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Research has shown that curiosity plays a crucial role in human performance and well-being. Based on multi-dimensional models of curiosity, we examined potential underlying mechanisms for this relationship. Extending prior research, we expected state and trait variants of curiosity to predict more challenge and less threat appraisals for novel tasks (i.e., joyous exploration dimension), stronger dissatisfaction when denied opportunities to do something interesting (i.e., deprivation sensitivity dimension), and persist longer under stress states (i.e., stress tolerance). We asked 123 participants to prepare and deliver a speech titled "Why are you a good friend?" After preparation, participants were informed that they were randomly selected not to perform the task. Throughout the experiment, we recorded heart rate reactivity as a physiological indicator of task engagement. We found that individuals curious about the upcoming task felt more challenged, less threatened, and presented longer physiological engagement than less curious individuals. Curious individuals expressed more disappointment about the missed opportunity to deliver the speech. In summary, this study revealed theoretically derived mechanisms that partially account for associations between curiosity and positive life outcomes while also indicating adverse effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although research has investigated how appraisals are linked with categories of emotions (e.g. pleasant and unpleasant emotions) in sport, research into how stress appraisal components are associated with specific discrete emotions commonly experienced in sport has received scant attention. This study examined how pre-performance stress appraisals were related to pre-performance anger, anxiety, dejection, excitement, and happiness. Athletes (N = 458) completed measures of pre-performance stress appraisals and emotions in relation to their latest competitive performance. Path analyses revealed challenge appraisal was positively linked to pleasant emotions, and threat appraisal with unpleasant emotions. Specific emotions also possessed discrete links with appraisal components. For example, uncontrollable-by-anyone appraisal was positively linked with anger and dejection but inversely linked with anxiety. Moreover, controllable-by-others appraisal was positively associated, and controllable-by-self appraisal was negatively associated, with anxiety. Excitement and happiness were similarly related with appraisal components. However, controllable-by-self appraisal was positively and more strongly associated with excitement, whereas controllable-by-others appraisal was also positively and directly linked with happiness. These findings highlight how stress appraisals are linked with common emotions in sport and offer applied implications for coaches, sport psychologists and athletes regarding ways that could help regulate pre-performance emotions in sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relevance of the topic of the study lies in the fact that the problems of hybrid warfare, hybrid operations, hybrid influence have become especially important in the context of the complicated geopolitical situation in the world after February 2022. In the author’s opinion, Russia’s forced conduct of the Special military operation is one of the tools of the US hybrid influence on China. In the study several methods were applied: the content analysis of conceptualdoctrinal and normative documents, analyzed the views of Chinese scientists, political and military figures on hybrid warfare and operations, as well as publications of authoritative media on this issue. As a result, it is concluded that in the Chinese understanding hybrid wars and operations are becoming the main form of confrontation between states and blocs of states. At the same time, the hybrid impact is exerted on the national security assurance system, which should effectively counter “traditional and non-traditional” threats and challenges, that are hybrid. Chinese experts note that there is a risk of underestimating the responsibility for a possible global conflict, which may be caused by inadequate projection of hybrid threats onto a country or group of countries. The author also concludes that we may be witnessing one of the last stages of the unfolding U.S. hybrid war against China.

PhD graduates are often recruited for positions that entail various work demands. Based on theoretical models of work demands, PhD graduates can appraise these demands in three main ways: as challenges, hindrances, or threats. The more aware they are of the skills they developed in their doctoral program, the more likely they are to appraise demands as challenges or hindrances, and the less likely they are to appraise them as threats. However, past studies have shown that PhD graduates report low awareness of their skills, which may lead to high threat appraisal. We conducted semi-directive interviews with 16 PhD graduates from France to examine their appraisal of work demands. We investigated four work demands: important responsibilities, heavy workload, competitive work environment, and challenging work environment. Most participants appraised these demands either as challenges or hindrances. Although some participants reported a low awareness of specific skills (e.g. project management), they still expressed confidence in their ability to handle the demands, leading to low threat appraisal. This was largely due to awareness of transferable skills (e.g. the abilities to learn and adapt), supporting their adaptability to demanding contexts. However, participants rarely attributed these skills to their doctoral experience, which questions how they perceive the benefits of their doctoral program. Moreover, specific difficulties may arise for certain groups (e.g. women, international students) and work demands (i.e. non-constructive criticism). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In group contexts, moral judgments are used as social influence tactics to regulate the behavior of group members. We argue that communicating moral disapproval with the aim of adapting group members' behavior might backfire because it elicits (negative) threat rather than (positive) challenge. In two experiments, we examined the motivational consequences of negative morality (vs. competence) evaluations in group contexts. Participants worked on a group task while cardiovascular indices of challenge and threat motivational states were measured following the biopsychosocial model (Blascovich & Tomaka, 1996). In Experiment 1, participants recalled their own prior behavior evaluated as immoral or incompetent; in Experiment 2, participants were exposed to an ingroup member's prior behavior evaluated as immoral or incompetent. As predicted, in both experiments, reminders of immorality induced a state of threat rather than challenge in a novel group context. These results suggest that moral disapproval intended to motivate group members to adapt their behavior might actually be counterproductive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Bulletin of The Mineral & Energy Economy Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences / Zeszyty Naukowe Instytutu Gospodarki Surowcami Mineralnymi Polskiej Akademii Nauk is the property of Mineral & Energy Economy Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In online communication, emojis are widely used and are often considered as beautiful and exciting additions to the original text. Emojis are now referred to as the "language of the online age" and "the fastest growing language in the world." In digital text messaging, it is possible to convey humor, emotion and sociality through emojis. However, the question is that in addition to the role of text beautification and transmission of emotions, is it possible to commit a crime by sending emojis? What are the challenges faced by jurisprudence in dealing with emojis as evidence? Therefore, the present article first examines the role of emojis in crimes such as intimidation and insults by recognizing different judicial examples of criminal cases and emoji-related proceedings, and then the challenges facing acceptance. Emoji evidence is evaluated in criminal proceedings.Findings show that criminal activities can be committed under the guise of emotional emoji function and their role in facilitating trust for a criminal purpose, and in particular crimes such as threatening, insulting or sexually abusing children, can be sent through Emojis occur. However, Criminal Courts In interpreting emojis and evaluating them as evidence,They face challenges such as poor expression and implication of emojis in criminal proceedings, change of platform, cultural differences in the interpretation of emojis, and instability of the psychological element in emoji-based crimes After getting acquainted with the challenges in emoji-based criminal proceedings, it has been tried to introduce solutions to these challenges in order to resolve the problems and create a unified judicial procedure.

Digitalization, considered in a broad sense as the most important modern trend of social development, is generally accompanied not only by positive consequences for the economy and society, but also by challenges, threats, as well as negative consequences of the implementation of these threats. Digitalization, considered in a narrow sense as the transformation of information of any kind into its digital form and involving the use of digital information, can also be described by challenges, threats, negative consequences and risks. Among the latter, a significant role is played by the risks of violating the security of digital information — cyber risks. Since they can have a negative impact on digitalization, considered both in a broad and narrow sense, there is a problem of allocating cyber risks and managing them in order to reduce possible losses and damage caused by the implementation of these cyber risks. The article defines the interrelationships of the concepts of digitalization, challenge, threat, negative consequence and risk; identifies the role and justifies the high importance of a cyber call as a requirement to ensure the security of digital information; determines the factors of influence on cyber risks; suggests a variant of building a cyber risk management program, the implementation of which will contribute to reducing the possible negative consequences of digitalization caused by a violation of the security of digital information.

Abstract Aim The COVID‐19 pandemic has led to a rapid raise of work‐related stress among nurses, affecting their emotional well‐being. This study examined how nurses appraise job demands (i.e. time pressure, emotional demands and physical demands) during the pandemic, and how primary (i.e. challenge and threat) and secondary appraisals (i.e. coping potential) of job demands predict nurses' affective states (i.e. positive affect, anger and anxiety). Design A cross‐sectional online survey. Methods 419 nurses completed self‐report measures of job demands and related appraisals. Data analyses comprised correlation analysis, factor analysis, hierarchical linear regression analysis and dominance analysis. Results Emotional and physical demands correlated exclusively with threat appraisal, while time pressure correlated with challenge and threat appraisal. Time pressure, emotional demands and threat appraisals of job demands predicted negative affective states, while challenge appraisals of emotional and physical demands predicted positive affect. Coping potential was identified as the most important predictor variable of nurses' affective states. Public Contribution The current study identified statistically significant risk and protective factors in view of nurses' affective states experienced during the COVID‐19 pandemic.

Electronic sport has seen substantial growth in market value and popularity in the last 10 years. With this growth has come the pursuit of elite esports performance, especially from a psychological perspective. This study aimed to investigate potential variations in self-regulation levels among athletes of different levels (national vs. student), compare the self-regulation profiles of CS:GO players in the current study to an international sample of e’athletes and to assess the predictive capacity of self-regulation on performance outcomes. A total of 53 esports athletes (student competitors, n = 27 and national-level CS:GO competitors, n = 26), participated in an experiment exploring self-regulation, DRES, and action performance. Furthermore, analysis comparing our collective findings against a larger global sample of e’athletes (n = 993) was conducted. Results demonstrated that CS:GO players who displayed higher levels of selfregulation tended to perceive stressful situations as challenges, consequently showcasing superior accuracy and time trial performance. In contrast, individuals with lower self-regulation tended to perceive such situations as threats, which correlated with less favorable performance outcomes. On a broader scale, the study observed that CS:GO competitors generally exhibited lower levels of self-regulation when compared to the larger global sample. Furthermore, selfregulation was identified as a mediating variable in the relationship between stress appraisal and performance, suggesting that improved self-regulation skills can lead to enhanced accuracy and quicker time trial performance. This may imply that competitors with greater self-regulatory abilities perceive themselves as having more personal resources, enabling them to effectively assess challenging situations and employ problem-focused coping strategies. Overall, this research underscores the significance of self-regulation in optimizing esports performance, while providing valuable insights for player development, action performance, and overall outcomes in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electronic sport has seen substantial growth in market value and popularity in the last 10 years. With this growth has come the pursuit of elite esports performance, especially from a psychological perspective. This study aimed to investigate potential variations in self-regulation levels among athletes of different levels (national vs. student), compare the self-regulation profiles of CS:GO players in the current study to an international sample of e’athletes and to assess the predictive capacity of self-regulation on performance outcomes. A total of 53 esports athletes (student competitors, n = 27 and national-level CS:GO competitors, n = 26), participated in an experiment exploring self-regulation, DRES, and action performance. Furthermore, analysis comparing our collective findings against a larger global sample of e’athletes (n = 993) was conducted. Results demonstrated that CS:GO players who displayed higher levels of self-regulation tended to perceive stressful situations as challenges, consequently showcasing superior accuracy and time trial performance. In contrast, individuals with lower self-regulation tended to perceive such situations as threats, which correlated with less favorable performance outcomes. On a broader scale, the study observed that CS:GO competitors generally exhibited lower levels of self-regulation when compared to the larger global sample. Furthermore, self-regulation was identified as a mediating variable in the relationship between stress appraisal and performance, suggesting that improved self-regulation skills can lead to enhanced accuracy and quicker time trial performance. This may imply that competitors with greater self-regulatory abilities perceive themselves as having more personal resources, enabling them to effectively assess challenging situations and employ problem-focused coping strategies. Overall, this research underscores the significance of self-regulation in optimizing esports performance, while providing valuable insights for player development, action performance, and overall outcomes in the field.

Introduction: Since the COVID-19 pandemic, working environments and private lives have changed dramatically. Digital technologies and media have become more and more important and have found their way into nearly all private and work environments. Communication situations have been largely relocated to virtual spaces. One of these scenarios is digital job interviews. Job interviews are usually--also in the non-digital world--perceived as stressful and associated with biological stress responses. We here present and evaluate a newly developed laboratory stressor that is based on a digital job interview-scenario. Methods: N = 45 healthy people participated in the study (64.4% female; mean age: 23.2 ± 3.6 years; mean body mass index = 22.8 ± 4.0 kg/m2). Salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) and cortisol were assessed as measures for biological stress responses. Furthermore, perceived stress was rated at the time points of the saliva samplings. The job interviews lasted between 20 and 25min. All materials, including instructions for the experimenter (i.e., the job interviewer) and the data set used for statistical analysis, as well as a multimodal data set, which includes further measures, are publicly available. Results: Typical subjective and biological stress-response patterns were found, with peak sAA and perceived stress levels observed immediately after the job interviews and peak cortisol concentrations 5min afterwards. Female participants experienced the scenario as more stressful than male participants. Cortisol peaks were higher for participants who experienced the situation as a threat in comparison to participants who experienced it as a challenge. Associations between the strength of the stress response with further person characteristics and psychological variables such as BMI, age, coping styles, and personality were not found. Discussion: Overall, our method is well-suited to induce biological and perceived stress, mostly independent of person characteristics and psychological variables. The setting is naturalistic and easily implementable in standardized laboratory settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The COVID‐19 pandemic has led to a rapid raise of work‐related stress among nurses, affecting their emotional well‐being. This study examined how nurses appraise job demands (i.e. time pressure, emotional demands and physical demands) during the pandemic, and how primary (i.e. challenge and threat) and secondary appraisals (i.e. coping potential) of job demands predict nurses' affective states (i.e. positive affect, anger and anxiety). Design: A cross‐sectional online survey. Methods: 419 nurses completed self‐report measures of job demands and related appraisals. Data analyses comprised correlation analysis, factor analysis, hierarchical linear regression analysis and dominance analysis. Results: Emotional and physical demands correlated exclusively with threat appraisal, while time pressure correlated with challenge and threat appraisal. Time pressure, emotional demands and threat appraisals of job demands predicted negative affective states, while challenge appraisals of emotional and physical demands predicted positive affect. Coping potential was identified as the most important predictor variable of nurses' affective states. Public Contribution: The current study identified statistically significant risk and protective factors in view of nurses' affective states experienced during the COVID‐19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political protests during sporting events are aimed at attracting wide public attention, gaining significant media coverage and turning football fields into places of high performance during important matches. The actionists demonstrate peace, carnival spirit and certain insecurity; despite this, they confront and constitute considerable concern to the ruling elite of the states. The analysis covered nonviolent protests on football fields around the world from 1976 to 2018. This article examines political activism, namely political actionism on football fields around the world (namely, streaking) as a form of political protest. The investigation follows two approaches: first, despite being entertaining, protests at football matches are a way to voice views and positions ‘uncomfortable’ to the authority, and second, they may undermine the authority and damage its power. Streaking may generate more public protests in support of actionists or their convictions.

Background: Breaking bad news (BBN; e.g., delivering a cancer diagnosis) is perceived as one of the most demanding communication tasks in the medical field and associated with high levels of stress. Physicians' increased stress in BBN encounters can negatively impact their communication performance, and in the long term, patient-related health outcomes. Although a growing body of literature acknowledges the stressful nature of BBN, little has been done to address this issue. Therefore, there is a need for appropriate tools to help physicians cope with their stress response, so that they can perform BBN at their best. In the present study, we implement the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat as theoretical framework. According to this model, the balance between perceived situational demands and perceived coping resources determines whether a stressful performance situation, such as BBN, is experienced as challenge (resources > demands) or threat (resources < demands). Using two interventions, we aim to support medical students in shifting towards challenge-oriented stress responses and improved communication performance: (1) stress arousal reappraisal (SAR), which guides individuals to reinterpret their stress arousal as an adaptive and beneficial response for task performance; (2) worked examples (WE), which demonstrate how to BBN in a step-by-step manner, offering structure and promoting skill acquisition. Methods: In a randomized controlled trial with a 2 (SAR vs. control) x 2 (WE vs. control) between-subjects design, we will determine the effects of both interventions on stress response and BBN skills performance in N = 200 third-year medical students during a simulated BBN encounter. To identify students' stress responses, we will assess their perceived coping resources and task demands, record their cardiovascular activity, and measure salivary parameters before, during, and after BBN encounters. Three trained raters will independently score students' BBN skills performances. Discussion: Findings will provide unique insights into the psychophysiology of medical students who are tasked with BBN. Parameters can be understood more comprehensively from the challenge and threat perspective and linked to performance outcomes. If proven effective, the evaluated interventions could be incorporated into the curriculum of medical students and facilitate BBN skills acquisition. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05037318), September 8, 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research aims to form a conceptual vision of the "security environment" concept, to determine its structure and the content of concepts derived from it, as well as to establish logical and semantic connections between them. The need for such research occurred because of using security terms arbitrarily in government and business activities. Therefore, their content is interpreted and perceived differently, which, in turn, harms law-making, organization and planning of security measures, etc. The article, based on the theoretical foundations of security science, revealed and substantiated the author's approach to the understanding and interpretation of the "security environment" concept. Besides, the paper proposed the definition of the semantically similar concepts of "safe environment" and, conversely, "dangerous environment". Based on the results of the system approach and content analysis of the main security concepts, some terms derived from the concept of "security environment" were determined and their content was substantiated, as well as the corresponding structural and semantic logic of the connections between them. The article describes that the formation and development of the security environment are carried out by the relevant subjects of security activities, for which they use the forces and means at their disposal and the relevant legal acts, as well as apply their capabilities, demonstrate readiness for such activities and establish a safety culture in society. The research schematically and substantively demonstrated that a security environment is formed as a result of security activity taking into account challenges that have not been dealt with, risks that have been realized, internal and external threats and security situations. A dangerous environment is formed as a result of the dangerous occurrence, i.e. loss of control over the situation or the onset of a crisis state. This scientific intelligence will be helpful for everyone interested in modern security science issues: scientists, practitioners, civil servants, deputies and other subjects of the security environment, especially in the russian-Ukrainian war framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat (BPS-CT) is a powerful framework linking psychological processes to reliable patterns of cardiovascular responses during motivated performance situations. Specifically, the BPS-CT poses challenge and threat as two motivational states that can emerge in response to a demanding, self-relevant task, where greater challenge arises when perceived resources are higher than demands, and greater threat arises when perceived resources are lower than demands. By identifying unique patterns of physiological responses associated with challenge and threat, respectively, the BPS-CT affords insight into subjective appraisals of resources and demands, and their determinants, during motivated performance situations. Despite its broad utility, lack of familiarity with physiological concepts and difficulty with identifying clear guidelines in the literature are barriers to wider uptake of this approach by behavioral researchers. Our goal is to remove these barriers by providing a comprehensive, step-by-step tutorial on conducting an experiment using the challenge and threat model, offering concrete recommendations for those who are new to the method, and serving as a centralized collection of resources for those looking to deepen their understanding. The tutorial spans five parts, covering theoretical introduction, lab setup, data collection, data analysis, and appendices offering additional details about data analysis and equipment. With this, we aim to make challenge and threat research, and the insights it offers, more accessible to researchers throughout the behavioral sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Challenge and threat states have divergent effects on cognitive, affective, and behavioral responses. The present research used two experiments to investigate whether challenge and threat states influence coping flexibility differently. Study 1 (N = 93) used loss-framed and gain-framed task instructions to elicit situation-specific threat and challenge evaluations, respectively, with a Null condition as a control. Study 2 (N = 86) used an online single-session Cognitive Bias Modification for Interpretation (CBM-I) paradigm to present participants with exemplars related to either positive or negative resolutions of stressful situations to engender a stress-is-a-challenge or stress-is-a-threat mindset, with a mixed condition as a control. Loss-framed task instruction generated situation-specific threat evaluation, debilitated effective attention, and reduced positive affect, without altering coping flexibility measured in other scenarios. CBM-I engendered a stress-is-a-challenge mindset and maintained positive affect and coping flexibility, whereas the negative and mixed groups decreased coping flexibility. A stress-is-a-challenge mindset was positively associated with coping flexibility prior to and after exemplar priming. Findings enrich the literature on stress coping and shed light on future practice by illustrating the different effects of framing and CBM-I on challenge/threat situation-specific evaluation and stress mindset, and the positive relation of stress-is-a-challenge mindset to coping flexibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the modern workplace, employees are required to be creative under varying stress levels. In understanding the relationship between stress and creativity, organizational scholars and practitioners have largely focused on how stress affects cognition, but have overlooked the role of physiological responses to stress. The present paper draws on psychophysiological theories of stress to highlight that the effect of stress on creative performance critically depends on whether stress-inducing situations engender "challenge" physiological states (i.e., fluid physiological stress responses) or "threat" physiological states (i.e., constrictive physiological stress responses). We integrate extant physiological and organizational theories of stress into research on creativity, identify physiological stress responses as overlooked mechanisms that help explain why stress differentially affects creativity, and provide practical information about how organizational scholars can incorporate physiological measures into research on creativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of high-stakes qualifications, teachers may warn students of the negative consequences of failure as a tactic designed to increase engagement and, ultimately, achievement. Previous studies have shown that these types of messages, namely fear appeals, are indirectly related to engagement and achievement in different ways, depending on how they are evaluated by the student. When fear appeals are evaluated as a challenge, they are positively related to engagement and achievement. When evaluated as a threat, fear appeals are negatively related to engagement and achievement. In the present study, we offer a robust test of these relations in a multilevel model that controls for autoregressive and concurrent relations in the domain of mathematics. Self-reported data were collected from 1,530 participants, aged 14–16 years, at two time points over the final 2 years of secondary education. These data were linked to prior and subsequent achievement. Results showed that students who attended to fear appeals and evaluated them as a challenge showed higher subsequent engagement, and students who showed higher engagement showed higher achievement. Accordingly, it may be beneficial to identify those students likely to evaluate fear appeals as a threat and intervene to enhance the likelihood of a challenge evaluation (e.g., building confidence through strategy focused feedback and strengthening beliefs in the value of effort). Given the difficulties associated with teachers judging students' motivation and emotion as private experiences, methods to access student voice should be considered. Educational Impact and Implications Statement: Teachers may communicate messages with a motivational impact, including negative messages (i.e., fear appeals), in the context of high-stakes qualifications. It is, therefore, useful to know and understand which messages may be more or less effective and under which conditions. Our study showed that if evaluated as a challenge (as opposed to threat), fear appeals could be an efficacious means to promoting students' engagement. However, given the difficulty of identifying and targeting individual students' responses to these messages, fear appeals should be used cautiously by potentially implementing a personalized approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Codrul Cosminului is the property of Codrul Cosminului and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Basically, every type of government organization defines the defence system with functions that provide deterrence from threats, as well as countering various types and forms of threats to main social values. The subject of this paper is the national security strategy, i.e. security challenges, risks and threats that are essential for the fulfilment of the highest state security interests. The author has analysed the main categories of national security theory: "danger", "challenge", "risk" and "threat". On the basis of the definition and comparative analysis of these categories, presented in different sources, he reveals their content and essence and comes to the conclusion that, despite the semantic similarity of the categories "challenge", "risk and "threat", each of them defines a different degree of threat, that is, damage. Accordingly, it has been noticed that the National Security Strategy of the Republic of Serbia does not make a distinction between security challenges, risks and threats, but speaks of them as a single syntagm and category. Since this document is the basis for the integrated activities of the defence forces, in the function of protecting vital national interests, the considered issue indicates the importance of as precise definition of SCRT as possible because inaccurate definition could prevent an adequate response when some of security challenges, risks and threats manifest themselves on security object references. On the basis of the definition and comparative analysis of the definitions of these categories, mentioned in different sources, it can be concluded that, despite the semantic similarity of the categories "challenge", "risk and "threat", each of them defines a different degree of threat, that is, harmful consequences. The subject of this paper has been to make a distinction between SCRT in order to improve the methodology for identifying and assessing military and non-military challenges, risks and threats when developing the National Security Strategy and other strategic and doctrinal documents. Accordingly, in reality, dynamics from several security sectors (political, military, economic, social, ecological and informational) is intertwined in most security problems. The analytical framework of the sectoral approach of the Copenhagen School has been proposed for the analysis of manifest forms of threats to national security. The implementation of the analytical framework is possible within the multicriteria mathematical model. Since risk is a measurable value, the implementation of this concept increases the objectivity of the identification and assessment of SCRT for state security. This approach is important not only in terms of defining national security policy and defence policy, but also has the greatest impact on the development plans of the defence system as a whole, particularly the development of the capabilities of the Serbian Armed Forces.

Envy is an important emotion that affects workers' behavior and performance. Instruments to measure envy are available, but new scales are needed for the analysis of work envy that include appraisals of challenge (benign envy) and threat (malicious envy). Based on Lazarus and Folkman's theory, the objective of this study is to develop and validate the Work Envy Appraisal Scale (WEAS) for Spanish workers. It had been carried out in two studies; in the first study, the scale was constructed and its dimensions were analyzed with a sample of 100 Spanish workers (sample 1). In the second study, the scale was validated and its psychometric properties were analyzed (sample 2, N = 219; sample 3, N = 532). The results of exploratory, confirmatory, and multigroup factor analysis showed good indices of fit for the two-factor structure. Moreover, the results showed adequate convergent and discriminant validity. Furthermore, our findings indicated that the scale is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring envy at work. This way of measuring envy at work (discerning its challenge and threat appraisal) makes it possible to find answers to some recurrent research questions (e.g. social desirability issues, the confusion of envy with other topics, etc.) and can facilitate reliable research on envy at work.

Athletes have to cope not only with their opponents but also with many psychological factors for success. The aim of this study is to test the validity and reliability of the "Challenge And Threat In Sport Scale” developed by Rossato, Uphill, Swain and Coleman (2018) for Turkish culture. The psychometric properties of the scale were tested on 75 female (27.3%) and 200 male (72.7%), total 275 (average age= 17.91±2.82) athletes. There are a total of 12 items and 2 subscales in the original of the Challenge And Threat In Sport Scale. To test the construct validity of the scale in Turkish culture, explatory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis was applied. Internal consistency co-efficients were calculated for each subscale of the measurement tool. As a result of the confirmatory factor analysis, it was seen that the Turkish version of the scale, as in the original scale, consisted of 11 items and 2 subscales: "challenge" and "threat". It was fastened down that the factor loads of the items that make up the scale varied between .40 and .81. According to the confirmatory factor analysis results, it was calculated as χ2 / df = 2.64, GFI = .94, AGFI = .90, CFI = .94, IFI = .94, SRMR = .07 and RMSEA = .07. Cronbach Alpha internal consistency coefficients of the scale were calculated as .84 for the "threat" subscale and .80 for the "challenge" subscale. As a result, it can be said that the psychometric properties of "Turkish Challenge And Threat In Sport Scale" is an adequate measurement tool to evaluate the challenge and threat levels of competing athletes in various branches.

The social, economic and cultural changes in recent years have caused new demands and readjustments in people's lives and behaviors, bringing as consequences negative reactions such as prolonged stress and rumination that facilitates getting hooked on issues and mistakes made. For all this, having instruments that operationalize these variables will give way to having current, reliable and accurate measurements. We worked with a convenience sampling made up of 388 people, aged between 17 and 62 years. As a result, the confirmatory factor analysis showed a total Alpha of .823 with two factors (Control and Uncontrol) for the Stress scale. For the Rumination scale, a total Alpha of .914 was found with two factors as well (Discomfort and Obsessive reflection). Regarding the correlations, associations were found between the factors of Stress with Rumination. Similarly, it was possible to develop two valid and reliable scales to evaluate the exposed scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research aims to determine whether girls' higher academic achievement, which should grant them a higher academic status than boys, could prevent them from experiencing social-identity threat on this dimension. Because they fear situations questioning their superiority, we argue that an unfavorable intergroup comparison would be more threatening for the high-status, rather than low-status, group on the dimension of academic achievement. Two studies were conducted, respectively, in high school, where girls should represent the high-status group (Study 1), and middle school, where students might perceive their own group as the high-status group (Study 2). Although both middle-school and high-school students perceived girls as the high-status group, they appraised the outgroup superiority differently. Indeed, it had more impact on girls' perceived threat and boys' perceived challenge in high school (Study 1), but not in middle school (Study 2). The results, however, did not show significant impact of context on performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personality affects the vulnerability to the emotional symptoms of depression and anxiety. This study investigated whether stress mindset (general belief about the nature of stress) and coping flexibility (the ability to terminate ineffective coping strategies and adopt alternative ones) mediate the relations of the Big Five personality traits to psychological distress. A total of 260 undergraduate students (60.4% female) in Singapore completed self-reported questionnaires. A series of path analyses was performed. Firstly, a dual-pathway model of stress coping was established, which consisted of (a) a stress–threat–distress pathway where a stress-is-a-threat mindset mediated the association between stressful experiences and psychological distress and (b) a challenge–flexibility–enhancement pathway where coping flexibility mediated the relation of a stress-is-a-challenge mindset to a lower level of psychological distress, without being influenced by stressful experiences. Furthermore, Neuroticism was associated with the stress–threat–distress pathway, with stressful experiences and a stress-is-a-treat mindset mediating the relation of Neuroticism to psychological distress. Conscientiousness was associated with the challenge–flexibility–enhancement pathway, with a stress-is-a-challenge mindset and coping flexibility mediating the relation of Conscientiousness to less psychological distress. Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Openness were directly associated with greater coping flexibility. The findings enrich the literature on personality and stress coping and inform future interventions to promote mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problems that occur when trying to control in an efficient and timely manner the airspace of the territory of the state surrounded by challenges and threats are becoming more frequent. They arise as a process that accompanies the development of modern lethal weapons for the attacks from the ground and airspace, by increasing the growth of pretensions of great states and state alliances, and the development and spread of economic globalism. One of the causes that can lead to the loss of sovereignty and territorial integrity in the airspace is the slow and longlasting adoption of strategic documents, which define the control of this part of the state territory. These documents should be adapted to respond flexibly to the challenges and changes that threaten the state territory, with special emphasis on its airspace. Through the presentation and consideration of security challenges, risks and threats, this paper will point out the problems that arise in the procedures for the airspace control of the state, in modern times, which fluctuates very quickly in the military and economic sense. Examining the characteristics of the airspace of the Republic of Serbia, as part of its territory, through the terms of sovereignty and territorial integrity, national security strategy and defence strategy, the difficulties and problems in its defence and control will be considered.

Abstract Background Although many musicians perceive music performance anxiety (MPA) as a significant problem, studies about the psychobiological and performance-related concomitants of MPA are limited. Using the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat as theoretical framework, we aim to investigate whether musicians’ changes in their psychobiological responses and performance quality from a private to a public performance are moderated by their general MPA level. According to the challenge and threat framework, individuals are in a threat state when the perceived demands of a performance situation outweigh the perceived resources, whereas they are in a challenge state when the perceived resources outweigh the perceived demands. The resources-demands differential (resources minus demands) and the cardiovascular challenge-threat index (sum of cardiac output and reverse scored total peripheral resistance) are the main indices of these states. We postulate that the relationship between general MPA level and performance quality is mediated by these challenge and threat measures. Methods We will test 100 university music students reporting general MPA levels ranging from low to high. They will perform privately (i.e., without audience) and publicly (i.e., with an audience) on two separate days in counterbalanced order. During each performance session, we will record their cardiovascular and respiratory activity and collect saliva samples and self-reported measures. Measures of primary interest are self-reported anxiety, the resources-demands differential, the cardiovascular challenge-threat index, sigh rate, total respiratory variability, partial pressure of end-tidal carbon dioxide and the salivary biomarkers cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone, and alpha-amylase. Both, the participants and anonymous experts will evaluate the performance quality from audio recordings. Discussion The results of the planned project are expected to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the psychobiology of MPA and of the processes that influence musicians’ individual reactions to performance situations. We also anticipate the findings of this project to have important implications for the development and implementation of theory-based interventions aimed at managing musicians’ anxiety and improving performance quality. Thanks to the use of multimethod approaches incorporating psychobiology, it might be possible to better assess the progress and success of interventions and ultimately improve musicians’ chance to have a successful professional career. Trial registration Not applicable.

Ethical aspects of management control systems (MCS) are attracting increasing attention among scholars and practitioners. Much of the work centers on their aims. We complement this scholarship by applying the ethical principle of "no harm," i.e., non-maleficence, to examine how those aims are achieved. We illustrate this approach by exploring the effects of four MCS designs on job-related stress drawing on the differentiation of stress into two dimensions: a challenge (i.e., unproblematic and even desirable) and a threat dimension (i.e., dangerous; causing psychological strain). Results from a lagged field-survey with 471 managers and employees from the UK and the U.S. support key predictions and offer first insights into designing MCS based on a "no harm" ethics. Our study highlights the benefits of interdisciplinary research in business ethics and hopefully encourages more work on MCS from a perspective based on the non-maleficence principle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Working memory (WM) is crucial for reasoning, learning, decision-making and academic achievement. In diverse contexts, how a task is framed pertaining to its demands and consequences can influence participants' task performance by modifying their cognitive appraisals. However, less is known about the effect of task framing on WM performance and the mechanisms. This study examined whether opportunity- and risk-focused task framing would influence university students' WM performance by altering their cognitive appraisals and affective experiences. Ninety-seven university students were randomly assigned to one of the three framing conditions (Opportunity, Risk, vs. Null), and received instructions that differed in consequences (gain for top performers, loss for poor performers, vs. null), goals (approach, avoidance, vs. neutral), and feedback on personal competence (adequate, inadequate, vs. null). Challenge and threat appraisals, affect, and WM performance were measured before and after task framing. Results showed that opportunity-focused task framing improved students' WM performance, whilst risk-focused task framing increased threat appraisal and decreased positive affect, and that challenge appraisal was not altered in any condition. Female students were influenced by task framing to a greater extent than were male students. Mediation analysis revealed that the alteration of threat appraisal and the change in positive affect mediated the effect of task framing on WM performance. Findings highlight the important role of modifying cognitive appraisals and affective responses in optimizing cognitive performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life stress is a major predictor of the course of bipolar disorder. Few studies have used laboratory paradigms to examine stress reactivity in bipolar disorder, and none have assessed autonomic reactivity to laboratory stressors. In the present investigation we sought to address this gap in the literature. Participants, 27 diagnosed with bipolar I disorder and 24 controls with no history of mood disorder, were asked to complete a complex working memory task presented as "a test of general intelligence." Self-reported emotions were assessed at baseline and after participants were given task instructions; autonomic physiology was assessed at baseline and continuously during the stressor task. Compared to controls, individuals with bipolar disorder reported greater increases in pretask anxiety from baseline and showed greater cardiovascular threat reactivity during the task. Group differences in cardiovascular threat reactivity were significantly correlated with comorbid anxiety in the bipolar group. Our results suggest that a multimethod approach to assessing stress reactivity-including the use of physiological parameters that differentiate between maladaptive and adaptive profiles of stress responding-can yield valuable information regarding stress sensitivity and its associations with negative affectivity in bipolar disorder. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Working memory (WM) is crucial for reasoning, learning, decision-making and academic achievement. In diverse contexts, how a task is framed pertaining to its demands and consequences can influence participants' task performance by modifying their cognitive appraisals. However, less is known about the effect of task framing on WM performance and the mechanisms. This study examined whether opportunity- and risk-focused task framing would influence university students' WM performance by altering their cognitive appraisals and affective experiences. Ninety-seven university students were randomly assigned to one of the three framing conditions (Opportunity, Risk, vs. Null), and received instructions that differed in consequences (gain for top performers, loss for poor performers, vs. null), goals (approach, avoidance, vs. neutral), and feedback on personal competence (adequate, inadequate, vs. null). Challenge and threat appraisals, affect, and WM performance were measured before and after task framing. Results showed that opportunity-focused task framing improved students' WM performance, whilst risk-focused task framing increased threat appraisal and decreased positive affect, and that challenge appraisal was not altered in any condition. Female students were influenced by task framing to a greater extent than were male students. Mediation analysis revealed that the alteration of threat appraisal and the change in positive affect mediated the effect of task framing on WM performance. Findings highlight the important role of modifying cognitive appraisals and affective responses in optimizing cognitive performance.

The aim of this research was to examine the relationship between coach-created motivational climate and athletes’ perception of challenge and threat states. For this purpose, 257 athletes from individual and team sports between the ages of 13-18 voluntarily participated in the research. Challenge and Threat in Sport (CAT-Sport) Scale, and Empowering and Disempowering Motivational Climate Questionnaire were used as the data collection tools. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were conducted in SPSS 17. Pearson correlation analysis showed that challenge was positively and significantly correlated with empowering motivational climate along with its sub-dimensions. Also, threat positively and significantly correlated with disempowering motivational climate and its sub-dimensions. Regression analysis, after controlling for age, gender, sport type, sport experience, number of weekly training and weekly training hours, revealed that empowering motivational climate positively and significantly predicted challenge and disempowering motivational climate positively and significantly predicted threat. In the subscale level, task-involving and autonomy-supportive motivational climates positively and significantly predicted challenge and controlling motivational climate positively and significantly predicted threat. The findings emphasized the importance of the coach-created motivational climate for athletes challenge and threat in youth sports. The findings were discussed in line with the relevant literature and some suggestions for coaches were provided.

While completing a science test and science survey, 155 high school students wore a biometric wristband (measuring electrodermal activity; EDA) and self-reported their science self-efficacy and science anxiety. Adopting a challenge-threat appraisal perspective and latent profile analysis, we explored how students were psychologically (self-efficacy, anxiety) and physiologically (EDA) oriented to science. We identified three groups (profiles), representing different challenge-threat profiles. The largest group was the 'composed challenge-and-threat' group (modest EDA, average anxiety, average self-efficacy). The next largest was the 'aroused high-threat' group (elevated EDA, elevated anxiety, low self-efficacy). The third represented 'composed high-challenge' students (modest EDA, elevated self-efficacy, low anxiety). The aroused high-threat group scored significantly lower than composed high-challenge and composed challenge-and-threat groups in science test performance and flow. Notably, the composed high-challenge and composed challenge-and-threat groups did not significantly differ in test performance; however, the composed high-challenge group was significantly higher in flow than the composed challenge-and-threat group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migrant children are at high risk for depression, though the exact mechanism is still unclear. This study investigated whether and how different stress mindsets (threat vs. challenge) and coping strategies (avoidant vs. approach) mediated the association between stressful experiences and depression in migrant children, and whether these relationships would be moderated by gender. One hundred and ninety-eight rural-to-urban migrant children (56.0% girls; Mage = 11.8 years) in Beijing, China, completed self-administered measures of stressful experiences, threat and challenge mindsets, coping strategies, and depression. Path analysis was conducted to examine the proposed mediation model. A dual-pathway model of stress coping was discovered: (1) a stress-threat-avoidance-depression pathway, in which threat mindset and avoidant coping mediated the association between stressful experiences and depression, and (2) a challenge-approach-enhancement pathway, in which approach coping mediated the association between challenge mindset and fewer depressive symptoms, without being influenced by stressful experiences. The dual-pathway mechanism did not vary by gender, and it can explain the greater vulnerability of girls to depression. Together, findings suggest that stressful events, threat mindset, and avoidant coping act as risk factors for depression, whereas challenge mindset and approach coping can function as protective factors to counteract the impacts of stressful experiences and promote psychological well-being among migrant children.

Social interactions involving personal disclosures are ubiquitous in social life and have important relational implications. A large body of research has documented positive outcomes from fruitful social interactions with amicable individuals, but less is known about how self-disclosing interactions with inimical interaction partners impacts individuals. Participants engaged in an immersive social interaction task with a confederate (thought to be another participant) trained to behave amicably (Fast Friends) or inimically (Fast Foes). Cardiovascular responses were measured during the interaction and behavioral displays coded. Participants also reported on their subjective experiences of the interaction. Participants assigned to interact in the Fast Foes condition reported more negative affect and threat appraisals, displayed more negative behaviors (i.e., agitation and anxiety), and exhibited physiological threat responses (and lower cardiac output in particular) compared to participants assigned to the Fast Friends condition. The novel paradigm demonstrates differential stress and affective outcomes between positive and negative self-disclosure situations across multiple channels, providing a more nuanced understanding of the processes associated with disclosing information about the self in social contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migrant children are at high risk for depression, though the exact mechanism is still unclear. This study investigated whether and how different stress mindsets (threat vs. challenge) and coping strategies (avoidant vs. approach) mediated the association between stressful experiences and depression in migrant children, and whether these relationships would be moderated by gender. One hundred and ninety-eight rural-to-urban migrant children (56.0% girls; Mage = 11.8 years) in Beijing, China, completed self-administered measures of stressful experiences, threat and challenge mindsets, coping strategies, and depression. Path analysis was conducted to examine the proposed mediation model. A dual-pathway model of stress coping was discovered: (1) a stress-threat-avoidance-depression pathway, in which threat mindset and avoidant coping mediated the association between stressful experiences and depression, and (2) a challenge-approach-enhancement pathway, in which approach coping mediated the association between challenge mindset and fewer depressive symptoms, without being influenced by stressful experiences. The dual-pathway mechanism did not vary by gender, and it can explain the greater vulnerability of girls to depression. Together, findings suggest that stressful events, threat mindset, and avoidant coping act as risk factors for depression, whereas challenge mindset and approach coping can function as protective factors to counteract the impacts of stressful experiences and promote psychological well-being among migrant children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the great importance of integrating computers into kindergartens and the fact that today such integration has been implemented only partially, there is a need for research to examine the factors that make it difficult to achieve this end. Thus our study focused on the attitudes of preservice kindergarten teachers regarding the integration of computers into early learning environments. We sought to examine: (a) the perception of preservice kindergarten teachers with regard to narrowing the digital divide to help reduce inequality among children in the kindergarten; (b) teachers' feelings of threat or challenge when facing the integration of computers; and (c) correlations between various study variables. This was a mixed-method study, using a sample of 124 female preservice kindergarten teachers in Israel. The study found that the attitudes of preservice teachers toward integrating computers into kindergartens are mainly positive. The findings suggest that there is a higher chance for preservice kindergarten teachers to effectively integrate computers when they start working than for inservice kindergarten teachers who currently make limited use of a digital environment. This finding is encouraging and may indicate a higher degree of e-Readiness among recent graduates of kindergarten education programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grounded in Lazarus's (1991, 1999, 2000) cognitive-motivational-relational theory of emotions, we tested a model of achievement goals, stress appraisals, emotions, and coping. We predicted that precompetitive achievement goals would be associated with appraisals, appraisals with emotions, and emotions with coping in our model. The mediating effects of emotions among the overall sample of 827 athletes and two stratified random subsamples were also explored. The results of this study support our proposed model in the overall sample and the stratified subsamples. Further, emotion mediated the relationship between appraisal and coping. Mediation analyses revealed that there were indirect effects of pleasant and unpleasant emotions, which indicates the importance of examining multiple emotions to reveal a more accurate representation of the overall stress process. Our findings indicate that both appraisals and emotions are just as important in shaping coping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gratitude-based interventions are effective in facilitating positive relationships and increasing life satisfaction. However, for some individuals (e.g., with high levels of depression and low trait-gratitude) gratitude expression is threatening and rarely undertaken spontaneously. In this study, we expected to replicate this gratitude expression threat effect. Moreover, we aimed to understand psychophysiological mechanisms of this effect by accounting for cognitive, motivational, and physiological responses to gratitude expression in line with the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat. One hundred ninety-six students (51% women) between the ages of 18 and 31 years old (M = 21.20, SD = 2.08) reported personality measures and completed a laboratory session where they expressed gratitude via text messages after reporting evaluation and motivation towards the task. Their cardiovascular reactivity was monitored continuously. After the session, participants were invited to continue a gratitude intervention for the next three weeks. We found that individuals with higher depression and lower trait-gratitude were less likely to initiate gratitude intervention. This effect was mediated by a cardiovascular marker of threat (total peripheral resistance) that inhibited motivation and behavior. In summary, we replicated and provided further evidence for the role of personality traits in predicting aversive responses to gratitude expression via interventions. These findings contribute to the person-activity fit recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Chronic psychological stress is a risk factor for multiple diseases of aging. Accelerated cellular aging as indexed by short telomere length has emerged as a potential common biological mechanism linking various forms of psychological stress and diseases of aging. Stress appraisals determine the degree and type of biological stress responses and altered stress appraisals may be a common psychological mechanism linking psychological stress and diseases of aging. However, no previous studies have examined the relationship between stress appraisals and telomere length. We exposed chronically stressed female caregivers and non-caregiving controls (N = 50; M age = 62.14 ± 6.10) to a standardized acute laboratory stressor and measured their anticipatory and retrospective threat and challenge appraisals of the stressor. We hypothesized that threat and challenge appraisals would be associated with shorter and longer telomere length respectively, and that chronic caregiving stress would influence telomere length through altered stress appraisals. Higher anticipatory threat appraisals were associated with shorter age-adjusted telomere length (β = −.32, p = .03), but challenge appraisals and retrospective threat appraisals showed no independent association with telomere length. Caregivers reported significantly higher anticipatory (β = −.36, p = .006) and retrospective (β = −.29, p = .03) threat appraisals than controls, but similar challenge appraisals. Although there was no significant main effect of caregiver status on telomere length, caregiving had a significant indirect effect on telomere length through anticipatory threat appraisals. Exaggerated anticipatory threat appraisals may be a common and modifiable psychological mechanism of psychological stress effects on cellular aging.