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Stereotypes influence teachers' perception of and behaviour towards students, thus shaping students' learning opportunities. The present study investigated how 315 Australian pre-service teachers' stereotypes about giftedness and gender are related to their perception of students' intellectual ability, adjustment, and social-emotional ability, using an experimental vignette approach and controlling for social desirability in pre-service teachers' responses. Repeated-measures ANOVA showed that pre-service teachers associated giftedness with higher intellectual ability, but with less adjustment compared to average-ability students. Furthermore, pre-service teachers perceived male students as less socially and emotionally competent and less adjusted than female students. Additionally, pre-service teachers seemed to perceive female average-ability students' adjustment as most favourable compared to male average-ability students and gifted students. Findings point to discrepancies between actual characteristics of gifted female and male students and stereotypes in teachers' beliefs. Consequences of stereotyping and implications for teacher education are discussed.

This study examined whether seeing other students cheat in examinations and/or knowing students who routinely cheat in examinations associates with other students' cheating behaviour and on their intentions to cheat in the future. We also examined whether cheating in minor and/or major examinations associates with students' intentions to cheat in the future. Our sample included 195 business students enrolled in accounting classes from three universities located in the USA. Our analyses indicated that having cheated in a minor and/or major examination associated with the sum of having observed other students cheating, knowing a student who routinely cheated and social desirability response bias. Our model for students' intentions to cheat in the future included their having cheated in minor and major examinations. We also tested our findings on the data from prior research, which included students from Australia, China, Ireland, Japan and the USA.

Numerous studies have pointed to a gap between the attitudes people express about the natural environment and their subsequent behaviors toward that environment. Variables identified within these studies include: how significant others view behaviors related to the attitudes; demographic variables such as sex, age or education; self-perceived ability to do the attitude-related behavior; attitude strength; and personal relevance of the attitude. This study proposes the concept of environmental desirability responding (EDR) as another factor which might contribute to the attitude-behavior discrepancy. The development and construct validation of the Environmentally Desirable Response Scale (EDRS), which is designed to identify the existence and level of EDR, is described. The EDRS contains items designed to measure two types of socially desirable responding--"Self-deception" and "Image management". A total of 1024 usable data sets were obtained from a sample of respondents in several countries (Japan, the US and Australia). Principal factors and correlation analyses revealed that the EDRS comprises three factors identified as "Self-deception/Assertion of positives", "Image management" and "Self-deception/Denial of negatives". Cronbach alpha estimates of reliability for the three factors were 0.74, 0.66, and 0.61. Suggestions for further research regarding the scale and EDR are offered. (Contains 6 tables.)

Background: This paper investigates the efficacy of a treatment program for sexual offenders with special needs in comparison to treatment outcomes for mainstream sexual offenders. Follow-up data is also presented for the group of offenders with special needs. Method: Participants from the two groups were matched on four variables (risk category, sex of victim, type of offence and age). All participants completed an assessment battery pre- and post-treatment and the scores on these tests were analysed for each group. Change on these measures was also compared between the two groups. Follow-up data for the special needs cohort were collected from an offender database. Results: Overall, both groups made few significant changes on the tests post-treatment, however individual results demonstrated that some offenders in both groups had achieved reliable change. In comparing treatment results between the two groups, the sexual offenders with special needs differed only on progress relating to "avoidant" relationship styles. The results also indicated that social desirability bias played a significant role in self-report assessment for both groups. Follow-up data for the group with special needs identified that none of the offenders had committed further sexual offences, after an average release time of 16 months. Conclusions: There are a number of limitations to this study, particularly as a result of the experimental design and the small number of participants, and these should be considered as a major limitation on the conclusions drawn from the results. However, it is suggested that the program had some positive effects for some offenders, with little difference in progress detected between the two groups. Possible explanations for the varied outcomes are discussed. (Contains 6 tables.)

Promoting interventive action on the part of student bystanders witnessing peer victimisation is currently seen as a promising way of reducing bullying in schools. A video depicting bullying in the presence of bystanders was viewed by late primary ( n = 200) and early secondary school students ( n = 200). Some 43% of the students indicated that they were likely to help the victim. Questionnaires were employed to assess student attitudes towards victims, beliefs about the expectations of parents, friends, and teachers, perceived self-efficacy, and social desirability response set. Multiple regression analysis identified as significant predictors of expressed intention to intervene: attending primary school, having rarely or never bullied others, having (reportedly) previously intervened, positive attitude to victims, and believing that parents and friends (but not teachers) expected them to act to support victims. Implications for action to reduce bullying in schools are discussed. (Contains 6 tables.)

Education Queensland's Remote Area Incentives Scheme (RAIS) is intended to provide financial and other benefits to teachers who choose to accept employment in undesirable locations in the state. On paper, this scheme claims that remoteness from an urban centre is the foremost measure of a school's undesirability. However, the percentage of Indigenous students in a school has a strong influence on the assignment of transfer ratings to Queensland state schools. This paper provides the details of a statistical analysis that shows that there is a strong relationship between the Indigenity of a school and its institutionalised perception of undesirability. It also includes a survey of urban schools in southeast Queensland that are categorised as less desirable than surrounding schools in the region primarily because there is a higher percentage of Indigenous students enrolled in those schools. (Contains 7 tables and 1 figure.)

Employees (76 women, 15 men; mean age = 44.61 years old; SD = 10.84) of a nonprofit eldercare program completed measures of public service motives, community self-efficacy, sense of community with coworkers, and caregiver satisfaction and stress. Participants also identified whether they had a mentor in their life, someone with more experience who provided support and guidance to them. Employees with mentors (n = 47) compared to those without a mentor (n = 44) indicated (controlling for social desirability) (1) significantly stronger motives to help others as boosting self-esteem, understanding of social problems, and reflection of one's values; (2) significantly stronger beliefs in a common mission and a desire to be supportive of peers; and (3) less caregiver stress in helping older adults. Limitations and implications are discussed. (Contains 1 table.)

Following the COVID‐19 outbreak, anti‐Asian racism increased around the world, as exhibited through greater instances of abuse and hate crimes. To better understand the scale of anti‐Asian racism and the characteristics of people who may be expressing racial prejudice, we sampled respondents in Australia and the United States over 31 August–9 September 2020 (1375 Australians and 1060 Americans aged 18 or above; source YouGov). To address potential social desirability bias, we use both direct and indirect (list experiment) questions to measure anti‐Asian sentiment and link these variables to key socioeconomic factors. We find that, instead of being universal among general populations, anti‐Asian sentiment is patterned differently across both country contexts and socioeconomic groups. In the United States, the most significant predictor of anti‐Asian bias is political affiliation. By contrast, in Australia, anti‐Asian bias is closely linked to a wide range of socioeconomic factors including political affiliation, age, gender, employment status and income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

These two studies aimed to propose an Italian version of the Gullibility Scale (Teunisse et al., 2020), testing its factor structure and verifying antecedents and consequences of gullibility. The Gullibility Scale is a bidimensional scale, composed of 12 items, that was validated in Australia using a large sample. In Study 1, 198 Italian adults completed a questionnaire containing the Italian version of the Gullibility Scale and the Social Desirability Scale. Results confirmed the two-factor structure (persuadability and insensitivity) with a high order factor (gullibility) of the Italian version of the Gullibility Scale; no correlations were found with social desirability. In Study 2, 287 Italian adults completed a questionnaire containing the Italian version of the Gullibility Scale, the Big Five Inventory, and 11 questions on fake news about COVID-19. Results confirmed the same factor structure found in Study 1. With regards to antecedents, results showed that both persuadability and insensitivity positively correlate with agreeableness and neuroticism; while, regarding consequences, results showed that persuadability positively correlates with fake news about COVID-19. Finally, persuadability mediates the relationship between agreeableness and fake news about COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study Question: To what extent do infertility clinic patients, fertility industry professionals and members of the public support different forms of payment and recognition for egg and sperm donation?Summary Answer: While participants expressed support for reimbursement of expenses for both egg and sperm donation, payment constituting explicit financial advantage was regarded less favourably although potentially necessary to address donor gamete shortages.What Is Known Already: In both New Zealand and Australia, commercial inducement for the supply of gametes is prohibited. This prohibition has been argued to contribute to limited availability of donor gametes with the effect of increasing waiting lists and/or the pursuit of potentially unregulated cross-border reproductive care by domestic patients requiring donor gametes.Study Design, Size, Duration: The study was a mixed methods study drawing on data from a questionnaire completed by 434 participants from across New Zealand and Australia between November 2018 and March 2019.Participants/materials, Setting, Methods: Stakeholders involved in donor-assisted conception (past and present infertility patients, gamete recipients and donors), fertility industry professionals and members of the public were recruited following online advertisement of the study. All participants spoke English and primarily identified as Caucasian. Participants anonymously completed an online questionnaire gauging their support for a range of recognition and payment options. Dependent samples t-tests were used to probe for differences in support of recognition and payment options in relation to egg and sperm donation. Linear regression models were used to determine factors predicting support for the different options for both egg and sperm donation. Thematic analysis was used to identify main themes in free text question responses.Main Results and the Role Of Chance: Broadly, there was agreement that donors be reimbursed for medical expenses, travel time, unpaid time away from work relating to treatments and out-of-pocket expenses directly related to the gamete donation process, with greater support suggested for egg versus sperm donors. Items gauging support for non-material recognition and tokens of thanks for donations were not significantly different between egg and sperm donation programmes (P > 0.05) nor rated as highly as reimbursement alternatives. Lowest ratings of support were indicated for the outright payment or reward of donors for the supply of their gametes, options that would leave donors in better financial positions. Qualitatively, themes valuing gamete donation as ideally relating to gifting were identified, although counterbalanced in opinion by concepts of fairness in reimbursing gamete donors for their costs. Where payment over and above the reimbursement of costs was supported, this was related to pragmatic considerations of limited supply of donor gametes.Limitations, Reasons For Caution: This study used a cross-sectional design and consequently causal inferences cannot be made. Additionally, participants particularly professional fertility staff, were required to self-report on politically sensitive and legal issues with the potential for social desirability response bias. Snowball sampling may have led to participation of like-minded individuals, thus limiting generalizations of findings.Wider Implications Of the Findings: In a climate of global commercialization of reproductive medicine, limited donor gamete availability and rising incidences of cross-border reproductive care, the findings of this study can be used as a basis for further discussion between regulators and professional industry stakeholders with respect to shaping ethical policy and practice relating to donor conception.Study Funding/competing Interest(s): No external funds were sought for this work. None of the authors have any competing interests to declare.Trial Registration Number: N/A. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: While there is evidence of parental needs in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), parents of newborns admitted for general surgery are an under-researched population. This study aimed to identify needs in parents of newborns admitted to the NICU for general surgery and whether health-care professionals meet these needs.Methods: This was a prospective cohort study of 111 parents (57% mothers) of newborns admitted to a surgical NICU for general surgery in Australia from January 2014 to September 2015. Parents completed the Neonatal Family Needs Inventory (NFNI), comprising 56 items in five subscales (Support, Comfort, Information, Proximity, Assurance) at admission and discharge, as well as the Social Desirability Scale (SDS). Data were analysed using parametric and non-parametric techniques.Results: At both admission and discharge, parents rated Assurance (M = 3.8, standard deviation (SD) = 0.24) needs as the most important, followed by Proximity (M = 3.6, SD = 0.32) and Information (M = 3.5, SD = 0.38). Mothers rated Assurance significantly more important than fathers (P < 0.02). Overall, parents' most important needs were having questions answered honestly (M = 3.96, SD = 0.19), seeing their infant frequently and knowing about the medical treatment (both M = 3.95, SD = 0.23). The 10 most important needs were met for more than 96% of parents, with no evidence of response bias.Conclusions: Reassurance is a priority need for parents in the surgical NICU. Mothers' and fathers' needs may be best met by practices based on family-centred, individualised care principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate reporting of alcohol consumption, we manipulated the contexts of questions in ways designed to induce social desirability bias.Method: We undertook a two-arm, parallel-group, individually randomized trial at an Australian public university. Students were recruited by email to a web-based "Research Project on Student Health Behavior." Respondents answered nine questions about their physical activity, diet, and smoking. They were unknowingly randomized to a group presented with either (A) three questions about their alcohol consumption or (B) seven questions about their alcohol dependence and problems (under a prominent header labeled "Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test"), followed by the same three alcohol consumption questions from (A).Results: A total of 3,594 students (mean age = 27, SD = 10) responded and were randomized: 1,778 to Group A and 1,816 to Group B. Outcome measures were the number of days they drank alcohol, the typical number of drinks they consumed per drinking day, and the number of days they consumed six or more drinks. The primary analysis included participants with any alcohol consumption in the preceding 4 weeks (1,304 in Group A; 1,340 in Group B) using between-group, two-tailed t tests.Results: In Groups A and B, respectively, means (and SDs) of the number of days drinking were 5.89 (5.92) versus 6.06 (6.12), p = .49; typical number of drinks per drinking day: 4.02 (3.87) versus 3.82 (3.76), p = .17; and number of days consuming six or more drinks: 1.69 (2.94) versus 1.67 (3.25), p = .56.Conclusions: We could not reject the null hypothesis because earlier questions about alcohol dependence and problems showed no sign of biasing the respondents' subsequent reports of alcohol consumption. These data support the validity of university students' reporting of alcohol consumption in web-based studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: Young people are an important source of first aid for mental health problems in people they are close to, but their first aid skills remain inadequate. Research into the factors that influence mental health first aid skills are required to reveal targets for improving these skills. This study examined the influence of stigma on first aid actions taken by young people to help someone close to them with a mental health problem. Methods: Participants in a national telephone survey of Australian youth (aged 12–25years) reported on their stigmatising attitudes based on one of three disorders in vignettes: depression, depression with alcohol misuse, and social phobia. At a two-year follow-up interview, they were asked if they knew a family member or close friend with a problem similar to the vignette character since the initial interview, and those who did reported on the actions taken to help the person. Results: Of the 1520 participants interviewed at follow up, 507 reported knowing someone with a similar problem. Young people''s stigmatising attitudes (weak-not-sick, social distance and dangerousness/unpredictability) influenced their first aid actions. Limitations: Social desirability could have affected the assessment of stigma, we could not assess the severity of the first aid recipient''s problem or the benefit derived from the first aid provided, and the proportion of variance explained was modest. Conclusions: Reducing stigma may help to improve the first aid that people with mental health problems can receive from young people who are close to them. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Introduction: The importance of risk perception for workplace safety has been highlighted by the inclusion of risk appraisals in contemporary models of precautionary behavior at work. Optimism bias is the tendency to think that negative events are less likely to happen to oneself than to the average person, and is proposed to be related to the reduced use of precautions. Method: Building on studies of optimism bias for workplace hazards using samples with heterogenous risk profiles, the current study aimed to investigate whether optimism bias is present in a sample of workers exposed to similar workplace hazards. 175 Australian construction workers completed a brief survey that asked them to rate the likelihood of common construction industry hazards occurring to them and to the average worker of the same age doing the same job. Significant levels of optimism bias were found for many hazards (including being electrocuted, being trapped in a confined space, falling from heights, and causing someone else to have an injury). Results: Optimism bias was not related to perceived controllability, contrary to findings in other domains, yet consistent with findings of optimism bias for workplace hazards. Optimism bias was not found to be related to a reduction in safe work behaviors, though this may be due to difficulties in measuring safe or precautionary behavior, such as social desirability. Impact on industry: That most workers think that hazards are less likely to happen to them than to the average worker presents a significant problem because it may ameliorate the efficacy of safety programs, yet constitutes a largely unexplored opportunity for improving workplace safety performance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Under- and overreporting of dietary intake in a face-to-face context is related to age, gender and body mass index. The use of computer technology in dietetic practice is restricted to analysis of nutrient data rather than assessment of the diet. DietAdvice, a website developed to allow patients with metabolic syndrome to self-report their dietary intake, has been developed in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. Patients are recruited by their general practitioner, and use the website, and the data are electronically fed to a dietitian for an individualised dietary prescription. The aim of the present study is to describe the reporting status of patients using a pilot test of the website from November 2004 to October 2005, and determine relationships to body mass index, gender and age. Reported energy intake (EI) was compared with predicted basal metabolic rate (BMR). Patients were classified as underreporting if EI : BMR <1.35 and overreporting if EI : BMR >2.4. Chi-square and ordinal regression analyses were used to determine relationships to patient characteristics. Two hundred patients were recruited, of whom 57 had missing data or did not complete the assessment. Of the remaining 143 patients, 32.3% underreported their intakes, 21.7% overreported their intakes, and 46.2% were on target with their reporting. No relationships were found for age, gender or body mass index. Findings suggest that computerised dietary assessment may encourage patients to report with less bias than in a verbal dietary assessment when compared with the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Australia has a significant intake of refugees each year. The majority enter through the humanitarian entrants program and a small percentage arrive seeking asylum. These processes have resulted in considerable debate, which has sometimes been associated with negative attitudes within the mainstream community. Research has indicated that realistic threat and symbolic threat are important components of the integrated threat theory for understanding opposition towards immigrants and refugees. Social desirability has also been indicated as potentially influential in the expression of negative attitudes. The current study examined the prevalence and correlates of negative attitudes towards refugees in an Australian sample. Participants consisted of 261 volunteer university students (119 men and 142 women). Participants were assessed on a prejudicial attitude measure, measures of symbolic and realistic threat and the Marlowe&ThickSpace;–&ThickSpace;Crowne Social Desirability Scale. The results indicated that more than half of the participants (59.8%) scored above the mid-point on prejudicial attitudes. Male participants reported less favourable attitudes towards refugees than female participants. Analysis revealed that both realistic and symbolic threats were influential in predicting prejudicial attitudes and, of these, realistic threat was the better predictor. The results are discussed in relation to the integrated threat theory of prejudice and in the context of addressing prejudice towards refugees in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the need for a global flag regarding the demand for changes in the Australian national flag. A national flag reminds people of their cultural and national heritage but a global flag will represent human unity and acceptance of local diversity. It will help override formal boundaries of sovereign nation states in politics, economics, ecology and science. The author also criticizes Australian society asking Aborigines to accept western concepts of sovereignty and nationalism by abandoning their own flags. Also discussed is the need for formulation of social and political structures for a new society based on human cooperation rather than competition.

This article presents a study on age-related desirability responding among Australian women. Large changes have been associated with the midlife crisis around age 40 and they possibly account for the higher level of social desirability responding. The study was designed to test this hypothesis. Senior sociology students were asked to administer questionnaires to women whom they knew under the constraints that no more than one person in three was to be educated above high school level and that women between 30 and 90 were the preferred respondents. The educational restriction was to counter the usual bias toward more highly educated respondents in such samples. It is suggested that the high social desirability scores that were observed among older women might be due to a compensation for loss of looks. Because considerable loss of looks occurs after menopause, the higher scores in the 50s age group seemed to support the interpretation. That the youngest respondents in the sample had the lowest scores might also implicate self-perceived looks as the crucial influence. This theory seems to lead to the prediction that both women younger than 20 and particularly attractive women should have the lowest social desirability scores of all.

Overclaiming questionnaires (OCQs), which capture overclaiming behavior, or exaggerating one's knowledge about a given topic, have been proposed as potentially indicative of faking behaviors that plague self-report assessments in job application settings. The empirical evidence on the efficacy of OCQs in this respect is inconsistent, however. We draw from expectancy theory to reconcile these inconsistencies and identify the conditions under which overclaiming behavior will be most indicative of faking. We propose that the assessment context must be tied to an outcome with high valence, and that the content of the OCQ must match the perceived knowledge requirements of the target job, such that overclaiming knowledge of that content will be instrumental to receiving a job offer. We test these propositions through three studies. First, in a sample of 519 applicants to firefighter positions, we demonstrate that overclaiming on a job-relevant OCQ is positively associated with other indicators of faking and self-presentation. Next, we demonstrate through a repeated-measures experiment ( N = 252) that participants in a simulated personnel selection setting overclaim more knowledge on a job-relevant OCQ than on a job-irrelevant OCQ, compared with when they are instructed to respond honestly. Finally, in a novel repeated-measures personnel selection paradigm ( N = 259), we observed more overclaiming during a selection assessment compared with a research assessment, and we observed that this job-application overclaiming behavior predicted deviant behavior following selection. Altogether, the results show that overclaiming behavior is most indicative of faking in job application assessments when an OCQ contains job-relevant (rather than job-irrelevant) content. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported in Vol 32(2) of Psychological Assessment (see record 2020-04120-001). In the article, there are two errors in the Method section for Study 2. First, in the "Body dissatisfaction" subsection, the range of total scores for the Body-Image Ideals Questionnaire was incorrectly listed as being "between 0 and 99." The correct range is from - 3 to 9. Second, in the "Dieting and bulimia" subsection, the reference for the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) was incorrectly cited as "Garner et al., 1983." Garner, D. M., Olmsted, M. P., Bohr, Y., & Garfinkel, P. E. (1982). The Eating Attitudes Test: Psychometric features and clinical correlates. Psychological Medicine , 12, 871-878. http://dx.doi .org/10.1017/s0033291700049163.] Females are at risk for body image and eating disturbance when they internalize societally prescribed standards of Western beauty. With respect to messages to be thin or muscular, numerous scales are available that measure internalization. However, many women are now receiving messages about the desirability of being both thin and toned, yet no self-report measure of internalization of a fit female body ideal exists. Our aim was to develop a multidimensional tool (i.e., the Fit Ideal Internalization Test; FIIT) useful for assessing women's internalization of the fit ideal (i.e., a lean and toned body ideal). Three studies were conducted, recruiting independent groups of women attending university to complete surveys. In Study 1 ( N = 300, age 16-51), women completed the FIIT items, and a 3-factor structure of fit idealization (8 items), fit overvaluation (8 items), and fit behavioral drive (4 items) was established through exploratory factor analysis. Also, items loading highly on each of the factors had good interitem correlations. In Study 2 ( N = 354, age 16-63), women completed the 20-item FIIT and validation measures. The 3-factor structure of the FIIT was confirmed, and findings supported convergent, discriminant, and incremental validity of the FIIT subscale scores (and a total score). In Study 3 ( N = 67, age 17-50), the 2-week test-retest reliability of the FIIT scores was high. Overall, the 3 FIIT subscales are related but also distinct domains of fit ideal internalization that conform to theory and may be used as individual subscales or potentially as a composite score. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Social complexity in health outcomes has been attributed to greater risk of injury, adverse health consequences, and early death in a variety of populations. To determine what social complexity factors associated with burn injury in children, a systematic review of the literature was performed. Two different databases (PubMed and SCOPUS) were searched for articles related to environmental and social determinants of burn injury. Selected literature examined social complexity factors to establish the strength of evidence in relation to incidence of burn injury in children. The extent of factors and the most common social complexities were reviewed. The 641 manuscripts found in PubMed and 327 from SCOPUS were initially reviewed for duplication and English language. Subsequently, manuscripts were selected for relevance based on titles followed by abstracts. Forty-seven manuscripts were reviewed in their entirety. The literature supports a relationship between an increased incidence of pediatric burns in lower income families, children with behavioral disorders, fewer years of parental education and children residing in a rural setting. The majority of reports came from Europe followed by Australia, and scattered information from other countries. Social complexity factors in the environment of the child are associated with an increased risk of burn injury in children. The literature supports the influence of lower income, lower parental education, behavioral disorders and living rurally with an increased incidence of injury. By identifying children at increased risk, it is possible to develop targeted burn prevention and education programs to mitigate burn injury., (© American Burn Association 2019. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

The article presents information on the variety of views that are related to the desirability of judicial meditation in Australia. It informs that the Supreme Court has to apply the rule that the meditation should be provided by appropriately qualified mediators. It further informs about the criteria for referral to the judicial meditation.

The primary assumption within the recent personality and political orientations literature is that personality traits cause people to develop political attitudes. In contrast, research relying on traditional psychological and developmental theories suggests the relationship between most personality dimensions and political orientations are either not significant or weak. Research from behavioral genetics suggests the covariance between personality and political preferences is not causal, but due to a common, latent genetic factor that mutually influences both. The contradictory assumptions and findings from these research streams have yet to be resolved. This is in part due to the reliance on cross-sectional data and the lack of longitudinal genetically informative data. Here, using two independent longitudinal genetically informative samples, we examine the joint development of personality traits and attitude dimensions to explore the underlying causal mechanisms that drive the relationship between these features and provide a first step in resolving the causal question. We find change in personality over a ten-year period does not predict change in political attitudes, which does not support a causal relationship between personality traits and political attitudes as is frequently assumed. Rather, political attitudes are often more stable than the key personality traits assumed to be predicting them. Finally, the results from our genetic models find that no additional variance is accounted for by the causal pathway from personality traits to political attitudes. Our findings remain consistent with the original construction of the five-factor model of personality and developmental theories on attitude formation, but challenge recent work in this area.

The current study aimed to explore burnout prevalence rates and to examine the relationship between burnout and emotional intelligence in an Australian surgical population. The sample comprised 126 participants (53 SSTs, 73 Fellows; Mean age = 44.03 years, SD = 13.29). Method Participants completed a battery of self-report measures of burnout, emotional intelligence, and social desirability. Measures achieved reliability coefficients between .68 and .89, indicating adequate internal consistency. Results A series of independent samples t-tests indicated that burnout levels were significantly higher for the surgical sample than for other normative populations, with 47.6% of the sample reporting high general burnout levels. As predicted, younger surgeons reported significantly higher burnout levels, regardless of career stage. Burnout correlated significantly with early retirement and/or retraining intentions, and was inversely related to overall emotional intelligence levels. A series of regression analyses revealed that emotional control, emotional recognition and expression, and understanding of emotions were significant predictors of burnout. An exploration of gender differences found that females reported slightly higher general burnout levels. Conclusion A number of implications, limitations, and suggestions for further research were explored. It was concluded that burnout remains a significant problem for the surgical profession, with the potential for considerable personal, psychological, and societal impairment. The development of training interventions and further exploration of the aetiology of burnout was recommended, to ensure that impairment is minimised for individuals vulnerable to developing burnout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perceiving that one is rejected is an important correlate of emotional maladjustment. Yet, self-perceptions can substantially differ from classmate-reports of who is rejected. In this study, discrepancies between self- and classmate-reports of rejection were identified in 359 Australian adolescents (age 10-12 years). As expected, adolescents who overestimated rejection reported more rejection sensitivity and felt more victimized by their peers, but were not seen by peers as more victimized. Adolescents who underestimated rejection identified themselves as high in overt aggression, and their peers identified them as high in overt and relational aggression and low in prosocial behavior. Yet, underestimators' feelings of friendship satisfaction did not seem to suffer and they reported low rejection sensitivity. Results suggest that interventions to promote adolescent health should explicitly recognize the different needs of those who do and do not seem to perceive their high rejection, as well as adolescents who overestimate their rejection., (Copyright © 2013 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Asylum seekers represent a highly traumatized group with experiences of systematic oppression, loss, displacement, and exposure to violence. Around the world many are viewed with distrust and anxiety. The Australian response to asylum seekers is one that has used prolonged detention with significant negative impact on mental health. This has prompted much social debate and the involvement of clinicians and researchers in advocating for the human rights of asylum seekers. This article reviews the impact of mandatory prolonged detention on the mental health of asylum seekers and the significance of this for recovery and adaption. It concludes that the mandatory detention of high-risk and oppressed groups compounds trauma, with a potential long-term negative impact on mental health.

Background: Some years ago Australian anthropologist David Moore criticised the predominant form of understanding youth alcohol consumption for residing with biomedical approaches that individualise and ultimately stigmatise drinking behaviour and 'ignore' the social context of consumption. Of interest here is the ongoing insufficient integration of alternative approaches to understanding young people's drinking., Methods: This paper presents theoretically informed qualitative research that investigates why young Australian females (aged 14-17) drink and how social and cultural context form the basis, rather than the periphery, of their drinking experience., Results: We demonstrate the utility of Pierre Bourdieu's sociological framework for delving beyond the dichotomy of young people's drinking decisions as either a determination of their cultural environment or the singular result of a rational individual's independent decision-making. The paper is presented in two parts. First, we provide the interpretation, or 'practise', of Bourdieu's concepts through an outline and application of his complex theoretical constructs. Specifically, the concept of symbolic capital (or social power) is applied. Second, our explication of Bourdieu's 'practice', or epistemological contributions, offers a methodologically grounded example to other researchers seeking to attain more complete understandings of the social processes underpinning youth alcohol consumption., Conclusion: A sociological approach to exploring the complex relationship between drinking and contextual social factors amongst young Australian females is an unchartered area of enquiry. We contribute new theoretically supported insights to create a more complete picture of young females' drinking behaviours., (Crown Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

We aimed to determine the developmental trajectory for the 'thin ideal' by evaluating discrepancies in objective ratings of female body attractiveness and normality in a sample of children and adults. One hundred and sixty Australian middle class male and female participants from four different age groups (range: 4-26 years) viewed sets of photos depicting female bodies that varied systematically on the dimension of width. Six photo sets were presented. Participants ranked three sets according to their perceptions of body normality and ranked the other three sets in terms of body attractiveness. Results indicated that for all age groups, attractiveness ratings were significantly thinner than normality ratings. These findings indicate that the thin ideal is already present in primary school children and remains stable into adulthood, with concerning implications for body dissatisfaction and related disorders. Further research is required to clarify the developmental origins of preferences for thinner-than-normal female bodies., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: This study investigated the proposition that the 'State-trait anger expression inventory' (2nd ed.; STAXI-2) is susceptible to impression management (IM) and Self-Deceptive Enhancement (SDE) in clinical forensic populations. It was hypothesized that individuals engaging in IM would report significantly lower levels of trait anger, external expression of anger, and internal expression of anger on the STAXI-2. Those reporting above average SDE were predicted to claim higher levels of anger control., Design: A between-groups design was used, comparing STAXI-2 scores of individuals who reported high levels of IM and SDE to those who did not., Method: One-hundred and fifty-nine male patients of a community forensic mental health service, referred for assessment of stalking behaviours, completed the STAXI-2 and Paulhus Deception Scales (PDS). Individuals engaging in high levels of IM and SDE were compared to low scorers in regard to STAXI-2 scales using Mann-Whitney U tests., Results: Individuals engaging in IM had significantly lower levels of reported trait anger, outward expression of anger, and inward expression of anger, and higher levels of anger control. Similar results were found with the SDE scale, although the magnitude of the effect was smaller and not apparent on all subscales., Conclusions: The STAXI-2 was vulnerable to social desirability response bias in this sample of forensic clients. Where the STAXI-2 is used as a basis for treatment recommendations and decisions, it should be administered and interpreted in conjunction with a recognized measure of such bias to improve validity.

Belongingness theory proposes that humans possess an innate drive for a minimum number of lasting interpersonal relationships. On geographic relocation, people leave their existing social networks. This greatly threatens belongingness needs, and the authors propose this is one cause of homesickness. Two studies investigated whether homesickness arises in the need to belong. Study 1 used a correlational design to test the relationship between need to belong and homesickness while controlling for other variables. A significant positive relationship was found. Study 2 then used an experimental design to test for a causal effect of need to belong on homesickness, and a significant effect was found. An additional finding showed that individuals who felt accepted in the community were less homesick. This was independent of number of friends and demonstrates an important link between community attitudes and adjustment. Implications for belongingness theory are discussed.

Background: Almost no research has examined the impact of explanatory style on social adjustment. We hypothesised that adolescents with a pessimistic style would be less likely to develop and maintain social support networks., Methods: Seven hundred and nineteen students (351 males and 366 females; 2 unknown; M(AGE) = 12.28, SD = .49) completed an anonymous survey in Grades 7 through 10. Explanatory style was assessed in Grades 7 and 9, sadness was assessed in Grades 7 through 10, and quantity and quality of social support was assessed in Grades 8, 9, and 10., Results: Structural equation modelling was used to conduct cross-lagged panel analyses of the four waves of data. Pessimistic explanatory style predicted lower levels of social support, and lower social support from the family predicted higher levels of pessimistic explanatory style. Additional analyses suggested that the effects could not be explained by sadness or by assuming that pessimistic adolescents where less liked by their peers., Conclusions: Pessimistic adolescents feel unable to influence their social worlds in positive ways and consequently may not take actions to develop and maintain social support networks.

This study tested whether an individual's beliefs about the importance of appearance in their life is a mediator of sociocultural influences on body dissatisfaction in young girls. Participants were 265 girls in Grades 4 to 7 (M age = 10.71 years) from 5 private primary schools in metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia. Girls completed questionnaire measures of appearance television and magazine exposure, peer appearance conversations, autonomy, appearance schemas, and body dissatisfaction. Appearance media exposure and peer appearance conversations were negatively related to body esteem, and autonomy positively predicted body esteem. Most important, appearance schemas mediated between all sociocultural variables and body dissatisfaction.

There is limited prospective research on the relation between school connectedness (i.e., the extent to which students feel accepted, valued, respected, and included in the school) and mental health symptoms in adolescents. A sample of 2,022 students (999 boys and 1,023 girls) ages 12 to 14 years were measured at 2 time points (12 months apart) on school connectedness and mental health symptoms (general functioning, depression, and anxiety symptoms). School connectedness correlated extensively with concurrent mental health symptoms at both time points (between 38% and 55% covariation with depression, 26% to 46% with general functioning, and 9% and 16% for anxiety symptoms). Using hierarchical linear modeling, school connectedness also predicted depressive symptoms 1 year later for both boys and girls, anxiety symptoms for girls, and general functioning for boys, even after controlling for prior symptoms. The reverse, however, was not true: Prior mental health symptoms did not predict school connectedness 1 year later when controlling for prior school connectedness. Results suggest a stronger than previously reported association with school connectedness and adolescent depressive symptoms in particular and a predictive link from school connectedness to future mental health problems.

Objectives: Numerous studies have explored the effects of pediatric health on parenting stress, but very little work has been carried out to explore the opposite and equally as compelling relationship of how parenting stress might affect child health, especially as it relates to oral health. This study examined the association between parenting stress and early childhood caries (ECC) in 97, 4- to 5-year-old Australian children attending preschools in the North Brisbane Health Region, Australia., Methods: Using a cross-sectional study design, clinical examinations were conducted to evaluate the caries status of each child. Two caregiver questionnaires were completed -- one soliciting demographic and oral health behavior information, and the other, information on parenting stress., Results: This study demonstrated a significant bivariate association between parenting stress and ECC experience as measured by dmft; however, the association did not persist in the two-part forward-selection logistic and linear regression models. A negative association between social desirability (defensive responding) and extent of caries was also determined., Conclusions: Our findings suggest the need to conduct longitudinal studies to give proper consideration to the temporal aspect of caries development and clarify the results obtained by on the relationship between parenting stress and oral health. Further study is also warranted to more clearly elucidate the association between social desirability (defensive responding) in parents and their children's ECC experience.

Background: Studies of depression in the Chinese have long identified low rates and a greater likelihood of somatization, findings which could reflect cultural influences or real differences. We report a study from a western region examining the impact of acculturation on depression to clarify the role of cultural factors., Method: In a Sydney-based study, Chinese subjects (n = 385) and a matched control group of 143 non-Chinese subjects completed either a Chinese or English questionnaire assessing state and lifetime depression, attributional style, depression recognition and help-seeking. The impact of acculturation was examined by several strategies., Results: Any tendency by the Chinese to somatize depression appeared to be attenuated by acculturation. State depression levels countered the view that Chinese necessarily deny depression. Lifetime depression rate differences were also attenuated by acculturation, with Chinese subjects being less likely than controls to judge episodes as a distinct disorder and to seek professional help., Conclusions: Results suggest that Australian Chinese do not differ intrinsically in recognizing and ascribing depressive symptoms, and that the greater the degree of acculturation, the greater the tendency for reporting persistent and impairing depressive episodes.

A brief measure of internalization of societal norms regarding appearance was developed and validated on six early adolescent female samples (mean ages 11.7-13.3) from three countries (US, Australia, India; total n = 2210). Internal consistency levels were uniformly high in all samples, ranging from 0.83 to 0.92. Convergent validity estimates were high in all samples. Level of internalization was significantly positively correlated with levels of body dissatisfaction and restriction for all samples. Internalization was also significantly positively correlated with bulimic behaviors and negatively correlated with levels of self-esteem for the four samples that included these variables. The findings indicate that the Sociocultural Internalization of Appearance Questionnaire - Adolescents (SIAQ-A) may be used to further explore a media influence cross-culturally, allowing for the investigation of the role of internalization as a potential risk factor for body image problems and eating disturbances in different contexts.

Background: The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) is a measure of current mental wellbeing that has been extensively validated with adults. The instrument has also been used with adolescents., Objective: (i) To assess the psychometric properties of the GHQ-12 among school students in grades 7-10; (ii) to validate it against other psychological tests; and (iii) to suggest a threshold score., Method: The survey was conducted in single sex and mixed schools from the state and private system in Perth, Western Australia. The survey contained the GHQ-12 and measures of anxiety, depression, self-esteem, stress, generalized self-efficacy, social desirability and negative affectivity., Results: There were 336 students (female 55%) with an age range of 11-15 years (median 13). The GHQ showed good internal consistency (alpha 0.88). Girls had higher mean GHQ-12 scores than boys (F (1,326) 15.0, p < 0.001) and scores for both genders increased with school grade (F (3,326) 4.2, p < 0.01). Multiple linear regression showed that depression, anxiety, self-esteem and stress were significant independent predictors of GHQ scores. The model accounted for 68% of the variance (adjusted R 2). Screening indices were calculated by comparison with a combined depression and/or anxiety category. Threshold scores of 13/14 for males and 18/19 for females appeared optimal. General Health Questionnaire scores were compared with two criterion groups: adolescents in hospital with alcohol or drug (AOD) related problems and those with problems not related to AOD use. Only the former group had significantly higher total scores., Conclusions: The GHQ-12 showed good structural characteristics and was appropriately correlated with other measures of related traits. Overall, the GHQ-12 appears to be a valid index of psychological wellbeing in this population and was considerably shorter than some of the other instruments.

The modification of deviant cognitions and the enhancement of victim empathy are central components in many treatment programs for sex offenders. There appear to be three broad problems with self-report measures of these factors: variations in the psychometric evaluation of measures; the transparency of items and thus the likely influence of social desirability; and the difficulty of determining which measures are specific to particular types of sex offenders. The aim of this study was to investigate these three issues among child molesters (CMs), and men convicted of sex offences against adults (ASOs). Data were collected from 36 CMs and 31 ASOs and from two comparison groups (33 men convicted of nonsexual offences and 40 nonoffenders from the community), to assess the reliability (internal and test-retest) and validity (discriminant, construct, and face) of measures, the influence of sexual social desirability on responding and the specificity of measures to both sex offender groups. Collectively, the results raise issues related to the assessment of sex offenders that require further investigation. They also have theoretical implications about the relationship between cognitive and emotive processes among sex offenders.

The Standard DAI is an orthodontic index based on perceptions of dental aesthetics in the USA. The Standard DAI is a regression equation linking perceptions of the social acceptability of dental aesthetics with the objective intraoral measurements of ten occlusal traits. Since the Standard DAI is based on perceptions of dental aesthetics in the USA it can be used without modification only where perceptions of dental aesthetics are similar to those in the USA. This study was designed to determine whether perceptions of dental aesthetics of students in eleven diverse ethnic groups are similar to those of students in the USA. The same 25 stimuli (photographs of dental configurations, a subset of the 200 stimuli used in deriving the Standard DAI equation) were rated for dental aesthetics by Australian, Chinese, German, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Native American, Singaporean Chinese, Singaporean Indian, Singaporean Malay, and Thai students. Their ratings were compared with the ratings of the same 25 stimuli by students in the USA. Spearman rank-order correlations ranged from 0.84 to 0.94. These correlations are sufficiently high to show that perceptions of dental aesthetics in all eleven ethnic groups are very similar to the perceptions of USA students. Therefore the Standard DAI can be used without modification in all eleven ethnic groups.

Biomedical research was once an unquestioned good, and generous funding for a short time allowed researchers to work on whatever interested them. Two contradictory pressures have changed this. As costs have risen and economic rationalism has become politically dominant, governments, private corporations and granting agencies have increasingly demanded compliance with their own priorities, instrumental values and performance criteria. On the other hand, social and ethical critics have characterized biomedical research as being out of touch with real health needs and community values and as being an agent of social control that entrenches the power of a technocratic hegemony. The profession has largely acquiesced in bureaucratic and corporate intervention in exchange for continued funding, and assumed that social concerns could be allayed by 'top down' paternalistic education of the public. However, this response tends to add weight to the criticism that biomedicine is an agent of social control. What is needed is a spirited defence of the value of independent scholarship and research that is not limited to science but includes the humanities. Equally important is a process of community education in which scientists not only transmit their knowledge and enthusiasm to the public, but themselves become open to the social and ethical concerns of the community.

To be truly useful, an index must be applicable universally without modification. The data presented in this article support the use of the standard DAI without modification to assess need for orthodontic treatment in both developing and industrialized countries. When students from Thailand, Australia, the German Democratic Republic, and Native Americans residing on Indian reservations rated the same 25 occlusal stimuli (photographs of dental configurations) for dental aesthetics, their ratings of these stimuli when arranged in rank order were highly correlated with those of US students. These 25 occlusal stimuli were a subset of the original 200 occlusal stimuli used in deriving the standard DAI regression equation. This article presents data indicating that when a Native American DAI was derived based on Native American ratings of the same 200 occlusal stimuli used in deriving the standard DAI, the Native American DAI and the standard DAI had the same ten components (orthodontic measurements) and strikingly similar regression coefficients (weights). Further analysis indicated that the two equations were sufficiently similar to justify using the standard DAI to obtain DAI scores on Native Americans and to estimate the relative social acceptability of their dental aesthetics. If ratings for dental aesthetics for the full set of 200 stimuli were available for each of the countries where only 25 were rated, we expect that, as in the case of Native Americans, a country-specific DAI, if computed, would be sufficiently similar to the standard DAI that no modification would be needed to allow use of the standard DAI in that country.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The emphasis on academic achievement in medical student selection has given rise to the fear that students entering medicine may comprise a homogeneous group with tendencies towards academic and scientific pursuits rather than humanistic and person-oriented health care. The Attitudes to Social Issues in Medicine (ATSIM) scale was administered to first-year Australian medical students and first-year students in other faculties including students with significantly lower academic performance measured by high school examination scores. The medical student group was found to be less conservative towards general social issues than students enrolled in commerce and science faculties and scored equally with arts students. Greater conservatism was, however, apparent in those areas which most closely affect the doctor's role. Medical students were less positive than other student groups in their attitudes towards increased government control of the medical profession, the contribution of allied health professionals and the importance of social aspects of illness. On attitudes to issues such as prevention and doctor-patient relationships which do not challenge the knowledge base or traditional role and status of the medical profession, however, medical students demonstrate equal or greater concern compared with other student groups.