Current research in ecological and social psychology最新文献

The experiences of war and trauma have been shown to have many implications for the behavior and attitudes of individuals, including economic and social preferences. It has been argued that this may in part be the result of a process called Post Traumatic Growth (PTG), where individuals exposed to traumatic events experience growth in a number of domains, thereby shifting preferences. However, few studies have actually tested this supposition with field data. I argue that in populations that have experienced trauma such as armed conflict, individuals who experience PTG will display a reduced tendency towards loss-aversion, which individuals in threatening conditions otherwise display. To test my hypotheses, I conduct a survey with over 2000 refugees from the ongoing conflict in Syria, living in the Midyat refugee camp in Mardin, near the Turkish-Syrian border. In addition to reporting individual level trauma, the respondents also complete a hypothetical valuation task. I show that in this conflict-exposed sample, individuals not experiencing PTG displayed stronger responses to losses than to gains. However, individuals with high PTG showed the inverse relationship, with stronger responses to gains than to losses. This has implications for post conflict societies and other contexts where people may have experienced high levels of trauma.

Nature-based environmental education could be an effective way to promote children's connection to nature, every-day pro-environmental behaviour (PEB) and psychological wellbeing. We conducted a longitudinal, quasi-experimental field study with children aged 7 - 13 years from schools who attended environmental education fieldtrips in Wellington, New Zealand (N = 257). Data was collected via a self-administered questionnaire and a gifting (Token) experiment immediately before and four weeks after children attended an environmental education fieldtrip. Results indicate that environmental education was associated with a small increase in children's PEB and an increase in support for conservation relative to a control group. However, the intervention had little effect on children's connection to nature, vitality or life satisfaction. The effect of the intervention on connection to nature was moderated by children's pre-existing levels of connection to nature. Fieldtrips only increased connection to nature for those children who had higher levels of connection to nature before the intervention.

Reconnecting people to nature is considered a deep leverage point to promote individual PEB and co-benefits such as individual wellbeing. Our results provide modest and nuanced support for its influence on PEB but not wellbeing.

Greater “emotional fit” with one's cultural group is often associated with positive psychological and relational outcomes. However, the few empirical studies on this link have been limited to the comparison of Anglo-Western, independent, and East Asian, interdependent cultural contexts. In the current paper, we conceptually replicated findings from three studies on the link between emotional fit and well-being in Anglo-Western and East Asian contexts, using different methods and more comprehensive samples. Moreover, we expanded emotional fit research to the understudied Mediterranean region, characterized by an emphasis on “honor” and a distinct blend of independence and interdependence. We collected data from N = 3,097 participants from 12 countries and asked participants to report their emotional experience in 10 hypothetical situations and to rate their well-being in different domains. Our results largely replicated established positive links between emotional fit and well-being in the Anglo-West and East-Asia, as i) experiencing more culturally valued emotions (from which we infer cultural fit) was linked to better general well-being; ii) actual, calculated emotional fit in relationship-focused situations predicted better relational well-being; and iii) only in East Asia calculated emotional fit in culturally central contexts predicted psychological well-being and thriving. Our exploratory analyses on the Mediterranean region showed a non-homogenous pattern: while general well-being was consistently most strongly predicted by the intensity of disengaging emotions, relational and psychological well-being were differentially predicted by calculated emotional fit in relationship-focused situations across different Mediterranean sub-regions. The current work consolidates insights into how our well-being is shaped by the interplay between culture and emotional fit and strengthens evidence that there may be ‘universalism without uniformity’.

Since the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Germany, the German government has introduced various measures to counteract the pandemic. The implementation of safety measures can have counterproductive effects: people engage in risk compensatory behavior (fewer safety behaviors) after regulations are introduced and obligated by the government, which is known as the Peltzman effect (Peltzman, 1975). Based on the Peltzman effect, the researchers of this study hypothesized that people complied less with safety behaviors and took more health risks (e.g. keep less distance) after the implementation of more stringent COVID-19-related regulations (quarantine obligation and face mask duty) between the two measurement periods of this study. They also extended the Peltzman model by hypothesizing moderating roles of age, gender, and perceived COVID-19 threat. Results of the longitudinal survey study (N = 989, T1: 26 March – 31 March 2020 and T2: 27 April – 4 May 2020) confirm that people indeed complied less with safety recommendations over time associated with strengthened COVID-19-related regulations. Perceived COVID-19 threat to those in a person's surroundings (e.g. family, neighbors) had a positive impact on compliance, but age and gender had no effect. This extends the literature on the Peltzman effect by adding perceived COVID-19 threat as a new relevant construct, enabling the development of more effective safety preventions in the future.

Increasingly, people are looking for meaning through their jobs, for employers that have a positive impact on the world, and for workplaces that promote mission-driven behavior. One such mission that is a growing priority is addressing climate change, especially for younger cohorts entering the workforce. Addressing the climate crisis will necessitate substantial changes at all levels of society, including organizational change. This paper examines individual, social, and contextual variables that are associated with pro-environmental behavior (PEB). In a large survey of employees from high and low greenhouse gas emitting sectors (N = 3,041), we examine the predictors of work PEB and the relationship between work PEB and job satisfaction. We find that the strongest predictors of work PEB index are similar behavior in another domain (measured as home PEB index), perceived organizational support for the environment, personal attitudes about environmental responsibility, reported identity overlap with coworkers, and level of education. Perceptions about the social and corporate support of an environmental mission predict work PEB even after accounting for the influence of individual factors, including environmental attitudes, suggesting that they are associated with increased work PEB for employees with both high and low concern about climate change. We also find that higher work PEB is associated with greater job satisfaction. This suggests that there may be a virtuous cycle between companies' mission-driven actions and policies and employee perceptions, behavior, and personal and corporate well-being, with potential implications for employee engagement and retention.

Depression is a highly prevalent mental disorder that prevents individuals to live a rewarding life. Cross-sectional research observed especially high prevalence rates of depression in female and younger individuals of the Middle East even though these results lack systematic validation. Aiming to systematize previous research on depression, this meta-analysis gathered depression mean scores and prevalence of severity categories in 18,717 adult citizens (M_age = 26.43 years, SD = 9.98, range 19.30 – 54.17) assessed by Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI-II) in the GCC countries in the last twenty years. Results showed similar and stable prevalence and severity of depression across and within the GCC population throughout the last twenty years. Controlling for associated factors such as age, gender distribution, and student populations, we furthermore found that young and female individuals appeared to be at greater risk for depression. Results might be explained by cultural changes the GCC states went through since the discovery of oil but also by a sampling bias present in the research of mental health in the Arab region. Therefore, results are discussed regarding the socio-cultural change of the GCC states and recommendations for future research are given.

Refugees experience numerous psychological and social problems associated with experiences in their home countries, during asylum-seeking, and conditions in their new environment. Therefore, refugees are likely to experience a decline in psychological and social capital, negatively affecting their well-being. Mindfulness is a known trait-like attribute that is associated with superior well-being outcomes. The present correlational study investigated the mediating role of psychological and social capital in the association between mindfulness and well-being outcomes (life satisfaction and happiness) among refugees in resource-constrained settlements in Uganda. As part of the RESS-R (Refugee Entrepreneurship and Skilling for Self-Reliance) project, 576 refugees from rural settlements and urban locations took part in the study. The results of the structural equation model revealed that mindfulness was positively associated with psychological and social capital. However, only psychological capital had a mediating effect in the relationship between mindfulness and the well-being variables. Our findings provide insights into the relationships between positive psychological attributes and well-being outcomes among refugees living in resource-constrained settings.

Refugees undergo traumatic events during the premigration and transit phases and also experience severe difficulties after resettlement in a new country, and they are therefore at high risk of developing mental health problems. The present studies examined if intergroup contact with members of the receiving society moderates these negative impacts on refugees’ mental health. Two studies with refugees in Switzerland (N = 262) revealed both buffering and exacerbating effects of intergroup contact. Having more Swiss friends was associated with a less negative relationship between postmigration living difficulties and mental health. Surprisingly, having more Swiss friends was also associated with a more negative relationship between traumatization and mental health. These results suggest that intergroup contact may help refugees adjust to the living conditions in the receiving society, but may pose a risk regarding trauma-related disorders.