Self‐esteem development and life events:A review and integrative process framework

Self-esteem is a pervasive individual characteristic with major consequences for people's lives. Recent research demonstrated normative change and substantial individual differences in change across the lifespan, which triggered great interest in the sources of self-esteem development. This article provides an overview of the present state of the field of self-esteem development. First, to gain a comprehensive picture, I reviewed findings of different change indicators: mean-level change, individual differences in change, rank-order stability, and state (fluctuations). Second, I reviewed theory and empirical evidence on self-esteem change in response to normative and non-normative life events in the domains school/work and social relationships. Third, I reviewed theory and empirical evidence on situational processes and psychological mechanisms of self-esteem development. I integrated theoretical approaches from lifespan, personality developmental, and social-personality psychology in a process-oriented framework of self-esteem development in response to life events. Finally, I discussed directions for theoretical and methodological advancements

Temporal dynamics of interpersonal trust during the transition to parenthood

Theories and laboratory research in social psychology associate parenthood with increased vigilance and distrust. Yet, longitudinal studies examining whether the transition to parenthood affects trust in real life are lacking. We examined the temporal dynamics of trust surrounding the transition to parenthood in a sample of adults followed for up to 12 years. We used discontinuous change models and propensity score matching to compare first-time parents with matched childless individuals. Parenthood predicted a gradual trust increase following childbirth. The effect of the transition was unidirectional: Baseline trust level did not predict the likelihood of parenthood in the follow-up years. These findings contribute to the literature on how major life events, such as the transition to parenthood, shape interpersonal trust

Workplace violence, post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, and personality

Patient violence against staff members in forensic psychiatric institutions is highly prevalent. To date, little is known about individual characteristics that increase the likelihood of being victimized. Therefore, the current cross-sectional study was designed to investigate the extent to which staff members' Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms and the Big Five personality traits are linked to perceived patient violence. Moreover, it was investigated to what extent staff members' personality affected the association between PTSD symptoms and perceived workplace victimization. Data were obtained from 353 staff members in forensic psychiatric institutions (51.8% female, age, M = 42.4, SD = 12.1). Regression analyses showed that lower levels of emotional stability and higher reports of PTSD symptoms were associated with experiencing more verbal patient violence, whereas lower levels of openness and higher levels of extraversion were associated with experiencing more physical patient violence. Personality moderated the association between PTSD symptoms and physical victimization with the association being stronger for individuals with higher levels of conscientiousness and lower levels of agreeableness. These findings provide useful information for tailoring interventions in clinical practice aimed at reducing the risk of patient-staff violence

Changes in loneliness and coping strategies during COVID-19

The social distancing measures implemented to slow the spread of COVID-19 impacted many aspects of people's lives. Previous research has reported negative consequences of these measures for people's psychological well-being, and that people differed in the impact on their psychological well-being. The present study aimed to describe the different coping strategies Dutch people used to deal with these measures and to link these strategies to loneliness. In addition, the study aimed to examine mean-level changes in loneliness and to explore individual differences in loneliness change. We used data from 2009 participants of a panel study of representative Dutch households. We assessed coping strategies used during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020 and examined changes in loneliness between October 2019 (before COVID-19) and May 2020 (during the first wave of COVID-19). First, results showed that most people employed specific coping strategies. The most frequently used social strategies were chatting and (video)calling; the most frequently used non-social strategies were going outside, doing chores, watching TV, reading and self-care. Second, people who used more coping strategies reported lower levels of loneliness. Third, analyses revealed an average increase in loneliness between October 2019 and May 2020. Fourth, we observed two significant interaction effects, showing a stronger positive link between the number of social coping strategies and initial loneliness levels among those with a partner or living with others than for those who were single or lived alone. Yet, no moderating effects on changes in loneliness were found: people using more coping strategies did not differ in loneliness changes from people using fewer coping strategies. Together, findings suggest that loneliness increased in the Netherlands during the first phase of COVID-19 and that, while people's coping strategies were related to loneliness levels, they did not buffer against loneliness increases

Quaranteens: Prepandemic relationship quality and changes in adolescent internalizing problems during the COVID-19 pandemic

This preregistered longitudinal study examined changes in adolescents' depressive and anxiety symptoms before and during the COVID-19 pandemic using latent additive piece-wise growth models. It also assessed whether support from and conflict with mothers, fathers, siblings, and best friends explained heterogeneity in change patterns. One hundred and ninety-two Dutch adolescents (Mean age: 14.3 years; 68.8% female) completed online biweekly questionnaires for a year (November 2019–October 2020), consisting of a prepandemic, lockdown, and reopening phase. Depressive symptoms increased following the lockdown and decreased upon reopening. Anxiety symptoms showed an immediate decrease followed by a gradual increase in the reopening phase. Prepandemic family and best friend support and conflict did not explain heterogeneity in depressive and anxiety symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic.</p

Routinely randomize potential sources of measurement reactivity to estimate and adjust for biases in subjective reports

With the advent of online and app-based studies, researchers in psychology are making increasing use of repeated subjective reports. The new methods open up opportunities to study behavior in the field and to map causal processes, but they also pose new challenges. Recent work has added initial elevation bias to the list of common pitfalls; here, higher negative states (i.e., thoughts and feelings) are reported on the first day of assessment than on later days. This article showcases a new approach to addressing this and other measurement reactivity biases. Specifically, we employed a planned missingness design in a daily diary study of more than 1,300 individuals who were assessed over a period of up to 70 days to estimate and adjust for measurement reactivity biases. We found that day of first item presentation, item order, and item number were associated with only negligible bias: Items were not answered differently depending on when and where they were shown. Initial elevation bias may thus be more limited than has previously been reported or it may act only at the level of the survey, not at the item level. We encourage researchers to make design choices that will allow them to routinely assess measurement reactivity biases in their studies. Specifically, we advocate the routine randomization of item display and order, as well as of the timing and frequency of measurement. Randomized planned missingness makes it possible to empirically gauge how fatigue, familiarity, and learning interact to bias responses

Diskriminierung im Bildungsbereich abbauen: Bedeutung und Rezeption des Menschenrechtsansatzes in der Bildungsforschung - Gemeinsame Veranstaltung mit dem Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB) am 29. September 2016 ; Tagungsdokumentation

Welche Begriffe von Diskriminierung werden in der Bildungs- und Menschenrechtsforschung zugrunde gelegt? Wie beziehen sie sich aufeinander und wie können sich die verschiedenen Ansätze gegenseitig ergänzen? Wie manifestiert sich Diskriminierung im Bildungsbereich und welche Indikatoren können herangezogen werden, um menschenrechtlich relevante Benachteiligungen und Ausgrenzungen zu identifizieren? Diesen und weiteren Fragen widmete sich eine Veranstaltung des Instituts in Kooperation mit dem Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB) am 29. September 2016. Anlass der Tagung war die Veröffentlichung der Analyse "Das Menschenrecht auf Bildung im deutschen Schulsystem. Was zum Abbau von Diskriminierung notwendig ist" von Mareike Niendorf und Sandra Reitz (DIMR). Die nun vorliegende Dokumentation fasst die Referate und Diskussionen zusammen und skizziert die Gespräche und Argumentationsstränge in den Workshops

Dependency in the Twenty-First Century: Global material flows and the international division of labour

Abhängigkeiten im globalen Kapitalismus stellen eine historische Kontinuität dar. Wie diese sich seit dem Ende der formalen Kolonialherrschaft in ökonomischer und politischer Hinsicht fortsetzen, hat Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts zunächst vor allem der lateinamerikanische Dependenzansatz prominent diskutiert. Der vorliegende Beitrag argumentiert, dass politische und ökonomische Abhängigkeiten trotz Verschiebungen gegenüber der Ausgangslage der dependenztheoretischen Diskussionen der 1970er Jahre weithin fortbestehen und sich nicht allein über die Betrachtung ökonomischer Kennziffern beschreiben lassen. Gerade auch im Hinblick auf zwei Leerstellen des Dependenzansatzes, der Aneignung von un(ter-) bezahlter Sorge- und Subsistenzarbeit sowie am kostenlosen Zugriff auf Natur, zeigen sich Machtbeziehungen und Abhängigkeitsverhältnisse, auf denen die kapitalistische Weltwirtschaft weiterhin beruht.Dependencies represent an historical continuity in global capitalism. The economic and political terms under which they have continued since the end of formal colonial rule was prominently discussed by the Latin American dependency approach in the mid-20th century. This article argues that political and economic dependencies continue to exist to a large extent, despite the changes and shifts that have taken place since the dependency theory discussions of the 1970s. Furthermore they cannot be described solely through the analysis of economic indicators. The relations of power and dependency on which the capitalist world economy continues to rely become particularly visible through two blind spots in the dependency approach: the appropriation of nature and of un(der)paid care and subsistence work