Ambulatory assessment of language use: Evidence on the temporal stability of Electronically Activated Recorder and stream of consciousness data

The ambulatory assessment offers a wide range of methods enabling researchers to investigate psychological, behavioral, emotional, and biological processes. These methods enable us to gather data on individual differences in language use for psychological research. Two studies were conducted with an aim to evaluate and compare the temporal stability of language measures extracted by LIWC software form data obtained by two frequently used methods for assessment of language use, i.e., Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR) and stream of consciousness (SOC) task. Additionally, we examined the amount of variance in language use (assessed by both methods) that can be attributed to intra-individual variability and stable individual differences. Study 1 was focused on investigating language use obtained from 74 respondents using the EAR for 3 consecutive days. Study 2 was conducted on 250 respondents participating in a SOC task where verbal production was collected at ten time points over a 2-month period. Results show that measures obtained using the SOC task have higher temporal stability and consistency, and to a certain extent enable better detection of individual differences. Taking into account certain situational variations improves the reliability of EAR measures

Psychometric evaluation of the Serbian dictionary for automatic text analysis - LIWCser

LIWC (Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count) is widely used word-level content analysis software. It was used in large number of studies in the fields of clinical, social and personality psychology, and it is adapted for text analysis in 11 world languages. The aim of this research was to validate empirically newly constructed adaptation of LIWC software for Serbian language (LIWCser). The sample of the texts consisted of 384 texts in Serbian and 141 texts in English. It included scientific paper abstracts, newspaper articles, movie subtitles, short stories and essays. Comparative analysis of Serbian and English version of the software demonstrated acceptable level of equivalence (ICCM=.70). Average coverage of the texts with LIWCser dictionary was 69.93%, and variability of this measure in different types of texts is in line with expected. Adaptation of LIWC software for Serbian opens entirely new possibilities of assessment of spontaneous verbal behaviour that is highly relevant for different fields of psychology

Militant Extremist Mindset in Post-conflict Regions of the Balkans

This study explores the structure of Militant Extremist Mindset (MEM) within a sample of participants living in areas with enhanced risk of intergroup conflict. We were also interested in comparing members of three different ethnic groups (Serbs, Albanians, and Bosniaks) on MEM measures. A short version of the MEM scale was created for future use. We found that the factorial structure of MEM was replicated in the sample composed of people from both sides of a conflict. Ethnic groups did not differ significantly on the Grudge component of MEM. Group differences were pronounced on the Pro-violence and Utopianism factors. Albanians scored higher than Bosniaks and Serbs on these two dimensions. However, significant differences were obtained on the Ethos of Conflict (EOC) factor when groups of Serbs living within and outside areas of recent conflict were compared

The Role of Personality, Conspiracy Mentality, REBT Irrational Beliefs, and Adult Attachment in COVID-19 Related Health Behaviors

There is evidence that different types of irrational thinking and beliefs are significant predictors of questionable and maladaptive COVID-19 related health practices. In this study, we investigated the role of two under-researched types of irrational thinking, more typical for a clinical setting: irrational beliefs defined in Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) and attachment anxiety and avoidance. We investigated whether REBT irrational beliefs, attachment dimensions, and conspiracy mentality mediated the relationship between personality traits, on the one side, and COVID-19 health behaviors, on the other. We proposed that HEXACO personality traits, and especially Disintegration (proneness to psychotic-like experiences) predicted irrational thinking and beliefs, which in turn predicted higher susceptibility to questionable health practices. Structural equation modeling on a sample of 287 participants from the general population, showed that Disintegration was related to REBT irrational beliefs, attachment dimensions, and conspiracy mentality, highlighting the important effect of Disintegration on irrational thinking and beliefs. Conspiracy mentality mediated the effects of Disintegration to low adherence to recommended health behaviors – RHB, and greater use of pseudoscientific practices – PSP. Attachment anxiety mediated the relationship between high Disintegration, high Emotionality (E), and low Honesty (H), and lower adherence to RHB. REBT irrational beliefs and attachment avoidance did not mediate the relationship between personality traits and COVID-19 health behaviors

Konstrukcija i empirijska provera testa homofobije

The paper presents development and empirical evaluation of the Homophobia scale (H25). The Homophobia scale consists of 25 items with a five-point Likert type scale. The sample of 476 subjects participated in the research. The results shown good psychometric properties of the H25 (KMO = .99, α = .97). Factor analysis revealed two highly correlated underlying dimensions of homophobia, which can be interpreted as 'homosexuality as a threat to a society' and 'homosexuality as a threat to me'. Convergent and predictive validities of the scale were also demonstrated. The H25 correlated with alternative measures of homophobia (feeling thermometer and connotative differential) as well as with discriminatory attitudes toward homosexuals. Additionally, homophobia was related to gender, political orientation, religiousness, contact with homosexuals and basic personality traits (i.e., Openness and Conscientiousness). In conclusion, the H25 proves to be a reliable and valid measure of homophobia in heterosexuals, which can be used for both research and practical purposes.U ovom radu predstavljena je konstrukcija i evaluacija Testa homofobije koji u sadržinskom smislu objedinjuje dosadašnja znanja i ideje o prirodi ovog fenomena. Test homofobije (H25) sastoji se od 25 stavki u formi tvrdnji kojima je pridružena petostepena skala Likertovog tipa. Na uzorku od 476 ispitanika proverene su psihometrijske karakteristike testa i njegova faktorska struktura. U celini test pokazuje dobre psihometrijske karakteristike (KMO = .99, α = .97). Faktorskom analizom ekstrahovana su dva visoko korelirana faktora, koja su interpretirana kao 'homoseksualnost kao pretnja za društvo' i 'homoseksualnost kao pretnja za mene'. Takođe, test je pokazao zadovoljavajuću konvergentnu validnost spram dve alternativne mere homofobije, kao i visoku predikciju diskriminatornih stavova prema osobama homoseksualne orijentacije. Dodatno, pokazano je da homofobija, merena konstruisanim instrumentom, ima veći broj socio-demografskih i personalnih korelata. Homofobiji su sklonije osobe muškog pola, religiozne osobe, osobe konzervativne političke orijentacije, zatim osobe koje imaju manje kontakta sa homoseksualnom populacijom, i osobe nižih skorova na dimeziji Otvorenosti, a viših na dimenziji Savesnosti. U celini, konstruisani instrument predstavlja pouzdanu i validnu meru heteroseksualnog stava prema homoseksualnoj populaciji, te predstavlja ekonomičan instrument pogodan za primenu, kako u istraživačke tako i u praktične svrhe

Razvoj srpske verzije rečnika za automatsku analizu teksta (LIWCser)

Automatic text analysis is a methodological approach in the analysis of individual differences in verbal behaviour. It enables extraction of statistically manipulable information about intensity and/or frequency of thematic and stylistic characteristics of verbal output. LIWC (Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count), one of the widely used software solutions for automatic text analysis, performs analyses by matching word stems from incorporated software dictionary with those from text input. It provides information about the percentage of each of the predefined categories in the analyzed text. Research suggests that data obtained by automatic text analysis have potential in explaining the relationship between implicit and explicit measures, independently of the object of measurement (attitudes, pathological potential, assessment of basic personality traits etc.). The topic of this paper is the development of the Serbian LIWC dictionary. Development of the dictionary was performed in four phases: translation of English LIWC dictionary, forming lemmas, classification of word stems according to absolute consensus among four independent raters (where word stems could be categorized in more than one category, depending on the context), and revision of the content of categories and creation of final set of word stems. The final version of the LIWCser dictionary contains 12103 word stems classified into 65 categories (linguistic, psychological and personal concerns). Only four word stems (0.03%) were classified into eight categories, 22 (0.2%) into seven, 147 (1.2%) into six, and 568 (4.7%) into five. 1531 (12.6%) word stems were classified into four categories, 2913 (24.1%) into three, 4800 (39.7%) into two, while 2188 (17.5%) word stems were classified into only one category. Development of the LIWCser dictionary allows researchers to collect and analyze data on verbal behaviour and to study the relationship between implicit and explicit measures in different fields of psychology.Automatska analiza teksta je metodološki pristup analizi individualnih razlika u verbalnoj produkciji (ponašanju) koji omogućava ekstrakciju statistički manipulabilnih informacija o intenzitetu i/ili frekvenci tematskih i stilističkih karakteristika verbalnih produkata. LIWC (Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count) jedan je od najzastupljenijih programa za automatsku analizu teksta, koji analizu obavlja upoređivanjem odrednica u rečniku sa odrednicama u tekstu i beleženjem relativne zastupljenosti svake od kategorija u datom uzorku teksta. Istraživanja ukazuju na to da mere dobijene obradom verbalnog ponašanja imaju potencijal da objasne odnose između mera dobijenih primenom implicitnih i tradicionalnih eksplicitnih mera, nezavisno od predmeta merenja (stavovi, psihopatološki potencijal, procena bazičnih dimenzija ličnosti itd.). Cilj ovog rada jeste konstrukcija rečnika za srpski jezik LIWCser. Konstrukcija rečnika odvijala se u četiri faze: prevod sadržaja engleskog rečnika, kreiranje odrednica, klasifikacija odrednica pomoću apsolutnog konsenzusa između četiri nezavisna procenjivača (jednu odrednicu moguće je klasifikovati u više kategorija u zavisnosti od konteksta u kojem se upotrebljava) i revizija sadržaja kategorija i formiranje konačnog skupa odrednica. Konačna verzija rečnika LIWCser sadrži 12103 odrednice, klasifikovane u 65 kategorija (lingvističkih, psiholoških i tematskih). Od ukupnog broja odrednica, samo četiri (0,03%) je klasifikovano u osam kategorija, 22 (0,2%) u sedam, 147 (1,2%) u šest, a 568 (4,7%) u pet kategorija. U četiri kategorije klasifikovano je 1531 (12,6%) odrednica, u tri 2913 (24,1%) odrednica, u dve 4800 (39,7%) odrednica, dok je 2118 (17,5%) odrednica klasifikovano samo u jednu kategoriju. Razvojem rečnika LIWCser otvara se mogućnost prikupljanja mera verbalnog ponašanja i dalja istraživanja odnosa implicitnih i eksplicitnih mera u različitim oblastima psihologije

Nonsuicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) in Serbia: Nationally representative sample study

Although NSSI has been drawing the attention of researchers intensely for the last 30 years, to date there is no published study about rates of NSSI behaviors in countries of south-eastern Europe. The study aimed to explore NSSI in the Republic of Serbia. Data were collected using multistage random sampling. The final sample consisted of 2792 participants (57.4% female) while the NSSI subsample consisted of 405 participants (54.3% males). Results showed the NSSI rate in Serbia is 4.3% based on a percentage of people who answered affirmatively to lifetime NSSI engagement. However, when the percentage of people who reported at least one positive answer through the NSSI behaviors checklist, the rate rises to 14.5%. The most frequent NSSI behavior is wound picking. NSSI rate drops to 8.8% when wound picking is excluded. Those engaged in NSSI were more likely to report suicide attempts and seek professional help than those who did not report NSSI. Gender differences in NSSI frequency are found only in cases of headbanging and burning oneself. This study showed the scope of NSSI-related problems is similar in Serbia compared to other countries. It also raised questions about the lack of preventive programs and treatment strategies for dealing with NSSI in Serbia.[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772598722000320]Corresponding author. Institute for Educational Research, Dobrinjska 11/3, 11 000, Belgrade, Serbia. E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected] (A. Radanović)

Developmental Stability Of Seven-factor Personality Structure

The vast majority of studies investigating personality structure is done using adult samples. If personality is assessed in children, parental ratings are preferably used method, while self reports are seldom used. Here we use self-report measures to study the developmental stability of the seven-factor personality structure defined by the HEXACO model and Disintegration trait. We focus on middle childhood children, young teens, and teenagers. Sample consisted of four groups: 1) age 10-11 (N=164, 49.4% female), 2) age 12-13 (N=195, 48.9% female), 3) age 14-16 (N=319, 59.2% female), 4) age 17-18 (N=201, 49.5% female). Data were collected in several elementary and high schools in Serbia and Montenegro. Personality traits were assessed using 60 items HEXACO, and 20 items DELTA questionnaires. The stability of the seven-factor personality structure was tested using orthogonal procrustes rotations, and the analysis was done on facets of all seven personality traits. Congruence coefficients and factor loadings were calculated for all facets for all six pairwise comparisons. Overall, the average congruence of factors ranged between .69 (Emotionality) and .96 (Disintegration). The average congruence of facets ranged between .41 (Sincerity) and .95 (Sentimentality), with the majority of facets having average congruence above .85. Average factor loadings for Disintegration range between .55 (Depression) and .85 (Perceptual Distortions), for Honesty between .20 (Sincerity) and .39 (Greed avoidance), for Emotionality between .19 (Anxiety) and .53 (Sentimentality), for Extraversion between .34 (Sociability), and .47 (Social self-esteem and Liveliness), for Agreeableness .34 (Patience), and .54 (Flexibility), for Conscientiousness .33 (Organization) and .53 (Diligence), and for Openness .53 (Creativity) and .67 (Inquisitiveness). As expected, personality structure is least stable in the first age group but stabilizes in groups 3 and 4. We discuss, in detail, stability and content of personality factors on different age groups, and practical implications on assessment these results have

To prevent or to cure: How people use traditional, complementary and alternative medicine

To understand the reasons behind the trend of growing use of traditional, complementary and alternative (TCAM) practices we should first reflect on how people use them - to prevent disease/promote health, to treat medical conditions by complementing official medical treatments, or as an alternative to them. A total of N = 583 (Mage = 39.01 years, SDage = 12.10; 74.4% females) participants from Serbia completed an online survey including a list of 24 TCAM practices, grouped into four domains: Alternative Medical Systems (e.g., acupuncture, homeopathy), Natural product-based practices (e.g., herbal extracts/supplements), New Age medicine (e.g., yoga, mindfulness) and Rituals/Customs (e.g., visiting monasteries for health). Participants who indicated using a certain practice in the past year were asked to consider their most recent experience with that practice and choose only one option for how they used it: for preventive purposes/advancing health, at the same time with official medicine therapy, instead of official medicine therapy. Participants also provided information on whether a TCAM practitioner was involved in their last use of any of the TCAM practices and how often, in general, they consult TCAM practitioners. Overall, 63%, 95%CI [60, 65] of participants used TCAM practices for preventive purposes, 31% [29, 34] in parallel with, and 6% [5, 8] as an alternative to official treatments. Of the four domains of TCAM use, New Age medicine and Rituals/Customs were most frequently used for prevention, with 78% [74, 83] and 77% [72, 82], respectively, while Natural product-based practices were used for prevention in 57% [54, 60] and Alternative Medical Systems in 41% [33, 49] of the cases. Alternative use of TCAM practices was the most common in the case of Alternative Medical Systems (21% [14, 28]), while it amounted to no more than 7% of participants for any of the other domains. For 24% of participants, a TCAM practitioner was present during their last TCAM use, 10% reported a practitioner previously prescribing the practice, while 66% of participants reported no practitioner involvement. The results suggest the importance of treating different domains of TCAM practices separately, as they may have different impacts on people’s health behavior. We especially point to the importance of monitoring adherence to alternative medical systems, as they may potentially distract patients from official therapies and thus further compromise their health.Saopšetenje sa međunarodnog skupa Empirical Studies in Psychology održanog od 31. marta do 02. aprila 2023. godine štampano u izvodu

The latent structure of traditional, complementary, and alternative medicine practices based on patterns of use

Despite unknown efficiency, known risks, and associated adverse effects of certain traditional, complementary, and alternative medicine (TCAM) practices, the number of people using them appears to be on the rise. Existing taxonomies of TCAM practices mostly relied on either conceptual reasons, or they relied on attitudes toward TCAM, rather than its actual use. In this study, we sought to group TCAM practices based on their patterns of use. A sample of N = 583 (Mage = 39.01 years, SDage = 12.10; 74.4% females) participants residing in Serbia completed an online survey including a list of 71 TCAM practices. For each practice, they indicated if and when they used it to promote their own or their children's health (options: never heard about it/never used it/more than a year ago/in the past year/during the past two weeks). To evaluate the lifetime use of TCAM, we binarized all TCAM items to reflect whether participants have ever used a given practice (never using a practice was coded as 0, using it at least once as 1). After excluding items with frequencies below 5%, we performed an exploratory factor analysis on the tetrachoric correlation matrix for the remaining 49 items. Using a minimum residual method of extraction and oblimin rotation, we identified four meaningful factors explaining 42% of total variance: 1) Natural product-based practices (NP) comprising the use of products such as extracts and supplements of herbal and non-herbal origin; 2) Rituals/Customs (RC) which reflected the use of traditional medicine and religious practices, such as visiting monasteries; 3) New age medicine (NA) incorporating mind-body therapies and energy medicine practices; and 4) Alternative medical systems (AMS) such as acupuncture, homeopathy, quantum medicine, and osteopathy/chiropractic. Factor correlations ranged from r = .18, p <.001 for RC and AMS to r = .30, p < .001 for NA and AMS. The latent structure we obtained based on the pattern of TCAM use corresponds closely to existing conceptual typologies, as well as to those based on attitudes toward TCAM. This suggests that consumers are sensitive to common characteristics of certain TCAM treatments and are more likely to resort to similar types of TCAM practices to promote their health. The existence of relatively independent factors of TCAM use opens the possibility of differential patterns of their psychological predictors and health-related outcomes