Psychology Commons^™

Occupational Depression In Italy: Associations With Health, Economic, And Work-Life Characteristics, Renzo Bianchi, Caterina Fiorilli, Giacomo Angelini, Nicoletta Dozio, Carlo Palazzi, Gloria Palazzi, Benedetto Vitiello, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

Background: The Occupational Depression Inventory (ODI) reflects a new approach to job-related distress centered on work-attributed depressive symptoms. The instrument was developed with reference to the characterization of major depression found in the DSM-5. The ODI has been validated in English, French, and Spanish. This study (a) investigated the psychometric and structural properties of the ODI’s Italian version and (b) inquired into the nomological network of occupational depression. Methods: A convenience sample of 963 employed individuals was recruited in Italy (69.9% female; mean age = 40.433). We notably relied on exploratory structural equation modeling bifactor analysis, common-practice …

Theorizing, Bounded Rationality, And Expertise: Cognitive Sociology And The Quasi-Realism Of Problem-Solving As A Course Of Activity, Michael W. Raphael

Publications and Research

The question facing sociology is whether it is a field or a discipline. If it is a field, then there is no need for theorizing. However, if sociology is a discipline, then problem-solving cannot be disentangled from theorizing without a loss of intelligibility – the inability to explain the social as the concept of the discipline. Through the quasi-realism of problem-solving as a course of activity, this chapter presents cognitive sociology as a paradigm appropriate to the concept of the social understood as an ongoing course of activity. In doing so, it is shown how bounded rationality and expertise play …

Distress In The Workplace: Characterizing The Relationship Of Burnout Measures To The Occupational Depression Inventory, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Renzo Bianchi

Publications and Research

Burnout has been found to problematically overlap with depression. However, the generalizability of this finding remains disputed. This study examined burnout–depression overlap using the recently developed Occupational Depression Inventory (ODI) and two burnout measures, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI). The study involved two teacher samples employed in France (N = 1,450) and New Zealand (N = 492). We found the correlations of the ODI with (a) the MBI’s emotional exhaustion (EE) subscale and (b) the CBI to reach .80. An explanation of these high correlations based on content overlap in fatigue-related items was ruled …

Computational Thinking And Coding For Young Children: A Hybrid Approach To Link Unplugged And Plugged Activities, Daisuke Akiba

Publications and Research

In our increasingly technology-dependent society, the importance of promoting digital literacy (e.g., computational thinking, coding, and programming) has become a critical focus in the field of childhood education. While young children these days are routinely and extensively exposed to digital devices and tools, the efficacy of the methods for fostering digital skills in the early childhood classroom has not always been closely considered. This is particularly true in settings where early childhood educators are not digital experts. Currently, most of the efforts in standard early childhood settings, taught by teachers who are not digital experts, appear to revolve around “unplugged” …

Contrafreeloading In Kea (Nestor Notabilis) In Comparison To Grey Parrots (Psittacus Erithacus), Gabriella E. Smith, Amalia P. M. Bastos, Martin Chodorow, Alex H. Taylor, Irene M. Pepperberg

Publications and Research

Contrafreeloading—working to access food that could be freely obtained—is rarely exhibited and poorly understood. Based on data from Grey parrots ( Psittacus erithacus ), researchers proposed a correlation between contrafreeloading and play: that contrafreeloading is more likely when subjects view the task as play. We tested that hypothesis by subjecting a relatively more playful parrot species, the kea ( Nestor notabilis ), to the same experimental tasks. Experiment 1 presented eight kea with container pairs holding more- or less-preferred free or enclosed food items, and examined three types of contrafreeloading: calculated (working to access preferred food over less-preferred, freely available …

The Importance Of Low Iq To Early Diagnosis Of Autism, Kristina Denisova, Zhichun Lin

Publications and Research

Abstract
Some individuals can flexibly adapt to life’s changing demands while others, in particular those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), find it challenging. The origin of early individual differences in cognitive abilities, the putative tools with which to navigate novel information in life, including in infants later diagnosed with ASD remains unexplored. Moreover, the role of intelligence quotient (IQ) vis-à-vis core features of autism remains debated. We systematically investigate the contribution of early IQ in future autism outcomes in an extremely large, population-based study of 8000 newborns, infants, and toddlers from the US between 2 and 68 months with over …

Burned-Out With Burnout? Insights From Historical Analysis, Renzo Bianchi, Katarzyna Wac, James Francis Sowden, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

Fierce debates surround the conceptualization and measurement of job-related distress in occupational health science. The use of burnout as an index of job-related distress, though commonplace, has increasingly been called into question. In this paper, we first highlight foundational problems that undermine the burnout construct and its legacy measure, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Next, we report on advances in research on job-related distress that depart from the use of the burnout construct. Tracing the genesis of the burnout construct, we observe that (a) burnout’s definition was preestablished rather than derived from a rigorous research process and (b) the MBI …

Approach With Initiative Or Hold On Passively? The Impact Of Customer-Perceived Dependence On Customer Forgiveness In Service Failure, Xin Chen, Shuojia Guo, Jie Xiong, Shuyi Hao

Publications and Research

Service failure is almost inevitable with the intensifying competition in the service market and expectation of heterogeneous customers. The customer–firm relationship can significantly influence customers’ subsequent attitudes and behaviors to the service provider when they encounter service failure. This study proposes a theoretical model to examine how customer-perceived dependence affects their forgiveness toward a service failure in attribution logic. According to an experiment with 138 and a survey with 428 commercial bank customers, we used a multivariate approach to validate our model. The results show that relationship-valued dependence (RVD) leads to external attribution, which is positively related to customer forgiveness. …

Mhealth For Transgender And Gender-Expansive Youth: An Update On Covid, Venture Capital, And The Cultural In/Congruence Of Revenue-Driven Sustainability Models, Simone J. Skeen, Demetria Cain

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Recognizing And Disrupting Stigma In Implementation Of Hiv Prevention And Care: A Call To Research And Action, Sarit A. Golub, Rachel A. Fikslin

Publications and Research

Introduction: There is robust evidence that stigma negatively impacts both people living with HIV and those who might benefit from HIV prevention interventions. Within healthcare settings, research on HIV stigma has focused on intra-personal processes (i.e. knowledge or internalization of community-level stigma that might limit clients’ engagement in care) or inter-personal processes (i.e. stigmatized interactions with service providers). Intersectional approaches to stigma call us to examine the ways that intersecting systems of power and oppression produce stigma not only at the individual and interpersonal levels, but also within healthcare service delivery systems. This commentary argues for the importance of analysing …

Medical Avoidance Among Marginalized Groups: The Impact Of The Covid‑19 Pandemic, Amani R. Holder‑Dixon, Olivia R. Adams, Tianna L. Cobb, Alison J. Goldberg, Rachel A. Fikslin, Mora A. Reinka, Amanda N. Gesselman, Devon M. Price

Publications and Research

Medical avoidance is common among U.S. adults, and may be emphasized among members of marginalized communities due to discrimination concerns. In the current study, we investigated whether this disparity in avoidance was maintained or exacerbated during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We assessed the likelihood of avoiding medical care due to general-, discrimination-, and COVID-19-related concerns in an online sample ( N = 471). As hypothesized, marginalized groups (i.e., non-White race, Latinx/e ethnicity, non-heterosexual sexual orientation, high BMI) endorsed more general- and discrimina - tion-related medical avoidance than majoritized groups. However, marginalized groups were equally likely to seek COVID-19 …

Is The Phq-9 A Unidimensional Measure Of Depression? A 58,272-Participant Study, Renzo Bianchi, Jay Verkuilen, Sharon Toker, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Markus Gerber, Elmar Brähler, Kurt Kroenke

Publications and Research

The PHQ-9 has become a measure of reference in depression research and clinical practice. However, the issue of the PHQ-9’s unidimensionality has not been fully elucidated, and the usability of the PHQ-9’s total score requires clarification. In this study, we examined the dimensionality, scalability, and monotonicity properties of the PHQ-9 as well as the scale’s total-score reliability. We did so based on exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) bifactor analysis and Mokken scale analysis (MSA). We relied on a total of 58,272 participants (63% female; Mage = 43, SDage = 13) from 29 samples involving seven different countries (e.g., Germany, the …

Our Stories, Katelyn S. Lopez

Publications and Research

This semester, we participated in the “Our Stories” qualitative research project that involves learning more about students' first year, and first-semester experiences at City Tech during pandemic times. As we organized and read students’ posts, we journaled and practiced reflexivity, a qualitative research process that helps us examine how we are interpreting the data that we are engaging with. T Reflexivity is a process in qualitative research involving frequent examination of one’s position in the project. These positions include one’s assumptions, feelings, and so forth. An essential question for qualitative researchers, according to Leavy (2011), is “Has the researcher engaged …

Sociopolitical Determinants Of Health In The Proposed Rezoning Of Richmond Hill/Ozone Park, Ny, Khemraj J. Persaud

Publications and Research

The community of Richmond Hill/Ozone Park, Queens, NY has been split into multiple zones and has needed rezoning for decades. The area consists of a range of people from different ethnic backgrounds, including Indo-Caribbean, South Asian, and Afro-Caribbean. Racial health disparities persist in this district, such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension. I conducted research about how ongoing political issues in this community has been affecting the overall health of its residents and what is being done about it.

Occupational Depression In A Spanish-Speaking Sample: Associations With Cognitive Performance And Work-Life Characteristics, Bianchi Renzo, Guadalupe Manzano García, Maria Pilar Montanes, Emily A. Schonfeld, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

This 386-participant study investigated the structural and psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Occupational Depression Inventory (ODI). Exploratory structural equation modeling bifactor analysis revealed that the ODI meets the requirements for essential unidimensionality. Measurement invariance held across our sample and the English- and French-speaking samples used in the ODI’s initial validation study. Mokken scale analysis indicated that (a) the scalability of the instrument was strong, (b) no violations of monotonicity or local independence were present, and (c) invariant item ordering was sufficiently accurate. The ODI’s reliability was optimal. The ODI exhibited both convergent validity and discriminant validity vis-à-vis …

Home Sweet Home? Examining Residential Instability And Preschoolers’ Early Mathematics Development, Marisha Kashyap

Publications and Research

In 2020, approximately 13% of all children under five experienced residential instability. Residential instability, also known as housing instability, is known to compromise the socio-emotional and behavioral development of young children. However, there is limited evidence documenting the effect of housing instability on preschoolers' cognitive and academic abilities, in particular the development of mathematics skills. The present literature review argues that unstable residential conditions have important implications for preschoolers’ early mathematics development. First, the current literature review explores the implications of residential instability for the early childhood developmental period. Then this review examines current studies on promotive and risk factors …

“I Can Math, Too!”: Reducing Math Anxiety In Stem-Related Courses Using A Combined Mindfulness And Growth Mindset Approach (Magma) In The Classroom, Tashana S. Samuel, Sebastien Buttet, Jared Warner

Publications and Research

Math anxiety has become an alarming social justice concern, as it results in negative academic consequences, contributes to disinterest and lack of persistence in STEM programs for underrepresented students, and limits their opportunities in STEM careers. According to research, this fear of math occurs long before students begin working on math problems. When high-math anxious students encounter math situations, anticipation anxiety consumes working memory capacity, inhibits learning, and causes them to severely underperform on mathematical tasks. However, very few studies have been conducted to embed psychological interventions in the classroom in an effort to mitigate both anticipation and execution anxiety. …

Designing Respectful Tech: What Is Your Relationship With Technology?, Noreen Y. Whysel

Publications and Research

According to research at the Me2B Alliance, people feel they have a relationship with technology. It’s emotional. It’s embodied. And it’s very personal. We are studying digital relationships to answer questions like “Do people have a relationship with technology?” “What does that relationship feel like?” And “Do people understand the commitments that they are making when they explore, enter into and dissolve these relationships?” There are parallels between messy human relationships and the kinds of relationships that people develop with technology. As with human relationships, we move through states of discovery, commitment and breakup with digital applications as well. Technology …

Does Breastfeeding Account For The Association Between Maternal Sensitivity And Infant Cognitive Development In A Large, Nationally Representative Cohort?, P. Nina Banerjee, Karen E. Mcfadden, Jacqueline D. Shannon, Leslie L. Davidson

Publications and Research

Background: Previous research has established that exposure to high maternal sensitivity is positively associated with advances in infant cognitive development. However, there are many fixed and modifiable factors that influence this association. This study investigates whether the association between maternal sensitivity and infant cognitive development in the first year of life is accounted for by other factors, such as breastfeeding, maternal depressive symptoms, maternal alcohol use, infant birth weight or demographic covariates.

Methods: Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth (ECLS-B) Cohort, a nationally representative sample of U.S. born children, multi-variable regression analyses was used to examine whether breastfeeding, …

Data For "Are Formal Explanations Mere Placeholders Or Pointers?", Sandeep Prasada, Shamauri Rivera, Sam Prasad

Publications and Research

Raw de-identified data for experiments in "Are formal explanations mere placeholders or pointers?"

From Burnout To Occupational Depression: Recent Developments In Research On Job-Related Distress And Occupational Health, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Renzo Bianchi

Publications and Research

Job-related distress has been a focal concern in occupational health science. Job-related distress has a well-documented health-damaging and life-threatening character, not to mention its economic cost. In this article, we review recent developments in research on job-related distress and examine ongoing changes in how job-related distress is conceptualized and assessed. By adopting an approach that is theoretically, empirically, and clinically informed, we demonstrate how the construct of burnout and its measures, long favored in research on job-related distress, have proved to be problematic. We underline a new recommendation for addressing job-related distress within the long-established framework of depression research. In …

Will My Imbalance End?, Wendy W. Tan

Publications and Research

The epidemics of violence, fatal robbery, repetitive burglaries, inflation, shortage of labor, and a variety of abnormal phenomena during the Pandemic have pressured many Americans (the author inclusive) to walk in the dark alley of fear, and consequently lost the balance of visions to the future. In this reflective article, the author describes her own frustration and how she works on ending her imbalance

Systematic Review Of Pathways To Care In The U.S. For Black Individuals With Early Psychosis, Oladunni Oluwoye, Beshaun Davis, Franchesca S. Kuhney, Deidre M. Anglin

Publications and Research

The pathway to receiving specialty care for first episode psychosis (FEP) among Black youth in the US has received little attention despite documented challenges that negatively impact engagement in care and clinical outcomes. We conducted a systematic review of US-based research, reporting findings related to the pathway experiences of Black individuals with FEP and their family members. A systematic search of PubMed, PsycInfo, and Embase/Medline was performed with no date restrictions up to April 2021. Included studies had samples with at least 75% Black individuals and/or their family members or explicitly examined racial differences. Of the 80 abstracts screened, 28 …

Intra-Participant And Inter-Analyst Cacophony: Working The Hyphen Between Modalities Using Provocative Reflexivity, David A. Caicedo, Andrea Nikté Juarez Mendoza, Miguel Pinedo

Publications and Research

Multimodal psychological research highlights the benefit of using complementary approaches to the phenomenological study of lived experience. Rather than focus on any individual method, this study attempts to concentrate on the transition, or hyphen, between them, as a place for reflexivity, ethics, and theory. Participants were 14 adults, recruited from ‘New York Community College’ and ‘New Jersey Community College’ in the U.S., who engaged in focus groups where they completed two activities: drawing a map of their personal journey to the college or of their self-identity, and their definitions for the immigration-related terms illegal and undocumented. Results demonstrated that …

The Aesthetic Legacy Of Evolution: The History Of The Arts As A Window Into Human Nature, Aaron Kozbelt

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

The Nature Of Anti-Asian American Xenophobia During The Coronavirus Pandemic: A Preliminary Exploration Into Envy As A Key Motivator Of Hate, Daisuke Akiba

Publications and Research

Background. The current Coronavirus pandemic has been linked to a dramatic increase in anti-Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) hate incidents in the United States. At the time of writing, there does not appear to be any published empirical research examining the mechanisms underlying Asiaphobia during the current pandemic. Based on the stereotype content model, we investigated the idea that ambivalent attitudes toward AAPIs, marked primarily with envy, may be contributing to anti-AAPI xenophobia. Methods. Study 1 (N = 140) explored, through a survey, the link between envious stereotypes toward AAPIs and Asiaphobia. Study 2 (N = 167), …

Psychosocial Factors Associated With Mask-Wearing Behavior During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Cliff (Yung-Chi) Chen, Mengjia Lei

Publications and Research

Although increasing evidence has supported the efficacy of masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), inconsistent and noncompliant mask-wearing behavior has been observed among members of the society. Because mask-wearing is often considered a social contract, it is important to understand the psychosocial factors that influence people’s mask-wearing behavior in order to implement the necessary steps to respond to the pandemic. Based on the protection motivation theory (PMT), this study examined the cognitive factors (threat and coping appraisals) that contribute to mask-wearing behavior and the intention to engage in health protective behavior until the end of the pandemic. …

Identity Selection And The Social Construction Of Birthdays, Brett W. Pelham, Tracy Dehart, Mitsuru Shimizu, Curtis D. Hardin, H. Anna Han, William Von Hippel

Publications and Research

We argue that rather than being a wholly random event, birthdays are sometimes selected by parents. We further argue that such effects have changed over time and are the result of important psychological processes. Long ago, U.S. American parents greatly overclaimed holidays as their children’s birthdays. These effects were larger for more important holidays, and they grew smaller as births moved to hospitals and became officially documented. These effects were exaggerated for ethnic groups that deeply valued specific holidays. Parents also overclaimed well-liked calendar days and avoided disliked calendar days as their children’s birthdays. However, after birthday selection effects virtually …

Who Needs To Be “Burned-Out”? Time For A New Approach To Job-Related Distress, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

Burnout is a popular indicator of job-related distress, notably in research on the ill-being of medical professionals. The burnout construct is, however, plagued by definitional and measurement problems. Often unnoticed, these problems undermine findings and conclusions emanating from burnout research. The definitional and measurement problems affecting the burnout construct hamper knowledge growth, waste resources, and impede our ability to make informed decisions and take effective action to support personnel. It is time for occupational health specialists to abandon the idea of burnout and focus on occupational depression.

Crowd Salience Heightens Tolerance To Healthy Facial Features, Mitch Brown, Ryan E. Tracy, Steven G. Young, Donald F. Sacco

Publications and Research

Objective: Recent findings suggest crowd salience heightens pathogen-avoidant motives, serving to reduce individuals’ infection risk through interpersonal contact. Such experiences may similarly facilitate the identification, and avoidance, of diseased conspecifics. The current experiment sought to replicate and extend previous crowding research.

Methods: In this experiment, we primed participants at two universities with either a crowding or control experience before having them evaluate faces manipulated to appear healthy or diseased by indicating the degree to which they would want to interact with them.

Results: Crowding-primed participants reported a more heightened preferences for healthy faces than control-primed participants. Additionally, crowd salience reduced …