The Black Unicorn Effect: Micro-daily Events and Satisfaction Decrease the COVID-19 Xenophobia, but Only for Those With Low Levels of Neuroticism.

Drawing on the behavioral concordance model and the trait activation theory, this study examined how and when daily micro-events influence COVID-19 xenophobic attitudes. First, we examined the mediating role of satisfaction, and then, tested the moderating role of neuroticism in the mediated relationship. Overall, 340 working adults volunteered to participate in this study. The findings revealed that (1) satisfaction mediated the negative relationship between daily micro-events and xenophobic attitudes and (2) neuroticism moderated this relationship such that xenophobic attitudes increased for neurotic individuals, even when their satisfaction increased. Our findings contribute to understanding the relationship between daily micro-events and COVID-19 xenophobia and provide empirical evidence for the combined effects of personality factors and affective factors on xenophobic attitudes. Furthermore, we evidence the existence of the black unicorn effect, that is, neurotic individuals tend to transpose their neurotic cognitions and emotions to xenophobic attitudes despite the uplifting and satisfying nature of positive events.

How daily positive affect increases students' mental health, in mandatory quarantine, through daily engagement: the moderating role of self-leadership.

The COVID-19 crisis has had significant impacts on mental health. Students are dealing with an uncertain context, not only due to COVID-19 but also because most of them have never been involved with the challenges of online school. The COVID-19 situation presents daily challenges that require students to respond adaptively. However, little is known about how students handle their daily emotions, in such challenging settings. Drawing on the broaden-and-built theory, we developed a multilevel model arguing that daily-positive affect would enhance daily engagement, and this would be positively related to students' end-of-the-day mental health. We also predict that the mediating path would be stronger for students with higher levels of self-leadership. To achieve the goals, we conducted a 5-day diary study (n = 64∗5 = 320). Results from multilevel modeling showed that positive emotions trigger academic engagement which, in turn, increases mental health, both at the within and between-person level. Results also demonstrated that self-leadership strengthened the positive mediating path, for students with higher levels of self-leadership. Positive affect appears to be a significant predictor of mental health in higher education settings. Moreover, developing self-leadership is an added value, that may be conceived as a personal resource, and may protect students from the uncertainty triggered by the COVID-19 crisis.

The Role of Dogs in the Relationship between Telework and Performance via Affect: A Moderated Moderated Mediation Analysis.

Although there is evidence that pets may help individuals facing significant daily stressors, and that they may enhance the well-being of their owners, little is known about the benefits of pets for job performance. Since the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, teleworking was a strategy implemented in many countries to reduce the virus widespread and to assure organizational productivity. Those who work from home and who own pets may work close to them. Based on the conservation of resources theory, this study aimed to analyze whether positive affect mediated the relationship between telecommuting and self-reported job performance and if psychological and physical closeness to the pet would moderate this relationship in such a way that it would be stronger for those who worked closer to their pet, and who were more emotionally attached to them. For this study, we collected data from 81 teleworkers who did not own pets, and from 320 teleworkers who owned pets. Both answered an online questionnaire. Findings: Results from the study showed the existence of significant differences between those who owned and who did not own pets regarding positive affect and performance, in which those who owned pets reported higher levels of positive affect and self-reported performance and perceived telework more positively. Moreover, positive affect mediated the relationship between telework and self-reported job performance. Furthermore, emotional and physical closeness moderated the mediating effect. This study contributes to a better understanding of the human-animal interaction and how pets can be a personal resource able to change their owners' affective experiences and job performance while they are working from home. The findings demonstrate that telework may be a suitable organizational strategy for pet-owners.

How is the life without unicorns? A within-individual study on the relationship between uncertainty and mental health indicators: The moderating role of neuroticism.

The pandemic crisis of COVID-19 led to higher levels of uncertainty for individuals. Mental health has been outlined as a major key research priority to support and inform interventions. This study aimed to examine whether uncertainty influenced negative affect which in turn, resulted in worst levels of mental health, during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, and test if neuroticism moderated the negative effect of uncertainty on mental health, via negative affect. To capture changes in daily uncertainty, negative affect and mental health, a daily design was adopted to test our model. We collected data through five consecutive days (N = 320), in the early "lockdown" stage of the pandemic. The multilevel results showed a significant mediation effect from daily uncertainty to daily mental health via daily negative affect. In addition, neuroticism moderated the mediated relationship, in such a way that the relationship between daily uncertainty on daily mental health, via daily negative affect was strengthened when neuroticism was higher. In sum, living without unicorns, or see the world though a black lens, is a factor that enhances the blackness of uncertainty.

Measurement Invariance of the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience Across 13 Countries.

The Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE) is widely used to measure emotional experiences, but not much is known about its cross-cultural utility. The present study evaluated the measurement invariance of the SPANE across adult samples (N = 12,635; age range = 18-85 years; 58.2% female) from 13 countries (China, Colombia, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Spain, Turkey, and the United States). Configural and partial scalar invariance of the SPANE were supported. Three items capturing specific negative emotions (sad, afraid, and angry) were found to be culturally noninvariant. Our findings suggest that the SPANE's positive emotion terms and general negative emotion terms (e.g., negative and unpleasant) might be more suitable for cross-cultural studies on emotions and well-being, whereas caution is needed when comparing countries using the SPANE's specific negative emotion items.