Attitudes toward sex doll ownership: Scale development and preliminary validation

Sex dolls are beginning to become more mainstream, both in the public’s consciousness and in academic research. However, there is no current systematic examination of public attitudes toward sex dolls within the peer-reviewed literature, which represents a barrier to the efficient study on this topic. In this paper we report the development and initial validation of such a measure. Using an international public sample (N = 377) we found that public attitudes toward sex doll owners were underpinned by three factors: ‘Acceptability of Doll Ownership’, ‘Doll Owners as Immoral’, and ‘Doll Owners as Dysfunctional’. Scores on each of these factors, which make up the Sex Doll Ownership Attitudes Scale (SDOAS), were predicted by participant sex, religiosity, permissive sexual attitudes, right-wing authoritarianism, and the endorsement of moral intuitions that favor personal liberty. We present a full form 66-item version of the SDOAS, as well as an 18-item short form which both possess strong psychometric properties. We highlight potential future uses of the SDOAS as this emerging field of study continues to rapidly grow.

Generative design of 3D printed hands-free door handles for reduction of contagion risk in public buildings

During the emergency caused by COVID 19 evidence has been provided about the risk of easily getting the virus by touching contaminated surfaces and then by touching eyes, mouth, or nose with infected hands. In view of the restarting of daily activities in presence, it is paramount to put in place any strategy that, in addition to social distancing, is capable to positively impact on the safety levels in public buildings by reducing such risk. The main aim of this paper is to conceive a design methodology, based on a digital, flawless, and sustainable procedure, for producing human-building interfacing solutions that allow anybody to interact in a safer and more comfortable way. Such solutions are focused on the adaptation of existing buildings features and are thought to be an alternative to sensor based touchless technology when this is not applicable due to economic or time constraints. The process is based on the integration of digital technologies such as 3D Scanning, Generative Design and Additive Manufacturing and is optimised to be intuitive and to be adaptive, hence, to be replicable on different kinds of surfaces. The design concept is finalised to generate automatically different products that meet geometry fitting requirements and therefore adapt to the specific geometries of existing handles. A specific case on Hands Free Door Handles is presented and the results of manufacturing and preliminary validation process are provided and discussed.

Applying Evidence-Centered Design to Measure Psychological Resilience: The Development and Preliminary Validation of a Novel Simulation-Based Assessment Methodology

Modern technologies have enabled the development of dynamic game- and simulation-based assessments to measure psychological constructs. This has highlighted their potential for supplementing other assessment modalities, such as self-report. This study describes the development, design, and preliminary validation of a simulation-based assessment methodology to measure psychological resilience—an important construct for multiple life domains. The design was guided by theories of resilience, and principles of evidence-centered design and stealth assessment. The system analyzed log files from a simulated task to derive individual trajectories in response to stressors. Using slope analyses, these trajectories were indicative of four types of responses to stressors: thriving, recovery, surviving, and succumbing. Using Machine Learning, the trajectories were predictive of self-reported resilience (Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale) with high accuracy, supporting construct validity of the simulation-based assessment. These findings add to the growing evidence supporting the utility of gamified assessment of psychological constructs. Importantly, these findings address theoretical debates about the construct of resilience, adding to its theory, supporting the combination of the “trait” and “process” approaches to its operationalization.

A Lightweight BPMN Extension for Business Process-Oriented Requirements Engineering

Process-oriented requirements engineering approaches are often required to deal with the effective adaptation of existing processes in order to easily introduce new or updated requirements. Such approaches are based on the adoption of widely used notations, such as the one introduced by the Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) standard. However, BPMN models do not convey enough information on the involved entities and how they interact with process activities, thus leading to ambiguities, as well as to incomplete and inconsistent requirements definitions. This paper proposes an approach that allows stakeholders and software analysts to easily merge and integrate behavioral and data properties in a BPMN model, so as to fully exploit the potential of BPMN without incurring into the aforementioned limitation. The proposed approach introduces a lightweight BPMN extension that specifically addresses the annotation of data properties in terms of constraints, i.e., pre- and post-conditions that the different process activities must satisfy. The visual representation of the annotated model conveys all the information required both by stakeholders, to understand and validate requirements, and by software analysts and developers, to easily map these updates to the corresponding software implementation. The presented approach is illustrated by use of two running examples, which have also been used to carry out a preliminary validation activity.

Development and preliminary validation of the work-unit performance questionnaire

Background: Serious shortcomings are identified in the Performance Index (PI), developed by Spangenberg and Theron (2004). Attempts are made to correct these shortcomings.Aim: The primary objective of this research study was to develop and preliminary validate a generic Work-Unit Performance Questionnaire, based on the Performance Index of Spangenberg and Theron (2004), correcting shortcomings identified in that particular PI.Setting: The study used convenience sampling that consisted of 202 respondents from a variety of South African industries. The article draws on findings in the thesis of Seland (2019).Methods: The development and preliminary validation of the Work-Unit Performance Questionnaire (WUPQ) was required. The WUPQ consists of dual subscales, the Work-Unit Competency Questionnaire (WUCQ), which consists of seven latent behavioural competency variables, and the Work-Unit Outcome Questionnaire (WUOQ), which consists of six latent outcome variables.Results: Both measurement models (WUCP WUOQ) showed close fit; however, two factor loadings in the WUCQ measurement model had to be constrained. Reasonable structural model fit was found in the sample. Support was found for 11 of the original 21 path-specific substantive hypotheses and for an additional hypothesis.Conclusion: The proposed model can be used by managers, with caution due to the intentional exclusion of competency potential and situational variables, to diagnose poor work-unit performance. Furthermore, it is encouraged that this research be the starting point for further analyses of work-unit performance and advance validation of the instrument.

Development and Preliminary Validation of the Gender Inclusive Rape Myth Acceptance Scale

Rape myths are widespread and contribute to a rape culture that excuses and normalizes permissive attitudes surrounding rape and sexual assault. To combat rape culture and decrease sexual assault, many programs focus on reducing rape myth acceptance (RMA). To best assess outcomes of such prevention efforts, we must ensure we are accurately measuring this construct. Current RMA scales are decades old and focus almost exclusively on cisgender women. As such, they are outdated and leave out important experiences of cisgender men and gender diverse individuals. The Gender Inclusive Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (GIRMA) was developed to address such limitations in current measures. Two studies were completed to develop and establish preliminary validation of the GIRMA. Study One included 614 adults in the United States, recruited through Amazon's Mechanical Turk; Study Two included 414 adults in the United States, recruited in the same way. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted with an original pool of 73 items that included myths about the experiences of cisgender women, cisgender men, transgender, and gender diverse individuals. Parallel analysis indicated a single factor structure for measuring rape myths. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted for Study Two, which supported the single-factor approach. These analyses resulted in a concise, robust, inclusive 18-item scale to measure rape myths. Model fit was excellent, as was reliability. Additionally, construct validity was supported through examining the relationship between the GIRMA and previously validated RMA and sexism scales. The GIRMA offers researchers the ability to fully assess the construct of rape myths in a short, psychometrically sound manner. Future research is needed to investigate the reliability of the GIRMA in other populations.