Empathy and authenticity online: The roles of moral identity, moral disengagement, and parenting style.

OBJECTIVES: Research suggests that the Internet could be considered an arena for both virtuous and vicious behaviors, with observations of enhanced perspective-taking and honest self-reflections occurring alongside evidence of cyberbullying and deceptive communications. In the current study, we explore the role of three widely recognized sources of moral behavior-moral identity, moral disengagement, and authoritative parenting-in predicting adolescents' online empathy and online authenticity. METHOD: In total, 788 UK adolescents aged 11-18 years (66% male) completed measures of these key constructs. RESULTS: Structural equation modeling results suggest that parental responsiveness and autonomy granting are positively related to adolescents' moral identity. In turn, moral identity was positively related to both online empathy and online authenticity. Having a stronger moral identity also meant that adolescents were less likely to morally disengage, and moral disengagement was negatively related to online authenticity in adolescent females. Partial invariance across gender and age was observed. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that moral identity encourages moral thoughts, feelings, and actions in the online environment, including being authentic and empathic. As the formation and accessibility of one's moral identity can be promoted, we discuss the implications of these findings for cultivating prosocial behavior in the online environment as well as future research avenues.

The Professional Quality of Life of Domestic and Sexual Violence Advocates: A Systematic Review of Possible Risk and Protective Factors.

Professionals employed within the field of domestic and sexual violence (DV/SV) are known to experience both positive and negative psychological impacts because of the nature of their work. This review aims to establish which factors influence the professional quality of life (ProQOL) of DV/SV advocates. This group is known to face challenges that are specific to their working practices including scarce resources and frequent exposure to traumatic material. The systematic review protocol was designed based upon Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 guidance. Following a mixed-methods convergent segregated approach, a systematic search for qualitative and quantitative research within PsycINFO, Academic Search Complete, CINAHL, MEDLINE, Sage, Taylor & Francis, Wiley Online Library, and BASE was undertaken. Peer-reviewed empirical research and relevant gray literature, published in English, were considered for inclusion. Thirty articles were identified (16 quantitative, 13 qualitative, and 1 mixed-methods study), and assessed for methodological quality and risk of bias using established quality appraisal tools. An array of risk and protective factors emerged including communication competence, support from co-workers, office resources, and occupational stigma. A gap in the current evidence base was identified regarding the role that personal strengths may play in the well-being of those employed within the DV/SV sector. The ProQOL of DV/SV advocates is complex and dependent upon a variety of factors specific to their situation at the time. However, the findings of this review provide an important evidence base for future research avenues as well as policies and procedures for this workforce specifically.

The Multi-Component Gratitude Measure in Spanish for youth: An adaptation of the MCGM in Colombia.

The present study explored the psychometric properties of the Multi-Component Gratitude Measure (MCGM), in Spanish with a sample of Colombian children. The sample was composed of 540 schoolchildren between 8-12 years old (265 females, mean age 10.04 years; 75 males, mean age 10.08 years). The MCGM aims to examine more comprehensively the moral virtue of gratitude as a construct with 3 components (emotional, conative/attitudinal, and behavioral) distributed across 6 subscales. We translated the MCGM into Spanish and validated the factor structure in a principal component analysis, basing the analysis on the 6 subscales. We corroborated that gratitude can be understood as a complex, multi-component construct from children's perspectives. Overall, the MCGM subscales showed good reliability coefficients between 0.7 and 0.9. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that a 4-factor model structure (obtained in the PCA) presented the best-adjusted fit indices. Factor 1 represented the feelings subscale, factor 2 represented the attitudinal component, and factors 3 and 4 the behavioral component. Convergent validity was evaluated with other instruments of gratitude, along with additional variables including positive emotion, prosocial behavior and wellbeing, in a subsample of 210 children. Multiple sources of evidence indicate that the translated and validated measure, the MCGM-Spanish Youth (MCGM-SY), is an instrument with good reliability and validity for measuring gratitude in Spanish-speaking children.

Gratitude Moderates the Relation between Daily Hassles and Satisfaction with Life in University Students.

Satisfaction with life as a judgmental cognitive process can be negatively influenced by appraisals of daily events such as hassles. Trait-gratitude-a tendency to appraise, recognize and respond to life events through being grateful-is a determinant of mental health and well-being, and has been shown to be related to the positive appraisal of life. The aim of the current study was to investigate the moderating role of trait-gratitude in the relationship between daily hassles and satisfaction with life. In the process of carrying out this study, the French version of the Gratitude Questionnaire (GQ-6) was validated. A total of 328 French undergraduates completed questionnaires measuring gratitude, satisfaction with life, and daily hassles to test the main hypothesis. They also completed optimism, coping strategies, depression, and anxiety questionnaires in order to assess the convergent validity of the French version of the GQ-6. First, the results showed satisfactory psychometric properties of the Gratitude Questionnaire. Second, the results indicated the moderating role of trait-gratitude in the relationship between daily hassles disturbance and satisfaction with life. This study further documents the role of gratitude as a determinant of well-being and provides French-speaking clinicians and researchers with a useful tool to measure grateful disposition.

Measuring Gratitude in Germany: Validation Study of the German Version of the Gratitude Questionnaire-Six Item Form (GQ-6-G) and the Multi-Component Gratitude Measure (MCGM-G).

The Gratitude Questionnaire-Six Item Form (GQ-6; McCullough et al., 2002) is a well-established instrument for measuring gratitude. Recently, the Multi-Component Gratitude Measure (MCGM) was developed as a more holistic approach (Morgan et al., 2017). While the GQ-6 mainly focuses on the emotional component of gratitude, the MCGM encompasses conceptual, attitudinal, and behavioral aspects. As of today, there is no validated German measure for gratitude. In order to close that research gap, the present study focused on validating the German versions of the GQ-6 (GQ-6-G) and of the MCGM (MCGM-G). In addition, multi-group comparisons were conducted to test for cultural measurement invariance. Construct validity was tested similar to original validation studies of the two scales focusing on affect, well-being, empathy, anxiety and depression. The online survey was completed in random order by 508 participants. The one-factor model of the GQ-6-G and the hierarchical structure of the MCGM-G could be replicated. However, the model fit of the Gratitude Questionnaire was significantly better after eliminating one item (GQ-5-G). Multi-group comparisons revealed cultural measurement invariance was established for the GQ-5-G and partial measurement invariance for five of six factors of the MCGM-G, respectively. Reliability analyses revealed good internal consistency for both instruments, and measures for criterion-related and discriminant validity have shown hypothesized relationships. Thus, the GQ-5-G and the MCGM-G are two instruments with good reliability and validity for measuring gratitude in Germany.