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Health disparity across layers of society involves reasons beyond the healthcare system. Socioeconomic status (SES) shapes people's daily interaction with their social environment and is known to impact various health outcomes. Using generative probabilistic modeling, we investigate health satisfaction and complementary indicators of socioeconomic lifestyle in the human social brain. In a population cohort of ~10,000 UK Biobank participants, our first analysis probed the relationship between health status and subjective social standing (i.e., financial satisfaction). We identified volume effects in participants unhappy with their health in regions of the higher associative cortex, especially the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) and bilateral temporo-parietal junction (TPJ). Specifically, participants in poor subjective health showed deviations in dmPFC and TPJ volume as a function of financial satisfaction. The second analysis on health status and objective social standing (i.e., household income) revealed volume deviations in regions of the limbic system for individuals feeling unhealthy. In particular, low-SES participants dissatisfied with their health showed deviations in volume distributions in the amygdala and hippocampus bilaterally. Thus, our population-level evidence speaks to the possibility that health status and socioeconomic position have characteristic imprints in social brain differentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical patterns regarding trans people's self-esteem-oriented evaluations during observations of positive workplace actions. The case of a 2015 UK workplace guide is utilized to fulfil the aims. The guide provides suggestions to employers for recruiting and retaining trans people. Design/methodology/approach: A new questionnaire is created which forms a 20-item scale capturing a variety of self-evaluations. Trans people provided their responses in a 2018–2019 survey and the study's patterns were captured. Findings: The outcomes suggest that trans people's self-esteem and self-respect are enhanced by policy makers' positive actions to promote inclusivity in the workplace. In addition, due to these actions trans people feel more accepted, valued and trusted by the government. The authors suggest that a lack of positive workplace actions may be detrimental to trans people's self-esteem. However, if a workplace policy is perceived to be a recognition of trans people's worth this may be internalized, resulting in positive self-evaluations. The authors suggest that the 2015 workplace guide aims to ensure that trans people's self-expressions are not constrained in ways that could cause them self-esteem difficulties. Practical implications: The study also finds that firms which have implemented the workplace guide have informed human resources strategies, affected corporate profiles and staff organizational behaviours, created a more inclusive workplace culture, and addressed LGBT business and trans staff members' needs. The authors suggest that when employers utilize policy makers' positive workplace policies they may be able to realize positive organizational outcomes in their firms. Social implications: The World Health Organization perceives self-esteem as a public matter and this study suggests that inclusive workplace strategies can positively affect the psychological states of a highly marginalized population group. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge this is the first attempt to quantify how a workplace guide impacts on self-esteem-oriented evaluations among trans people. Each one of the 20 items in the scale brings new insights into the subject matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This review focused on evaluation of United Kingdom social prescribing schemes published in peer-reviewed journals and reports. Schemes, including arts, books, education and exercise "on prescription" refer patients to community sources of non-clinical intervention. Method: A systematised review protocol appraised primary research material evaluating social prescribing schemes published 2000–2015. Searches were performed in electronic databases using keywords, and articles were screened for evaluation of patient data, referral process, assessment method and outcomes; non-evaluated articles were excluded. Results: Of 86 schemes located including pilots, 40 evaluated primary research materials: 17 used quantitative methods including 6 randomised controlled trials; 16 qualitative methods, and 7 mixed methods; 9 exclusively involved arts on prescription. Conclusions: Outcomes included increase in self-esteem and confidence; improvement in mental well-being and positive mood; and reduction in anxiety, depression and negative mood. Despite positive findings, the review identifies a number of gaps in the evidence base and makes recommendations for future evaluation and implementation of referral pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many e-health projects fail to be implemented. We aimed to find a sustainable process of service user and health professional online discussions about e-health to facilitate implementation and identification of needed research. A previously piloted course compared Mental Health participants’ views with publications, identifying ‘quick wins’ and barriers to e-health implementation. This study explored this approach further in eight domains including Health Promotion, Mental Health, and Carers. Courses comprised webinar, 1-week closed discussion forum, and final webinar. Participants discussed 12 e-health topics. Course analysis identified that five out of eight domains ‘worked’. Participation was appreciated and service users influenced health professional thinking. The principle of service user–health professional online discussions to prepare for e-health implementation works for most domains, but the work of participant recruitment and forum management may make other methods, such as Tweetchats or courses hosted by existing forums where service users predominate, easier to sustain in the long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School playtime provides daily opportunities for children to be active outdoors, but only makes small contributions to physical activity (PA) requirements. Natural environments facilitate unstructured PA and children report a preference for play in nature. Thus, play on the school field might encourage children to be more active during playtime. The primary aim of this study was to examine the impact of the school playing environment on children's PA. Descriptive data and fitness were assessed in 25 children aged 8–9 years from a single primary school. Over two consecutive weeks participants were allocated to either play on the school field or playground during playtime. The order of play in the two areas was randomised and counterbalanced. Moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) was assessed during playtime on the last two days of each week using accelerometers. There was a significant interaction of environment and sex on MVPA during morning play (F(1,22) = 6.27; P<0.05; np2 = 0.222), but not during lunch (P>0.05; np2 = 0.060) or all of playtime combined (P>0.05; np2 = 0.140). During morning play boys were significantly more active than girls on the playground (t(23) = 1.32; P<0.01; n2 = 0.291), but not on the field (P>0.05; n2 = 0.071). For lunch (F(1,22) = 24,11; P<0.001; np2 = 0.523) and all of playtime combined (F(1,22) = 33.67; P<0.001; np2 = 0.616) there was a significant effect of environment. There was also a significant main effect of sex during lunch (F(1,22) = 11.56; P<0.01; np2 = 0.344) and all of playtime combined (F(1,22) = 12.37; P<0.01; np2 = 0.371). MVPA was higher on the field and boys were more active than girls. Play on the field leads to increases in MVPA, particularly in girls. The promising trend for the effect of the natural environment on MVPA indicates that interventions aimed at increasing MVPA should use the natural environment and that schools should encourage greater use of their natural areas to increase PA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine theoretical and methodological issues associated with the roles of individual and group-normative importance in self-esteem determination. Critical issues include multicollinearity among the physical self-subdomains, which may have affected previous results, and the need for a multidimensional perspective on importance models. We apply state-of-the-art methodologies, including exploratory structural equation modelling and the product-of-indicators approach to latent interactions. Positive interactions would be required to support the individually importance-weighted average model, but none were observed in the multidimensional model estimated on the full sample. Nonetheless, some interaction effects were found in the country-specific version of the model. Rather, we found support for the alternative group importance-weighted average model. We conclude that domain-specific self-concepts are weighted differently and thus differentially affect self-esteem, but these weights do not seem to depend on individual differences in importance. Although awaiting confirmation from further studies, our results suggest the idea that individuals use mainly normative importance processes based on cultural factors in weighting each domain-specific component of self-concept. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals’ subjective well-being (SWB) when attaining their goals is moderated by the characteristics of their goals. Two significant moderators are whether goals are approach or avoidance oriented and their content. Within the goal-setting literature, these characteristics have been applied to goals as such, focussing on what it is people try to achieve. However, they can equally be applied to analyse why individuals pursue their goals. By applying the dimensions of approach and avoidance orientation as well as goal content to the analysis of goal-striving reasons, a framework has been developed encompassing the following four goal-striving reasons: goals pursuit because of pleasure, for altruistic reasons, out of necessity and for self-esteem reasons. The empirical findings (N = 174) show that goal-striving reasons are significantly associated with affective SWB. Therefore goal-striving reasons provide an additional level of analysis, when analysing the relation between goals and affective SWB. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Body satisfaction interventions have typically been multifaceted and targeted at clinical populations. The aim of the present research was to isolate the effects of self-affirmation on body satisfaction in a community sample and to see whether self-affirmation works by basing one's self-esteem on domains other than body weight and shape. Methods: Adolescents ( N = 220) were randomized to complete a self-affirmation manipulation or an equivalently active control task before rating their body shape and weight, and completing measures of perceived threat, body satisfaction and self-esteem. Results: Affirmed girls showed significantly greater body satisfaction and perceived significantly less threat from having to rate their body shape and weight compared with an equivalently active control group. Mediator analyses showed that the effects were due both to increases in self-esteem and shifts away from using body shape and weight as a source of self-esteem. Self-affirmation did not affect boys because they: (a) were less threatened by having to rate their body shape and weight, and (b) principally derived their self-esteem from sources other than body shape and weight. Conclusions: The findings provide support for the unique effects of self-affirmation on girls' body satisfaction thereby isolating one active ingredient of programs to increase body satisfaction and identify a potential mechanism for understanding self-affirmation effects. Further research is required to establish the long-term effects of self-affirmation and test how self-affirmation interacts with other active ingredients in treatment programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The study extends recent research on the link between attachment security and the sociocultural and psychological adaptation of immigrants. It was hypothesised that attachment style would moderate the effects of sociocultural adaptation difficulties on psychological distress and the relationship between attachment style and immigrant background variables was explored. The study was correlational and questionnaire-based, including a sample of 172 Brazilian immigrants living in the UK. According to the findings, secure and dismissing attachment styles moderated the effects of sociocultural adaptation difficulties on psychological distress. Preoccupied attachment style moderated the effects of previous immigration experience on psychological distress and the effects of duration of stay in the UK on concerns over terrorism. Future studies should employ longitudinal designs and include a variety of immigrant groups. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Negative histories threaten collective identity. Much research has focussed on how group members strategically defend against such threats. However, within certain groups such defence is difficult-because the group's past actions were unambiguously negative and because these were public and continue to frame relations with outgroups. We explored the consequences of this form of identity constraint on the individual's experience of the self. Two studies varied the salience of the past as German participants expressed their national identity to either an ingroup (German) or outgroup (English) audience. In both studies expressing German identity to an outgroup audience when the past was salient resulted in a more fragmented sense of self and reduced self-esteem. This effect was mediated through a perceived inability to enact the self. Results are discussed with respect to the power of context to constrain identity expression, and the consequences of this for the self. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information about the efficacy of college student orientations. It explains the purposes of higher education orientation units (HEOUs), such as to familiarise students with the university's facilities, and common stereotypes about HEOUs are also assessed. The role of HEOUs in improving students' study skills is explored and the reaction of students to that intent is analyzed. The governmental policy in Great Britain which declares that half of British young people should be or have been enrolled in higher education by 2010 is discussed, and various reasons for student motivation are examined. The need for more extensive research on the topic is also explored.

Because of difficulties in objectively determining discrimination, attention has turned to individual differences in perceptions of discrimination. This study aimed to build on such work by investigating the role of psychological variables in predicting perceived discrimination (PD) in a UK sample of ethnic minority young people (n = 154). A series of multiple regression analyses yielded 3 pathways leading to PD. There was a direct effect of gender on PD. Depression and low self-esteem and need for approval predicted anxiety, which in turn was related to higher PD. Finally, private collective self-esteem correlated with public collective self-esteem, which in turn predicted lower PD. The results point to the importance of psychological variables, both personal and collective, in the perception of ethnic discrimination. Furthermore, the findings enhance our understanding of the complex associations between self-esteem, affect, and PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The What Is Happening In this Class? (WIHIC) questionnaire was validated cross-nationally using a sample of 3980 high school students from Australia, the UK and Canada. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the seven-scale apriori structure of the instrument. Fit statistics indicated a good fit of the model to the data. While all items loaded strongly on their a priori factor, model fit indices revealed a degree of scale overlap. The use of multi-sample analyses within structural equation modelling substantiated invariant factor structures for three grouping variables: country, grade level and student gender. This study supported the wide international applicability of the WIHIC as a valid measure of classroom psychosocial environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the level of self-esteem and narcissism as personality variables involved in the disposition to experience and express anger. Three hundred thirty-eight subjects were sampled across two higher education centres and one student teaching programme in the United Kingdom. It was reasoned that individuals with both high self-esteem and narcissism would report especially high tendencies to experience and express anger and aggression and that those with high self-esteem and low narcissism would report the lowest. These predictions were influenced by theories that emphasise the role of threats to high self-esteem in the production of aggression and violence. Results indicate that groups defined by their extreme scores on self-esteem and narcissism scales produced levels of anger expression in the predicted direction. The importance of considering extreme levels of self-esteem and narcissism (in conjunction with other factors) in an analysis of anger is discussed with reference to currently influential theories in the field. Aggr. Behav. 24:421–438, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The factor structure of the Kirton (1976) Adaption-Innovation inventory was examined by use of confirmatory factor analysis. A three-factor structure was found, characterized by distinct, yet positively associated, facets, thereby challenging the oft-assumed unidimensional conceptualization of adaption-innovation. The measures were found to achieve satisfactory levels of reliability for the separate facets and to exhibit strong evidence for convergent and discriminant validity. This was demonstrated for the full 32-item inventory, as well as 20-item and 13-item abridgments. Subjects were postgraduate students from the United Kingdom (N= 149), Australia (N= 142), and the United States (N= 131). The three-factor solution was found to generalize across all three samples in the sense of yielding identical factor loadings, error variances, and correlations among facets. Differences in the means of factors were found across samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]