Ali Teymoori

Development of suicidality within socioeconomic context: mediation effect of parental control and anomie.

Despite some scientific research on suicide as one of the most serious social and mental health problems in Iran, there is still lack of research on the effective structural and socio-familial factors contributing to the issue in Iran. The purpose of this study is to investigate some of the effective variables conditioning suicidality while also establishing a synthetic model. Three hundred-fifty university students (165 males, 185 females) were randomly chosen from Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Iran. The participants were asked to complete a package of self-report questionnaires including subjective socioeconomic status (SES), feeling of anomie, perceived parental control, and suicidality. The results show that all correlations among variables are significant. For testing the theoretical model, results of standardized regression coefficients suggest that SES has direct effect on suicidality and indirect effect via anomie and parental control. In addition, parental control has direct effects on suicidality and indirect effect via anomie as well. The findings confirm the expected paths hypothesized among variables which are consistent with the theories of Durkheim, Merton, Kohn, and Agnew. It implies that the development of suicidality takes place within socioeconomic context through the influence of parental control and feeling of anomie.

Towards a better understanding of the relationship between executive control and theory of mind: an intra‐cultural comparison of three diverse samples

Previous research has consistently indicated that theory of mind (ToM) is associated with executive control in the preschool years. However, interpretation of this literature is limited by the fact that most studies have focused exclusively on urbanized Western cultural samples. Consequently, it is not clear whether the association between ToM and executive control reflects the specific features of this particular cohort or instead reflects a universal pattern. The present study provides the first empirical assessment of these two constructs in three diverse groups of Iranian children. Participants were 142 preschoolers (4-5 years old) from high-socioeconomic status (SES) urban (n = 33), low-SES urban (n = 37) and rural villages (n = 77). The results show that there is a robust association between ToM and executive control in all three groups, and that executive control contributes significant unique variance to ToM understanding, even after controlling for a range of variables that have been proposed as potential confounders of this relationship. However, although the three groups were equated in ToM, significant differences in executive control were evident. Moreover, cluster analysis identified three distinct clusters that were relatively homogeneous with respect to executive control and SES. One of these clusters was characterized by both low SES and low executive functioning, and showed little evidence of ToM understanding. Taken together, these findings provide possibly the clearest evidence to date that the association between ToM and executive control is not dependent on childrens previous experiences on the tasks, or their family and cultural background.

Influential factors on ethnocentrism: The effect of socioeconomic status, anomie, and authoritarianism

This study examines the relation of dimensions of ethnocentrism with socio-structural factors such as socioeconomic status (SES), feelings of anomie, and authoritarianism. Using clustered sampling, 500 students were selected from ten high schools in Ahvaz, Iran. Results of structural equation modeling showed that SES has a direct positive effect on ethnocentrism and an indirect effect through anomie and authoritarianism. Similarly, anomie mediates the effect of SES on authoritarianism. Anomie was found to have an indirect effect on dimensions of ethnocentrism via authoritarianism. Findings confirmed the proposed conceptual path model, which is consistent with findings from other countries. The influence of feelings of anomie in the model is highlighted since it has a very important effect on dimensions of ethnocentrism.

Revisiting the measurement of anomie

Sociologists coined the term “anomie” to describe societies that are characterized by disintegration and deregulation. Extending beyond conceptualizations of anomie that conflate the measurements of anomie as ‘a state of society’ and as a ‘state of mind’, we disentangle these conceptualizations and develop an analysis and measure of this phenomenon focusing on anomie as a perception of the ‘state of society’. We propose that anomie encompasses two dimensions: a perceived breakdown in social fabric (i.e., disintegration as lack of trust and erosion of moral standards) and a perceived breakdown in leadership (i.e., deregulation as lack of legitimacy and effectiveness of leadership). Across six studies we present evidence for the validity of the new measure, the Perception of Anomie Scale (PAS). Studies 1a and 1b provide evidence for the proposed factor structure and internal consistency of PAS. Studies 2a-c provide evidence of convergent and discriminant validity. Finally, assessing PAS in 28 countries, we show that PAS correlates with national indicators of societal functioning and that PAS predicts national identification and well-being (Studies 3a & 3b). The broader implications of the anomie construct for the study of group processes are discussed.

Relationship between dimensions of religiosity, authoritarianism, and moral authority:

The authors’ purpose is to investigate the relationship between religiosity, authoritarianism, and moral authority by considering religiosity as a multidimensional construct and morality from its sources of influence. Religiosity, authoritarianism, and moral authority scales were applied to a sample of 109 students from one high school and one university college in Semirom city in the province of Isfahan, Iran. Results showed that religious beliefs, feelings and consequences are related to external sources but only religious beliefs and feelings correlate with the principal source of moral authority. Findings also demonstrated a significant relationship between religious consequences and authoritarianism, and that their combination significantly predicts the external source of moral authority. Findings are discussed in relation to previous studies and we argue that previous conclusions about the authoritarian tendency of religious people and their reliance on external sources of moral reasoning are mostly about the religious consequences dimension.

The effect of parent and peer attachment on suicidality: the mediation effect of self-control and anomie

We explore the influence of psycho-social factors including the attachment to parent and peer, self-control, and anomie on suicidality. Research questionnaires were distributed among 336 students of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz in Iran. The results demonstrated that mother and peer attachments had an indirect effect on suicidality via self-control and anomie, and self-control had a direct effect on suicidality and an indirect effect via anomie. Self-control and anomie had the most efficient role in the model with a large effect size. Findings are discussed theoretically and with regards to the socio-cultural sphere of Iranian society.