Search

Abstract. This study compared attitudes toward multiculturalism and assimilationism among three ethnic groups (Serbs, Croats, and Hungarians) in two neighboring countries (Croatia and Serbia). Additionally, this study examined the predictive role of ethnic identity on aforementioned attitudes directly and indirectly via symbolic threat. The results showed that Croats and Serbs had less positive multicultural and more positive assimilationist attitudes when in a majority position than when in a minority position. Hungarians, a minority in both countries, did not differ between countries. Additionally, symbolic threat mediated the relationship between ethnic identification and both assimilation and multiculturalism only in Croatia. The group status moderated these effects. Our findings confirm the importance of group's status and national context in understanding the majority–minority intergroup dynamic.

Different countries were successful in different ways in their attempts to contain the spread of the coronavirus, which compromised the health of many people. Stress levels rose and the restrictive measures impacted the citizens' trust in institutions. An important resource for managing crises is a country’s economic growth. Given that the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is one indicator of economic growth, the goal of this study is to investigate the differences in perceived stress and trust in institutions between European countries categorized into below-average, average and above-average GDP per capita levels during the coronavirus pandemic. The analyses of N = 84,080 participants from 29 countries gathered via an online survey showed that citizens of higher-level GDP per capita countries experienced less stress and had more trust in institutions. Compared to the average level, Croatian citizens experienced somewhat higher stress and had somewhat higher trust in the government’s measures. These results imply that economic growth is one of the country-level factors associated with the quality of managing the coronavirus pandemic.

The COVIDiSTRESS global survey collects data on early human responses to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic from 173 429 respondents in 48 countries. The open science study was co-designed by an international consortium of researchers to investigate how psychological responses differ across countries and cultures, and how this has impacted behaviour, coping and trust in government efforts to slow the spread of the virus. Starting in March 2020, COVIDiSTRESS leveraged the convenience of unpaid online recruitment to generate public data. The objective of the present analysis is to understand relationships between psychological responses in the early months of global coronavirus restrictions and help understand how different government measures succeed or fail in changing public behaviour. There were variations between and within countries. Although Western Europeans registered as more concerned over COVID-19, more stressed, and having slightly more trust in the governments' efforts, there was no clear geographical pattern in compliance with behavioural measures. Detailed plots illustrating between-countries differences are provided. Using both traditional and Bayesian analyses, we found that individuals who worried about getting sick worked harder to protect themselves and others. However, concern about the coronavirus itself did not account for all of the variances in experienced stress during the early months of COVID-19 restrictions. More alarmingly, such stress was associated with less compliance. Further, those most concerned over the coronavirus trusted in government measures primarily where policies were strict. While concern over a disease is a source of mental distress, other factors including strictness of protective measures, social support and personal lockdown conditions must also be taken into consideration to fully appreciate the psychological impact of COVID-19 and to understand why some people fail to follow behavioural guidelines intended to protect themselves and others from infection. The Stage 1 manuscript associated with this submission received in-principle acceptance (IPA) on 18 May 2020. Following IPA, the accepted Stage 1 version of the manuscript was preregistered on the Open Science Framework at https://osf.io/ytbcs. This preregistration was performed prior to data analysis. Fil: Lieberoth, Andreas. University Aarhus; Dinamarca Fil: Lin, Shiang Yi. University of Hong Kong; China Fil: Stöckli, Sabrina. University of Bern; Suiza Fil: Han, Hyemin. University of Alabama at Birmingahm; Estados Unidos Fil: Kowal, Marta. Wroclaw University; Polonia Fil: Gelpi, Rebekah. University of Toronto; Canadá Fil: Chrona, Stavroula. King's College London; Reino Unido Fil: Tran, Thao Phuong. State University of Colorado at Boulder; Estados Unidos Fil: Jeftić, Alma. International Christian University; Japón Fil: Rasmussen, Jesper. University Aarhus; Dinamarca Fil: Cakal, Huseyin. Keele University.; Reino Unido Fil: Milfont, Taciano L.. University of Waikato; Nueva Zelanda Fil: Reyna, Cecilia. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas; Argentina Fil: The COVIDiSTRESS global survey consortium. No especifíca

To tackle the spread of COVID‐19, governments worldwide have implemented restrictive public health behavioural measures. Whether and when these measures lead to positive or negative psychological outcomes is still debated. In this study, drawing on a large sample of individuals (N total = 89,798) from 45 nations, we investigated whether the stringency of public health measures implemented at the outset of the COVID‐19 pandemic in March–May 2020 was associated with individuals’ levels of stress and compliance. Moreover, we addressed the question of how these associations may be moderated by the measures’ implementation lag, nations’ tolerance for unequal distributions of power (i.e., power distance), and individuals’ institutional trust. Linear mixed models suggested that slower implementation of less stringent measures was associated with higher stress and lower compliance. Also, rapid implementation of stricter measures was associated with a mild increase in stress. Such effects were especially pronounced in countries with less tolerance for inequality. Albeit significant, the moderating effect of institutional trust was very small. The results suggest that it may be important to consider the measures’ implementation lag when tackling the spread of COVID‐19, but findings should be interpreted in relation to the data collection period.

In Croatia, four minority groups practice their right to education in their respective mother tongues. Relations between the majority and minority groups in the four multiethnic communities have developed under different historical circumstances. Thus, in some regions the different language of the minority and the majority group can be perceived as a threat to identity and result in intergroup prejudice and discrimination, whereas in others it might not. In this study, we wanted to examine: (a) the mediating effect of perceived threat on the relationship between in-group identification and intergroup orientation, (b) whether those relationships are moderated by the group status, and (c) contextual specificities, that is, we wanted to test the model in four different contexts. Results showed that ethnonationalism (rather than ethnic identity) is detrimental for intergroup relations, partially due to its connection to the perception of the out-group as a threat. Model tests in different contexts revealed some contextual differences.

The main aim of this study was to determine the extent to which the loneliness in adolescencecan be explained by self-esteem and peer pressure. In fact, numerous studies have mostly focusedon bivariate relation between these variables and so far in the Croatian sample of adolescentsis not examined relations between loneliness, self-esteem and peer pressure simultaneously.Although most authors believe that loneliness can occur in all developmental periods, it has beenemphasized that loneliness is more expressed during adolescence and even the most during theperiod of early adolescence. Establishing and maintaining satisfactory relationships is a priority,as inadequate and unsupported relationships with peers makes a risk for the experience ofloneliness. In addition to peer relationships, a positive attitude about yourself, or self-esteem hasa significant role in the successful development of adolescents. Earlier studies have shown thatself-esteem, which decreases during early adolescence, is an important determinant of loneliness.Therefore, the sample of this study consisted of two groups of adolescents, 200 seventh graders,who represented a group of early adolescents, and 200 students of fourth graders of highschool, who formed a group of late adolescents. The questionnaire, which consisted of threegroups of scale, Short version UCLA scale, Self-liking/self-competence Scale-Revised Versionand Susceptibility to Peer Pressure Scale. The results showed a higher level of loneliness inearly adolescents, and lower self-esteem, but a greater level of susceptibility to peer pressurein relation to the late teens. Girls, regardless of age had slightly lower self-esteem compared toboys, while the level of loneliness does not change significantly with respect to sex. However,male adolescents are more prone to risk behavior (eg, consumption of opiates and risky sexualbehavior) and inappropriate behavior at school (eg. unexcused absence from class) under theinfluence of peers. Finally, negative self-image, or low self-esteem and expressed susceptibility topeer pressure are significant determinants of loneliness in adolescence. The results are explainedin terms of developmental changes that make adolescents at risk for the occurrence of loneliness.

Glavni cilj ovog istraživanja bio je utvrditi u kojoj mjeri se usamljenost u adolescenciji možeobjasniti samopoštovanjem i vršnjačkim pritiskom. Naime, brojna istraživanja su se većinomusmjerila na bivarijatne odnose među spomenutim varijablama, te do sada na hrvatskom uzorkuadolescenata nije istovremeno provjeravan odnos usamljenosti sa samopoštovanjem i vršnjačkimpritiskom. Iako većina autora smatra da se usamljenost može javiti u svim razvojnim razdobljima,ipak se naglašava da je usamljenost tijekom adolescencije izraženija i to čak najviše u razdobljumlađi adolescencije. Uspostavljanje i održavanje zadovoljavajućih odnosa postaje prioritet, štoneadekvatne i nepodržavajuće odnose s vršnjacima čini rizičnim faktorom za pojavu usamljenosti.Osim vršnjačkih odnosa, značajnu ulogu za uspješan razvoj adolescenata ima i pozitivan stav osebi, odnosno samopoštovanje. Ranija istraživanja su pokazala da je samopoštovanje, koje opadatijekom rane adolescencije, važna odrednica usamljenosti. Stoga su uzorak ovog istraživanjačinile dvije skupine adolescenata, 200 učenika sedmih razreda osnovne škole, koji su predstavljaligrupu mlađih adolescenata, i 200 učenika četvrtih razreda srednjih škola, koji su činili skupinustarijih adolescenata. Primijenjen je upitnik koji se sastojao od tri skupine skala, Kratka verzijaUCLA skale, Revediriana skala samoprihvaćanja i samokompetentnosti te Skala podložnostivršnjačkom pritisku. Rezultati ukazuju na višu razinu usamljenosti kod mlađih adolescenata,te niže samopoštovanje, ali veću razinu podložnosti vršnjačkom pritisku u odnosu na kasneadolescente. Djevojke bez obzira na dob imaju nešto niže samopoštovanje u odnosu na mladiće,dok se razina usamljenosti značajno ne mijenja s obzirom na spol. Međutim, adolescenti suskloniji nego adolescentice rizičnom ponašanju (npr. konzumiranje opijata i rizična seksualnaponašanja) i neadekvatnom ponašanju u školi (npr. neopravdano izostajanje s nastave) podutjecajem vršnjaka. Također je za pojavu usamljenosti u adolescenciji važna negativna slika osebi, odnosno nisko samopoštovanje, te izraženija podložnost vršnjačkom pritisku. Dobivenirezultati su objašnjeni u okvirima razvojnih promjena koje čine adolescente rizičnim za pojavuusamljenosti., The main aim of this study was to determine the extent to which the loneliness in adolescencecan be explained by self-esteem and peer pressure. In fact, numerous studies have mostly focusedon bivariate relation between these variables and so far in the Croatian sample of adolescentsis not examined relations between loneliness, self-esteem and peer pressure simultaneously.Although most authors believe that loneliness can occur in all developmental periods, it has beenemphasized that loneliness is more expressed during adolescence and even the most during theperiod of early adolescence. Establishing and maintaining satisfactory relationships is a priority,as inadequate and unsupported relationships with peers makes a risk for the experience ofloneliness. In addition to peer relationships, a positive attitude about yourself, or self-esteem hasa significant role in the successful development of adolescents. Earlier studies have shown thatself-esteem, which decreases during early adolescence, is an important determinant of loneliness.Therefore, the sample of this study consisted of two groups of adolescents, 200 seventh graders,who represented a group of early adolescents, and 200 students of fourth graders of highschool, who formed a group of late adolescents. The questionnaire, which consisted of threegroups of scale, Short version UCLA scale, Self-liking/self-competence Scale-Revised Versionand Susceptibility to Peer Pressure Scale. The results showed a higher level of loneliness inearly adolescents, and lower self-esteem, but a greater level of susceptibility to peer pressurein relation to the late teens. Girls, regardless of age had slightly lower self-esteem compared toboys, while the level of loneliness does not change significantly with respect to sex. However,male adolescents are more prone to risk behavior (eg, consumption of opiates and risky sexualbehavior) and inappropriate behavior at school (eg. unexcused absence from class) under theinfluence of peers. Finally, negative self-image, or low self-esteem and expressed susceptibility topeer pressure are significant determinants of loneliness in adolescence. The results are explainedin terms of developmental changes that make adolescents at risk for the occurrence of loneliness.