The Underlying Process of Prosocial Behavior Among Soldiers: A Terror Management Theory Perspective

The mortality salience (MS) hypothesis postulates that anxiety elicited by mortality awareness leads people to develop negative emotions toward those who hold values inconsistent with their worldview faith. We explored this hypothesis in a sample of 76 Israeli combat soldiers, who were asked to reflect on either their mortality or dental pain. Subsequently, participants reported their motivation to help a father in need who was either an Arab (outgroup) or a Jewish Israeli (ingroup), as well as their perceptions of threat by Arab Israelis. Regression analysis indicated that mortality reminders intensified soldiers’ perception of threat by the outgroup, leading to an increased desire to assist a Jewish-Israeli father, and a decreased motivation to help an Arab-Israeli one. The findings demonstrate the pronounced effects of MS on soldiers involved in frequent combat actions in terms of evoking negative emotions leading to reluctance to help unarmed civilian outgroup members. Recommendations for soldiers’ pre-deployment psychoeducation sessions are provided.

Intervensi Turki dalam Krisis Suriah (2011-2014)

This research aims to explain Turkey’s intervention in Syrian crisis due to the perception of threat toward its security or domestic stability. Syrian crisis has directed threat indirectly to Turkey related to the existence of Kurd rebel group Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK’s activity in Syria. Syria makes the PKK affiliated to Syrian Kurd group Democratic Union Party or PYD an important actor particularly in northern area of the state during the crisis. Amid the instability caused by armed conflict in Syria, Turkey believes both political and military force of the PKK-PYD’s can injure its security or domestic stability now that the PKK still demands either territorial secession or autonomy for Kurd’s southeastern area. The research applies the worldview of international relations realism to describe Turkey’s behavior as a state with its power in responding to its surrounding. To strengthen the approach used, the research applies intervention theory which can explain the relation of Turkey’s intervention to the threat toward its security or domestic stability which it perceives as a vital national interest. Indeed, the result of the research shows a finding that such perception of threat encourages Turkey to commit intervention in Syrian crisis. Turkey’s intervention aims to remove the leadership of Syrian current regime with that of Syrian opposition group in which it trusts to be capable of creating stability, controlling, and restricting the political and military movement of Kurd groups in Syria.

Public Perception of the Covid-19 Disease in The Wakorambu Village

Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) is a new type of disease that has never been identified before in humans. Public perception in Batalaiworu Subdistrict shows that most of them still lack concern for maintaining health protocols and lack of trust in the existence of Covid-19. This study aims to describe the public perception of the Covid-19 disease in the village of Wakorambu, Batalaiworu District, Muna Regency. This study uses quantitative research with a descriptive approach. The number of samples in this study were 76 respondents with the sampling technique of proportional stratified random sampling. The results showed that public knowledge of the Covid-19 disease was more in sufficient category (92.10%), perceived susceptibility to Covid-19 was more in sufficient category (84.21%), perceived severity against Covid-19 19 more enough categories (80.26%), perceived benefits for Covid-19 more enough categories (90.78%), perceived barriers to Covid-19 more poor categories (63, 15%), perception of threat to Covid-19 is more in sufficient category (69.73%), and cues to Action towards Covid-19 are more in sufficient category (72.36%). Conclusions based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that knowledge, perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, threats and cues to action indicate a perceived lack of barriers to Covid-19 disease in Wakorambu village in preventing Covid-19.

Effects of COVID-19 Home Confinement on Behavior, Perception of Threat, Stress and Training Patterns of Olympic and Paralympic Athletes

Background: The aims of this study were to analyze the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent confinement on behaviors, perception of threat, stress, state of mind and training patterns among Olympic and Paralympic level athletes. Methods: Data gathering was performed utilizing an online questionnaire during imposed confinement. A correlational design with incidental sampling for convenience was used. All the variables were analyzed by age, gender, academic training, type of participation and sport specialty on a population composed of 447 Olympic (age: 26.0 ± 7.5 years) and 64 Paralympic (age: 28.4 ± 10.5 years) athletes. Results: The athletes trained more than twice as many hours before than during confinement. Most of the athletes recognized that their best athletic performance diminished due to the COVID-19 confinement but that will recover after the pandemic and its confinements. Almost half of the athletes declared they were more tired than normal and had difficulty sleeping, while more than half ate more or less as usual. Paralympic athletes reported they felt more capable to cope with personal problems and life events and felt less lonely during the confinement than the Olympians. The athletes from team sports reported to be more affected in their training routine than athletes of individual sports, seeing their athletic performance more affected. Athletes in individual sports felt more able to cope with personal problems than athletes in team sports. Female athletes were significantly more tired and reported more difficulty sleeping than male athletes. Conclusion: The situation caused by COVID-19 has had significant effects on the behavior, perception of threat, stress and training patterns of Olympic and Paralympic athletes preparing for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It is necessary that sports institutions reinforce mechanisms of help for athletes during future situations of confinement.

White civilians’ implicit danger evaluation of police officers underlies explicit perception of police

The role of implicit processes during police-civilian encounters is well studied from the perspective of the police. Decades of research on the “shooter bias” suggests that implicit Black-danger associations potentiate the perception of threat of Black individuals, leading to a racial bias in the decision to use lethal force. Left understudied are civilians’ possible associations of police with danger and how such associations pervade behavior and explicit views of the police. The current work begins to address this gap. In two within-subjects studies, we separately assess police-threat (i.e., safety/danger) and police-valence (i.e., good/bad) associations as well as their relative influences on explicit perceptions of police. Study 1 revealed that implicit threat evaluations (police-danger associations) more strongly predicted negative explicit views of the police compared to implicit valence evaluations (police-negative associations). Study 2 replicated these findings and suggests that individuals evaluate the police as more dangerous versus negative when each response is pitted against each other within single misattribution procedure trials. The possible implications for explicit attitudes toward police reform and behavior during police-civilian encounters are discussed.

Welcoming the Unwelcome: Refugee Flows, Refugee Rights, and Political Violence

This article examines refugee-related violence by exploring the effect of extensive refugee rights on the risk of civil conflict and violent attacks against refugees by local population. The provision of fundamental rights, such as the freedom of movement, can reduce refugee groups’ grievances, the risk of radicalization, and the ability of militant organizations to recruit refugees, thereby decreasing the risk of civil conflict. Regarding the behavior of local population toward refugees, two opposing effects of refugee rights may be at play. Extensive refugee policies may trigger civilian backlash by aggravating the perception of threat posed by refugees and increase the risk of civilian attacks against refugees. On the other hand, allowing refugees to integrate into society may provide economic benefits for locals and facilitate socialization between groups, reducing the motivation of citizens to target refugees. Using an original global dataset on refugee rights, I find that liberal refugee policies are associated with a reduction in the risk of civil conflict as well as anti-refugee violence in host states. This suggests that host governments and international organizations should give greater priority to guaranteeing refugee rights and promoting income-generating activities among uprooted populations to minimize potential security risks associated with refugees.

The Evolving Relationship between Authoritarianism and EU Attitudes

This chapter examines the evolving relationship between authoritarianism and EU attitudes from the early 1990s until 2017. Up until the early 1990s, EU attitudes were structured primarily by economic concerns. The economic ‘winners’ of European integration (e.g. professionals) supported the EU more than the ‘losers’ (e.g. unskilled workers). With the debate over the EU centred increasingly on socio-cultural issues, the structure of EU attitudes has shifted—activating the perception of threat among high authoritarians. In the 1990s, there is no relationship between authoritarianism and EU attitudes, but a negative relationship emerges in the twenty-first century. Moreover, this relationship is stronger in those countries that had more national-level party conflict over the EU. Because this conflict resulted from the emergence of anti-EU parties, this result indicates that high authoritarians became more likely to oppose the EU in those countries where Eurosceptical parties were more successful in advancing the message that the EU threatens national community. These results suggest that the evolution of EU attitudes reflects the growing perception of threat to national community and sovereignty—and this evolution has been strongest where Eurosceptical political elites have been more influential.

Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on Behavior, Perception of Threat, Stress and Training Patterns of Olympic and Paralympic Athletes

Objective Analyze the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent confinement on Olympic and Paralympic level athletes’ behaviors, perception of threat, stress, state of mind and training patterns.Methods All variables were modulated by gender, academic training, and sport discipline on a population composed of 447 Olympic (25.97 ± 7.46 years) and 64 Paralympic athletes (28.44 ± 10.50 years).Results Most of the athletes recognize that their best athletic performance diminished due to the COVID-19 confinement but that will recover after the pandemic and its confinements. Almost half of the athletes declared they were more tired than normal and had difficulty sleeping, while more than half eat more or less as usual. Paralympic athletes report they felt more capable to cope with personal problems and feeling more frequently that life events where going well and less lonely during the confinement than the Olympians. The athletes from team sports disrupted their training routine more significantly than athletes of individual sports, seeing their athletic performance more affected. Athletes in individual sports felt more capable to cope with personal problems than athletes in team sports. Female athletes were significantly more tired and reported more difficulty sleeping than male.Conclusions The situation caused by COVID-19 has had significant effects on the behavior, perception of threat, stress and training patterns of Olympic and Paralympic athletes facing the 2020 Tokyo Olympiad. It is necessary that sports institutions to reinforce mechanisms of help to athletes during future situations of confinement.

Prevalence of High Resilience in Old Age and Association with Perceived Threat of COVID-19—Results from a Representative Survey

Little is known about resilience in old age and its manifestation during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of high resilience in the German old age population. We further examine the socio-demographic correlates and whether high resilience reflects on older adults’ perception of the threat posed by COVID-19. The data were derived from a representative telephone survey of n = 1005 older adults (≥65 years) during the first COVID-19 lockdown. Assessments included socio-demographic variables, the perceived threat of COVID-19, and high resilience (Brief Resilience Scale; cutoff: ≥4.31). The association between high resilience and threat from COVID-19 was analyzed using ordinal logistic regression. The study sample had a mean age (SD) of 75.5 (7.1) years, and n = 566 (56.3%) were female. The estimated prevalence of high resilience was 18.7% (95% CI = [16.3; 21.2]). High resilience was more prevalent in the younger age group and participants with higher education levels. High resilience was significantly associated with a lower perception of threat from COVID-19. The results of the representative survey in the German old age population showed that one out of five adults aged 65 years and older had high resilience. Older adults with high resilience tended to feel less threatened by COVID-19. Further research on resilience in old age is needed to support vulnerable groups in the context of care.

Perception of Threat and Psychological Impact of COVID-19 among Expatriates in Makkah Region, Saudi Arabia

In the first few months of the pandemic, Makkah region reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases among all regions in Saudi Arabia. More than 80% of these reported cases were non-Saudi residents. In this study, we evaluated the perceived threat from and psychological impact of COVID-19 among non-Saudi residents of Makkah region. This was a cross-sectional analysis of data collected using a standardized self-report questionnaire. A total of 292 expatriates were included in the study, the majority of whom were non-Arabic speakers. The prevalence of self-reported depression was nearly 40%, anxiety was 32%, and stress was 43%. The findings indicated variability in the prevalence of psychological symptoms among expatriates from different ethnic backgrounds. Additionally, work environment and perceived threat were strong predictors of psychological disorders. This suggested that the perceived threat from and psychological burden of COVID-19 among non-Saudis in Makkah region is substantial. Future research should investigate the reasons behind these variations in the psychological impact of the pandemic among different ethnic groups.