Psychological Trait Resilience Within Ecological Systems Theory: The Resilient Systems Scales.

This project describes the development of the Resilient Systems Scales, created to address conceptual and methodological ambiguities in assessing the ecological systems model of resilience. Across a number of samples (total N = 986), our findings suggest that the Resilient Systems Scales show equivalence to a previously reported assessment (Maltby, Day, & Hall, 2015 ) in demonstrating the same factor structure, adequate intercorrelation between the 2 measures of resilience, and equivalent associations with personality and well-being. The findings also suggest that the Resilient Systems Scales demonstrate adequate test-retest reliability, compare well with other extant measures of resilience in predicting well-being, and map, to varying degrees, onto positive expression of several cognitive, social, and emotional traits. The findings suggest that the new measure can be used alongside existing measures of resilience, or singly, to assess positive life outcomes within psychology research.

The Measurement and Role of Ecological Resilience Systems Theory Across Domain-Specific Outcomes: The Domain-Specific Resilient Systems Scales.

Research suggests that trait resilience may be best understood within an ecological resilient systems theory, comprising engineering, ecological, and adaptive capacity resilience. However, there is no evidence as to how this theory translates to specific life domains. Data from two samples (the United States, n = 1,278; the United Kingdom, n = 211) facilitated five studies that introduce the Domain-Specific Resilient Systems Scales for assessing ecological resilient systems theory within work, health, marriage, friendships, and education. The Domain-Specific Resilient Systems Scales are found to predict unique variance in job satisfaction, lower job burnout, quality-of-life following illness, marriage commitment, and educational engagement, while controlling for factors including sex, age, personality, cognitive ability, and trait resilience. The findings also suggest a distinction between the three resilience dimensions in terms of the types of systems to which they contribute. Engineering resilience may contribute most to life domains where an established system needs to be maintained, for example, one's health. Ecological resilience may contribute most to life domains where the system needs sustainability in terms of present and future goal orientation, for example, one's work. Adaptive Capacity may contribute most to life domains where the system needs to be retained, preventing it from reaching a crisis state, for example, work burnout.

Ten-minute chat.

Liz Edmondson Day is the practice manager at Stanley House Veterinary Group, which recently won the Employer of the Year category in the 2016 Pendle Business Awards, which are intended to recognise high achieving businesses in the area.

Implicit theories of online trolling: Evidence that attention-seeking conceptions are associated with increased psychological resilience.

Three studies were conducted to investigate people's conceptions of online trolls, particularly conceptions associated with psychological resilience to trolling. In Study 1, a factor analysis of participants' ratings of characteristics of online trolls found a replicable bifactor model of conceptions of online trolls, with a general factor of general conceptions towards online trolls being identified, but five group factors (attention-conflict seeking, low self-confidence, viciousness, uneducated, amusement) as most salient. In Study 2, participants evaluated hypothetical profiles of online trolling messages to establish the validity of the five factors. Three constructs (attention-conflict seeking, viciousness, and uneducated) were actively employed when people considered profiles of online trolling scenarios. Study 3 introduced a 20-item 'Conceptions of Online Trolls scale' to examine the extent to which the five group factors were associated with resilience to trolling. Results indicated that viewing online trolls as seeking conflict or attention was associated with a decrease in individuals' negative affect around previous trolling incidents. Overall, the findings suggest that adopting an implicit theories approach can further our understanding and measurement of conceptions towards trolling through the identification of five salient factors, of which at least one factor may act as a resilience strategy.

Social ranking effects on tooth-brushing behaviour.

OBJECTIVE: A tooth-brushing social rank hypothesis is tested suggesting tooth-brushing duration is influenced when individuals position their behaviour in a rank when comparing their behaviour with other individuals. DESIGN: Study 1 used a correlation design, Study 2 used a semi-experimental design, and Study 3 used a randomized intervention design to examine the tooth-brushing social rank hypothesis in terms of self-reported attitudes, cognitions, and behaviour towards tooth-brushing duration. METHODS: Study 1 surveyed participants to examine whether the perceived health benefits of tooth-brushing duration could be predicted from the ranking of each person's tooth-brushing duration. Study 2 tested whether manipulating the rank position of the tooth-brushing duration influenced participant-perceived health benefits of tooth-brushing duration. Study 3 used a longitudinal intervention method to examine whether messages relating to the rank positions of tooth-brushing durations causally influenced the self-report tooth-brushing duration. RESULTS: Study 1 demonstrates that perceptions of the health benefits from tooth-brushing duration are predicted by the perceptions of how that behaviour ranks in comparison to other people's behaviour. Study 2 demonstrates that the perceptions of the health benefits of tooth-brushing duration can be manipulated experimentally by changing the ranked position of a person's tooth-brushing duration. Study 3 experimentally demonstrates the possibility of increasing the length of time for which individuals clean their teeth by focusing on how they rank among their peers in terms of tooth-brushing duration. CONCLUSIONS: The effectiveness of interventions using social-ranking methods relative to those that emphasize comparisons made against group averages or normative guidelines are discussed. STATEMENT OF CONTRIBUTION: What is already known on this subject? Individual make judgements based on social rank information. Social rank information has been shown to influence positive health behaviours such as exercise. What does this study add? The health benefits of tooth-brushing are predicted by how tooth-brushing duration ranks within a distribution. Focussing on how teeth-cleaning duration ranks among others produces longer teeth-cleaning durations.

Refining Trait Resilience: Identifying Engineering, Ecological, and Adaptive Facets from Extant Measures of Resilience.

The current paper presents a new measure of trait resilience derived from three common mechanisms identified in ecological theory: Engineering, Ecological and Adaptive (EEA) resilience. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of five existing resilience scales suggest that the three trait resilience facets emerge, and can be reduced to a 12-item scale. The conceptualization and value of EEA resilience within the wider trait and well-being psychology is illustrated in terms of differing relationships with adaptive expressions of the traits of the five-factor personality model and the contribution to well-being after controlling for personality and coping, or over time. The current findings suggest that EEA resilience is a useful and parsimonious model and measure of trait resilience that can readily be placed within wider trait psychology and that is found to contribute to individual well-being.

Beliefs in being unlucky and deficits in executive functioning.

The current paper proposes the Dysexecutive Luck hypothesis; that beliefs in being unlucky are associated with deficits in executive functioning. Four studies suggest initial support for the Dysexecutive Luck hypothesis via four aspects of executive functioning. Study 1 established that self-reports of dysexecutive symptoms predicted unique variance in beliefs in being unlucky after controlling for a number of other variables previously reported to be related to beliefs around luck. Studies 2 to 4 demonstrated support for the Dysexecutive Luck hypothesis via assessment of executive functioning via: (1) two fundamental executive functions (shifting and inhibition), (2) emotional processes related to executive functioning as described by the Somatic Marker hypothesis, and (3) higher executive functions as accessed via divergent thinking. The findings suggest that individuals' beliefs in being unlucky are accompanied by a range of deficits in executive functioning.

Celebrity worship and incidence of elective cosmetic surgery: evidence of a link among young adults.

PURPOSE: The purpose of the current study was to explore among young adults whether celebrity worship predicted the incidence of elective cosmetic surgery within the period of 8 months after controlling for several known predictors of elective cosmetic surgery. METHODS: A total of 137 young adults completed questionnaire measures of attitudes toward a celebrity whose body image they admired, previous and vicarious experience of elective cosmetic surgery, attitudes toward cosmetic surgery, and a range of psychological and demographic measures at time 1. Participants were then asked to report whether they had undergone elective cosmetic surgery 8 months later. RESULTS: After controlling for several known predictors of elective cosmetic surgery, intense-personal celebrity worship of a celebrity whose body shape was admired by the participant predicted the incidence of elective cosmetic surgery within an 8-month period. CONCLUSIONS: The current findings suggest that the type of para-social relationship that young adults form with celebrities, particularly with those whose body shape is admired, may need to be considered by those when speaking to, and educating, young people about their choices around elective cosmetic surgery.

Implicit theories of a desire for fame.

The aim of the present studies was to generate implicit theories of a desire for fame among the general population. In Study 1, we were able to develop a nine-factor analytic model of conceptions of the desire to be famous that initially comprised nine separate factors; ambition, meaning derived through comparison with others, psychologically vulnerable, attention seeking, conceitedness, social access, altruistic, positive affect, and glamour. Analysis that sought to examine replicability among these factors suggested that three factors (altruistic, positive affect, and glamour) neither display factor congruence nor display adequate internal reliability. A second study examined the validity of these factors in predicting profiles of individuals who may desire fame. The findings from this study suggested that two of the nine factors (positive affect and altruism) could not be considered strong factors within the model. Overall, the findings suggest that implicit theories of a desire for fame comprise six factors. The discussion focuses on how an implicit model of a desire for fame might progress into formal theories of a desire for fame.

Forgiveness and defense style.

Within the literature on the psychology of forgiveness, researchers have hypothesized that the 1st stage in the process of being able to forgive is the role of psychological defense. To examine such a hypothesis, the authors explored the relationship between forgiveness and defense style. The 304 respondents (151 men, 153 women) completed measures of forgiveness (likelihood, presence of positive forgiveness, absence of negative forgiveness) and defense style. Among respondents, all measures of forgiveness shared a significant negative association with a neurotic defense style. The finding is discussed within the context of the consequences for those who may be experiencing barriers to forgiveness when dealing with conflict resolution in interpersonal situations.

Polypharmacy and older people.

Polypharmacy is defined as the practice of prescribing four or more medications to the same person (Department of Health, 2001). This often occurs with older people who have concurrent disease processes, each needing a specific treatment regime (Box 1). Older people receive more prescriptions per head than any other group. The National Service Framework for Older People (DoH, 2001) shows that 5-17 per cent of hospital admissions are caused by adverse reactions to medicines. It also indicates that 6-17 per cent of older patients in hospital experience adverse drug reactions.