Search

In 2020 a petition from students and recent graduates of dance/movement therapy (DMT) programs was sent to the Board of Directors of the American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA). This petition brought forward concerns and critical questioning of movement observation frames, including a desire to bring a critical and anti-oppressive lens to the access of all bodies within larger psychological theories, DMT theories, and movement observation systems. The petition included a request for a "true" and "comprehensive" history of Rudolf Laban. The Education Committee of the ADTA charged one of three working groups to examine Laban's history. This paper is the culmination of the history working groups' exploration. It focuses on how histories are constructed and raises questions about the truth and comprehensiveness of any single account. It is divided into two sections. Laban's controversial period in Germany (1919–1937) is highlighted first with a comparison of the historical narratives constructed by different scholars. The second part briefly describes the last two decades of Laban's life (1938–1958) when he expanded his work outside of dance. It follows that no single story, including the ones constructed by this committee, can claim to be "true" and "comprehensive" histories. This history working group recommends integrating a full history of Laban in the teaching of dance therapy courses, engaging in intentional discussions about the cultural limitations of the system due to how it was developed, integrating and encouraging research by non-European dance therapists, and purposefully encouraging and sustaining diverse student bodies to continue the diversification of the DMT field. Decentering characteristics of the dominant culture will not be a quick fix, but a journey which requires the acknowledgement of Laban's contributions to the discipline, while holding him accountable for his choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the great emphasis organizations and human resource management (HRM) research place on turnover issues, one turnover phenomenon has received only limited attention so far: joint leader–member turnover. This research examines supervisor‐initiated turnover (SIT) (i.e., employees' decision to quit their employer to follow a former supervisor to a new organization) and develops a comprehensive model of the SIT decision process, grounded on conservation of resources (COR) theory, that delineates the resource evaluation, conservation and investment deliberations of employees. We take a relational perspective and particularly focus on the leader–member relationship as an important antecedent of SIT and thereby respond to the call for more critical investigations of leader–member exchange (LMX) and corresponding HRM implications. Our three studies (survey, scenario experiment, and dyadic interview study) demonstrate that LMX positively affects SIT intentions (SITI) and that supervisor commitment represents an important mediating mechanism of the LMX–SITI relationship. Our interview study with 46 leader–member dyads identifies relational factors that promote or hinder SIT beyond the leader–member relationship. We discuss the theoretical contributions and practical implications for HRM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This cross-sectional, case-control study aimed to explore the psychodynamic characteristics that influenced adolescents' mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Personality structure impairments, psychodynamic conflicts, defense styles, and mental health issues were examined using the OPD-Structure- and Conflict-Questionnaires, the Defense Style Questionnaire, and the Patient Health Questionnaire in adolescents before (n = 288) and after (n = 451) the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. Results: Adolescents with mental health issues exhibited greater impairments in personality structure, more immature defense styles, and higher levels of psychodynamic conflicts both before and after the pandemic onset. Comparisons between pre-pandemic and pandemic samples indicated a lower level of the conflict of taking care of oneself versus being cared for in passive mode among adolescents during the pandemic. In-depth analysis of adolescents with mental health issues from the pandemic group revealed significant associations between personality structure impairments and a maladaptive defense style with somatoform, depressive, anxiety, eating, and alcohol use disorders. Conclusion: The findings provide clinically relevant insights into the psychodynamic factors that contributed to the psychological vulnerability of adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic. These insights can guide the development of targeted psychodynamic interventions to support adolescents' mental health in similar future crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic plunged economies into recessions and advancements in artificial intelligence create widespread automation of job tasks. A debate around how to address these challenges has moved the introduction of a universal basic income (UBI) center stage. However, existing UBI research mainly focuses on economic aspects and normative arguments but lacks an individual perspective that goes beyond examining the association between socio-demographic characteristics and UBI support. We add to this literature by investigating not only socio-demographic but also psychological predictors of UBI acceptance in a multivariate analysis using a representative sample of the German working population collected in 2020 (N = 1986). Our results indicate that being more supportive of a UBI went along with being comparably younger, of East-German origin, and more in favor of equal living standards, as well as perceiving one's economic situation to be worse and the threat of the corona-pandemic to be higher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reflecting team is a structured and guided method for peer collaborative reflection on critical incidents in teaching. The present evaluation study combining quantitative and qualitative data investigates the perceived usefulness and central insights associated with the participation in a reflecting team session. This method was implemented among three groups of teachers in Germany: student teachers, school teachers, and higher education teachers. All three groups reported high levels of perceived usefulness of the method and provided insights into their central experiences in connection with the reflecting team. Differences between the three groups in terms of perceived usefulness and central insights of peer reflection stem from participants' distinct organizational and educational contexts and show various ways of how teachers can derive benefits from the reflecting team method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over recent years, several publications have drawn attention to the fact that mainstream psychology has neglected cross-temporal variability and the historicity of the human psyche. One of the early proponents of a historical perspective on psychological matters is German psychologist Gerd Jüttemann. Despite his pioneer work and his continued publication efforts from the 1980s until today, his ideas have largely been ignored by the academic discourse, both inside and outside Germany. The question is: Why? Based on a brief overview of his writings, this article argues that it was not (only) a result of Jüttemann being at odds with the zeitgeist, but was also caused by conceptual problems as well as practical obstacles. Understanding why historical psychology remained at the brink of the academic discipline can help contemporary scholars to develop a perspective on the historicity of the human psyche that has a better chance to be heard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The data presented here contain information on cheating behavior from experiments and general self-reported attitudes related to honesty-related social norms and trust, together with individual-level demographic variables. Our sample included 493 university students in five countries, namely, Germany, Vietnam, Taiwan, China, and Japan. The experiment was monetarily incentivized based on the performance on a matrix task. The participants also answered a survey questionnaire. The dataset is valuable for academic researchers in sociology, psychology, and economics who are interested in honesty, norms, and cultural differences. Dataset: https://data.mendeley.com/datasets/fpp33zgds7/1. Dataset License: CC BY 4.0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mental models that individual scholars have of science communication – how it works, what it is supposed to achieve and so on – shape the way these academics actually communicate to the public. But these mental models, and their prevalence among scholars, have rarely been analysed. Drawing on a large-scale, representative web survey of academics at universities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (n = 15,778) from 2020, we identify three mental models that are prevalent among scholars, and that correspond to conceptual models found in science communication theory: 'Public Understanding of Science', 'Public Engagement with Science' and 'Strategic Science Communication'. The results suggest that the 'Strategic Science Communication' model is particularly prevalent among academics in precarious employment and female scholars. Extrinsically motivated academics, that is, those under pressure to win grants, also seem to use science communication more strategically. The 'Public Engagement' model is prevalent among older and female scholars, while 'Public Understanding' is particularly prevalent among scholars who find their work especially meaningful. Findings also reveal that academics' mental models largely align with the way they practice science communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of the study is to investigate the relationship between the HEXACO personality model and Disintegration—representing a broad spectrum of psychotic‐like experiences and behavioral tendencies (Perceptual Distortions, General Executive/Cognitive Impairment, Enhanced Awareness, Paranoia, Mania, Flattened Affect, Apathy/Depression, Somatoform Dysregulation, and Magical Thinking) that are reconceptualized as a personality trait. In this preregistered study, we predicted that the Disintegration factor would separate from HEXACO. The replicability of the factorial structures of HEXACO and Disintegration subcomponents is investigated across the three national samples (UK, Germany, and Serbia), matched on key socio‐demographic variables. Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM) is used to study the invariance of the hypothesized seven‐factor structure (six HEXACO plus Disintegration). Support for the metric invariance of the seven‐factor structure based on HEXACO and Disintegration subcomponents/facets across the three nations was found. The Disintegration factor lied outside the HEXACO personality space with each of its nine subcomponents. The Disintegration factor appeared to be among the most coherent and replicable of the seven across the samples and units of measurement (facets and items). A broad spectrum of psychotic‐like experiences/behavioral tendencies relevant in understanding and explaining many aspects of everyday and long‐term (mal)adaptations is not captured by the HEXACO model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Internal–External Locus of Control Short Scale–4 (IE-4) measures two dimensions of the personality trait locus of control with two items each. IE-4 was originally developed and validated in German and later translated into English. In the present study, we assessed the psychometric properties (i.e., objectivity, reliability, validity) of the English-language IE-4, compared these psychometric properties with those of the German-language source version, and tested measurement invariance across both language versions. Using heterogeneous quota samples from the UK and Germany, we find that the English-language adaptation has satisfactory reliability and plausible correlations with 11 external variables (e.g., general self-efficacy, self-esteem, impulsive behavior, Emotional Stability), which are comparable with those of the German-language source version. Moreover, metric measurement invariance of the scale holds when comparing the UK and Germany, implying the comparability of correlations based on the latent factors across the two nations. As an ultra-short scale (completion time < 30 s), IE-4 lends itself particularly to the assessment of locus of control in survey contexts in which assessment time or questionnaire space are limited. It can be applied in a variety of research disciplines, such as psychology, sociology, or economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of psychology, in particular applied psychology, does not take place in a social or political vacuum. Universities and research institutes depend on public funding. In times of war, economic resources are scarce, and the government and industry may redirect resources to endeavors they consider to serve their goals. We demonstrate this in an exemplary fashion for the history of the psychology of testimony during WWII in Germany and the involvement of psychiatrists during the Civil War in Spain. While industrial and military psychology increased in importance during WWII in Germany, basic experimental research and expert testimony before court declined. Several prominent Jewish researchers were expelled from their jobs and fled the country. In Spain, during the Civil War and the Franco regime, some psychologists and psychiatrists, influenced by German colleagues, engaged in diagnosing political dissidents in concentration camps. After the war, research on eyewitness testimony was practically absent until the 1970s, when the discipline experienced a renaissance through the influence of theories and research from English speaking countries. On the other hand, expert psychological testimony, mostly in cases of (child) sexual abuse, became widely established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on education generally find that higher education has a positive impact on various aspects of life. Nevertheless, studies focused on elderly people and their psychosocial health and development seldom view higher education as an important factor. Our aim was to explore the relation between higher education and ego integrity, a measure based on Erikson's concept of psychological maturity in later life. We used four national samples of non-institutionalized elderly people from Cameroon (N = 238), China (N = 254), Czech Republic (N = 167), and Germany (N = 240). Relationships between ego integrity and several possible moderator variables were tested by multivariate regressions in each sample. Between-subject ANOVA was employed to test differences in ego integrity between university educated and non-university educated people. We found that ego integrity is affected by culture in interaction with gender and the level of education attained. University-educated people reported higher ego integrity than persons with lower education in three of four cultural samples, which suggests a relatively stable relationship between university education and ego integrity when controlling for gender, age, and working status. These findings highlight the importance of education in late adulthood. In terms of policies and practice, they underscore the importance of reduction of educational inequalities as well as desirability of improved access to higher education, expansion of opportunities for the achievement of complete education in later life, and facilitation and support of lifelong learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]