Search

Objectives Drawing on theories of distributive justice and intergroup discrimination, we examined how much distributive justice criterion and racial group membership contribute to bias in healthcare allocation decisions, by testing a theoretical model that specifies perceived stereotypicality and individual responsibility as a serial mediation process in the relationship between disease's contraction controllability (controllable vs. non-controllable) and bias in medical decision-making. Method White Portuguese medical students (N = 213) participated in an online experimental study conducted in two phases. In phase 1, we manipulated the cause of disease contagion and the salience of patient's racial categorization, and measured the stereotypicality of behaviour. In phase 2, we assessed perceived responsibility and likelihood of recommending medical treatment. Results Controllable (vs. non-controllable) contraction behaviours in phase 1 were perceived as more stereotypic. As a spillover effect, more stereotypical behaviours in phase 1 predicted more patient's responsibility for their disease in phase 2. Importantly, controllable behaviours of disease contraction in phase 1 negatively affected recommendations for medical treatment in phase 2; and this negative effect was serially mediated by the stereotypicality of behaviour and patient responsibility. Furthermore, patients' skin colour moderated this process, meaning that perceptions of controllable behaviour as more stereotypic were stronger for Black than for White patients. Conclusions This research shows how stereotyping and social categorization bias allocation decisions through the patient's level of responsibility in decision-making processes. The findings are discussed in light of principles of distributive justice and the literature on intergroup relations with respect to racial disparities in health care.

Sexual prejudice against bisexuals is widespread in society. However, little research has been done on this phenomenon because it is difficult to measure. The aim of the current study was to validate a short version of the Biphobia Scale for the Brazilian context (EPSB-br). In the first study, the EPSB-br showed unifactorial structure and convergent validity with scales measuring beliefs and stereotypes about bisexuality. Study 2 showed the EPSB-br’s convergent-discriminant validity with scales measuring religiosity, right-wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, and sleepiness. Finally, Study 3 demonstrated the criterion-related validity of the EPSB-br through an experimental manipulation in which participants watched a video of a pretend teacher and assigned a salary to it. Taken together, these results showed evidence of validity and reliability of the EPSB-br, which introduced a measure of prejudice against bisexual people in Brazil. Resumo O preconceito sexual contra bissexuais é fortemente presente na sociedade. Entretanto, este fenômeno ainda é pouco estudado, dada a dificuldade em sua mensuração. O presente trabalho teve o objetivo de validar uma versão reduzida da Biphobia Scale para o contexto brasileiro. No primeiro estudo, a Escala de Preconceito Sexual contra Bissexuais (EPSB-br) apresentou uma estrutura unifatorial e uma validade convergente com escalas que mensuram crenças e estereótipos sobre a bissexualidade. O Estudo 2 evidenciou a validade concorrente-discriminante da EPSB-br com a religiosidade, escalas de autoritarismo de direita, orientação à dominância social e sonolência. Por fim, o Estudo 3 demonstrou a validade de critério da EPSB-br a partir de uma manipulação experimental, na qual os participantes assistiram a um vídeo sobre um professor e atribuíram-lhe um salário. A síntese dos resultados mostrou evidências de validade e confiabilidade da EPSB-br, introduzindo uma medida de preconceito contra pessoas bissexuais no Brasil. Resumen Lo Prejuicio Sexual contra Bisexuales está muy presente en la sociedad. Sin embargo, es un fenómeno poco estudiado, dada la dificultad de medirlo. Este trabajo buscó validar una versión reducida de la Biphobia Scale para el contexto brasileño. En el primer estudio, la EPSB-br presentó una estructura unifactorial y validez convergente con escalas que miden creencias y estereotipos sobre la bisexualidad. El estudio 2 evidenció la validez concurrente-discriminante de la EPSB-br con escalas de religiosidad, autoritarismo de derecha, orientación al dominio social y somnolencia. Finalmente, el Estudio 3 demostró la validez de criterio de la EPSB-br a través de una manipulación experimental, donde los participantes vieron un video sobre un maestro y le asignaron un salario. La síntesis de los resultados mostró evidencia de validez y confiabilidad de la EPSB-br, introduciendo una medida de prejuicio contra las personas bisexuales en Brasil.

This study investigates the system justifying role through belief in a just world (BJW), testing whether institutional trust is related to this belief and whether this relationship depends on specific socioeconomic and political factors. A research with 381 university students, aged 18 to 64 years (M = 22.4, SD = 6.25), explored their BJW and their degree of institutional trust. Regression and moderation analyses revealed that BJW relates to institutional trust only in left-wing and with lower income participants. We believe this occurs because they need more an ideology that justifies the system to trust the institutions. This phenomenon can prevent these people from pursuing structural social changes since the system is now seen as fair., Este estudo investiga o papel justificador do sistema através da crença no mundo justo (CMJ), testando se a confiança institucional está relacionada com essa crença e se esta relação depende de fatores socioeconômicos e políticos específicos. Uma pesquisa com 381 universitários, com idades de 18 a 64 anos (M = 22,4, DP = 6,25), explorou seus graus de CMJ e confiança institucional. Análises de regressão e moderação revelaram que a CMJ se relaciona com a confiança institucional apenas naqueles de esquerda e menores rendimentos. Acreditamos que isso ocorra porque estas pessoas precisam mais de uma ideologia justificadora do sistema para poder confiar nas instituições. Este fenômeno pode lhes indispor a buscar mudanças sociais estruturais, já que o sistema passa a ser visto como justo.

The objective of this article is to analyse the effect of entrepreneurial competence and planning guidance on the relations between university students’ entrepreneurial attitude and entrepreneurial intention. In this correlational study, the empirical model was tested through Structural Equation Modeling on a sample of 2,771 university students via an online survey at a federal higher education institution in northeastern Brazil. The results point to the moderation effect only of entrepreneurial competence on the relation between entrepreneurial attitude and intention, with this relationship being stronger in students who perceive themselves as more competent. We conclude that self-perception of entrepreneurial skills strengthens the effects of positive attitudes on entrepreneurial career intention, which adds to other evidence of the importance of context and entrepreneurial education for engaging in that career.

The study tests two competing theoretical perspectives on the relationship between personal values and global life satisfaction, and the mediation of life domain satisfaction, contributing with novel empirical data across three countries and continents: United States (N = 497), North America; Mozambique (N = 544), Africa; and Portugal (N = 541), Europe. Structural equation modelling showed that personal values and life domain satisfaction associated in both ways differently and similarly with global life satisfaction across countries. Global life satisfaction significantly associated with benevolence in the three samples; with stimulation in the U.S. and Mozambique, but not in Portugal; with tradition in Mozambique and Portugal, but not in the US; and with achievement only in Portugal. The two theoretical perspectives received partial support from the data, suggesting that each may explain part of the phenomena. Life domain satisfaction mediated the relationship between personal values and global life satisfaction. However, the person-environment congruency values perspective received the most support from the data, showing that personal values differ in how they predict global life satisfaction across samples. The differences found suggest a possible connection with individualism-collectivism and the developmental level in each country, but also with other dominant cultural values such as uncertainty avoidance and indulgence.

Casual sexual relationships (CSR) are increasingly common but limited empirical research has addressed their terminology and distinctive characteristics. This study sought to identify the most clear-cut terms and to consider how culture-sensitive characteristics distinguish casual sexual relationships among Portuguese emerging adults (N = 262, 18-29 years old). We combined two qualitative studies – one by association and another by free recall – to ascertain the clarity of the terms, plus a quantitative study to further characterize and differentiate them. Participants were asked to match descriptions of CSRs with the respective terms by which they are known (Study 1). The same was investigated using an evocation task requesting that participants produce the terms by which the described CSRs are known (Study 2). Binary logistic regressions were performed to analyze the associations between encounters and labels chosen, taking the effect of gender and age into account. In the third study, participants rated the degree to which eight characteristics were present in the types of CSR, a simultaneous task that led to greater understanding of their descriptive and differentiating characteristics. Multivariate analysis of variance was used, with gender and age as covariates. We conclude that two types of CSR – friends with benefits and one-night stand – and, to a lesser extent, making out, are understood and associated with consensual labels, also found by free-recall. These CSRs proved to be distinct, as they are understood as more different than similar in a set of psychoemotional, behavioral, and sexual characteristics. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12119-021-09859-0.

Casual sexual relationships (CSRs) are frequent relationship experiences in young adulthood that provide opportunities for many to explore sexual relationships and to construct their sexual identity. Empirical research on casual sex is still lacking outside North-American countries, despite evidence pointing to the need to contextualize sexual interactions in their own sociocultural context. In order to better understand casual sexual relationships, these should be examined in with novel samples in other countries where a “hookup culture” as it is described in the North-American university campus is apparently absent. Through a qualitative study, we explored what casual sexual relationships consist of according to the perceptions of Portuguese college students (N=35). The thematic analysis of eight focus group interviews resulted in the generation of six themes, three of which are presented here: (1) What CSRs are, regarding features and types of CSRs, (2) Why individuals engage in CSRs, focusing on positive and negative motivations, and (3) What one gets from CSRs, focusing on positive and negative outcomes of CSRs. Our findings showed that Portuguese emerging adults are familiarized with CSRs, particularly with one-night stand, friends with benefits and “curte”/hookup. Sexual interactions associated with other CSRs, such as booty call or fuck buddies, were mentioned but rarely associated with a distinctive label and established characteristics. Participants described the CSRs in a partially overlapping manner presenting some areas of ambiguity, such as with regard to sexual exclusivity and still-unlabeled sexual interactions. CSRs are generally evaluated as positively motivated and mainly beneficial. This study adds to the literature around casual sexual relationships by exploring and describing CSRs in a different sociocultural context, as well as indicating directions for future research in order to better prepare and empower young adults in their sexual and relational trajectories.

System justification theory contends that people are motivated to consider the social arrangements as just, legitimate and necessary. The adequate assessment of individual differences regarding this motivation is a critical issue in this field, especially in a cultural context of profound social inequalities like Brazil. We addressed this issue by proposing an adapted and modified version of the General System Justification Scale (GSJS). In Study 1, we explored the content validity of the GSJS through expert analysis. In Study 2 (n = 305), we conducted exploratory factor analysis and found a single-factor structure. In Study 3 (n = 307), we confirmed this factorial structure. In Study 4 (n = 227), we estimated the convergent-discriminating and incremental validity of the SJS by comparing it with correlated constructs. Finally, in Study 5 (n = 100), we experimentally manipulated a news story about a high (vs. low) threat to the Brazilian system, and observed the predictive validity of the GSJS. In general, the results showed that the new version of the GSJS is a valid and reliable measure. Furthermore, they suggest the new version of the GSJS is a useful tool to measure individual differences in justification of social inequalities in a context of deep social disparities.

Sexual violence is ubiquitous in the history of human relationships, with the victim being perceived as responsible for their own misfortune. This phenomenon is labelled secondary victimization and is manifested in blaming, minimizing the suffering, and avoiding the victim. This article presents evidence of the validity of a scale that measures individual differences in these three types of secondary victimization of rape victims. In Study 1, we developed the scale items and analyzed their content validity. In Study 2, we carried out an exploratory analysis of its factorial structure and verified the set-up of the items in three theoretically predicted factors (blaming, minimizing the suffering, and avoiding the victim), which had convergent validity with the Rape Myth Acceptance Scale, and discriminant validity with the Big Five Personality Traits, in addition to having concurrent validity with the Belief in a Just World Scale (BJWS). In Study 3, we confirmed this tri-factor structure using confirmatory analysis. In Study 4, we analyzed the predictive validity of the Secondary Victimization Scale (SVS), proposing the hypothesis that secondary victimization mediates the effect of BJWS on the participants’ behavior towards a rape victim. The summary of the results shows consistent evidence of the SVS’s validity.

Psychological impacts of Vitiligo have been demonstrated, and associations of the skin disease with anxiety and depression disorders have already been shown. However, it is still unclear the role of individuals’ personality factors, such as neuroticism, stress, and rumination, as well as sociodemographic characteristics of people with Vitiligo in such disorders. We conducted a study in a community sample of individuals with Vitiligo (N = 324) aiming to test the hypothesis that neuroticism, stress, and rumination are subjacent to these individuals’ anxiety and depression symptomatology. We also explored whether individuals’ gender might favor the onset or wors- ening of the psychological consequences of such disorders. Results showed that the relationship between neuroticism, anxiety and depression was mediated by stress and rumination (brooding), being this effect moderated by the participants’ gender. Specifically, women’s reflection and stress seemed to be important mechanisms to predict their anxiety and depression symptoms, whereas brooding predicts such disorders’ symptomatology in men with Vitiligo. These findings may guide future research and clinical interventions for this population, for which it is necessary to consider the psychological consequences of the disease and not just its physiological aspects.