0000000000612297

AUTHOR

Carmen Carmona

The Relationship Between Goal Orientation, Social Comparison Responses, Self-Efficacy, and Performance

The present study examined whether social comparison responses (identification and contrast in social comparison) mediated the relationship between goal orientation (promotion and prevention) and self-efficacy, and whether self-efficacy was subsequently related with a better performance. As expected, the results showed that promotion-oriented individuals – who are focused on achieving success – had higher self-efficacy than prevention-oriented individuals – who are focused on avoiding failure. Only one of the social comparison responses had a mediating role. That is, the tendency to contrast oneself with others who were doing better mediated the relationship between a prevention goal orien…

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Are virtues national, supranational, or universal?

Many studies investigated cultural differences in values, most notably by Hofstede and Schwarz. Relatively few have focused on virtues, a related and important concept in contemporary social science. The present paper examines the similarities and differences between nations, or blocks of - culturally related - nations on the perceived importance of virtues. Adults (N = 2.809 students) from 14 countries were asked to freely mention which virtues they found important to practice in daily life, and next to rate a list of 15 virtues, which reflect the most frequently mentioned categories in The Netherlands, as found in a previous study. The 14 nations included the United States, Mexico, nine E…

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Are Virtues Shaped by National Cultures or Religions?

The present paper examines the relative influence of religion and nation on conceptions of virtues. In a first study, conducted in the Netherlands, 926 respondents of different profession, age, sex, and religious background rank ordered a list of 15 virtues. A comparison of Dutch Muslims and non-Muslims showed a remarkably high resemblance in their ratings of virtues. Only faith was rated as being much more important by Muslims than by non-Muslims. In the second study, the influence of national cultures was examined. Adults (N = 795) from two culturally relatively similar countries, Germany and the Netherlands, and from Spain rated the same list of virtues. Crossnational differences between…

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The impact of international stays on the development of competences in phd students and their transfer in different contexts

El profesorado se enfrenta a crecientes y cambiantes demandas sociales que requieren una actualización constante de las competencias profesionales. En este sentido, el Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior (EEES) plantea la importancia del papel de la enseñanza y el aprendizaje en diversos entornos y en cooperación con el mundo laboral y de la investigación. De hecho, estas competencias pueden ser desarrolladas, entre otras posibilidades, mediante las experiencias de estancias internacionales. El objetivo de esta investigación es examinar, mediante entrevistas, el papel de las estancias en el desarrollo de las competencias de estudiantes de doctorado y su posterior transferencia al alumnado…

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Do social comparison and coping styles play a role in the development of burnout? Cross-sectional and longitudinal findings

The present longitudinal research among 558 teachers focused on the role of upward comparisons (with others performing better), downward comparisons (with others performing worse), and coping styles in relation to burnout. Assessed were identification (recognizing oneself in the other) and contrast (seeing the other as a competitor) in upward and downward comparison. Cross-sectionally, downward identification and upward contrast were positively related to burnout and negatively related to a direct coping style, whereas upward identification was negatively related to burnout and positively related to a direct coping style. Downward identification was positively related to a palliative coping…

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Educated for migration? Blind spots around labor market conditions, competence building, and international mobility

Young European graduates are crossing borders to work abroad more often than in the past. This trend is particularly evident in Southern Europe, where recent economic downturn has significantly diminished professional opportunities and career prospects. This study will investigate Spain, a country where unemployment has increased dramatically since 2008, as a case study to examine recent graduate’s experiences to develop a professional career in Germany. In particular, this study will draw upon various sources: official statistics; review literature; and education and training policies throughout the European Union. The investigation features an interview with Spanish graduates working in …

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Terms of abuse as expression and reinforcement of cultures

In this study terms of abuse are investigated in 11 different cultures, Spontaneous verbal aggression is to a certain extent reminiscent of the values of a certain culture. Almost 3000 subjects from Spain, Germany, France, Italy, Croatia, Poland, Great Britain, USA, Norway, Greece, and The Netherlands were asked to write down terms of abuse that they would use given a certain stimulus situation, and in addition, to give their rating of the offensive character of those terms. A total set of 12,000 expressions was collected. The frequencies of the expressions were established, and the total list of expressions was reduced to 16 categories. Results point to some etic taboos, like sexuality and…

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Formed Emigration: A Qualitative Study About Spanish Graduated Experiences And Adaptation Abroad

In the past few years, Spain has gone through an economic recession that has impeded the development of professional opportunities for young graduates. Consequently, there is an increasing migration of young graduates across borders to work abroad. The aim of this qualitative research carried out through a case study, is to examine the experiences of Spanish graduates in developing a professional career abroad, specifically in Germany. Ten interviews were analyzed through inductive content analysis. Our results indicate that the migration of young Spaniards to work abroad is the result of economic and/or professional need rather than choice. Furthermore, language proficiency was found to be…

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An Integrated International Learning Model for Internationalizing I/O Psychology Programs

Today’s companies that employ industrial/organizational (I/O) psychologists typically have international linkages, whether the company is itself multinational or the company has international partners, vendors, or consumers. These companies would benefit from having I/O psychology (IOP) professionals who are knowledgeable about IOP practices that transcend national boundaries or constrained by them. Therefore, it behooves IOP graduate programs to prepare their students to provide services that benefit an international workforce. In this chapter, we present the integrated international learning (IIL) model. This model forwards different ways of designing international IOP programs by combini…

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El impacto de las estancias internacionales en el desarrollo de competencias en estudiantes de doctorado y su transferencia en diversos contextos

El profesorado se enfrenta a crecientes y cambiantes demandas sociales que requieren una actualización constante de las competencias profesionales. En este sentido, el Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior (EEES) plantea la importancia del papel de la enseñanza y el aprendizaje en diversos entornos y en cooperación con el mundo laboral y de la investigación. De hecho, estas competencias pueden ser desarrolladas, entre otras posibilidades, mediante las experiencias de estancias internacionales. El objetivo de esta investigación es examinar, mediante entrevistas, el papel de las estancias en el desarrollo de las competencias de estudiantes de doctorado y su posterior transferencia al alumnado…

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The Breast Size Satisfaction Survey (BSSS): Breast size dissatisfaction and its antecedents and outcomes in women from 40 nations

The Breast Size Satisfaction Survey (BSSS) was established to assess women's breast size dissatisfaction and breasted experiences from a cross-national perspective. A total of 18,541 women were recruited from 61 research sites across 40 nations and completed measures of current-ideal breast size discrepancy, as well as measures of theorised antecedents (personality, Western and local media exposure, and proxies of socioeconomic status) and outcomes (weight and appearance dissatisfaction, breast awareness, and psychological well-being). in the total dataset, 47.5 % of women wanted larger breasts than they currently had, 23.2 % wanted smaller breasts, and 29.3 % were satisfied with their curr…

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Acculturation and adjustment as a function of perceived and objective value congruence.

Culture fit has been studied in numerous ways conceptually and methodologically, yielding conflicting results. This study explored it in terms of perceived and objective value congruence in relation to both acculturation and socio-cultural adjustment among 187 international students (or internationals, compared to 138 domestic students or locals) in the USA. First, for 9 out of 10 values, internationals' perceptions of U.S. values significantly differed from locals' actual values. Second, locals perceived greater stimulation and self-direction value congruence (i.e., when personal values are consistent with respondents' perceptions of U.S. values), but weaker benevolence, power, and univers…

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Social media use, social identification and cross-cultural adaptation of international students: A longitudinal examination

The mobility experience is an important life event for international students, and achieving successful psychological and sociocultural adaptation is crucial for this experience to be positive. Through a three-wave longitudinal study among international students enrolled at universities in Spain, Portugal, and Poland (n = 233), we examined the relationships between social media use, social identification, and (sociocultural and psychological) adaptation across time. Results of cross lagged panel modeling (CLPM) showed that social media contact with home nationals predicted greater identification with this group. Social media contact with host country nationals predicted poorer adaptation. S…

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