Search

Self-efficacy in sexual communication is essential for open conversations about sexual topics with partners, children, or medical providers. The Sexual Communication Self-Efficacy Scale was developed (SCSES) and validated in the Polish women population by analysing its reliability, validity, and factor structure. 204 Polish-speaking adult women were recruited to validate the tool. The reliability coefficient Cronbach's, exploratory, and confirmatory factor analysis were performed. Moreover, the factor structure was investigated by combining it with the short version of the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI-6). The adaption of SCSES in the Polish women population revealed the five-factor structure of the tool. The reliability was α = 0.976.The construct validity was confirmed. The results showed a significant, positive, moderate correlation between FSFI scores in all SCSES subscales and its total score r = {0.439; 0.534}. Moreover, the education level and place of residence differentiated the SCSES scores. The SCSES is a valid and reliable tool for the Polish women population. The findings highlight the need of recognising the importance of sexual communication in sexual functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the field of sexuality in the United States, the use of hands-on work is controversial, although it is practiced internationally and has been researched in other countries. This mixed methods study explored effects of sexological bodywork within the context of Back to the BodyTM retreats for people who identify as women. Quantitative data were gathered from a survey of participants at past retreats (n = 48) and from pre and posttest surveys of participants before and after a retreat (n = 35). The survey of past participants found moderate to very positive changes across all constructs: 75% for arousal, sexual self-image, and sisterhood; 72% for body image; 71% for feelings about genitals and sexual assertiveness; and 66% for sexual satisfaction. Pre and posttest surveys revealed statistically significant increases in genital self-image, body image, sexual self-image, and sexual satisfaction; however, sexual assertiveness decreased. Qualitative analysis of open-ended survey responses and from 21 in-depth interviews revealed five major themes: feeling safe, connecting to self and others, feeling acceptance and permission, exploring arousal and pleasure, and transformative life changes. Sex and relationship therapists can use these findings to add to their own knowledge and to assist clients who may be interested in these modalities. Surveys and interviews were used to explore sexological bodywork at sensual retreats for women. Changes were reported for genital self-image, body image, sexual self-image, and sexual satisfaction. In interviews participants discussed feeling safe, connecting to self and others, feeling acceptance and permission, exploring arousal and pleasure, and transformative life changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescence is a strategic developmental stage in terms of preventing later difficulties and ensuring good mental health. Prophylactic interventions, which are conducted before the onset, prolongation, or worsening of difficulties, and aim to prevent or reduce symptoms or to promote wellbeing, therefore appear particularly appropriate for adolescents. However, existing prophylactic interventions conducted with adolescents have several weaknesses, including sparse theoretical frameworks, ambivalent evidence of their efficacy, and implementation and dissemination difficulties. In addition, no data are currently available on the effectiveness of such interventions in France. To fill this gap, a four-arm randomized controlled trial will be performed to assess the effectiveness of three prophylactic interventions targeting reactive, proactive and interpersonal adaptation in fourth-grade middle-school students, together with participants' experience and perception of the interventions. Based on existing knowledge about adolescents, their learning mechanisms, and field constraints, these three interventions have been designed to promote their learning and receptiveness to interventions. Compared with baseline (i.e., before the intervention), we expect to observe a significant decrease in the level of distress (anxiety and depressive symptoms, functional impairment, and psychosocial difficulties) and a significant increase in the level of wellbeing after the intervention, across the three intervention groups, but not in the control group. In addition, we expect to observe post-intervention improvements in the processes targeted by the reactive adaptation intervention (operationalized as coping strategy use and flexibility), those targeted by the proactive adaptation intervention (operationalized as the tendency to engage in committed actions and general self-efficacy), and those targeted by the interpersonal adaptation intervention (operationalized as assertiveness in interactions), but only in the corresponding groups, with no change in any of these processes in the control group. The results of this research will not only enrich our knowledge of the processes involved in adolescents' distress and wellbeing, but also provide clues as to the best targets for intervention. Moreover, the material for these interventions will be freely available in French on request to the corresponding author, providing access to innovative and fully assessed interventions aimed at promoting adolescents' mental health in France. This clinical trial is currently being registered under no. 2023-A01973-42 on https://ansm.sante.fr/. This is the first version of the protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Disasters have affected the physical and mental health of people around the world. Since nurses are frontlines in disasters, it seems necessary to prepare for this responsibility. This study investigates the effect of psychological first-aid virtual education on the communication skills of nurses in disasters such as COVID pandemic. Methods: In a randomized controlled trial, 55 nurses were selected by purposive sampling method from two hospitals in Isfahan and Tehran, Iran in December—November 2022 and randomly replaced in the intervention group who participated in psychological first aid virtual training and control group. The data were collected through the personal information form and Communication Skills –Test-Revised (CSTR). Results: Two groups were homogeneous in terms of communication skills (p = 0.177), the total score of communication skills was significant between the two groups after the intervention (p < 0.0001). Regarding communication skills, in the pre-intervention phase, the subscale of "the ability to receive and send messages" and "insight into the communication process" the difference before the intervention was not significant between the two groups (p > 0.05). However, it was significant between the two groups after the intervention (p < 0.05), and regarding "emotional control", "listening skills", and "communication along with assertiveness" the difference before and after the intervention was not significant between the two groups (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Pre-disaster training and virtual education can increase nurses' communication skills in their ability to handle a disaster such as COVID pandemic. Virtual education of post-disaster psychological interventions is suggested. Trial registration: IRCT20220923056023N1; date: 2023–01-31. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a claimant state to the South China Sea, Vietnam is known to be decisive in safeguarding its maritime territorial claims. In order to be consistent with its echoed rules-based order in the South China Sea and its defense policy of non-alignment, this study argues that Vietnam's responses vis-à-vis China's assertiveness at sea have been through the employment of divergent maritime diplomatic strategies of retaliation and deference vis-à-vis China. This study concludes; Vietnam primarily employs civilian maritime hard power assets to showcase its active presence at sea to secure recognition of its contemporary maritime capabilities; Vietnam engages in limited-coercive maritime diplomacy through its maritime constabulary forces to indicate Vietnam's decisiveness in its maritime claims; and Vietnam's co-operative maritime diplomacy is through the conduct of joint exercises and training, and goodwill visits, with its strategic partners in Southeast Asia and broader Indo-Pacific region. It concludes that Vietnam is treading with caution with the US to deter producing signals of engaging closer with the US, which can cause elevated tensions at sea. This explanatory empirical research utilizes data from AMTI and relevant secondary sources between 2010-2022 and adopts the theoretical framework of Le Miere's tripartite typology of maritime diplomacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that climate injustice will be compounded in the future as a result of the deferred nature of many climate impacts. My claim is that the temporal disconnect between emissions and climate harm threatens future people's ability to access what I call "resistance goods," which rely on forms of address, often realised in oppositional political action. I identify three resistance goods--self-assertion, solidarity and testimony--and show that each is threatened by the temporality of climate change. A compound of climate injustice is that it will be experienced as demeaning, isolating and silencing by many future people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spousal violence is a severe public health problem that affects women's health worldwide. While the evidence suggests that women's assertiveness is a significant factor in coping with this type of violence, empowerment interventions in this area, especially in developing countries, have been ineffective. This qualitative study aimed to identify barriers to empowering women's assertive behavior in dealing with spousal violence. We used a combined purposive and theoretical sampling method with maximum variation to select interviewees. The data were collected through 31 semi-constructed interviews and were analyzed using a content analysis approach developed by Graneheim and Lundman. After data analysis, 87 codes were extracted. Multiple revisions and merging of similar codes were finally organized into 13 sub-categories and five thematic categories of barriers to empowering assertive behavior. Three categories of individual and interpersonal barriers including internalized fears damaged marital interactions, and internalized disability were identified, as well as two categories of sociocultural barriers including culture, customs and sociability, and lack of access to supportive resources. Our study revealed that empowering assertive behavior in women faced multidimensional barriers that exacerbate women's related challenges in dealing with violence. Interventions should focus on removing individual, interpersonal, and social barriers, especially by enhancing women's ability to overcome their inner fears, developing interpersonal communication skills, and correcting discriminatory cultural beliefs and gender stereotypes about women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Good relationships between physicians, patients, families and the healthcare team are essential for high‐quality care. Medical encounters are sometimes challenging. They may include conflicts, requiring physicians to be assertive: that is to share and protect their needs, rights and values while preserving those of others. Whereas assertiveness has been studied in patients and nursing staff (those with less power in healthcare), physicians' assertiveness, which must be mindful of these power differences, lacks a comprehensive review. Thus, this scoping review focuses on assertive communication in physicians' encounters. Methods: A literature search of four online databases: MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO and WoS, seeking articles on physicians' assertiveness as a communication style published until February 2022. The Joanna Briggs Institute approach and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews checklist underpinned the review protocol. Results: We identified 1513 articles relating to assertiveness, reviewed 153 full‐text articles and selected 22 for full review, 68% from the last decade. The articles focused mainly on assertive communication and relationships with medical staff, with 54% focusing on bottom‐up power relations. In 40% of the articles, no clear definition of assertiveness was included. Definitions included had varied focus: on self, on the other or both. Overall, assertiveness measures varied widely, precluding a methodical comparison. Conclusions: Despite the growing interest in physicians' assertiveness, a clearer definition and in‐depth exploration of assertiveness are needed alongside development of valid measures of assertiveness appropriate to physicians. Based on the review, we offer a relational definition of assertiveness as the capacity to communicate one's views, concerns, rights and needs while respecting others and preserving therapeutic, collegial and educational professional alliances. This definition may serve to expand research in the field while offering a professional alternative to problematic communication styles—passive and self‐denying or paternalistic and aggressive —that obfuscate and thus undermine physician–patient relationships. Gutgeld‐Dror et al. provide evidence that assertiveness is important to physicians' interactions as long as it takes into account the needs of both parties and is engaged while valuing maintainance of professional relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China, which has made a major economic breakthrough, has become one of the most important actors in international politics by increasing its military power in recent years. China's increasing power and influence in the international arena arouses increasing curiosity about the country's foreign policy. With Xi Jinping becoming president, China began to display a more assertive attitude or behavior on many issues. This study basically seeks an answer to the question of what differences Xi Jinping brought to Chinese foreign policy. What kind of changes do these differences lead to in Chinese foreign policy? In this study, the general tendencies and directions of Chinese foreign policy during the Xi Jinping period are discussed. The assertive foreign policy approach that Xi Jinping is trying to implement is analyzed. In this context, the visions of "Chinese dream", "new type of great power relations", "new type of international relations", "Belt and Road Initiative" and "a community with a common future for humanity", which reflect Xi's assertive foreign policy approach, are examined. At the same time, challenges to the assertive foreign policy implemented under Xi Jinping are discussed. The study mainly questions the extent to which Xi Jinping's assertive foreign policy approach is successful. The study concludes that Xi Jinping's active foreign policy approach has not increased China's sphere of influence in the international arena to the extent expected. As China becomes more visible in the international arena, the country's foreign policy challenges seem to be increasing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to examine the social skill levels of secondary school students according to various variables. In this quantitative study, screening model was adopted. The study group consists of students continuing their education in secondary education institutions affiliated to the Ministry of National Education. The sampling group determined by convenient sampling method consists of 285 females and 245 males, totalling 530 participants. The Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters (MESSY) developed by Matson, Ratatory and Helsel (1983) and adapted into Turkish by Erdoğan (2002) was used as the measurement tool. Kolmogorov-Smirnov normality test was applied to the obtained data and although the results of the test did not show normal distribution, it was accepted that the data had a normal distribution because the skewness and kurtosis values were between -3 and +3. In the light of these results, independent sample test (T-test) and one-way analysis of variance (One-Way ANOVA) were applied to the data obtained. According to the results of the data analysis, Welch values were taken into consideration depending on the homogeneity assumption of the data and Games-Howell test, one of the Post Hoc tests, was applied as a second level test. The findings were evaluated according to p<0.05 significance value. Depending on the gender variable, a statistically significant difference was found in the sub-dimensions of social adjustment, overconfidence, and inappropriate assertiveness. Statistically significant differences were found in social adjustment, positive social behaviour, social communication, overconfidence sub-dimensions and social skills total scores depending on the variable of doing sports. Statistically significant differences were found in social adjustment, overconfidence, inappropriate assertiveness sub-dimensions depending on the class variable. As a result, the social skill levels of students continuing their education in secondary education institutions vary according to various variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black Africans in the diaspora faced the problem of being transplanted from Africa to the New World during the Transatlantic Slave Trade developed a lot of psychological problems. One such problem is that they feel a sense of disconnection between their existence in the New World and their primary home in Africa. Caribbean writers expose the people's sense of rootlessness and the need for the search for the authentic self. Through Historical Criticism and Post-Structuralism, this study exposes the assertion of the tragic or fragmented self of the people ending in restlessness and sorrow; Edward Kamau Brathwaite's quest for his root in Africa is encapsulated in his attainment and participation in African traditional worship; his communion with his ancestors and celebration of the new dawn of his authentic origin; his return to the Caribbean and the message he sent across by incorporating African language into poetry. It aims at highlighting the need to rediscover the truth of one's being and rehabilitation of one's culture to re-establish one's dignity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Legitimacy is crucial for the effectiveness of leaders in the workplace. We investigate pathways by which authorities in the workplace gain legitimacy and how they differ by authority race. In addition to leaders' behaviors, subordinates' impressions of leaders' competence and warmth, stemming from those behaviors, impact their views of leader legitimacy. We further assess how the role of mediating impressions depends on the race of the authority enacting the behaviors. In an experimental vignette study, we manipulate the authority's actions (use of fair procedures and power benevolently) and race (Black/white) and measure perceived competence, warmth, and legitimacy. Results indicate that the effects of leader behaviors on legitimacy operate through impressions of competence and warmth. Moreover, authority race alters this pathway; behaviors operate through competence impressions for white managers and through warmth impressions for Black managers. Our study illuminates how leaders gain legitimacy at work and how this process is racialized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to determine the factors that influence assertive communication skills in adolescent girls at 'Panti Asuhan Putri Kerahiman Jayapura'. The concept used is assertive communication. The research method used a qualitative approach with in-depth interviews with six informants. The results showed that internal factors include fear, lack of confidence, lack of self-awareness, and emotional situations. External factors include family rules, parenting, social support at the orphanage, and a less supportive environment. The main finding is that adolescent girls in orphanages still have psychological barriers to selfexpression and assertiveness. In conclusion, there are internal and external factors that affect the assertive communication skills of adolescent girls in orphanages. Recommendations include the need to provide communication education and training, increase self-awareness, and optimize social support and a conducive environment in orphanages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visible surveillance technologies are vanishing in the wake of dataveillance. The practice of surveillance is certainly not disappearing, but it has become inconspicuous. In a regime of invisible surveillance, the watchers and the watched alike are hard to identify, for the latter have also become socially invisible as human beings. I argue that the idea of becoming invisible in both digital and pre-digital surveillance societies is multifaceted. On the one hand, it suggests total deprivation of personal autonomy as a result of overexposure resulting in the disappearance of the subject and, on the other hand, it implies a possibility of resistance and self-assertion. Self-exposure is taken to extremes in Dave Eggers's dystopian novel The Circle (2013) where the protagonist becomes the centre of attention in a "viewer society" (Mathiesen 1997) and "goes transparent" (Eggers 2013, 351). In contrast, Wolfgang Hilbig's Stasi novel "Ich" (1993) works with different notions of invisibility. Recruited to spy for the Stasi, Hilbig's protagonist – an unsuccessful poet – is at the same time targeted by East Germany's secret police and wants to become invisible, hiding from the omnipresent Stasi surveillance in Berlin's maze-like cellar corridors in an attempt of self-assertion. The comparison of these novels will elucidate how different discourses on (in)visibility and transparency contribute to an account of subjectivity that attempts to resist surveillance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assertive outreach is becoming an increasingly salient feature of policy responses to homelessness—and particularly rough sleeping—with the aim of supporting people to access secure housing. Despite its demonstrated successes, existing research points to structural challenges practitioners face in navigating complex and fragmented service systems to provide people sleeping rough with a continuum of care. This study examines an Australian organisation's efforts to collaboratively and systematically overcome these challenges by bringing together government, community and service practitioners from multiple sectors in their delivery of an assertive outreach programme. Using an ethnographic research design, this article draws on observations of outreach practices and service provider administrative quantitative data, as well as qualitative interviews and focus groups conducted with assertive outreach service providers. Our findings demonstrate that through flexible and collaborative social work practices, practitioners were able to see people sleeping rough, share information across services and support people into a range of housing, health and other forms of services. Critically, however, structural barriers such as a lack of affordable and social housing prevented assertive outreach from ending people's homelessness. We foreground the critical implications of these findings for social work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Morality‐Agency‐Communion (MAC) model of respect and liking suggests that traits linked with morality are important for respect and liking; traits related to competence or assertiveness are important for respect and traits related to warmth are important for liking. However, tests of this model have tended not to consider traits related to immorality, incompetence, lack of assertiveness or coldness. This study addressed this issue by utilizing a within‐subjects design in which participants were required to rate their respect and liking for individuals with specific trait types across four categories (moral; competence; assertiveness; and warmth) at three levels (positive, negative and neutral). The central tenets of the MAC model were supported for 'positive' traits (morality, competence, assertiveness and warmth). However, for 'negative' traits (immorality, incompetence and lack of assertiveness), individuals were similarly not liked and not respected. Individuals who were cold were respected more than liked. The findings of this study extend the MAC model by indicating that the amount that individuals are respected versus liked depends not only on trait type but also whether a trait is positive or negative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Social and emotional learning (SEL) is a powerful predictor of several outcomes throughout life, such as relationships, citizenship behavior, academic and job performance, and mental and physical health. The Portuguese Gulbenkian Academies for Knowledge supported the implementation and rigorous impact assessment of community and educational interventions aiming to promote SEL in participants 0 and 25 years of age. Methods: This paper presents a secondary-data analysis of the experimental and quasi-experimental impacts of 40 Academies on the OECD Survey of Social and Emotional Skills. Eight Academies (N = 4,460 participants) implemented an experimental approach, while 32 Academies (N = 14,274 participants) employed a quasi-experimental approach. Results: We found experimental and quasi-experimental evidence of significant positive results of the Academies for various skills, and consistent impacts from the perspective of child/youth participants and teachers, particularly for Curiosity and Assertiveness. Effect sizes were small. Discussion: The impact evaluation of the Gulbenkian Academies for Knowledge has the potential to support considerable changes in the field of SEL interventions, nationally and internationally, by informing discussion of evidence-based SEL interventions, and offering a sustainable model of capacity building with longlasting effect on practices of SEL professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research aimed to examine how perceivers' system‐justifying beliefs moderate the way they evaluate high‐ versus low‐status targets on assertiveness and competence. In three experimental studies, we manipulated a target's hierarchical position within his company's organization. Participants rated the target on traits reflecting assertiveness and competence. Their system‐justifying beliefs were assessed in an ostensibly unrelated study. Results consistently showed that participants inferred assertiveness from the target's hierarchical position regardless of system justification, whereas the relationship between social status and competence was consistently moderated by system‐justifying beliefs: only participants high in system justification ascribed more competence to the high‐status target than to the low‐status target. These findings are in line with the hypothesis suggesting that inferring competence from high‐status positions could rely on the tendency to justify social inequalities, whereas inferring assertiveness would not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that China's rhetorical support for prevention at the United Nations obscures its underlying contestation of atrocity prevention in both conception and practice. It introduces a novel conceptual framework, coined as the two-level norm cluster of prevention, which includes three conceptually aligned yet distinct parts: operational conflict prevention, direct atrocity prevention and root-cause prevention. Drawing on interviews and policy documents, this article finds that China conflates direct atrocity prevention with operational conflict prevention, with a preference for the agenda of conflict prevention, as seen in China's divergent commitments to preventing armed conflicts and peacetime atrocities. This conflation represents a deliberate political choice rather than a result of misunderstanding or lack of knowledge regarding their distinctions. China also endorses a strong linkage between direct atrocity prevention and development-focused root cause prevention. Despite China's growing assertiveness in shaping liberal norms and the favourable perception of its development-focused approaches among elite groups in host states, the Chinese government hesitates to officially promote the scholarly concept of developmental peace and present it as an alternative to the existing liberal principles. This reluctance reflects China's intention to avoid explicit confrontation with liberal norms and its concerns about the potential failure of norm entrepreneurship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Behavioral and cognitive therapies are today the most effective toolbox and the most evidenced-based therapy for social anxiety. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of some of the most popular methods for treating social anxiety. A selective review of literature published between 1997 and 2022 on social anxiety management. We have found that the majority of behavioral and cognitive treatment protocols are based on the following pillars: exposure to avoided situations, cognitive restructuring, assertiveness, and social skills training, as well as decentration techniques such as getting out of self-observation and cognitive fusion. Several psychotherapists agree on some components of social anxiety management while others do not. Within these agreements and disagreements, the path to the sketch of a new model should open. We argue that some techniques may ultimately be useless, counterproductive, and time-consuming. Alter the existing models and improve them in a different way in light of the multiple information and clinical examples is much needed. We suggest reconfiguring the theoretical and clinical elements to derive a new therapeutic combination of old techniques. In this new theoretical model of social anxiety, we scrupulously suggest including the cognitive and emotional elements and opt for primacy to be given to behavioral inhibition and the role of the biological part such as amygdala. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New graduate nurses often lack professional confidence to voice safety concerns. An evidence review was conducted to determine how participating in a mentorship program impacts the development of assertive communication during the first year of practice. Evidence indicates that providing a supportive environment, with physical and emotional access to mentors, should be used to increase new graduate nurses' self-perceived ability and willingness to voice safety concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impetus to write this paper was an analysis of the expression as if (akoby) as a component of the "equivalence" principle and the determination of its legitimacy as a component of the "behavior" principle. The study is focused on the search for further connections between the verbal behavior of the speaker and the linguistic aspects of as if (akoby) because it is used as a manifestation of motivated, ego-related and assertive verbal behavior. As if (akoby) can be viewed as: (a) a component of the principle of verbal behavior that attributes an egocentric meaning to the speaker's behavior; (b) an egocentric expression of the hypotaxis with an implicit speaker and the semantics of circumstantial and characteristic contexts; (c) a pragmatic marker of the speaker's ego-related interpretation of facts. Interpretation, which is grasped at the following two levels, is the methodological framework of the monitored aspects: (i) in the sense of the ego-related evaluation of a fact or event by the speaker, i.e. in the sense of participatory interpretation, and (ii) in the sense of explaining the verbal behavior of the speaker, i.e. in the sense of searching for the motives, intentions and goals that form the preconditions for his/her verbal behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2013, China has undertaken extensive reclamation and construction on several reefs in the Spratly Island chain in the South China Sea. China has since been adding new construction and fortifications to the land features that had undergone reclamation between late 2013 and 2015, but none of the new projects rivalled the large-scale reclamation from 2014–15, and nor has China reclaimed any new land features. Land reclamation has theoretical and empirical implications. The literature regarding maritime disputes in the South China Sea is rich and plenty. Many studies, however, focus on China's bilateral assertive or coercive behaviour as well as China's general strategy in the South China Sea, not land reclamation per se. What explains the timing of China's large-scale land reclamation in the South China Sea? Why did China decide to initiate large-scale land reclamation in the first place? This paper, therefore, conducts a comprehensive case study analysing China's land reclamation decisions. I argue that China's land reclamation is a result of capability, rationale, and opportunities which include a calculation of U.S. resolve. This study has implications for understanding Chinese foreign policy decision-making and contributes to the credibility debate in the coercion literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article delivers the first post-Cold War history of how France – the European power with the largest political-military footprint in the Asia-Pacific – has responded to the national security challenges posed by the rise of China. Based upon a unique body of primary sources (80 interviews conducted in Europe, the Asia-Pacific and the United States; declassified archival documents; and leaked diplomatic cables), it shows that China's growing assertiveness after 2009 (and national policymakers' perceptions thereof) has been the key driver of change in French security policy in the region, pulling France strategically into the Asia-Pacific. Specifically, growing threat perceptions of China's rise – coupled with steadily rising regional economic interests – have led Paris to forge a cohesive policy framework, the Indo-Pacific strategy, and to bolster the political-military dimension of its regional presence. By investigating this key yet neglected dimension of French and European security policies, and by leveraging a unique body of primary written and oral sources, this study fills an important gap in the scholarly literature on both European and Asia-Pacific security dynamics. The findings of this article also shed new light on the political and military assets that France can bring to bear in the formulation of a common EU security policy toward the Asia-Pacific and on the implications thereof for the prospect of a transatlantic strategy vis-à-vis China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medical patients suffer from physical ailments and the treatment most of the time is centered on the physical aspect. Psychological well-being of medical patients is often neglected. This study aims at examining forgiveness, assertiveness and marital status as predictors of psychological well-being of medical patients. Three hundred and eighty (380) adults were participants in this study, 18-64 years (Mean =29.97; Standard Deviation = 9.6). The authors used the following scales to collect data for the work: Trait Forgiveness Scale, Assertive Behavior Inventory-Assertive behavior sub-scale, and World Health Organization Well-Being Index. The authors used crosssectional design, and multiple hierarchical regression to analyze the data. Forgiveness (β=.14, p <.001) and assertiveness (β=.20, p <.001) positively predicted psychological well-being of medical patients. However, marital status did not significantly predict psychological well-being of medical patients (β=.031, p > .05). Facilitating patients with medical conditions toward relinquishing their hurts, and teaching them skills of honest self-expression in interpersonal relationships are good for their well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of game-related assessments (GRAs) in personnel selection is increasing. However, the type of GRA under investigation should be considered. This study focuses on game-based assessments, which closely resemble leisure-oriented videogames. We specifically examined a serious game that assesses personality traits (assertiveness, sociability, tolerance, and rules). We analyzed its predictive validity, applicant reactions, and the impact of personal and job-related factors on scores. The study included 182 participants who played the GRA and completed a Big Five questionnaire. Findings revealed that the game predicts adaptive performance, offering incremental value over the Big Five (ΔR2 =.107). Additionally, candidates reacted more positively to the GRA in terms of comfort and fit, although the effect size was small (d = -0.1757 and -0.3119, respectively). Relating to personal and job-related characteristics, only job experience significantly affected the assertiveness score, albeit with a small effect size (d = -0.3870). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of vocalic behavior in resolving high-conflict situations. A quantitative study was employed using 277 university students from California and Florida. We experimentally tested a vocal coding system using passive, aggressive, and assertive audio clips presented to research subjects, which included volume, pitch, rate, pausing, and vocal variety. Participants rated these audio clips based on vocal qualities, relational outcomes, appropriateness, and resolving conflict. Results revealed that the assertive vocal style was associated with higher ratings to resolve conflict and perceptions of verbal assertiveness and appropriateness than were passive or aggressive vocal styles. Implications and applications are discussed to stimulate future research among researchers and practitioners when addressing conflict situations. Public Significance Statement: This study tested the effects of different vocal qualities on perceptions of conflict. The results found that the assertive vocal style (as opposed to aggressive or passive) was most conducive to resolving conflict and wanting to work with a partner in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assertiveness development in women can be hindered by gendered norms of agreeableness and passivity. Despite this, many women become assertive, although less is known about how they negotiate the process. This grounded theory examined women's assertiveness development based on experiences of eleven, primarily post-secondary educated women from a large Western Canada university. Women currently struggling with assertiveness (n = 6) and those who once struggled but now considered themselves more assertive (n = 5) were recruited to compare the immediate experience of barriers to assertiveness and reflections on overcoming these barriers, respectively. Semi-structured interviews and an assertiveness measure were used to capture participants' convergent and divergent experiences. Participants' main concerns centered on a desire to be socially accepted, which precluded assertive behaviour and culminated in personal costs such as not getting needs met. Processes in resolving these concerns involved cognitive, behavioural, and social changes, and finding a purpose in life that required assertiveness. These processes form the base of Assertive Identity Negotiation theory, where women negotiate an assertive identity by continually reflecting on and committing to self-assertion while balancing interpersonal concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This pre-registered study evaluated an intervention designed to reduce sexual aggression perpetration and victimization by changing risky scripts for consensual sexual interactions and corresponding risky sexual behavior, and by improving sexual self-esteem, refusal assertiveness, and initiation assertiveness. In a four-wave longitudinal study covering 23 months, 1181 university students in Germany (762 female) were randomly assigned to an intervention and a no-intervention control group. The intervention group completed six weekly modules addressing the targeted theory-based risk and vulnerability factors of sexual aggression perpetration and victimization. Controlling for baseline levels (T1), the intervention group showed less risky sexual scripts one week post-intervention (T2), which predicted less risky sexual behavior nine months later (T3), which predicted lower odds of sexual aggression perpetration and victimization 12 months later (T4). No direct intervention effects on rates of sexual aggression perpetration and victimization at T3 and T4 were found. No indirect intervention effect on sexual aggression was found via sexual self-esteem and sexual assertiveness. However, sexual self-esteem at T2, which was higher in the intervention group, predicted lower odds of sexual aggression victimization at T3 via higher initiation assertiveness at T3. Implications for reducing sexual aggression and conceptualizing risk and vulnerability factors of sexual aggression are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What do women learn in feminist self-defense that is empowering? This study examined the skills women used months and years after completing an IMPACT self-defense course. Ninety-seven survey participants described skills they had used and incorporated into their lives. The major themes that emerged through a classic grounded theory analysis were awareness, boundary setting, assertive body language, and managing adrenaline to prevent, interrupt, or stop uncomfortable, intrusive, or hostile behaviors. IMPACT-trained women did not engage in self-blaming or risky behavior and used their skills to prevent and interrupt aggressive behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To what extent and under which conditions do presidents challenge foreign policy legislation through Statements of Administration Policy (SAPs)? While the presidents' use of executive orders and signing statements has been studied extensively, this paper argues that SAPs are a subtler and less politically costly tool that is more important than scholars realized. Delivered at a crucial intervention point along the legislative process, these communications provide a key gateway for assertive presidential challenges. Relying on a novel assertiveness-score, this paper finds that SAPs target legislative content more aggressively over time and that the composition of government predicts executive assertiveness particularly well. Next to that, I show that presidents are more assertive when their term comes to an end. These insights contribute to our understanding of spiking interbranch tensions in American Politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Internationales Archiv für Sozialgeschichte der deutschen Literatur is the property of De Gruyter 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.)

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how Black undergraduates demonstrate resilience in response to experiencing racial microaggressions. Given that racially hostile and unwelcoming campus environments persist and that some response strategies have been associated with mitigating the effects of microaggressions, there is a need to further explicate how Black students resiliently respond to microaggressive environments that assail their beingness. We used resilience theory as a conceptual framework to uncover positive adaptations that contributed to Black undergraduate students' resilience. Focus group interviews were conducted with 17 Black undergraduates at a public research university in the Midwest. Findings indicated that students engaged in five positive adaptations that contributed to their resilience: (a) making sense of racial microaggressions, (b) increasing awareness of racism and racial microaggressions, (c) focusing on academics, (d) developing assertiveness, and (e) resisting cultural discontinuity. We offer recommendations for supporting Black undergraduates' resilience and systematically confronting racism and racial microaggressions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study assessed attitudes toward patient-centred care, empathy, assertiveness, and subjective perception of communication skills and technical knowledge among Portuguese undergraduate students in healthcare. These students may develop rehabilitation activities with patients in their person-oriented or technique-oriented professions. Portuguese nursing and allied health students from two public higher education schools completed questionnaires in the first and third academic years: Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale, Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy, Scale for Interpersonal Behaviour, and a subjective perception of technical knowledge and communication skills. A total of 183 students completed the surveys. In the first year, students showed moderate to high scores on patient-centredness attitudes, empathy, and assertiveness and perceived themselves as having good communication skills. Students from person-oriented programmes significantly improved their Total and shared patient-centred attitudes in the third year compared with students attending technique-oriented professions. Significant differences in empathy were found between groups in the third year. Distress associated with assertive behaviours increased significantly across time in students from technique-oriented programmes compared with their peers in person-oriented programmes. The results suggest that the health profession's orientation and the programmes' specific curriculum might have a role in how some dimensions evolved in the two groups of students. The increasing assertiveness-related discomfort highlighted the importance of assessing and monitoring students' emotional wellbeing during their initial interactions with patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there is a consensus that harsh, hostile, abusive discipline has uniformly adverse effects on children, scholars continue to debate implications of varying degrees of power assertion commonly used by most parents in daily interactions with young children. Attachment theory can inform this debate, as early attachment organization can serve as a catalyst, or moderator, of future socialization trajectories. Specifically, insecure attachment can amplify, whereas secure attachment can attenuate, detrimental effects of parental power-assertive control. In two community studies of mothers, fathers, and infants, Family Study (FS, N = 102), and Children and Parents Study (CAPS, N = 200), we assessed attachment security in infancy, parental power-assertive control at 4.5 years in FS and at 16 months in CAPS, and child positive orientation to the parent at 10 years in FS and at 3 years in CAPS. In both studies, fathers' power-assertive control undermined children's positive orientation toward the fathers, but only for children with less secure attachment histories in infancy (Attachment Q-Set in FS and Strange Situation Paradigm in CAPS), and not for those with more secure histories. The findings highlight indirect yet powerful, long-term effects of the early parent-child security, and suggest distinct processes in mother- and father-child dyads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peer recovery support services for Substance Use Disorder (SUD) are becoming increasingly more prevalent to support individuals in initiating and maintaining recovery. However, models that operationalize service delivery are lacking. Here we describe the Assertive Community Engagement (ACE) model, a new model that emphasizes personalization and peer recovery support with a social determinants of health focus. This article defines the tenets of the ACE model, provides evidence to support the model, and addresses applications of this model to different settings. We review literature on Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) programs and research using peer recovery coaching interventions to develop the ACE model tenets, implementation guidelines, and evidence in support of the model. The ACE model has ten core tenets for service delivery: (1) the target population is individuals with SUD; (2) peer recovery coach services as a single touchpoint; (3) service delivery relies on assertive engagement techniques; (4) comprehensive support services are provided; (5) services include long-term care; (6) community-based care is provided; (7) services have 24/7 crisis availability; (8) outcomes focus on both substance use reduction and quality of life improvements; (9) direct social support is provided; (10) services are personalized and flexible. Empirical evidence for the model includes evidence for increase engagement in treatment and other recovery support services, reduced substance use frequency, and decreased hospital utilization. The ACE model is a promising model of peer recovery support that deserves further investigation for improving substance use and quality of life outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study examined resistance strategies used by predominantly Pacific Islander young adolescents in response to offers of tobacco, e-cigarettes, and betel [areca] nuts. This study was intended to inform the development of a prevention curriculum focused on training young adolescents from the U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI) on culturally appropriate strategies to resist substance use offers. Currently, very little is understood in terms of how Pacific Islander youths deal with tobacco and other substance use offers, although the use of tobacco products among Pacific Islander youths is high. Specifically, given the collectivist sociocultural orientation of the Pacific Islander communities, it is unclear whether the direct (overt) confrontational style of resistance is a viable mode of resistance for youths to practice when faced with a substance use offer. Methods: We conducted 10 focus groups with public middle school students (N = 34) from Guam, which is part of the USAPI. Results: Results suggested that, as with other communities in the U.S., the resistance strategies fall into two categories—overt/confrontational and non-confrontational resistance strategies. Overt/confrontational strategies included (a) saying "no" and (b) verbally confronting the offeror. Non-confrontational strategies included (a) avoiding or leaving the situation and (b) telling an adult. Conclusions: Our findings have implications for the development of culturally grounded interventions aimed at preventing youth tobacco and other substance use in Guam, the USAPI, and the Pacific region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined correlates of immediate (within 48 h) and delayed (after 48 h) sexual assault disclosure among a sample of 83 college women who experienced sexual victimization since age 14. The use of physical resistance and experiencing a "freeze response" was positively associated with delayed disclosure. Identifying the perpetrator as a friend/acquaintance, compared to a was a romantic partner, increased the likelihood of immediate disclosure. Other individual characteristics (i.e., assault characteristics, a history of childhood sexual abuse, attitudes towards seeking help, and sexual assertiveness) and microsystem-level characteristics (i.e., perceived social support) did not impact the timing of disclosure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many societies experienced pushback against governmental COVID‐19 measures. When the Norwegian government made it a punishable offence to spend the night at privately owned cabins in the first phase of the pandemic, this resulted in discussions and pushback. Basing our research on in‐depth interviews at three different time points during the pandemic, we ask how Norwegian participants discursively explain why the cabin ban was the first measure that evoked pushback in Norway. We conducted a Foucauldian discourse analysis (FDA), exploring three overarching explanations provided by the interview participants. In the first explanation, the pushback was presented as a result of the cultural importance of the cabin. Here, participants partly legitimised the pushback when constructing it as a predictable reaction in this cultural context. In the second explanation, participants constructed the pushback as an expression of 'cabin people' in particular and Norwegians in general being 'too privileged' to acknowledge the measure's necessity. Here, the pushback was constructed as an illegitimate reaction. In the third explanation, participants explained the pushback as a result of people seeing the measure as meaningless. This interpretation constructs pushback as a legitimate response to an illogical measure. These different constructions illustrate the complexity of compliance with COVID measures, where people negotiated individual freedom against solidarity, and compliance against critical thinking. The article contributes to the understanding of people's negotiations of resistance and pushback against restrictive measures. We argue that social psychological theory and research need to acknowledge the temporal, contextual and ideological specificities in understanding compliance and non‐compliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author contends that, although most early childhood educators agree about the value of play for child development, preschools and kindergartens often do not reflect this belief, and she discusses this anomaly in the adult notion of play and how it manifests in classroom practices. She argues that it produces schoolroom practices in which adults use play merely as an instrument of teaching that are actually incompatible with play. Indeed, socalled “play-based instruction” misrepresents the true nature of play—the only activity through which young children fully express their own agency and in which they can truly participate in their own development. She discusses the teacher-initiated and teacher-driven pseudo or fake play that forces children to take on roles and enact pretend scenarios in ways pleasing to adults. And she seeks a remedy in the Vygotsky-Elkonin theory of play, which allows us to distinguish real play from fake play and helps restore the rightful place of true play to early childhood classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Separating women with the coronavirus 2019 from family can affect marital life. Considering psychological vulnerability of women for anxiety and depression disorders, these women may experience more stress due to the loss of work at this time or special reproductive health conditions such as pregnancy, having a baby, or other medical conditions. Objective: Considering a limited number of qualitative studies on the need for marital intimacy, this study was conducted to meet marital intimacy needs in women with coronavirus 2019. Materials and Methods: Framework qualitative content analysis was conducted through participation of 13 key informants (sex therapist, couple therapist, psychologist, and midwifery counselor) and 18 infected women from Yazd, Iran in July 2020 who were selected purposefully and interviewed through the semi-structured in-depth interviews. Results: 3 main categories were: 1) mutual resilience (subcategories: 1. coping strategies; 2. value of marital life; 3. compassionate conflict resolving). 2) skillful relationship (subcategories: 1. assertiveness in sexual expression; 2. self-efficacy in the distance physical connectivity). 3) synergy (subcategories: 1. reframing spirituality closeness; 2. empowering aesthetic creativity; 3. management of family function, and 4. prioritizing). Conclusion: Findings revealed sex and couple therapists, health providers, and policymakers should emphasize on using new forms of digital communication in these couples. Teaching skills that increase partners' creativity and empathy, enable women to fulfill their mental, sexual and reproductive health needs, and lead to more partners responsibility and loyalty, and maintenance of family function. In times of crisis, counseling should be considered in women treatment programs and care guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social science research has highlighted "honor" as a central value driving social behavior in Mediterranean societies, which requires individuals to develop and protect a sense of their personal self-worth and their social reputation, through assertiveness, competitiveness, and retaliation in the face of threats. We predicted that members of Mediterranean societies may exhibit a distinctive combination of independent and interdependent social orientation, self-construal, and cognitive style, compared to more commonly studied East Asian and Anglo-Western cultural groups. We compared participants from eight Mediterranean societies (Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus [Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot communities], Lebanon, Egypt) to participants from East Asian (Korea, Japan) and Anglo-Western (the United Kingdom, the United States) societies, using six implicit social orientation indicators, an eight-dimensional self-construal scale, and four cognitive style indicators. Compared with both East Asian and Anglo-Western samples, samples from Mediterranean societies distinctively emphasized several forms of independence (relative intensity of disengaging [vs. engaging] emotions, happiness based on disengaging [vs. engaging] emotions, dispositional [vs. situational] attribution style, self-construal as different from others, self-directed, self-reliant, self-expressive, and consistent) and interdependence (closeness to in-group [vs. out-group] members, self-construal as connected and committed to close others). Our findings extend previous insights into patterns of cultural orientation beyond commonly examined East–West comparisons to an understudied world region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research aims to Preparation an Cognitive emotional regulation strategies scale for the students of the University of Mosul, where the researcher adopted the descriptive approach, and the research community consisted of (23051) students for the academic year 2021-2022. A stratified random sample of (920) male and female students was selected at a rate of 4%. Done Preparation the cognitive emotional regulation strategies scale depending on the Gross’s theory(1998), which includes two types of strategies (pre-focus strategies - focus response strategies) of the type of items, For the purpose of extracting the psychometric properties, the scale was presented in its initial form to experts in educational and psychological sciences to extract the apparent validity, the Preparation validity of the scale was extracted as well, and calculating the discriminatory power of the items, the calculated T values ranged between )6.818-0.577(, which is greater than the tabular value of (1.96), and thus all the items of the scale are distinguished, also the internal consistency was calculated, as the values of the correlation coefficients for the degree of items and the total degree of the scale ranged between )6.547-1.122(, As for the values of the correlation coefficients related to the degree of items and the total degree of the domains of the scale ranged between )8.431 -0.545(and the number of items of the scale in its final form became (30) items. The stability was also extracted by the test and re-apply of the test, and the value of the correlation coefficient in this way was (0.83), and Cronbach's alpha equation value was (0.81), Thus, the highest expected score for the individual on the assertive behavior scale is (60) and the lowest expected score is (30) with a hypothetical average (45). The data was processed by the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) and the statistical methods that were used in the research are (one-sample t-test, two independent samples t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient, Cronbach's alpha equation). The research also came out with a number of the recommends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent times, the European Commission has shown to have increasing difficulty keeping up its central position in trade diplomacy towards China, in the face of a growing wariness and assertiveness of the member states. In this article, we observe a changing balance, a development from EU diplomacy towards European diplomacy, meaning a growing influence of EU member states in the process. We call this the "Europeanisation" of EU economic diplomacy. This is not limited to China and reflects a broader development, as is visible in the politicisation of the negotiation processes towards the (failed) Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the (provisionally applied) Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the EU and Canada, and also in the trend towards mixed agreements that require member state ratification. However, it was particularly in the relations with China that such trends became visible for the first time and have continued to manifest themselves throughout the years. Apart from the member states assembled in the Council, also the European Parliament has strengthened its position in the process at the expense of the Commission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the barriers and challenges that girls and women face in pursuing STEM education and careers. Despite progress in gender equity, there are still significant disparities in enrollment, completion, and attrition rates in STEM fields. The article presents research papers that examine factors such as personality traits, self-concept, self-efficacy, and gender role attitudes that influence girls' and women's participation in STEM. The authors emphasize the need for a holistic view of gendered pathways and the consideration of intersecting social identities. The article concludes by highlighting the importance of further research and interventions to address the underrepresentation of girls and women in STEM. [Extracted from the article]

Introduction: Extraversion and its facets of assertiveness and sociability were identified as stable predictors for leader emergence and effectiveness. However, recent research suggested that extraversion may lie in the eyes of the beholder; it might not be the leader's possession but their followers' attribution of the trait that shapes these criteria of leader success. Methods: In our study, we reverse-engineered this relationship and assessed the effects of effective leadership behaviors on personality perceptions. More specifically, we created scenarios of a leader responding to coordination challenges with passive-avoidant, transactional, or transformational leadership behaviors. We presented 204 participants with these scenarios and assessed how extraverted, assertive, and sociable they perceived the leader to be. Results: Interestingly, and not fully meeting our expectations, ascriptions of extraversion and its facets of assertiveness and sociability did not directly relate to the effectiveness of the behaviors, as the moderately effective transactional leadership style garnered the highest ascriptions of extraversion and its facets. Further, ascriptions of extraversion to the transformational behavior of intellectual stimulation were remarkably low, matched only by the laissez-faire dimension of the passive-avoidant leadership style. Discussion: We integrate and contrast these unexpected but explainable findings with current research, discuss potential associations between introversion and empowering leadership practices and provide suggestions for future discourse, illustrating the potential of investigating the presence of an introverted leadership advantage in the workplace of tomorrow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]