ABSTRACT Drawing on social exchange theory, this study investigated the impact of workplace stressors on creativity and job burnout among engineers. Moreover, it also investigated the conditional role of Islamic work ethics in the above relationships. For testing the hypotheses, data from 161 engineers and their respective managers were collected using a time-lagged approach from various organizations in Pakistan. Further, a structural equation modelling technique was utilized for testing the proposed relationships. The findings suggested a positive impact of challenge and hindrance stressors on employees’ burnout. Moreover, challenge and hindrance stressors were found to have a negative impact on employees’ creativity. Finally, the results supported a conditional role of Islamic work ethics in the relationships of challenge stressors with creativity and job burnout. While existing literature has focused on the work-related outcomes of workplace stressors, this research has simultaneously incorporated the role of work and non-work factors. Finally, the integration of Islamic work ethics provided a novel perspective for understanding how employees’ values and beliefs facilitate effectively managing their behavioural and attitudinal outcomes, particularly under stressful circumstances.

ABSTRACT Executive Functions (EFs) correspond to a general construct of cognitive abilities aimed at optimizing problem-solving and regulating behaviour effectively and efficiently. The current consensus model of EFs comprises three components: working memory, inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility. The present study sought to evaluate differences in task performance assessing EFs when subjects are confronted with a social stress paradigm related to the ‘white coat phenomenon’. It involved 40 Chilean university students, mean age 21.8 years, who were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: in the presence of social stress (treatment) or in the absence of social stress (control). The results showed a partial impact of the white coat phenomenon, with statistically significant differences at p ≤ .05, when comparing both conditions in relation to the tasks that evaluated inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility, with both tasks presenting a higher speed of response in the experimental condition of social stress, with the accuracy of the responses being unaffected.

ABSTRACT There is limited evidence on the occurrence of math anxiety among kindergarten children. This study sought to measure the occurrence of math anxiety in this group by adapting a math anxiety scale to Chilean children and evaluating the association between math anxiety and mathematical performance. The sample included 124 kindergarten children (age M = 5.69) enrolled in Chilean public schools. The results confirmed the two-factor structure of the original scale (worry and somatization). Notably, outcomes pertaining to math anxiety did not show gender differences or an association with math self-concept. A multiple regression analysis revealed that math anxiety is a significant predictor of mathematical skills, even after controlling for gender, age and math self-concept. These results underscore the significance of tackling math anxiety during early education to foster early mathematical learning in children.

ABSTRACT There is no consistent conclusion on the relationship between agreeableness and depression, which may arise from researchers not adequately accounting for the influence of the social environment. At present, the world is a competitive world, between countries and between people. Therefore, the present study proposed that perceived competitiveness could moderate the relationship between agreeableness and depression. Furthermore, guilt may be an important mediating factor between agreeableness and depression. The present study explored these hypotheses using a Chinese sample (N = 602, 51% males, M = 21.73). The results indicated that agreeableness negatively predicted depression, but agreeable individuals were more likely to be depressed when they perceived high competitiveness. In addition, agreeableness can predict depression through the mediating role of guilt. When agreeable individuals live in a fiercely competitive environment, they will experience more guilt, which could lead to depression. Chinese culture values and respects agreeableness. However, good people will encounter a greater risk of depression when facing a competitive environment. Thus, the impact of the prevailing competitive environment on agreeable individuals’ mental health needs more attention.

ABSTRACT Background: Acquired Brain Injuries (ABI) are conditions that can result in decreased workforce engagement and economic earnings. This research study aims to explore the impact of ABIs on employability, and their potential to reduce individual and family income. Method: Using data from the II National Survey on Disability, a cohort of 9,835 individuals aged 18 to 65 was chosen. Subsequently, a sample of 110 ABI-affected individuals was selected, employing propensity score matching to ensure equivalence with a control group of healthy subjects (n = 110). Results: The study found that the presence of ABI and disability decreases the likelihood of employment and labour force engagement. These differences persist even after accounting for covariate effects. However, no conclusive predictive association was established regarding individual and family income levels, despite observed disparities across the analysed groups. Discussion: The obtained findings can contribute to raising awareness regarding the general employment situation of individuals with ABI, and facilitate policy-making in the context of inclusion and vocational rehabilitation initiatives.

ABSTRACT This article argues that there is a crisis in the conception of what is human, resulting from the growing tendency to uncritically accept the assumptions of the technological paradigm or episteme and the model of the future that this approach takes for granted. In the authors’ opinion, this state of affairs derives from successive scissions that have taken place in the history of our development as a species (the scission of the cerebral hemispheres) and in the history of thought and science (first-order cybernetics versus second-order cybernetics; inert matter versus living matter; the technological versus the organic; natural intelligence versus artificial intelligence). In the face of the apparent triumph of the mechanistic assumptions that support transhumanism, the principles that have governed the origin and evolution of life are recalled, as well as the constitutive principles of the human psyche, among which the construction of consciousness and freedom, called for from Vygotskian Acmeist psychology, should be highlighted. These principles are those which, in the authors’ opinion, should govern any alternative for the future.

ABSTRACT Loscalzo and Giannini coined the term ‘Studyholism’ to define a new potential clinical condition associated with problematic overstudying. The Studyholism Inventory (SI-10) and the Studyholism Inventory — Extended Version (SI-15) are the instruments for its evaluation. We aimed to validate their Spanish translations and to define the SI-10 cut-off scores to screen the following types of student: engaged studyholic, disengaged studyholic, engaged student and detached student. We conducted Confirmatory Factor Analysis, convergent, divergent and concurrent validity analyses on 390 college students (M age = 30.34 ± 10.59). We found that the SI-10 and the SI-15 hold the factor structure and the good psychometric properties of the original versions. Also, the SI-10 cut-off scores for high and low Studyholism/Study Engagement arose as the same used for Italian students. Finally, Studyholism is widespread among Spanish college students, especially in the form of engaged Studyholism; hence, it deserves to be further studied in Spain.

ABSTRACT The creativity of adolescents is the basis for our country to cultivate innovative talents. We aimed to examine the association between mindfulness and adolescents’ creativity and inner mechanisms and the mediating role of mind-wandering in these associations. Moreover, the moderating role of conscientiousness and agreeableness was examined. Questionnaire-based data were collected from 916 adolescents in the form of decentralized or centralized testing, and SPSS software was used for empirical analysis. We found that mindfulness was positively associated with creativity, and mind-wandering mediated the relationship between mindfulness and creativity. In addition, conscientiousness and agreeableness moderated the relationship between mindfulness and mind-wandering. The results indicated that mindfulness is well suited for the development of adolescents’ creativity. In addition, this study suggests that a high level of mindfulness can inhibit mind-wandering and promote creativity, especially in high conscientiousness and agreeableness, which has important implications for promoting the development of creativity among adolescents.

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic has caused home confinement for three months in Spain. That has had a negative psychological impact. This study aims to determine whether the relationship between resilient coping and depression is mediated by emotional intelligence. An online questionnaire was applied to 179 participants. A mediation analysis was conducted. The results reveal a more significant number of depressive symptoms in women than in men and higher levels of resilient coping in men. Younger participants showed more depressive symptoms than the rest of the analysed population. Finally, the results suggest that emotional intelligence might mediate the relationship between resilient coping and depression, particularly in the emotional clarity dimension. Conclusions: the skills involved in emotional intelligence, especially emotional clarity, may optimize the use of resilient coping strategies to face adversity.

ABSTRACT Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are an emerging field with a positive and encouraging outlook. In education, it is postulated that attention and academic performance could explain reading outcomes. The main goal of this research was to study the predictive capacity of an ANN with a backpropagation algorithm by analysing the relationship between sentence and text reading comprehension efficiency, attentional variables and academic performance in third-grade primary school students (N = 183). A non-experimental approach was adopted, using a cross-sectional and ex post facto design. Ten schools (70% public) located in southeastern Spain participated. Test of Reading Efficacy (TECLE), d2 attention test and TALE-2000 were administered. The results revealed that it is possible to design a network capable of learning by itself to predict sentence comprehension. Students who were good readers obtained better grades, concentrated better, scanned the stimulus more attentively, obtained more correct answers and made fewer omissions. The conclusions concerned the ethical implications of AI and the need to introduce ANNs in initial teacher training.