This research investigates whether experiencing workplace ostracism is positively related to employees' perceptions of organizational dehumanization, and examines one underlying mechanism of this relationship (i.e., thwarted need to belong), as well as its consequences for both employees and organizations. First, a cross-sectional study (N = 256) highlighted that workplace ostracism positively relates to organizational dehumanization which, in turn, is related to employees' well-being (i.e., increased depression), attitudes (i.e., decreased job satisfaction) and behaviors toward the organization (i.e., increased turnover intentions, decreased loyalty behaviors toward the organization). Second, an experimental study manipulating workplace ostracism using vignettes (N = 199) showed that workplace ostracism has a positive impact on organizational dehumanization, which subsequently relates to employees' decreased job satisfaction, increased turnover intentions, and decreased loyalty behaviors. Finally, a third cross-sectional study (N = 423) revealed that employees' thwarted need to belong mediates the relationship between workplace ostracism and organizational dehumanization, which is ultimately associated with employees' increased depression, decreased job satisfaction, increased turnover intentions, and decreased loyalty behaviors. Theoretical contributions, directions for future research and practical implications are discussed.
The Moral Foundations Questionnaire (MFQ) and the Moral Foundations Sacredness Scale (MFSS) have been proposed to advance conceptualizations of morality. This study assesses the factor structure of the Dutch translations of the short version of the MFQ (20 items) and the full MFSS. The five-factor model posited by Moral Foundations Theory (MFT) is compared against alternative models of morality. Correlational analyses are performed between the best-fitting models. A multi-group confirmatory factor analysis of the optimal model is tested across gender. Data are taken from an online survey of a student sample (N = 1496). Results suggest that the Dutch translation of the MFQ20 does not converge on the proposed five-factor model. Conversely, MFSS subscales show good model fit, but intercorrelations among the five subscales are high. Weak invariance is retained for MFSS but not for MFQ20. Overall, the present study shows that the Dutch version of the MFSS scale performs better than the MFQ20 in terms of scale reliability, fit indices, and measurement invariance testing. More methodological inquiries on MFSS are welcomed, whereas the use of the MFQ20 should be discouraged. Instead, researchers on moral foundations are encouraged to empirically test the psychometric properties of the recently revised MFQ-2, developed by the authors of MFT as a more accurate instrument for the conceptualization of morality.
The unitary nature of resistance to interference (RI) processes remains a strongly debated question: are they central cognitive processes or are they specific to the stimulus domains on which they operate? This focused mini-review examines behavioral, neuropsychological and neuroimaging evidence for and against domain-general RI processes, by distinguishing visual, verbal phonological and verbal semantic domains. Behavioral studies highlighted overall low associations between RI capacity across domains. Neuropsychological studies mainly report dissociations for RI abilities between the three domains. Neuroimaging studies highlight a left vs. right hemisphere distinction for verbal vs. visual RI, with furthermore distinct neural processes supporting phonological versus semantic RI in the left inferior frontal gyrus. While overall results appear to support the hypothesis of domain-specific RI processes, we discuss a number of methodological caveats that ask for caution in the interpretation of existing studies.
Silent reading often involves phonological encoding of the text in addition to orthographic processing. The nature of the phonological code is debated, however: Is it an abstract code or does it contain information about the pronunciation of the visual stimulus? To answer this question, we investigated the relationship between articulation speed and reading speed, both for silent reading and reading aloud. We investigated whether people with fast articulation speed read faster than people with slow articulation speed. We recruited 94 participants, who in a Zoom session were asked to read short texts silently or aloud. They were also asked to talk about their lives and say the numbers 1-10 or the months of the year as quickly as possible. Finally, they completed an online vocabulary test and an author recognition test. Multiple regression analysis and cluster analysis showed that although the speed of reading aloud and silent reading correlated to some extent, they belonged to two different clusters. Reading aloud was mainly related to talking fluency and articulation speed, while silent reading was more related to vocabulary and knowledge about fiction authors. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the phonological code in silent reading typically does not contain articulatory information, although our data do not rule out the possibility that this may be the case for a small percentage of people or when people read more difficult texts.
All manuscripts published in Psychologica Belgica have been assessed conscientiously and unselfishly by expert reviewers. The quality of our journal totally depends on their valuable and constructive criticisms to the authors. Both the editors and the authors highly appreciate the input and dedication of all our reviewers. Many thanks.
Based on the model of emotion as social information, this study explores the effects of facial emotions and trustworthy behavior on trust decision-making in trust game through two experiments. The present study used trust game explores the impact of players' facial emotion, arousal and trustworthy behavior on individual trust decision-making through two experiments. The results can be summed up as follows: (1) in the repeated interaction with four players, individuals invest more in trustworthy players than untrustworthy players; (2) individuals invested more in trustworthy players with happy facial emotions, while untrustworthy players with angry facial emotions received less investment. High-arousal facial emotion results in a more extreme investment by the individual; (3) when the players' facial emotion and behavior are inconsistent, the individual will judge according to the player's current behavior, rather than the facial emotion or past behavior.
Belgium has one of the highest numbers of COVID-19 cases per 1 million inhabitants. The pandemic has led to significant societal changes with repercussions on sleep and on mental health. We aimed to investigate the effect of the first and the second wave of COVID-19 on the sleep of the Belgian populationWe launched two online questionnaires, one during the first lockdown (7240 respondents) and one during the second (3240 respondents), to test differences in self-reported clinical insomnia (as measured by the Insomnia Severity Index) and sleep habits during the two lockdowns in comparison with the pre-COVID period. The number of persons with clinical insomnia rose during the first lockdown (19.22%) and further during the second (28.91%) in comparison with pre-lockdown (7.04-7.66%). Bed and rise times were delayed and there was an increased time in bed and sleep onset latency. There was further a decrease in total sleep time and in sleep efficiency during both confinements. The prevalence of clinical insomnia quadrupled during the second wave in comparison with the pre-lockdown situation. Sleep habits were most altered in the younger population, indicating a greater risk for this group to develop a sleep-wake rhythm disorder.
Persistent fatigue constitutes a prevalent and debilitating symptom in several diseases. The symptom is not effectively alleviated by pharmaceutical treatments, and meditation has been proposed as a non-pharmacological intervention. Indeed, meditation has been shown to reduce inflammatory/immune problems, pain, stress, anxiety and depression which are associated with pathological fatigue. This review synthesizes data from randomized control trials (RCTs) that explored the effect of meditation-based interventions (MeBIs) on fatigue in pathological conditions. Eight databases were searched from inception to April 2020. Thirty-four RCTs met eligibility criteria and covered six conditions (68% cancer), 32 of which were included in the meta-analysis. The main analysis showed an effect in favor of MeBIs compared to control groups (g = 0.62). Separate moderator analyses assessing control group, pathological condition, and MeBI type, highlighted a significantly moderating role of the control group. Indeed, compared to actively controlled studies, studies using a passive control group were associated with a statistically significantly more beneficial impact of the MeBIs (g = 0.83). These results indicate that MeBIs alleviate pathological fatigue and it seems that the studies with a passive control group showed a greater effect of MeBI on the reduction of fatigue compared to studies using active control groups. However, the specific effect of meditation type and pathological condition should be analyzed with more studies, and there remains a need to assess meditation effects on different types of fatigue (i.e., physical and mental) and in additional conditions (e.g., post-COVID-19).
To limit the spread of COVID-19, public authorities have recommended sanitary behaviors such as handwashing, mask-wearing, physical distancing, and social distancing. We recruited a large sample of higher education students in Belgium (N = 3201-3441) to investigate the role of sociodemographic variables, mental health, previous COVID-19 infections, academic involvement, and risk perception on adherence to these sanitary behaviors. This cross-sectional study took place during the second COVID-19 wave in Belgium, between February and March 2021. Analyses showed that living alone, being female, later in the academic curriculum, having higher general and health anxiety, higher academic involvement, and higher risk perception were positively associated with adherence to the four aforementioned sanitary behaviors. Conversely, previous infection with COVID-19 and having been quarantined were negative predictors. Our results show a set of predictors highly similar for the four sanitary behaviors. We discuss potential initiatives to increase adherence to sanitary behaviors in this group of highly educated youngsters.