Towards Gender Harmony Dataset: Gender Beliefs and Gender Stereotypes in 62 Countries.

The Towards Gender Harmony (TGH) project began in September 2018 with over 160 scholars who formed an international consortium to collect data from 62 countries across six continents. Our overarching goal was to analyze contemporary perceptions of masculinity and femininity using quantitative and qualitative methods, marking a groundbreaking effort in social science research. The data collection took place between January 2018 and February 2020, and involved undergraduate students who completed a series of randomized scales and the data was collected through the SurveyMonkey or Qualtrics platforms, with paper surveys being used in rare cases. All the measures used in the project were translated into 22 languages. The dataset contains 33,313 observations and 286 variables, including contemporary measures of gendered self-views, attitudes, and stereotypes, as well as relevant demographic data. The TGH dataset, linked with accessible country-level data, provides valuable insights into the dynamics of gender relations worldwide, allowing for multilevel analyses and examination of how gendered self-views and attitudes are linked to behavioral intentions and demographic variables.

Somatic comorbidity and the progression of cognitive impairment.

Background: There are usually multiple factors underlying dementia in old age. Somatic comorbidity is one important element that influences the progression of cognitive impairment. Objective: The goal of this study was to assess the relationship between the progression of cognitive impairment and the presence and severity of comorbidities based on a four-year observation. Material: Out of 128 patients from the Clinic for Outpatients in Gdansk, who were recruited into the study based on the criteria of the Working Group on Mild Cognitive Impairment, a total of 93 participants completed the four-year observation. Only the data from participants who completed the full period of observations were analysed. The mean age of the group was M = 75.93 (SD = 9.43). The level of progression of cognitive impairment was measured using the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale - Sum of Boxes, the severity of comorbidities was measured using the modified Cumulative Illness Rating Scale, and, additionally, at the time of inclusion in the study, participants were assessed using the MMSE scale and the Activity Scale, and sociodemographic data were collected. The Generalized Estimating Equations method was employed to fit a marginal model for analyzing the data collected in a repeated measures design. The tested model elucidated the role of the overall severity of comorbidities in explaining the progression of cognitive impairment, while controlling for everyday activity and basic demographic variables. Results: During the four-year observation, a significant decline in cognitive function (B = 1.86, p < 0.01) was observed in the examined sample. The statistical analysis revealed that individuals with higher overall severity of comorbidities exhibited significantly more pronounced progression of cognitive impairment over time. Regarding particular comorbidities, metabolic diseases were found to be associated with a poorer prognosis (rho = 0.41, p < 0.05). Furthermore, a time physical activity interaction was identified as predicting cognitive impairment, indicating that individuals who were more physically active at the beginning of the study exhibited significantly less pronounced progression of cognitive impairment over the course of the 4 years. Conclusion: This study suggests the important roles of comorbidities and physical activity for the prognosis of mild cognitive impairment.

Psychological Functioning of Women Diagnosed with Lichen Planus and Other Diseases of the Oral Cavity-Explorative Study.

The role of psychosocial factors in the development of changes in lichen planus and other diseases of the oral cavity has been implicated, but is still understudied. Therefore, the aim of our study was to describe the specific profile of psychological functioning of patients with these diseases, including the role of temperamental traits, action-oriented personality components, and self-esteem. In total, 94 adult women participated in the study: (1) with lichen planus (LP; n = 46; Mage = 54.80, SD = 12.53), (2) with other oral conditions (n = 25; Mage = 34.76, SD = 16.03), (3) without chronic disease (n = 24; Mage = 40.96, SD = 13.33). The following questionnaires were used: ZKA-PQ/SF, Polish Adaptive and Maladaptive Perfectionism Questionnaire, ACS-90, PROCOS, and MSEI. Results indicated no significant differences in temperament dimensions between studied groups. However, women diagnosed with LP presented lower levels of maladaptive perfectionism and social support than healthy women. Furthermore, women with LP also obtained lower scores for social resourcefulness and higher scores for moral self-approval than healthy women. Summarizing, patients with LP often use compensatory mechanisms that negatively affect their social functioning; thus diagnostic/therapeutic programs directed towards those group should be holistic, including psychologists and psychiatrists who support patients' psychological well-being.

Heterogeneity of Cognitive Profiles in Children and Adolescents with Mild Intellectual Disability (MID).

Mild Intellectual Disability (MID) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood and is characterized by limitations in intellectual functioning (IQ = 55-69) and adaptive behavior that manifests in everyday living. In addition to these specific criteria, clinical practice shows that the population of children with MID has heterogeneous deficits in cognitive functioning. Thus, the aim of this study was to identify groups of homogenous cognitive profiles within a heterogeneous population of students with MID. The cognitive profiles of 16,411 participants with Mild Intellectual Disability were assessed based on their performance on the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales-Fifth Edition. Prior to the assessment, participants were divided into three age groups corresponding to the levels of the Polish education system: (1) 7;00-9;11, (2) 10;00-14;11, and (3) 15;00-18;11 years old. Using cluster analysis, we identified three distinct cognitive profiles (clusters) in each age group. These clusters differed from each other within and between each age group. Distinguishing cognitive profiles among children and adolescents with MID is important both in the context of diagnosis as well as the development of research-based interventions for these students.

A Measurement Invariance Investigation of the Polish Version of the Dual Filial-Piety Scale (DFPS-PL): Student-Employee and Gender Differences in Filial Beliefs.

Filial beliefs are defined as a cognitive script or even a contextualized personality construct for social exchanges, which shapes the attitudes of individuals. In the given study, we investigate the factorial structure of the Polish version of the Dual Filial Piety Scale (DFPS-PL) and verify whether measurement of filial piety is invariant among students and employees, and among men and women. Two studies were conducted on different age samples: 489 students aged 18-24 and 849 employees aged 25-64. In order to verify the hypotheses, the DFPS-PL was administered. As a result of confirmatory factor analyses (CFA), it has been demonstrated that the structure of filial piety measured by the DFPS-PL among students and employees, and men and women, could be interpreted as two-factorial, and that there is partial scalar measurement invariance for the tested model across these groups (MGCFA). The comparison of the average latent mean scores suggests that employees declare a lower level of AFP (Authoritarian Filial Piety; need of social belonging and collective identity) than students. There were no significant differences between students and employees when RFP (Reciprocal Filial Piety; need of interpersonal relatedness) was compared. In addition, the results showed that women score higher in RFP than men. The given findings are discussed in the context of values transition in non-Asian countries. The main contribution is to confirm the factorial structure of the DFPS-PL and introduce the novel Eastern concept of Filial Piety to Western culture.

Lack of control over work and organizational citizenship behavior: overwork climate as a suppressor variable.

BACKGROUND: This study investigates a suppressor effect in the relationship between lack of control over work and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Suppressor effects operate when the addition of a predictor (in our study it is an overwork climate) increases the predictive power of another variable (lack of control over work) in predicting an outcome variable (OCB). Suppressor effects can play a valuable role in explicating the meaning of examined variables by bringing into clearer focus opposing elements that are inherent - but largely hidden - in the measurement of these variables. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE: Data were collected through online questionnaires in a cross-sectional study. Using a sample of Polish employees (N = 580) we performed structural equation modelling (SEM) with robust maximum likelihood estimation to test our hypotheses. RESULTS: Confirming our hypothesis, we found that overwork climate, as a suppressor variable, in isolation is not correlated with OCB, but is strongly associated with lack of control over work, which is a significant predictor of OCB. CONCLUSIONS: In our study, we demonstrated that both lack of control over work and organizational citizenship behaviors encompass two dimensions simultaneously. The first, namely dedication to work (which they both share), constitutes the positive correlation between these two variables. The second dimension (which separates the two variables), which constitutes the negative correlation between them, is an attitude. Lack of control over work is rooted in the negative attitude and stems from the overwork climate, while organizational citizenship behaviors can be more widely associated with the positive attitude which generally stems from positive evaluation of the working environment.

The Implications of Filial Piety in Study Engagement and Study Satisfaction: A Polish-Vietnamese Comparison.

Even in psychological literature, which describes many determining variables related to the school domain, few studies have investigated the universal (i.e., etic) mechanism underlying parent-child relations, which is a prototype matrix for future student-teacher relations. The role of the imprinted schema of children's obligations toward parents seems to be crucial for school functioning in classroom society. The Dual Filial Piety Model (DFPM; Yeh, 2003) is comprised of two higher-order factors that correspond to the two focal filial piety attributes: reciprocal (need of interpersonal relatedness) and authoritarian (need of social belonging and national identity), which have been shown to have distinct implications on social adaptation and individuals' psychological functioning. In this study, we investigate the relationship between filial piety and student attitudes (study engagement and satisfaction) in a more individualistic and egalitarian culture (Poland, N = 310) and in a more collectivistic and hierarchical society (Vietnam, N = 297). The measurement invariances of three scales, i.e., the Vietnamese adaptation of DFP Scale, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-S9), and the Study Satisfaction Scale, were improved in the MLM analyses. Our results show that in more individualistic cultures, the RFP (reciprocal mode) is a stronger predictor of study engagement and study satisfaction; however, the AFP (authoritarian mode) is a better factor to predict study engagement in more collectivistic cultures. What is more, only RFP positively correlates with study satisfaction in individualistic culture. Our findings revealed that in different cultures, different aspects of filial piety should be emphasized by parents in the context of the future academic achievements of their children. The conclusion is that the prevention and intervention strategies or techniques intended for children with school problems should be culturally appropriate and addressed to the parents of kindergarten and later to very early-stage education teachers. The results of studies based on the DFPM may stimulate practical applications and policy development within the domain of success and failure in the academic environment.

Measurement invariance of the Belief in a Zero-Sum Game scale across 36 countries.

In this paper, we examined the psychometric properties of cross-cultural validation and replicability (i.e. measurement invariance) of the Belief in a Zero-Sum Game (BZSG) scale, measuring antagonistic belief about interpersonal relations over scarce resources. The factorial structure of the BZSG scale was investigated in student samples from 36 countries (N = 9907), using separate confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) for each country. The cross-cultural validation of the scale was based on multigroup confirmatory factor analyses (MGCFA). The results confirmed that the scale had a one-factor structure in all countries, in which configural and metric invariance between countries was confirmed. As a zero-sum belief about social relations perceived as antagonistic, BZSG is an important factor related to, for example, social and international relations, attitudes toward immigrants, or well-being. The paper proposes different uses of the BZSG scale for cross-cultural studies in different fields of psychology: social, political, or economic.

A test of construct isomorphism of the Belief in a Zero-Sum Game scale: A multilevel 43-nation study.

BACKGROUND: We examined the equivalence of the individual and the country-level factor structure of the Belief in a Zero-Sum Game (BZSG) scale, a tool designed to measure antagonistic beliefs about social relations (i.e., perceived social antagonism) in the struggle for limited resources. AIMS: In this article we focused on a test of construct isomorphism in a multilevel modeling approach. It was hypothesized that the BZSG measure satisfies all requirements for a strong level of configural isomorphism, and thus that it is useful to investigate BZSG at both the individual and the country levels. The relationships between the BZSG at a country level with other macro-socio-economic indicators were also investigated. METHOD: Multilevel confirmatory factor analysis (MCFA) was carried out on a cross-country sample composed of 11,368 participants from 43 different countries. We also used the country-level latent BZSG factor in each country as an indicator of a property that we attributed to a particular culture: cultural dimension (collectivism-individualism), macroeconomic indicators (GDP per capita and GNI per capita) and macrosocial indicators (Human Development Index and Democracy Index) describing societies. RESULTS: The results revealed an isomorphic factor structure of perceived social antagonism (measured by BZSG scale), defined in terms of the equivalence factor structure at the both individual and country levels. Furthermore, the relationship between the perceived social antagonism, gross national income per capita, and collectivism were confirmed. CONCLUSIONS: Our study supports the usefulness of the BZSG scale for cross-cultural comparison, in the case of its isomorphic structure. At the country level, antagonistic beliefs emerge in hierarchical collectivist societies with lower income. The main contribution of this article is the presentation of the test of construct isomorphism. We made an effort to present a full perspective on construct isomorphism putting together two different but very recent approaches.

A Warrior Society: Data From 30 Countries Show That Belief in a Zero-Sum Game Is Related to Military Expenditure and Low Civil Liberties.

The aim of this paper was to investigate the relationship between a perceived antagonistic view of social relations (as a struggle for limited resources), measured by the Belief in a Zero-Sum Game (BZSG) Scale, national military expenditure, and civil liberties. We used multi-level modeling to analyze data on 5,520 participants from 30 countries, testing the hypothesis that a country's level of militarization and civil liberties would be associated with its people's belief in a zero-sum game. We hypothesized that BZSG is more typical of countries that try to gain more resources or defend their interests and thus have high military expenditure but low civil liberties. The results confirmed the stated hypothesis and showed that a country's high military expenditure and low level of civil liberties correlates positively with citizens' BZSG. The use of multi-level modeling to account for within- and across-country variation is a main contribution of the study. In conclusion, the reported triad of individual beliefs, military expenditure, and civil liberties seems to be beneficial in linking individual-level data with national-level indices that have major importance for the wellbeing of the world.