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The goal of this study was to evaluate the measurement invariance of an adapted assessment of motivations for social withdrawal (Social Preference Scale-Revised; SPS-R) across cultural contexts and explore associations with loneliness. Participants were a large sample of university students (N = 4,397; M-age = 20.08 years, SD = 2.96; 66% females) from 10 countries (Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, India, Italy, South Korea, Norway, Turkey, and the United States). With this cross-cultural focus, we illustrate the multiple-group factor analysis alignment method, an approach developed to assess measurement invariance when there are several groups. Results indicated approximate measurement invariance across the 10 country groups. Additional analyses indicated that overall, shyness, avoidance, and unsociability are three related, but distinct factors, with some notable country differences evident (e.g., in China, India, and Turkey). Shyness and avoidance were related positively to loneliness in all countries, but the strength of the association between shyness and loneliness differed in Italy and India relative to the other countries. Results also indicated that unsociability was related positively to loneliness in the United States only. Theoretical and assessment implications are discussed., Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada Insight Grant [4352017-0849], The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article:This research was supported, in part, by a Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada Insight Grant (4352017-0849) to authors R.J.C. and J.C.B.

Teachers play important roles in identifying and promoting gifted students. An open question is: Which student characteristics do teachers use to evaluate whether a student is gifted or not? We used data from a representative sample of Dutch primary school teachers ( N = 1,304) who were asked whether or not they thought the students ( N = 26,720) in their class were gifted. We investigated students’ cognitive and noncognitive attributes as well as demographic factors that might be relevant for this judgment. In sum, the findings revealed that teachers considered students to be gifted when, in comparison with their peers, students were superior in cognitive domains, especially with respect to academic achievement, scored higher on openness to experience and lower on agreeableness, were male, were younger, and came from families with higher parental education. These findings are discussed in relation to research on teacher nominations, teachers’ representations of giftedness and gifted students, and theoretical conceptions of giftedness.

International audience; In Western countries, recent decades have witnessed a revolution toward gender equality. Inequalities have been greatly reduced in areas such as education or employment. Because inequalities lead to distress, this development has largely benefited women. One notable exception is the realm of parenting, which has remained rife with inequalities even in the most egalitarian countries. We hypothesized that experiencing inequality in parenting when one holds egalitarian values and raising a child in a country characterized by a high level of gender equality in other areas, increases mothers’ psychological distress in the specific area of parenting. Multilevel modeling analyses computed among 11,538 mothers from 40 countries confirmed this prediction: high egalitarian values at the individual level and high gender equality at the societal level are associated with higher burnout levels in mothers. The associations hold beyond differences in sociodemographic characteristics at the individual level and beyond economic disparities at the societal level. These findings show the importance of egalitarian values and gender equality and their paradoxical effect when inequalities are still present in specific areas as parenting. This study reveals the crucial need to act not only at the micro level but also at the macro level to promote gender equality in parenting and prevent parental burnout.

The topic of work engagement is moving up on the managerial agenda as it sets the stage for numerous beneficial outcomes for both organizations and their employees. It is clear, however, that not all employees are equally engaged in their job. The current study taps into theory on positive self-fulfilling prophecies induced by leaders’ high expectations of followers (i.e., the Pygmalion effect) and examines their potential to facilitate follower work engagement. By integrating literature on implicit followership theories with the Pygmalion model, we investigate the assumption that leaders’ high expectations are universally perceived as and therefore foster the same desirable results for all employees. We argue and find that the extent to which followers’ work engagement benefits from high leader expectations depends on their implicit followership theory of industry (IFTI; i.e., the general belief that employees are hardworking, productive, and willing to go above and beyond). We also find that when followers hold a high IFTI but feel that their leader does not convey high expectations, their engagement at work suffers. In addition, we examine whether leaders’ IFTI forms the origin of naturally occurring Pygmalion effects. Our results show that a positive IFTI among leaders is especially interpreted as high/positive expectations by followers who also hold a high/positive IFTI. Our study introduces boundary conditions to the Pygmalion-at-work model by revealing the interactive role of leaders’ and followers’ implicit followership theory of industry. We contribute to the advancement of cognitive, follower-centric perspectives on leadership and provide evidence for the importance of schema congruence.

Increasing evidence shows that personality pathology starts to develop from (late) childhood onwards. The current study extends previous research by examining maladaptive personality change using both a variable-centered approach (i.e., mean-level changes) and a person-centered approach (i.e., latent profile transitions). Data were used from a 3-wave longitudinal study on Dutch youth (at T1: N = 492, mean age = 10.1). Maladaptive personality traits (i.e., Emotional Instability, Disagreeableness, Introversion, and Compulsivity) were assessed yearly using the Dimensional Personality Symptom Item Pool (DIPSI). A Factor of Curves model indicated presence of a higher-order developmental factor, reflecting low initial levels and small decreases over time, which explained change in all DIPSI traits. Latent profile analyses revealed three quantitatively different maladaptive personality trait profiles. Latent Transition Analysis demonstrated substantial stability in profiles over time. Small groups showed a transition toward another (often more adaptive) profile. Although a person-centered approach may have some merit when aiming to detect high-risk subgroups, the current results suggest that a variable-centered approach—and a Factor of Curves model capturing shared underlying developmental processes in particular—is favorable over a person-centered approach.

This study aimed to identify psychosocial correlates of intimate partner violence (IPV) by using constructs derived from the self-determination theory (SDT) and gender-power scales. Cross-sectional data (N = 238) were collected from women in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, and were used to test a structural equation model (SEM). The majority (87%) of the participants reported having sexual partners in the past 3 months, and in terms of IPV victimization, 36% and 26% of women had ever experienced verbal and physical abuse, respectively. Bivariate correlations showed that autonomy and beliefs about gender equality (BGE) were strongly associated with IPV. This finding was also confirmed in the SEM analysis, which indicated that autonomy had a direct effect on IPV suggesting that women who are in relationships that allow them to make decisions along with their partners possibly experience less IPV. In addition BGE, which was hypothesized to play a mediating role showed a significant direct association with IPV, suggesting that women who are aware of their rights may experience less IPV by choosing partners who do not espouse hegemonic masculinities or strong patriarchal beliefs. Our findings suggest that it would be important to incorporate decision-making skills and human rights awareness in future community-based sexual health and reproductive rights interventions.

The present study examined the link between financial problems and delinquency in adolescents and young adults ( N = 1,258). Using three measurement waves that covered a time span of 6 years, we conducted cross-lagged panel analyses. Overall, we found evidence that financial problems increase the risk of delinquency, and vice versa. Effects of delinquency on financial problems were larger than the other way around. In addition, a longer term (6 year) effect of delinquency on financial problems was found, whereas this effect was not found for financial problems to delinquency. Gender and age did not moderate the financial problem–delinquency link, suggesting that the bidirectional effect between financial problems and delinquency applies to adolescent and young adult males and females. Finally, we found some evidence to suggest that the indirect effects became stronger over time.

The Domestic Violence Myth Acceptance Scale was adapted to Portuguese (PDVMAS). The PDVMAS displayed reasonable fit indices (Study 1); was positively correlated with right-wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, belief in a just world (Study 2), and ambivalent sexism (Study 3); and negatively correlated with empathetic tendencies (Study 4). PDVMAS significantly predicted victim blame and aggressor exoneration in scenarios of coercion (Study 5) and physical assault (Study 6). Victims and non-victims of domestic violence equally endorsed domestic violence myths. Globally, the PDVMAS is a reliable instrument, and domestic violence myths are pervasive and alter the perception of intimate partner violence. National Funds by FCT-Foundation for Science and Technology [UID/SOC/04020/2013] info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion