Cyberbullying Perpetration Among Chinese Adolescents: The Role of Power Imbalance, Fun-seeking Tendency, and Attitude Toward Cyberbullying

The imbalance of power affords individuals to bully others. However, limited studies have explored the specific aspects of power imbalance in predicting cyberbullying. Furthermore, a fun-seeking tendency as a motive for cyberbullying and attitudes toward cyberbullying as cognitive stimuli have rarely been studied in relation to mediating the associations between power imbalance and cyberbullying in an integrated framework. This study aims to narrow these research gaps. Multistage cluster random sampling was employed to recruit a total of 1103 adolescents (52.5% females) ranging in age from 12 to 18 years. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that proficiency in technology use is not only directly and positively associated with cyberbullying but also indirectly associated with cyberbullying via fun-seeking tendency. Although social status among peers had no direct effect on cyberbullying, the indirect effects of social status among peers on cyberbullying via the fun-seeking tendency and attitude toward cyberbullying were significant. Notably, physical power was neither directly associated with cyberbullying nor through the fun-seeking tendency or attitude toward cyberbullying in associating with cyberbullying. Implications of these findings for developing effective interventions are discussed.

Predictors of Changes in Travel Behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Tourists’ Personalities

This study investigates travel behavior and psychosocial factors that influence it during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a cross-sectional study, using an online survey, we examined changes in travel behavior and preferences after lifting travel restrictions, and how these changes were influenced by exposure to COVID-19, COVID-19 travel-related risk and severity, personality, fear of travel, coping, and self-efficacy appraisals in the Romanian population. Our results showed that participants traveled less in the pandemic year than the year before—especially group and foreign travel—yet more participants reported individual traveling in their home county during the pandemic period. Distinct types of exposure to COVID-19 risk, as well as cognitive and affective factors, were related to travel behavior and preferences. However, fun-seeking personality was the only major predictor of travel intention, while fear of travel was the only predictor of travel avoidance. Instead, people traveled more cautiously when they perceived more risk of infection at the destination, and had higher levels of fear of travel, but also a high sense of efficacy in controlling the infection and problem-solving capacity. The results suggest that specific information about COVID-19, coping mechanisms, fear of travel, and neuropsychological personality traits may affect travel behavior in the pandemic period.

Hedging in decision making in disorders of the impulsive-compulsive spectrum

This dissertation comprises three studies that investigated the construct of hedging as a decision making strategy in individuals with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Hedging refers to the tendency to keep options available when there is a threat of loss of the options that is motivated by the underlying construct of loss aversion (i.e., Prospect Theory). Hedging introduces a behavioural economic approach to the study and understanding of the impact of loss aversion on decision making. Participants played two conditions of the Doors Game (Shin & Ariely, 2004) in which they were instructed to maximize their earnings by tapping three doors in any order: i) constant availability (CA), where all doors remain available; and ii) decreasing availability (DA), where doors fade and disappear if left untapped after a short time (to elicit hedging). In Study One, undergraduates (N = 108) played both the CA and DA conditions and evidence indicates more frequent switching in the DA than the CA condition. There was also a significant negative association between hedging and the cognitive concern subscale of anxiety sensitivity. Study Two examined other psychological correlates of hedging in another undergraduate sample (N = 63) and yielded significant negative associations with the physical component of state anxiety and experience seeking. In Study Three, the results of a comparison of hedging among OCD, Gambling Disorder (GD), and Healthy Control (HC) groups yielded no significant differences. Correlates of hedging, however, differed among the groups and regression analyses suggest that hedging in OCD is negatively predicted by obsessiveness and decisiveness (subscale of the Need for Cognitive Closure; NFC), and positively predicted by experience seeking (subscale of the Sensation Seeking Scale). In the GD group, closed-mindedness (subscale of NFC) positively predicted hedging. In the HC group, fun-seeking (subscale of Behavioral Inhibition and Behavioral Activation Scale) positively predicted hedging. Implications: This work is the first to demonstrate predictors of hedging in OCD using a loss aversion paradigm where evidence suggests that obsessional and motivational drives lead to premature choice selection. Pursuing the loss aversion perspective could significantly advance the decision making research in OCD and in other clinical populations.

Hedging in decision making in disorders of the impulsive-compulsive spectrum

This dissertation comprises three studies that investigated the construct of hedging as a decision making strategy in individuals with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Hedging refers to the tendency to keep options available when there is a threat of loss of the options that is motivated by the underlying construct of loss aversion (i.e., Prospect Theory). Hedging introduces a behavioural economic approach to the study and understanding of the impact of loss aversion on decision making. Participants played two conditions of the Doors Game (Shin & Ariely, 2004) in which they were instructed to maximize their earnings by tapping three doors in any order: i) constant availability (CA), where all doors remain available; and ii) decreasing availability (DA), where doors fade and disappear if left untapped after a short time (to elicit hedging). In Study One, undergraduates (N = 108) played both the CA and DA conditions and evidence indicates more frequent switching in the DA than the CA condition. There was also a significant negative association between hedging and the cognitive concern subscale of anxiety sensitivity. Study Two examined other psychological correlates of hedging in another undergraduate sample (N = 63) and yielded significant negative associations with the physical component of state anxiety and experience seeking. In Study Three, the results of a comparison of hedging among OCD, Gambling Disorder (GD), and Healthy Control (HC) groups yielded no significant differences. Correlates of hedging, however, differed among the groups and regression analyses suggest that hedging in OCD is negatively predicted by obsessiveness and decisiveness (subscale of the Need for Cognitive Closure; NFC), and positively predicted by experience seeking (subscale of the Sensation Seeking Scale). In the GD group, closed-mindedness (subscale of NFC) positively predicted hedging. In the HC group, fun-seeking (subscale of Behavioral Inhibition and Behavioral Activation Scale) positively predicted hedging. Implications: This work is the first to demonstrate predictors of hedging in OCD using a loss aversion paradigm where evidence suggests that obsessional and motivational drives lead to premature choice selection. Pursuing the loss aversion perspective could significantly advance the decision making research in OCD and in other clinical populations.

EDUCATIONAL ASPECTS OF ADULT PARTICIPATION IN PLAYFUL ACTIVITIES

Playfulness in adulthood has been shown to be un-researched scientific issue. We believe that it is because of earlier non-recognition of this issue as a special field of study, but also the existence of a popular belief that the playful activities are reserved only for children. Just because of the lack of initiative and coherent researches that take into account playful activities in adulthood and characteristic of playfulness as a personal trait this research can be considered as the first research of that kind in the Republic of Serbia. The aim of this research is to determine adult perceptions of their playfulness and dominant cognitive qualities of playfulness. Adult Playfulness Trait Scale was used (APTS, Shen, Chick & Zin, 2014) to explore adult playfulness and inherent cognitive characteristic of this personal trait. Research sample consists of 1234 adult individuals aged from 18 to above 60 years from a cities and villages of Serbian area. The results of this research show that respondents recognize and highly value all tree sub-dimensions of playfulness trait: fun-seeking motivation, uninhibitedness and spontaneity. An important finding of this research is one that indicates on the characteristics of fun-seeking motivation sub-dimension as dominant one.

African American Children’s Diminished Returns of Subjective Family Socioeconomic Status on Fun Seeking

Background: Reward sensitivity (fun-seeking) is a risk factor for a wide range of high-risk behaviors. While high socioeconomic status (SES) is known to reduce reward sensitivity and associated high-risk behaviors, less is known about the differential effects of SES on reward sensitivity. It is plausible to expect weaker protective effects of family SES on reward sensitivity in racial minorities, a pattern called Minorities’ Diminished Returns (MDRs). Aim: We compared Caucasian and African American (AA) children for the effects of subjective family SES on children’s fun-seeking. Methods: This was a cross-sectional analysis of 7061 children from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. The independent variable was subjective family SES. The main outcome was children’s fun-seeking measured by the behavioral approach system (BAS) and behavioral avoidance system (BIS). Age, gender, marital status, and household size were the covariates. Results: In the overall sample, high subjective family SES was associated with lower levels of fun-seeking. We also found a statistically significant interaction between race and subjective family SES on children’s fun-seeking in the overall sample, suggesting that high subjective family SES is associated with a weaker effect on reducing fun-seeking among AA than Caucasian children. In race-stratified models, high subjective family SES was protective against fun-seeking of Caucasian but not AA children. Conclusion: Subjective family SES reduces the fun-seeking for Caucasian but not AA children.

The Dark Triad and BIS/BAS: a Meta-Analysis

Are there any temperamental predispositions to developing a dark personality traits? Within the current paper we address this question by investigating relations between the temperamental traits of the behavioural inhibition and approach systems (BIS and BAS, respectively) and the Dark Triad traits of personality. For this purpose, we conducted a meta-analysis of 18 studies with a total of 8911 participants. The results partially corroborated existing claims that the Dark Triad traits are a group of high-approach low-avoidance temperamental traits; however, the role of BAS seems to be more important. Among the Dark Triad traits, narcissism seems to be the most related to both the BIS and the BAS. Psychopathy in turn seems to be mostly related to the fun-seeking facet of the BAS. Finally, Machiavellianism appears to be the least related to temperamental traits. Thus, it seems that only narcissism and psychopathy confirm the claim about a connection between the Dark Triad traits and a high-approach low-avoidance temperament.

Approach and Avoidance Patterns in Reward Learning Across Domains: An Initial Examination of the Social Iowa Gambling Task

The current study examines learning patterns in response to both monetary and social incentives through both approach and avoidance behaviors using modified versions of the Iowa Gambling Task. Specifically, we investigated learning in response to both positive and negative feedback in a sample of 191 undergraduate students. The social task was a novel paradigm, and social feedback were images of faces displaying positive and negative emotions. We examined internal validity of the tasks through modeling changes in approach and avoidance. We also explored associations between approach and avoidance learning and individual differences in anxiety and social anxiety, depression and well-being, general anhedonia and social closeness, and fun-seeking, using multilevel models (MLMs). Results showed that both the monetary and social tasks demonstrated learning as shown by decreases in plays on disadvantageous decks across the task. Additionally, we found that overall task performance on the monetary task was associated with fun-seeking and overall task performance on the social task was associated with fun-seeking and depressive symptoms. Initial findings suggest promise for the novel task in theexamination of social avoidance learning.