Hellenic Journal of Psychology

Constantine Sedikides
University of Southampton, UK

Abstract (Summary):

The self-enhancement and self-protection motives (which respectively elevate or protect the positivity of the self-concept) are powerful determinants of social thinking and behaving. These motives are more prevalent than the self-assessment motive (which contributes to an accurate self-concept) or the self-verification motive (which works to confirm the self-concept). Moreover, the self-enhancement and self-protection motives are pancultural, as they are pervasive and influential in both Western and Eastern culture. Finally, these motives serve crucial mental health functions that are evident across cultures.

Keywords: Psychological adjustment, Self-evaluation, Self-motives, Self-perception.

Address: Constantine Sedikides, Center for Research on Self and Identity, School of Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK. E-mail: cs2@soton.ac.uk

Konstantinos Kafetsios
University of Crete, Rethymno, Greece

Abstract (Summary):

The research presented in this paper examined the relationships between work-family conflict (WFC), affect at work, and gender and tested whether positive and negative affect mediate WFC effects on job satisfaction and psychological distress in and outside the work settings. Study 1 involved 365 married teachers in the public education sector and Study 2 involved 166 married employees in the private sector. Participants completed measures of work-family conflict, positive and negative affect at work, job satisfaction, and psychological distress at work (Study 1 only) and generally. As expected, WFC was associated with lower levels of positive affect and job satisfaction and higher levels of negative affect and also psychological distress in and outside work. Results from hierarchical regression analyses and mediation tests showed that affect at work mediated effects of WFC on job satisfaction and psychological distress in and outside the work environment. Women reported higher levels of overall WFC and family to work conflict in particular but there was no evidence for differential effects of WFC between men and women. These findings point to the role of affect as an important aspect of the work experience and for understanding the effects of family- and work-role conflict in work outcomes and psychological distress.

Keywords: Affect at work, Gender differences, Work-family conflict.

Address: Konstantinos Kafetsios, Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, University of Crete, 741 00 Rethymno, Greece. Phone: +30-28310-77534. Fax: +30-28310-77534. Email: k.kafetsios@psy.soc.uoc.gr

Plousia Misailidi
University of Ioannina, Greece

Abstract (Summary):

The present study examined the hypothesis that children’s understanding of display rules is associated with their ability to attribute second-order intentions. Seventy two 4- to 6-year-old children participated in the study. Children completed a task measuring their ability to understand prosocial and self-protective display rules as well as a task that assessed their ability to attribute second-order intentions to others. Results showed that performance on the display-rule task and on the second-order intention task improved significantly over the age range examined. Children who demonstrated a capacity to attribute second-order intentions to others were better at predicting prosocial and self-protective display rules than children who did not have this capacity. In contrast, children who failed the second-order intention task tended to fail the display-rule task. These results suggest that second-order reasoning about others’ intentions is fundamental to children’s understanding of display rules.

Keywords: Display rules, Second-order intention, Theory of mind.

Address: Plousia Misailidi, Department of Primary Education, University of Ioannina, 451 10 Ioannina, Greece. E-mail: pmisaili@cc.uoi.gr

Symeon P. Vlachopoulos
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

Abstract (Summary):

The Basic Psychological Needs in Exercise Scale (BPNES; Vlachopoulos & Michailidou, 2006) is a domain-specific self-report instrument designed to assess the extent to which the needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness are fulfilled in exercise. The structural and predictive validity of BPNES responses were evaluated among community exercise program participants together with the extent to which the responses were measurement invariant across the community and the private fitness contexts. A sample of 851 participants attending community exercise programs and two samples totaling 1012 participants attending private fitness centers were used. The results supported the hypothesized dimensionality, internal consistency, and predictive validity of the BPNES among community-program exercise participants, as well as the partial metric invariance, partial measurement error invariance and partial scalar invariance of BPNES responses across the exercise contexts.

Keywords: Generalizability, Measurement invariance, Self-determination theory.

Address: Symeon Vlachopoulos, Department of Physical Education and Sport Science at Serres, Laboratory of Social Research on Physical Activity, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Agios Ioannis, 621 10 Serres, Greece. Phone: +30-2310-991045. Fax: +30-2310-991045. E-mail: vlachop@phed-sr.auth.gr

Vassileios Gioultsis
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

Abstract (Summary):

Quality of life, in the sense of an institutional field being progressively improved and still known as a common good, constitutes a cultural demand and mainly a universal expectation. This characterization of the expectation inevitably introduces the element of the intersocial perspective through which collective evaluation, claim and final choice are revealed. In these processes the social being is also involved along with a lot of claim and justice presuppositions, something that causes inevitable dialectical oppositions or even conflicts. In other words, me and the other claim the quality of life although in the demand of it scales are created, which finally seem to put first the individual or collective ego against the individual or collective other. The meaning of the other as an extra-individual other being is generally the object of study of the social sciences. In this case, the other can be the friend, the enemy or the competitor, the relative, the familiar, the unknown or the stranger. This multiple meaning is revealed in a typology of relations which is expressed in different kinds of distances, scaled from the familiar nearness to the hostile enmity. This means that the other is objectively getting away from the ego or the other and is considered neutrally or indifferently with the intention of being placed near or far away. Under such presuppositions, theories concerning the different participation of people in the quality of life appeared. The racial theories, the state systems of discrimination, the programs of embodiment, the policies of apartheid, the position of the Western World towards the countries of the Third World, and the methods which impose separating measures in the participation of the cultural goods constitute vociferous cases of the dialectical distance of ego and the other regarding quality of life.

Keywords: Biological theories, Culture, Quality of life, Racism.

Address: Vassileios Gioultsis, Faculty of Theology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 541 24 Thessaloniki, Greece.

*Published in Greek.

Styliani N. Tsesmeli & Philip H. K. Seymour
University of the Aegean, Rhodes, Greece & Univers

Abstract (Summary):

The study aimed at determining the effects that instruction based on the morphological structure of derived words had on the spelling performance of a group of 9 dyslexic students (aged 13+ years). The group of the dyslexic students was compared to two control groups of nondyslexic students, who were matched to the dyslexic ones in terms of chronological and reading age, respectively. The intervention enhanced spelling performance of the dyslexic students. Their performance was comparable to that of the reading-age control group and remained stable for two months after the intervention. There was also generalisation of learning to untrained words, analogous in terms of morphological structure. The results suggest that training of morphological awareness would be of benefit to dyslexic students and could be used efficiently to counterbalance their severe phonological deficiencies.

Keywords: Derivational morphology, Dyslexia, Spelling.

Address: Styliani Ν. Τsesmeli, Department of Education, University of the Aegean, 85100 Rhodes, Greece. Phone: +30-22410-99210, Fax: +30-22410-99244, E-mail: stsesmeli@rhodes.aegean.gr

Philip H. K. Seymour, Department of Psychology, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HN, Scotland, UK. Tel.: +44-1382-344614. Fax: +44-1382-229993. E-mail: p.h.k.seymour@dundee.ac.uk

*Published in Greek

Maria Kavussanu
University of Birmingham, UK

Abstract (Summary):

This study examined the main and interactive effects of goal orientations on global self-esteem and physical self-worth in 160 students recruited from a secondary school. The mediating role of perceived sports competence in the relationship between goal orientations and physical self-worth was also investigated. Students participating in Physical Education lessons completed questionnaires measuring task and ego orientations, global self-esteem, physical self-worth, and sports competence. Results indicated that both task and ego orientations positively predicted global self-esteem and physical self-worth; a significant interaction was also revealed between the two goals indicating that the highest levels of physical self-worth were reported by those who were high on both task and ego orientation. The main effects of task and ego orientations were fully mediated by perceived sports competence, while their interaction effect was only partially mediated by this construct. In conclusion, achievement goal orientations have important implications for both global self-esteem and physical self-worth.

Keywords: Global self-esteem, Goal orientations, Physical self-worth.

Acknowledgement: The author would like to thank Sarah Manser for her assistance with data collection.

Address: Maria Kavussanu, School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK. E-mail: M.Kavussanu@bham.ac.uk

Georgios D. Sideridis
University of Crete, Rethimno, Greece

Abstract (Summary):

Three studies were conducted to examine the hypothesis that differences between students with and without learning difficulties in motivation can be accounted for by their goal orientations. In Study 1, participants were 308 typical students and 68 students with learning difficulties. Goal orientations, motivation, and self-regulation in mathematics were assessed through self-report questionnaires using scales with satisfactory reliability. Results indicated that there were significant differences between students with and without learning difficulties across all variables. The predictive role of goal orientations was examined using analyses of covariance indicating that, after controlling for the variability due to goal orientations, the between group differences regarding students’ efforts, goal commitment and motivational force, diminished. Study 2 replicated the findings of Study 1, with a sample of typical students (n = 66) and students with learning difficulties (n = 30), regarding motivational force only. In Study 3, 38 typical students and 33 students with learning difficulties were selected using stratified random procedures. Results once again pointed to significant mean adjustments due to the contribution of goal orientations on self-regulation, motivational force, goal commitment and effort in mathematics. It is concluded that goal-orientations account for significant amounts of the variability of motivation and self-regulation variables that are instrumental for achievement purposes.

Keywords: Goal orientations, Learning difficulties, Motivation.

Acknowledgement: I am grateful to the Editor Anastasia Efklides and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on an earlier draft of this paper.

Address: Georgios, D. Sideridis, Department of Psychology, University of Crete, 741 00 Rethimno, Greece. E-mail: sideridis@psy.soc.uoc.gr

Katerina Mouratidou*, Dimitrios Chatzopoulos**, & Sofia Karamavrou*
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

Abstract (Summary):

The aim of the present study was to examine (a) if athletes’ moral judgment is affected by sport type, the level of competition – in terms of the league in which one competes – and regular playing position, and (b) possible relations between moral judgment and the overall years of athletic experience, self-perception of sport ability, and achievement goal orientations. The sample comprised 170 adolescent athletes from three different sports: tennis (n = 59), football (n = 58) and handball (n = 53). Three questionnaires were used: the Moral Judgment Test (MJT; Lind, 1978) to assess players’ moral judgment, the Task and Ego Orientation in Sports Questionnaire (TEOSQ; Duda & Nicholls, 1992) to assess players’ goal orientations, and the same questionnaire adapted to assess players’ perceived goal orientations of their coaches (TEOSQ-PPC). Also, players’ perceived sport ability as well as demographic data was reported. The ANOVAs revealed that tennis, as compared to handball athletes, scored significantly higher in MJT C-index (Moral Competence Index) and so did the amateurs (n = 114), as compared to professionals (n = 56). Playing position did not have a significant effect on C-index. Furthermore, the C-index positively correlated with perceived sport ability and task orientation. There was a low negative correlation with ego orientation. In addition, there was a nonsignificant negative correlation between the C-index and years of athletic experience.

Keywords: Moral judgment, Sport, Task orientation.

Note:*Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences at Serres, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. **Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences at Thessaloniki, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

Address: Katerina Mouratidou, Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences at Serres, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Agios Ioannis, 62110 Serres, Greece. Phone: +30-2310-991056 and +30-23210-58284. Fax: +30-2310-991056. Email: katemou@phed-sr.auth.gr

Magda Nikolaraizi
University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece

Abstract (Summary):

This study explored the identity styles of twenty prelingually deaf adults in Greece, through semi-structured interviews. Three emerged identities were identified among the participants, including the culturally Deaf, the culturally hearing and the bicultural participants. The identity styles of the participants reflect their views regarding their cultural identification, their language preferences and their social and personal relationships, which are analysed and discussed. Finally, special emphasis is given to the participants with a bicultural identity and their struggle to balance among different worlds.

Keywords: Culture, Deaf, Identity.

Acknowledgments: I would like to thank all the deaf persons for participating in this study and sharing with me their views and experiences. Also, I thank the Associations for Deaf or hard of hearing people and all the interpreters for their precious support and contribution in carrying out this research.

Address: Magda Nikolaraizi, Department of Special Education, University of Thessaly, Argonaphton & Philellinon, 382 21 Volos, Greece. E-mail: mnikolar@uth.gr

Angeliki Mouzaki & Georgios D. Sideridis
University of Crete, Rethymno, Greece

Abstract (Summary):

Poor readers are characterized by deficits involving word recognition, comprehension, and fluency. Recent studies are examining the performance of poor readers linked to various orthographies with various findings. Despite the special characteristics of the Greek orthography, the profile of specific strengths and weaknesses of poor readers has not been systematically examined in part due to the lack of standardized tests and formal evaluation procedures. This study presents data from a large sample of students in the elementary school (N = 587) on a series of tests assessing single words and pseudowords reading accuracy and sight reading efficiency, spelling, text comprehension, receptive and expressive vocabulary, rapid automatized naming, and non-verbal ability. Results indicated that reading difficulties were accompanied by poor performance on reading efficiency tasks in the majority of students, whereas text comprehension difficulties were much less common.

Keywords: Greek orthography, Poor readers, Reading profiles.

Acknowledgments: The authors are indebted to the principals and teachers of the schools where the study was conducted. We gratefully acknowledge the help of our assessment team.

Address: Angeliki Mouzaki, Department of Primary Education, School of Education, University of Crete, 741 00 Rethymno, Greece. Tel: +30-28310-50960. Fax: +30-28310-77537. Email: amouzaki@edc.uoc.gr

Lucia De Haene*, Hans Grietens**, & Karine Verschueren***
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium

Abstract (Summary):

In this paper, we aim to review the growing body of research on the psychosocial well-being of refugee children. We start with an overview of the chronological models for the refugee experience that conceptualize the process of forced migration as a long-term adverse context of cumulating risk factors, functioning as a pervasive threat to refugee children’s mental health. Next, we briefly summarize the literature on refugee children’s mental health as the starting point for a critical reflection on the dominance of the symptom-focused, trauma-centred approach which characterises much of refugee research. Drawing from this, we argue for the pertinence of research on refugee children’s mental health from a family perspective. Finally, we propose a model for the refugee family experience, which integrates multiple individual, family and cultural processes, and we organise existing findings on refugee families in relation to six domains of the refugee family life.

Keywords: Family perspective, Mental health, Refugee children.

Note: * Research Assistant of the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO – Vlaanderen) at the Centre for Parenting, Child Welfare and Disability, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. ** Centre for Parenting, Child Welfare and Disability, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. *** Centre for School Psychology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.

Address: Lucia De Haene, Centre for Parenting, Child Welfare and Disability, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Vesaliusstraat 2, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. E-mail: lucia.dehaene@ped.kuleuven.be

Maria Vairami & Panayiota Vorria
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

Abstract (Summary):

The aim of the present study was to investigate associations between interparental conflict and (pre)adolescents’ peer relationships. Participants were 254 (pre)adolescents of both genders, aged 11-16 years, living in their own two-parent families. (Pre)adolescents’ peer acceptance and best-friendship qualities were assessed with sociometric and self-report measures. Interparental conflict, as perceived by (pre)adolescents, was assessed with the Children’s Perception of Interparental Conflict Scale. The results suggest that perceived interparental conflict was negatively related to (pre)adolescents’ peer acceptance in the classroom, to their number of friends, and to their best-friendship qualities. (Pre)adolescents’ self-blame for interparental conflict was the major predictor of their best-friendship qualities, that is, companionship, help, security, conflict and closeness, as well as peer acceptance in the classroom. Age differences were also found: (pre)adolescents’ peer relationships, compared to adolescents’, were strongly related to interparental conflict. Finally, gender differences were also present: for boys, perceived threat was the major predictor of the qualities of their best friendship, whereas for girls self-blame negatively predicted the respective qualities.

Keywords: Best friendship, Interparental conflict, Peer acceptance.

Address: Panayiota Vorria, School of Psychology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 541 24 Thessaloniki, Greece. E- mail: vorria@psy.auth.gr

Panayiota Vorria, Maria Vairami, Moisis Gialaouzidis, Evdoxia Kotroni, Georgia Koutra, Nefeli Markou, Eleni Marti, & Ileana Pantoleon
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

Abstract (Summary):

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relations between adult attachment styles in romantic relationships with the memories of the experiences with parents during childhood in a sample of university students. The sample comprised 822 university students, 392 males and 430 females, aged 18-27 years. The Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory (Brennan, Clark, & Shaver, 1998) was used in order to assess participants’ attachment style in romantic relationships. Participants’ memories of experiences with parents and partner were assessed with Hazan and Shaver’s (1987) Adjective Checklist. Chi-square tests indicated that the majority of females had an anxious/ambivalent attachment style in their romantic relationship, while the majority of males had an avoidant/dismissing or avoidant/fearful attachment style. Participants’ descriptions of their mother, father and parental relationship were associated with their attachment style. As far as their current romantic relationships were concerned, participants who had a secure or an anxious/ambivalent attachment style, unlike participants with avoidant/fearful style of attachment, tended to have a long-standing romantic relationship and used positive adjectives to describe their partners. Finally, females, compared to males, used more positive adjectives to describe their partner.

Keywords: Attachment styles, Memories of experiences of childhood, Romantic relationships.

Address: Panayiota Vorria, School of Psychology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 541 24 Thessaloniki, Greece. E-mail: vorria@psy.auth.gr

Katariina Salmela-Aro*, Jukka Vuori**, & Petri Koivisto**
*University of Jyväskylä, Finland & **Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland

Abstract (Summary):

A person-oriented approach was taken in order to determine what kinds of motivational orientations could be identified on the basis of adolescents’ personal goals, and how these orientations differed in terms of school motivation and well-being. A total of 561 15-year-olds (277 boys, 284 girls) rated their personal goals, school-subject values and well-being. The most frequently mentioned personal goals were those related to school, future education/occupation, property, and friends. The boys had more property- and education/occupation-related goals than the girls, while the girls had more family-, leisure-, self- and friend-related goals than the boys. Three motivational orientations thus emerged on the basis of their personal goals: present-interpersonal (30%), future-competence (43%), and past-self (27%). Those with past-self-orientation felt more stress and made less progress toward their education-related goals. Moreover, those oriented to the present were more likely to be interested in skills-related subjects, those oriented to the future were mainly interested in competence in mathematics, and those oriented to the past in languages. Finally, the self-oriented more often reported school-related burnout, stress symptoms, and depressive symptoms than those in the other two groups, while those in the interpersonal group had the highest life satisfaction, and the competence group had the highest self-esteem.

Keywords: Motivational orientations, Personal goals, Task-value, Well-being.

Address: Katariina Salmela-Aro, Centre of Excellence on Learning and Motivation, P.O. BOX 35, 40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland. E-mail: katariina.salmela-aro@psyka.jyu.fi

Tina Hascher
Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Austria

Abstract (Summary):

The article first gives an introduction to well-being in school. Second, it argues for different perspectives to explore students’ well-being in the classroom, that is, a more general approach of well-being in school and a more specific approach of students’ individual well-being. Both views will be introduced and discussed in terms of their psychological and educational relevance. The empirical part of this article is based on a quantitative study including 2014 students of secondary I level schools1 and on a qualitative study consisting of 1358 emotional episodes reported by 58 adolescent students three times for two weeks. The results illustrate the potential of a multi-faceted approach to the affective aspects of school life by combining different views of student well-being.

Keywords: Emotion, School, Well-being.

Acknowledgment: Very special thanks to my colleagues Thea Peetsma (Netherlands), Ingrid Osten (Germany), Jarmila Antošová and Jitka Tomková (Czech Republic) and Karma Lobsang and Thomas Bieri (Bern) for their research cooperation!

Address: Tina Hascher, Department of Education, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Akademiestraße 26, 5020 Salzburg, Austria. Phone: +43-662-80444244. Fax: +43-662-8044141. E-mail: tina.hascher@sbg.ac.at