The New Normal: Amotivation, Sense of Purpose, and Associated Factors Among College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This study examines differences in college students' responses to COVID-19-related stress over time, beginning in fall 2019 before the pandemic and continuing through fall 2022. A total of 957 students completed measures of motivation, sense of purpose, academic adjustment, grit, and COVID-related stress across 7 semesters. Results indicated that motivation stayed steady throughout much of the pandemic as compared to the fall 2019 semester, with the exception of the spring 2022 semester. Academic adjustment, grit, and sense of purpose all fluctuated during the pandemic. After the onset of COVID-19, students reported high levels of stress and reported that they were experiencing higher than usual levels of stress. However, as the pandemic continued, students continued to report high stress levels, but no longer reported that the stress was unusual. That is, over time, high levels of stress and anxiety related to COVID-19 became viewed as normal. This pattern of results suggests that the student response to the pandemic has differed over time and, since COVID-19 remains prevalent, highlights the need for colleges to continue to be prepared to address students' COVID-related adjustment and well-being.

Emotional lateralisation in the second year of life: evidence from oral asymmetries.

Oral asymmetries for positive and negative emotional expressions were studied in 41 infants, ranging in age from 12 to 24 months. Single-frame analysis of videotapes of each infant's mouth showed that the left side of the mouth opened wider than the right side during negative emotional expressions but a mirror-image effect was not found for the expression of positive emotion. In addition, this directional bias strengthened with age. These results are interpreted as reflecting lateralisation of negative emotional production to the right hemisphere in infants as young as 12 months of age, a developmental enhancement of right hemisphere control of negative emotional expression that is evident by 24 months of age, and an absence of lateralisation for positive emotional expression in infants between 12 and 24 months of age.

Evidence for an association between gender-role identity and a measure of executive function.

Two studies assessed the relation between gender role and executive function. In Study One (N = 234) analyses indicated that among college students executive function, assessed by the Coolidge and Griego scale, is related to masculine gender-role classification, measured by the Bem Sex-role Inventory. This relationship remained significant when biological sex was controlled. Further, factor analysis of the Bem Sex-role Inventory identified six components, three related to executive function. Two of these scales were associated with masculine characteristics, and the third was associated with the denial of several feminine items. Study Two (N = 53) further assessed the relationship among undergraduates through additional measures of executive functions and mood, in addition to the Bem Sex-role Inventory. In this study, executive functioning, as measured by the Coolidge and Griego scale, was again generally related to masculinity. Psychological well-being was not related to gender identity or executive functioning.