The Relation of the Use of Language in Social Media to Politeness Among Students

Background: This study is about using language in social media to politeness among students. Many of them pay less attention to the ethics of using language on social media. The emergence of these harsh languages creates terrible habits related to politeness and offense in society. Purpose: This study aims to determine the form of speech and the influence of communication ethics in the digital era on the value of politeness among students. Methods: This study combines qualitative and quantitative approaches that describe the data results through analysis and description. Researchers used reference results from previous studies along with results from questionnaires and interviews that had been conducted. Results: The results showed that many students still used short forms of language when communicating on social media. The use of harsh languages is influenced by several supporting factors such as lack of awareness in language politeness, lack of family education, and poor socialization environment. Recommendation: This research is intended for students to be more aware of the importance of ethics in communicating on social media. Limitation: The lack of respondents and measurement tools in this study makes the validity of the data found is not very good.

Means of Expressing Dualism in Sermon “Slovo na Novyy God. V Chem Schastye Cheloveka, i Gde Ego Nayti?” [Word for New Year. What is Human Happiness, and Where to Find it?]

The present study examines Archbishop Anastasy (Dobradin)’s famous sermon «Слово на Новый годъ. Въ чемъ счастіе человѣка и гдѣ его найти?», dealing with the question of the dual understanding of “happiness” (philosophical, i.e. secular, and religious). Attention is paid to the means of verbalising the concept of happiness in the text under study. The text under analysis is a unique example of the homily, distinguished by its atypical for this genre appeal to a secular element, associated with the preacher’s dual understanding of “happiness”. The article presents the results of the analysis of etymology and development of semantics of the noun счастье. Its lexical compatibility in the text of a sermon is investigated. Full and short forms of adjectives, which serve to express positive and negative connotations, are identified. It has been proved that in the studied homily the preacher attributes the concept of “happiness” not only to the high register but also to the low register, which is related to the two concepts of “happiness” considered by him, reflected also on the graphic level (счастіе, счастье). Particular attention is paid to the most frequent attribute in the sermon, истинный, which has in common with the noun счастье the seme God. The epigraph of the homily, which usually presents the main point of the sermon, does not include the lexeme счастье because the entire sermon is devoted to redefining this concept.

A Validated WISC-V Short-Form to Estimate Intellectual Functioning in Very Preterm Children at Early School Age

Very preterm children (gestational age < 32 weeks) frequently show neurodevelopmental difficulties (Inattention/dysexecutiveness) throughout their life-stages. A scarcity of resources, along with this population’s cognitive vulnerability, makes the neuropsychological evaluation of these children both complicated and time-consuming. This study aimed to develop a specific and valid Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fifth Edition (WISC-V) short-form to estimate intellectual functioning in this population. Eighty-four very preterm children (39 female; mean age = 6.50; SD: 0.06) were assessed with the WISC-V. Short-forms were developed following two independent strategies: a) multiple linear regressions for each index; b) correlational analyses between scores on all administered subtests and Full-Scale IQ. Validity of short-forms was analyzed. A short-form (Vocabulary, Matrix Reasoning, Picture Span, and Symbol Search) that satisfied 2/3 validation criteria was proposed. This validated short-form could facilitate the identification of cognitive difficulties in very preterm children, so that they could benefit from early care and support services, avoiding long assessment procedures.

Short Forms of the Cross-Cultural (Chinese) Personality Assessment Inventory: Reliability, Validity, and Measurement Invariance Across Gender

Filling out long questionnaires can be frustrating, unpleasant, and discouraging for respondents to continue. This is why shorter forms of long instruments are preferred, especially when they have comparable reliability and validity. In present study, two short forms of the Cross-cultural (Chinese) Personality Assessment Inventory (CPAI-2) were developed and validated. The items of the short forms were all selected from the 28 personality scales of the CPAI-2 based on the norm sample. Based on some priori criteria, we obtained the appropriate items and constructed the 56-item Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory (CPAI) and the 28-item CPAI. Then, we examined the factor structure of both short forms with Exploratory SEM (ESEM) and replicated the four-factor structure of the original CPAI-2, reflecting the four personality domains of Chinese people, namely, Social Potency, Dependability, Accommodation, and Interpersonal Relatedness. Further analyses with ESEM models demonstrate full measurement invariance across gender for both short forms. The results show that females score lower than males on Social Potency. In addition, these four factors of both short forms have adequate internal consistency, and the correlation patterns of the four factors, the big five personality traits, and several health-related variables are extremely similar across the two short forms, reflecting adequate and comparable criterion validity, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. Overall, the short versions of CPAI-2 are psychometrically acceptable and have practically implications for measuring Chinese personality and cross-cultural research.

Measurement Invariance of Two Different Short Forms of Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) and Social Phobia Scale (SPS) in Chinese and US Samples

The goal of this study was to examine the measurement invariance of two different commonly used short forms of the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) and the Social Phobia Scale (SPS) across Chinese and US samples. Participants were 850 (52% females) Chinese and 399 (57% females) US undergraduate students. A two-factor model was identified as the best fitting baseline model for both short-forms of the SIAS and SPS. Full scalar invariance was established for the Peters short form, whereas the Fergus short form only achieved partial scalar invariance. Results of structured means analysis indicated that Chinese participants scored higher than US participants in social anxiety. Some cultural implications for the use of these two sets of short forms are discussed.

Psychosocial and Biological Outcomes of Immersive, Mindfulness-Based Treks in Nature for Groups of Young Adults and Caregivers Affected by Cancer: Results from a Single Arm Program Evaluation from 2016–2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has left many individuals suffering from “connection deficit disorder” given changes to the way we work, go to school, socialize, and engage in daily activities. Young adults affected by cancer between the ages of 18–39 have known this connection deficit long before the pandemic. Being diagnosed and treated for cancer during this time can significantly disrupt engagement in important educational, career, social, and reproductive pursuits, and contribute to increased stress, anxiety, depression, and other negative outcomes. Experiencing meaningful connection—with nature, with peers who understand, and with oneself, may help assuage this adverse effect of disconnect. A single arm within-subjects program evaluation was conducted to examine outcomes following participation in immersive, multi-night, mindfulness-based treks in nature in a sample of young adults (n = 157) and caregivers (n = 50) affected by cancer from 2016–2021. Pre to post-trek changes included significant (p < 0.001) self-reported improvements in feeling connected to nature (d = 0.93–0.95), peers (d = 1.1–1.3), and oneself (d = 0.57–1.5); significant (p < 0.001) improvements on PROMIS Anxiety (d = 0.62–0.78), Depression (d = 0.87–0.89), and Sleep Disturbance (d = 0.37–0.48) short forms; and significant (p < 0.05) changes in pro-inflammatory biomarkers (d = 0.55–0.82). Connection-promoting experiences like this have the potential to improve health and wellbeing in this population and serve as a model for others.