Measuring Implicit European and Mediterranean Landscape Identity: A Tool Proposal

This study presents a tool - the Landscape Identity Implicit Association Test (LI-IAT) - devoted to measure the implicit identification with European and Mediterranean landscapes. To this aim, a series of prototypical landscapes was selected as stimulus, following an accurate multi-step procedure. Participants (N = 174), recruited in two Italian cities, performed two LI-IATs devoted to assess their identification with European vs. Not-European and Mediterranean vs. Not-Mediterranean prototypical landscapes. Psychometric properties and criterion validity of these measures were investigated. Two self-report measures, assessing, respectively, European and Mediterranean place identity and pleasantness of the target landscapes, were also administered. Results showed: (1) an adequate level of internal consistency for both LI-IATs; (2) a higher identification with European and Mediterranean landscapes than, respectively, with Not-European and Not-Mediterranean ones; and (3) a significant positive relationship between the European and Mediterranean LI-IATs and the corresponding place identity scores, also when pleasantness of landscapes was controlled for. Overall, these findings provide a first evidence supporting the reliability and criterion validity of the European and Mediterranean LI-IATs

The implicit component of moral disengagement: applying the relational responding task to investigate its relationship with cheating behavior

This article aims to conceptualize, for the first time, an implicit form of moral disengagement and investigate its role in relation to cheating behavior. In line with the implicit social-cognition models, we argue that the implicit moral disengagement would represent an unintentional, automatic, and less accessible form of the mechanisms bypassing the moral self-regulatory system. We anticipate that in situations implying on-the-spot decisions and where individuals might suffer no consequences for the misconduct, the implicit moral disengagement would predict the actual behavior while the explicit moral disengagement would predict self-reported conduct. The results of three empirical studies provide support for the theorization of an implicit moral disengagement and its assessment through a newly developed implicit measurement procedure using the relational responding task. Results of the structural equation models, including both implicit and explicit moral disengagement, demonstrated that only the implicit one was associated with the actual misconduct

BIS and BAS sensitivities at different levels of personality description: A latent-variable approach with self- and informant-ratings

We study the impact of the Domestic Production Activities Deduction (DPAD) on mergers and acquisitions. DPAD reduces corporate tax rates on income from work or goods made in the US. Results indicate that the quantity and quality of acquisition bids by DPAD-advantaged firms conform to the predictions of the neoclassical theory of the firm and the theory of financial constraints. Specifically, bids, particularly those cash-financed, increase substantially in industries with large DPAD-related tax cuts and for firms with financial constraints. Moreover, DPAD improves acquisition quality where acquirers and targets are likely to generate incremental DPAD tax benefits through their merger

The relationship between self-report and indirect measures of values : is social desirability a significant moderator?

Introduction. The measurement of personal values is still a great challenge in social psychology due to the complex nature of this concept. Objective. Based on Schwartz’s theory of human values, this study aimed at analysing the relationship between the Values Implicit Association Test (VIAT), a relatively new indirect measure of values, and the Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ), a well-known direct measure of values. Also, it examined whether social desirability moderates this relationship. Method. Seventy-three participants (64.4% female; M age = 25.46, SD = 4.04) took part to the study in a standardized setting. Results. Results showed different value priorities depending on the measure used (i.e., indirect vs direct), and although social desirability was related to participants’ responses on PVQ more than on VIAT, it did not moderate the association between direct and indirect measures for any of the examined values. Conclusions. Implications of the findings for value measurement and future developments are discussed

Il modello alternativo dei disturbi di personalitá nel DSM-5 e le sue implicazioni per la perizia in ambito canonico

The present paper is aimed at illustrating the alternative model of personality disorders (PD), included in the DSM-5 system, with a series of possible implications for the expert report in the canon law field. In order to do this, the DSMIV TR diagnostic system with its limits as well as the new criterions of DSM-5 alternative model of PD were systematically presented and articulated. In particular, a series of new proposals, included in the alternative model, were illustrated and critically evaluated, clarifying their role for the improvement of DSM-IV TR unresolved questions, such as the excessive comorbidity of PD categories, the high heterogeneity of individuals with the same PD diagnosis, the obsolete approach to diagnostic thresholds, the temporal instability of diagnoses, the narrow range of personality psychopathology considered and the lack of a theoretical model, empirically founded, that is able to support the criterions. Improvements that DSM-5 alternative model may involve for the expert report in the canon law field, especially regarding the link between diagnostic label and legal incapacity, are discussed