Slovenska validacija Inventara sposobnosti za ljubav – preliminarno istraživanje

Our study aimed to test the psychometric properties of the Slovenian version of the Capacity to Love Inventory (CTL-I, Kapusta et al., 2018). The CTL-I is a 41-item self-report questionnaire that measures the construct of capacity to love. The measure itself has been operationalized based on findings from clinical practice and psychodynamic theory and relates to both clinically relevant symptoms as well as healthier manifestations of personality. The CTL-I measures six dimensions:interest in the life project of the other, basic trust, gratitude, common ego ideal, permanence of sexual passion and loss and mourning. Due to the concept of capacity to love being closely related to relationship quality, we used the Quality of Relationship Inventory (QRI) to examine external validity. Our final study sample consisted of 224 non-clinical adults. Overall, the Slovenian version of the CTL-I showed a satisfactory model fit, comparable to that of previous validation studies. The QRI subscales were found to correlate with most of the CTL-I factors, as well as the CTL-I subscales with each other. Because of the instrument being tested on a smaller convenience sample in this study, we believe our findings should be viewed as a preliminary attempt at validating the Slovenian translation of the CTL-I. While the results of the present study are promising, we believe additional research is needed to fully assess the psychometric properties of the Slovenian CTL-I.Cilj je ovoga istraživanja bio ispitati psihometrijske karakteristike slovenske verzije Inventara sposobnosti za ljubav (CTL-I; Kapusta i sur., 2018). CTL-I je upitnik za samoprocjenu od 41 čestice koji mjeri konstrukt sposobnosti za ljubav. Sama je mjera operacionalizirana na temelju istraživanja u kliničkoj praksi i psihodinamskoj teoriji, a odnosi se na klinički relevantne simptome, kao i na zdravije manifestacije ličnosti. CTL-I mjeri šest dimenzija: zanimanje za životni plan drugoga, osnovno povjerenje, zahvalnost, zajednički ego ideal, postojanost seksualne strasti te gubitak I žalost. Budući da je poznato da je koncept sposobnosti za ljubav usko povezan s kvalitetom veze, koristili smo Inventar kvalitete odnosa (QRI) za ispitivanje vanjske valjanosti. Konačni se uzorak ispitanika sastojao od 224 nekliničke odrasle osobe. Slovenska verzija CTL-I-ja pokazala je zadovoljavajuće pristajanje modela usporedivo s onim u prethodnim validacijskim studijama. Supskale QRI-ja koreliraju s većinom faktora CTL-I-ja, kao i supskale CTL-I-ja jedna s drugom. Budući da je instrument u ovome istraživanju testiran na manjemu prigodnom uzorku, vjerujemo da bi dobivene nalaze trebalo promatrati kao preliminarni pokušaj validacije slovenskoga prijevoda CTL-I-ja. Iako su rezultati ove studije obećavajući, potrebna su daljnja istraživanja da bi se u potpunosti procijenila psihometrijska svojstva slovenskoga prijevoda CTL-I-ja

The affective effects of news reading – a case of traditional and sensationalistic reporting

V današnjem času so mediji v življenju vseprisotni. Njihova pomembna vloga je informiranje javnosti o svetovnem in lokalnem dogajanju, kar je pomembno za delovanje demokratične družbe. Zaradi trgu prilagajočega modela delovanja se je v zadnjih letih začel porast rumenih medijev in senzacionalizma, ki poleg želje po informiranju izkazuje primarno željo po dobičku. Sodobna novičarska pokrajina, tako v resnih kot rumenih medijih, vključuje mnogo negativnih informacij, ki bi lahko bile škodljive za posameznikovo duševno zdravje. V skladu s tem je bil namen naše raziskave pridobiti jasnejši vpogled v morebitne čustvene vidike spremljanja medijev. Pri tem so nas zanimale tudi razlike, ki se pojavijo ob spremljanju rumenih in resnih medijev. Raziskava, ki je bila izvedena s spletnim anketiranjem, v katerem je sodelovalo 176 udeležencev (66 moških in 107 žensk), starih od 15 do 65 let, je zajemala eksperimentalni del, v katerem smo preverjali učinke neposredne izpostavljenosti rumenim in resnim medijem glede na psihološko blagostanje udeležencev. V korelacijskem delu raziskave smo preverjali povezave med dolgoročnim spremljanjem resnih in rumenih medijev ter spremljanjem medijev na splošno in doživljanjem neprijetnih emocij. V tem delu so nas zanimale tudi razlike v navadah spremljanja medijev med spoloma in morebitne razlike v čustvenem odzivanju na novice. Eksperimentalni del ni pokazal statistično pomembnih razlik med eksperimentalnimi pogoji, nakazoval pa se je trend – udeleženci, izpostavljeni rumenemu mediju, so bili najbolje razpoloženi. Korelacijske raziskave niso pokazale statistično pomembne povezave med spremljanjem novic in doživljanjem neprijetnih čustev. Primerjava v dolgoročnem spremljanju resnega in rumenega medija ni pokazala statistično pomembnih razlik, trend pa je nakazoval, da bi morebitno dolgoročno spremljanje rumenih medijev lahko bilo povezano s slabšim blagostanjem. Primerjava med spoloma je pokazala pomembne razlike v spremljanju novic in čustvenem odzivanju nanje. Ugotovitve v magistrskem delu so razložene v skladu s trenutnimi psihološkimi spoznanji.Media news is ever-present in our daily lives. Media outlets play an important role in informing the general public on global and local events, which is crucial for the functioning of democratic societies. In the past several decades a model that works in line with the free market has led to an increase in soft news reporting and sensationalism, both of which often focus more on increasing sales than informing the public. Our modern media landscape contains an unbalanced amount of negative information which could potentially be harmful to our individual mental health. In line with these observations the purpose of our study was to gain better insight into the potential negative emotional states associated with news consumption. Along these lines we focused on the differences associated with following soft and hard news media. Our study was conducted in the form of an online survey involving 176 participants (66 male and 107 female) aged 15–65. The study included an experimental section wherein we tested for the potential effects of exposure to soft or hard news on the psychological well-being of our participants. In the correlational part of our study we tested for associations between long-term exposure to soft news, hard news and news in general and levels of negative emotion. In this part of the study we were also interested in the differences in news exposure habits between men and women as well as the potential differences in their emotional reactions to news. The experimental section did not show statistically significant differences between the experimental conditionshowever, it did show a trend – individuals exposed to soft news had the highest levels of mood. The correlational studies did not show significant differences between new exposure habits and levels of negative emotions. In comparing long-term news exposure to the chosen hard and soft newspapers no statistically significant differences were found, but a forming trend seemed to suggest long-term exposure to soft news might be associated with decreased psychological well-being. The gender comparison showed statistically significant differences in news following habits as well as emotional reactions to news. Our findings are discussed in line with the contemporary psychological literature

Romantic Relationships

Romantic relationships individuation stud

Beliefs about romantic relationships and sexual attitudes predicting romantic relationship experiences, intentions, and dating app use

Background and Objectives: Recent studies have found changes in romantic relationship (RR) dynamics among emerging adults, such as greater postponement of committed RRs and greater search for new RRs online. In this study, we examined whether one\u27s beliefs about RRs and sexual attitudes are significant predictors of current RR status (in a relationship or single), RR intention (low vs. high), dating app use, dating via a dating app, and number of RRs in one\u27s lifetime. Methods: 440 Slovenian emerging adults participated in the study (319 female, Mage = 22.78). They answered The Brief Measure of Relationship Importance (BMRI), The Brief Sexual Attitudes Scale (BSAS), and some short questions about their RR status, RR intention, use of dating apps, and lifetime number of RRs. The study was conducted online. Results: Using logistic and linear regression analyses, we found that RR dismissal was a significant negative predictor of RR status, RR intention, and dating via a dating app, whereas RR desire did not significantly predict RR outcomes. Sexual permissiveness significantly predicted dating app use, dating via dating apps, and the number of romantic relationships in one\u27s lifetime. Being female, living independently, and having a more instrumental sexual attitude positively predicted “in a relationship” status. Conclusion: Results suggest that certain beliefs about RR and sexual attitudes are related to intentions and decisions to engage in actual RR behaviour

Validacija slovenske oblike Lestvice funkcij identitete pri vzorcu mladih na prehodu v odraslost

The Function of Identity Scale (FIS) is a self-report measure of five identity functions: structure, harmony, goals, control, and future. The purpose of the study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Slovenian version on a sample of emerging adults. 287 participants between the ages of 18 and 29 years participated in the study. Confirmatory factor analysis provided support for the proposed five-factor structure of the scale. Furthermore, strict measurement invariance across genders was demonstrated. Convergent validity was only partially established. With the exception of the Control subscale, the internal reliability coefficients were satisfactory for the other four subscales. Shortcomings of the Control subscale were discussed along with recommendations for future revisions. Overall, the results of the study are consistent with those observed in other validation studies and support the usefulness of the scale for assessing the identity functions among emerging adultsLestvica funkcij identitet (LFI) je samoocenjevalni vprašalnik, ki meri pet identitetnih funkcij: strukturo, harmonijo, cilje, nadzor in prihodnost. Namen raziskave je bil preveriti psihometrične značilnosti slovenske verzije na vzorcu mladih na prehodu v odraslost. V raziskavo je bilo vključenih 287 udeležencev med 18. in 29. letom starosti. S konfirmatorno faktorsko analizo smo potrdili predlagano petfaktorsko strukturo lestvice, prav tako je bila lestvica strogo mersko invariantna po spolu. Konvergentna veljavnost je bila potrjena le delno. Z izjemo podlestvice Nadzor so bili koeficienti notranje zanesljivosti za ostale štiri podlestvice zadovoljivi. Pomanjkljivosti podlestvice Nadzor smo naslovili skupaj s predlogi za nadaljnje izboljšave. Rezultati slovenske validacijske študije LFI so skladni z rezultati drugih validacijskih študij in podpirajo uporabnost lestvice za oceno identitetnih funkcij mladih na prehodu v odraslost

News Exposure and Psychological Adjustment: Examining the Emotional Effects and Correlates of Short and Long-Term Exposure to Soft and Hard News

Past research has shown that news media may contain a disproportionate amount of negative news. Frequent exposure to such negative information could have detrimental effects on our mental well-being. We aimed to gain further insight into the potentially adverse effects of exposure to soft and hard news, as well as to examine potential reasons why individuals might expose themselves to such negative information. To do so, we conducted an online survey involving 176 participants (66 male, 107 female and 3 other) aged 15–65 years. The study included manipulation and additional (correlational) analyses. In the manipulation, we tested for the potential short-term effects of exposure to soft or hard news on the psychological well-being of our participants (as measured by the semi-projective Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank; Rotter, 1950). This was done by setting three conditions (soft news, hard news and control group) wherein participants were exposed to 15 consecutive front page screenshots of the chosen soft and hard newspapers respectively. Hard news is generally more focused on major issues and breaking events – i.e., news that is important for the individual to understand, while soft news usually focuses on personal stories, is less time-bound, and is more incident-based. The correlational part of our study focused on discovering associations between long-term exposure to (different types of) news and the degree of negative emotions and well-being (measured by the DASS-21, Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995) and Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965). The results did not show statistically significant differences between conditions. When comparing the long-term readers of the chosen hard and soft newspapers, statistically significant differences were found only in anxiety levels, however, a forming trend seemed to suggest that long-term exposure to soft news might be associated with reduced psychological well-being. Our findings are discussed in line with the contemporary psychological literature