Antonio Chirumbolo

Effects of need for closure on creativity in small group interactions

Three experiments investigated the consequences of the epistemic motivation toward closure on the emergence of creative interactions in small groups. In the first study, need for closure was manipulated via time pressure. Results showed that in groups under high need for closure (i.e. under time pressure) the percentage of creative acts during group discussion was reduced. The second study replicated this result using an individual differences operationalization of the need for closure. In the third study, groups composed of individuals high (versus low) in need for closure performed less creatively, and exhibited less ideational fluidity during group interaction. Moreover, it was demonstrated that conformity pressure mediates the negative relationship between dispositional need for closure and group creativity. Copyright

The relationship between need for cognitive closure and political orientation: the mediating role of authoritarianism

As regards the relationship between cognitive style, authoritarianism and politics, no secure conclusion can be drawn and the debate is still alive. This contribution explores the relationship between need for closure, authoritarianism and political orientation. One hundred and seventy-eight Italian participants were administered the Italian version of the Need for Cognitive Closure scale, an Italian version of the authoritarianism scale and a measure of political orientation. Results show that both need for closure and authoritarianism are associated with a right wing political orientation, and that this relationship is linear. Moreover, authoritarianism seems to mediate the influence of need for closure on political orientation.

Need for cognitive closure and politics: Voting, political attitudes and attributional style

T his paper examines the impact of dispositional Need for Cognitive Closure (NFC) on different political attitudes and on the “person blame” and the “system blame” dimensions. Two hundred and thirty-four psychology students completed a questionnaire containing the Italian version of the Need for Closure scale, a measure of political and ideological attitudes, a measure of the person-system blame dimensions, and a measure of past voting. Results showed that high NFC individuals (vs. low NFCs) reported having voted for a right-wing party and holding more conservative attitudes. High NFCs (vs. low NFCs) turned out to have stronger anti-immigrant attitudes, to be more nationalistic, to prefer an autocratic leadership and a centralized form of political power. High NFCs also value religiosity more highly than low NFCs. High NFCs (vs. low NFCs) scored lower on pluralism and multiculturalism. Furthermore, high NFCs (vs. low NFCs) revealed a tendency to blame individuals for social problems, but no significant di...

Motivated Closed-Mindedness and Creativity in Small Groups

An experiment was conducted to investigate whether the need for cognitive closure affects the degree of creativity in small groups. Participants in groups of four performed a task in which they had to create advertising slogans for a given product. Some of the groups were composed of individuals with high dispositional need for closure, whereas other groups were composed of individuals with low need for closure. Results showed that ideational fluency, degree of elaboration, and creativity, as rated by independent judges, was lower in high (vs. low) need-for-closure groups. These results suggest that the tendencies to restrict the number of hypotheses generated and to produce conventional ideas, consequences of the need for closure, lower the degree of creativity in interacting groups.

Are Conservatives Less Likely to be Prosocial Than Liberals? From Games to Ideology, Political Preferences and Voting

Do political preferences reflect individual differences in interpersonal orientations? Are conservatives less other–regarding than liberals? On the basis of past theorising, we hypothesised that, relative to individuals with prosocial orientations, those with individualistic and competitive orientations should be more likely to endorse conservative political preferences and vote for conservative parties. This hypothesis was supported in three independent studies conducted in Italy (Studies 1 and 2) and the Netherlands (Study 3). Consistent with hypotheses, a cross–sectional study revealed that individualists and competitors endorsed stronger conservative political preferences than did prosocials; moreover, this effect was independent of the association between need for structure and conservative political preferences (Study 1). The predicted association of social value orientation and voting was observed in both a four–week (Study 2) and an eight–month (Study 3) longitudinal study. Taken together, the findings provide novel support for the claim that interpersonal orientations, as measured with experimental games rooted in game theory, are important to understanding differences in ideology at the societal level. Copyright

Job insecurity influence on job performance and mental health: Testing the moderating effect of the need for closure

The moderating effect of the need for closure in the relationship between job insecurity, job performance and mental health was investigated. The need for closure refers to a motivated need for certainty, intolerance of ambiguity and preference for predictability. It was argued that the need for closure may function as a psychological moderator in dealing with job insecurity. Participants comprised 287 workers, who were administered a self-reported questionnaire. Results confirmed the negative relationship between job insecurity, performance and mental health. The need for closure was positively related to job performance and unrelated to mental health. More interestingly, the need for closure exhibited multifaceted patterns of interactions with the different components of job insecurity. Higher need for closure revealed a buffering effect in conditions of higher quantitative job insecurity. In this case, individuals high (vs low) in the need for closure reported better job performance and mental health. Conversely, when qualitative job insecurity was higher, individuals high (vs low) in the need for closure reported an impaired job performance and mental health.

Sexting, psychological distress and dating violence among adolescents and young adults

BACKGROUND Sexting is the exchange of sexually explicit or provocative content (text messages, photos, and videos) via smartphone, Internet, or social networks. Recent evidence enlightened its relationships with several risk and aggressive behaviors. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the amount of sexting, psychological distress, and dating violence in adolescents and young adults. METHOD The study involved 1,334 participants (68% females; mean age = 20.8) who completed a survey containing Kinsey Scale, Sexting Behavior Questionnaire, Conflict in Adolescent Dating Relationships Inventory, and General Health Questionnaire. RESULTS Results showed gender and sexual orientation differences: Males (vs. females) did more sexting, while non-heterosexuals (vs. heterosexuals) were more involved in sexting. Moreover, high/moderate users of sexting committed more offline and online dating violence. Regarding psychological distress, no differences were found between high and low/moderate users of sexting. CONCLUSIONS Results suggested that moderate and high use of sexting could be a risk factor for some problematic behaviors such as dating violence, even if there is not a relationship with anxiety and depression symptoms.

The relationship between contract type and job satisfaction in a mediated moderation model: The role of job insecurity and psychological contract violation

In the last decades, research on the relationship between contract type, job insecurity and outcomes has been constantly increasing. Previous evidence indicated that job insecurity moderates the impact of contract type (permanent vs temporary) on job satisfaction. The present study aims to investigate these relationships considering two facets (intrinsic and extrinsic) of job satisfaction and psychological contract violation as mediator, in the mediated moderation model. Participants were 638 employees of different Italian organizations, with open-ended or fixed-term contract. As hypothesized, results indicated that job insecurity moderates the relationship between contract type and intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction differently for contract type. The job insecurity effects were more negative for permanent workers regarding intrinsic job satisfaction and more negative for temporary workers regarding extrinsic job satisfaction. The mediated moderation analyses supported the study’s main hypothesis, pointing out that psychological contract violation negatively mediated the interaction effects.

The Impact of Job Insecurity on Counterproductive Work Behaviors: The Moderating Role of Honesty–Humility Personality Trait

ABSTRACT The detrimental effects of job insecurity on individual and organizational well-being are well documented in recent literature. Job insecurity as a stressor is generally associated with a higher presence of negative attitudes toward the organization. In this article, the moderating role of Honesty–Humility personality trait was investigated. It was assumed that Honesty–Humility would function as a psychological moderator of the job insecurity impact on counterproductive work behaviors. Participants were 203 workers who were administered a self–reported questionnaire. Results confirmed that job insecurity was positively related to counterproductive work behaviors whereas Honesty–Humility was negatively associated to them. More importantly, Honesty–Humility moderated this relationship, even after controlling for gender, age, type of contract, and the other HEXACO personality traits. For individuals with low Honesty–Humility, job insecurity was positively related to counterproductive work behaviors, whereas for individuals with high Honesty–Humility, job insecurity turned out to be unrelated to counterproductive work behaviors.

Not-allowed sharing of sexts and dating violence from the perpetrator's perspective

Several studies have found that coercive sexting increases the probability of being victimized within a dating relationship. Our study focused on the perpetrators perspective instead. It aimed to investigate the relationship between a specific sexting behavior, the sharing of someone elses sexts without his/her consent and dating violence perpetration. Specifically, we aimed to test the moderation role of benevolent and hostile sexism in this relationship. The study involved 715 Italian participants from 13 to 30 years of age (Mage?=?22.01; females: 71.7%), who completed a survey composed of socio-demographic data, the Sexting Behavior Scale, the Conflict in Adolescent Dating Relationships Inventory and the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory. The results highlighted that, in the relationship between not-allowed sharing of sexts and dating violence perpetration, benevolent sexism could be a protective factor while, on the contrary, hostile sexism could be a risk factor, controlling for age, gender and sexual orientation. Our findings suggested the existence of a few factors linked to sexting behaviors: these factors could have implications for prevention programs. We investigate the relationship between sexting and dating violence perpetration.We test the moderation role of benevolent and hostile sexism in this relationship.Benevolent sexism is a protective factor in this relationship.Hostile sexism is a risk factor in this relationship.Prevention programs should focus on deconstructing gender stereotypes.