Undergraduates as researchers –the impact of active participation in research and conference presentation on psychology undergraduate identity and career aspirations

Although research-led teaching has been identified as an important part of psychology curricula in the United Kingdom, less is known about the impact of undergraduate research collaborations with academics, culminating in a conference presentation. The present study was a qualitative investigation into the experience of student-staff collaboration from a student perspective. We conducted semi-structured interviews with five psychology students who worked together with staff conducting research during their undergraduate degrees, disseminating the findings at an academic conference. The interviews were analysed using a thematic approach. We identified three themes, which were around the relationship with their tutor, career aspirations, and identity as a researcher/psychologist. Overall, the interviews indicated that undertaking research and attending academic conferences has a positive impact on future career aspirations, and helps students to feel that they are part of an academic community. Academic staff teaching in research-led psychology programmes should consider giving students opportunities to immerse themselves fully in the research process, ideally leading to a conference presentation for academic audiences

How Men and Women Respond to Hypothetical Parental Discovery: The Importance of Genetic Relatedness

Paternal uncertainty has shaped human behavior both in evolutionary and cultural terms. There has been much research investigating parenting as a function of genetic relatedness to the child, with a focus on male behavior, but the nature of these sex differences is hard to evaluate. We devised a hypothetical scenario that was as similar as possible for men and women to test whether, even in such a scenario, sex differences would remain strong. Participants were presented with the discovery that a child that s/he believed to be theirs was not carrying their own genes. Irrespective of sex, participants ( n = 1007) were more upset when the baby was not genetically related to them than when the child was genetically related but the sex gamete was not from a chosen donor. Women were more upset than men in both scenarios, but were more likely to want to keep the baby. The results are discussed with reference to evolved and rational mechanisms affecting parenting

Is Gaydar Affected by Attitudes Towards Homosexuality? Confidence, Labelling Bias, and Accuracy

Previous research has largely ignored the relationship between sexual orientation judgement accuracy, confidence, and attitudes towards homosexuality. In an online study, participants (N = 269) judged the sexual orientation of homosexual and heterosexual targets presented via a series of facial photographs. Participants also indicated their confidence in each judgement and completed the Modern Homonegativity Scale (Morrison & Morrison, 2002). We found that (i) homosexual men and heterosexual women were more accurate when judging photographs of women, as opposed to photographs of men, and (ii) in heterosexual men, negative attitudes towards homosexual men predicted confidence and bias when rating men’s photographs. Findings indicate that homosexual men and heterosexual women are similar in terms of accuracy in judging women’s sexuality. Further, especially in men, homophobia is associated with cognitive biases in labelling other men, but does not have a relationship with increased accuracy

Gratitude for Help among Adult Friends and Siblings

Peer reviewe

Patterns of parental warmth, attachment, and narcissism in young women in United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom

Few studies have looked at the relationship between parenting styles and narcissistic traits across cultures. We investigated parental influences and attachment in the development of narcissistic traits in two female student samples from the United Kingdom (n = 78) and the United Arab Emirates (n = 70). The UAE students scored significantly higher than the UK students on all of the three Narcissistic Personality Inventory subscales. Higher scores on the Entitlement/Exploitativeness facet was best explained by culture and low paternal care. Culture was a significant moderator between Grandiose Exhibitionism and preoccupied attachment, and Leadership Authority and secure attachment. Our results highlight the importance of investigating cross-cultural parenting influences in narcissism, as narcissism is likely to be affected by cultural differences in parenting practices © 2013 Individual Differences Association, Inc

Lifetime offspring and the Dark Triad

There is a paucity of literature investigating the extent to which human personality predicts lifetime (age-controlled) offspring. The present study contributes to this field in assessing whether the inter-related ‘dark’ personalities that have been linked to mating success (i.e., narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy: the ‘Dark Triad’) predict number of children. Analyses from an online sample (N = 314) revealed that for men, psychopathy was a negative predictor, and narcissism a positive predictor of lifetime offspring. For women, psychopathy emerged as a negative predictor of lifetime offspring. Results are discussed in respect of the importance of these traits to fitness-related outcomes, including reproduction, and the need to consider sex differences, as these traits may have a different function in men and women

The Big Five, Learning Goals, Exam Preparedness, and Preference for Flipped Classroom Teaching: Evidence from a Large Psychology Undergraduate Cohort

Previous research has found that the flipped classroom (i.e., learning prior to the lecture, and using the lecture time for consolidating knowledge) increases students’ deep learning, and has an association with improved grades. However, not all students benefit equally from flipping the classroom, and there may be important individual differences that influence preference for different teaching styles. In the present study, undergraduate Psychology students ( n = 200) answered questions about exam preparedness, learning goals, preference for the traditional or flipped classroom, and the Big Five of personality. We found that preference for the flipped classroom had a significant, positive association with agreeableness and the mastery goal. Preference for the traditional lecture was predicted by beliefs about exam preparedness. The results are discussed with a reference to the Big Five paradigm in the context of learning and teaching. </jats:p