{"title":"The Belgian Association for Psychological Sciences: 75th Anniversary","authors":"M. Brysbaert","doi":"10.5334/pb.1140","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5334/pb.1140","url":null,"abstract":"The Belgian Association for Psychological Sciences (BAPS) is a learned society founded in 1947. Its mission is to unite people in Belgium interested in the development and application of psychological sciences. It does so through the publication of Psychologica Belgica, the organisation of an annual scientific meeting, the award of prizes, initiatives to improve the communication among members, and representing researchers and psychologists nationally and internationally. The present paper describes the third 25-year period of BAPS. It reviews the main initiatives and activities of the society from 1997 to 2022.","PeriodicalId":46662,"journal":{"name":"Psychologica Belgica","volume":"62 1","pages":"184 - 192"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42020510","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}
Marie My Lien Rebetez, C. Barsics, Timothé Montisci, L. Rochat
{"title":"Towards a Dimensional, Multifactorial, and Integrative Approach to Procrastination in Everyday Life: An Illustration through Interviews","authors":"Marie My Lien Rebetez, C. Barsics, Timothé Montisci, L. Rochat","doi":"10.5334/pb.1115","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5334/pb.1115","url":null,"abstract":"Procrastination is a widespread phenomenon that has been extensively studied but about which a clear and integrated picture is still lacking, as reflected in the multiplicity and diversity of its definitions, causes and consequences. In addition, its examination in everyday life has been somewhat overlooked. The aim of this paper is to further the understanding of procrastination, first by providing an overview of its various definitions, causes, and consequences. Using a qualitative approach, we then provide an in-depth descriptive account of procrastination episodes retrospectively reported by six participants from the general population in diverse situations of their daily life, focusing in particular on the definitions, causes, and consequences of procrastination behaviours. Finally, this descriptive account of procrastination is discussed in terms of a dimensional, multifactorial, and integrative approach.","PeriodicalId":46662,"journal":{"name":"Psychologica Belgica","volume":"62 1","pages":"166 - 183"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48492070","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}
V. Hoorens, S. Scambler, Eliane Deschrijver, N. Coulson, E. Speed, K. Asimakopoulou
{"title":"Comparative Optimism, Self-Superiority, Egocentric Impact Perception and Health Information Seeking: A COVID-19 Study","authors":"V. Hoorens, S. Scambler, Eliane Deschrijver, N. Coulson, E. Speed, K. Asimakopoulou","doi":"10.5334/pb.1139","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5334/pb.1139","url":null,"abstract":"We examined perceived self-other differences (self-uniqueness) in appraisals of one’s risk of an infectious disease (COVID-19), one’s adherence to behavioural precautionary measures against the disease, and the impact of these measures on one’s life. We also examined the relationship of self-uniqueness with information seeking and trust in sources of information about the disease. We administered an online survey to a community sample (N = 8696) of Dutch-speaking individuals, mainly in Belgium and The Netherlands, during the first lockdown (late April-Mid June 2020). As a group, participants reported that they were less likely to get infected or infect others or to suffer severe outcomes than average (unrealistic optimism) and that they adhered better than average to behavioural precautionary measures (illusory superiority). Except for participants below 25, who reported that they were affected more than average by these measures (egocentric impact bias), participants also generally reported that they were less affected than average (allocentric impact bias). Individual differences in self-uniqueness were associated with differences in the number of information sources being used and trust on these sources. Higher comparative optimism for infection, self-superiority, and allocentric impact perception were associated with information being sought from fewer sources; higher self-superiority and egocentric impact perception were associated with lower trust. We discuss implications for health communication.","PeriodicalId":46662,"journal":{"name":"Psychologica Belgica","volume":"62 1","pages":"152 - 165"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47253664","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}
Angélica Caicedo-Moreno, Andrea Correa-Chica, Wilson López-López, Pablo Castro-Abril, Idaly Barreto, Juan Diego Rodriguez-Romero
{"title":"The Role of Psychology in Media During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-National Study","authors":"Angélica Caicedo-Moreno, Andrea Correa-Chica, Wilson López-López, Pablo Castro-Abril, Idaly Barreto, Juan Diego Rodriguez-Romero","doi":"10.5334/pb.1054","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5334/pb.1054","url":null,"abstract":"Dealing with COVID-19 and with the preventative measures that have been taken to mitigate the transmission of the virus causing the pandemic has posed a great challenge to the population. While psychologists have expertise with regard to preventive behavior change and to dealing with the mental health impact of measures, their expertise needs to be effectively communicated to the public. Mass media play a critical role in times of crisis, in many cases being the only source of information. While most research focuses on the importance of information content as a factor affecting psychological responses to a collective traumatic event, the way information is framed in the media is likely to influence the way health professionals are perceived as trustworthy. This study aimed to analyze the media framing of information from psychology during the COVID-19 pandemic in six countries from America and Europe, identifying the most recurrent topics in the news (n news items = 541) related to psychology and mental health. In all six countries the media address the psychological needs of the population, which vary depending on the imposed restrictions. The news content is influenced by the scientific sources used by the media. While the most prevalent topics focus on psychological risk and the need to seek mental health care, the least prevalent topics relate to counseling and behavioral guidelines for managing the psychological consequences of the pandemic. The study findings provide insight into how psychological knowledge contributes to the understanding and mitigation of COVID-19 consequences in different countries and identified fields where psychologists were consulted to respond to a health emergency. They also show a preference to consult other experts when searching for contextual or more macro-social explanations of critical situation.","PeriodicalId":46662,"journal":{"name":"Psychologica Belgica","volume":"62 1","pages":"136 - 151"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41528450","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":"When History Seems to Repeat Itself: Exposure to Perceived Lessons of the Past Influences Predictions About Current Political Events","authors":"Djouaria Ghilani, O. Luminet, O. Klein","doi":"10.5334/pb.1075","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5334/pb.1075","url":null,"abstract":"The idea that the past holds lessons for the present, under the guise of historical analogies, is prevalent in political and public discourse. Those analogies are often accompanied by dire warnings befalling those who “forget” or otherwise neglect the powerful lessons of History—and would then be “doomed to repeat it”, as the saying goes. So, Would remembering history make it seem more OR LESS likely to repeat itself in the future? In other words, does exposure to specific lessons about past events, especially ones involving causal claims, affect how people expect real-life events to turn out? Four studies (three preregistered) tested this experimentally. In Studies 1 and 2, participants expected the same behavior (the US adopting a harsh stance against Iran in the Nuclear Treaty) to result in a more negative outcome when this current stance seemed to match a “lesson” they had read about the break-out of World War II (European leaders adopting a harsh approach against Germany in the 1919 Versailles Treaty vs. a conciliatory approach in the 1938 Munich Agreement). Studies 3 and 4 attempted to eliminate some confounds present in the first two studies and to generalize the effect to different events. While results varied across studies, an internal meta-analysis indicated that the analogical effect on predictions (d = –.08) tended to become stronger as participants’ knowledge about the target situation decreased (d-1SD = –.24). These findings support the possibility of analogical-based predictive effects for real-life political events, and are discussed in light of their research and political implications.","PeriodicalId":46662,"journal":{"name":"Psychologica Belgica","volume":"62 1","pages":"89 - 107"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41808078","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}
C. Guillemin, E. Lommers, G. Delrue, E. Gester, P. Maquet, F. Collette
{"title":"The Complex Interplay Between Trait Fatigue and Cognition in Multiple Sclerosis","authors":"C. Guillemin, E. Lommers, G. Delrue, E. Gester, P. Maquet, F. Collette","doi":"10.5334/pb.1125","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5334/pb.1125","url":null,"abstract":"Cognitive impairments are frequent in patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Yet, the influence of MS-related symptoms on cognitive status is not clear. Studies investigating the impact of trait fatigue along with anxio-depressive symptoms on cognition are seldom, and even less considered fatigue as multidimensional. Moreover, these studies provided conflicting results. Twenty-nine MS patients and 28 healthy controls, matched on age, gender and education underwent a full comprehensive neuropsychological assessment. Anxio-depressive and fatigue symptoms were assessed using the HAD scale and the MFIS, respectively. Six composite scores were derived from the neuropsychological assessment, reflecting the cognitive domains of working memory, verbal and visual learning, executive functions, attention and processing speed. Stepwise regression analyses were conducted in each group to investigate if trait cognitive and physical fatigue, depression and anxiety are relevant predictors of performance in each cognitive domain. In order to control for disease progression, patient’s EDSS score was also entered as predictor variable. In the MS group, trait physical fatigue was the only significant predictor of working memory score. Cognitive fatigue was a predictor for executive functioning performance and for processing speed (as well as EDSS score for processing speed). In the healthy controls group, only an association between executive functioning and depression was observed. Fatigue predicted cognition in MS patients only, beyond anxio-depressive symptoms and disease progression. Considering fatigue as a multidimensional symptom is paramount to better understand its association with cognition, as physical and cognitive fatigue are predictors of different cognitive processes.","PeriodicalId":46662,"journal":{"name":"Psychologica Belgica","volume":"62 1","pages":"108 - 122"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48566482","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}
Svenja B Frenzel, N. Junker, L. Avanzi, Valerie A Erkens, S. Haslam, C. Haslam, J. Häusser, D. Knorr, Ines Meyer, A. Mojzisch, Lucas Monzani, S. Reicher, Sebastian C. Schuh, Niklas K. Steffens, L. V. van Zyl, R. van Dick
{"title":"Perceptions of the Targets and Sources of COVID-19 Threat are Structured by Group Memberships and Responses are Influenced by Identification with Humankind","authors":"Svenja B Frenzel, N. Junker, L. Avanzi, Valerie A Erkens, S. Haslam, C. Haslam, J. Häusser, D. Knorr, Ines Meyer, A. Mojzisch, Lucas Monzani, S. Reicher, Sebastian C. Schuh, Niklas K. Steffens, L. V. van Zyl, R. van Dick","doi":"10.5334/pb.1043","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5334/pb.1043","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this study was to investigate which social groups are perceived as a threat target and which are perceived as a threat source during the COVID-19 outbreak. In a German sample (N = 1454) we examined perceptions of social groups ranging from those that are psychologically close and smaller (family, friends, neighbors) to those that are more distal and larger (people living in Germany, humankind). We hypothesized that psychologically closer groups would be perceived as less affected by COVID-19 as well as less threatening than more psychologically distal groups. Based on social identity theorizing, we also hypothesized that stronger identification with humankind would change these patterns. Furthermore, we explored how these threat perceptions relate to adherence to COVID-19 health guidelines. In line with our hypotheses, latent random-slope modelling revealed that psychologically distal and larger groups were perceived as more affected by COVID-19 and as more threatening than psychologically closer and smaller groups. Including identification with humankind as a predictor into the threat target model resulted in a steeper increase in threat target perception patterns, whereas identification with humankind did not predict differences in threat source perceptions. Additionally, an increase in threat source perceptions across social groups was associated with more adherence to health guidelines, whereas an increase in threat target perceptions was not. We fully replicated these findings in a subgroup from the original sample (N = 989) four weeks later. We argue that societal recovery from this and other crises will be supported by an inclusive approach informed by a sense of our common identity as human beings.","PeriodicalId":46662,"journal":{"name":"Psychologica Belgica","volume":"65 11","pages":"75 - 88"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41306685","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}
Psychologica BelgicaPub Date : 2022-02-23eCollection Date: 2022-01-01DOI: 10.5334/pb.1138
Coline Crutzen, Stéphane Adam
{"title":"\"What if It's not Just an Item of Clothing?\" - A Narrative Review and Synthesis of the White Coat in the Context of Aged Care.","authors":"Coline Crutzen, Stéphane Adam","doi":"10.5334/pb.1138","DOIUrl":"10.5334/pb.1138","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Although increasingly disputed, the white coat uniform is ubiquitous in geriatric care, which may reflect a phenomenon called medicalisation of ageing. This narrative review is the first attempt at integrating several theoretical approaches, such as the \"white coat effect\" and \"enclothed cognition\", in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the use of this clothing item. Based on extensive empirical evidence, we will examine the consequences of wearing a uniform, not only on patients (in this case, older patients) and healthcare professionals, but also on their relationship. The white coat has powerful symbolic functions for healthcare professionals and is still preferred by older adults. However, the negative repercussions of wearing a uniform require us to question its use, particularly in environments where older persons live, such as nursing homes.</p>","PeriodicalId":46662,"journal":{"name":"Psychologica Belgica","volume":"62 1","pages":"62-74"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2022-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8877653/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47050744","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"French Adaptation of the Brief Irritability Test: Factor Structure, Psychometric Properties, and Relationship with Depressive Symptoms.","authors":"Nellia Bellaert, Wivine Blekic, Kendra G Kandana Arachchige, Laurent Lefebvre, Mandy Rossignol","doi":"10.5334/pb.1070","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5334/pb.1070","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The Brief Irritability Test (BITe, Holtzman et al., 2014) is a brief, reliable, and valid self-report measure of irritability. Despite the growing interest to understand the underlying causes and consequences of irritability, this questionnaire has not been developed and validated for a French-speaking population yet. In the present study, 413 participants completed our French adaptation of the BITe (i.e., TCI; Test Court d'Irritabilité) and measures of associated constructs (depression, anger, hostility, and aggression) and well-being (life satisfaction and social support). Descriptive, psychometric (i.e., Cronbach alpha and Spearman correlation coefficients), and factor analyses were conducted. An exploratory factor analysis in sample 1 (n = 209), yielded one single factor. The confirmatory factor analysis in sample 2 (n = 204) showed a reasonable fit of this single factor model explaining 55.5% of the variance and presenting a strong internal consistency (α = .80). Compared to the original English questionnaire, the TCI shares similar unidimensional factor organization and correlations with other constructs, although a gender bias was identified, with women scoring higher than men. Irritability was higher among respondents in the age range 17-25, compared to older adults. A hierarchical regression analysis showed that TCI scores significantly predict depressive symptoms when demographics were controlled for. In summary, the TCI presents good psychometric properties and could constitute a valuable tool to evaluate irritability in clinical and research contexts.</p>","PeriodicalId":46662,"journal":{"name":"Psychologica Belgica","volume":" ","pages":"47-61"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8796690/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39879580","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"COVID-19 and Its Lockdown in Belgium: How Limited Access to Environmental Satisfaction Impacts Emotions?","authors":"Aurélie Wagener, Céline Stassart, Anne-Marie Etienne","doi":"10.5334/pb.1082","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5334/pb.1082","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The COVID-19 pandemic has been shown to induce several psychological consequences (e.g., increases in anxiety and stress). Accordingly, it seems relevant to investigate how individuals cope with their emotions. Indeed, when facing negative emotions, individuals need to rely on adaptive emotion regulation strategies to alleviate their negative impacts (e.g., decrease in quality of life, increase in sleep disturbances). Moreover, lockdown's measures led to a restriction of the access to activities which, in turn, might have decreased the \"environmental satisfaction\". Then, this research investigates the pandemic's psychological impacts on emotions and regulation strategies, intolerance of uncertainty, and environmental satisfaction. Our approach's originality relies on comparing one's actual psychological functioning (i.e., since the pandemic) to one's general psychological functioning (i.e., before the pandemic). This study also assesses the relationships between both negative and positive emotions and (1) emotion regulation strategies, (2) intolerance of uncertainty and, (3) environmental satisfaction since the pandemic and its lockdown. The total sample comprised 948 adults from the general population. Results show that, since the pandemic, individuals experience higher levels of negative emotions, lower levels of positive emotions and environmental satisfaction. They also tend to worry less and to resort to acceptance more often. Also, environmental satisfaction is the most important predictor of both negative emotions and positive ones. Overall, findings confirm previous ones and seem to indicate that environmental satisfaction should be addressed more thoroughly.</p>","PeriodicalId":46662,"journal":{"name":"Psychologica Belgica","volume":" ","pages":"34-46"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8782079/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39964352","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}