Positive Indirect Association Research Articles

Exploring the role of help‐seeking behavior, family financial socialization, and capability on financial well‐being

AbstractObjectiveThis study develops a conceptual framework for examining the associations between family financial socialization and financial capability on individuals' financial well‐being and explores the mediating role of financial help‐seeking when determining financial well‐being.BackgroundIndividuals' family financial socialization and financial capability are associated with their financial well‐being. This study extends the literature by examining whether seeking financial help can indirectly mediate the association between these factors and individuals' financial well‐being.MethodThis study used the 2016 National Financial Well‐Being Survey data set, consisting of 6,394 adults, and employed structural equation modeling with full information maximum likelihood and bootstrap estimation for empirical analyses.ResultsFinancial knowledge and perceived financial capability were positive contributors to financial well‐being. Family financial socialization showed positive direct and mixed indirect effects on help‐seeking behaviors. When mediated by help‐seeking behaviors, family financial socialization had significantly positive total and indirect associations and a negative direct association with financial well‐being.ConclusionThis study found that financial help‐seeking behavior was a significant factor in the indirect association between family financial socialization, financial knowledge, and well‐being.ImplicationsProviding access to professional advice and encouraging family finance discussions can enhance people's financial well‐being.

A Conditional Process Analysis of Siblings’ Religious Communication (Non)accommodation, Surface Acting, and Shared Family Identity

ABSTRACT This study tested the conditional direct and indirect associations between siblings’ religious (non)accommodation and shared family identity (SFI) vis-à-vis surface acting. Participants included 218 young adults who reported on a target sibling’s (non)accommodation of their religious beliefs, as well as their family’s conversation and conformity orientations. Results indicated that the sibling’s religious (non)accommodation was directly and indirectly associated with the participant’s SFI with the sibling via the participant’s surface acting during religious conversations. The associations varied in magnitude, however, as a function of family conversation and conformity orientations. For sibling accommodation, the positive indirect association with SFI grew in magnitude for families low to moderate in conversation orientation as conformity orientation increased. For sibling nonaccommodation, the negative direct association with SFI diminished in magnitude as both family orientations increased, whereas the negative indirect association increased in magnitude for families low to moderate in conversation orientation as conformity orientation increased.

Exploring the role of science education as a catalyst for students’ willingness to take climate action

ABSTRACT Science education aims to encourage students’ active engagement in socio-scientific issues like climate change. While existing research has predominantly focused on science education as a provider of climate science knowledge, this study seeks to broaden our understanding by examining its role not only in knowledge acquisition but also in promoting intrinsic motivation and the perceived value of science. In turn, this study relates science education to climate-action-related variables, including biospheric values, climate concern, personal responsibility, and willingness to take climate action. Data were collected from 1864 students across five public upper secondary schools in Finland, and structural equation modeling was employed to explore the relationships between science education-related variables and climate action-related variables. Results revealed non-significant associations between climate science knowledge and willingness to take climate actions, with a negative relationship observed with the sense of personal responsibility for climate change. Conversely, intrinsic motivation in science exhibited positive associations with willingness to take both individual and societal climate action, mediated through biospheric values. Similarly, students’ perceived value of scientific knowledge on climate change showed positive direct and indirect associations with willingness to take climate action. The perceived value of science also mediated the effect of scientific knowledge on climate action.

Association and Diversity Studies for Yield and Its Attributing Traits in Maize (Zea mays L.) Hybrids

Present investigation was conducted in 144 maize hybrids of CIMMYT, Hyderabad along with 6 checks at ICRISAT, Hyderabad. The genotypes were evaluated for six quantitative traits that are plant height, ear height, anthesis days, silking days and grain yield. Correlation among the traits came to a conclusion that plant height and ear height are positively correlated with grain yield. Path analysis revealed there is highest direct association of plant height on grain yield and ear height had a highest indirect positive association with grain yield. Hence selection plant height and ear height days plays a vital role in increasing yield. Clustering of genotypes based on the six traits divide the germplasm into two clusters. 85 and 65 genotypes were found in each clusters. Clustering the genotypes based the quantitative traits revealed close relatedness between the genotypes. Knowledge on association and diversity identified in our study help in plant breeding process.

What is it good for? On the inflationary effects of military conflicts

Military conflicts and wars affect the development of a country in various dimensions. Rising inflation rates are a potentially important economic effect associated with conflict. High inflation can undermine investment, weigh on private consumption, and threaten macroeconomic stability. Furthermore, these effects are not necessarily restricted to the locality of the conflict but can also spill over to other countries. Therefore, to understand how conflict affects the economy and to make a more comprehensive assessment of the costs of armed conflict, it is important to take inflationary effects into account. To disentangle the conflict-inflation nexus and to quantify this relationship, we conduct a panel analysis for 151 countries over the period 1950–2019. To capture indirect inflationary effects, we construct a distance-based spillover index. In general, the results of our analysis confirm a statistically significant positive direct association between conflicts and inflation rates. Furthermore, we document a statistically significant positive indirect association between conflicts and inflation rates in uninvolved countries. These findings are robust across various model specifications. Moreover, our results indicate that conflict-induced inflation is not driven solely by the increase in the money supply.

The influence of human resource management policies on employee behaviour related outcomes and organisational resilience during COVID-19

PurposeThis study examines the effect of Human Resource Management (HRM) policies in respect to workplace flexibility and employee empowerment on two employee behaviour related outcomes (employee organisational commitment (EOC) and collegiality) and organisational resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachData were collected using an online survey questionnaire managed by Qualtrics. The questionnaire was distributed to the lower, middle and senior managers of 1,000 Australian organisations with 337 responses used in the analysis.FindingsThe findings indicate that workplace flexibility exhibits a direct and indirect (through collegiality) significant positive association with organisational resilience, and employee empowerment exhibits a direct and indirect (through both EOC and collegiality) significant positive association with organisational resilience.Originality/valueThe results highlight the importance of implementing desirable HRM policies in respect to empowering employees and enhancing workplace flexibility due to their role in facilitating organisational resilience both directly and indirectly through their influence on employee behaviour related outcomes, specifically EOC and collegiality.

Enabling creativity: the interplay of participative leadership, coworkers’ knowledge sharing behavior and employee’s creative idea validation

PurposeBased on theory Z of leadership, this research aims to investigate the direct relationship between participative leadership (PL) and creative idea validation (CIV) fostering both radical (RC) and incremental creativity (IC). Additionally, by utilizing attribution theory, it explores the moderating effect of coworkers’ knowledge-sharing behavior (KSB) on both the direct and indirect relationships.Design/methodology/approachData were collected through a descriptive approach and convenient sampling from three sources – leaders, subordinates and coworkers – in R&D departments at multi-levels within 97 high-tech firms in China. Data comprised 446 employees (subordinates and coworkers) and 94 leaders, and multilevel path analysis was conducted using Mplus software.FindingsThe results indicate that PL exhibits both a direct and indirect positive association with RC and IC through the CIV. Moreover, the relationship is enhanced by coworkers’ high-KSB.Practical implicationsOur study offers implications that managers can leverage to foster employee creativity. Leaders are encouraged to embrace a PL style for collective idea validation. However, to overcome coworkers’ reciprocal behavior, they may facilitate trust and team-building exercises, enabling employees to strengthen relationships and share critical information and knowledge resources for the development and validation.Originality/valueThis study is the first to empirically extend the relationship between PL and CIV, utilizing a multilevel approach to assess its impact on distinctive types of creativity – namely, radical and incremental. Further, it testifies the significance of coworkers’ knowledge as an attribution effect influencing the relationships.

Mom, dad, put down your phone and talk to me: how parental phubbing influences problematic internet use among adolescents

BackgroundThe positive association of parental phubbing with internalising and externalising problems among adolescents has gained academic traction. To date, limited research has investigated the association of parental phubbing and adolescents’ Problematic Internet Use (PIU). Furthermore, the mechanism underlying this association is largely unknown. These gaps limit our understanding of family-related issues affecting PIU among adolescents. The present study explores whether there is a relation between parental phubbing and PIU and investigates the mechanisms underlying this relation among adolescents.MethodsThe participants were 495 junior high schoolers aged 11–15 years. Participants completed questionnaires on their experiences with PIU, parental phubbing, parent–child relationships, and basic psychological needs satisfaction.ResultsThe results showed a direct and indirect positive association between parental phubbing and PIU. Furthermore, parental phubbing indirectly influenced PIU and was mediated by the parent–child relationship and basic psychological needs satisfaction, respectively. Moreover, the parent–child relationship and basic psychological needs satisfaction were sequentially mediated.ConclusionsOur study highlights the crucial role of parents in the development of adolescent PIU and provides theoretical and practical guidelines for PIU prevention and intervention.

Linking Perfectionism with Moral Behaviors in Sport: The Mediating Role of Burnout and Moral Disengagement

ABSTRACT Purpose: Research has identified a range of intrapersonal variables associated with moral behaviors in sport. However, research investigating how perfectionism and burnout are associated with prosocial and antisocial behavior toward teammates and opponents in sport has received scant attention. In the present study, we address this issue by examining whether perfectionism is associated with prosocial and antisocial behavior in sport directly and indirectly via burnout and moral disengagement. Method: A total of 312 team sport players completed validated measures for each variable. Results: Path analyses revealed that perfectionistic concerns had a negative relationship with prosocial behavior toward teammates and an indirect positive association with antisocial behavior toward both teammates and opponents via being positively associated with burnout, which in turn, was positively associated with moral disengagement. In contrast, perfectionistic strivings had a positive association with prosocial behavior toward teammates, and an indirect positive association with antisocial behavior toward teammates and opponents via moral disengagement. Conclusion: Our findings offer new insights into how perfectionism and burnout are associated with prosocial and antisocial behavior in sport, as well as highlight the need to consider perfectionistic tendencies and approaches to help reduce burnout and moral disengagement in the regulation of antisocial behavior in sport.

Adaptive aspects of maximizing in times of COVID-19: coping efforts linking maximization to well-being.

Maximization, the tendency to make the best choices by thoroughly searching and comparing alternatives, has long been considered a negative correlate of well-being. However, recently, it was proposed that having a maximizing tendency can lead to better coping efforts in some stressful situations and thus could be more adaptive. The objective of the present research was to demonstrate positive features of maximization and identify the coping strategies that mediate the relationship between maximization and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. A sample of 3,493 participants responded to an online survey from January 20 to October 11 of 2020. The 13-item Maximization Scale assessed individuals' maximizing tendency in terms of the maximization index and its three subdimensions (i.e., high standards, alternative search, and decision difficulty). The use of four coping strategies (i.e., preventive measures, cognitive appraisal, self-distraction, and social connection) during the COVID-19 pandemic was assessed. Hedonic and eudaimonic aspects of well-being were measured. We developed a mediation model and examined both whether there was an indirect link between maximization and well-being through the coping strategies and whether there was a direct link between maximization and well-being. Path analysis revealed negative direct associations between maximization measures (i.e., an index and three subdimensions) and well-being. In addition, significant indirect paths were found with varying directions depending on maximization dimensions and coping strategy types. There were positive indirect associations between the maximization index and well-being via preventive measures, between high standards and well-being through preventive measures and cognitive appraisal, and between alternative search and well-being through self-distraction and social connection. Negative indirect associations were found between decision difficulty and well-being through cognitive appraisal, self-distraction, and social connection. The current study confirmed the existence of inconsistent mediation effects between maximization and well-being via coping and highlighted coping efforts as one of the positive aspects of maximization. Discussion addressed the double-edged effect of maximization on well-being and its beneficial nature in times of distress. Future studies should examine other potential situations and moderators that can delineate maximization's various characteristics with a longitudinal design and samples from diverse backgrounds.

Life-course stress, cognition, and diurnal cortisol in memory clinic patients without dementia

AimsTo examine associations of life-course stress with cognition and diurnal cortisol patterns in older adulthood, as well as potential mediation effects of diurnal cortisol patterns and perceived stress on the association between life-course stress and cognition. Methods127 participants without dementia were selected from a cohort of Swedish memory clinic patients. Cross-sectional associations between scores on two chronic stress questionnaires (perceived stress, stressful life events (SLEs)), five cognitive domains (overall cognition, memory, working memory, processing speed, perceptual reasoning), and two measures of diurnal cortisol patterns (total daily output, diurnal cortisol slope), as well as potential mediation effects of diurnal cortisol patterns and perceived stress on associations between life-course stress and cognition, were assessed using linear regressions. ResultsGreater lifetime exposure to SLEs was associated with worse memory, working memory, and processing speed performance, but not with diurnal cortisol patterns. A greater number of SLEs in late childhood was associated with worse working memory and processing speed, while a greater number of SLEs in non-recent adulthood were associated with better overall cognition and perceptual reasoning. Greater perceived stress was associated with a flattened diurnal cortisol slope, but not with cognition. No evidence for interplay between self-reported and physiological stress markers was found in relation to cognition, although there appeared to be a significant positive indirect association between economic/legal SLEs and the diurnal cortisol slope via perceived stress. ConclusionsThe associations between SLEs and cognition depend on the period during which SLEs occur, but seem independent of late-life cortisol dysregulation.

Direct and Indirect Linkages Between Trace Element Status and Health Indicators - a Multi-tissue Case-Study of Two Deer Species in Denmark

Measuring trace element concentrations in tissue can be a valuable approach to monitor animal health status. Temporal variation in the absorption, transport, and storage of elements between different tissues can, however, complicate the assessment of element-health relationships. Here, we measured concentrations of selected essential (copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), selenium (Se)) and non-essential (arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb)) trace elements within blood, liver, kidney, and hair of fallow deer (Dama dama; N=20) and red deer (Cervus elaphus; N=21). Using multivariate regression and structural equation models, we estimated direct and indirect linkages between tissue-specific trace element profiles and long- (body condition) and short-term (serum protein biomarkers for acute inflammation, infection, and malnutrition) health indicators. Trace element concentrations varied markedly and were weakly correlated among tissues, with the exception of Se. After accounting for sex- and site-differences in trace element concentrations, body condition of red deer was directly, and positively, associated to trace element status in liver and hair, but not in kidney. For both deer species, trace element status in blood was directly linked to serum protein status with an indirect positive association to deer body condition. For fallow deer, no direct association between trace element status and body condition was detected in any of the tissues, possibly because of elemental homeostasis, and because all individuals were in good clinical health. This study shows that hair can serve as an effective, non-invasive, biomarker in deer health assessments, yet, to fully uncover trace element-health relationships a variety of sample matrices is preferred.

Borderline Personality Features and Mate Retention Behaviors: The Mediating Roles of Suspicious and Reactive Jealousy

We investigated the roles that suspicious jealousy and reactive jealousy might play in the associations between borderline personality features (BPF) and mate retention behaviors. Study 1 (N = 406) found that BPF had positive indirect associations with benefit-provisioning behaviors and cost-inflicting behaviors through suspicious jealousy but not through reactive jealousy. Study 2 (N = 334 (a dyadic sample of 167 romantic couples)) revealed actor effects such that BPF had positive indirect associations with benefit-provisioning behaviors and cost-inflicting behaviors through suspicious jealousy for both men and women. In addition, the positive association between BPF and benefit-provisioning behaviors was mediated by reactive jealousy in women but not in men. The only partner effect that emerged from these analyses showed that BPF in women were negatively associated with the benefit-provisioning behaviors reported by their male partners. Discussion focuses on the implications of these results for the function that jealousy might serve in the strategies used by individuals with BPF to maintain their romantic relationships.

Trust but verify? Examining the role of trust in institutions in the spread of unverified information on social media

This study aims to investigate the association between trust in institutions and the reasons for sharing unverified information on social media. Specifically, this study explores the role of perceived self-efficacy in detecting misinformation and the motivation to authenticate information in online contexts. We draw on a sample of 2600 respondents, mainly Generation Z and Millennials (ages between 15 and 30). The findings show a blinding side of trust, revealing a positive association between trust in institutions on social media and reasons for sharing unverified information. Trust in institutions is positively associated with perceived self-efficacy in detecting misinformation. We suggest that the positive correlation between trust in institutions and perceived self-efficacy in detecting misinformation implies an overconfidence effect – i.e., individuals may overestimate their ability to assess information based on their belief that a source (institution) is trustworthy. This arguably represents a tendency to divert attention away from the accuracy of the information and explains the positive indirect association between trust and the likelihood of sharing unverified content. Moreover, trust is negatively associated with individuals' motivation to authenticate information, suggesting that individuals may rely on information utility rather than engage in critical thinking and verification. This study contributes to understanding the spread of misinformation on social media by highlighting the role of trust in institutions and its association with individuals' reasons for sharing unverified information. It also emphasizes the importance of perceived self-efficacy in detecting misinformation and the motivation to authenticate information as mediating mechanisms.

Influence of strategic HRM and entrepreneurial orientation on dynamic capabilities and innovation in small- and medium-sized enterprises

In small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), adopting a strategic human resource management (SHRM), approach can improve dynamic capabilities and promote greater innovation. However, most research on this topic is theoretical and focuses on large firms with well-established formal and mature human resource management systems and access to significant resources. Using a resource-based view framework, we investigate how entrepreneurial orientation (EO) enhances the SHRM–dynamic capabilities relationship in SMEs. Using time-lagged data from 456 SMEs in Australia, our results confirm that SHRM has an indirect positive association with innovation through its impact on dynamic capabilities. Additionally, EO has an indirect positive association with innovation through its impact on dynamic capabilities. Our results also show that EO moderates the positive relationship between dynamic capabilities and innovation such that the relationship becomes stronger as EO increases. This study’s results have theoretical and practical implications for the role of SHRM and EO in developing dynamic capabilities and innovation in SMEs.

Organizational culture and leadership behaviors: is manager's psychological health the missing piece?

In a context where organizations struggle to attract and retain highly qualified workers, organizations need to prioritize the psychological health of employees as a retention factor. To do so, they need to provide a healthy work environment. As an integral part of the employee experience, managers are an important factor in employee retention. In past studies, researchers have focused on the importance of leadership in boosting employees' health without, however, considering factors encouraging such behavior in managers. Recently, some scholars have become interested in managers' health as a resource allowing them to adopt good leadership behavior. Indeed, these studies reveal interesting links between managers' emotional state and their behavior as leaders. Other studies, underscore the importance of considering the organizational context to better understand managers' psychological health that may influence their leadership behaviors. This study proposes to examine the complex process by which organizational culture influences managers' psychological health, which acts as a resource favoring the adoption of good leadership behaviors that are known to be constructive and have positive effects on employee. Path analyses with the CALIS procedure SAS software, version 9.4 were conducted on a sample of 522 managers in three healthcare facilities in the province of Quebec, Canada. The results revealed that group culture is associated with the two indicators of managers' psychological health at work. The results also demonstrated that managers' psychological distress at work is positively related to transactional and laissez-faire leadership styles whereas psychological well-being at work is positively related to transformational and transactional leadership. Concerning indirect associations, there is a significant and positive indirect association between group culture and transformational leadership and there is also a significant and negative association between group culture and laissez-faire leadership. Finally, there is also an indirect association between hierarchical culture and transactional leadership. Our study provides a more in-depth understanding of the relationship between organizational culture and leadership styles. More specifically, our findings highlight the benefits of implementing a group organizational culture to enhance psychological well-being, reduce psychological distress symptoms and promote good leadership behaviors.

Daily agreeableness and acculturation processes in ethnic/racial minority freshmen: The role of inter-ethnic contact and perceived discrimination.

Having higher levels of mainstream cultural orientation (MCO), an important component of acculturation attitudes and behaviors,is beneficial for ethnic/racial minority students during the transitions into university. Scant research has investigated MCO at a micro daily timescale. This study examined how personality (agreeableness) functions in conjunction with interpersonal processes (inter-ethnic contact and perceived discrimination) to influence MCO as daily within-person processes. Multi-level structural equation modeling were used to analyze month-long daily diary data from 209 ethnic/racial minority freshmen (69% female). There was a positive indirect association between agreeableness and MCO through inter-ethnic contact at both within- and between-person levels. At the within-person level, on days with lower (vs. higher) levels of ethnic/racial discrimination, higher levels of agreeableness were associated with higher levels of MCO. These findings highlight the contributions of intensive longitudinal data in elucidating ethnic/racial minority students' personality and acculturation processes in daily life involving protective and risk factors on micro timescales.

Neighborhood Condition Effects on Latina/O Student Attendance and Participation in Afterschool Activities

ABSTRACT This study examined how parents’ perception of neighborhood conditions are associated with school absenteeism and participation in afterschool activities, and how social support networks moderate those linkages among two-parent and single-parent families. Data from the second and third Waves of the Making Connections Survey were analyzed. A subsample of 1,053 Latina/o parents with 10–17-year-old children was examined. Longitudinal path analyses suggest an indirect positive association between neighborhood control and participation in organized afterschool activities via instrumental social support, but only among two-parent families. Neighborhood cohesion was associated with school days missed and participation in organized afterschool activities among single-parent families. Implications for practice and policy are discussed.

Mediating processes underlying the associations between maternal obesity and the likelihood of cesarean birth.

Pregnant women with obesity are more likely to experience cesarean birth compared to women without obesity. Yet, little is known about the underlying mechanisms. The objective of this study was therefore to evaluate how mediators contribute to the association between obesity and prelabor/intrapartum cesarean birth. We retrospectively analyzed Swiss cohort data from 394,812 singleton, cephalic deliveries between 2005 and 2020. Obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 ) was defined as the exposure and prelabor or intrapartum cesarean birth as the outcomes. Hypothesized mediators included gestational comorbidities, large-for-gestational-age infant, pregnancy duration >410/7 weeks, slower labor progress, labor induction, and history of cesarean birth. We performed path analyses using generalized structural equation modeling and assessed mediation by a counterfactual approach. Women with obesity had a cesarean birth rate of 39.36% vs. 24.12% in women without obesity. The path models mainly showed positive direct and indirect associations between obesity and cesarean birth. In the total sample, the mediation models explained up to 39.47% (95% CI 36.92-42.02) of the association between obesity and cesarean birth, and up to 57.13% (95% CI 54.10-60.16) when including history of cesarean birth as mediator in multiparous women. Slower labor progress and history of cesarean birth were found to be the most clinically significant mediators. This study provides empirical insights into how obesity may increase cesarean birth rates through mediating processes. Particularly allowing for a slower labor progress in women with obesity might reduce cesarean birth rates and prevent subsequent repeat cesarean births in multiparous women.

Asset accumulation, financial inclusion and subjective well‐being: The role of financial formality in South Africa's households

AbstractAsset building and financial inclusion programmes have contributed to the enhancement of consumers' welfare through asset accumulation. Employing the FinScope consumer survey for South Africa, we extended the analysis of the relationship between financial inclusion and asset holding by examining whether this, in turn, improves consumers' subjective well‐being (SWB). Financial inclusion was captured by credit, savings, and insurance whereas multiple correspondence analysis was employed to compute an asset index that captured indicators of individual material possessions. Results from the partial least squares path model suggested that financial inclusion had an indirect positive association with consumers' SWB through increased asset holding, but the association was more pronounced via formal channels of saving, credit, and insurance. As such, social policymakers are encouraged to integrate access to insurance, credit, and savings through formal channels in poverty interventions since this has a greater indirect association with consumers' SWB via increased asset ownership.