Marina Goroshit

A Global Look at Time: A 24-Country Study of the Equivalence of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory

In this article, we assess the structural equivalence of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI) across 26 samples from 24 countries (N = 12,200). The ZTPI is proven to be a valid and reliable index of individual differences in time perspective across five temporal categories: Past Negative, Past Positive, Present Fatalistic, Present Hedonistic, and Future. We obtained evidence for invariance of 36 items (out of 56) and also the five-factor structure of ZTPI across 23 countries. The short ZTPI scales are reliable for country-level analysis, whereas we recommend the use of the full scales for individual-level analysis. The short version of ZTPI will further promote integration of research in the time perspective domain in relation to many different psycho-social processes.

Academic Procrastination, Emotional Intelligence, Academic Self-Efficacy, and GPA A Comparison Between Students With and Without Learning Disabilities

Academic procrastination has been seen as an impediment to students’ academic success. Research findings suggest that it is related to lower levels of self-regulated learning and academic self-efficacy and associated with higher levels of anxiety, stress, and illness. Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to assess, regulate, and utilize emotions and has been found to be associated with academic self-efficacy and a variety of better outcomes, including academic performance. Students with learning disabilities (LD) are well acquainted with academic difficulty and maladaptive academic behavior. In comparison to students without LD, they exhibit high levels of learned helplessness, including diminished persistence, lower academic expectations, and negative affect. This study examined the relationships among academic procrastination, EI, and academic performance as mediated by academic self-efficacy in 287 LD and non-LD students. Results indicated that the indirect effect of EI on academic procrastination and GPA was stronger in LD students than in non-LD students. In addition, results indicated that LD students scored lower than non-LD students on both EI and academic self-efficacy and higher on academic procrastination. No difference was found in GPA.

Elderly People Coping With the Aftermath of War: Resilience Versus Vulnerability

OBJECTIVES The present study compares coping of elderly people and two younger groups 1 year after a war. Coping was determined by stress symptoms and posttraumatic recovery and two levels of resiliency. DESIGN AND SETTING Thirty-six streets (covering most of the city streets) were sampled randomly from the map of Kiryat Shemona (a town next to the Lebanese border) about a year after the end of the Second Lebanon War. PARTICIPANTS The sample constituted 870 adult residents of the town. Participants were divided into three age groups: elderly (age 65 years and older, N = 108), adults (age 46-64 years, N = 252) and young adults (age 20-45 years, N = 462). MEASUREMENTS 1) Stress symptoms measured by short version of Brief Symptom Inventory; 2) Individual resilience measured by Sense of Coherence Inventory; 3) Posttraumatic Recovery Inventory (PTR); and 4) Public Resilience Scale (included a scale for community and national resilience). RESULTS The results indicated 1) The elderly group reported significantly higher levels of stress symptoms and lower levels of PTR; 2) Females in the three age groups reported higher levels of stress symptoms and lower levels of PTR and individual resilience than males; 3) Individual and public resilience negatively predicted stress symptoms and positively predicted posttraumatic recovery across three age groups; and 4) Public resilience has a differential effect on stress symptoms in each of the three age groups but not on PTR. CONCLUSION Results question the division of older people into a vulnerable or inoculated group, indicating that the participants responded concurrently in a more vulnerable and a more resilient manner. Older people were characterized by higher levels of postwar stress symptoms, as well as a higher sense of coherence.

Emotional Competencies in the Education of Mental Health Professionals

The results of empirical research suggest that the ability to assess, regulate, and utilize emotions is important to the performance of health professionals. Nevertheless, few professional programs adequately address this matter in their curricula. The main objective of the present research was to examine whether emotional intelligence and empathy could be improved in the traditional classroom, employing experiential teaching modes. Pre- and post-questionnaires were used to assess the emotional competencies of 165 social work undergraduate students. The results indicated an increase in emotional intelligence at the end of a course for advanced-year students. Overall empathy had not increased for both first- and advanced-year students. Further findings indicated significant correlation between empathy and emotional intelligence at the end of a course for advanced-year students compared with an insignificant correlation at the beginning of the course, whereas for first-year students, findings were in the opposite direction. Future research should focus on strategies for the teaching and professional training of social workers that promote emotional competencies.

Post-traumatic Recovery to Distress Symptoms Ratio Mediates Relations of Resilience Fostering Resources and Their Predictors.

A large-scale study investigated the direct and indirect effects of demographic predictors and traumatic experiences on resilience fostering resources following a war. The sample consisted of 829 Israeli adults, living in a border town, 1 year after experiencing the 2006 war with Lebanon. Resilience was assessed by measures of individual and public resilience and low sense of danger. Results show that as hypothesized the proportion of post-traumatic recovery to post-war distress symptoms predicts these indices of resilience and partly mediates the direct links between these indices and demographic predictors (age, gender and economic condition) and exposure to war. Research of resilience has proposed several prototypical trajectories that characterize responses to potentially traumatic events. Our discussion suggests that these trajectories and their changes over time can be accounted for by the balance of post-war recovery to symptoms level. Copyright

Posttraumatic Recovery to Distress Symptoms Ratio: A Mediator of the Links Between Gender, Exposure to Fire, Economic Condition, and Three Indices of Resilience to Fire Disaster

Abstract This study investigated the direct and indirect effects of demographic predictors on level of resilience following a potentially traumatic event. We hypothesized that the direct effects of three variables (exposure to fire hazards, gender, and economic condition) on resilience following a fire disaster would be mediated by the proportion of posttraumatic recovery to post-fire distress symptoms. The sample consisted of 234 Israeli Druze youth whose hometown was endangered and damaged by the Mount Carmel fire disaster in December 2010. Results partially supported the research hypotheses.

Teachers’ empathy: can it be predicted by self-efficacy?

Abstract Teachers’ social-emotional competencies seem to play a significant role in promoting social-emotional learning in schools. Empathic teachers were found to possess a higher level of morality; to communicate more successfully with their students; to encourage them to forge empathic relationships; and to successfully motivate their students. Yet, there is a dearth of literature on how to develop such empathy in teachers. The present study, which is based on a large body of research, investigated the contribution of teachers’ self-efficacy and emotional self-efficacy to teacher empathy. The sample comprised 543 teachers from the central region of Israel who completed self-report questionnaires. Findings indicated that both types of self-efficacy contribute to empathy in teachers, but the contribution of teacher self-efficacy is greater. These findings can benefit teacher educators, principals and others involved in teacher performance and well-being throughout the world. Findings may suggest that both efficacies are compelling variables that need to be addressed and enhanced in relation to teacher empathy. In addition, the findings strengthen the notion that social-emotional competence in teachers is strongly associated with teachers’ self-beliefs regarding their teaching efficacy.

Social–emotional competencies among teachers: An examination of interrelationships

Abstract Teachers’ social–emotional competence is crucial for promoting a positive learning environment to the students. However, the research on teachers’ social–emotional abilities is very limited. This study examined the relationship between emotional abilities and self-efficacies and empathy among teachers, hypothesizing that teachers’ self-efficacy belief mediates the relationship between the other two variables. We found a strong positive association between the three social–emotional competencies, and direct and indirect (via teachers’ self-efficacy) effects of emotional self-efficacy on empathy. These results suggest that teachers’ belief in the ability to regulate their emotions contributes to teachers’ empathy in both ways.

Prevention and intervention for academic procrastination in academic communities

This special issue is one of the unique outcomes of the 9th biennial Procrastination research conference held at the Bielefeld University in Germany in July 2015. The growing prevalence of procrastination in almost all life domains and the negative consequences of this behavior for the individual and for society were raised and discussed in the conference. In light of this, the immediate needs to further the actions of prevention and intervention in the community have come to the forefront of our attention. Higher education is a well-studied community in terms of procrastination. It is indicated that over 70% of college students report delaying their learning tasks on a regular basis, despite expecting to be worse off for the delay (Steel & Klingsieck, 2016). This irrational delay seems to be an epidemic in most academic settings and several theoretical frameworks were suggested to better understand the causes and consequences of this act (Rebetez, Rochat, & Van der Linden, 2015). Recent research has suggested that both internal and external (situational) factors are involved in the engagement of students in academic procrastination and that students report that consequences are mostly negative (Grunschel, Patrzek, & Fries, 2013a, 2013b; Klingsieck, 2013a, 2013b; Klingsieck, Grund, Schmid, & Fries, 2013). In addition, these studies emphasize the lack of self-regulation skills as a major contributor to academic procrastination as well as task characteristics, teacher’s characteristics, institutional conditions, and social aspects (Steel & Klingsieck, 2016). Finally some of these studies conclude that to reduce and prevent procrastination tendencies among college students, the academic community must act in a supportive manner that will benefit the individual as well as society (Perrin et al., 2011; Pychyl & Flett, 2012). Following this lead all contributors to this special issue are presenters from the Bielefeld conference who kindly supported our attempt to modify the knowledge and experience in this area. Most contributors are full-time faculty none defined

Decisional, general and online procrastination: Understanding the moderating role of negative affect in the case of computer professionals

Abstract Following the development of the internet as an essential tool for communication at home and at work, the concept of online procrastination was introduced to the literature. The present study examined the relationships between online procrastination and two well-established forms of procrastination, namely decisional and general procrastination; as well as the moderating effect of negative affect on these relationships. The sample consisted of 236 computer professionals from Israel who filled self-reported questionnaires on procrastination and negative feelings. To examine the relationships between our variables, we used multiple linear regression and moderation analyses. The findings indicated that higher levels of general and decisional procrastination were associated with higher levels of online procrastination. Higher levels of negative affect were also associated with online procrastination. Moreover, negative affect moderated the effect of general and decisional procrastination on online procrastination, and for participants with higher levels of negative affect, this effect was stronger. These findings suggest that both a personality-based tendency to procrastinate and the tendency to delay decision making may affect online behavior and that negative affect strengthens these tendencies. Future studies will need to further explore online procrastination and examine the personality and situational variables that contribute to it.