M. De Clercq, C. Devos, A. Azzi, M. Frenay, O. Klein, B. Galand
{"title":"I Need Somebody to Lean on","authors":"M. De Clercq, C. Devos, A. Azzi, M. Frenay, O. Klein, B. Galand","doi":"10.1024/1421-0185/A000224","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1024/1421-0185/A000224","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. In the literature, social support is depicted as an important determinant of whether someone completes their doctoral process. However, few studies actually test the impact of social support in sound quantitative designs. The present study provides an incremental understanding of the social support effect by (a) assessing the joint influence of three sources of social support (supervisor, academic peers, and relatives) on the emotions of doctoral students, their perceived progress and intention to persist; and (b) testing the interactions between these three sources of support and the doctoral stage of advancement. To this end, we carried out a longitudinal three-wave study with 446 doctoral students from two Belgian universities. The hierarchical regressions showed that (1) only supervisor support significantly predicted the outcomes of doctoral students and (2) the influence of social support on intention to persist was moderated by the stage of advancement in the doctoral journey. We discuss these results and their implications for further work on social support in light of existing literature on doctoral persistence.","PeriodicalId":46193,"journal":{"name":"Swiss Journal of Psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2019-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45497287","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"“Next Wednesday’s Meeting has been Moved Forward Two Days”: The Time-Perspective Question is Ambiguous in Swiss German, but not in Standard German","authors":"K. Stocker, M. Hartmann","doi":"10.1024/1421-0185/a000220","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1024/1421-0185/a000220","url":null,"abstract":"If time is conceived of as a river, we either have the perspective of seeing ourselves as moving downstream toward the future (e.g., “We are approaching the future,” called ego moving), or we have the perspective of the future as moving upstream toward us (e.g., “The future is approaching,” called time moving). Most ego- and time-moving studies have been conducted by using an English ego/time-moving ambiguous question to implicitly measure a person’s current time perspective (ego vs. time moving). In the current study, we replicate previous findings that in (Standard) German the time-perspective question is not ambiguous, while showing as a new finding that it is ambiguous in Swiss German. We attribute this difference to different normative uses in these two German variants. To our knowledge, this study is the first to investigate dialectal differences in relation to cognitive processing of ego-/time-moving metaphors. Psychological and linguistic implications are discussed.","PeriodicalId":46193,"journal":{"name":"Swiss Journal of Psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2019-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44815310","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Equivalence of the German and the French Versions of the Self-Report Symptom Inventory","authors":"P. Giger, T. Merten","doi":"10.1024/1421-0185/a000218","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1024/1421-0185/a000218","url":null,"abstract":"Against the background of the growing importance of symptom validity assessment both in forensic and clinical or rehabilitation contexts, a new instrument for identifying overreporting was developed. In order to study the equivalence of the German and the French versions, we divided the item pool of the Self-Report Symptom Inventory (SRSI) into two presumably equivalent half-forms. A sample of 40 adult bilingual Swiss nationals with a mean age of 39.9 years responded honestly to one of the half-forms in German and to the other in French. In a subsequent experimental malingering condition, they were asked to simulate sequelae of a whiplash injury and to respond to the SRSI again. In both conditions, they also filled out the Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology (SIMS). The results showed no differences between the two language versions in both conditions. Classification accuracy was very high (100% specificity, 90% sensitivity for the standard cutoff score). Reliability estimates were 0.93 for endorsement of genuine symptoms and 0.97 for pseudosymptom endorsement. In the malingering condition, the correlation between the number of reported pseudosymptoms and the SIMS scores was 0.69. The current results add to the database available for the SRSI and support the appropriateness of the French version.","PeriodicalId":46193,"journal":{"name":"Swiss Journal of Psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2019-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48303726","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Does the Use of Gender-Fair Language Influence the Comprehensibility of Texts?: An Experiment Using an Authentic Contract Manipulating Single Role Nouns and Pronouns","authors":"Marcus C. G. Friedrich, E. Heise","doi":"10.1024/1421-0185/a000223","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1024/1421-0185/a000223","url":null,"abstract":"In many languages masculine nouns and pronouns can be interpreted to refer to both male and female referents. However, even when the authors expressly point out that masculine forms are being used to refer to both women and men, readers and listeners predominantly form mental images of men. A gender-fair language that uses either masculine and feminine forms or gender-neutral forms to refer to women and men more equally elicits mental images of women and men. Critics often argue, however, that gender-fair language makes texts less comprehensible (readable). The present study tests this assumption for the German language: 355 students read a randomly assigned text that either used masculine-only forms or consistently used both masculine and feminine forms. After that, they answered the comprehensibility questionnaire by Friedrich (2017). Participants who had read a text in gender-fair language did not give statistically significant lower ratings of comprehensibility than participants who had read a text that used masculine-only forms (partial &eegr;2 < .01; p > .05). The results indicate that the use of gender-fair language does not impair the comprehensibility of texts.","PeriodicalId":46193,"journal":{"name":"Swiss Journal of Psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2019-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46980888","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"French Attitudes Toward Affirmative Action Programs and Their Beneficiaries","authors":"A. Taillandier-Schmitt, Christelle Maisonneuve","doi":"10.1024/1421-0185/a000222","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1024/1421-0185/a000222","url":null,"abstract":"Attitudes toward affirmative action programs (AAPs) depend on the criteria on which these programs are based and on the ideological views in the relationships between groups. The present study examined the impact of the selection procedure (with or without AA) on the perception of justice and on attitudes toward the beneficiaries of these procedures in France, where the system makes it possible to compare beneficiaries of different origins. A group of 101 French students read scenarios describing the admission of a candidate, with either a French or a North African first name, to a prestigious school, based on either a standard selection procedure or AA. The standard procedure and its beneficiary were more positively judged, and the beneficiary was considered more competent, than one selected with AAP. These results were particularly significant for participants with a high level of social dominance orientation (SDO). Furthermore, participants perceived both selection procedures more positively and judged the candidate as being more competent when that person had a French-sounding name. High-SDO participants underestimated socioeconomic and ethnic discrimination. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.","PeriodicalId":46193,"journal":{"name":"Swiss Journal of Psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2019-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42176072","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Target-Specific Learning Contributes to Practice Effects in Paper-and-Pencil Tests of Attention","authors":"Peter Wühr","doi":"10.1024/1421-0185/a000221","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1024/1421-0185/a000221","url":null,"abstract":"Previous studies revealed that performance in paper-and-pencil tests of attention, such as the d2-R test, improves with practice, though the sources of these practice effects are yet unknown. Practice effects in psychometric tests are a serious problem because they impede the evaluation of test performance and constrain the utility of these tests. This study addresses the role of target-specific learning for practice in a d2-like paper-and-pencil test of attention. Two variants of a d2-like test, which exclusively differed in the set of target stimuli, were constructed. Participants were tested on two days separated by one week. Participants in the control condition searched for the same targets (among the same distractors) in each session, whereas participants in the test group searched for different targets (among the same distractors) in each session. Results showed practice benefits in both groups, but benefits were larger in the control group than in the test group. The results suggest that practice improves the processing of target features in paper-and-pencil tests of attention. Hence, using two versions with different sets of targets may effectively reduce practice effects in d2-like tests of attention. Further implications of the findings are discussed.","PeriodicalId":46193,"journal":{"name":"Swiss Journal of Psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2019-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47283842","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
V. Salamin, Philip B. Ray, I. Gothuey, S. Corzani, C. Martin-Soelch
{"title":"An Internet-Based Intervention for the Relatives of People with Mental Illnesses: An Open Pilot Trial with Two Groups","authors":"V. Salamin, Philip B. Ray, I. Gothuey, S. Corzani, C. Martin-Soelch","doi":"10.1024/1421-0185/a000219","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1024/1421-0185/a000219","url":null,"abstract":"Relatives of individuals with mental illness are exposed to an elevated level of burden. Consequently, it is important to provide them with coping strategies. We explored the benefits of an online skills-training intervention. This open, uncontrolled interventional pilot study included 104 relatives of individuals with a mental illness. They participated either in a face-to-face group (n = 60) or online intervention (n = 44); participants were free to choose the type of intervention. Depressive symptoms and emotion regulation were assessed before and after the interventions. The analysis was based on an intention-to-treat model. About one-third of both samples did not complete the posttest assessments. The results of a multivariate analysis of variance revealed a significant effect of the interaction between time and intervention type, F(2,101) = 11.77, p < .01. Reductions in depressive symptoms, F(1,102) = 9.41, p < .01, &egr;2p = .08, and emotion-regulation difficulty, F(1,102) = 8.01, p < .01, &egr;2p = .07, following the online intervention were greater relative to the group intervention. Despite the limitations of this study because of group differences, the results demonstrated the benefits of an online intervention for the relatives. These encouraging initial results require further confirmation using a randomized controlled trial.","PeriodicalId":46193,"journal":{"name":"Swiss Journal of Psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2019-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44461413","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Providing Freshmen with a Good “Starting-Block”: Two Brief Social-Psychological Interventions to Promote Early Adjustment to the First Year at University","authors":"M. De Clercq, C. Michel, Sophie Remy, B. Galand","doi":"10.1024/1421-0185/a000217","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1024/1421-0185/a000217","url":null,"abstract":"Grounded in social-psychological literature, this experimental study assessed the effects of two so-called “wise” interventions implemented in a student study program. The interventions took place during the very first week at university, a presumed pivotal phase of transition. A group of 375 freshmen in psychology were randomly assigned to three conditions: control, social belonging, and self-affirmation. Following the intervention, students in the social-belonging condition expressed less social apprehension, a higher social integration, and a stronger intention to persist one month later than the other participants. They also relied more on peers as a source of support when confronted with a study task. Students in the self-affirmation condition felt more self-affirmed at the end of the intervention but didn’t benefit from other lasting effects. The results suggest that some well-timed and well-targeted “wise” interventions could provide lasting positive consequences for student adjustment. The respective merits of social-belonging and self-affirmation interventions are also discussed.","PeriodicalId":46193,"journal":{"name":"Swiss Journal of Psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2019-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41617098","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Item-Response Theory Psychometric Analysis and Factor Structure of the Self-Compassion and Self-Criticism Scales","authors":"J. Halamová, M. Kanovský, Monika Pacúchová","doi":"10.1024/1421-0185/a000216","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1024/1421-0185/a000216","url":null,"abstract":"The study verifies the psychometric properties of the Slovak version of the Self-Compassion and Self-Criticism Scales (SCCS) using item response theory, factor analysis, and scale validity. The survey sample was collected by convenience sampling and consisted of 514 participants (27% men and 73% women) with a mean age of 26.16 years (SD = 8.32). A two-dimensional structure of the scale was not confirmed. The Self-Criticism subscale of the SCCS remained the same as in the original study, and the Self-Compassion subscale of the SCCS was divided into the subscales Self-Compassion (compassionate reaction to self) and Self-Reassurance (reassuring and soothing reactions to self). The Slovak translation of the SCCS seems to be a reliable instrument to measure the level of self-compassion and self-criticism. The validity of the SCCS should be further explored by linking the scale results to directly observable outcome measures as there are significant but very weak correlations with other related scales. This could be due to differences between situational and trait self-compassion and self-criticism.","PeriodicalId":46193,"journal":{"name":"Swiss Journal of Psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2018-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45214123","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Do Writing Directions Influence How People Map Space onto Time?: Evidence from Japanese and Taiwanese Speakers","authors":"Wenxing Yang, Ying Sun","doi":"10.1024/1421-0185/a000215","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1024/1421-0185/a000215","url":null,"abstract":"The causal role of a unidirectional orthography in shaping speakers’ mental representations of time seems to be well established by many psychological experiments. However, the question of whether bidirectional writing systems in some languages can also produce such an impact on temporal cognition remains unresolved. To address this issue, the present study focused on Japanese and Taiwanese, both of which have a similar mix of texts written horizontally from left to right (HLR) and vertically from top to bottom (VTB). Two experiments were performed which recruited Japanese and Taiwanese speakers as participants. Experiment 1 used an explicit temporal arrangement design, and Experiment 2 measured implicit space-time associations in participants along the horizontal (left/right) and the vertical (up/down) axis. Converging evidence gathered from the two experiments demonstrate that neither Japanese speakers nor Taiwanese speakers aligned their vertical representations of time with the VTB writing orientation. Along the horizontal axis, only Japanese speakers encoded elapsing time into a left-to-right linear layout, which was commensurate with the HLR writing direction. Therefore, two distinct writing orientations of a language could not bring about two coexisting mental time lines. Possible theoretical implications underlying the findings are discussed.","PeriodicalId":46193,"journal":{"name":"Swiss Journal of Psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2018-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43308119","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}