Non-monetary reinforcement effects on pro-environmental behavior

While non-monetary reinforcement is often discussed as a promising intervention technique, systematic research on its effectiveness for the promotion of pro-environmental behavior has been scarce. This lack of research is likely due to the difficulty of studying non-monetary reinforcement within existing study designs. Here, we examined the effects of non-monetary reinforcement using a recently developed and validated pro-environmental behavior task. In two preregistered studies (total N = 997), participants could repeatedly choose to exert actual effort in exchange for donations to an environmental organization. Their choices were either followed by potentially reinforcing stimuli (e.g., words of praise superimposed on positively valenced pictures) or not. When accompanied by cheerful animal pictures, these stimuli significantly promoted pro-environmental effort expenditure in Study 2, but not in Study 1. Longer-term effects and spillover to non-reinforced behavior were also examined, but not conclusively supported. These findings illustrate the potential of the presented experimental approach for studying the effectiveness of non-monetary reinforcement in societally relevant domains.     

The Association of Outdoor Recreation and Environmental Concern: Reexamining the Dunlap-Heffernan Thesis1

Abstract Building upon earlier studies, two hypotheses concerning the association between participation in outdoor recreational activities and pro-environmental behavior are tested using data collected in a general population survey from a random sample of individuals in four communities in Pennsylvania. The first hypothesis, that there is a positive association between outdoor recreational participation and pro-environmental behavior, received substantial support. In contrast to previous research, the results did not support the second hypothesis which stated that there will be differences between/among different types of outdoor activities with respect to their impact on pro-environmental behaviors. Clarifications are made with respect to previous classifications of outdoor recreation activities.     

Exploring Gender Differences on Internalizing and Externalizing Behavior Among Maltreated Youth: Implications for Social Work Action

This purpose of this study was to explore the moderating influence of gender on the relationship between child maltreatment and internalizing symptoms (e.g., affective and somatic problems) and externalizing behavior (e.g., rule breaking behavior and aggression) among children aged 7–12 years old. Using a longitudinal comparison group design and a sample of 300 youth of which 56% (n = 168) had substantiated cases of child maltreatment, results of a structural equation modeling revealed that internalizing symptoms exerted a mediating influence that was conditioned by gender. Only girls’ internalizing symptoms were found to mediate the link between child maltreatment and externalizing behavior while a direct relationship between maltreatment and externalizing behavior was found among boys. These findings provide evidence for gender differences in the pathways between being child maltreatment and maladaptive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Thus, adapting evidence-based strategies that target gender specific internalizing behaviors and externalizing behaviors among maltreated youth may significantly reduce the risk of short and long-term maladaptive behavior.     

Chinese Parenting Behaviors,Adolescent School Adjustment,and Problem Behavior

The present research examined the relationship between supportive and controlling dimensions of parenting behaviors and Chinese adolescent outcomes (school adjustment and problem behavior). Researchers collected self-report data from 589 adolescents in Hangzhou, China. Results showed the factor structure for the Parent Behavior Measure in the Chinese sample was different from the factor structure based on Western research. Specifically, paternal support did not emerge as a viable factor. Parental monitoring and involvement predicted positive adolescent outcomes, whereas punitiveness and permissiveness predicted negative outcomes. Surprisingly, maternal support predicted more adolescent problem behavior, especially for boys. Guilt induction, love withdrawal, and positive induction did not predict any significant adolescent outcomes when other parenting behaviors were controlled. School adjustment mediated and gender moderated the relationship between parenting and adolescent problem behavior. The importance of considering parenting behaviors, adolescent school adjustment, gender, and cultural norms when examining adolescent problem behavior was discussed.     

Employee reactions to positive action policies in the United Kingdom: Does the organization’s justification matter?

Affirmative action remains a contentious topic in both research and practice. While advocates suggest that such action is necessary to overcome demographic imbalances in the labor market, some research shows that these policies can prompt undesirable employee reactions that negate their value. While positive discrimination (i.e., recruiting or promoting solely based on a protected characteristic) remains illegal in the United Kingdom, organizations have increasingly begun adopting positive action measures (i.e., measures aimed at alleviating disadvantage or under-representation based on protected characteristics). However, there is little research looking at how these policies specifically affect employee attitudes or how different organizational rationales for positive action might moderate these effects. This lack of research is even more notable in the UK context. In two experimental studies of UK professionals (N = 353) we find that perceived organizational justice explained the relationship between positive action and affective commitment / turnover intention. However, evidence supporting the effect of organizational rationale was limited.     

Parenting and emotional well-being of adoptive school-aged children: The mediating role of attachment

This study focuses on the processes of adoptive parenting that affect children's emotional well-being. It aims to analyze the role of children's attachment as a mediator of the relationship between both parenting styles and parenting stress and children's positive and negative affect in adoptive families of school-aged children. The study included 322 Portuguese participants, divided into one group of adoptive parents (n = 135) and one comparison group of non-adoptive parents (n = 187); target-children were aged between 6 and 12 years. Self-report questionnaires were used to analyze the dimensions under study (parenting styles, parenting stress, children's attachment and children's emotional well-being). After conducting a preliminary analysis to identify potential differences between the adoptive and the non-adoptive parents, a mediation model was tested using the path analysis procedure. A baseline model was established, followed by a multi-group analysis in order to explore the model's invariance across the groups. Children's attachment mediated the relationship between parenting (styles and stress) and children's positive and negative affect. The multi-group analysis revealed that, for the adoptive group, both secure and anxious/ambivalent attachment mediated the association between parenting stress and negative affect; for the non-adoptive group, secure attachment was found to mediate the link between emotional warmth and positive affect. For both groups, the relationship between parenting stress and positive affect was mediated by secure attachment. Results pointed to the relevance of children's attachment in the association of parenting styles and parenting stress with children's emotional well-being. Moreover, differences concerning the mediation model emerged across the two groups, revealing that children's negative outcomes were better explained in the adoptive group. The results reinforce the importance of supporting adoptive parents after the adoption process.     

Family identification facilitates coping with financial stress: A social identity approach to family financial resilience

Family financial stress research has typically examined negative effects of deprivation on mental health, which in turn erode financial coping. While this work acknowledges family support’s role in buffering these effects, it has typically overlooked how family identification can act to structure the experience of, and response to, economic challenge. We adopt a Social Identity approach, arguing that family identification predicts increased social support and improved well-being, which predicts more effective coping with financial problems. We explore this in two community surveys (N = 369; N = 187). In the first we show that stronger family identification and support predict better well-being, which predicts better evaluation of economic coping. In the second we replicate these findings, and also show that the relationship between well-being and financial distress is fully mediated by perceptions of ‘Collective Family Financial Efficacy’. These findings point to a more positive understanding of how family cohesion can promote mental well-being/resilience.     

Alcohol-Influenced Nonverbal Behaviors During Discussions About a Relationship Problem

We examined the effect of alcohol intoxication on the display of nonverbal behaviors during discussions with dating partners about a relationship problem. Forty-four heterosexual dyads engaged in a 7-min conversation about a hypothetical infidelity. Males were randomly assigned to drinking condition (sober or .08 g/dl) and their behaviors were coded for behavioral expressivity, verbal expressivity, positive affect, and anxiety at 30 s and 3 min into the interaction. A series of 2 (drinking condition) × 2 (time) repeated measures analyses indicated that as time passed, drinkers nonverbally conveyed more agitation and less positivity, and consequently less pro-relational behavior. Further, drinkers showed more behavioral variability over time compared to their sober counterparts. The implications of these results for understanding alcohol-influenced communication in close relationships are discussed.

Environmental Concern and Action: A View from the Border

An online survey investigated environmental concern and action among 105 Latino social work students (85% female) residing in a high poverty region near the U.S.–Mexico border. Approximately 85% of the respondents reported being moderately or very concerned about environmental issues, but the respondents' level of environmental concern exceeded their self-reported levels of knowledge and attention regarding environmental issues. Rates of practicing five pro-environmental behaviors varied from a low of 27% who used renewable sources of energy to 95% who turned off unneeded lights. Level of environmental concern predicted only one pro-environmental behavior. To address gaps in environmental knowledge and behavior, social work educators can help students analyze the connections between the health of the natural environment and human well-being, identify obstacles to pro-environmental behavior, and propose changes in organizations and communities to encourage environmentally responsible behavior.     

A longitudinal study of the differential social-cognitive foundations of early prosocial behaviors

A growing body of work has documented the emergence of instrumental helping and sharing in the second year of life; however, less is known about mechanisms that underlie development and production of prosocial behavior. The current study took a longitudinal approach to explore whether the origins of prosocial behaviors can be traced back to foundational social-cognitive capacities emerging in infancy. In a sample of 90 children, longitudinal relations were examined between intention understanding and joint attention measured in infancy (8–12 months) and later instrumental helping and sharing behavior assessed in the toddler years (18–25 months). We expected social-cognitive capacities supporting infants’ understanding of others to be positively related to their prosocial behaviors as toddlers. Measured variable path analyses revealed two distinct developmental pathways from infant social cognition to later prosocial behavior: 1) Instrumental helping in the toddler years was positively predicted by intention understanding in infancy; 2) sharing in the toddler years was positively predicted by infants’ initiating joint attention. These results lend support to proposals on the multidimensional nature of early prosocial behavior and offer the first longitudinal evidence that the origins of toddlers' prosocial behavior can be traced to social-cognitive capacities emerging in infancy.     

PRO-ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOR IN AN URBAN SOCIAL STRUCTURAL CONTEXT

Research into environmental concern and behavior has been extensive in the past few decades. The connection between the two, as well as other related variables, has however remained somewhat elusive. This study attempts to refine our understanding of how concern for the environment is related to pro-environmental behavior such as buying ecologically friendly products, driving less, conserving resources at home, recycling, etc., by considering the role played by social structural context and self-efficacy. Furthermore, through principle component analysis a particular dimension of pro-environmental behavior is identified so as to produce more robust and consistent results. Social structural context and self-efficacy are found to be powerful mediators of the relationship between environmental concern and pro-environmental behavior. Lastly, social structural context, as measured by the availability of curbside recycling, is shown to act as a gateway to additional pro-environmental behaviors beyond recycling.     

Parental and peer attachment and adolescents' behaviors: The mediating role of psychological suzhi in a longitudinal study

We examined whether psychological suzhi mediated the associations between attachment (paternal, maternal, and peer) and young adolescents' behavior (internalizing, externalizing, and prosocial) in a longitudinal study. Psychological suzhi reflects the positive psychological traits that facilitate adolescents' positive adaptation to the school and social environment. Five hundred and ninety-five junior high school students (48% male; aged 11–15 years, M = 12.86 years, SD = 0.71) completed measures of attachment and psychological suzhi at Times 1 and 2 (a six-month interval), while students' parents completed measures of adolescents' behavior at Time 3 (another six months later). We observed significant longitudinal correlations between attachment, psychological suzhi, and behavior. Prospective analyses using bootstrapping demonstrated significant indirect effects of attachment on adolescent behavior via psychological suzhi. These findings highlighted the importance of attachment and psychological suzhi as protective factors in the developmental course of early adolescents' behavior.     

When Sharing a Laugh Means Sharing More: Testing the Role of Shared Laughter on Short-Term Interpersonal Consequences

Laughter is a common social behavior. Yet when, why, and how laughter may cause positive relationship change is largely unexamined, empirically. The current studies focus on shared laughter (i.e., when), drawing from theory in relationship science to emphasize the importance of conceptualizing laughter as situated within the dyadic context (i.e., why). Specifically, these studies target untested possible short-term outcomes from social interactions involving shared laughter: positive emotions, negative emotions, and perceived similarity. In turn, each are tested as possible mechanisms through which shared laughter promotes more global relationship well-being (i.e., how). A series of online and laboratory studies provide correlational and causal support for the hypothesis that shared laughter promotes relationship well-being, with increased perceptions of similarity most consistently driving this effect. Discussion focuses on the importance of considering the behavior of laughter itself, as situated within the social context, when making predictions about laughter’s relevance for social life.     

Greed and adolescent financial behavior

Financial problems in adolescents have increased over the last decades. We investigated if individual differences in greed relate to financial behavior. Greed is an important motive for economic behavior and refers to the tendency to never be satisfied and to always want more. We developed a short version of the Dispositional Greed Scale (Seuntjens, Zeelenberg, Van de Ven, & Breugelmans, 2015), which we then used in a large survey with adolescents (N = 3899). Dispositional greed is associated with them having more income, spending more, saving less often, and having debt more often. Identifying what personality characteristics influence financial behavior at a young age is important, as the financial habits that people learn during adolescence persist in adulthood. We find that greed has both positive effects (having a higher income), but also negative effects with the greedy being less likely to save and being more likely to have a debt.     

Risky sexual behavior and substance use among adolescents: A meta-analysis

This study presents the results of a meta-analysis of the association between substance use and risky sexual behavior among adolescents. 87 studies fit the inclusion criteria, containing a total of 104 independent effect sizes that incorporated more than 120,000 participants. The overall effect size for the relationship between substance use and risky sexual behavior was in the small to moderate range (r = .22, CI = .18, .26). Further analyses indicated that the effect sizes did not substantially vary across the type of substance use, but did substantially vary across the type of risky sexual behavior being assessed. Specifically, mean effect sizes were the smallest for studies examining unprotected sex (r = .15, CI = .10, .20), followed by studies examining number of sexual partners (r = .25, CI = .21, .30), those examining composite measures of risky sexual behavior (r = .38, CI = .27, .48), and those examining sex with an intravenous drug user (r = .53, CI = .45, .60). Furthermore, our results revealed that the relationship between drug use and risky sexual behavior is moderated by several variables, including sex, ethnicity, sexuality, age, sample type, and level of measurement. Implications and future directions are discussed.     

A transactional model of infant still‐face response and maternal behavior during the first year

The present study takes a transactional approach to extend understanding of temporal relations between parenting behaviors and infant response to the face‐to‐face still‐face, a widely used method assessing infants’ affective and behavioral response to a violation of social expectations. A low‐income, urban sample of 180 mothers and infants participated when infants were 4 and 6 months old. Directional relations between infants’ still‐face response (i.e., change in affect and gaze from interaction to still face) and three parenting dimensions were examined using cross‐lagged structural equation models. Infant still‐face response predicted later parenting behavior, while the reverse association was not significant. Specifically, infants with a greater reduction in positive affect from interaction to still face had parents with more positive parenting and less negative parenting behaviors 2 months later, controlling for prior parenting and concurrent infant behavior. Furthermore, infants who increased gaze to mother from interaction to still face had mothers who used more mental state talk 2 months later. Findings underscore the importance of examining transactional relations between infant and parent behaviors, and in particular highlight the influence of infants on parents. Acknowledging these infant‐effects is critical to the development and implementation of interventions targeting parent‐infant interactions.     

School and Family Correlates of Positive Affect in a Nationally Representative Sample of US Adolescents

Research on psychological wellbeing has received far less attention than mental illness and has created a gap in our understanding of positive mental health. This research is even more sparse among adolescents. The present study examined the correlates of one measure of psychological wellbeing, positive affect, in the adolescent population. Two dimensions of school support (teacher–student relationship and student engagement) and family support (family communication and family closeness) were examined. Because previous studies suggest these correlates may be affected by race and gender, analysis was conducted in the total sample and in disaggregated subpopulations. A nationally representative sample of US adolescents (n?=?10,148) from the National Comorbidity Survey—Adolescent Supplement was analyzed in this study. Structural equation models were used for analysis. Latinos reported significantly lower positive affect than Whites. Males reported higher levels of positive affect than females. Blacks and Latinos reported lower perceptions of family communication than Whites and higher school emotional support than Whites. Females reported lower family communication, lower family closeness, and higher school support than males. Analysis revealed that among the total sample, all dimensions of school and family support measured were correlates of positive affect. When the total sample was divided by gender and race there were marked differences in the relationship between school and family support across subpopulations. Males and Whites most closely resembled the total sample while the relationship between dimensions of school and family support were distinct for females and racial ethnic minorities. This study provides an examination of how psychosocial mechanisms operate similarly and differently across adolescent subgroups. In line with other studies, findings provide evidence of differences by race and gender. This study is relevant to social workers because the findings have implications for both assessment and intervention.     

Keeping it in the family: The impact of a Family Finding intervention on placement,permanency, and well-being outcomes

Child-centered recruitment via Family Finding has gained national attention as an approach to search, discover, and engage kin and fictive kin to support the attachment and permanency needs of children in foster care. However, despite its promise it has received scant attention in the empirical literature. The current study compared the outcomes of a front-end Family Finding intervention (n = 196) and a comparison group (n = 262) among children in foster care in Cook County Illinois between the ages of 6 and 13. Results showed that there were no differences between the intervention and comparison group on reunification rates, placement stability, or on longitudinal externalizing behavior and internalizing symptoms. However, the intervention found close to 75% more relatives than the control group, and many of these relatives were significant figures in the children's lives. The intervention was also associated with a higher proportion of relative placements to total placements for a subgroup of children with five or more placements. Further, the effect of the intervention on this proportion (relative placements to total placements) was mediated by the greater number of relatives found in the intervention. Finally, the intervention was associated with relatively better Concurrent Planning. These results suggest that Family Finding has the potential to impact proximal outcomes related to discovery, engagement and planning but is currently not impacting more distal outcomes such as permanency and well-being. Family Finding approaches should continue to innovate, possibly through integration with psychosocial interventions, to affect more distal variables such as well-being outcomes.     

The ant and the grasshopper revisited: The present psychological benefits of saving and future oriented financial behaviors

This study examines the impact of saving and future-oriented financial behaviors on young adults’ well-being. Using two-timed longitudinal data (N = 748) collected both prior to and during the economic crisis, we tested and confirmed a psychological process model (i.e., financial attitude → behavioral intention → actual behavior → well-being), one that included parental norms, perceived behavioral control and financial planning horizon as antecedent factors. Our findings indicate that the more positive a young adult’s attitude toward financial behaviors, and the greater his/her perception of parental expectations, then the stronger will be this young adult’s intention to perform such behaviors. We found that behavioral intention at Time 1 contributed to actual financial behaviors at Time 2, which in turn was positively related to a young adult’s present sense of well-being. We also found that perceived behavioral control and financial planning horizon influenced both behavioral intention and actual behavior. Although perceived impact of the economic crisis moderated the link between past and present well-being, it did not affect the hierarchical flow of the model. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our study pertaining to consumer financial education.