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, ease of use and perceived usefulness, introducing the study of non-traditional elements like buying impulse, compatibility, and self-efficacy in online stores, contrasting relationships in a cross-cultural environment. The proposed model is tested from quantitative research with a sample of 584 online consumers in Colombia and Spain. The following statistical analyses were conducted: CFA, structural equations, measurement instrument invariance, and multi-group analysis with EQS 6.3 software. The study reveals that self-efficacy in online stores is a key factor in adopting electronic commerce above the cultures studied. Also, there is significant evidence that proves the moderating effect of national culture on several relationships of the model proposed. Results highlight the importance of national culture to understand impulsive buying behavior. The article presents several considerations toward the main elements to generate online purchase intention among consumers in an emerging country and finds substantial differences with consumers in a developed country. Practical implications are made for companies to adopt online channels and expand internationally., Online purchase intention; Purchase behavior; Cross-cultural study; Colombia; Spain; Technology management; Technology adoption; Marketing; Consumer attitude; Decision analysis; Business

Objective The objective of this study was to characterise international trends in the use of psychotropic medication, psychological therapies, and novel therapies used to treat obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). Methods Researchers in the field of OCD were invited to contribute summary statistics on the characteristics of their samples. Consistency of summary statistics across countries was evaluated. Results The study surveyed 19 expert centres from 15 countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States) providing a total sample of 7,340 participants. Fluoxetine (n = 972; 13.2%) and fluvoxamine (n = 913; 12.4%) were the most commonly used selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor medications. Risperidone (n = 428; 7.3%) and aripiprazole (n = 415; 7.1%) were the most commonly used antipsychotic agents. Neurostimulation techniques such as transcranial magnetic stimulation, deep brain stimulation, gamma knife surgery, and psychosurgery were used in less than 1% of the sample. There was significant variation in the use and accessibility of exposure and response prevention for OCD. Conclusions The variation between countries in treatments used for OCD needs further evaluation. Exposure and response prevention is not used as frequently as guidelines suggest and appears difficult to access in most countries. Updated treatment guidelines are recommended., Author V. B. would like to acknowledge all the staff at the numerous research centres throughout the world and their participants who contributed valuable data to this large data base. V. B. would also like toacknowledge Prof. Naomi Fineberg and the International College of Obsessive‐Compulsive Spectrum Disorders (ICOCS) who supportedthis project by circulating his invitation to participate in the surveyto its members.This study was sponsored by Nepean Medical Research Founda-tion Grant, Pfizer Neuroscience Grant, National Natural Science Foun-dation of China (Grant 81371340), and Spanish MINECO GrantPSI2013‐44733‐R.

This study explores the bidirectional and interactional process of acculturation from the perspectives of immigrants and receiving community members (RCMs). Our aim was to understand the experiences and interactions of different ethno-cultural groups and their impact on the functioning and dynamics of multicultural communities. We conducted a cross-national, cross-cultural study of acculturation processes, using interviews collected across two countries (Italy: urban regions of Torino and Lecce; U.S.: Baltimore/Washington corridor) and three distinct groups of immigrants-Moroccans and Albanians in Italy and Latin Americans in the United States-and RCMs in Italy and the United States. Findings show that acculturation is a complex, situated, and dynamic process, and is generally conceived as an unbalanced and individual process of accommodation, which expects the immigrant alone to adapt to the new context. The boundaries among traditionally explored acculturation strategies were blurred and while integration was the most frequently discussed strategy, it often referenced a "soft" assimilation, limited mostly to public domains. Some differences emerged between ethnic groups and generation of immigration as well as among RCMs who differed by level of contact with immigrants. The need for more flexible models and for a critical perspective on acculturation is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

The aim of this study was to explore cross-cultural differences in symptoms of burnout, anxiety, depression, general psychological distress, and secondary traumatic stress between Asian (Japan) and European (Switzerland) midwives. One hundred seventy midwives participated in the study. There were significant differences in age group [χ 2 (3) = 24.2, p < 0.01], marital or relationship status [χ 2 (2) = 28.4, p < 0.01], and years of experience [χ 2 (2) = 17.8, p < 0.01] between the two countries. The Japanese staff were younger, more often unmarried, and had less experience than the Swiss staff. The mean score of depersonalization was significantly higher in Switzerland (4.8 ± 3.8) than in Japan (3.2 ± 3.7; | z | = 2.71, p < 0.01). The mean score of general psychological distress in the Swiss sample (12.8 ± 6.5) was significantly higher than that in the Japanese sample (10.3 ± 6.2; | z | = 2.04, p = 0.04). In addition, the mean score of secondary traumatic stress was higher in the Swiss sample (31.8 ± 9.7) than in the Japanese sample (24.1 ± 8.6; | z | = 4.56, p < 0.01). These results may reflect cultural differences such as working conditions or family environment between Japan and Switzerland.

A plethora of studies have examined the prevalence and severity of anxiety and depression in relation to infertility, while ignoring social and cultural factors. The aim of this cross-cultural study is to examine emotions related to quality of life, perceived social support, depression and anxiety in two groups of young women with identical demographic characteristics (age, education, and duration of infertility - years to have a child) who experience fertility problems in two neighboring countries, Greece and Bulgaria. A total of one hundred forty-eight women from both countries completed a demographics questionnaire along with the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), the Subscale regarding State Anxiety from the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and some chosen questions from the Fertility Quality of Life (FertiQol). Seventy-four female participants from Northern Greece and seventy-four female participants from Southern Bulgaria were examined. The two groups of women did not show any statistically significant differences regarding their age, years of education, and the years needed in order to have their first child. The women were not on any type of medical treatment for their infertility problem at the time of the completion of the questionnaires. Results indicated that women in both countries did not have different levels of anxiety and depression regarding their infertility, but they had statistically different self-reported perceptions of social support and related to infertility quality of life. Future research should further investigate infertility and its relation to other emotional variables in larger samples of varying age ranges from different cultural environments.

Background: Previous research has identified different, but not mutually exclusive, etiological pathways (i.e., the positive affect regulation pathway, the negative affect regulation pathway and the deviance proneness pathway) to alcohol use and misuse in which personality characteristics play a key role. Objectives: The present study aimed to simultaneously and cross-culturally examine all these personality pathways to alcohol use in a large sample of young adult drinkers (N = 1280) from the US, Argentina, and Spain. Method: Structural equation modeling was conducted to test the models. Multi-group models were conducted to test model invariance across countries and gender groups. Results: In the whole sample, low conscientiousness and extraversion were related to alcohol outcomes through enhancement drinking motives (i.e., positive affect regulation pathway), low emotional stability was related through coping drinking motives (i.e., negative affect regulation pathway), and low conscientiousness and low agreeableness were related through antisocial behavior (i.e., deviance proneness pathway). The model was invariant between gender groups. Some minor, yet significant, differences across countries arose. Specifically, antisocial behavior was a significant mediator of the association between agreeableness and alcohol use, but only in the US subsample. Conclusions: The present findings suggest that risky-personality pathways for alcohol use and alcohol-related problems may be generalized across gender groups and cultures in young adults. Fil: Mezquita, Laura. Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Instituto de Salud; España. Universitat Jaume I; España Fil: Bravo, Adrian J.. University of New Mexico; Estados Unidos Fil: Ortet, Generós. Universitat Jaume I; España. Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Instituto de Salud; España Fil: Pilatti, Angelina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Psicología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; Argentina Fil: Pearson, Matthew R.. University of New Mexico; Estados Unidos Fil: Ibáñez, Manuel I.. Universitat Jaume I; España. Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Instituto de Salud; España

El objetivo de este estudio transcultural ha sido analizar y comparar las puntuaciones de cibervictimización y ciberagresión, y el uso problemático de Internet en adolescentes de España, Colombia y Uruguay, ya que pese a las semejanzas culturales existentes entre el contexto latinoamericano y español son escasos los estudios empíricos que los han comparado previamente. La muestra estuvo formada por 2.653 participantes de 10 a 18 años. Se recogieron datos a través del cuestionario de ciberacoso y de la versión en castellano del «Revised generalized and problematic Internet use scale». Los resultados ponen de manifiesto una mayor prevalencia de conductas de ciberacoso leve en España entre los 10-14 años. En los tres países, destacan dos roles de ciberobservador: defensor de la víctima y no comprometido ante la agresión, aunque con más perfiles de apoyo al agresor en Colombia. No se observan diferencias en un uso problemático de Internet entre los tres países. Se proporcionan evidencias sobre la relación de la cibervictimización y ciberagresión con el uso problemático de Internet. Las dimensiones de uso compulsivo y regulación del estado anímico son las que mejor predicen el ciberacoso. Los resultados son discutidos con relación a la posible normalización de la violencia y su falta de reconocimiento como tal, The goal of this cross-cultural study was to analyze and compare the cybervictimization and cyberaggression scores, and the problematic Internet use between Spain, Colombia and Uruguay. Despite cultural similarities between the Spanish and the South American contexts, there are few empirical studies that have comparatively examined this issue. The study sample consisted of 2,653 subjects aged 10-18 years. Data was collected through the cyberbullying questionnaire and the Spanish version of the “Revised generalized and problematic Internet use scale”. Results showed a higher prevalence of minor cyberbullying behavior in Spain between 10-14 years. In the three countries compared, there was a higher prevalence of two types of bystanders: the defender of the victim and the outsider, although in Colombia there were more profiles of assistant to the bully. Regarding the problematic use of the Internet, there were not differences between the three countries. We provide evidence on the relationship between cybervictimization and cyberaggression and problematic use of the Internet. The dimensions of compulsive use and regulation of mood are the best predictors of cyberbullying. We discuss our results in relation to the possible normalization of violence and its lack of recognition as such