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Grounded in ‘expectancy-value’ theory, this paper reports on the psychometric properties of an instrument intended to measure students’ motivation in mathematics. The participants were 2045 third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students from... more
Grounded in ‘expectancy-value’ theory, this paper reports on the psychometric properties of an instrument intended to measure students’ motivation in mathematics. The participants were 2045 third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students from Estonia, Finland, Norway, Portugal, Serbia and Sweden. The Expectancy-Value Scale (EVS) was found to be suitable for early grades of primary education in measuring competence self-perceptions and subjective task values relative to the mathematics field. The results indicate a good model fit aligned with the expectancy-value theory. The EVS dimensions showed good reliability, and scalar invariance was established. However, findings also indicated high correlations between some of the EVS dimensions, which is well documented for students at this age. The findings are discussed relative to the ‘expectancy-value’ theory framework and students’ age.
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Dropout in higher education attracts great attention due to serious effects on an individual and on society. This is an exploratory study aimed at: analysing drop?out measurement and tracking in the Serbian higher education, reviewing... more
Dropout in higher education attracts great attention due to serious effects on an individual and on society. This is an exploratory study aimed at: analysing drop?out measurement and tracking in the Serbian higher education, reviewing studies on dropout causes, and identifying available services and prevention measures. Various techniques are used to achieve these goals (statistics analysis, literature review, qualitative content analysis). Our results show that: 1. There are no accepted dropout definitions nor official statistics, but some rate estimate could be given; 2. Research is not systematic, but covers three major dropout factors (individual, socio-demographic, studying conditions); 3. Services are sporadic and not visible enough; 4. Legislation reveals state interest in promoting higher education, but implemented measures are not adequate enough. We see establishment of the Unified Education Information System as an important step in precise dropout measurement. There is a...
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The aim of this paper is to present a viable, psychologically based framework designed for systematical promotion of the adolescents’ capacities for collaborative problem solving and possibilities for their cultivation through everyday... more
The aim of this paper is to present a viable, psychologically based framework designed for systematical promotion of the adolescents’ capacities for collaborative problem solving and possibilities for their cultivation through everyday school practice. Specifically, a model for designing teacher-training programs is proposed, wherein several elements of effective collaborative problem solving are drawn together
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South-East European Regional Conference of Psychology: Paradigms, Schools, Needs and Achievements of Psychology in the Regio
International Conference - Excellence: Education and human developmen
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The aim of this article is to formulate and test a model integrating cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) findings regarding the importance of intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and tendency to worry with findings regarding the importance of... more
The aim of this article is to formulate and test a model integrating cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) findings regarding the importance of intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and tendency to worry with findings regarding the importance of trust in institutions, other people, and social support. We assumed that trust in institutions, other people, and social support reduce fear of the coronavirus and of the consequences of the pandemic in a direct way, but also indirectly by enhancing one’s sense of control and diminishing the tendency to worry which, further, attenuates fear of the coronavirus and fear of the consequences of the pandemic. An online survey was conducted among the Serbian general population (N = 1409, 78.1% female, M = 38.82, SD = 9.24) at the end of April 2020, which included questionnaires on fear of SARS-CoV-2, fear of consequences of the pandemic, social support, trust in other people and trust in political and health institutions. The model has been validated by da...
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Schools can be a place of both love and of cruelty. We examine one particular type of cruelty that occurs in the school context: sadism, that is, harming others for pleasure. Primarily, we propose and test whether boredom plays a crucial... more
Schools can be a place of both love and of cruelty. We examine one particular type of cruelty that occurs in the school context: sadism, that is, harming others for pleasure. Primarily, we propose and test whether boredom plays a crucial role in the emergence of sadistic actions at school. In two well-powered studies (total N = 1,038) using both self- and peer-reports, we first document that sadistic behavior occurs at school, although at a low level. We further show that those students who are more often bored at school are more likely to engage in sadistic actions. Overall, the present work contributes to a better understanding of sadism in schools and points to boredom as one potential motivator. We discuss implications for research on sadism and boredom, in the school context and beyond.
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The present study is couched within Rachman's three-pathway theory of fear acquisition (Rachman, 1977, 1991). Besides the direct contact with the objects of fear, this model also includes two indirect pathways to fear acquisition:... more
The present study is couched within Rachman's three-pathway theory of fear acquisition (Rachman, 1977, 1991). Besides the direct contact with the objects of fear, this model also includes two indirect pathways to fear acquisition: negative information transmission and modeling. The study aims to explore the contribution of these three factors to the level of children's fear of COVID-19. The sample consisted of 376 children (59.6% girls), aged 7–19 (Mage = 12.77, SDage = 3.57), and one of their parents (Mage = 42.88, SDage = 6.00). The survey was conducted online during the COVID-19 national state of emergency in the Republic of Serbia. The children assessed their fear of COVID-19, general fearfulness, negative information transmission, and modeling by their parents, as well as the level of exposure to negative information outside their home. The parents assessed their own fear of COVID-19 and trait anxiety. Parents' anxiety, children's age, and children's general...
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Although previous meta-analytic evidence supports the existence of parochialism in cooperation among adults, the extent to which children and adolescents are more willing to incur a personal cost to benefit ingroups, compared to... more
Although previous meta-analytic evidence supports the existence of parochialism in cooperation among adults, the extent to which children and adolescents are more willing to incur a personal cost to benefit ingroups, compared to outgroups, is not yet clear. We provide the first meta-analysis on the existence and magnitude of parochialism in cooperation among pre-adults. Based on 20 experimental economics studies (k = 69, N = 5268, age = 3–19, 12 countries, published 2008–2019), a multilevel meta-analytic model revealed a small overall effect size indicating that children and adolescents were more cooperative towards ingroups (d = 0.22, 95% CI [.07, .38]). A series of single-moderator analyses tested for the following conditions: participant age and sex; game type ([mini-]dictator game, prisoner’s dilemma, public goods dilemma, trust game, ultimatum game); outcome interdependence; membership manipulation (between- vs. within-subjects); group type (natural vs. experimental); reward ty...
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The aim of our study was to explore relations between parents? and children?s fear of COVID?19, parents? dispositions (emotion regulation, self-efficacy, the anxiety trait) and their distress (due to the pandemic, the national state of... more
The aim of our study was to explore relations between parents? and children?s fear of COVID?19, parents? dispositions (emotion regulation, self-efficacy, the anxiety trait) and their distress (due to the pandemic, the national state of emergency [NSE] and curfews) and how these variables have been affecting the quality of parental pandemic practices during the COVID?19 NSE in Serbia. Our online questionnaire was filled in by 376 parents and one of their children aged 7 to 19 years. Path analysis was used to analyze data. Higher levels of cognitive reappraisal and self-efficacy directly contribute to a higher quality of parental pandemic practices during NSE. Indirectly, parents? fear, pandemic distress, and parents? cognitive anxiety symptoms increase children?s fear, consequently raising the quality of parental pandemic practices. Pointing out protective and risk factors that may affect pandemic parenting during NSE as well as mechanisms of their contributions, our findings draw at...
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The aim of the research is to study developmental relations between attachment to mother, father and friends and dimensions of adolescents? self-concept. More specifically, we examine if this relation is direct or mediated by some... more
The aim of the research is to study developmental relations between attachment to mother, father and friends and dimensions of adolescents? self-concept. More specifically, we examine if this relation is direct or mediated by some personality construct. A sample of 878 students (13 and 16 years old) from Belgrade urban lower secondary and upper secondary schools participated in this research. Participants completed ECR for mother, father and friend; Selfperception profile for adolescents and NEOFFI. The results have indicated that dimensions of attachment are correlated with dimensions of self-concept, and that they can explain 13% of variance in dimensions of self-concept. When the personality traits are introduced as mediators, attachment dimensions explain only 4.5% of variance in self-concept. The quality of attachment relations with parents is not related to adolescents? self-concept, while attachment to friends is correlated with social dimensions of self-concept. Hence, this ...
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The main idea for this research is based on the assumptions of social interactionism. Adolescents representations of how they parents and friends see them are examined on the sample of 499 adolescents (12/13 i 16/17 years). In the... more
The main idea for this research is based on the assumptions of social interactionism. Adolescents representations of how they parents and friends see them are examined on the sample of 499 adolescents (12/13 i 16/17 years). In the structure of these representations EFA extracted five (for parents) and four dimensions (for friends): 1. prosociality, 2. sociability, 3. character and ambitiosness, 4. bed temper, and 5. maturity. First four dimensions have the same meaning in the booth structures, and they are equivalent to the dimensions of adolescents self-concept. Structures of these representations do not change between two examined ages. Canonical correlation showed that adolescents representations of how significant others see them, have influence on their self-concept, and that during the period of middle adolescence, information from peers are more significant.
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According to Siegal?s hypothesis, despite having concrete operational abilities some children are not successful in conservation tasks. Social factors, such as repetition of question asked by an adult experimenter alter the manifestation... more
According to Siegal?s hypothesis, despite having concrete operational abilities some children are not successful in conservation tasks. Social factors, such as repetition of question asked by an adult experimenter alter the manifestation of existing cognitive abilities. This study varied the following aspects of conservation tasks: symmetrical vs. asymmetrical power relation. The children in the study were asked to solve three different conservation tasks (quantity of continued material, length, and number). Each task was repeated twice; once with an adult experimenter and once with a child experimenter. Results show that children?s responses were affected by social factors only in a certain tasks. In other tasks children?s responses remained unaffected in both situations. This suggests that there exists an interaction between the experimenter and the task, and that the affect of social factor is mediated by a particular characteristic of the task. Results indicate that the modifyin...