In recent years, researchers have begun to study the social consequences of conspiracy beliefs. However, little research has investigated the impact of conspiracy beliefs on interpersonal relationships. In this review, we draw attention to this issue by summarizing available empirical evidence and proposing potential social-psychological mechanisms to explain whether and why conspiracy theories affect interpersonal relationships. We firstly discuss that the attitude change that often accompanies the internalization of conspiracy beliefs might distance people’s opinions and, consequently, erode their relationships. Furthermore, we argue that the stigmatizing value of conspiracy theories can negatively affect the evaluation of conspiracy believers and discourage others from getting close to them. Finally, we consider that the misperception of social norms associated with the acceptance of certain conspiracy narratives can lead conspiracy believers to engage in non-normative behavior. Others are likely to perceive such behavior negatively, resulting in diminished interpersonal interaction. We highlight the need for further research to address these issues, as well as the potential factors that may prevent relationships being eroded by conspiracy beliefs.

Climate change mitigation depends on tracking public opinion across populations. Social scientists can collaborate with environmental organizations that conduct surveys among their audiences. We teamed up with the non-profit Milieudefensie, who surveyed Dutch attitudes towards climate change in 2019–2020. The large dataset had face-to-face (n = 3,102) and online interviews (n = 30,311) of urbanity, climate concern, policy preferences, interviewer-rated engagement with climate change, and behavior (whether the interviewee provided their email and phone number to the organization). To reveal the representativeness of these kinds of convenience samples, we tested whether attitudes and their associations with behaviors were similar to previous studies. Climate concern, preference for climate policy, and interviewer-rated engagement were high. In the online survey, 47% of respondents signed up for an email newsletter, and 7% provided their phone number. Higher climate concern and preference for climate policy predicted interviewer-rated engagement and behavior (weak to strong associations). Urbanity was not related to concern, policy preferences, or interviewer-rated engagement. Policy preferences did not differ between the face-to-face and online samples. The results provide convergent evidence to conventional online surveys. These Dutch residents appear slightly more engaged with systemic change to mitigate climate change than the general public.

Attitude strength (what makes attitudes durable and impactful) has become an important topic in the domain of social influence. We review three areas in which the traditional view of attitude strength has been modified or updated since the publication of Petty and Krosnick’s 1995 edited book on the topic. First, although it was widely assumed that there were different categories of strength variables (i.e., operative versus meta-cognitive), it may now be better to recognize that each strength property can be measured both structurally and subjectively and that each measure is useful. Second, although scholars assumed that virtually all persuasion techniques would work better on weaker than stronger attitudes, recent research suggests that some techniques might actually work better on stronger than weaker attitudes. Third, although stronger attitudes often guide behavior better than weaker ones, when strength is challenged or weak attitudes are threatening, people can be motivated to act to demonstrate or restore certainty. This can result in weaker attitudes leading to more extreme behavior.

Social psychology findings have fared poorly in multi-site replication attempts. This article considers and evaluates multiple factors that may contribute to such failures, other than the “crisis” assumption that most of the field’s published research is so badly flawed that it should be dismissed wholesale. Low engagement by participants may reduce replicability of some findings (while not affecting certain others). Incentives differ between original researchers and replicators. If multi-site replications are indeed biased toward failure, this may have a damaging effect on the field’s ability to build correct theories.

Even though psychosocial risks can affect the entire working population regardless of demographic variables, multiple publications claim that women are more exposed to psychosocial risks and that psychosocial risks affect people in a different way, depending on their age. This study aims to investigate demographic differences (i.e., sex and age) in health care workers, with an aim which is twofold: (i) To know if these geographic differences lead to differences in perception of psychosocial risks; and (ii) to identify the job demands and resources with the highest impact on work engagement and performance. A sample of 4,451 people from the sanitary sector, pertaining to 75 Spanish hospitals, was analyzed to test the hypotheses. ANOVA results demonstrated that women show significantly higher impact values in job demands than men, as well as higher values in job resources. Moreover, the group of younger people (< 40 years) showed significantly lower levels in demands, and significantly higher in job resources, wellbeing, and organizational outcomes. Finally, multi-group SEM analyses showed that the impact of job demands and resources on work engagement and performance is significant, regardless of sex and age, although there are changes in the coefficients. The differences in the perception of job demands and resources of the different demographic groups can be used to develop specific psychosocial intervention in health care workers.

School represents an important context for children’s social, moral, and identity development. Research indicates that supportive teacher-student relationships are significantly related to positive student academic achievement. Unfortunately, teacher bias as well as peer exclusion based on group identity (gender, race, ethnicity, and nationality) pervade many school contexts. The presence of these biases in the classroom is negatively related to students’ academic development, especially for children who are minoritized and marginalized. Very little research has connected teacher bias and children’s reasoning about bias and inequalities in the classroom context. The classroom is a complex environment in which to examine children’s social and moral reasoning about bias, given teachers’ position of authority which often includes power, status, and prestige. We propose that understanding both teacher bias and peer intergroup exclusion are essential for promoting more fair classrooms. This paper reviews foundational theory as well as the social reasoning developmental model as a framework for studying how children think about fairness and bias in the classroom context. We then discuss current research on children’s social-cognitive and moral capacities, particularly in the contexts of societal inequality and social inclusion or exclusion. Finally, this article proposes new directions for research to promote fairness and inclusivity in schools and suggests how these new lines of research might inform school-based interventions.

Likert items are often used in social and health sciences. However, the format is strongly affected by acquiescence and reversed items have traditionally been used to control this response bias, a controversial practice. This paper aims to examine how reversed items affect the psychometric properties of a scale. Different versions of the Grit-s scale were applied to an adult sample (N = 1,419). The versions of the scale had either all items in positive or negative forms, or a mix of positive and negative items. The psychometric properties of the different versions (item analysis, dimensionality and reliability) were analyzed. Both negative and positive versions demonstrated better functioning than mixed versions. However, the mean total scores did not vary, which is an example of how similar means could mask other significant differences. Therefore, we advise against using mixed scales, and consider the use of positive or negative versions preferable.

The focal article by Griep and colleagues raises some highly important issues and it is timely to further advance organizational behavior (OB) and work and organizational psychology (WOP). It comes at the right time because the last two decades can be characterized by two opposing trends. On the one hand, there have been exciting developments in statistical methods to appropriately model time in statistical analyses, while on the other hand, the vast majority of studies have not considered time in analyses, or have not done so appropriately. For the sake of brevity, I use ‘temporal design’ and ‘temporal analysis’ as umbrella terms. As Griep et al. succinctly claim, many opportunities for better temporal designs and temporal analyses have been missed and there is a strong need to do better in the future. In this commentary, I add to some of the important issues raised and call for changes in future research.

Recovery from alcohol use disorder involves achieving certain resources for positive lifestyle changes, well-being, and long-term abstinence. The present study aims to translate and validate the Assessment Capital Recovery (ARC) in a Spanish clinical sample of individuals with alcohol use disorder, in abstinence. The participants were 184 patients who attended outpatient treatments. They were evaluated with the adapted version of the ARC (Spanish abbreviation: “Valoración del Capital de Recuperación, VCR”) and by WHOQOL-BREF (quality of life scale), in one session. Statistical analysis included the calculation of reliability, convergent validity (relationship with WHOQOL-BREF), specificity and sensitivity, as well as validity based on internal structure (confirmatory factor analysis). VCR scores show appropriate values for reliability (α = .90), and a low convergent validity with WHOQOL-BREF (Rho = .33–.53). The VCR appears to distinguish between patients with early and stable sobriety (χ2 = 20.55, p < .01). The ROC curve indicates significant discrimination values (p < .05) for stable recovery (5 years of abstinence) and sensitivity of 85.2% and specificity of 71.2%. Further, confirmatory factor analysis suggests the presence of a single factor, with relatively acceptable values of goodness of fit and factor loadings. We used ULS parameter estimation to study VCR properties, an appropriate tool for assessing recovery in clinical populations of individuals with alcohol use disorder in abstinence.

The Dark Triad traits of Psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and Narcissism should be clearly recognizable within a multidimensional personality space. Two such personality spaces were investigated in this study: HEXACO (Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness to Experience); and the Zuckerman-Kuhlman-Aluja Personality Questionnaire (ZKA-PQ) space (Extraversion, Neuroticism, Activity, Sensation Seeking, and Aggressiveness). Our sample comprised 289 participants (137 males, 145 females, 7 unspecified) who completed these three questionnaires: HEXACO–60, ZKA-PQ/SF, and the SD3, assessing the Dark Triad. We reduced the dimensionality of each space to that of a 2D representation using Smallest Space Analysis (SSA). Three research questions guided the data analysis: (a) Do the HEXACO and ZKA-PQ SSA spaces conform to the structure of a radex? (b) Will these spaces remain invariant following the entry of the Dark Triad traits into the analyses? (c) Where will the Dark Triad traits be located in each SSA space? For ZKA-PQ space, the structure was clearly indicative of a radex, both prior to entering the Dark Triad traits into the analysis, and subsequent to this. Psychopathy and Machiavellianism were in close proximity in the Aggressiveness region; Narcissism was positioned at the common origin. In contrast, HEXACO space did not conform to a radex; furthermore, the presence of the Dark Triad traits distorts this 2D SSA space.

The prevalence of mental disorders continues to increase, especially with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although we have evidence-based psychological treatments to address these conditions, most people encounter some barriers to receiving this help (e.g., stigma, geographical or time limitations). Digital mental health interventions (e.g., Internet-based interventions, smartphone apps, mixed realities -virtual and augmented reality) provide an opportunity to improve accessibility to these treatments. This article summarizes the main contributions of the different types of digital mental health solutions. It analyzes their limitations (e.g., drop-out rates, lack of engagement, lack of personalization, lack of cultural adaptations) and showcases the latest sophisticated and innovative technological advances under the umbrella of precision medicine (e.g., digital phenotyping, chatbots, or conversational agents). Finally, future challenges related to the need for real world implementation of these interventions, the use of predictive methodology, and hybrid models of care in clinical practice, among others, are discussed.

Cyber dating violence is an emerging form of dating violence that may have serious health effects on adolescents and young people, and in recent years interest in its study has increased. In order to understand completely the nature and magnitude of the problem, a clear understanding of the concept, constructs and well-established measurement tools are needed. The goal of this study was to analyze the measurement instruments of cyber dating violence in adolescents and young adults, and to determine which are the best suitable to use. To accomplish these objectives a systematic review was carried out. After reviewing the literature, twenty-four measurement instruments were analyzed, with important differences found between them in terms, constructs, dimensions and measurement attributes, as well as differences in their assessed psychometric properties. Once the methodological quality evaluation of the instruments was carried out following COSMIN (COnsensus based Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instruments) guidelines, three scales were found to be recommendable depending on the age and cultural context of participants: Cyber Dating Abuse Questionnaire (Borrajo, Gámez-Guadix, Pereda, et al., 2015), Technology-facilitated Abuse in Relationships Scale (Brown & Hegarty, 2021), and Abuse in Teen Relationships (CARPA; Calvete et al., 2021).

The elaborated intrusion theory of desire proposes that craving is a cognitive motivational process involving intrusive thoughts. Changing the way we react to them, cognitive defusion (CD), should limit thought elaboration and craving. We induced chocolate craving in female chocolate cravers before CD (Study 1). A decrease in craving measured by a single-item scale, Visual Analogical Scale (VAS; p < .001, ηp2 = .449) and as a state, State Food Craving Questionnaire (FCQ-S; p = .029, ηp2 = .106) were found in the experimental group, while similar results were also found in group control. The reduction in craving (VAS) in group CD correlated negatively with chocolate consumption on a bogus taste test (r = –.439, p = .036), while the correlation was positive in the case of group control (r = .429, p = .047). Food craving as a trait, measured by the Trait Food Craving Questionnaire (FCQ-T), showed negative correlations with measures of CD and mindfulness skills (lowest r = –.313, p = .018). In Study 2 participants made use of a smartphone application implementing the CD procedure in real contexts whenever they experienced food craving. A corresponding decline in self-reported craving was found, as well as in consumption of the craved food (indulgence) compared with the control condition. Our findings indicate that CD may be a promising intervention for tackling the elaboration of intrusive thoughts and eating behavior in young female food cravers, both in a controlled laboratory environment after a cue-food exposure craving induction procedure, as well as responding to naturally occurring food cravings in real-life settings.

Abusive supervision impacts employees’ emotions negatively and creates feelings of shame and fear. But it remains unclear how daily employees’ positive and negative emotions are affected and if they can recover. Applying the affective event theory and job demands-resources model we hypothesized that daily abusive supervision influences employees’ positive and negative emotions fluctuation over the day, recovery after work, and employee emotions the next morning. Two daily surveys were answered by 52 Mexican employees for ten days providing 347 registers in the morning and 255 in the afternoon. Hierarchical linear modeling shows alteration of positive and negative emotions in the afternoon and next day, and a positive effect over recovery in relaxation, mastery and control restoring positive emotions. However, negative emotions cannot be recovered for the following day. Additionally, we found effects of predictive variables, as the days of the week go by, positive emotions in the afternoon and negative emotions in the morning decrease. Gender shows for men a more negative effect on positive emotions in the afternoon, next morning and on mastery-recovery. Marital status revealed effect over married individuals incrementing the four recovery dimensions, increasing positive emotions, and reducing negative emotions in the afternoon and next morning. Tenure has an effect over abusive supervision, the longer employees in the company, more likely they suffer abusive supervision. We show how employees restore positive emotions after daily recovery and that negative emotions cannot be recovered for the following day; revealing how abusive managers cause emotional damage to employees every day.

Repeated measurement designs have been growing in popularity in the fields of Organizational Behavior and Work and Organizational Psychology. This brings up questions regarding the appropriateness of time-lag choices and validity of justification used to make time-lag decisions in the current literature. We start by explaining how time-lag choices are typically made and explain issues associated with these approaches. Next, we provide some insights into how an optimal time-lag decision should be made and the importance of time-sensitive theory building in helping guide these decisions. Finally, we end with some brief suggestions as to how authors can move forward by urging them to explicitly address temporal dynamics in their research, and by advocating for descriptive studies with short time-lags, which are needed to uncover how the changes happen over time.

We explored post-traumatic growth (PTG) in older adults immediately after the forced lockdown in Spain during March to April, 2020, due to the COVID–19 pandemic. The study also tried to identify the variables that predict PTG, focusing on the experience of COVID, sociodemographic variables, and social resources. In total 1,009 people aged 55 years and older participated in the study and completed an online questionnaire comprising the following elements: The short form of the Post-traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI-SF), sociodemographic and social resources questions, and their experiences of COVID–19 (if they had been infected themselves or if they had experienced the loss of someone close). Results showed that only a quarter of the participants experienced higher PTG after the forced lockdown, with only age and social resources being correlated with scores on the PTGI-SF. Looking at the strengths that older adults put into action to combat the pandemic and its social and health consequences could be an important consideration when planning future social policies for this and other pandemics.

Analyze whether the content of three moral messages (deontological, ethical utilitarianism, ethical virtue) and a control message differentially affect the probability of engaging in four behaviors: Washing their hands, participating in public gatherings, staying at home/avoiding social contact, and forwarding the message to inform more people. In our study, the sender of the message is a university professor. These variables are measured in terms of their behavioral intentions and others’ behavioral intentions (beliefs about others’ behavior). Randomized Controlled Trial. Our study includes the analysis of the possible moderating effect of the country of residence (Spain n = 1,122, Chile n = 1,107, and Colombia n = 1,433). The message with content referring to ethical virtue and staying at home obtains statistically significant lower scores on the probability of carrying out public health behaviors and sharing the message received. Regarding beliefs about the behavior of others, the message of ethical virtue has the same negative effect, but only on the likelihood of other people washing their hands, staying at home, and sharing the public health message. Institutional messages aimed at promoting public health behaviors are necessary in a pandemic situation. Our recommendation is to use deontological and utilitarian, or non-moral, content.

In the study of human motivations, self-interest is often seen as a determining factor and opposed to other-interest. Recently a new conceptualization has been proposed in which both interests can occur at the same time. In order to measure these constructs, the Self-and Other-Interest Inventory (SOII; Gerbasi & Prentice, 2013) was created, which has one version for adults and one for students. Due to the absence of similar measurement instruments in Spain, the aim of this work is to adapt the SOII to Spanish university students. Several studies were conducted. First, the construct was analyzed through rational-analytical procedures. Second, the items were translated following an iterative forward-translation design. Finally, evidence of validity was obtained through analytical procedures. Specifically, two pilot studies were carried out in which two independent samples of Spanish students participated (N1 = 119; N2 = 165). In both studies descriptive analyzes of the items were performed, reliability was estimated and the factor structure of the SOII was explored from an exploratory factor analysis. The results showed adequate reliability and a two-factor solution consistent with the original.

The growing body of research on compassion has demonstrated its benefits for healthcare and wellbeing. However, there is no clear agreement about a definition for compassion, given the novelty of the research on this construct and its religious roots. The aim of this study is to analyze the mental semantic construction of compassion in Spanish-speaking women breast cancer survivors, and the effects of the Cognitively-Based Compassion Training (CBCT®) on the modification of this definition, compared to treatment-as-usual (TAU), at baseline, post-intervention, and six-month follow-up. Participants were 56 women breast cancer survivors from a randomized clinical trial. The Osgood’s Semantic Differential categories (evaluative, potency, and activity scales) were adapted to assess the semantic construction of compassion. At baseline, participants had an undefined idea about compassion. The CBCT influenced subjects’ semantic construction of what it means to be compassionate. Findings could lead to future investigations and compassion programs that adapt to a specific culture or population.