Psychology is categorised as a science by most higher education authorities internationally. As with many science, mathematics and engineering fields, women are underrepresented in psychology at senior levels (the ‘leaky pipeline’). However, it is men who are underrepresented within the discipline overall, meaning that the psychology workforce does not reflect the population it aims to serve. It is important to understand why fewer men are opting to enter the profession, beginning with their choices regarding higher education. The current study is one of the first to qualitatively examine the perceptions and motivations of adolescent and young adult men in post-primary education of the study of psychology at university undergraduate level. Twelve focus groups were conducted with young men (n = 64) studying AS or A2-Levels, between 16 and 18 years of age, in post-primary schools in a UK region, Northern Ireland (NI). Thematic analysis demonstrated that psychology was viewed in a gendered way as a ‘feminine’, ‘soft’ subject dealing with emotions, and was not perceived as an ‘objective’, ‘fact-based’ science. The lack of male role models in psychology was a barrier to young men pursuing psychology at university level. Young men, whether currently studying psychology at school or not, expressed gendered career expectations and motivations. There are opportunities for targeted efforts with young men to promote psychology as a science and a multi-faceted discipline. Findings will inform the efforts of those in post-primary and higher education level in making psychology inclusive in terms of gender and improving the diversity of psychology as a field.
Background: Despite the recognition of the impact of childhood psychological abuse, self-efficacy, and psychological resilience on cyberbullying, there is still a gap in understanding the specific mechanisms through which childhood psychological abuse impacts cyberbullying via self-efficacy and psychological resilience. Methods: Based on the Social Cognitive Theory, this study aims to investigate the link between childhood psychological abuse and cyberbullying in adolescents, mediated by the sequential roles of self-efficacy and psychological resilience. The sample consisted of 891 students (M = 15.40, SD = 1.698) selected from four public secondary schools in Jiangsu Province, Eastern China. All the participants filled in the structured self-report questionnaires on childhood psychological abuse, self-efficacy, psychological resilience, and cyberbullying. The data were analyzed using SPSS 24.0 and structural equation modeling (SEM) in AMOS 24.0. Results: The findings of this study are as follows: (1) Childhood psychological abuse is positively associated with adolescent cyberbullying; (2) Self-efficacy plays a mediating role between childhood psychological abuse and adolescent cyberbullying; (3) Psychological resilience plays a mediating role between childhood psychological abuse and adolescent cyberbullying; (4) Self-efficacy and psychological resilience play a chain mediation role between childhood psychological abuse and adolescent cyberbullying. Conclusion: This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the underlying mechanisms linking childhood psychological abuse to adolescent cyberbullying, shedding light on potential pathways for targeted interventions and support programs to promote the well-being of adolescents in the face of early adversity.
Psychological capital serves as a psychological asset facilitating personal growth and enhanced performance. It aids individuals in navigating life’s myriad challenges and adversities, promoting psychological well-being and adaptability. Despite the widely recognized importance of psychological capital in enhancing competitiveness and work performance, existing assessment tools, such as the PCQ-24 developed by Luthans et al. (2007), have not been adequately validated in the Chinese university student population. To explore the factor structure of the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ-24) developed by Luthans et al., the researchers employed Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), extracting factors with eigenvalues greater than 1. The results revealed a six-factor structure, which is inconsistent with the original four-factor structure of the PCQ-24 measurement tool. Therefore, Luthans’ psychological capital scale is not suitable for university students. Additionally, the indigenous scale developed by Chinese researchers Ke Jianglin et al (2009) is more suitable for organizational employees rather than university students. Hence, it is essential to revise and validate a psychological capital measurement tool appropriate for Chinese university students. To fill this gap, the researchers aimed to revise and validate a psychological capital scale suitable for Chinese university students based on the four structural dimensions proposed by Luthans et al. In this study, a large-scale survey of Chinese university students (N = 2780) was conducted, and SPSS 26.0 and AMOS 24.0 were used to statistically analyze the data and assess the psychometric properties of the Revised Mental Capital Scale. The results indicate that the revised psychological capital scale meets the psychometric requirements. The study concluded that the psychological capital scale revised and validated by the researcher can be used as an instrument to measure and assess the psychological capital of university students.
Background and purpose: Although sport psychology literature focuses on psychological skills use to promote proficiency, it is still puzzling that current research has focused on psychological skills use only during competition. There remains a scarcity of empirical evidence to support the timing, and content of psychological skill application during the time preceding competition. This study examined the extent to which psychological skills usage are dynamic or stable over a 7-day pre-competitive period and whether any natural learning experiences might have accounted for the acquisition of these skills across gender and skill level. Methods and results: Ninety elite and sub-elite table tennis players completed the Test of Performance Strategies (TOPS) at three different periods (7 days, 2 days, 1 hour) before competition. A MANOVA repeated measures with follow-up analyses revealed significant multivariate main effects for only skill level and time-to-competition with no interactions. Specifically, elite (international) athletes reported more usage than sub-elite (national) counterparts for self-talk, imagery and relaxation respectively. Time-to-competition effects showed imagery use decreased steadily across the three time points while reported usage of relaxation were almost at the same level on two time points (7 days and 1 hour) but decreased 2 days before competition. Conclusions: Findings suggest an implementation of formalized and periodized psychological skills training programs over continuous training cycles. This may foster a positive long-term athletes’ psychological state prior to the onset of competition.
Background: Nowadays, the contradiction between the rapid improvement of people’s material living standard and the loss of spiritual pursuit or the increase of pressure is becoming more and more serious.With the impact of the new corona-virus pandemic, the employment situation of college students is more severe. This leads to the growth of psychological problems and alienation behavior of college students. In the promoting positive psychology and enhancing the happiness of the whole people, the relationship between interpersonal relationship and subjective well-being of college students is an interesting and valuable research topic. Methods: The structural model with AMOS21.0 was used to verify the mediating effect of psychological capital between interpersonal relationship distress and SWB from the survey data of 673 college students. Results: The interpersonal distress has a negatively correlated with psychological capital and SWB, while psychological capital has a positively correlated with SWB. Psychological capital has Partial mediating effect between interpersonal distress and SWB, and the indirect effect accounts for 57% of the total effect. Conclusion: This study indicates that schools should pay attention to education and intervention in psychological capital, except for strengthening knowledge and skill training of college students in how to communicate with others.
In this technologically developed scenario, many organizations in developing countries including Pakistan have expanded the enthusiasm for understanding and creating an encouraging administrative and managerial environment. Numerous organizations are struggling for structural changes by deserting the old-fashioned organizational management style and implementing an empowering leadership where leaders give more authority to subordinates in decision making and responsibilities with the aim to increase organizational productivity. Therefore, the study examined the leadership empowering behaviour as a predictor of employees’ psychological well-being of the educational institutions at secondary level in Kohat Division, Pakistan. A total sample of 564 secondary school teachers (male n = 379; female n = 185) was carefully chosen through a stratified random sampling technique. In this study, a non-experimental predictive correlational design was adopted. In order to collect data from the participants, two different standardized research tools i.e., the Leader Empowering Behaviour Questionnaire and Ryff’s Psychological Well-being Scale were used. After the collection of data, it was analyzed on the basis of mean, standard deviation, Pearson’s product-moment correlation, and multiple linear regression model. In conclusion, the study confirmed a significant positive correlation between leadership empowering behaviour and employees’ psychological well-being. Leadership empowering behaviours predict employees’ psychological well-being positively. Therefore, it was recommended that empowering behaviour might be adopted by the school leaders to improve the employees’ psychological well-being for better organizational productivity.
Entertainment experiences have been conceptualized as hedonic (pleasurable) or eudaimonic (meaningful), mirroring the hedonic and eudaimonic components of psychological well-being. However, psychologists have proposed a third component of well-being: psychological richness, which is characterized by variety, novelty, and interest. In this paper we explore the role of psychological richness in film and television entertainment experiences. Two studies, an experience sampling study (n = 28) and a survey (students in the US, n = 247 and general population in Germany, n = 289) show the prevalence of experience of psychological richness during media use and its positive relationship with well-being. A replication with a different scale (n = 291) demonstrates that psychologically rich entertainment experiences may have been previously been conflated by some measures of eudaimonic entertainment. Incorporating psychologically rich entertainment experiences as a third addition to hedonic and eudaimonic experiences can increase the intervention potential of media used to enhance well-being.
The study intends to investigate the impact of servant leadership on pro-social rule-breaking directly and through the intervening mechanism of psychological safety. More, the study also plans to investigate whether compassion at work moderates the effect of servant leadership on psychological safety and pro-social rule-breaking and the indirect intervening effect of psychological safety between servant leadership and pro-social rule-breaking. Responses were collected from 273 frontline public servants in Pakistan. Using social information processing theory, the results revealed that servant leadership positively influences pro-social rule-breaking and psychological safety and that psychological safety influences pro-social rule-breaking. Results also revealed that psychological safety acts as an intervening mechanism in the relationship between servant leadership and pro-social rule-breaking. Moreover, compassion at work significantly moderates the relationships of servant leadership with psychological safety and pro-social rule-breaking, and that compassion at work ultimately alters the size of the intervening effect of psychological safety between the connection of servant leadership and pro-social rule-breaking.
This study examines the mediation effect of parental involvement and psychological Suzhi between the relationship of parent-child attachment and good behavior habits in Chinese children. The participants comprised 563 children from four Chinese kindergartens (4.41±0.96) whose parents reported measures of parent-child attachment, parental involvement, psychological Suzhi, and good behavior habits in their children. The results indicated that (1) Parental attachment, parental involvement and psychological Suzhi were positively correlated with good behavior habits of young children; (2) Parental involvement and psychological Suzhi mediated the relationship between parent-child attachment and good behavior habits in children separately; (3) Parent-child attachment indirectly affected children’s good behavior habits through the path of “parental involvement and psychological Suzhi.”
People living with HIV (PWH) have higher risks for negative experiences and emotions such as discrimination, self-blame, and denial, which make them vulnerable to mental health problems. Those living with HIV and are in the developmental stage of young adulthood (18–39 years) have added psychological challenges arising from the pressure to perform the developmental tasks of this stage, which may gratify or thwart basic psychological needs (BPNs) and impact their mental health. The study examined whether positive psychological attributes, including a belief in a just world (BJW) and psychological capital, could be resources for satisfying basic psychological needs, hence boosting the mental health of Young Adults Living with HIV (YALWH). A comparison sample of university students was also included in the study. The results show that BJW was positively directly associated with BPN satisfaction, BPN frustration, and mental health (flourishing aspect) in the student sample but not in the YALWH sample. Psychological capital was appositively associated with BPN satisfaction and flourishing in the student sample. On the other hand, psychological capital is only positively associated with BPN satisfaction and negatively with BPN frustration and distress in the YALWH sample. The serial medial analysis revealed that the effects of BJW on mental health (flourishing) are mediated by psychological capital and BPN satisfaction in both samples. On the other hand, the effects of BJW on distress are mediated by psychological capital and BPN frustration, again in both samples. Incorporating interventions for strengthening positive psychological attributes could be helpful for YALWH and other young adults to attain desirable developmental outcomes for this stage and their mental health.
Workplace bullying are prevalent among the nursing workforce. Consequences of workplace bullying include psychological stress and workplace accidents and injuries. Psychological hardiness is proposed as a buffer for workplace bullying and psychological stress on workplace accidents and injuries. This study adopted the Affective Events Theory and Conservation of Resources Theory to develop and test a moderated mediated model in two field studies. Study 1 (N = 286, Australian nurses) found support for the direct negative effect of workplace bullying on workplace accidents and injuries with psychological stress acting as the mediator. The mediation findings from Study 1 were replicated in Study 2 (N = 201, New Zealand nurses). In addition, Study 2 supplemented Study 1 by providing empirical support for using psychological hardiness as the buffer for the association between psychological stress and workplace accidents and injuries. This study offers theoretical and empirical insights into the research and practice on psychological hardiness for improving the psychological well-being of employees who faced workplace mistreatments.
In recent years, well-being research has expanded beyond traditional dimensions, recognizing that a fulfilling life may encompass more than happiness and meaning. We examined the unique contributions of a newly proposed dimension of well-being—psychological richness—to mental, social, and physical health outcomes alongside the established dimensions of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. We assessed well-being using validated scales that measure life satisfaction, meaning in life, and psychological richness and analyzed data from 11,041 participants. We evaluated health outcomes across mental, social, and physical dimensions using the Subjective Well-being Inventory. Our findings revealed that life satisfaction and meaning in life consistently enhanced health outcomes across most domains. However, psychological richness exhibited a more nuanced profile. Specifically, psychological richness was strongly correlated with positive mental and social health indicators, such as confidence in coping and perceived social support, but also uniquely linked to social isolation and perceived physical symptoms. These results suggest that psychological richness fosters cognitive resilience and social engagement despite potential physical health and social connectedness trade-offs. Notably, individuals high in psychological richness did not report heightened negative emotions, even when experiencing social isolation or physical discomfort, aligning this dimension with other forms of well-being. This study identified psychological richness as an essential addition to well-being models, offering fresh perspectives for tailored well-being interventions.
The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of psychological well-being on job performance among nurses and midwives in rural and urban hospitals in Ghana amidst COVID-19. The study adopted a purely quantitative approach, using the explanatory research design. Data were collected from 262 nurses and midwives in two selected hospitals in the Central Region of Ghana. The Structural Equation Modelling was used to analyze the data collected. The results revealed that the levels of psychological well-being and job performance were high in both hospitals amidst the pandemic. Further, it was observed that although psychological well- being had significant influence on job performance among the nurses and midwives in both rural and urban communities, the effect was more significant in the urban settlements. Given these findings, the study recommended that in order to effectively improve the job performance of nurses and midwives, management must adopt policies such as, flexible work arrangements, leave policy, and counselling services to support their psychological well-being.
As vocational undergraduate students in China face increasing challenges in the job market, understanding the factors that shape their employment expectations is crucial. Psychological capital is considered a key factor influencing students’ career outlooks. This study aims to examine the relationship between psychological capital (PC) and employment expectations (EE), while exploring the mediating roles of educational flow experience (EFE) and active coping style (ACS) in this relationship. Based on positive psychology and career development theories, a theoretical model was constructed to understand how psychological capital affects employment expectations through the chain mediation of educational flow experience and active coping style. A sample of 693 vocational undergraduate students (316 males and 377 females) from a university in Guangdong Province participated in the study. Participants completed the Psychological Capital Scale (PCS), the Career Expectation Scale (CES), the Educational Flow Experience Scale (EduFlow-2), and the Coping Style Scale (CSS). Results indicate that higher levels of psychological capital significantly predict stronger employment expectations. Moreover, educational flow experience and active coping style both serve as significant mediators in the relationship between psychological capital and employment expectations, with a chain mediation effect also observed. These findings provide valuable insights into the psychological processes that influence career expectations among vocational undergraduates, highlighting the importance of fostering psychological capital and creating supportive learning environments to improve students’ employability. The results offer practical implications for educators and policymakers, suggesting that vocational institutions should integrate strategies to enhance psychological capital, promote educational flow experiences, and support active coping styles to better prepare students for the labor market.
Background: Psychological symptoms are highly prevalent in patients with shoulder complaints. Psychological symptoms in patients with shoulder complaints might play a role in the aetiology, perceived disability and pain and clinical outcome of treatment. The aim of this study was to assess whether preoperative symptoms of distress, depression, anxiety and somatisation were associated with a change in function after shoulder surgery and postoperative patient perceived improvement of pain and function. In addition, the change of psychological symptoms after shoulder surgery was analyzed and the influence of postoperative symptoms of psychological disorders after surgery on the change in function after shoulder surgery and perceived postoperative improvement of pain and function. Methods and Findings: A prospective longitudinal cohort study was performed in a general teaching hospital. 315 consecutive patients planned for elective shoulder surgery were included. Outcome measures included change of Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) score and anchor questions about improvement in pain and function after surgery. Psychological symptoms were identified before and 12 months after surgery with the validated Four-Dimensional Symptom Questionnaire (4DSQ). Psychological symptoms were encountered in all the various shoulder diagnoses. Preoperative symptoms of psychological disorders persisted after surgery in 56% of patients, 10% of patients with no symptoms of psychological disorders before surgery developed new psychological symptoms. Preoperative symptoms of psychological disorders were not associated with the change of DASH score and perceived improvement of pain and function after shoulder surgery. Patients with symptoms of psychological disorders after surgery were less likely to improve on the DASH score. Postoperative symptoms of distress and depression were associated with worse perceived improvement of pain. Postoperative symptoms of distress, depression and somatisation were associated with worse perceived improvement of function. Conclusions: Preoperative symptoms of distress, depression, anxiety and somatisation were not associated with worse clinical outcome 12 months after shoulder surgery. Symptoms of psychological disorders before shoulder surgery persisted in 56% of patients after surgery. Postoperative symptoms of psychological disorders 12 months after shoulder surgery were strongly associated with worse clinical outcome.
Background: In context of COVID-19 as a collective trauma and the intense involvement of healthcare workers (HCWs) in the pandemic, perceived stress continues to have a tremendous impact on their psychological well-being. However, few studies have attempted to delineate the underlying mechanisms. This study examined whether COVID-19-related traumatic stress symptoms and mentalization act as mediators. Methods: A sample of HCWs (N = 2610) from 22 hospitals in Beijing, China participated in this cross-sectional investigation. Data on their perceived stress, psychological well-being, the impact of event, and reflective function during the COVID-19 pandemic were collected using self-report questionnaires. Different mediating models were tested. Results: COVID-19-related stress symptoms and mentalization independently mediate the association between perceived stress and psychological well-being. These two mediators also compose a serial mediation model. In particular, higher perceived stress inhibits the psychological well-being of HCWs through increased severity of traumatic stress symptoms, which in turn is associated with hypomentalizing. Conclusion: These findings shed light on the mechanisms underlying the relationship between perceived stress and psychological well-being in HCWs. We strongly recommend incorporating a mentalization framework with trauma-informed practice in prevention and intervention work with this population during this and future healthcare crisis.
Substance Use Disorder (SUD) is a major public health concern affecting an estimated 22.5 million individuals in the United States. The primary aim of this study was to characterize psychological pain in a cohort of patients participating in outpatient treatment for SUD. A secondary aim was to determine the relationships between pre-treatment assessments of psychological pain, depression, anxiety and hopelessness with treatment retention time and completion rates. Data was analyzed from 289 patients enrolled in an outpatient community drug treatment clinic in Southern California, U.S. A previously determined threshold score on the Mee-Bunney Psychological Pain Assessment Scale (MBP) was utilized to group patients into high and low-moderate scoring subgroups. The higher pain group scored higher on measures of anxiety, hopelessness and depression compared to those in the low-moderate pain group. Additionally, patients scoring in the higher psychological pain group exhibited reduced retention times in treatment and more than two-fold increased odds of dropout relative to patients with lower pre-treatment levels of psychological pain. Among all assessments, the correlation between psychological pain and treatment retention time was strongest. To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate that psychological pain is an important construct which correlates with relevant clinical outcomes in SUD. Furthermore, pre-treatment screening for psychological pain may help target higher-risk patients for clinical interventions aimed at improving treatment retention and completion rates.
Objective: To investigate the association between European medical students’ psychological safety in and experiences from their last supervised patient encounter. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional online survey among European medical students. Bivariable and multivariable linear regression was used to explore the associations between the dependent variable psychological safety and independent variables concerning students’ experiences from their last supervised patient encounter. Results: A total of 886 students from more than 25 countries participated. The variables most strongly associated with psychological safety were supervisor coaching and modelling behaviour, adjusted beta 0.4 (95%CI 0.3 to 0.5) and 0.1 (95%CI 0.1 to 0.2) per unit respectively on a one-to-five-point scale, and studying in Northern Europe, adjusted beta 0.4–0.5 compared to other regions. There was a weak negative association (reduced score on psychological safety) for being supervised by a medical doctor with <5 years’ experience and a positive association for student confidence. Student gender, student seniority, speciality, whether peers were present, number of previous encounters with the supervisor and supervisor articulation and exploration behaviour were not associated in multivariable analysis. Conclusion: Coaching might be a good primary focus to improve supervision practices, as participation with feedback is known to be beneficial for learning and coaching was strongly associated with psychological safety. Supervisors in western, eastern, and southern Europe might have to work harder to create psychological safety than their northern colleagues.
Introduction: With France one of the European countries most strongly affected by COVID-19 in the spring of 2020, French authorities imposed a nationwide lockdown for 8 weeks (March 17–May 10). This study explored the perception of the adult population about the need for—and access to—psychological support from health care professionals (HCP) in response to concerns about the psychological needs during lockdown. Material and method: This online cross-sectional survey of a representative sample of the adult general population of mainland France (N = 2,003) took place during the last four days of the French lockdown (May 7–10, 2020). Results: One in eight respondents (12.2%) perceived a need for psychological support from an HCP during the lockdown; most had symptoms of depression and/or anxiety of at least moderate intensity. Only a third (29.8%, 3.6% of the entire sample) actually obtained this support. Factors associated with this perceived need included: age under 35, economic difficulties due to lockdown, pre-lockdown use of psychological support, infection with COVID-19, serious worries about becoming infected, and heavy media use to obtain information about the disease. Among those who perceived a need for psychological support, the elderly were the most likely not to consult an HCP. People aged 35–64, those with high income, and those seriously worried about developing COVID-19 were the most likely to forgo seeking access to care because of their fear of infection by the coronavirus-2019. Conclusion: The perceived need for psychological support from an HCP and access to it appeared to be strongly associated with COVID-19 exposure factor. More research about this association is needed to improve the health authorities’ understanding of the population’s psychological needs in this situation and to enhance HCPs’ abilities to meet them. In particular, further research of its specific impact on youth is necessary.
This research is proposed to determine factors affecting organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), tested on counselors, totaling 156 respondents. This study applied three waves in data collection with an interval of 30 days and a multigroup analysis to validate OCB. The analysis technique used is the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) method using the IBM SPSS AMOS v26. The results showed that transformational leadership and psychological capital could, directly and indirectly, influence OCB and substantially affect work engagement as the mediator. Furthermore, male counselors with OCB were more dominantly influenced by work engagement, whereas female counselors were by transformational leadership. The results of this study can be used as a basis for policy recommendations by organizational management, especially organizations in the public service. This research has strengthened the empirical foundation on voluntary extra-role behavior and initiatives that can improve organizational effectiveness. This behavior can be manifested by strengthening psychological capital, transformational leadership, and work engagement.
Mental health is a major public health issue that affects social development. This study aims to explore the psychological state of residents of Hainan Island and its influencing factors during the COVID-19 pandemic and to provide a scientific basis for the formulation of psychological counseling measures to be used after the pandemic. We used the nonprobability snowball sampling method to conduct an online survey from February 21 to February 28, 2020, and collected a sample of 533 respondents. Using a binary logistic regression model and network analysis, the psychological state of residents and the main factors were analyzed during the concentrated outbreak of COVID-19 (from January 20 to February 16, 2020). The study found that during the pandemic, 92.7% of the respondents were in a poor state of mind, and 54.2% experienced severe psychological stress. The mental state is spatially expressed as a pattern of “high in the middle and low in the surroundings.” Second, within the four-week sample, the overall psychological tension showed an inverted U-shaped trend. Respondents feeling stressed were most common in the second week, when they accounted for 87.99% of the total. Third, individual characteristics such as gender, age, fixed expenditure, and family size significantly affect the mental state. Women, the elderly, residents with fixed expenditures, and residents with large families are at greater risk of psychological stress. Finally, external factors such as the distance between residents and the location of cases and the node degree of the pandemic transmission network have a significant impact on the psychological state. However, residents in the least developed areas of Hainan Island, which are far away from active cases and have a low node degree, are more prone to psychological pressure. The government needs to pay special attention to these groups when constructing a long-term mechanism of psychological crisis intervention and increase public health resource investment in underdeveloped areas.