Lucy R. Betts

The Relation Between Trust Beliefs and Loneliness During Early Childhood, Middle Childhood, and Adulthood

Four studies examined the relation between trust and loneliness. Studies 1, 2, and 3 showed that trust beliefs negatively predicted changes in loneliness during early childhood (5—7 years), middle childhood (9—11 years), and young adulthood (18—21 years). Structural equation modeling yielded support for the hypothesis that the relation between trust beliefs and loneliness was mediated, in part, by social disengagement, which varied by age and gender. Study 4 showed that when young adults were primed for distrust rather than for trust cognitions, they showed greater withdrawal (loneliness) affect, lower willingness to disclose, and less perceived success in achieving rapport. The findings yielded support for the hypotheses that (a) low trust beliefs promote loneliness from childhood to adulthood and (b) social disengagement and cognitive schema mechanisms account for the relation.

Older adults' experiences and perceptions of digital technology

Policy should account for barriers to digital technology use in older adults.Impacts of digital technology at the micro and macro levels relate to inclusion.Behaviours of digital technology use synthesise across societies and communities.Older adults use digital technology to facilitate and include themselves and others.Digital technology empowers and protects older adults from the digital divide. As more and more of the business of society is transferred and conducted online, older adults frequently find themselves without the skills to participate effectively. This is frequently confounded by limited physical mobility and a decrease in their social network and contact. This paper examines the lived reality of that process and how digital technology could be used to enhance the life activity of older adults and their wellbeing by increasing their social network. Seventeen older adults (10 female, 7 male Mage=71.67, SDage=10.05) participated in two focus groups that each lasted approximately 90min. Interpretative phenomenological analysis yielded two main themes: digital technology serving as a tool to disempower and empower. Findings support evidence of a digital divide and how that divide is evolving from the ideographic perspective of digitally-engaged older adults and for society. Discussions also surround barriers to digital technology use for older adults, the codification of digital technology use within society, and how older adults use digital technology in a facilitative and inclusive way to empower themselves and protect them from the negative effects of the digital divide.

Does correction for guessing reduce students’ performance on multiple‐choice examinations? Yes? No? Sometimes?

Multiple‐choice (MC) examinations are becoming increasingly popular in higher education because they can be used effectively to assess breadth of knowledge in large cohorts of students. This present research investigated psychology students’ performance on, and experiences of, MC examinations with and without correction for guessing. In Study 1, data were collected from two cohorts of students across three psychology MC examinations. The results revealed that students scored higher, and left fewer questions unanswered, when there was no correction for guessing. Furthermore, when the correction for guessing was removed from the theory MC examination, students who were told there was no correction for guessing did better than those told there was a correction. In addition, there was limited evidence of gender differences, with female students performing significantly better on one MC examination than males. In Study 2, a further set of first‐year psychology students reported their experiences of correction for guessing on open‐book and closed‐book MC examinations. Students reported feeling less anxious and more confident on the open‐book MC examination. The findings of both of these studies have implications for instructors deciding whether or not correction for guessing is appropriate, and for the advice to be given to students preparing for MC examinations.

Four layouts and a finding: the effects of changes in the order of the verbal labels and numerical values on Likert‐type scales

There are numerous ways of displaying Likert‐type scales but only a few investigators have investigated these differences systematically. In this study we report the results that we found when we compared four different layouts: scales that went numerically from ‘0’ to ‘10’, or from ‘10’ to ‘0’, and scales that went verbally from ‘clear’ to ‘unclear’, or ‘unclear’ to ‘clear’. Over 450 participants rated each of seven aspects of a structured abstract in a web‐based study, with each one using only one of the four scale formats listed above. The resulting data showed that the scale ‘Clear – 10 … 0 – Unclear’ consistently led to significantly higher ratings in all seven cases. Such findings have implications for the design of Likert‐type scales and for the data that are gathered from them.

A Short Form of the Teacher Rating Scale of School Adjustment.

A total of 278 children at Time 1 (144 male and 134 female) from School Years 1 and 2 in the United Kingdom serve as participants. The children complete self-rated scales of school adjustment, and their teachers complete the Teacher Rating Scale of School Adjustment (TRSSA) twice across a 1-year period. At Time 1, childrens performance on Standardized Achievement Tests are available for children in School Year 2. An exploratory factor analysis of the TRSSA at Time 1 yielded a viable short form of the scale composed of three associated factors (On-Task Classroom Involvement, Positive Orientation, and Maturity). Confirmatory factor analyses of the Short Form TRSSA yield evidence for these three factors at Time 2. The Short Form TRSSA demonstrates acceptable internal consistency and stability across time. As evidence for validity of the scale, the Short Form TRSSA is associated with childrens self-reported school adjustment and academic performance.

Bullying Behaviors and Victimization Experiences Among Adolescent Students: The Role of Resilience

ABSTRACT The role of resilience in the relationship between bullying behaviors, victimization experiences, and self-efficacy was examined. Participants were 393 (191 young men, 202 young women) adolescents (M age = 15.88 years, SD = 0.64 years) from schools in Coimbatore, India, who completed scales to assess bullying behaviors and victimization experiences, resilience, and self-efficacy. Multigroup structural equation modeling, with separate groups created according to participant gender, revealed that resilience mediated the relationship between bullying behaviors and self-efficacy in young men. Young men engaged in bullying behaviors and experienced victimization more frequently than young women. The findings of the study have implication for designing intervention programs to enhance resilience among adolescents and young adults to enable them to manage bullying behaviors.

Examining the components of children's peer liking as antecedents of school adjustment

Childrens social interactions with their peers influence their psychosocial adjustment; consequently, the relationship between class-wide peer liking, same-gender peer liking, and school adjustment was explored in two age groups. Peer liking was analysed using the social relations model (SRM). In Study 1, 205 children (103 female and 102 male, M(age) = 7.15, SD= 7 months) completed measures of peer liking and school adjustment, and teachers completed the Short-Form Teacher Rating Scale of School Adjustment (Short-Form TRSSA). In Study 2, 197 children (98 female and 90 male, M(age) = 9.87, SD= 5.9 months) completed measures of peer liking and school adjustment. Both studies yielded evidence of reciprocal liking and individual differences in the ratings of liking awarded to, and elicited from, both peer groups. Multigroup path analysis, with groups created according to gender, revealed that elements of liking predicted different aspects of school adjustment with some variation according to age and gender. Together, these findings suggest that the SRM can be used to examine peer liking and underscore the importance of childrens peers for school adjustment.

An investigation of the impact of young children's self-knowledge of trustworthiness on school adjustment : A test of the realistic self-knowledge and positive illusion models

The study aimed to examine the relationship between self-knowledge of trustworthiness and young childrens school adjustment. One hundred and seventy-three (84 male and 89 female) children from school years 1 and 2 in the United Kingdom (mean age 6 years 2 months) were tested twice over 1-year. Childrens trustworthiness was assessed using: (a) self-report at Time 1 and Time 2; (b) peers reports at Time 1 and Time 2; and (c) teacher-reports at Time 2. School adjustment was assessed by child-rated school-liking and the Short-Form Teacher Rating Scale of School Adjustment (Short-Form TRSSA). Longitudinal quadratic relationships were found between school adjustment and childrens self-knowledge, using peer-reported trustworthiness as a reference: more accurate self-knowledge of trustworthiness predicted increases in school adjustment. Comparable concurrent quadratic relationships were found between teacher-rated school adjustment and childrens self-knowledge, using teacher-reported trustworthiness as a reference, at Time 2. The findings support the conclusion that young childrens psychosocial adjustment is best accounted for by the realistic self-knowledge model (Colvin & Block, 1994).

What price presentation? The effects of typographic variables on essay grades

The marks awarded to 130 second‐year undergraduate word‐processed essays were assessed in relation to their use of different typographic features. By and large most of these features had little effect on the essay grades. However, essays printed in 12‐point type gained significantly higher marks (mean = 56.8) than essays printed in 10‐point type (mean = 52.7), and essays using a combination of popular features (Times Roman, 12‐point, double‐spaced unjustified text, and a line‐space to denote new paragraphs) gained significantly higher marks (mean = 59.6) than those using other combinations (mean = 55.8).

Development of the Multidimensional Peer Victimization Scale–Revised (MPVS-R) and the Multidimensional Peer Bullying Scale (MPVS-RB)

ABSTRACT Peer victimization is a frequent occurrence for many adolescents; however, some of the psychometric properties of self-report scales assessing these experiences remain unclear. Furthermore, with an increase in access to technology, electronic aggression should also be considered. The authors examined the psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Peer Victimization Scale (MPVS; Mynard & Joseph, 2000), and developed versions to include the assessment of electronic aggression according to whether the adolescent was the target or perpetrator of peer victimization. A total of 371 (191 girls and 180 boys; Mage = 13 years 4 months, SDage = 1 year 2 months) adolescents in the United Kingdom completed the MPVS including five newly developed items assessing electronic aggression, a version of the MPVS designed to assess victimization perpetration, and a measure of self-esteem. Confirmatory factor analyses yielded a five-factor structure comprising: Physical, social manipulation, verbal, attacks on property, and electronic for both scales. Convergent validity was established through negative associations between the victimization scales and self-esteem. Sex differences also emerged. One revised scale and one new scale are subsequently proposed: The MPVS–Revised and the Multidimensional Peer Bullying Scale.