'Where do we come from and where are we going?' A study about the transformation of knowledge related to long-term care.

The care crisis manifests the tensions and profound changes which are taking place in contemporary long-term care systems, leading to new care views and modalities in society. Through 26 interviews conducted with caregivers, family members and elderly people with care needs, this study aims to make visible the transformation in the conceptions of care in the Basque Country. First, the results show the displacement of familiarist ideas and values. Second, we describe the daily management of the social and moral tensions associated with outsourcing and the meaning of care work. Third, the findings indicate the emergence of new perspectives on the modalities of care. The contribution of cognitive polyphasia towards analysing the management and integration of new knowledge associated with care in a specific socio-cultural context is discussed. Finally, we consider the applicability of our findings in terms of relevant solutions for care management and innovation in this field.

Understanding an Ebola outbreak: Social representations of emerging infectious diseases.

This study examined the collective image of the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak, to understand how people incorporate this epidemic in their everyday thinking. A free association exercise elicited by Ebola was answered by 294 people from Spain and the content was analysed using Alceste software. First, results showed that Ebola was represented as inherently African. Second, it was also depicted as a global threat creating fear. People also felt anger, and they blamed political authorities and the mass media for the failure to manage this crisis. Finally, this research underlines the importance of the social representations to understand how current outbreaks are cognitively represented and emotionally faced as a key factor to appropriately manage future epidemics.

HIV- and AIDS-related stigma: psychosocial aspects in a representative Spanish sample

This study evaluates the prevalence of HIV stigma in Spain and analyzes some variables that may affect its existence. In 2008, we conducted a computer-assisted telephone survey of 1607 people, representative of the Spanish population. Two-wave random stratified sampling was performed, first selecting the home and then the person, depending on the rates of age and sex. About 50% of the population feels discomfort about potential contact with people with HIV and tries to avoid it and 20% advocate discriminatory policies involving physical or social segregation of people with HIV. The belief that HIV is easily transmitted through social contact (15%) and blaming people with HIV for their disease (19.3%) are associated with stigmatization. Degree of proximity to people with HIV, political ideology, educational level, and age are also associated with the degree of stigmatization. According to these results, we suggest that, in order to reduce stigma, we need to modify the erroneous beliefs about the transmission pathways, decrease attributions of blame to people with HIV, and increase contact with them. These interventions should particularly target older people, people with a low educational level, and people with a more conservative political ideology (AU)

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Language use and stereotyping: the role of approach and avoidance motivation goals.

The use of more abstract language to describe expected behaviors as opposed to unexpected behaviors has traditionally been considered a way of stereotype maintenance. This tendency is known as linguistic expectancy bias. Two experiments examined the influence of approach and avoidance motivational orientations on the production of this linguistic expectancy bias. It was predicted that approach strategic orientation is likely to describe expectancy consistent behaviors at a higher level of linguistic abstraction than expectancy inconsistent behaviors. In contrast, avoidance strategic orientation is likely to describe both expectancy consistent behaviors and expectancy inconsistent behaviors at a lower level of linguistic abstraction, thus facilitating the disappearance of linguistic expectancy bias. Two experiments confirmed these expectations, using strategic orientation manipulations based either on communication goals or on motor action, and measuring linguistic abstraction either on forced-choice answer format or on free descriptions. Implications for the generalisation of linguistic expectancy bias are discussed.

Language use and stereotyping: the role of approach and avoidance motivation goals

The use of more abstract language to describe expected behaviors as opposed to unexpected behaviors has traditionally been considered a way of stereotype maintenance. This tendency is known as linguistic expectancy bias. Two experiments examined the influence of approach and avoidance motivational orientations on the production of this linguistic expectancy bias. It was predicted that approach strategic orientation is likely to describe expectancy consistent behaviors at a higher level of linguistic abstraction than expectancy inconsistent behaviors. In contrast, avoidance strategic orientation is likely to describe both expectancy consistent behaviors and expectancy inconsistent behaviors at a lower level of linguistic abstraction, thus facilitating the disappearance of linguistic expectancy bias. Two experiments confirmed these expectations, using strategic orientation manipulations based either on communication goals or on motor action, and measuring linguistic abstraction either on forced-choice answer format or on free descriptions. Implications for the generalisation of linguistic expectancy bias are discussed (AU)

El uso de un lenguaje más abstracto para describir los comportamientos congruentes con las expectativas que los comportamientos incongruentes con las expectativas es una forma de mantener los estereotipos. Esta tendencia se conoce como el sesgo lingüístico de expectativa. Dos experimentos analizan la influencia de las orientaciones motivacionales de aproximación y evitación en la producción del sesgo lingüístico de expectativa. Se predijo que la orientación estratégica de aproximación promovería que comportamientos consistentes con la expectativa se describiesen con un mayor nivel de abstracción lingüística que los comportamientos inconsistentes con la expectativa. En cambio, la orientación estratégica de evitación induciría a que tanto los comportamientos consistentes como los inconsistentes con las expectativas se describiesen a un menor nivel de abstracción, facilitando con ello la desaparición del sesgo lingüístico de expectativa. Los dos experimentos que se presentan confirmaron dichas predicciones utilizando manipulaciones de orientación estratégica de aproximación y evitación formuladas en forma de metas comunicativas y en forma de acción motora. Además, se midió la abstracción lingüística tanto en formato de respuesta de elección múltiple como en descripción libre. El artículo debate las implicaciones de los estudios para la generalización del sesgo lingüístico de expectativa (AU)

Predictores del afecto positive: el papel de la autonomía percibida y el estilo de afrontamiento / Predictors of positive affect: perceived autonomy and coping styles

Tanto los estilos de afrontamiento como la autonomía percibida en las metas personales han sido relacionados con la experiencia de afecto positivo, si bien la aportación de la autonomía percibida ha sido cuestionada. No se conocen estudios que y han medido afrontamiento y autonomía percibida conjuntamente. En este estudio se examina la relación entre los estilos de afrontamiento y la autonomía y control percibidos, así como la relación de éstos con la experiencia de afecto positivo. 329 estudiantes universitarios completaron medidas acerca de su autonomía percibida, sus estilos de afrontamiento y su experiencia afectiva. Los resultados revelan interrelaciones positivas entre percepción de autonomía, estilos de afrontamiento y afecto positivo. Además la autonomía percibida y los estilos de afrontamiento realizan contribuciones independientes a la experiencia de afecto positivo. Se consideran finalmente las implicaciones teóricas y aplicadas de los hallazgos de cara a la prevención y mejora de la salud física y mental de las personas (AU)

Former research has associated coping styles and perceived autonomy related to the fulfillment of personal goals to the experience of positive affect. Nevertheless, the contribution of perceived autonomy has been questioned. To date no study has measured coping styles and perceived autonomy simultaneously. In this study, the relationships between coping styles and perceived autonomy is analysed, as well as their relationships with positive affect, 329 university students completed measures on perceived autonomy, coping styles and positive affect. Results revealed positive relationships between these three measures. Moreover, perceived autonomy and coping styles made independent contributions to the experience of positive affect. Finally, theoretical and applied consequences of the findings are discussed in terms of a better prevention of physical and mental health (AU)

Autoconcordancia y autoeficacia en los objetivos personales: ¿cuál es su aportación al bienestar? / Self-concordance and self-efficacy in personal goals: what is their contribution to well-being?

En este estudio se examina la relación entre las percepciones de autoconcordancia y autoeficacia en la búsqueda de objetivos personales con el bienestar físico y psicológico. Se busca examinar la estructura del Modelo de Autoconcordancia de los objetivos personales (Sheldon, 1999), así como estudiar la predicción que la autoconcordancia y la autoeficacia hacen del bienestar percibido. Se solicitó a una muestra de estudiantes universitarios (N=329) que evaluase el grado de autoconcordancia y de autoeficacia que percibían en sus tres objetivos personales principales. Se tomaron además medidas de afecto positivo y negativo así como de percepción de síntomas físicos. En primer lugar, los resultados mostraron una estructura válida del modelo Autoconcordancia. En segundo lugar, tanto la autoeficacia como la autoconcordancia mostraron ser predictores necesarios para el afecto positivo, pero con el afecto negativo y el bienestar físico solamente la autoeficacia mostró ser un predictor significativo. En las conclusiones se analiza el valor de esta diferenciación en la relación con el afecto y el bienestar

Abstract: In this study the relationship between self-efficacy and self-concordance of personal goals and well-being was investigated. The goal was to examine the structure of self-concordance (Sheldon, 1999), as well as to check the predictive value of self-efficacy and self-concordance on well-being. University students (N=329) rated the self-concordance and self-efficacy perceptions upon their three most valued personal goals. Indeed, measures of positive and negative affect and physical symptoms reports were also obtained. Results show that the self-concordance structure fits the model, and that both self-efficacy and self-concordance were necessary to predict positive affect, whereas self-efficacy was sufficient to predict negative affect and physical symptoms. Implications for this dif-ferentiation in relationships with affect and well-being are discussed