Psychological Reports最新文献

{"title":"Cues and Clues: How Humor Targets Classify Joker Intent.","authors":"Jared P Wilson, Randy J McCarthy","doi":"10.1177/00332941251377395","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00332941251377395","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>While both prosocial teases and aggressive jokes are characterized by a humorous provocation, a tease is intended to communicate face-protective information or general affiliation while an aggressive joke is intended to socially demean the target. Thus, when targeted by a joke, people must judge whether the intention behind the joke is affiliative or aggressive. To interpret the intention behind a joke, the target must consider information such as \"off-record marker\" usage and the reputation of the joker. To date, however, little research has empirically tested how these factors affect attributions about jokes and the people who tell them. In the first study, participants (<i>N</i> = 563) took the role of a worker targeted by their boss's joke. This joke was either accompanied by two off-record markers (i.e., a wink and a laugh) or none. Participants teased with off-record markers rated the joker as less aggressive and more affiliative. In the second study, participants (<i>N</i> = 174) were similarly targeted by a joke, but participants received either an ambiguous off-record marker (i.e., \"a laugh\") or an unambiguous off-record marker (i.e., \"a reassuring wink\") as well as reputational knowledge of the commenter as either a known joker or not. Participants targeted by unambiguous off-record markers, indeed, rated the commenter as less aggressive and more affiliative than those targeted by ambiguous off-record markers. No evidence was found, however, that the commenter's reputation as a joker or the interaction of off-record marker ambiguity and reputation impacted perceptions of the commenter. These findings support the idea that off-record markers affect the perception of prosocial teasing.</p>","PeriodicalId":21149,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Reports","volume":" ","pages":"332941251377395"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145001405","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Search for Scapegoats: Examining the Link Between COVID-19 Conspiracy Beliefs and Ethnic Prejudice.","authors":"Alexander Jedinger, Marcus Eisentraut, Lena Masch","doi":"10.1177/00332941251372867","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00332941251372867","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The COVID-19 pandemic has fueled numerous conspiracy theories that have reinvigorated prejudices and stereotypes toward marginalized groups. While much current research focuses on the correlates of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs, the consequences of conspiracy narratives for outgroup attitudes are rarely examined. Across two studies, we investigate the relationship between COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs and attitudes toward ethnic minorities. Using the scapegoating hypothesis as a theoretical background, secondary analyses of cross-sectional (Study 1, <i>N</i> = 896) and longitudinal (Study 2, <i>N</i> = 2048) survey data from Germany revealed that COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs were related to antipathy towards immigrants, Muslims, Jews, and refugees. We discuss the implications of these findings, considering the consequences of conspiracy beliefs for intergroup relations and democratic societies.</p>","PeriodicalId":21149,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Reports","volume":" ","pages":"332941251372867"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144966914","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Gaze-Contingent Musical Attentional Bias Modification: Exploring Feasibility and Clinically-Relevant Changes in Mood.","authors":"Anne-Marie Greenaway, Faustina Hwang, Slawomir Nasuto, Aileen K Ho","doi":"10.1177/00332941251370235","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00332941251370235","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Attentional bias modification (ABM) is cost-effective, accessible, and could meet the increasing demand for mental-health treatment. However, ABM paradigms that reliably modify attentional biases (AB) and symptoms are still required. Consequently, we examined the feasibility of a novel ABM intervention (gaze-contingent consonant and dissonant music heard when looking at positive and negative faces, respectively). Contingency awareness and use, and participant adherence and dropout assessed if the intervention could be done. Negative affect, state rumination, and negative AB (longer dwelling on sad and angry faces) after a single session (Study 1, <i>N</i> = 13), and negative affect, trait rumination, depression, anxiety, and negative AB after four sessions (Study 2, <i>N</i> = 10) assessed whether the intervention should continue. The intervention could be done as (1) the music versions and their contingency were discerned and deliberately controlled by some participants, and (2) the participants adhered to the study with no dropouts. Although reductions in positive affect were seen across the studies, the intervention should continue to be explored as on the whole, reduced negative affect (or no change), state and trait rumination, depression, anxiety, and baseline negative AB were also found post-intervention in descriptive data. However, some participants tolerated the dissonance tracks (i.e., negative-face viewing continued), clinically-relevant changes in rumination, depression, and anxiety scores were seen in few participants, and AB change (attenuation/reversal/increase) depended on the contrast (emotional-neutral and/or emotional-emotional). An evaluation of the studies showed that task instructions, music selection, and the number of sessions to be delivered requires further exploration. In conclusion, gaze-contingent music ABM is feasible and should be further explored to ensure it works as intended for a larger number of individuals. The differing emotional-neutral/emotional-emotional results could underlay/contribute to the lack of AB change found in the commonly used emotional-neutral ABM literature. Thus, both contrasts should be assessed.</p>","PeriodicalId":21149,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Reports","volume":" ","pages":"332941251370235"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144966888","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exploring the Cognitive Dimensions of Laughter: The Interplay Between Humor and Metacognition.","authors":"Alberto Dionigi, Laura Vagnoli, Mirko Duradoni","doi":"10.1177/00332941251370607","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00332941251370607","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Humor and metacognition are complex, interrelated components of human cognition. Humor involves cognitive flexibility and social expression, while metacognition refers to awareness and regulation of one's thought processes. Understanding their interaction offers a novel perspective on mental functioning. This study assessed how specific psychological categories of humor are expressed and perceived, namely the comic styles (fun, benevolent humor, nonsense, wit, irony, satire, sarcasm, and cynicism) relate to five metacognitive domains: positive and negative beliefs about worry, cognitive confidence, need for control, and cognitive self-consciousness. A sample of 502 adults (191 males, 38%, and 311 females, 62%; <i>M</i> = 41.65, <i>SD</i> = 13.2; range: 18-74) completed the Comic Style Markers and the Metacognitions Questionnaire-30. Satire emerged as the strongest predictor of positive beliefs about worry and was also linked to stronger beliefs about the need to control thoughts. Irony was positively, and fun negatively, associated with negative beliefs about worry. Wit was related to lower cognitive confidence and greater cognitive self-consciousness. Benevolent humor showed a protective effect against beliefs about the need to control thoughts. These results suggest that the way humor is expressed and interpreted could be meaningfully related to metacognitive functioning.</p>","PeriodicalId":21149,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Reports","volume":" ","pages":"332941251370607"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144966885","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Gender Differences in the Effects of Peer Victimization on Psychological Distress Among Chinese Children: Mediation by Social Withdrawal and School Burnout.","authors":"Xiaoyan Fan","doi":"10.1177/00332941251370225","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00332941251370225","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Existing studies have suggested that school bullying is an important predictor of children's psychological distress, but research on the indirect effect mechanisms of individual and school factors in the Chinese context is relatively limited. To fill the knowledge gap, this study attempts to explore the direct effect of peer victimization on children's psychological distress and analyze the mediating roles of school burnout and social withdrawal, as well as gender difference. Data were obtained from a multistage cluster random sampling in Jiangsu Province. In this study, 1278 Chinese children aged 11-18 participated by completing self-report questionnaires. Results suggest that peer victimization is significantly positively correlated with children's psychological distress. Social withdrawal and school burnout play a partial mediating role in the effect of peer victimization on children's psychological distress. Moreover, significant gender difference exists in the effect of peer victimization on children's psychological distress. The influence of peer victimization on female children's psychological distress is greater than the males. This study underscores the importance of school and individual factors in influencing children's psychological development in the Chinese context. These findings have implications for prevention and intervention efforts targeting bullied children.</p>","PeriodicalId":21149,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Reports","volume":" ","pages":"332941251370225"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144966944","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ethical Muscle: Conceptualization, Scale Development, and Validation.","authors":"Heungsik Park, John Blenkinsopp, Jun Ki Lee, Jaeyong Lee","doi":"10.1177/00332941251370228","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00332941251370228","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The aim of this study was to conceptualize ethical muscle, develop a scale to measure it, and verify the scale's validity. After conducting a comprehensive review of the relevant literature, we conceptualized the term ethical muscle using a competency framework. Identifying its meaningful dimensions, we developed an ethical muscle scale in five phases. First, in-depth interviews were conducted with government employees (<i>N</i> = 20) using the Critical Incident Technique. Second, an expert panel (<i>N</i> = 22) assessed the content validity of the items collected during the first phase using the Delphi method. Third, we surveyed government employees (<i>N</i> = 544) and undertook factor analysis of the data to construct an ethical muscle scale. Fourth, the psychometric properties of the developed scale were identified by confirmatory factor analysis in AMOS. Finally, we conducted a replication study (<i>N</i> = 213) to confirm and generalize our findings. These phases led to the development of a four-factor ethical muscle scale comprising 15 items. The four factors are moral courage (five items), ethical knowledge (four items), duty orientation (three items), and morality (three items). The validation study demonstrated the reliability and validity of the scale.</p>","PeriodicalId":21149,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Reports","volume":" ","pages":"332941251370228"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144966932","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Servant Leadership in Higher Education: A Graded Response Model Approach to Item Response Theory Analysis.","authors":"Majid Ghasemy, Magdalene Ang Chooi Hwa, Ke-Hai Yuan","doi":"10.1177/00332941251370241","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00332941251370241","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Given the limited number of servant leadership (SL) applications in higher education research, this study aims to provide higher education researchers with a sound and validated scale to measure SL in academic settings. More specifically, it evaluates the psychometric properties of the seven-item SL scale (SL-7) developed by Liden and colleagues. For this purpose, we collected data from lecturers in Malaysia, conducted thorough data screening procedures followed by verifying the assumptions of item response theory (IRT) analysis. These procedures led to the exclusion of two items from the original scale. Next, we proceeded with graded response model (GRM) analysis and evaluated the discrimination parameters, difficulty thresholds, and the patterns of information provided by each item. Our analysis supports the conclusion that the resulting five-item validated scale effectively measures lecturers' SL behavior in applied higher education research. Finally, we discussed the theoretical and practical implications of our findings and provided recommendations for future SL research in academic landscapes.</p>","PeriodicalId":21149,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Reports","volume":" ","pages":"332941251370241"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144966909","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dispositional Mindfulness and University Adjustment: The Mediating Role of Coping Self-Efficacy.","authors":"Anita Kiafar, Julia Petrovic, Jessica Mettler, Mélanie Joly, Bilun Naz Böke, Nancy L Heath","doi":"10.1177/00332941251370252","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00332941251370252","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Academic and personal-emotional adjustment to university are important for students' success. Dispositional mindfulness is known to be associated with academic and personal-emotional adjustment. However, less is known about the underlying mechanisms explaining this relationship. Coping self-efficacy has been found to be related to dispositional mindfulness, academic and personal-emotional adjustment to university. Therefore, this cross-sectional study sought to investigate a possible indirect effect of dispositional mindfulness on academic and personal-emotional adjustment through coping self-efficacy (emotion-focused and problem-focused). A sample of 65 second-year undergraduate students (<i>M</i>_age = 19.57, <i>SD</i> = .78; 77% women; 68% White) completed a series of measures. Problem-focused self-efficacy was found to be consistent with a partial mediation model whereby increase in dispositional mindfulness was associated with increase in academic and personal-emotional adjustment, partially through increases in problem-focused self-efficacy. Emotion-focused coping self-efficacy was consistent with a partial mediation model whereby increase in dispositional mindfulness was associated with increase in personal-emotional adjustment partially through emotion-focused coping self-efficacy, but was not consistent with a mediation model between dispositional mindfulness and academic adjustment. Findings have theoretical and clinical implications for student adjustment to university and retention.</p>","PeriodicalId":21149,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Reports","volume":" ","pages":"332941251370252"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144966875","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Perfectionism and Well-Being: An Investigation into the Mediating Role of Eudaimonic Motives.","authors":"William T Burkitt","doi":"10.1177/00332941251370269","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00332941251370269","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Research suggests that perfectionistic concerns are associated with lower levels of well-being while perfectionistic strivings are associated with higher levels of well-being. While characteristics such as unrealistic expectations and a fear of failure help to explain why perfectionistic concerns are associated with lower levels of well-being, it remains unclear why perfectionistic strivings are associated with higher levels of well-being. To address this issue, the present research utilised a cross-sectional design and an opportunity sample of undergraduate psychology students (<i>N</i> = 218; mean age = 18.7 years; 34 male, 209 female, 1 non-binary, 1 gender-neutral, 2 missing) to investigate the possibility that eudaimonic motives mediate the relationships between the two forms of perfectionism and both hedonic (positive affect, life satisfaction) and eudaimonic (meaning in life, subjective vitality) forms of well-being. The results showed that eudaimonic motives fully mediated the positive relationships between perfectionistic strivings and positive affect, meaning in life, and subjective vitality. Eudaimonic motives also fully mediated the negative relationship between perfectionistic concerns and meaning in life, and partially mediated the negative relationships between perfectionistic concerns and both positive affect and subjective vitality. These findings suggest that eudaimonic motives play an important role in explaining why some forms of perfectionism are beneficial to well-being while other forms of perfectionism are harmful to well-being.</p>","PeriodicalId":21149,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Reports","volume":" ","pages":"332941251370269"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144966922","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Development of the Parenting Regret Scale.","authors":"Beyzanur Çalışkan, Lütfü İlgar","doi":"10.1177/00332941251370231","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00332941251370231","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The primary objective of this study is to create a measurement tool that is both valid and reliable for assessing parental regret among mothers and fathers regarding their roles as parents. The study sample comprised 721 participants residing in Turkey, each of whom had at least one biological child and willingly took part in the study. The results of the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) indicated that there is a two-factor structure consisting of 21 elements: intrinsic factors (items reflecting internal psychological aspects of parenting regret) and extrinsic factors (items reflecting external circumstantial aspects of parenting regret). The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) yielded model fit indices that supported the existence of a two-factor structure. The validity analyses met the necessary criteria for convergent-divergent and criterion-related validity. Cronbach's alpha (α) coefficient and the equivalent halves method were used to examine the reliability of the measurement tool. The Cronbach's alpha (α) coefficient was calculated to be .943, the correlation between the two halves was found to be .637, and the Spearman Brown coefficient was calculated to be .778. We determined the item-total test correlation and t-values obtained during item analysis to be statistically significant. Upon evaluating the validity and reliability analyses holistically, we found that the Parenting Regret Scale (PRS-TR) was capable of producing accurate and dependable measurements.</p>","PeriodicalId":21149,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Reports","volume":" ","pages":"332941251370231"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144859565","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}