Is the Discouraged Worker Effect Time-Varying?

This study investigates the relationship between the female labour force participation and the female employment rate in Italy by adopting non-linear econometric modelling. In our specification we are unable to reject a nonlinear relationship. This implies that the discouraged worker effect is timevarying.Discouraged Workers, Non-linearity

ON THE NON-LINEAR DYNAMICS BETWEEN EMPLOYMENT AND LABOUR FORCE PARTICIPATION

-

Designing the Optimal Length of Working Time

How many hours per week should workers in the United States and Germany spend at their paying jobs? The present paper addresses this question by constructing policymakers’ reaction functions capable of modelling the optimal length of working time as a function of the relevant labour market variables. The empirical analysis is based on the optimal control algorithm. Given a policymaker’s loss function and a structural model of the labour market we define alternative specifications of reaction functions where the response coefficients indicate how policymakers should react to any news in the labour market in order to stabilize employment and wages. We also perform a comparative analysis on the ability of the rules to correspond to historical working-time records. The results suggest that simple rules perform quite well and that the advantages obtained from adopting an optimal control-based rule are not so great. Moreover, the analysis emphasizes the success of the wage-based rule and of the employment based rule in the US and Germany, respectively. Finally, we propose a policy rule to capture the dynamics of the weekly working hours. According to our rule the length of the workweek is an inverse function of the deviation between the actual and potential employment level.Policy Rule, Working-time, Dynamic Optimization

Psychopathic traits and deviant sexual interests : the moderating role of gender

The present study examined associations between psychopathic traits and deviant sexual interests across gender in a large community sample (N = 429, 24% men). Correlation analyses supported the positive link between psychopathic traits and deviant sexual interests. Regression analyses indicated that the unique variance in the antisocial facet of psychopathy predicted all six deviant sexual interests. The interpersonal facet predicted voyeuristic and exhibitionistic interests, whereas the affective facet predicted pedophilic interests. Moderation analyses revealed that gender moderated most of the relations between the antisocial facet of psychopathy and deviant sexual interests, such that those positive associations were stronger among women. On the contrary, the associations between the interpersonal facet and voyeuristic interests, as well as between the lifestyle facet and sadistic interests, were stronger among men. Findings appear to suggest that deviant sexual interests represent a domain in which the manifestation of psychopathic traits may differ across gender. These findings emphasize the relevance of psychopathic traits for the understanding and risk assessment of sexual deviance, while suggesting the need for gender-sensitive considerations

All walks of life:Editorial for the special issue on “The impact of psychopathy: Multidisciplinary and applied perspectives”

We are grateful for the opportunity to serve as guest editors of this special issue on “The impact of psychopathy: Multidisciplinary and applied perspectives.” Psychopathy is a serious public health concern that has long attracted scholarly and clinical interest in both mental health and criminal justice fields. However, given its robust link with criminal behavior, research on psychopathy has largely developed with a primary emphasis on (male) adults within correctional settings. While the preponderance of work remains focused on these adult offenders, research on psychopathy has expanded in recent decades to include studies within a variety of more diverse populations and contexts. The goal of this Special Issue has been to highlight some of the most recent research in these areas, toward a more deliberate emphasis on the broad impacts that psychopathy can impart across all walks of life. To this end, while only two of the papers included in the Special Issue focused on forensic samples (and more specifically on treatment and recidivism), all 10 papers have nonetheless offered a clear focus on the detrimental impacts that individuals with psychopathic traits can impart within society. Indeed, included manuscripts focused on the impact of psychopathy within romantic relationships (in both middle and older adulthood), within parent-child dyads, within the workplace, and within society at large. Across these studies, the significant, detrimental impact that individuals with heightened psychopathic traits impart is highlighted, not only for their victims, but also for their family, friends, and colleagues. In this Editorial, we would like to emphasize some main themes that emerged from their contributions

Does the Dark Triad manifest similarly in men and women?:Measurement invariance of the Dirty Dozen across sex

The Dark Triad is a constellation of three socially undesirable personality traits: narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism. Previous research has shown that men tend to score higher than women on Dark Triad scales, but the validity of these results is questionable as there is no evidence that the scales used exhibit measurement invariance across sex in the adult population. Here, we report four studies assessing the measurement invariance across sex of a recently developed, concise measure of the Dark Triad, namely Jonason and Webster's (2010) Dirty Dozen (DD). As no validated Italian version of the DD was available, we developed an Italian version and assessed its psychometric properties. Studies 1 to 3 revealed that the Italian DD had adequate psychometric properties, and replicated the three-factor structure and the nomological network of the original version. Study 4 provided evidence of the measurement invariance of the DD across sex, such that men scored higher than women with respect to psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and, to a lesser extent, narcissism. These findings indicate that the DD can be used to provide reliable assessments of sex differences in Dark Triad traits. Furthermore, the results of sex comparisons are consistent with a biosocial approach to social role theory that assumes that being agentic rather than communal is considered desirable for men and undesirable for women.<br/

Does the Dark Triad manifest similarly in men and women?:Measurement invariance of the Dirty Dozen across sex

The Dark Triad is a constellation of three socially undesirable personality traits: narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism. Previous research has shown that men tend to score higher than women on Dark Triad scales, but the validity of these results is questionable as there is no evidence that the scales used exhibit measurement invariance across sex in the adult population. Here, we report four studies assessing the measurement invariance across sex of a recently developed, concise measure of the Dark Triad, namely Jonason and Webster's (2010) Dirty Dozen (DD). As no validated Italian version of the DD was available, we developed an Italian version and assessed its psychometric properties. Studies 1 to 3 revealed that the Italian DD had adequate psychometric properties, and replicated the three-factor structure and the nomological network of the original version. Study 4 provided evidence of the measurement invariance of the DD across sex, such that men scored higher than women with respect to psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and, to a lesser extent, narcissism. These findings indicate that the DD can be used to provide reliable assessments of sex differences in Dark Triad traits. Furthermore, the results of sex comparisons are consistent with a biosocial approach to social role theory that assumes that being agentic rather than communal is considered desirable for men and undesirable for women.<br/

Emotion regulation mediates relationships between mindfulness facets and aggression dimensions

Recent years have witnessed an increase of research on socio‐affective factors that can explain individual differences in aggressive tendencies across community and offender populations. Specifically, mindfulness and emotion regulation have emerged as important factors, which could also constitute important prevention and treatment targets. Yet, recent studies have advanced the possibility that mindfulness may also have a “dark” side, being associated with increased levels of aggression‐related variables, especially when accounting for the variance associated with emotion regulation. The present study sought to elucidate relationships among mindfulness, emotion regulation, and aggression dimensions (i.e., verbal and physical aggression, anger, and hostility) across violent offender (N = 397) and community (N = 324) samples. Results revealed expected associations between both mindfulness and emotion regulation and aggression dimensions, such that greater impairments in mindfulness and emotion regulation were related to increased levels of aggression across samples. Further, analyses of indirect effects revealed that a latent emotion dysregulation factor accounted for (i.e., mediated) relationships between mindfulness facets and aggression dimensions in both samples. Previously reported positive associations between the residual variance in mindfulness scales (i.e., controlling for emotion regulation) and aggression‐related variables were not replicated in the current samples. Taken together, findings suggest that mindfulness and emotion regulation have unequivocal relations with lower levels of aggression, and should therefore be considered as relevant targets for prevention and treatment programs aimed at reducing aggressive tendencies

Bell lysaker emotion recognition test: a contribution for the italian validation

INTRODUCTION: Emotion recognition deficits in psychopathology have been extensively studied with a variety of measures. The Bell Lysaker Emotion Recognition Test (BLERT; Bell et al., 1997) is an effective method to assess emotion recognition by presenting affect stimuli which may have greater verisimilitude with real life events. Indeed, BLERT combines facial expressions with affective information transmitted in prosody or body posture. This method has allowed the study of emotion recognition deficit in psychotic patients, as well as its relationships with other aspects of psychopathology (Vohs et al., 2014). OBJECTIVES: We aimed at testing the validity and reliability of an Italian version of the BLERT. AIMS: First, a group-comparison was carried out between clinical and nonclinical participants. Then, correlations among BLERT scores and other indices of psychological functioning were explored. METHODS: We recruited 12 inpatients with psychotic disorders (mean age= 54.75; 58.3% female) and 45 nonclinical participants (mean age= 24.04; 75.6% female). We administered the BLERT (Bell et al., 1997), along with the following measures: Empathy Quotient (Lawrence et al., 2004), Interpersonal Reactivity Index (Davis, 1980), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (Gratz &amp; Roemer, 2004), and the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems-47 (Pilkonis et al., 1996). RESULTS: Clinical participants resulted impaired in all indices of the BLERT. Further, the construct validity of the BLERT was confirmed by associations with measures of empathy, emotion dysregulation, and interpersonal problems. CONCLUSIONS: The use of the Italian version of the BLERT seemed promising for the study of emotion recognition in both clinical and nonclinical samples

Associations between psychopathy and the trait meta-mood scale in incarcerated males:A combined latent variable- and person-centered approach

The present study sought to replicate and extend current knowledge on the relevance of emotion regulation (ER) for psychopathy. In a large sample of incarcerated adult males (N = 578), latent profile analysis (LPA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) were employed to examine person- and variable-centered associations between self-reported ER and both self-report and clinical ratings of psychopathy. With LPA, participants were classified into three profiles corresponding to low, medium, and high ER. The low-ER profile displayed higher affective traits across psychopathy assessments compared with the other profiles. The same pattern of findings was evident for overt behavioral features of psychopathy, but not for interpersonal traits. SEM results were consistent with LPA findings: interpersonal (positively), affective, and lifestyle (negatively) facets had unique associations with a superordinate ER latent variable. Findings replicate and extend prior associations between psychopathy and ER and suggest differential links between ER and affective and interpersonal traits of psychopathy