Managing the unexpected: Bicultural identity integration during the COVID-19 emergency.

Unexpected and sudden emergency situations such as COVID-19 may render ethnic minorities particularly vulnerable to experiencing negative outcomes. Yet, we put forward that Bicultural Identity Integration (BII) - the degree to which bicultural individuals perceive their cultural identities as compatible and overlapping - may represent a resource in times of emergencies, since it may positively influence, through enhancement of psychological well-being, how bicultural individuals respond in terms of distress and coping strategies. Based on this assumption, the present study aimed at examining the relationship between BII and responses to COVID-19. N = 370 bicultural individuals (mean age = 26.83, SD = 8.74) from different cultural backgrounds were recruited online and completed measures of BII, psychological well-being, COVID-19 distress and coping strategies (positive attitudes, avoidance, social support seeking) during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. We tested a model in which BII was the predictor, psychological well-being was the mediator and reactions to the COVID-19 emergency (distress, use of coping) were the outcomes. This model was tested against two alternative models. The proposed model showed a better fit to the data compared to the alternative models. In this model, psychological well-being mediated the relationship between BII (harmony) and coping strategies, except social support seeking. These findings highlight the important role played by BII in emergency situations, as it may indirectly, through enhancement of psychological well-being, contribute to enhance biculturals' adaptive reactions in terms of distress as well as affect coping strategies during highly stressful events.

At the core of cyberaggression: A group-based explanation.

In this study, prototypicality of the aggressor was tested as a group-level factor predicting social media users' active participation in cyberaggression. Participants were exposed to a fictitious conversation, in which either a prototypical versus non-prototypical user posted an aggressive comment as a reply to a provocative comment. In line with self-categorization theory, we hypothesized that bystander participants would post an aggressive comment and rate the aggression as acceptable to a greater extent in the prototypical than in the non-prototypical condition. Furthermore, we predicted that perceived normativity of aggression would mediate the effect of prototypicality. Results supported these predictions and showed that prototypical members affect the extent to which collective aggressive behaviors in online interactions are approved and enacted. These findings highlight the importance of group-level factors in the study of cyberaggression and provide important information for understanding the psychological underpinnings of collective forms of online aggression.

Bicultural identity in childhood: Preliminary validation of the Bicultural Identity Integration Scale for Children (BIIS-C).

OBJECTIVE: In the present study, we adapted and validated the Bicultural Identity Integration Scale for Children (BIIS-C). METHOD: 259 bicultural children (119 males, 140 females; Mage = 11.07, SD = 1.24) were provided with a questionnaire. Based on adult versions of the scale, we tested the factorial structure of a set of 11 nonreversed items tapping into harmony (vs. conflict; six items) and blendedness (vs. compartmentalization; five items) dimensions. RESULTS: A two-factor model was compared with a one-factor model. In line with research on adults, results showed that the two-factor model (with nine items) fitted the data better than the one-factor model. The two dimensions yielded reliable scores and were correlated in the expected direction with personality variables, acculturation attitudes, and perceived discrimination. CONCLUSIONS: The BIIS-C provides valid and reliable scores for research on biculturalism in childhood. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

I love you too much to keep social distance: Closeness in relationships and (dis)engagement in preventive behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although we are witnessing a new phase in the management of COVID-19, understanding what predicts adherence to preventive behaviors still remains crucial. In this study we focus on interpersonal relationships by specifically investigating whether engagement in preventive behaviors when in the presence of others may be a function of the type of relationship (in terms of closeness) one has with others. Because close others are often perceived similar to the self compared to strangers, we put forward that close relationships may inadvertently decrease COVID-19 risk perceptions which may ultimately decrease compliance with recommended behaviors when in their presence. To test this hypothesis, 747 Italian respondents were invited to answer one out of four versions of a questionnaire differing on the target (i.e., friends vs. parents vs. grandparents vs. strangers), including questions regarding COVID-19 risk perceptions and intentions to engage in preventive behaviors. Mediation analysis showed that close relationships (i.e., with friends, parents, and grandparents) compared to nonclose relationships (i.e., with strangers) predicted lower intentions to engage in preventive behaviors via lower risk perceptions. Altogether, these results shed light on the role played by closeness in indirectly shaping individuals' dis(engagement) in preventive behaviors and contribute to better understand possible unconscious biases which may undermine our safety during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Out-group threats and distress as antecedents of common in-group identity among majority and minority group members in the aftermath of a natural disaster.

The aim of the present study was to examine the role of out-group threats in fostering one-group perceptions directly and indirectly via post-traumatic stress symptoms in the aftermath of a natural disaster. We also tested whether these relationships differ depending on the ethnic group of belonging (majority vs. minority). Participants were 589 Italians and 122 immigrants from a region strongly affected by the earthquakes that struck Northern Italy in 2012. Results revealed that among Italians threat stemming from negative out-group behaviour was associated positively with post-traumatic stress symptoms and negatively with perceptions of being a common group with immigrant survivors. Among immigrants, threat posed by the out-group for economic resources was positively associated with post-traumatic stress symptoms and, indirectly, with higher one-group perceptions.

Can intergroup contact improve humanity attributions?

In this paper, intergroup contact was evaluated as a strategy to favor outgroup humanization. We tested a double-mediation model, in which contact is associated with both decreased salience of intergroup boundaries and the adoption of a common identity. These recategorizations, in turn, are related to lower levels of anxiety and higher levels of empathy, both emotions being proximal predictors of outgroup humanization. The model was tested using structural equation modeling in the context of different intergroup relations: Italians versus immigrants (Study 1); Northern Italians versus Southern Italians (Study 2). Supporting the hypotheses, group representations and emotions mediated the relationship between contact and humanity attributions. The practical implications of results are discussed.

Effects of intergroup contact on explicit and implicit outgroup attitudes: A longitudinal field study with majority and minority group members.

A longitudinal field study tested the long-term effects (three years) of intergroup contact on both explicit and implicit outgroup attitudes. Participants were majority (Italian) and minority (immigrant) high-school students, who were tested at four waves from the beginning of their first year in high-school to the end of the third school year. Results revealed, first, a longitudinal association of quantity (but not quality) of contact with lower intergroup anxiety and more positive explicit attitudes, as well as bidirectional effects over time between explicit attitudes and intergroup anxiety, on the one hand, and quantity and quality of contact, on the other. Second, reduced intergroup anxiety mediated the association between quantity of contact and improved explicit attitudes over time. Third, the product of quantity and quality of contact longitudinally predicted more positive implicit outgroup attitudes over school years. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of findings.

Psychological predictors of protective behaviours during the Covid-19 pandemic: Theory of planned behaviour and risk perception.

The Covid-19 outbreak was declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization in January 2020. As a consequence, several protective measures were urged by national governments in order to limit the spread of the pandemic. Drawing on the literature on health behaviours, in the present study, we investigated the psychological factors (i.e., attitudes, social norms, perceived behavioural control, intentions, and risk perception) that were associated with two highly recommended behaviours: frequent hand washing and social distancing (i.e., staying at home except for essential reasons). The study employed a correlational design with a follow-up. A questionnaire including measures of psychological predictors was administered via social media to a sample of 403 adults residing in Italy during the lockdown. Self-reported behaviours were assessed one week later. Findings showed that attitudes, social norms, perceived behavioural control were significantly related to hand washing and social distancing through intentions. Risk perception was a significant predictor of social distancing but not of hand washing. These findings suggest that intervention and communication strategies aimed at encouraging preventive measures during the Covid-19 pandemic should be organized taking into account multiple factors which partially differ depending on the type of behaviour considered. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.

Parental Support during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Friend or Foe? A Moderation Analysis of the Association between Maternal Anxiety and Children's Stress in Italian Dyads.

There is evidence that parental psychological disorders in stressful situations increase the risk of disturbance in child development. This has been investigated in disasters but not in pandemics, which are sensibly different from other types of traumatic events. We investigated the relationship between mothers' anxiety and their children's (self-reported) stress and the boundary conditions of this association during the first full COVID-19 lockdown in Italy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, mothers might have increased their protective attitudes to secure and support their children; we tested whether the relationship between mothers' anxiety and children's stress was weaker (buffer effect) or stronger (over-protection effect) when perceived parental support was high. We measured mothers' anxiety, children's perceived parental support, and children's stress in a sample of 414 8- to 11-year-old primary school children (229 females, Mage = 9.44) and 395 mothers (Mage = 42.84). Results supported the over-protection scenario and provided the first evidence for the "helicopter-parent effect" during the COVID-19 pandemic: mothers' anxiety was positively associated with children's stress only when perceived support was high. Our finding highlights the importance of educating parents (for example, via emotional training) to prevent the worst consequences of adverse events in children and promote their mental health.

Comparing story reading and video watching as two distinct forms of vicarious contact: An experimental intervention among elementary school children.

Research has shown that vicarious contact, that is observing an interaction between ingroup and outgroup members, can improve intergroup relations. Although vicarious contact has been operationalized in different ways, mainly via story reading or video watching, an experimental comparison of these different strategies is still missing. We conducted a school intervention with the aim of comparing the two most used forms of vicarious contact, namely story reading and video watching. Elementary schoolchildren without disabilities (N = 292) were assigned to one of three different conditions: reading a story; watching a video; control. In the two vicarious contact conditions, participants read or watched the story of a child with disability becoming friends with children without disabilities; in the control condition, participants only completed the dependent measures. Results revealed that, in general, both vicarious contact conditions were equally effective in improving outgroup attitudes and behavioural intentions. In addition, they operated with the same strength through the same underlying processes (IOS, ingroup norms). We discuss theoretical and practical implications in the context of vicarious contact as a prejudice-reduction intervention.

A Rasch Analysis of the School-Related Well-Being (SRW) Scale: Measuring Well-Being in the Transition from Primary to Secondary School.

Within educational systems, promoting well-being is an essential objective along with traditional aims focused on students' learning. However, scarce attention has been devoted to school-related well-being in the transition from primary to lower secondary school, also for the paucity of brief instruments deputed to measure it. We assessed well-being at school for fourth-graders and seventh-graders, by adapting and validating the Italian version of the School-Related Well-Being (SRW) scale, using in sequence exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and Rasch analysis. Through the Rasch analysis, we transformed the SRW scale into an instrument that respects the properties of the fundamental measurement. We measured well-being and achievement emotions at time 1 and grades at time 2. The SRW scale correlated with another measure of well-being and with students' achievement emotions. Grade-level differences emerged, with a decrease of well-being that attested a maladaptive trend at increasing age; moreover, females reported higher well-being than males. Well-being at school was positively linked to achievement. Beyond its methodological relevance, this study highlights the need for developing interventions to support students in the transition from primary to lower secondary school, which is such a pivotal time in their learning path.

Correction: Truth and lies in your eyes: Pupil dilation of White participants in truthful and deceptive responses to White and Black partners.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0239512.].

Truth and lies in your eyes: Pupil dilation of White participants in truthful and deceptive responses to White and Black partners.

In the present study, we examined the pupillary response of White participants who were asked to tell the truth or lie to White or Black partners. Research on cues to deception has assumed that lying is more cognitively demanding that truth telling. In line with this assumption, previous studies have shown that lying is associated with greater pupil dilation, a behavioral cue that typically manifests itself under conditions of stress or cognitive effort. In accordance with these results, we predicted greater pupil dilation when lying than when telling the truth. Furthermore, pupil dilation was expected to be greater when responding to White than Black partners. Finally, we hypothesized that pupil dilation would be greater when lying to White than Black partners. Participants were instructed to answer a set of questions, half truthfully and half deceptively. They were led to believe that White vs. Black partners (one male and one female) would ask the questions via computer connection. Indeed, we used feminine and masculine synthetic voices. Pupil dilation was assessed with a remote eye-tracking system. Results provided support for the first two hypotheses. However, the predicted interaction between race of partners and truth status of message (lying vs. telling the truth) was nonsignificant. Our findings highlight the importance of considering race in the study of truthful and deceptive communications.

Variables of Individual Difference and the Experience of Touch in Nursing.

We aim to investigate nurses' feelings of comfort or discomfort with three different types of touch: task-oriented contact, touch promoting physical comfort, and touch providing emotional containment. A questionnaire was administered to a sample of 198 nurses. We present results of multiple regression analysis identifying some antecedents of nurses' feelings of comfort with touch, namely, attachment style, worry, gender, and length of service. Worry is negatively associated with task-oriented contact and touch promoting physical comfort. Attachment security and length of service are associated with comfort with touch aimed at emotional containment; female nurses feel more comfortable than male nurses in performing this type of touch. Practical implications of findings are discussed in relation to the promotion of focused training courses for practitioners who are willing to improve the quality of care services.

Burnout Disrupts Anxiety Buffer Functioning Among Nurses: A Three-Way Interaction Model.

Over the last 40 years, job burnout has attracted a great deal of attention among researchers and practitioners and, after decades of research and interventions, it is still regarded as an important issue. With the aim of extending the Anxiety Buffer Disruption Theory (ABDT), in this paper we argue that high levels of burnout may disrupt the anxiety buffer functioning that protects people from death concerns. ABDT was developed from Terror Management Theory (TMT). According to TMT, reminders of one's mortality are an essential part of humans' daily experience and have the potential to awake paralyzing fear and anxiety. In order to cope with death concerns, people typically activate an anxiety-buffering system centered on their cultural worldview and self-esteem. Recent ABDT research shows that individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder are unable to activate such anxiety buffering defenses. In line with these results, we hypothesized that the burnout syndrome may have similar effects, and that individuals with higher levels of burnout will be less likely to activate an anxiety buffering response when their mortality is made salient. Participants were 418 nurses, who completed a questionnaire including: a mortality salience (MS) manipulation, a delay manipulation, and measures of burnout, work-related self-efficacy, and representation of oneself as a valuable caregiver. Nurses are daily exposed both to the risk of burnout and to mortality reminders, and thus constituted an ideal population for this study. In line with an anxiety buffer disruption hypothesis, we found a significant three-way interaction between burnout, MS and delay. Participants with lower levels of burnout reported higher levels of self-efficacy and a more positive representation as caregivers in the MS condition compared to the control condition, when there was a delay between MS manipulation and the assessment of the dependent measures. The difference was non-significant for participants with higher levels of burnout. Theoretical and practical implications of findings are discussed.

Dissatisfaction in Child Welfare and Its Role in Predicting Self-Efficacy and Satisfaction at Work: A Mixed-Method Research.

Child welfare organizations are increasingly concerned with challenges emerging from the assessment of social workers' dissatisfaction. This type of service represents the work area where social workers are at greater risk of burnout. Although several studies account for high social workers' burnout scores, they do not systematically dwell upon its sources and roots. In addition, scholars point out that a considerable number of work related issues may be perceived both as a source of dissatisfaction and satisfaction. We assume that there is a need to deepen the understanding of how dissatisfaction's sources may exert an impact on both personal job satisfaction and professional self-efficacy, which are positively associated with well-being at work. The present mixed-method research has two aims: (1) the extensive exploration, applying qualitative methodology, of the perceived sources of dissatisfaction; (2) the attempt to identify the extent to which those sources predict job satisfaction and professional self-efficacy. It is our purpose to further explore which differences emerge by age. The research involved child welfare workers, that is, SWs employed in public child welfare agencies in the North East of Italy. Results show the predominant role of interpersonal trust and mutual respect, as main predictors of both professional self-efficacy and job satisfaction. Practical implications of findings are discussed.

Exploring Physicians' Dissatisfaction and Work-Related Stress: Development of the PhyDis Scale.

Research, all over the world, is starting to recognize the potential impact of physicians' dissatisfaction and burnout on their productivity, that is, on their intent to leave the job, on their work ability, on the amount of sick leave days, on their intent to continue practicing, and last but not least, on the quality of the services provided, which is an essential part of the general medical care system. It was interest of the provincial medical board's ethical committee to acquire information about physician's work-related stress and dissatisfaction. The research group was committed to define the indicators of dissatisfaction and work-related stressors. Focus groups were carried out, 21 stressful experience's indicators were identified; we developed an online questionnaire to assess the amount of perceived stress relating to each indicator at work (3070 physicians were contacted by e-mail); quantitative and qualitative data analysis were carried out. The grounded theory perspective was applied in order to assure the most reliable procedure to investigate the concepts' structure of "work-related stress." We tested the five dimensions' model of the stressful experience with a confirmatory factor analysis: Personal Costs; Decline in Public Image and Role Uncertainty; Physician's Responsibility toward hopelessly ill Patients; Relationship with Staff and Colleagues; Bureaucracy. We split the sample according to attachment style (secure and insecure -anxious and avoidant-). Results show the complex representation of physicians' dissatisfaction at work also with references to the variable of individual difference of attachment security/insecurity. The discriminant validity of the scale was tested. The original contribution of this paper lies on the one hand in the qualitative in depth inductive analysis of physicians' dissatisfaction starting from physicians' perception, on the other hand, it represents the first attempt to analyze the physicians' dissatisfaction with reference to attachment styles, which is recognized as being a central variable of individual difference supporting caregiving practices. This study represents an original and innovative attempt to address physicians' dissatisfaction and job satisfaction. The PhyDis scale has been developed and, in line with international findings, our results indicate that role uncertainty and loss of social esteem are the most dissatisfying factors.

Nurses' comfort with touch and workplace well-being.

Touch is an essential part of caregiving and has been proved to be useful to reduce pain. Nevertheless, little attention has been paid to nurses' perceptions of touch. The aim of this article was to examine the relationship between nurses' feelings of comfort with touch and their well-being at work. A sample of 241 nurses attending a pain management training course completed a questionnaire, including the following measures: Comfort with Touch (CT) scale (task-oriented contact, touch promoting physical comfort, touch providing emotional containment), Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI; emotional exhaustion, cynicism), and Job Satisfaction. Results of structural equation models showed that touch providing emotional containment was the main predictor of emotional exhaustion. Emotional exhaustion, in turn, was positively related to cynicism and negatively related to job satisfaction. In addition, the direct path from touch providing emotional containment to cynicism was significant. Practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Feeling like a group after a natural disaster: Common ingroup identity and relations with outgroup victims among majority and minority young children.

We conducted a field study to test whether the common ingroup identity model (Gaertner & Dovidio, 2000, reducing intergroup bias: The common ingroup identity model. Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press) could be a useful tool to improve intergroup relations in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Participants were majority (Italian) and minority (immigrant) elementary school children (N = 517) living in the area struck by powerful earthquakes in May 2012. Results revealed that, among majority children, the perceived external threat represented by the earthquake was associated with greater perceptions of belonging to a common ingroup including both ingroup and outgroup. In turn, heightened one-group perceptions were associated with greater willingness to meet and help outgroup victims, both directly and indirectly via more positive outgroup attitudes. Among immigrant children, perceived disaster threat was not associated with any of the dependent variables; one-group perceptions were positively associated with outgroup attitudes, helping and contact intentions towards outgroup victims. Thus, one-group perceptions after a natural disaster may promote more positive and supporting relations between the majority and the minority group. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the findings.

Development and Initial Validation of the Nurses' Comfort With Touch Scale.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The extent to which nurses feel comfortable about the use of touch may affect the frequency and quality of nursing touch-based interventions. No valid instrument exists to assess nurses' feelings of comfort with touch. In this study, the nurses' scale was developed and preliminary validated. METHODS: Items were generated through semistructured interviews. After testing the content validity with a team of experts, the psychometric properties were tested with a sample of 451 nurses. RESULTS: Explorative factor analysis yielded a five-factor solution, which was supported by confirmatory factor analysis. Examination of concurrent validity revealed that comfort with touch was correlated with positive affective states and emotional self-efficacy. CONCLUSION: Future directions and implications for nursing research, education, and practice are discussed.