Academic Social Comparison and Depression in Chinese Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction

Downward social comparison positively promotes altruism: the multi-mediating roles of belief in a just world and general life satisfaction

Introduction

This study examined the underlying mechanism of the relationship between downward social comparison (DSC) and altruism through two conceptually important but rarely studied factors: belief in a just world (BJW) and general life satisfaction (GLS).

Methods

The study utilized a two-time-point design, spaced 2 months apart, with a sample of 1,764 college students from China. The study measured DSC, altruism, BJW, and GLS.

Results

The findings revealed a significant positive predictive effect of DSC on college students' altruism and belief in a just world (BJW). Notably, GLS emerged as a multi-mediating factor in this relationship. The study also revealed that both subscales of BJW, namely personal belief in a just world (PBJW) and general belief in a just world (GBJW), played distinct roles in the mediation model. PBJW exhibited a stronger mediating effect, suggesting that DSC can foster individual altruism and BJW. Particularly, BJW was identified as enhancing GLS, subsequently promoting altruistic behavior.

Conclusion

This study contributes to the existing literature on social comparison by shedding light on the relationship between DSC, altruism, and the mediating role of belief in a just world and GLS. The findings underscore the potential for promoting altruistic behavior among college students through interventions targeting beliefs in a just world, especially at the personal level, and enhancing GLS.

Exploring the differentiated relationship between body-, eating-, and exercise-related social comparisons and depressive symptoms among adolescents

BACKGROUND

The present study examined (i) the potential differentiated relationship between three forms of social comparison previously identified as particularly relevant within the context of eating disorders (EDs) (i.e., those related to body, eating, and exercise) and depressive symptomatology among adolescents, and (ii) whether this relationship may differ according to gender and ED risk status.

METHODS

A sample comprising 689 adolescents (46.15 % females) aged 12-19 years (M = 15.06, SD = 2.04) were recruited using non-probabilistic techniques from nine schools in southern Spain. Cross-sectional data derived from a self-report survey which included the variables of interest were analysed using the PROCESS macro for SPSS.

RESULTS

Bootstrapped regression/moderation analysis with 5000 resamples demonstrated two key sets of findings. Firstly, that having low self-esteem, being a girl, being at risk for ED, having social-physique anxiety, and social comparisons referring to body and exercise accounted for unique variance in depressive symptomatology. Secondly, the relationship between both eating-related and exercise-related comparisons and depressive symptomatology tended to be stronger in the group of females at risk for EDs.

LIMITATIONS

The study was mainly limited by the use of self-reported cross-sectional data.

CONCLUSIONS

Prevention and treatment efforts aimed at reducing depressive symptomatology among adolescents could benefit from incorporating content alluding to body comparison and, particularly in the case of females at risk for EDs, content alluding to eating and exercise comparisons.

Metacognitive beliefs and anxiety symptoms could serve as mediators between fear of missing out and gaming disorder in adolescents

Given the vulnerability to and prevalence of emotional problems and Internet gaming disorder (IGD) in adolescents, this study aimed to test the effects of fear of missing out (FoMO) on IGD and the mediating roles of metacognitive beliefs and anxiety symptoms based on the self-regulatory executive function (S-REF) model. At a Chinese high school, 283 participants (M_age = 16.89 years old; girls = 42.0%) with past-year gaming experience voluntarily completed an anonymous paper-and-pencil questionnaire. FoMO showed significant, positive associations with IGD, anxiety symptoms, and metacognitive beliefs. Results of path analysis showed a significant direct effect of FoMO on IGD, whereas anxiety symptoms mediated the relationship between FoMO and IGD. The indirect effects of FoMO on IGD via serial mediations of three negative metacognitive beliefs (i.e., negative beliefs about worry, low cognitive confidence, and beliefs regarding need for control) and anxiety symptoms were also statistically significant. These findings demonstrated that maladaptive metacognitive beliefs and anxiety are risk-enhancing mediators in the relationship between FoMO and IGD. Therefore, metacognitive therapy, particularly for regulating those three specific significant metacognitive beliefs, is recommended for treating IGD and anxiety, especially for those with higher levels of FoMO.

The stability of the twofold multidimensionality of academic self-concept: A study of Chinese secondary school students

Introduction

The present investigation examined the stability of the twofold multidimensional structure of academic self-concepts (ASCs) in three domains, namely Chinese, math, and general school using four-wave data collected over 2 years among 552 Chinese secondary school students.

Method

Adopting both a within-network and a between-network approach, confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) and factor correlations were performed in Mplus 8.2.

Results

The within-network results showed that CFA models wherein competence and affect dimensions were conflated generated unacceptable fit. In contrast, the CFAs in which competence and affect were modeled as separate latent factors consistently produced superior fit to the data. The between-network results demonstrated that in the Chinese and math domains and across the four-time waves, the competence components were more strongly related to the achievements in matching domains than the affect components were. Furthermore, both the competence and affect components of ASCs and achievements were positively correlated in the non-matching domains, which were somewhat contradictory to the internal/external frame of reference model predicting zero or negative relations.

Discussion

Such results seem to suggest more involvement in social comparison than in dimensional comparison of Chinese students, which might be attributed to the collectivistic Chinese culture and the common phenomenon of academic social comparisons among Chinese adolescents in schools.

Contextual predictors of internalizing and externalizing problems among adolescents from high-achieving private schools in Hong Kong

Emerging research suggests that adolescents at high-achieving schools (HAS) in Western societies are at elevated risk for problem behaviours. This cross-sectional study explored whether adolescents attending HAS in a non-Western setting show similar risk patterns and if contextual (school-, family-, and peer-based) factors typically associated with the excessive pressures to achieve predict these problems. Participants were 237 adolescents (14–18 years old), and one of their parents, who were recruited from high-achieving private schools in Hong Kong. The parent-child dyads completed questionnaires on youth internalizing and externalizing problems and perceived stressors. Multiple linear regressions were conducted to test whether academic demands, parent-related stressors, and social status among peers were associated with youth problem behaviours, after controlling for age and gender. The study found that nearly half of the female adolescents and over a third of the males met borderline-clinical levels (≥ 86%ile) of internalizing problems; moreover, more females than males met clinical criteria (≥ 98%ile) for self-reported externalizing problems and parent-reported internalizing problems. Academic demands, parent-related stressors, and social status among peers predicted youth-reported internalizing problems; and the latter two factors contributed parent-reported internalizing problems. However, only parent-related stressors significantly predicted youth- and parent-reported externalizing problems. The findings provide preliminary indication that HAS adolescents from Hong Kong may be an “at risk” group, highlighting the need for increased awareness and targeted interventions.

Influence of Teaching Styles on the Learning Academic Confidence of Teachers in Training

The objective of this research was to analyze the mediation of academic engagement and the satisfaction of basic needs between teaching styles and academic confidence amongst teachers during initial training. The research design was observational, descriptive, cross-sectional, and non-randomized. In total, 920 university students in initial teacher training participated (61.85% women) (M_age = 24.73; SD = 5.34). The scales of interpersonal teaching styles, the satisfaction of basic psychological needs, academic engagement, and academic confidence were used, and a structural equation analysis with latent variables was carried out. The results highlight the important mediating role played by the satisfaction of basic psychological needs between the autonomous support style and the academic confidence of the trainee teachers. This research also highlights the importance, both for teachers and researchers, of using an autonomous support style, as well as the creation of a context for encouraging the satisfaction of basic psychological needs, to promote academic confidence in initial teacher training programs at university.

How to Expand and Fill the Self in Organizations: The Role of Interpersonal Processes in the Employee Organizational Identity Construction

In the era of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity (VUCA), the fluidity of organizations and the variability of individual work gradually replace the traditional stability and continuity. The question of how to connect employees and organizations has long intrigued researchers and practitioners. Employee organizational identity is the stable force that binds employees to organizations. Drawing on social identity theory, we argue the role of interpersonal processes in the employee organizational identity construction. We suggest that an employee’s relationship-building behaviors can promote employee organizational identity through the connected self. The indirect effect is stronger for employees who make more social comparisons because they are more sensitive to social influence. We collected data through questionnaires of 333 employees using a two-wave research design in China. The results indicate that an employee’s relationship-building behaviors enhance employee organizational identity. The connected self fully mediates the positive relationship between relationship-building and employee organizational identity. The outcomes also show that the positive effect of relationship-building toward connected self is intensified, when an employee engages in more social comparisons. The findings imply that interpersonal processes play an important role in the employee organizational identity construction. Then, the theoretical and practical implications are discussed.