Moral disengagement and generalized social trust as mediators and moderators of rule-respecting behaviors during the COVID-19 outbreak

In this study, we tested a theoretical model with moral disengagement, a mediator,and generalized social trust (GST), a mediator and a moderator of the relationshipbetween personality traits and rule-respecting behaviors (i.e., social distancing andstay-at-home), during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in Italy. Thedata were collected on 1520 participants (61% males). General results are threefold: (1) moral disengagement mediated the relationship between emotional stability, narcissism,psychopathy, and social distancing; (2) among components of GST, trust in Governmentmediated the relationship between psychopathy and social distancing; trust in knownothers mediated the relationship between emotional stability, agreeableness, andMachiavellianism with total number of exits; trust in unknown others mediated therelationship of emotional stability, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and psychopathywith average daily number of exits; (3) GST moderated the indirect effect of personalitytraits on rule-respecting behaviors through moral disengagement. The theoretical andpractical importance of these results is discussed

Moral Disengagement and Generalized Social Trust as Mediators and Moderators of Rule-Respecting Behaviors During the COVID-19 Outbreak

In this study, we tested a theoretical model with moral disengagement, a mediator, and generalized social trust (GST), a mediator and a moderator of the relationship between personality traits and rule-respecting behaviors (i.e., social distancing and stay-at-home), during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in Italy. The data were collected on 1520 participants (61% males). General results are threefold: (1) moral disengagement mediated the relationship between emotional stability, narcissism, psychopathy, and social distancing; (2) among components of GST, trust in Government mediated the relationship between psychopathy and social distancing; trust in known others mediated the relationship between emotional stability, agreeableness, and Machiavellianism with total number of exits; trust in unknown others mediated the relationship of emotional stability, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and psychopathy with average daily number of exits; (3) GST moderated the indirect effect of personality traits on rule-respecting behaviors through moral disengagement. The theoretical and practical importance of these results is discussed

Positive aging in demanding workplaces: The gain cycle between job satisfaction and work engagement

Nowadays organizations have to cope with two related challenges: maintaining an engaged and highly performing workforce and, at the same time, protecting and increasing employees' well-being and job satisfaction under conditions of a generalized increase of job demand, in an increasingly growing older population. According to the motivational process of the JD-R model, a work environment with many organizational resources will foster work engagement, which in turn will increase the likelihood of positive personal and organizational outcomes, such as job satisfaction, performance, and intention to stay. However, it is not clear how this motivational process could work in different age cohorts, as older workers may have different priorities to those of younger colleagues. Postulating the existence of a gain-cycle in the relationship between work engagement and outcomes, in this study we tested a longitudinal moderated mediation model in which job satisfaction increases over time through an increment in work engagement. We hypothesized that this process is moderated by job demand and aging. We collected data in public administrations in Northern Italy in order to measure work engagement and job satisfaction. 556 workers aged between 50 and 64 replied to the survey twice (the first time and 8 months later). The findings confirmed a moderated mediation model, in which job satisfaction at time 1 increased work engagement, which in turn fostered job satisfaction 8 months later, confirming the hypothesized gain-cycle. This relationship was shown to be moderated by the joint influence of job demand intensity and age: higher job demands and younger age are related to the maximum level of level gain cycle, while the same high level of job demands, when associated with older age, appears unable to stimulate a similar effect. The results confirm that, on one hand, older workers cannot be seen as a homogeneous group and, on the other hand, the importance of considering the role played by the gain cycle of resources. Our findings show that age matters, and that greater consideration should be devoted to age differences in order to design appropriate human resources practices that foster work engagement and satisfaction

Measuring the snowpack depth with Unmanned Aerial System photogrammetry: comparison with manual probing and a 3D laser scanning over a sample plot

Photogrammetric surveys using Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) may represent an alternative to existing methods for measuring the distribution of snow, but additional efforts are still needed to establish this technique as a low-cost, yet precise tool. Importantly, existing works have mainly used sparse evaluation datasets that limit the insight into UAS performance at high spatial resolutions. Here, we compare a UAS-based photogrammetric map of snow depth with data acquired with a MultiStation and with manual probing over a sample plot. The relatively high density of manual data (135\u2009pt over 6700\u2009m2, i.e., 2\u2009pt/100\u2009m2) enables to assess the performance of UAS in capturing the marked spatial variability of snow. The use of a MultiStation, which exploits a scanning principle, also enables to compare UAS data on snow with a frequently used instrument in high-resolution applications. Results show that the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) between UAS and MultiStation data on snow is equal to 0.036\u2009m when comparing the two point clouds. A large fraction of this difference may be, however, due to spurious differences between datasets due to simultaneous snowmelt, as the RMSE on bare soil is equal to 0.02\u2009m. When comparing UAS data with manual probing, the RMSE is equal to 0.31\u2009m, whereas the median difference is equal to 0.12\u2009m. The statistics significantly decrease up to RMSE\u2009=\u20090.17\u2009m when excluding areas of likely water accumulation in snow and ice layers. These results suggest that UAS represent a competitive choice among existing techniques for high-precision, high-resolution remote sensing of snow

Innovation across cultures: Connecting leadership, identification, and creative behavior in organizations

Innovation is considered essential for today's organizations to survive and thrive. Researchers have also stressed the importance of leadership as a driver of followers' innovative work behavior (FIB). Yet, despite a large amount of research, three areas remain understudied: (a) The relative importance of different forms of leadership for FIB; (b) the mechanisms through which leadership impacts FIB; and (c) the degree to which relationships between leadership and FIB are generalizable across cultures. To address these lacunae, we propose an integrated model connecting four types of positive leadership behaviors, two types of identification (as mediating variables), and FIB. We tested our model in a global data set comprising responses of N = 7,225 participants from 23 countries, grouped into nine cultural clusters. Our results indicate that perceived LMX quality was the strongest relative predictor of FIB. Furthermore, the relationships between both perceived LMX quality and identity leadership with FIB were mediated by social identification. The indirect effect of LMX on FIB via social identification was stable across clusters, whereas the indirect effects of the other forms of leadership on FIB via social identification were stronger in countries high versus low on collectivism. Power distance did not influence the relations

Contributi alla flora vascolare di Toscana. VII (357-439)

New localities and/or confirmations concerning 83 specific and subspecific plant taxa of Tuscan vascular flora, belonging to 71 genera and 33 families are presented: Carpobrotus (Aizoaceae), Alternanthera (Amaranthaceae), Leucojum (Amaryllidaceae), Anacyclus, Andryala, Carduus, Centaurea, Cichorium, Erigeron, Helichrysum, Helminthotheca, Hieracium, Limbarda, Pilosella, Scolymus, Sonchus, Tagetes, Urospermum, Xanthium (Asteraceae), Mahonia (Berberidaceae), Myosotis (Boraginaceae), Biscutella, Ionopsidium, Raphanus, Rapistrum (Brassicaceae), Buxus (Buxaceae), Vaccaria (Caryophyllaceae), Cistus (Cistaceae), Calystegia, Cuscuta (Convolvulaceae), Cymodocea (Cymodoceaceae), Cyperus (Cyperaceae), Amorpha, Emerus, Lathyrus, Lotus, Ononis, Trifolium, Vicia (Fabaceae), Quercus (Fagaceae), Geranium (Geraniaceae), Myriophyllum (Haloragaceae), Malva (Malvaceae), Epipogium, Himantoglossum (Orchidaceae), Orobanche (Orobanchaceae), Osyris (Santalaceae), Oxalis (Oxalidaceae), Pinus (Pinaceae), Anisantha, Avellinia, Avena, Corynephorus, Crypsis, Cutandia, Elytrigia, Lolium, Panicum, Polypogon, Sporobolus (Poaceae), Rumex (Polygonaceae), Lysimachia (Primulaceae), Eranthis, Ranunculus (Ranunculaceae), Rubus (Rosaceae), Crucianella, Galium (Rubiaceae), Verbascum (Scrophulariaceae), Solanum (Solanaceae), Tamarix (Tamaricaceae), Viola (Violaceae). In the end, the conservation status of the units and eventual protection of the cited biotopes are discussed

Centimetric accuracy in snow depth using unmanned aerial system photogrammetry and a multistation

Performing two independent surveys in 2016 and 2017 over a flat sample plot (6700 m2), we compare snow-depth measurements from Unmanned-Aerial-System (UAS) photogrammetry and from a new high-resolution laser-scanning device (MultiStation) with manual probing, the standard technique used by operational services around the world. While previous comparisons already used laser scanners, we tested for the first time aMultiStation, which has a different measurement principle and is thus capable of millimetric accuracy. Both remote-sensing techniques measured point clouds with centimetric resolution, while we manually collected a relatively dense amount of manual data (135 pt in 2016 and 115 pt in 2017). UAS photogrammetry and the MultiStation showed repeatable, centimetric agreement in measuring the spatial distribution of seasonal, dense snowpack under optimal illumination and topographic conditions (maximum RMSE of 0.036 m between point clouds on snow). A large fraction of this difference could be due to simultaneous snowmelt, as the RMSE between UAS photogrammetry and the MultiStation on bare soil is equal to 0.02 m. The RMSE between UAS data and manual probing is in the order of 0.20-0.30 m, but decreases to 0.06-0.17 m when areas of potential outliers like vegetation or river beds are excluded. Compact and portable remote-sensing devices like UASs or aMultiStation can thus be successfully deployed during operational manual snow courses to capture spatial snapshots of snow-depth distribution with a repeatable, vertical centimetric accuracy

Perceptions of the targets and sources of COVID-19 threat are structured by group memberships and responses are influenced by identification with humankind

This research was supported by a grant from the German Research Foundation awarded to RvD, NMJ, and JAH (DI 848/15-1 and HA 6455/4-1). Data collection for this study was supported by a grant from the association of friends and supporters (Freunde & Förderer) at Goethe University.The purpose of this study was to investigate which social groups are perceived as a threat target and which are perceived as a threat source during the COVID-19 outbreak. In a German sample (N = 1454) we examined perceptions of social groups ranging from those that are psychologically close and smaller (family, friends, neighbors) to those that are more distal and larger (people living in Germany, humankind). We hypothesized that psychologically closer groups would be perceived as less affected by COVID-19 as well as less threatening than more psychologically distal groups. Based on social identity theorizing, we also hypothesized that stronger identification with humankind would change these patterns. Furthermore, we explored how these threat perceptions relate to adherence to COVID-19 health guidelines. In line with our hypotheses, latent random-slope modelling revealed that psychologically distal and larger groups were perceived as more affected by COVID-19 and as more threatening than psychologically closer and smaller groups. Including identification with humankind as a predictor into the threat target model resulted in a steeper increase in threat target perception patterns, whereas identification with humankind did not predict differences in threat source perceptions. Additionally, an increase in threat source perceptions across social groups was associated with more adherence to health guidelines, whereas an increase in threat target perceptions was not. We fully replicated these findings in a subgroup from the original sample (N = 989) four weeks later. We argue that societal recovery from this and other crises will be supported by an inclusive approach informed by a sense of our common identity as human beings.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

A trouble shared is a trouble halved : the role of family identification and identification with humankind in well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic

This research was supported by a grant from the German Research Foundation awarded to RvD, NMJ, and JAH (DI 848/15-1 and HA 6455/4-1). The data collection for this study was supported by a grant from the association of friends and supporters (Freunde & Förderer) at Goethe University.The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered health-related anxiety in ways that undermine peoples’ mental and physical health. Contextual factors such as living in a high-risk area might further increase the risk of health deterioration. Based on the Social Identity Approach, we argue that social identities can not only be local that are characterized by social interactions, but also be global that are characterized by a symbolic sense of togetherness and that both of these can be a basis for health. In line with these ideas, we tested how identification with one’s family and with humankind relates to stress and physical symptoms while experiencing health-related anxiety and being exposed to contextual risk factors. We tested our assumptions in a representative sample (N = 974) two-wave survey study with a 4-week time lag. The results show that anxiety at Time 1 was positively related to stress and physical symptoms at Time 2. Feeling exposed to risk factors related to lower physical health, but was unrelated to stress. Family identification and identification with humankind were both negatively associated with subsequent stress and family identification was negatively associated with subsequent physical symptoms. These findings suggest that for social identities to be beneficial for mental health, they can be embodied as well as symbolic.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe