Scandinavian journal of psychology最新文献

Whether doodling positively or negatively affects memory is still to be determined. The underlying mechanisms of doodling's effect on memory have yet to be fully explored. This study examined the impact of doodling style, boredom, and sensation seeking on recall tasks using a dual-task paradigm with a 3 (doodling method: structured doodling/unstructured doodling/no doodling) × 2 (boredom level: high/low) two-factor between-participants design. Key findings included an interaction between doodling style and boredom level on recall test performance, where participants in the no-doodling group significantly improved their recall test performance. In contrast, those in the unstructured doodling group exhibited a significant decline in recall performance under high boredom conditions. Furthermore, participants' performance on the recall task diminished as the complexity and quality of their drawings increased. These findings offer insights into strategies for reducing boredom and enhancing memory in educational and professional settings by shedding light on the effects of doodling styles, boredom levels, and sensation-seeking tendencies on recall tasks.

This study examined how congruence and incongruence between aging self-stereotypes and aging stereotypes relate to positive psychological traits (subjective well-being, self-esteem, and sense of coherence) in older adults, and whether hope serves as a mediating mechanism. Data from 1204 older adults were analyzed using polynomial regression and response surface analysis, and the mediating role of hope was tested using the block variable approach. The results revealed distinct patterns in the joint effects of aging self-stereotypes and aging stereotypes on the three positive psychological traits. Along the line of congruence, subjective well-being and sense of coherence showed inverted i-shaped patterns, with the highest levels observed at moderate congruence and lower levels observed at extreme congruence, either high or low. In contrast, self-esteem declined linearly as both stereotypes increased congruently. Along the line of incongruence, subjective well-being and sense of coherence were higher when aging self-stereotypes were less negative than aging stereotypes, but lower when the reverse pattern occurred. Self-esteem, however, was higher when discrepancies were greater in either direction. In addition, hope partially mediated the effects of congruence and incongruence between aging self-stereotypes and aging stereotypes on all three positive psychological traits. These findings challenge the assumption that alignment between aging self-stereotypes and aging stereotypes is always beneficial. Instead, our results suggest that moderate congruence and certain patterns of incongruence-particularly when aging stereotypes are more negative than aging self-stereotypes-are associated with better psychological well-being, with hope playing an important mediating role.

This study aimed to explore the relationships between perceived scarcity, individual well-being, and health, and to assess the moderating roles of personal income and national economic wealth. The research utilized data from the World Values Survey, which included responses from over 160,000 participants across 81 countries. It specifically analyzed how perceptions of scarcity affect psychological and physical health, incorporating variables such as personal income and national wealth. The findings indicated that higher personal income can buffer the adverse effects of perceived scarcity on individual well-being and health. Conversely, greater national wealth was found to exacerbate these negative effects, suggesting a complex interaction between personal and national economic conditions. The study highlights the protective role of personal income in mitigating the detrimental impacts of perceived scarcity on health and well-being. However, it also reveals a paradoxical effect where national wealth intensifies these negative outcomes. These insights are crucial for developing tailored policy measures and socioeconomic strategies that consider varied economic contexts across countries.

The present research aims to contribute to the understanding of anti-vaccination attitudes. We do this by analyzing the role of social identity and intergroup threat. Drawing on intergroup threat theory, we hypothesize that being informed that the general population is positive toward vaccines may be perceived as threatening to individuals identifying as vaccine-hesitant, which may lead to stronger anti-vaccination attitudes. We evaluate this hypothesis in two survey experiments performed among Swedish citizens (Study 1, N = 376; Study 2, N = 698), where we present participants in the treatment group with information that the position toward vaccines in the general population is positive. We find that when vaccine-hesitant individuals are informed that the general population is positive toward vaccines, they express stronger anti-vaccination attitudes. We further find that this relationship is mediated by negative emotions, implying perceptions of intergroup threat. We conclude that individuals with a vaccine-hesitant identity feel threatened when learning that most others are positive toward vaccines, which is associated with stronger anti-vaccination attitudes. These results have important implications for the understanding of anti-vaccination attitudes, suggesting that such attitudes may increase when individuals feel that their identity is threatened.

Aging population in OECD countries and the rising mental disorder burden highlight the need to understand statutory retirement's contribution to emotional well-being. However, the relationship between statutory retirement and emotional well-being remains underexplored. Clarifying this relationship can help policymakers enhance pension systems to better support statutory retirees' well-being. This study examined emotional well-being trajectories 15 years before and after statutory retirement among 5076 City of Helsinki employees in Finland (81% women; age range 40-60 at Phase 1), and the social and health-related factors associated with these trajectories. We used prospective cohort data from the Helsinki Health Study (2000-2022) across five phases. Growth Mixture Modeling identified the trajectories, measured by the RAND-36 emotional well-being dimension. Multinomial logistic regression with average marginal effects (AMEs) and 95% confidence intervals assessed the associations between social and health-related factors and these trajectories. A three-trajectory solution was selected: 'Stable high' (85%), 'Slowly increasing' (12%), and 'Fast increasing, then fast decreasing' (3%) emotional well-being. Mentally very strenuous work, binge drinking, smoking, frequent sleep problems, and mental disorder diagnoses before retirement were associated with lower predicted probabilities of the 'Stable high' trajectory and higher predicted probabilities of the 'Slowly increasing' trajectory. Mentally very strenuous work and mental disorder diagnoses were linked to a higher predicted probability of the 'Fast increasing, then fast decreasing' trajectory. Most participants maintained high emotional well-being throughout the statutory retirement transition. A smaller group of individuals experienced lower emotional well-being before statutory retirement and a gradual improvement after, or saw an increase until retirement, followed by a rapid decline. Mentally very strenuous work, binge drinking, smoking, frequent sleep problems, and mental disorder diagnoses before retirement were associated with poorer emotional well-being trajectories. With targeted interventions we could explore whether a change in these factors could enhance emotional well-being across retirement.

Empathy deficits associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may be attributable to alexithymia, which is common in ASD. Alexithymia is defined by deficient emotional self-awareness and an overly concrete or externally oriented cognitive style. The present study examined this hypothesis, with a focus on the externally oriented thinking (EOT) facet of alexithymia which was previously found to be uniquely associated with deficits in facial recognition of emotions and empathy. There were 331 participants (104 males, 227 females) aged 18-30 years (M = 25.93 years) recruited online. They completed the Autism Quotient (AQ), Toronto Alexithymia Scale 20 (TAS-20), Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) indices of emotional and cognitive empathy, and demographic questions. Hierarchical regressions followed by path analyses indicated mediation of the negative relationships of ASD scores with emotional and cognitive empathy by EOT. Implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

Previous research on destructive leadership has mostly focused on the destructive behaviors and outcomes and less attention has been paid to how to cope with and handle this kind of stressor. The overall aim of this study is to gain a deepened understanding of how subordinates and superiors react to (cope with and manage) destructive leadership behaviors and if and how organizational culture is perceived to influence the chosen strategies. This study used a grounded theory approach and is based on interviews with 26 individuals in the Swedish Armed Forces who had experience of a destructive leader, either as their superior or as their subordinate. The data represents both women and men, different ages, civilian and military backgrounds, and a variety of ranks and branches. The results suggest that the process surrounding being exposed to, coping with, or managing destructive leadership behavior, both from a subordinate and superior perspective, can be understood as a destructive loop. In this loop, individuals relate to, are constrained by, and participate in the coproduction and reproduction of environmental constraints present in the organization. Subordinates use mostly emotion-focused strategies (such as withdrawal) when dealing with destructive leadership, while superiors use problem-focused strategies (e.g., direct action against the leader). Environmental constraints (organizational, cultural, and norm-related) function as enablers of the destructive behavior and barriers to effective coping-management strategies. By combining the perspectives of subordinates and superiors on destructive leadership, the authors add to the literature by painting a picture of how contextual aspects constrain constructive actions and strategies when dealing with the stress of being exposed to destructive leadership. The destructive loop highlights how destructive behavior can be coproduced and reproduced, placing the phenomenon of destructive leadership within a broader organizational hierarchy.

Internet addiction (IA) negatively impacts individuals' emotional regulation. However, previous studies have mostly focused on negative emotion regulation, neglecting the importance of regulating positive emotions. Internet addicts are more prone to emotional fluctuations following positive emotions, and elevated positive affect is a risk factor for mania and risky behaviors. Therefore, it is crucial to focus on the core deficits in positive emotion regulation among internet addicts, especially providing neural evidence to serve as targets for interventions. This study adopted a 2 (group: IA group; health control group) × 2 (emotion regulation condition: no emotional regulation; emotional regulation) × 2 (emotion regulation strategy: cognitive reappraisal and expression suppression) mixed experimental design. A total of 49 participants were included in the experiment (IA group: 22 participants; health control group: 27 participants). fNIRS was used to detect brain activity during emotional regulation. The results revealed that compared to the control group, internet addicts performed worse in regulating positive emotions, with lower activation in the dlPFC and a significantly reduced emotional regulation effect in the cognitive reappraisal condition, characterized by decreased effective connectivity from dlPFC to vmPFC. The effective connectivity between dlPFC and vmPFC plays a mediating role in the impact of internet addiction on emotion regulation. This study provides a reference for future interventions aimed at emotional issues in internet addicts, emphasizing the need to help maintain stable and balanced emotional states, focusing on enhancing cognitive reappraisal abilities and targeting the dlPFC and vmPFC for neural interventions.

Laissez-faire leadership is considered a negative form of leadership, potentially harming employee health, well-being, work environment, and performance. However, research on boundary conditions explaining its negative effects remains limited. Drawing on conservation of resources theory, this study examines the relationship between laissez-faire leadership and employee performance, and the buffering effect of self-compassion, defined as being supportive towards oneself when facing suffering or pain. Data were collected from 220 full-time employees across various industries in Norway. To assess discriminant validity and address common method bias, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted before regression analyses. Consistent with hypotheses, laissez-faire leadership was negatively associated with employee performance. Moreover, self-compassion moderated this relationship, with no decline in performance among employees demonstrating moderate to high levels of self-compassion. Our study contributes to the laissez-faire leadership literature by testing whether a coping strategy identified for active destructive leadership also applies to passive forms. Furthermore, we contribute to the self-compassion literature by responding to calls for research on its link to organizational outcomes and the level needed to buffer negative effects, while addressing generalizability beyond the healthcare sector. Implications for future research, leadership development, and employee training are discussed.

This study developed and validated the Critical Right Scale (CRS) to measure emerging critical right attitudes and revised the Critical Social Justice Attitudes Scale (CSJAS-R), replicating its psychometric evaluation. A nationwide convenience sample of Finnish adults (n = 626) completed an online survey. Item screening used exploratory factor analysis with oblique rotation and loading and residual correlation criteria. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and measurement invariance testing were conducted in lavaan using full information maximum likelihood. The final CRS consisted of five items with high reliability (α = 0.89, ω = 0.90) and good model fit in both male and female subsamples, with pooled-sample residual misfit judged minor given subgroup results. The CSJAS-R comprised six items with strong reliability (α = 0.88, ω = 0.89) and excellent fit. Both scales met configural and metric invariance; partial scalar invariance was achieved after freeing a small number of item intercepts. CRS scores were strongly associated with right-wing and conservative self-placement with higher scores concentrated among Finns Party and Christian Democrat voters, and weakly linked to perceived oppression. CSJAS-R scores were strongly associated with left-wing and liberal self-placement with higher scores concentrated among Left Alliance and Greens voters, and had a small-to-moderate association with justification of political violence. CRS and CSJAS-R were strongly negatively correlated (r = -0.62), indicating divergent validity. Both CRS and CSJAS-R demonstrated strong psychometric properties and distinct ideological profiles, providing validated tools for studying political attitude structures at opposing ends of the ideological spectrum.