Preschoolers' retrospective and prospective judgements of immanent justice following distributive actions.

Prior research provided evidence for retrospective and prospective judgements of immanent justice in adults, but the developmental origins of judgements of immanent justice remain unknown. Both retrospective and prospective judgements were investigated in preschool age, using explicit and implicit measures. In Experiment 1, 2.5- and 4-year-olds were first shown events in which one agent distributed resources fairly or unfairly, and then they saw test events in which both distributors were damaged by a misfortune. Later, they were presented with a verbal task, in which they had to respond to two questions on evaluation of the deservingness, by using explicit measures. All children were likely to approve of deserved outcomes when deeds and outcomes were congruent (i.e., unfair distributor-misfortune), and only older ones were likely to disapprove when they were incongruent (i.e., fair distributor-misfortune). In Experiment 2, 4-year-olds after seeing familiarization events of Experiment 1, were presented with two verbal questions to explore prospective judgements of immanent justice, by using explicit measures. In Experiment 3, 4-year-olds were first shown familiarization events of Experiment 1 and listened to respective narratives, then before the outcome was revealed they were assessed with a reaching task to investigate prospective judgements of immanent justice, by using implicit measures. Children reached the image depicting a bad outcome for the unfair distributor, and that illustrated a good outcome for the fair distributor. The results of the last two experiments demonstrated a fine ability to make prospective judgements at 4 years of life, and found that they were to be more prone to apply immanent justice reasoning to positive outcomes following good actions. Taken together, these results provide new evidence for preschoolers' retrospective and prospective judgements of immanent justice.

Purpose in life as an asset for well-being and a protective factor against depression in adolescents.

Purpose in life, which is a central component of the eudaimonic paradigm of well-being, has been sparsely examined in adolescence. This is unfortunate as adolescence is characterised by identity development and is a key period for the onset of mental disorders. To inform future research on well-being and purpose in life in adolescents, we drew factors from several fields of research, including mental health and psychological factors, and explored which factors were most strongly associated with purpose in life. Data were collected in a sample of 444 Italian adolescents (Mage = 16.30 [SD = 1.50], range: 14 to 20 years; 58% girls) and associations with mental health (stress, anxiety, depression, anger), psychological traits (mindfulness, self-hate, self-inadequacy, self-reassurance, isolation), and sociodemographic variables (age, sex, place of birth) were examined. Regression, dominance, and network analyses indicated that a stronger sense of purpose in life was associated with lower depressive symptoms, higher levels of self-reassurance, and being born in Italy. Our findings suggest that purpose in life is an important asset for well-being in adolescents and may protect against depression. Future longitudinal and/or experimental research should examine the potential protective role of purpose in life in relation to adolescent depression and how self-reassurance and sociodemographic factors (e.g., immigrant background) are involved.