The university period is a stage of life often associated with lower levels of psychological well-being and life satisfaction, highlighting the need to investigate factors contributing to this decline. This study aimed to examine the relationship between temperament and psychological well-being, and the potential mediating role of perceived social support, in a sample of Spanish university students (N = 332; M = 19.28). Participants completed a set of self-report instruments, including the Adult Temperament Questionnaire, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and the Scales of Psychological Well-Being. Results showed that high levels of negative emotionality, and low levels of effortful control and surgency, significantly predicted poorer outcomes across multiple psychological well-being dimensions. Perceived social support, particularly from family and friends, also contributed significantly to higher well-being, more so than support from other significant individuals. Furthermore, complementary and indirect-only mediation effects of perceived social support were identified between temperament constructs and well-being dimensions. Overall, these findings enhance our understanding of the interplay between temperament, social support, and psychological well-being during emerging adulthood, within the Spanish cultural context.
In an era of pervasive misinformation, understanding the cognitive factors that reduce susceptibility to conspiracy theories is of growing societal and scientific importance. This study investigates whether scientific reasoning - as a domain-general epistemic skill - predicts belief in both medical (e.g., COVID-19related) and political (e.g., Ukraine war-related) conspiracy theories. Using a sample of 409 Slovak adults, we examine whether scientific reasoning explains variance in conspiracy beliefs beyond what is accounted for by analytic thinking alone. Hierarchical regressions show that scientific reasoning consistently predicts lower endorsement of both medical and political conspiracy theories, outperforming analytic thinking, which only predicts political ones. These findings support the view that evaluating claims based on principles such as testability and evidence is a generalizable cognitive asset. Our results underscore the need to cultivate domain-general scientific reasoning skills, not just analytic thinking, to counter epistemically suspect beliefs across diverse contexts.
Non-evidence-based traditional, complementary, and alternative medicine (TCAM) practices can lead to harmful health outcomes, so media reporting about it should be responsible. Drawing from a media content analysis, we created three vignettes about a fictional herbal product: one repeatedly appealed to tradition, one used extensive pseudoscientific jargon, and one followed WHO reporting guidelines (i.e., active control). In an online community sample (N = 366), we tested their effects on product preference, and if these were more pronounced in individuals receptive to pseudo-profound verbalisms, magical health beliefs, and positive attitudes toward TCAM. Unexpectedly, reading the vignettes decreased product preference; the decrease was smaller in those prone to magical health beliefs and receptive to pseudo-profound verbalisms. The effect might stem from the overuse of arguments, making the interventions resemble the so-called ‘paradoxical thinking interventions’. Future research should find a "tipping point" that reverses the effect by varying the number of supportive claims.
Gratitude has well-documented positive effects on well-being, including in work contexts. However, limited research has explored how distinct dimensions of work-specific gratitude uniquely influence employee outcomes. This study addresses this gap by investigating whether the three subscales of the Work Gratitude Scale (WGS) predict employee outcomes beyond personality traits, while highlighting the differential importance of each subscale. A sample of 300 full-time employees from the US completed measures of conscientiousness, emotional stability, work gratitude, well-being, distress, and work performance. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that, after controlling for conscientiousness and emotional stability, only one dimension of gratitude - grateful appraisals - significantly predicted well-being, distress, and performance. These findings offer valuable theoretical insights and practical guidance for researchers and practitioners examining the role of gratitude in the workplace.
