Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061041

Authors: Sergio Navas-León Jon Andoni Duñabeitia

Easy-to-Read (E2R) recommendations aim to improve accessibility, but it remains unclear whether some visual and typographic adaptations may also benefit readers without disabilities. This study examined the effects of different text formats on reading comprehension and visual processing in university students using eye-tracking. Twenty-four young adults without cognitive disabilities read texts presented in three formats: hard-to-read, control, and Easy-to-Read. Reading comprehension was assessed with multiple-choice questions, and eye movements were recorded during reading. Data were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models. Text Format significantly affected reading comprehension, with estimated accuracy highest in the E2R format and significantly higher than in the hard-to-read format. The E2R format was also associated with shorter fixation durations and larger saccades than the other formats, suggesting a pattern compatible with a reduced cognitive demand in some eye-movement measures. Fixation count was highest for hard-to-read texts and significantly higher than in the control format, whereas differences involving E2R were not significant. Reading time showed a trend towards significance, with descriptively longer reading times for hard-to-read texts than for the control and E2R formats. These findings suggest that E2R adaptations, originally developed to support populations with cognitive needs, may also facilitate comprehension and reading efficiency in readers without cognitive disabilities.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061040

Authors: Yan Liu Wenying Huang Wen Zhang Chang Hu

Life satisfaction (LS) is an important indicator of subjective well-being among college students. However, relatively few studies have integrated variable-centered and person-centered approaches to examine the associations among physical activity (PA), social support (SS), and LS in female college students. This cross-sectional study surveyed 2097 female college students from 11 universities in Jiangxi Province, China. PA, SS, and LS were assessed using self-report questionnaires. A mediation model was used to examine whether SS statistically mediated the association between PA and LS after controlling for education level and place of origin. Latent profile analysis was then conducted using six LS items, and the BCH method was used to compare PA and SS across profiles. The results showed that PA was positively associated with SS and LS, and SS was positively associated with LS. The indirect association between PA and LS through SS was statistically significant, suggesting a partial statistical mediation pattern. Latent profile analysis identified three level-based LS profiles: low-, medium-, and high-LS profiles. PA and SS increased progressively across these profiles, with the highest levels in the high-LS profile and the lowest levels in the low-LS profile. These findings suggest that PA, SS, and LS are closely interrelated and that meaningful quantitative heterogeneity exists in LS among female college students. Given the cross-sectional design and convenience sampling, the findings should be interpreted as statistical associations rather than causal effects.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061039

Authors: Pantxika Victoire Morlat Maria Limniou Isobel Phelps Laurence Alison

Previous research has shown that both victim intoxication and narrative framing can influence the levels of victim blame. However, far less attention has been paid to how coercive strategy and narrative framing may interact to shape victim-blaming judgements and perceptions of sexual assault. The present study addresses this gap by examining how combinations of coercive strategies (physical force versus alcohol facilitated), narrative framing (active versus passive), and rape myth acceptance (RMA) influence victim blame and the recognition of sexual assault. Participant gender and age were also assessed in relation to RMA and victim-blaming attitudes. A total of 202 participants aged 18–63 (78.7% of women, 21.3% of men, MAge = 28.93, SD = 14.36) completed an online survey evaluating vignettes depicting a male perpetrator sexually assaulting a female victim. Age significantly predicted victim blaming, with older participants assigning greater blame to the victim. Gender predicted both RMA and victim blame, with men reporting higher RMA and greater victim blame than women. Active framing in both the physical force and alcohol-use conditions reduced participants’ recognition of the incident as sexual assault. Participants with lower RMA consistently reported lower victim blame across conditions, and were more likely to identify the incident as sexual assault in the physical force condition. These findings highlight the influence of coercive strategies and the importance of victim-centred language in policing, legal, and media contexts, where narrative framing can meaningfully shape the recognition of sexual assault.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061038

Authors: Emily A. Brinck James L. Soldner Hung Jen Kuo Scott A. Sabella Trenton J. Landon Charles P. Bernacchio Elizabeth A. Boland

The increased use of technology-assisted distance counseling practices is one result of COVID’s impact on behavioral health, including in counselor education and the delivery of supervision. First, technology-assisted distance supervision needed for “real time” communication grew. Furthermore, there is an emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies that have the potential to contribute to aspects of supervision; however, current evidence remains emerging, context-dependent, and at times mixed, warranting cautious interpretation of their effectiveness. The article offers an overview of using AI in clinical supervision, examines the benefits and potential concerns of AI from different perspectives, and considers the significance of using AI in counseling supervision. The role of AI is discussed as applied to counseling supervision including the use of AI tools, such as chatbots and reasoning AI, to detect and track sessions, note behavioral and emotional cues, aid/monitor communication and feedback, while also attending to ethical and legal consideration for its use. The article will report a range of benefits for supervisors and trainees using AI—for example, by enhancing data-driven supervision decisions, analyzing feedback trends, providing more efficient administrative monitoring, flexible/remote support, skill development, and promoting ethical decisions and self-reflection. Special attention is given to the challenges of using AI in supervision, including risks of undervaluing intuition and qualitative insights, potential for algorithms to reinforce systemic biases, risks of replacing human interaction, as well as non-compliance with HIPAA, FERPA, and ethical guidelines in data storage and privacy. The article will discuss privacy concerns, depersonalized feedback, and increased judgment-driven anxiety despite needed empathy when using AI as a tool for clinical supervision. Recommendations will also be offered for effective, ethical integration of AI in counseling supervision.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061037

Authors: Guoxing Xu Chunmei Hao Xinyu Kong Tingting Gao Mu Liu Tingzhi Han Chongguang Wang Liangliang Wu

Originating in the US and subsequently diffusing across worldwide, honors education has been increasingly adopted in China. A central question is whether honors participation produces substantive changes in students’ learning or functions as symbolic participation. Drawing on samples of senior-year honors (N = 163) and non-honors undergraduates (n = 317) from two top elite universities in China, PSM estimation indicates that honors students do not demonstrate a significant advantage in competence development. However, focusing solely on outcome indicators may obscure the process through which honors education operates. On the one hand, PSM results also showed that honors students were more likely to engage in deep learning behavior. On the other hand, regression revealed that after adding the university as moderator, the significant effect of honors participation disappeared, while the roles of teaching and learning remained consistently stable. Moderated chain mediation analyses further indicated that the association between honors participation and competence development was primarily linked to student-centered teaching practices and deep learning engagement, and that this pathway varied across the two universities. Overall, the findings suggest that the benefits of honors education may derive less from honors affiliation itself and more from the substantive learning experiences fostered within honors contexts. These findings provide empirical support for reforms that place greater emphasis on learning processes and competence development within honors education.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061036

Authors: Samuel Alonso Benito Luz Florinda Pérez Sánchez Ángeles Bueno Villaverde

Research on twice-exceptional students, particularly those with co-occurring intellectual giftedness and dyslexia, remains limited and conceptually fragmented. This study examines the reading- and writing-related profiles of these students by comparing three groups: gifted students without dyslexia (G), gifted students with dyslexia (G-D), and dyslexic students without intellectual giftedness (D). The sample consisted of 133 Spanish-speaking primary school students (Grades 3–6). The results revealed a distinct and non-linear performance pattern. G-D students exhibited marked difficulties in lower-level literacy processes, including phonological and lexical processing, with a performance pattern closer to that of dyslexic peers. However, they showed relative strengths in higher-order language abilities, particularly text comprehension, oral comprehension, and written composition. The findings suggest a non-uniform profile of reading- and writing-related abilities in these students, characterized by weaknesses in several lower-level literacy processes and relative strengths in some higher-order language abilities. This pattern may contribute to the underidentification of these students across educational and clinical contexts. By providing empirical evidence from Spanish, a relatively underexplored orthographic context, this study contributes to current models of twice-exceptionality and highlights the need for more sensitive and staged identification procedures, as well as multidimensional assessment and intervention approaches that address both strengths and weaknesses.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061035

Authors: Song Zuo Shi Chen Zhao

With the development of digital technology and artificial intelligence (AI), numerous studies have focused on the applications and impacts of digital technology in the public sector. However, few studies have explored how frontline public service employees, the core subject of public organizations, can improve their proactive service performance. Based on the model of proactive motivation, this paper investigates the influence of digital leadership on employees’ proactive service performance from a micro perspective, as well as the internal mechanisms and boundary conditions underlying this process. Through an analysis of three-wave questionnaire survey data from 234 employees, this study finds that digital leadership has a positive impact on public employees’ proactive service performance through the serial mediation effects of AI service awareness and AI crafting. Furthermore, as an important boundary condition, employees’ public service motivation strengthens the serial indirect effect of digital leadership on proactive service performance. This paper not only extends the literature on digital leadership by adopting a micro-level perspective within the context of public sector digital transformation but also identifies the individual and contextual antecedents of proactive service performance by examining the interactive effect of public service motivation and leadership. Furthermore, this paper offers valuable implications for the practice of digital transformation in public organizations.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061034

Authors: Rubin Shi Ruiqin Xie Weiyi Xie Lei Mo

Smartphone use addiction and academic burnout represent prevalent phenomena, and existing research indicates a strong positive association between them. However, the longitudinal associations and potential explanatory mechanisms underlying this association remain insufficiently examined. This research explored the reciprocal influences between academic burnout and smartphone use addiction across time, while also examining whether fear of missing out (FoMO) functions as a central mediating mechanism. This research utilized a two-wave longitudinal design, with data collected from participants at two time points separated by a six-month interval. The sample consisted of 893 students from a university in South China. Measures included the Adolescent Student Burnout Inventory, the Fear of Missing Out Scale, and the Mobile Phone Addiction Scale. This research employed an analytical method of cross-lagged panel models with mediating effects. The results demonstrated that smartphone use addiction and academic burnout positively predicted each other over time. Furthermore, FoMO significantly mediated these bidirectional longitudinal associations. These results provide preliminary evidence for bidirectional temporal associations between academic burnout and smartphone use addiction and identify FoMO as one potential mechanism linking the two phenomena over time. These findings offer practical insights for developing targeted intervention strategies to address these interrelated issues among university students.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061033

Authors: Xing Liu Li Li Huilin Wang

Introduction: College student-athletes must often balance academic responsibilities with intensive training and competition, placing them under considerable pressure and potentially increasing their risk of mental health difficulties. Against this background, the present study focused on the link between mindfulness and psychological distress and examined whether cognitive reappraisal and subjective vitality were statistically involved in this association as indirect associations. Methods: Participants were 430 college student-athletes recruited from five universities in Hunan Province, China. Using a cross-sectional survey design, the hypothesized model was tested using structural equation modeling in AMOS 23.0, and indirect associations were examined with bootstrap analysis based on 5000 resamples. Results: Mindfulness was positively associated with both cognitive reappraisal and subjective vitality. Cognitive reappraisal was positively associated with subjective vitality but negatively associated with psychological distress. Subjective vitality also showed a negative association with distress. Moreover, mindfulness showed an indirect association with lower distress through cognitive reappraisal and subjective vitality. Discussion: The findings may contribute to a better understanding of the psychological correlates associated with mental health in college student-athletes. They also suggest that mindfulness-related psychological resources may be associated with lower distress and may help guide future longitudinal and intervention research in this group.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061032

Authors: Jasmine R. Ernst Seokyung Kim Catherine Schaefer Hyewon Park Choi Stephanie M. Carlson

The bilingual advantage hypothesis proposes that bilingual children will display greater executive function (EF) skills compared to their monolingual peers. However, most research on this topic neglects to include monolingual children from both language groups for comparison, thus confounding language status and cultural context. To address this gap, we administered an extensive battery of EF tasks to 189 typically developing children ages 47–95 months (Mage = 71.47, SD = 11.68, 42.9 % Female) drawn from three language status groups: Korean-English Bilingual and English Monolingual (both in the northwestern United States) and Korean Monolingual (South Korea). Korean-English Bilingual children scored significantly higher on the EF composite than Korean Monolingual children, even after controlling for child age and verbal ability. Both English Monolingual and Korean-English Bilingual children waited significantly longer during a delay-of-gratification task than Korean Monolingual children when controlling for age and verbal ability. Korean-English Bilingual children outperformed English Monolingual and Korean Monolingual children on the Comprehensive Test of Nonverbal Intelligence. There were no significant differences between language status groups on the other individual EF tasks after adjusting for multiple comparisons. Taken together, we did not find consistent support for a bilingual advantage in EF skills: Country of residence also played a role, with children living in the United States outperforming children living in Korea in some cases.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061031

Authors: Ashley Albores Annamarie Jump Hana Rupnow Cheyenne Schorlig Patricia C. Coker-Bolt Emerson Hart

Culturally responsive frameworks are essential for delivering equitable rehabilitation services to diverse communities. Culturally informed practices that use evidence-based strategies facilitate holistic, family-centered interventions. This scoping review explores the literature published over the last 5 years on barriers and facilitators to the use of culturally responsive interventions for children and families receiving pediatric rehabilitation services. Databases searched included PubMed, CINAHL Complete, Medline, Cochrane Library, and OTseeker. Search terms included cultural competence, culturally informed, culturally grounded, pediatrics, rehabilitation, physical therapy, occupational therapy, barriers, facilitators, and a combination of these terms. The review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Published intervention studies that identified the barriers and facilitators of culturally responsive care were included in this review. Data from presentations, non-peer-reviewed literature, published abstracts, and dissertations were excluded. Ten studies were included, two Level III, three Level IV, and five Level V, according to the commonly accepted research Levels of Evidence. The outcomes of these studies suggest that rehabilitation providers should consider how to implement tailored, culturally informed interventions to improve holistic, accessible care for all communities.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061030

Authors: Kenichi Asano Asa Nagae Yasuhiro Kotera Rhea Takahashi Jaskaran Basran Paul Gilbert

This study conducted an initial psychometric evaluation of the Japanese version of the Social Safeness and Pleasure Scale (SSPS-J). In Study 1 (N = 477), exploratory factor analysis supported a single-factor structure with excellent internal consistency (alpha = 0.95, omega = 0.95). Significant correlations with depression (r = −0.53), anxiety (r = −0.26), stress (r = −0.36), life satisfaction (r = 0.67), and social support (r = 0.47–0.52) demonstrated robust convergent validity. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analysis (N = 262) confirmed the reproducibility of the single-factor model with an acceptable overall fit (CFI = 0.943, SRMR = 0.036, RMSEA = 0.108). Test–retest reliability over a three-week interval (N = 113) was also high (ICC = 0.88). These results suggest that the SSPS-J is a reliable and valid preliminary measure for assessing social safeness in the Japanese general population.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061029

Authors: Ioannis G. Katsantonis

This study examined the processes linking cognitively activating mathematics instruction to self-efficacy via metacognitive self-regulation. A sequential mediation model was tested whereby cognitive-activating instruction operationalised as mathematical argumentation was specified as being associated with metacognitive self-regulation, which, in turn, was estimated to be associated with mathematics performance and mathematics self-efficacy. Data from 6403 adolescents (49.76% females) from Greece’s PISA 2022 dataset were utilised. Latent variables were constructed from the student questionnaire items to capture cognitive activation, metacognitive self-regulation, and self-efficacy. Structural equation modelling showed that cognitive activation was positively associated with metacognitive self-regulation, which, in turn, was positively associated with mathematics self-efficacy. Sequential mediation analysis indicated that cognitive-activating instruction was also directly linked to mathematics self-efficacy and indirectly through mathematics performance, supporting the role of performance as a source of mastery experiences. In brief, the findings imply that engaging students in cognitively activating activities is associated with better metacognitive self-regulation skills and higher mathematics self-efficacy, partly through mathematics performance, which is consistent with the mastery-experiences account.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061028

Authors: Chenxi Li Enuo Wang

This study examines how German textbooks provide learning-behavioral affordances for sustainability-oriented intercultural competence development. Drawing on Klieme’s competence-model logic, ESD, intercultural competence research, learning behavior theory, and affordance theory, it treats “sustainable intercultural competence” not as a standardized construct but as a working shorthand for the sustainability-oriented development of intercultural competence. Methodologically, the study adopts a directed qualitative content analysis supplemented by descriptive frequency aggregation. All 37 units across the four volumes of Meilenstein were coded on a 0–2 scale across three affordance dimensions: cognitive-understanding affordance, reflective value-judgment affordance, and interaction-action affordance. The findings show that the series provides substantial but uneven affordances. Interaction-action received the highest aggregated score, followed by cognitive-understanding, whereas reflective value-judgment remained substantially lower. Units on family, identity, sustainability, and civic engagement offer the most balanced affordance structures, whereas everyday practical units privilege communicative action and disciplinary units privilege cognitive understanding. The study argues that textbook-based intercultural learning should be examined not only through topic inclusion but also through how texts, prompts, and tasks organize opportunities for comparison, reflection, judgment, negotiation, and action.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061027

Authors: Zhihan Jiang Xing Wang Yuteng Luo Zeyun Hu Shibin Wang Yanbin Liu Heng Wu

Introduction: Adolescent depression and anxiety are major public health concerns. Previous studies showed that low mental health literacy is associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms. However, how its core dimensions—knowledge, attitudes, and skills—differentially relate to emotional symptoms remains unclear. Methods: A school-based survey was conducted among 6400 adolescents in Guangdong, China. Eligible participants completed the MHL questionnaire and assessments for depressive and anxiety symptoms. We assessed whether MHL was associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms in adolescents. Machine learning algorithms with SHAP analysis were applied to explore complex associations and validate key findings. Results: A total of 5759 adolescents were included. MHL and the knowledge dimension were negatively associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms. The attitudes dimension showed a negative association with both mental health outcomes (depression: OR = 0.83; anxiety: OR = 0.84) and machine learning confirmed attitudes as the key factor. Skills were unrelated to depressive symptoms. At the highest quartile, skills showed a positive association with anxiety symptoms (OR = 1.29). Conclusions: The attitudes dimension is negatively associated with adolescent depressive and anxiety symptoms and emerged as a key feature in ML identification models.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061026

Authors: Zoe Thomas Abby Dunn Aislinn D. Gomez Bergin Cassie M. Hazell

Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) is a collaborative roleplaying game that is associated with social and emotional benefits for young adults (YAs). Research has not addressed how YAs’ understanding of identity and mental health is explored through D&D. This research explored the impact that playing D&D has on YAs’ understanding of their identity and how this relates to their mental health. Eleven YAs (aged 18–25) were interviewed about their experiences of playing D&D. Their interviews were analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis. Four main themes were identified: D&D as a safer space; D&D for coping; D&D for exploration; and D&D for growth. The findings demonstrate that YAs use D&D to navigate experiences such as social and emotional difficulties and their evolving sense of self. D&D helped YAs to manage their current circumstances as well as to look to the future. These findings highlight the positive impact D&D has on identity exploration and mental health for YAs. Playing D&D was perceived by participants as improving their wellbeing, relationships, and occupations at a critical time developmentally when they are developing their sense of self. Consideration of how D&D may be incorporated into existing intervention approaches is discussed, including implications for further research.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061025

Authors: Di Chen Xinyue Xu Ruiyang Gao Yuhong Liu

Teacher professional development (TPD) is increasingly mediated by online platforms, yet emotion analysis in this context remains underdeveloped because teachers’ professional discourse is often reflective, evaluative, and shaped by professional norms. To address this challenge, this study proposes a fine-grained, low-intrusion affective-appraisal analysis framework for TPD-oriented online professional learning that integrates textual evidence with platform interaction logs. The framework retains pleasure, arousal, and dominance from the pleasure–arousal–dominance (PAD) model and introduces utility as an appraisal-related dimension, capturing teachers’ perceived usefulness, value judgment, and professional learning gain. Methodologically, it combines textual representations based on Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT), intra-week long short-term memory (LSTM) aggregation, interpretable behavioral-log features, and feature-level fusion. Data were collected from an authentic TPD-oriented online course involving 107 pre-service teachers, yielding 1276 teacher-week samples from 4300 texts and 264,028 interaction records. Results show that intra-week sequential modeling improves the macro-averaged F1 score (Macro-F1) over both the term frequency–inverse document frequency plus support vector machine (TF-IDF+SVM) baseline and BERT-based weekly text concatenation, with statistically significant gains over the non-sequential BERT-concat model across all four dimensions. Adding interaction logs improves accuracy across all dimensions and provides complementary process-based evidence, especially for arousal and utility. By linking a four-dimensional affective-appraisal framework with text-log fusion, this study offers a scalable and context-sensitive approach to affective-appraisal analytics in pre-service teacher professional learning.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061024

Authors: Chao Li Xiuli Liu

This study aimed to develop and validate a Social–Emotional Competence instrument for college students. The questionnaire includes 30 items across five dimensions: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, interpersonal communication, and sense of responsibility. The items were selected from an initial pool of 42 items generated through a comprehensive literature review, semi-structured interviews, and expert evaluation. A total of 1008 valid responses were collected from undergraduate students. The dataset was randomly divided into two independent samples. Sample 1 (n = 504) was used for item analysis and exploratory factor analysis, while Sample 2 (n = 504) was employed for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and assessing the reliability and validity of the questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis supported a five-factor structure, accounting for 60.619% of the total variance. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the model fit the data reasonably well, with CFI = 0.915, TLI = 0.905, RMSEA = 0.063, and SRMR = 0.046. The questionnaire demonstrated excellent internal consistency (α = 0.958) and maintained strong stability over time, as evidenced by a test–retest correlation of r = 0.939. Criterion-related validity was supported by significant positive correlations with interpersonal competence and negative correlations with emotion regulation difficulties and depressive symptoms. Taken together, these results provide preliminary support for the reliability and validity of the instrument, suggesting that it may serve as a practical tool for evaluating social–emotional competence among college students.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061023

Authors: Guobin Huang Lu Hai

This study evaluated a synergistic intervention integrating school social work and ethnic education for reducing dropout-related risk among male students in Zhuang vocational secondary schools in central Guangxi, China. Using a quasi-experimental mixed-methods design with baseline, post-intervention, and follow-up assessments, 457 students were enrolled and 435 were included in the final analysis. Compared with usual support, the intervention group showed a larger reduction in the dropout risk index at follow-up, β = −0.37, SE = 0.08, 95% CI [−0.52, −0.22], p < 0.001, and a lower likelihood of chronic absenteeism, OR = 0.56, 95% CI [0.34, 0.91], p = 0.020. The retention difference was positive but less precise, OR = 1.70, 95% CI [0.79, 3.67], p = 0.174. The intervention group also reported higher school belonging, β = 0.33, SE = 0.06, p < 0.001, and academic self-efficacy, β = 0.30, SE = 0.06, p < 0.001. Parallel mediation analysis suggested that these two protective factors accounted for part of the intervention-associated difference in dropout risk, with a total indirect effect of −0.20, 95% CI [−0.28, −0.12], p < 0.001. The findings suggest that culturally responsive practices, when combined with tiered case management and family engagement, may help strengthen protective processes and slow the accumulation of dropout-related risks. This study provides context-sensitive evidence for designing school retention interventions in vocational schools serving ethnic minority communities, while the quasi-experimental design warrants cautious interpretation.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061022

Authors: Yuhong Zhou Jiayu Li Danni Zhan Zijie Fang Xuemei Gao

While action video games (AVGs) can enhance cognitive control, mechanisms underlying gaming disorder (GD) remain unclear. Using the Dual Mechanisms of Control framework, two task-switching experiments dissociated proactive and reactive control among AVG players with GD, recreational game users (RGU), and non-gamers (NG). Experiment 1 provided initial evidence that, unlike healthy controls, GD players showed difficulty sustaining proactive preparation over extended intervals and tended to rely more on post-response interference resolution. Experiment 2 further supported this reactive dependence: after prolonged delays, switch costs in the GD group dropped to negligible levels, whereas residual costs persisted in RGU and NG groups. These findings provide converging evidence that GD players exhibit relatively fragile proactive control and a compensatory over-reliance on reactive control. Consequently, cognitive impairment in GD reflects a shift in processing mode rather than a generalized deficit, highlighting mechanism-specific targets for clinical interventions.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061021

Authors: Sisi Chen Diqing Qian Zengrui Xiao

With the rapid expansion of the pet economy, owner–pet matching outfits have grown increasingly popular among pet owners. Grounded in the extended theory of planned behavior, this study investigates the key determinants of pet owners’ purchase intentions and actual purchase behaviors toward owner–pet matching outfits, and explores the moderating effect of aesthetic risk on the intention–behavior transition. Questionnaire survey data from 222 pet owners were collected for empirical analysis, and regression analysis was adopted to verify the proposed research hypotheses. The empirical results reveal that subjective norms exert a direct promotional effect on consumer purchase behavior and indirectly boost such behavior through the partial mediating role of purchase intention. By contrast, behavioral attitude is positively associated with purchase intention and further stimulates purchase behavior via a full mediating pathway of purchase intention. Perceived behavioral control displays a significant positive direct impact on purchase behavior yet yields no significant effect on purchase intention. Furthermore, purchase intention serves as a robust positive predictor of purchase behavior, whereas aesthetic risk significantly weakens the association between purchase intention and purchase behavior. Brands are suggested to foster consumers’ favorable behavioral attitudes by optimizing product design, enriching practical functions, and minimizing potential risks to pets in owner–pet matching outfits. Meanwhile, enterprises should actively shape supportive subjective norms to popularize the owner–pet matching outfit wearing lifestyle. Additionally, brands need to enhance consumption accessibility through diversified sales channels, reasonable pricing strategies and abundant product style options. This study pioneers the application of the extended theory of planned behavior to the emerging field of owner–pet matching outfits, empirically verifying the positive effects of behavioral attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control on consumers’ purchase intention and purchase behavior.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061020

Authors: Lin Li Chenxi Wang Yaning Ji Jiaxin Du Kevin B. Paterson

Previous research suggests receiving a concurrent auditory version of text during reading, i.e., reading-while-listening, improves eye-movement behavior in less skilled readers, while disrupting skilled reading. We extended this approach to older adults (65+ years) to see whether they benefit similarly. The experiment was conducted in Chinese, comparing young and older adults from an earlier reading-only study with new, closely matched groups presented with the same stimuli in a reading-while-listening task. Stimuli comprised either sentences containing a temporary ambiguity or matched unambiguous control, with plausibility manipulated for control target words and the incorrect interpretation of the ambiguity. At the sentence level, older adults showed differences across reading modes, with faster reading during reading-while-listening, whereas younger adults showed no evidence that reading-while-listening benefited reading, with some evidence it was disruptive. At the word level, both groups produced control-word plausibility effects, but neither showed plausibility effects for ambiguous targets, with no influence of reading mode. The findings suggest differential effects of reading-while-listening, potentially facilitating reading in older adults while yielding no benefit and some disruption in younger adults. As neither group had difficulty processing the ambiguity, no conclusions can be drawn about local ambiguity resolution. Nevertheless, the results suggest possible benefits of reading-while-listening for older adults.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061019

Authors: Li Wu Ting Han Gengfeng Niu Xiaxia Xu

Problematic smartphone use (PSU) has become an increasingly important public health concern among adolescents, yet the potential protective role of restorative environmental experiences (nature exposure) remains insufficiently understood. Under the perspective of Stress Reduction Theory (SRT) and Attention Restoration Theory (ART), this cross-sectional study examined the association between nature exposure and adolescent PSU, with anxiety and self-control tested as potential mediators. The sample comprised 700 high school students recruited from several high schools in Qinghai Province, China (52.00% female; M age = 17.01 years, SD = 0.78). Nature exposure, anxiety, self-control, and PSU were assessed using self-report measures. The results showed that nature exposure was negatively associated with PSU; anxiety and self-control significantly mediated this association both independently and sequentially. Specifically, more nature exposure was associated with lower anxiety and higher self-control, which, in turn, were associated with lower PSU. These findings suggest that restorative environmental experiences may be associated with reduced vulnerability to PSU through interconnected affective and self-regulatory processes. The present study extends existing literature by integrating emotional and attentional restoration perspectives within a unified framework linking nature exposure to adolescent PSU, and provides implications for the prevention and intervention of PSU.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061018

Authors: Katie Palmer Ronald D. Rogge

Within the conceptual framework of the Unified Flexibility & Mindfulness (UFM) model, the current study applied a contextual behavioral science lens to understanding the challenges and dynamics of classroom teaching in the United States. In particular, the study sought to highlight the specific flexibility processes linked to lower teacher burnout and to greater use of adaptive instructional and behavior management strategies—deepening the conceptualization and operationalization of teachers’ Social and Emotional Competence (SEC). Toward that end, a sample of 308 K-12 teachers (79% female, 85% white, Mage = 42 years old) with an average of 13 years of teaching experience completed a relational task (RT) indirectly assessing relational thinking about students along with teacher-report measures of: (1) their own use of 14 forms of mindful flexibility (and distracted, reactive inflexibility) in the classroom, (2) their conscious perceptions of student engagement and disaffection with learning, (3) their use of adaptive instructional and behavior management strategies, and (4) a measure of work-related and student-related burnout. Exploratory network analyses largely supported the Unified Flexibility and Mindfulness model shaping teachers’ functioning in the classroom. The results further highlighted unique links from categorical thinking on the RT (i.e., viewing all positive or negative adjectives as essentially the same in students) to greater burnout and unique links from more nuanced thinking on the RT (i.e., the ability to see negative and positive traits coexisting in students) to greater perceptions of both student engagement and disaffection. Teachers’ engagement of committed action and self-as-context (maintaining a broader perspective in the face of disruptive behavior) along with perceptions of greater student engagement emerged as some of the most robust predictors of using adaptive classroom strategies. In contrast, teachers’ engagement in fusion and inaction (along with perceptions of greater student disaffection and lower student engagement) emerged as the most robust predictors of teacher burnout. Implications are discussed.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061017

Authors: Sirada Rochanavibhata Viorica Marian

Play is a universal activity. Yet there are cultural and linguistic differences in how families engage in adult–child play. In the present study, Thai–English bilingual mother–child dyads completed a toy play task in both languages. The results revealed cross-linguistic differences in bilingual mothers’ and children’s conversation styles. When speaking Thai, the nature of bilinguals’ dyadic play was more adult-centered, characterized by the use of directives by the mothers and use of repetitions by the children, which was congruent with parent–child interpersonal dynamics in high-power-distance Asian cultures. When speaking English, the play session was more child-centered, evidenced by children’s use of directives and encouragements, which was congruent with behavioral norms in low-power-distance Western cultures. Bilingual mothers and children exhibited positive associations in their narrative styles during both the Thai and English sessions. Additionally, the preliminary results provided evidence that cross-linguistic differences in mother–child speech patterns may be moderated by child gender. These findings suggest that the communicative and interactional patterns that bilingual caregivers modeled for bilingual children varied across languages and that preschoolers aligned their behaviors with those exemplified by their mothers. We conclude that bilingualism influences early social communication, with theoretical and applied implications for researchers, educators, and clinicians.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061016

Authors: Stefano Rini Zeynep Özal Giovanni Emanuele Corazza Giacomo Mancini Sergio Agnoli

Trait Emotional Intelligence (Trait EI) has been increasingly linked to children’s adaptive functioning; however, its role in creative thinking remains underexplored, particularly at the level of individual facets. This exploratory study examined the relationship between trait EI dimensions and creative potential in primary school children. A sample of 344 students (165 females) aged 8–11 years completed the TEIQue-Child Form and the graphical tasks of the Evaluation of Potential Creativity (EPoC), assessing divergent and convergent thinking in both abstract and concrete domains. Multiple regression analyses tested the predictive role of trait EI facets and their interaction with age in children’s creative potential. The results indicated that Adaptability and Self-Motivation positively predicted divergent thinking, particularly in abstract tasks. Notably, the effect of Adaptability varied across grades, showing a stronger association in younger children and a progressive decrease with age, whereas Self-Motivation displayed a more stable pattern. No significant associations emerged for convergent thinking, which, however, showed a developmental trend characterized by a fourth-grade slump. Overall, the findings suggest that specific emotional self-perceptions selectively support divergent thinking during childhood and that these effects are developmentally sensitive. These results contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between Trait EI and creativity, highlighting the value of a facet-level approach and of a developmental perspective.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061015

Authors: Beibei Zhang Deqiang Wang Huijuan Di Yue Li Shizhu Gou Yaqi Sun Xue Gong Tiantian Bi

Background: Parenting stress is a known risk factor for children’s social anxiety, yet the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying this relationship remain underexplored, particularly regarding gene–environment interactions. This quantitative, cross-sectional study, grounded in diathesis-stress and family process theories, examined whether maladaptive parenting mediates the link between parenting stress and children’s social anxiety, and whether FKBP5 gene variation moderates this mediation. Methods: A sample of 1774 fourth- to sixth-grade students (aged 10–14 years) and their parents participated. Parenting stress and maladaptive parenting were parent-reported, children’s social anxiety was self-reported, and children’s FKBP5-related cumulative genetic score was derived from four SNPs (rs4713916, rs1360780, rs3800373, rs9296158). Moderated mediation analyses were conducted. Results: Parenting stress was significantly and positively associated with children’s social anxiety. Maladaptive parenting partially mediated this relationship. The FKBP5 showed a marginally significant moderating effect, with simple slope analysis suggesting parenting stress was more strongly associated with child social anxiety among children with higher genetic risk. No moderating effect was found for the path from maladaptive parenting to social anxiety. Conclusions: Parenting stress is associated with children’s social anxiety both directly and indirectly through maladaptive parenting, with FKBP5-related cumulative genetic risk potentially moderating the direct effect. These findings offer preliminary evidence that may inform preventive interventions targeting parenting stress, although replication is needed.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061014

Authors: Wenqiang Fan Lu Cheng Yanxiao Wang Qi Zhao Yaodong Li

AI use is associated with both cognitive relief and cognitive offloading, leading to uncertainty in how users make value judgments and decisions. This study focuses on in-class AI use and explores the perceptions of cognitive relief and cognitive offloading among university students, as well as the distinct mediating mechanisms through which these factors shape the attitudes of students. Based on questionnaire data from 287 respondents, structural equation modeling and bootstrap methods were employed to test the research hypotheses. The results show that cognitive relief exerts a complementary mediating effect between AI use and attitudes, whereas cognitive offloading functions as a competitive mediator. The two mechanisms produce opposing effects on students, with cognitive relief demonstrating a stronger overall mediating effect. These findings suggest that educators should guide students toward a more nuanced understanding of AI use to mitigate confusion and its potential negative psychological consequences. Moreover, educators and institutions should leverage AI to provide cognitive relief for higher-order learning activities, thereby enhancing the engagement, motivation, and deeper learning processes of students, while simultaneously implementing reflective and critical thinking practices to guard against the risks of cognitive offloading. This study is limited by its single-institution convenience sample and reliance on self-reported data; future research incorporating qualitative methods such as interviews and classroom observations is encouraged to further validate and extend these findings.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061013

Authors: Evelin Arredulfo Ciobha A. McKeown Matthew R. Morrison

Prosocial skills, a subset of social skills, are voluntary behaviors intended to benefit others that do not produce a direct benefit for the individual (e.g., sharing). In contrast to social skills broadly, the reinforcing properties of prosocial skills can be obscured by the immediate contingencies (e.g., sharing requires relinquishing access to preferred items). Nonetheless, the benefits of prosocial behavior underscore the need for behavior analysts to establish these skills and promote their generalization and maintenance. We conducted a scoping review of behavior analytic articles targeting prosocial skills to identify (a) how often generalization and maintenance were assessed and (b) what strategies were typically programmed. Our findings indicate that generalization and maintenance are not consistently assessed, and response generalization is evaluated less often than stimulus generalization. Program Common Stimuli and Introduce to Natural Maintaining Contingencies were the most frequently used strategies. Train and Hope was also frequently observed when programming for maintenance. Our results underscore the need for more systematic programming and evaluation of generalization and maintenance to promote durable prosocial behavior.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061012

Authors: Andy Bray Séan Redmond

This paper offers a theoretical reinterpretation of the groundbreaking Greentown study using Pierre Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice. Rather than presenting new empirical findings, it examines previously published research to study children’s involvement in organised crime networks through a relational, practice-based lens. Dominant approaches to youth offending and gang participation tend to focus on individual risk factors, programme effectiveness or structural indicators and can struggle to account for the enduring social logics through which criminal authority is reproduced across generations. Drawing on Bourdieusian concepts of field, capital and symbolic power, the paper interprets Greentown as a localised social field in which a core family network accumulates and deploys social, cultural, economic and symbolic capital to secure compliance, cultivate loyalty and sustain informal forms of governance. Attention is paid to the role of symbolic narratives and mythmaking in minimising the visible presence of the state and normalising participation for young people and residents. The analysis illustrates how such symbolic orders can persist even where individual agents desist, contributing to the relative stability of networked harm. The paper argues that Bourdieu provides a coherent and theoretically disciplined framework for understanding organised criminal networks as socially embedded fields and suggests that interventions attentive to symbolic power and misrecognition may complement existing criminal justice responses. While explicitly interpretive in scope, the paper points towards the value of theory-led re-readings of empirical research for addressing the complex and ‘wicked’ nature of organised networked offending.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061011

Authors: Puyang Geng Xingui Wang Hong Guo Weibei Dou

The ability to distinguish speakers based on speech signals is a fundamental human ability essential for social communication, yet the neural mechanisms underlying this process remain poorly understood. The present study investigated the temporal dynamics of neural activity during speaker discrimination using event-related potentials (ERPs). Twenty-four native Mandarin speakers completed two tasks: an oddball session, in which participants passively listened to speech stimuli from standard and deviant speakers, and a voice line-up session, in which participants explicitly judged whether two consecutively presented speech stimuli were produced by the same or different speakers. In the oddball session, deviant stimuli elicited robust mismatch negativity (MMN) and P3a components compared to standard stimuli, indicating pre-attentive detection of speaker changes. In the voice line-up session, the different-speaker condition elicited more negative N1 and N400 amplitudes and more positive P2 amplitudes than the same-speaker condition, suggesting that speaker discrimination engages both early sensory processing and later cognitive integration. No significant differences were observed between the P300 and P600 components. These findings reveal distinct neural signatures associated with speaker-related processing across multiple temporal stages, with the MMN and P3a reflecting automatic detection of speaker-related acoustic changes, and the N1, P2, and N400 reflecting explicit speaker discrimination processes. While the present paradigm cannot fully isolate identity-level representations from low-level acoustic discrimination, the results provide novel ERP evidence on the temporal architecture engaged when listeners process speaker-specific information, contributing to a deeper understanding of speaker-related processing in the broader context of speaker identification research.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061010

Authors: Lisa Nakamura Samuel D. Spencer Duckhyun Jo Fumiaki Hamagami Earl S. Hishinuma Cerila C. Rapadas Callum T. Henwood Akihiko Masuda

Objective: Extending prior psychometric work with a Hawaiʻi-based college sample, this secondary cross-sectional study examined racial and gender group differences in mindfulness, engaged living, and psychological inflexibility within that same Hawaiʻi-based sample. Methods: Consistent with the grouping strategy used in that previous psychometric work, participants were categorized into 402 Asian American (263 women, 139 men), 260 White American (199 women, 61 men), and 406 combined All Others (301 women, 105 men) students, all recruited from a four-year public university in Hawaiʻi. After informed consent, participants voluntarily and anonymously completed an online survey containing self-report measures of interest. Results: Asian American students reported lower scores on measures of observing, describing, and non-judging facets of mindfulness than White American students. Men reported higher describing, non-distractibility, non-judging, and non-reacting scores than women, and White American men showed higher non-autopiloting than White American women. For engaged living and psychological inflexibility, White American students reported greater life fulfillment and lower psychological inflexibility than Asian American and All Others groups. Asian American women reported lower recognizing-values scores than White American women, and women overall endorsed greater psychological inflexibility than men. These differences, although statistically significant, were generally small and did not appear to be clinically meaningful. Associations among study variables as well as their roles in psychological distress were also examined within each racial group. Conclusions: Keeping several notable limitations in mind, this secondary cross-sectional investigation provided a preliminary examination of mindfulness, engaged living, and psychological inflexibility across racial and gender group categories, using methodological and psychometric decisions tailored to the present Hawaiʻi-based sample. We hope that our preliminary findings encourage further investigation in this domain.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061009

Authors: Yi Chen Remila Abudurexiti Jing Zhao Huan Yang

Background: In increasingly dynamic and uncertain organizational environments, employees’ proactive behavior—characterized by self-initiation, future orientation, and change orientation—is critical for organizational adaptability and long-term competitiveness. Prior research has primarily examined how externally provided job resources stimulate proactive behavior. More recent work has begun to consider employees’ personal resources, but it largely adopts a capability level-based view, conceptualizing them as self-evaluations of individuals’ ability to control and influence their environment. This focus overlooks capability malleability-based personal resources that shape more fundamental beliefs about the malleability of human capability. Objective: Drawing on the job demands–resources (JD–R) model, this study investigates how employees’ growth mindset—reflecting beliefs that human capability can be developed—promotes proactive behavior by alleviating workplace anxiety, an anticipatory emotional state rooted in concerns about future work-related threats. We further examine time pressure as a key boundary condition. Method: A three-wave, multisource survey design was employed, collecting data from 326 employee–supervisor dyads. Results: The results show that employees’ growth mindset is negatively associated with workplace anxiety, which in turn positively predicts proactive behavior. Moreover, time pressure strengthens both the anxiety-buffering effect of growth mindset and the indirect effect of growth mindset on proactive behavior via workplace anxiety. Conclusions: By incorporating capability malleability-based personal resources into the JD–R model, this study advances understanding of the antecedents of proactive behavior beyond capability level-based self-evaluations toward deeper beliefs about the malleability of human capability. Applications: This study offers practical implications for managers seeking to cultivate employee proactivity.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061008

Authors: Zhaotong Yao Xiaomin Su Yuxi Zhao Richard J. Allen Amanda H. Waterman Tianxiao Yang

Encoding and recalling spoken instructions play a key role in successful learning in the classroom. Previous research in adults suggests that, relative to simple verbal rehearsal, three forms of action-based encoding (i.e., motor imagery, action observation, or self-enactment) facilitate instruction recall to a similar extent. This study aimed to examine whether motor imagery, action observation, and self-enactment could improve memory for instructions in children and adolescents, and to compare the effectiveness of these strategies. In Experiment 1, children aged 8 and 9 years listened to instructional sequences that varied in length (2, 3 and 4 actions) while using one of the encoding techniques (i.e., motor imagery, action observation, self-enactment, or verbal rehearsal), followed by oral repetition or enacted recall. In Experiment 2, adolescents between age 12 and 14 were tested using a similar design except that the instructions were all four-action sequences. In Experiment 1, for both verbal and enacted recall, children’s memory performance in each of the three action-based encoding conditions was superior to the rehearsal condition, although the benefit from motor imagery was relatively smaller. In Experiment 2, adolescents displayed similar patterns as children, except that motor imagery yielded a stronger and more reliable advantage in this age group. The current findings suggest that, for both children and adolescents, encoding spoken instructions by imagining, observing, or performing the actions yields comparable mnemonic advantages, and thus provides practical ways for supporting and enhancing working memory in classroom environments.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061007

Authors: Eric Spikol Emily McGlinchey Cherie Armour

Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects individuals of all genders and can result in adverse physical, psychological, and social outcomes. Experiences of IPV in men remain understudied when compared with those of cisgender women, leading to considerable gaps in understanding of prevalence, experiences, disclosure, and outcomes. The Male Experiences of Intimate Partner Violence Study (ME-IPV Study) was designed to explore: nature of IPV experiences, physical and psychological impacts, barriers to reporting/disclosing, experiences of disclosure, experiences of support, and support needs in a Northern Ireland (NI) context. This mixed-method study utilised data from N = 10 qualitative interview participants (quantitative results reported separately), analysed using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) framework. Participants described experiencing multiple forms of IPV, with coercive control, psychological and institutional abuse being highly prevalent. Detrimental effects of their experiences included diagnoses of anxiety, depression, and PTSD, physical symptomology, the advent/exacerbation of multiple health conditions, and suicidal ideation. Barriers to care were primarily a lack of dedicated care pathway, concerns over being believed, and stigmatic barriers. Experiences of disclosure were mixed: positive with family/friends and negative with police and institutions of state. Male experiences of IPV in NI are a significant public health issue and it is evident that the impacts of IPV on men’s physical/mental health and wellbeing are profound.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061006

Authors: Aracelly Núñez-Naranjo Diana Morales-Urrutia Luis Mantilla-Falcón Oscar Ibarra-Torres Patricio Córdova

The adoption of healthier dietary behaviors has become a critical public health concern, particularly among young populations facing structural and economic constraints. Within this context, organic food consumption can be understood not only as a market choice but as a form of health-related behavior influenced by psychological factors. Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behavior, this study examines how health consciousness and core cognitive determinants shape dietary health behavior through their influence on behavioral intention and self-reported consumption patterns. A cross-sectional quantitative design was employed using data from 384 young consumers in an emerging market context (Ambato, Ecuador). The proposed model was tested using covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM). The findings indicate that perceived behavioral control is the strongest predictor of intention to engage in organic food consumption, followed by attitude and subjective norms. Health consciousness is positively associated with attitude and indirectly influences behavioral intention through this pathway. No significant relationship was found between perceived behavioral control and attitude. Behavioral intention shows a strong association with self-reported consumption behavior. These results highlight the central role of perceived feasibility in shaping health-related dietary behaviors in constrained contexts, where structural barriers may limit the translation of positive attitudes into action. The study contributes to the health psychology literature by providing context-sensitive evidence on how cognitive and motivational factors interact within the TPB framework to influence dietary behavior. Implications for promoting healthier consumption patterns emphasize the need to address both psychological drivers and structural constraints.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061005

Authors: Haifa Alhajri Ali M. Alodat Qais Al-Meqdad Alanoud Binnoora

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is recognized as one of the most evidence-based interventions for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), although its effectiveness relies on consistent classroom implementation by teachers. This study investigated the extent to which teachers of students with ASD in Qatar implement ABA techniques and whether implementation levels vary by gender, educational level, school type, years of experience, and teaching stage. A descriptive–analytical design was utilized on a sample of 155 teachers from government and private schools. Data were collected using the Applied Behavior Analysis Implementation Scale for Teachers of Students with ASD in Qatar (ABAIS-Qatar), a 26-item instrument developed and validated for this study across five dimensions. Teachers reported a high overall level of ABA implementation (M = 4.10, SD = 0.48). The Behavior Identification and Goal Setting and Strategy Application and Intervention dimensions received the highest ratings, while the Motivation and Corrective Procedures dimensions were rated at a moderate level. A five-way MANOVA revealed significant multivariate differences across years of experience and teaching stage. Post hoc analyses indicated that teachers with more than 15 years of experience reported significantly higher implementation of motivational and corrective procedures than those with 6–10 years of experience and that primary-stage teachers demonstrated superior classroom behavior management compared to intermediate-stage teachers. The findings have implications for teacher professional development and ABA training in both inclusive and specialist educational settings in Qatar.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061004

Authors: Rui Yi Jinzhi Luo Yuxuan Chen Yili Cao

Venture novelty enables startups to overcome entry barriers and establish differentiated competitive advantages. However, research examining its antecedents from an epistemic control perspective remains limited. Drawing on survey data from 230 entrepreneurs and employing structural equation modeling (SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), this study investigates how entrepreneurs’ critical thinking influences venture novelty. The findings reveal a dual effect. On the one hand, critical thinking promotes venture novelty by fostering interactive learning, which facilitates the integration of heterogeneous information and the refinement of entrepreneurial opportunity insights. On the other hand, critical thinking increases cognitive depletion, thereby constraining the cognitive resources available for innovative activities. Furthermore, imagination moderates these relationships by strengthening the positive effect of interactive learning while attenuating the negative impact of cognitive depletion. FsQCA results further identify four configurational pathways to high venture novelty. This study contributes to the literature by stating both the enabling and constraining mechanisms of entrepreneurs’ critical thinking, clarifying its dual role in epistemic control, and providing configurational evidence regarding the role of imagination in fostering entrepreneurial innovation.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061003

Authors: Daniel Quilaqueo Enrique Riquelme-Mella Flavio Muñoz-Troncoso Héctor Torres Gloria Mora-Guerrero

Intercultural education in Mapuche contexts is shaped by persistent tensions between dominant school knowledge and Indigenous educational practices. However, there is limited comparative empirical evidence on how these tensions are distributed across educational actors. This study aimed to compare socio-educational and cultural ambivalence between students and teachers across multiple dimensions. A cross-sectional quantitative design was conducted with 546 participants (284 students and 262 teachers) from primary and secondary schools in southern Chile. Ambivalence was assessed using the Socio-Educational and Cultural Ambivalence Scale (EASC). A two-step cluster analysis identified ambivalence profiles, followed by a 2 × 2 factorial MANOVA (role × ethnicity). Results revealed three distinct ambivalence profiles (low, medium, high), with significant differences across all dimensions (p < 0.001). Multivariate analyses showed significant effects of role (Pillai’s trace = 0.230, F (6, 537) = 26.67, p < 0.001, η2p = 0.230) and ethnicity (Pillai’s trace = 0.108, F (6, 537) = 10.86, p < 0.001, η2p = 0.108), with no significant multivariate interaction (p = 0.104). Teachers reported higher levels of ambivalence than students in five of six dimensions, while Mapuche participants scored higher than non-Mapuche participants across most dimensions. These findings indicate that ambivalence is a structural condition of the educational system, unevenly distributed according to actors’ positions and intensified in roles involving pedagogical mediation. Implications point to the need for structural transformations in intercultural education, particularly in teacher education.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061002

Authors: Lingyi Huang Wenhao Luo

The rapid development of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) has exerted extensive and far-reaching impacts on college students’ learning, making it a topic worthy of in-depth investigation. This study aims to explore the impact of GAI usage on college students’ innovative learning behaviors, drawing on the theoretical framework of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). Specifically, the research explores the mediating mechanisms of effort expectancy and performance expectancy, as well as the moderating role of growth mindset in this process. Based on a sample of 430 Chinese college students recruited from diverse academic majors, the proposed moderated mediation model is empirically examined through latent structural equation modeling analysis. The results indicate that using GAI in learning significantly enhances students’ perceptions of effort expectancy and performance expectancy, thereby fostering their subsequent innovative behavior. Notably, the findings reveal that while performance expectancy mediates the relationship between GAI usage and innovative behavior, a growth mindset weakens this indirect pathway. The practical implications of this study are also discussed for both students and universities.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061001

Authors: Jiayin Guo Jun Liu

Existing studies on trust are mainly based on rational choice theory or the relational logic of the “differential mode of association,” while neglecting the contextuality of trust and the interaction of multiple factors. This study used a within-subjects situational experiment involving 252 participants, manipulating three variables: relationship type (kin, acquaintance, general other), entrusted matter (loans of 2000 yuan, 20,000 yuan, and 200,000 yuan), and trustee attributes (high ability and integrity vs. low ability and integrity). The Friedman test and Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) were used to examine the effects of these three factors on trust intention and the mechanisms of their interaction. The results indicate that trust intention is influenced by relationship type, the importance of the entrusted matter, and trustee attributes, with significant interactions among the three. This indicates that trust is a contextual outcome shaped by multiple interacting factors rather than a linear result. This study provides contextualized evidence that relationship type, entrusted matter, and trustee attributes jointly shape trust intention.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16061000

Authors: Ibrahim Almudayfir Lama Abdulkarim Rachael Rosenstein Hon K. Yuen

This scoping review examined the current literature on routines and habits in individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). To our knowledge, research in this area remains limited. Therefore, this review mapped which areas of daily routines are most affected in children and adults with ADHD and explored related assessments and interventions. A comprehensive search was conducted across four databases: PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, and PsycINFO, using keywords including “attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,” “ADHD,” “routine,” “habit,” and “lifestyle.” The findings identified four main domains in which individuals with ADHD experience difficulties: sleep hygiene, feeding, physical activity, and sedentary behaviors, with sleep hygiene addressed in more than half of the included studies. Study habits were addressed in only one included study. Among the 31 included studies, six involved interventions. The review also found that no validated assessment was specifically designed to measure routines or habits in individuals with ADHD, and that broader measures of routines, habits, or lifestyle were often non-validated or developed for a single project. Overall, the existing studies were concentrated primarily in pediatric populations, with limited research involving adults. These findings highlight important gaps in the literature and underscore the need for more research on routines and habits in adults with ADHD. They also support the development of assessments and interventions that specifically address these areas.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060999

Authors: Xinqiao Liu Ao Shen Huirui Zhang

As the first generation in their families to pursue higher education, the mental health of first-generation college students has attracted significant attention from the academic community. Self-esteem and academic performance are significant factors influencing anxiety and mental health among first-generation college students. However, longitudinal research evidence specific to this group in China remains scarce. This study utilized two waves data, selecting a sample of 1024 first-generation college students (mean age 21.73; 55.18% male). Through follow-up surveys conducted at one-year intervals, a cross-lagged model was employed to systematically examine the longitudinal predictive relationships among self-esteem, academic performance, and anxiety. The results indicate significant negative correlations among self-esteem, academic performance, and anxiety. Cross-lagged analysis further indicated that self-esteem at T1 (β = −0.098, p < 0.05) and academic performance at T1 (β = −0.067, p < 0.05) were prospectively associated with lower anxiety at T2. This study reveals the longitudinal predictive associations among self-esteem, academic performance, and anxiety among China’s first-generation college students, providing empirical evidence for universities to improve their mental health support systems by focusing on the self-esteem development of this group and offering targeted academic support.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060998

Authors: Seçil Ömür Sünbül Müzeyyen Soyer

This study aimed to examine variables associated with manipulation tendency levels in adults and to describe current patterns using a decision tree method as a classification-based analytical approach. The research sample consisted of 543 adults (358 women, 65.93%; 185 men, 34.07%) residing in Turkey, aged 18 to 45 years (M = 25.79, SD = 4.23). Data were collected using a researcher-developed personal information form, the Manipulation Scale in Human Relations, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Relationship Scales Questionnaire. The total composite score of the Manipulation Scale was used as the outcome variable and is referred to throughout as “manipulation tendency.” Manipulation tendency scores were dichotomized into low versus high groups using a median split to facilitate C&RT-based classification. Classification and Regression Tree was used to examine the hierarchical structure of variables related to manipulation tendency levels and to identify classification patterns among study variables. The decision tree approach was used not merely as an alternative statistical technique, but as an interpretable classification framework capable of identifying hierarchical and conditional pathways associated with manipulation tendency. Data were stratified-randomly split into training and test sets (70/30), and tree complexity was tuned via cross-validation using cost-complexity pruning. Model performance indicated acceptable classification accuracy within this sample, with a test-set accuracy of 0.81 (sensitivity = 0.74, specificity = 0.88, precision = 0.86, F1 = 0.79) and training accuracy of 0.86. The findings indicated several influential variables in classifying manipulation tendency levels, ranked by importance: preoccupied attachment style, self-esteem, age, dismissive attachment style, gender, secure attachment style, and fearful attachment style. Preoccupied attachment style was identified as the most salient variable in differentiating between high and low manipulation tendency groups. The decision tree structure showed that younger adults with higher preoccupied attachment scores were more frequently classified into the high manipulation tendency group. Self-esteem emerged as the second most influential variable, with lower self-esteem levels being more commonly observed among individuals classified in the high manipulation tendency group. Age also played a notable role in classification, with higher manipulation tendency classifications occurring more frequently among younger individuals. Dismissive attachment style contributed to the differentiation of manipulation tendency levels, particularly within specific attachment and age profiles. Gender-related patterns indicated that men were more frequently classified into higher manipulation tendency groups, especially among individuals with low self-esteem. Overall, the findings highlight the multifactorial and hierarchical nature of manipulation tendency classifications. They contribute to the literature by showing how attachment-related characteristics, developmental factors, and psychological variables jointly differentiate manipulation tendency profiles. These findings highlight the value of decision tree modelling for translating conventional psychological predictors into interpretable classification profiles of manipulation tendency.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060997

Authors: Panagiota Tragantzopoulou Elina Mitrofanova Vaitsa Giannouli

Contemporary health cultures increasingly promote disciplined eating and bodily optimisation, contributing to growing interest in orthorexia nervosa (ON), a pattern of restrictive eating characterised by an obsessive focus on food purity and health. While ON has been widely studied in relation to dietary restriction and health anxiety, less attention has been given to how individuals themselves construct meaning around these practices. The present qualitative study aimed to explore how individuals displaying orthorexic tendencies construct moral identity and self-worth through their dietary practices. Eighteen participants (13 women, 5 men; aged 19–58) living in the United Kingdom who self-identified as “healthy eaters” took part in semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis within a social constructionist framework. Four themes were generated: (1) The Disciplined Self, describing how strict dietary practices were framed as evidence of personal control and self-regulation; (2) The Body as Evidence of Purity and Health, where physical appearance and bodily feelings were interpreted as confirmation of moral and dietary correctness; (3) Ethical Eating and Moral Positioning, illustrating how participants positioned their food choices as ethically superior; and (4) Guilt and Moral Repositioning, highlighting the moral emotions that followed perceived dietary transgressions. These findings suggest that orthorexic eating practices function not only as health behaviours but also as moral performances through which individuals construct disciplined, responsible, and virtuous identities. Understanding these moral and identity dimensions may help situate orthorexic tendencies within broader sociocultural narratives surrounding health, morality, and self-discipline.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060996

Authors: Sergey Malykh Valeriia Demareva Artem Malykh Victoria I. Ismatullina Timofey Adamovich Pavel Kolyasnikov Tatiana Tikhomirova

The long-term psychological consequences of COVID-19 remain insufficiently understood in student populations. This study examined the association between post-COVID-19 consequences and psychological functioning in university students, focusing on the mediating role of trait anxiety. A total of 7482 students aged 17 to 23 years completed an online survey assessing COVID-19 history, post-COVID-19 consequences, psychological well-being (WHO-5), subjective happiness (SHS), life satisfaction (SWLS), and trait anxiety (STAI). Participants were classified into three groups: no history of COVID-19, COVID-19 without post-COVID-19 consequences, and COVID-19 with post-COVID-19 consequences. Group differences were analyzed using ANOVA with Tukey post hoc tests, followed by regression and mediation analyses controlling for age and sex. Students reporting post-COVID-19 consequences showed higher trait anxiety and lower psychological well-being, subjective happiness, and life satisfaction than both comparison groups. Regression analyses indicated that poorer psychological functioning was associated specifically with post-COVID-19 consequences rather than COVID-19 history per se. Mediation analyses among previously infected students showed that trait anxiety statistically mediated these associations, accounting for 61% of the effect on psychological well-being, 84% on subjective happiness, and 68% on life satisfaction. These findings highlight trait anxiety as an important psychological factor statistically accounting for the association between post-COVID-19 consequences and reduced well-being.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060994

Authors: Filiz Mizrak Turhan Karakaya

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly embedded in marketing work, yet employees who use AI tools may not always disclose AI’s role in producing their outputs. This study examines AI disclosure silence, defined as employees’ intentional withholding of information about the use, role, or contribution of AI tools in work-related outputs after AI has already been used. Unlike AI avoidance or resistance, this construct concerns post-adoption concealment; unlike general employee silence, it focuses on the hidden technological contribution behind visible work. Drawing on Conservation of Resources Theory and Psychological Safety Theory, the study investigates how threat-based conditions, safety and governance conditions, and AI-related capability are associated with AI disclosure silence. Data were collected through a two-wave survey of 635 marketing employees who actively used AI tools at work. The analysis combined measurement validation, Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA), fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), and explainable machine learning. The findings show that no single condition operated as a strong necessary bottleneck. Instead, AI disclosure silence appeared through multiple pathways involving AI anxiety, fear of negative evaluation, perceived creativity threat, perceived job insecurity, low trust in management, weak psychological safety, and unclear AI policy. SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP)-based interpretation further indicated that fear of negative evaluation, AI anxiety, perceived creativity threat, and trust in management had the strongest model-based predictive relevance. The study contributes to workplace AI and employee silence research by positioning AI disclosure silence as an emerging post-adoption disclosure construct. It also highlights the need for clear AI disclosure norms, non-punitive managerial responses, AI-assisted authorship guidelines, and psychologically safe AI-governance practices. The findings should be interpreted as configurational and predictive evidence rather than causal effects, and further scale validation across sectors and cultures is encouraged.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060995

Authors: Cheng-Ze Hung Stanley Y. B. Huang Chien-Hsiang Huang

Curricular internships are affective-motivational learning contexts in which students encounter real workplace demands while educational institutions remain responsible for learning, engagement, and well-being. Responding to the Special Issue theme of emotion, motivation, and learning, this three-wave study used temporally separated self-report data to examine challenge demands, hindrance demands, and school support among 860 Taiwanese technical and vocational education and training (TVET) interns. Challenge demands were positively associated with work engagement, which was associated with innovative behavior. Hindrance demands were positively associated with burnout, which was associated with intention to seek work outside the trained vocational field. The hindrance demands-burnout association was weaker when school support was higher. The findings are compatible with treating school support as a curricular psychological resource that may help students interpret and manage obstructive internship conditions. More broadly, the study suggests that work-integrated learning systems may support vocational persistence by designing internships as supervised affective-motivational learning environments rather than as placements alone.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060993

Authors: Anu Asnaani Tatiana Leroy Valentine Mukundente Jackson Webb Hunter Jacqueline Kent-Marvick Sara E. Simonsen

Despite a large number of African-born individuals residing in the United States, there is a significant disparity in how this community accesses and utilizes mental health treatment. Low screening rates for common mental health concerns is one crucial part of ongoing inequities in mental healthcare access. Willingness to engage in screening is negatively impacted by a lack of culturally responsive ways to make screening more acceptable and stigma with mental health. This study therefore aimed to examine the perceived acceptability and utility of community-developed patient vignettes created to increase willingness to be screened for common mental health concerns. Employing a qualitative approach, a community advisory board (CAB) (n = 5) was enlisted to co-develop vignettes outlining an African community member’s symptoms of anxiety and subsequent help-seeking behavior. Two focus groups of community members (n = 18) provided qualitative feedback on the vignettes and shared their general attitudes towards mental health and recommendations for mental health screening and treatment in the African community. Using a hybrid inductive and deductive qualitative descriptive approach and classifying responses based on the socioecological model, four major themes emerged from the data: (1) between support and strain: the role of family; (2) reducing stigma: community voices as education; (3) culture as a barrier and a bridge; and (4) the importance of stories that reflect lived experience. Overall, participants were receptive to the culturally-responsive mental health vignettes and provided fruitful suggestions for how these stories can be used to reduce stigma and increase willingness to seek screening and treatment in African-born residents of the United States.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060992

Authors: Haruka Ito Takeshi Atsumi Mei Gushiken Marion E. Roberts Shinji Okazaki

Detailed attention and cognitive rigidity contribute to poorer social functioning and mental health. These cognitive functions can be measured using questionnaires or behavioral tasks but existing methods have limitations. The Detail and Flexibility Questionnaire (DFlex) addresses several of these limitations. This study developed a Japanese translation of the DFlex and collected valid evidence for its intended score interpretations. Sixty participants with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), 140 without ASD, and five participants who chose not to disclose whether they had an ASD diagnosis completed the Japanese version of the DFlex and the Japanese version of the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ). Data from 192 participants were analyzed. Internal consistency was good as was the internal structure, except for one item. McDonald’s omega and Cronbach’s alpha demonstrated good internal consistency and item–total correlation was acceptable, except for one item. The Japanese DFlex correlated strongly with the AQ Attention to Detail and Attention Switching subscales, supporting convergent validity. Regarding known-group validity, the ASD and non-ASD groups showed significant differences on the Cognitive Rigidity and Attention to Detail subscales. Based on its reliability and internal structural validity, the Japanese DFlex provides a better understanding of ASD-related cognitive traits for both research and clinical practice.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060991

Authors: Marta Sousa Olga Cunha Rui Abrunhosa Gonçalves Andreia de Castro-Rodrigues

Sexual violence against young girls is a complex phenomenon encompassing multiple forms of abuse and leading to numerous negative outcomes. Therefore, rehabilitation measures play a critical role in reducing recidivism and enhancing victims’ safety. This study examined preliminary results of a 25-session individual intervention program (the INSIGHT Program) designed for individuals who sexually offended in Portugal, in both prison and community settings. In this pilot clinical trial, 19 participants were assigned to one of two conditions: INSIGHT plus treatment as usual (TAU) or TAU alone. Data was collected at baseline and at the end of the intervention. Proximal outcomes (e.g., attitudes toward child sexual abuse, victim empathy, interpersonal problems, and early maladaptive schemas) were assessed. The Reliable Change Index (RCI) was computed. Results indicated that participants receiving INSIGHT plus TAU evidenced greater clinical improvements in empathy toward victims and interpersonal problems compared with participants receiving TAU alone. Overall, the intervention demonstrates potential to reduce some risk factors among individuals who perpetrated sexual violence against young girls. However, we highlight the need to reconsider the work carried out on EMSs, particularly regarding the techniques used.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060990

Authors: Xiaohui Peng Shan Wu Liwen Jiang Yanhua Chen Fengling Dai

Background: The pivotal role of caregivers in HIV care for older people living with HIV (PLWH) stands in stark contrast to the scarcity of research on their experiences, particularly regarding affiliate stigma. Older PLWH face a unique intersection of HIV-related stigma and ageism, which may place their family caregivers at heightened risk of affiliate stigma. However, the manifestations, sources, and coping strategies related to this stigma remain poorly understood. Methods: The descriptive phenomenological study was conducted between May and June 2025 at an HIV care clinic of a tertiary hospital in Sichuan Province, China. Using purposive sampling, fifteen caregivers of elderly individuals living with HIV were recruited. Data were collected through face-to-face, semi-structured interviews. Results: Four overarching themes and eleven sub-themes were extracted: (1) sources of affiliate stigma—‘Inadequate knowledge of HIV transmission routes’, ‘Ageism’, and ‘Infidelity stigma’; (2) experiences of affiliate stigma—‘Stigma endorsement’, ‘Concealment of a family member’s HIV-positive status’ and ‘Psychological distress’; (3) consequences of affiliate stigma—‘Estrangement among family members’, ‘Substantial caregiver burden’ and ‘Social avoidance’; and (4) coping with affiliate stigma—‘Enhancing knowledge of HIV/AIDS’ and ‘Seeking social support’. Conclusion: This study investigates affiliate stigma among caregivers of older people with HIV. Healthcare providers should recognize this stigma and its negative effects. Effective interventions must be developed to alleviate this burden, thereby improving the welfare of both caregivers and patients.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060989

Authors: Yaogang Han Yubing Wang Pan Li Binn Zhang

University students often intend to exercise regularly but fail to translate intention into action. The present study tested which post-intentional processes distinguish successful from unsuccessful intenders in self-reported regular leisure-time moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) enactment. Chinese undergraduates from 10 universities completed a three-wave survey administered at roughly two-week intervals. Habit automaticity was assessed at Wave 1, intention together with action planning and coping planning at Wave 2, and self-reported regular-exercise status at Wave 3. Because the dependent variable was assessed using a single stage-based self-report item, the findings should be interpreted as explaining self-reported regular-exercise status rather than objectively measured MVPA volume, frequency, or intensity. Primary analyses focused on students classified as intenders under the prespecified threshold (n = 1119 of N = 1670) and used hierarchical logistic regression to predict Wave 3 active versus inactive status. Under the primary threshold, 43.23% of participants were successful intenders and 23.77% were unsuccessful intenders, yielding an intention-behavior gap of 35.48% among intenders. Confirmatory factor analyses supported treating action planning and coping planning as distinct constructs. Among intenders, stronger action planning, stronger habit automaticity, and stronger intention strength independently predicted greater odds of meeting the regular-exercise criterion at follow-up. Coping planning did not show unique predictive value once action planning, habit automaticity, and intention strength were considered simultaneously, and no planning × habit interaction was supported. The pattern was robust across three alternative intention thresholds. These findings suggest that, among already motivated university students, successful exercise enactment depends less on coping planning alone than on a combination of commitment, concrete scheduling, and emerging behavioral automaticity. Interventions for student physical activity may therefore benefit from emphasizing detailed action planning and repeated performance in stable contexts.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060988

Authors: Alexis Cloquell-Lozano Carmen Moret-Tatay Carlos Novella-García Iryna Zharova

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has exposed millions of individuals to traumatic experiences, displaced them under temporary protection, and caused psychological distress. This exploratory study examined resilience, emotional experiences, and psychosocial profiles among displaced and non-displaced Ukrainian women affected by the war. A total of 249 adult women participated, including 122 displaced women under temporary protection residing in Spain and 127 women living in Ukraine. Participants completed the Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS) and the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE). Group comparisons and cluster analyses were conducted to identify distinct psychosocial patterns. Displaced women showed slightly higher resilience scores than non-displaced women, although differences were not statistically significant. Non-displaced women reported significantly higher levels of both positive and negative emotional experiences, suggesting greater emotional intensity among those remaining in Ukraine. Cluster analyses identified three psychosocial profiles: an adaptive profile characterized by high positive affect, low negative affect, stronger social support, and higher resilience; a vulnerable profile marked by low social support, elevated negative affect, and lower resilience; and an intermediate profile showing high negative affect despite moderate-to-high social support. Although displaced women under temporary protection were more represented in the vulnerable profile, this association was not statistically significant. The findings highlight the heterogeneity of psychological adaptation during war and displacement and emphasize the protective role of resilience and social support.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060987

Authors: Lu Xiao Heng Zhao Jin Wan

With the increasing embeddedness of AI robots and other intelligent technologies in organizational workplaces, leader AI-focused attention has emerged as an important reference point for employees as they use and adapt to AI-related technologies. Drawing on work-related rumination theory, this study develops and tests an integrated mediation model to examine how leader AI-focused attention is related to employee proactive behavior through two parallel pathways: problem-solving pondering and affective rumination. It further investigates the moderating role of AI job role clarity. Based on structural equation modeling of multi-wave survey data from 514 employees, the results show that leader AI-focused attention positively predicts employees’ problem-solving pondering and affective rumination. Problem-solving pondering is positively related to employee proactive behavior, whereas affective rumination is negatively related to employee proactive behavior. In addition, AI job role clarity positively moderates the relationship between leader AI-focused attention and problem-solving pondering; specifically, this positive relationship is stronger when employees report higher AI job role clarity. From the perspective of work-related rumination, this study extends the explanation of the psychological mechanisms linking leader AI-focused attention to employee proactive behavior. It also provides theoretical insights and practical implications for understanding the boundary condition of leaders’ attentional signals in AI-related work contexts and for supporting employee proactive behavior.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060986

Authors: Barbara Gawda

This article aims to discuss worldwide trends in the prevalence of narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) among prisoners compared to community samples. We also aim to show how this disorder is associated with criminal behavior and types of offenses. The results of the literature review document a relatively low and stable prevalence of narcissistic personality disorder compared to the frequency of other specified personality disorders in many countries worldwide. The results suggest that the rates of narcissistic personality disorder among prisoners in many countries are higher than those in communities. It has been found that this disorder is associated with domestic violence and other violent criminal behaviors, particularly with fraud and forgery violations. It has also been shown that offenders with narcissistic personality disorder are perceived as less guilty. Furthermore, research on the treatment of offenders with narcissistic personality disorder is sparse, which indicates that the treatment of NPD is limited, and it poses a challenge for mental health professionals as well as those who work in the penitentiary system.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060985

Authors: Yepeng Wu Yuanyuan Jiao

As artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly integrated into the workplace, employee–AI collaboration is evolving from a personal productivity tool to a social cue that coworkers can observe and interpret. Existing research has largely emphasised the performance and well-being effects of employee–AI collaboration; however, few studies have revealed, from the observer’s perspective, its potential negative spillover mechanisms on coworkers’ helping behaviour. Based on attribution theory, this study constructs a theoretical model of ‘employee–AI collaboration–coworker attributions–coworker helping behaviour’, distinguishing two mechanisms—laziness attribution and responsibility-avoidance attribution—and examines the boundary role of human–AI task interdependence. Study 1, based on 375 two-wave coworker survey responses, tested the hypotheses using hierarchical regression and bootstrapping methods. Study 2 employed a 2 × 2 scenario experiment to further test the effects of employee–AI collaboration and human–AI task interdependence on coworker attributions and willingness to help. The results indicate that higher perceived employee–AI collaboration is associated with lower coworker helping behaviour; laziness attribution and responsibility-avoidance attribution play a mediating role between perceived employee–AI collaboration and coworker helping behaviour. The higher the human–AI task interdependence, the more likely coworkers are to interpret employee–AI collaboration as laziness or responsibility-avoidance, thereby reinforcing the aforementioned negative effects.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060982

Authors: Hammad S. Alotaibi

This study examines the relationships between intrinsic motivation factors—task autonomy, personal growth and development opportunities, self-actualization, and decision-making participation—and employee retention, as well as the mediating role of perceived organizational pride. Using a quantitative cross-sectional survey, data were collected from 154 academic staff members at Taif University, Saudi Arabia. CFA supported the measurement model, and the hypotheses were tested using Hayes’ PROCESS macro. The findings show that all intrinsic motivation factors are positively associated with employee retention. Perceived organizational pride also mediates these relationships, suggesting that intrinsically motivating work conditions may support retention by strengthening employees’ pride in institutional membership. The results further indicate that developmental and participative factors show stronger associations with retention than task autonomy. This study contributes to employee retention research by integrating intrinsic motivation and identity-based explanations in the context of Saudi higher education. However, given the cross-sectional design and single-university sample, causal interpretation and generalizability should be treated with caution. The findings highlight the importance of growth-oriented, participative, and pride-enhancing work environments for supporting academic staff retention.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060984

Authors: María Reina Santiago-Rosario Sarah Fairbanks Falcon Sean C. Austin Joseph F. T. Nese Maeghan M. Sullivan Tony Daza T. Elyse Calhoun Haley Cerdan Rhonda N. T. Nese

Students with disabilities, particularly those needing additional support or intervention to manage emotions and behaviors, build healthy relationships, and navigate social and academic demands, face heightened risks of high school pushout that can be traced back to their transition into high school. Project Elevate (PE) is a multi-component intervention that strategically invests in early coordinated student, family, and school supports to prevent barriers associated with high school pushout, such as a lack of continuity of effective services across school sites. This mixed-methods pilot study examined the implementation of PE with three 8th-grade students and their parents during their last term in middle school. This study includes quantitative pre–post descriptive analyses of multi-informant reports of students’ social, emotional, and behavioral skills, as well as descriptive analyses of weekly teacher- and parent-reported behavior and student attendance. Qualitative analysis using the Framework Method was applied to student and parent interviews and open-ended responses on a satisfaction questionnaire to understand their experience receiving PE support. Session case notes were also used as contextual data to describe implementation processes and contextualize findings. Results indicated improvements in student attendance and reductions in home-based behavioral concerns, with mixed findings across school-based outcomes. Students and parents reported high satisfaction with the intervention, highlighting the value of individualized support, goal setting, and strengthened communication with schools. Findings from this intervention development pilot study provide preliminary evidence regarding the implementation and perceived value of PE. Results also highlight the importance of culturally responsive, relationship-centered practices that affirm student strengths and support access to educational opportunities. Further investigation of PE in larger studies is warranted.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060980

Authors: Didier Courbet Laure Jacquemier Marie-Pierre Fourquet-Courbet Esteban Courbet Fabien Girandola

Prior research suggests that health messages can affect men and women differently, yet these differences and their underlying mechanisms remain insufficiently understood. Based on the premise that many health messages are implicitly gendered, this randomized controlled experiment (N = 1116), conducted in a high-risk real-world context, investigates the effectiveness of implicitly gendered messages on psychosocial determinants of protective behaviors, including cognitive, attitudinal, and motivational dimensions, as well as behavioral intentions. Twelve public health messages, derived from commonly used communications and theoretical frameworks, were first evaluated according to their perceived masculinity or femininity, and their effects were then experimentally tested across participants. Results indicate that messages strongly aligned with gender stereotypes produce the largest differences in effectiveness between men and women. For example, authority-based messages (a masculine stereotype) are more effective among men, whereas messages emphasizing social reciprocity or concern for others (feminine stereotypes) are more effective among women. These effects emerge only when recipients are likely to engage in systematic processing, particularly when their political stance diverges from that of the message source (the French government). The results support the gendered message–recipient gender congruence hypothesis, rather than alternative explanations based on gender-specific processing styles, with substantial practical implications.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060983

Authors: Elena Duque-Sánchez Tinka Schubert Carme Garcia-Yeste Oriol Rios

In Paul Dukas’s opera, Ariane et Barbe-Bleue, when the captive wives are allowed to leave their confinement, they refuse to do so and remain with their aggressor. This narrative raises a central question: why do some women remain in violent contexts even when apparent pathways for escape exist? This scoping review aims at analysing the psychological and social mechanisms of coercion employed by those who perpetrate violence, clearly stating the focus on the responsibility of the perpetrator and exploring diverse relationship settings. A total of 31 articles from diverse disciplines such as social psychology, sociology, education, and studies on coercive control have been examined to provide insight into: (1) the psychological and (2) social coercion mechanisms and (3) the influence of gender socialisation on perpetuating the subjugation of women. These mechanisms are analysed transversally across intimate partner relationships and coercive family and community systems. Findings reveal that across these geographically, culturally, and religiously diverse settings, as well as across the diverse relationships analysed, similar patterns of psychological and social coercion exist that are framed and reinforced by a gendered socialisation rooted in patriarchal gender roles.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060981

Authors: A. Chyei Vinluan Keith B. Maddox Jessica D. Remedios

Perceptions of group typicality can shape how resources, such as scholarships, are distributed among group members. Across two studies, we predicted that East Asian applicants (e.g., Chinese) would be perceived as more typical of Asian Americans and thus more likely to be seen as worthy of an Asian American scholarship than their South Asian (e.g., Indian) and Southeast Asian (e.g., Filipino) counterparts. In Study 1, Chinese applicants were rated as more worthy of an Asian American scholarship than both Indian and Filipino applicants. Moreover, perceptions of Asian typicality predicted greater scholarship worthiness. In Study 2, we added a general scholarship condition that did not specify ethnicity to test whether Asian typicality influenced scholarship worthiness when the award was not designated for Asian Americans. However, we did not find the expected interaction between applicant ethnicity and scholarship type. Instead, we found only that the Chinese applicant was rated as more worthy of scholarships, regardless of scholarship type. Overall, perceptions of Asian typicality may guide judgements of scholarship worthiness in contexts where Asian identity is relevant.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060979

Authors: Juan Li Huanghui Zhu Yanxiong Xiang Lingyun Huang

Game-based learning (GBL) has gained widespread attention as an innovative pedagogical approach, yet its potential to enhance students’ metacognitive learning remains underexplored. Guided by self-regulated learning (SRL) theory, the review investigates how GBL design features, such as goal-setting, real-time feedback, progress visualization, and reflection tools, scaffold students’ planning, monitoring, and evaluation strategies. A systematic search across Web of Science, Scopus, and ProQuest identified the studies, which included data from physical classrooms, online learning environments, and mixed settings. This scoping review synthesizes evidence from 11 peer-reviewed studies conducted between 2015 and 2025 to evaluate the impact of GBL on metacognitive learning in primary and junior middle school contexts. Findings reveal that GBL effectively supports metacognitive learning through real-time feedback and progress indicators, though planning and evaluation scaffolds are less comprehensively addressed. Furthermore, digital trace data and behavioral logs are emerging as robust tools for assessing metacognitive processes, offering deeper insights than self-reports alone. However, the review identifies critical gaps, including insufficient focus on junior middle school students, limited representation of non-STEM disciplines, and uneven theoretical grounding across studies. The findings underscore the need for theory-driven design and balanced scaffolding to maximize GBL’s potential in fostering metacognitive competence. This study also provides practical insights for educators to foster students’ metacognitive learning by effectively integrating games into educational practices.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060978

Authors: Yun Chen Min Cui

Drawing on moral cleansing theory, this study adopts an actor-centered perspective to examine how ingratiation relates to employees’ moral rumination and subsequent coworker-directed cooperative behavior, thereby offering insights to help organizations to understand and guide such behaviors. Using a multi-wave survey design, this study collected data from 272 employees to examine a theoretical model investigating how employee ingratiation influences coworker-directed cooperative behavior through moral rumination, while also examining the moderating role of employee moral identity. The results indicate that employee ingratiation positively influences moral rumination, which in turn enhances coworker-directed cooperative behavior. Furthermore, the indirect effect of ingratiation on coworker-directed cooperative behavior via moral rumination is strengthened among employees with high moral identity. This study advances the literature by shifting the focus from targets and observers to actors themselves, examining how ingratiation shapes actors’ own moral perception and subsequent behavior. It further contributes by introducing moral rumination as a mediating mechanism and exploring the moderating effect of moral identity, as well as offering new insights into ingratiation in organizational contexts.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060977

Authors: Jacob S. Withrow Nita U. Kulkarni Rachel H. Farr

Adolescents with LGBTQ+ parents and LGBTQ+ adolescents navigate unique social and identity-related challenges as compared to those without minoritized sexual and/or gender identities. Adolescents with LGBTQ+ parents (regardless of their own sexual or gender identity) and adolescents who personally identify as LGBTQ+ are distinct populations, though they sometimes overlap. Research on adolescents with LGBTQ+ parents has often focused on parent–adolescent relationships and family structures. How do friends help youth cope with identity-based minority stressors, like peer microaggressions, bullying, and exclusion, common for those with minoritized identities? Friendships are developmentally pivotal during adolescence, shaping social competence, identity exploration, and psychological adjustment. Grounded in ecological systems, social learning, and minority stress theories, we sought to understand how friendships relate to mental health and coping in adolescents with LGBTQ+ parents. This cross-sectional quantitative study included 98 adolescents (ages 12–19) with LGBTQ+ parents in the U.S., recruited via community sampling and Prolific. Higher-quality peer attachment, conceptualized by trust, communication, and alienation in close friendships, was associated with lower depression and greater social competence, but not associated with anxiety or adaptive coping (after accounting for avoidant coping). Avoidant coping was most strongly associated with poorer mental health. This study, with implications for practice, emphasizes the importance of peer relationships for adolescents with LGBTQ+ parents—particularly how high-quality friendships offer important possible protection via social competence and against depression—while also highlighting the complex interplay between friendships, coping, and adjustment.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060976

Authors: Won-Yong Jang Eui-Yul Choi

This study examines how adults with recent exercise participation experience cognitively weigh different perceived constraints on exercise participation and whether these weighting structures can be used for meaningful segmentation. The sample included 283 adults aged 19 years and older who had engaged in exercise at least once per week for a minimum of 30 min over the past three months. This study aimed to identify the relative importance of perceived exercise participation constraints among adult exercisers, examine differences according to involvement level, and segment participants based on constraint importance. The results showed that, within this sample, intrapersonal constraints, particularly lack of interest and physical fatigue, were the most influential, followed by structural constraints such as time and cost. Constraint prioritization varied by involvement level: highly involved individuals emphasized time burden, whereas less involved individuals highlighted a lack of interest. Cluster analysis identified four distinct segments: interest-constrained beginners, fatigue-sensitive participants, time-constrained active participants, and cost-sensitive experienced participants. These segments differed significantly in demographic and behavioral characteristics, including age, exercise frequency, and participation duration. Overall, the findings suggest that among adults with recent exercise participation experience, perceived exercise participation constraints are cognitively weighted and vary across individuals. This study contributes by applying conjoint analysis to assess the relative importance of multiple perceived constraints and by providing a segmentation-based perspective on how adult exercisers perceive constraints.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060975

Authors: Jingyi Hu Qian Gu Chong Yang Chuanhua Gu

As digital technology becomes increasingly embedded in higher education, assessing students’ confidence in digital tasks is essential for understanding their adaptation to digital learning environments. This study adapted the Digital Self-Efficacy Scale (DSES) into Chinese and evaluated its psychometric properties among 1502 first-year college students in China. Participants were randomly split into two subsamples for item analysis and exploratory factor analysis, and structural validation respectively. All 25 items demonstrated satisfactory discrimination and homogeneity. Although parallel analysis indicated a four-factor exploratory solution, seven competing models were compared in the confirmatory stage. The Bifactor-ESEM model yielded the best combination of statistical fit and substantive interpretability, suggesting that the Chinese DSES primarily captures an overarching digital self-efficacy dimension, with domain-specific factors retaining limited reliable variance beyond the general factor. Total scores were positively associated with digital maturity (r = 0.642, p < 0.001); however, external validity is limited given that both measures were self-reported and concurrently collected. Gender measurement invariance analyses supported configural, metric, and scalar invariance. Overall, the Chinese DSES demonstrates promising preliminary psychometric properties. The total score is recommended as the primary interpretive unit, with subscale scores used as supplementary descriptive information only.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060974

Authors: Alessandra Giammanco Erin Grace Lawrence Ailbhe Madigan Karol Basta Giada Tripoli Aisling O’Neill Natasha Moses Helena Farstad Peter Coventry Uzma Zahid

Nature-based interventions (NBIs) are increasingly used in mental health services, but their effectiveness in people with psychiatric disorders, and how these individuals experience them, remains unclear. This review synthesised quantitative and qualitative evidence on NBIs in psychiatric populations. Eligible studies evaluated outdoor NBIs against controlled comparators, excluding neurodevelopmental/degenerative conditions and indoor or virtual interventions. Quantitative outcomes were synthesised using random-effects meta-analysis; qualitative data were analysed using thematic synthesis. Twenty-eight studies were included, mostly involving people with diagnoses of schizophrenia or depression. NBIs were associated with greater improvements in clinical symptoms than controlled comparators (pooled effect size 0.71 [95% CI 0.29–1.12]; p = 0.0009), with moderate heterogeneity (I2 = 48.6%). The qualitative synthesis identified five themes: Being in Nature, Personal Growth, Psychological Wellbeing, Social Relationships, and Physical Benefits. Participants reported reduced stress, improved mood and coping, strengthened identity, enhanced social connection, and increased energy. NBIs, particularly horticultural programmes and guided outdoor activities, may offer promising recovery-oriented adjuncts to psychiatric care. The next step is to build a translational evidence base by harmonising recovery-relevant outcomes and developing pragmatic, scalable models of delivery that can be embedded within routine mental health services, informed by mixed methods evaluation.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060973

Authors: Merve Coşgun Demirdağ Najwa Salem Albeladi Juan Gómez-Salgado Murat Yıldırım

Learning agility is considered a key competence for adapting to rapidly changing educational and technological environments. Although entrepreneurial tendencies have been associated with adaptive learning outcomes, the psychological mechanisms underlying this relationship remain insufficiently understood. This study examined whether self-regulation and artificial intelligence (AI) awareness sequentially mediate the relationship between individual entrepreneurial tendencies and learning agility among high school students. The study involved 564 high school students (55% girls, 45% boys; aged 14–19 years, M = 17.02, SD = 1.28) from two public schools in Türkiye. Participants completed validated measures of entrepreneurial tendencies, self-regulation, AI awareness, and learning agility. The hypothesized serial mediation model was tested using PROCESS Macro Model 6. Entrepreneurial tendencies were positively associated with learning agility both directly and indirectly. Self-regulation emerged as a significant independent mediator, and a significant sequential mediation pathway was identified through self-regulation and AI awareness. The findings suggest that entrepreneurial tendencies are associated with higher levels of self-regulation and AI awareness, which are in turn associated with learning agility. The results highlight the importance of self-regulation and AI awareness as factors associated with the relationship between entrepreneurial tendencies and learning agility. Educational practices that foster entrepreneurship, self-regulation, and AI awareness may support students’ adaptability and readiness for rapidly evolving digital learning environments.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060972

Authors: Yuchen Song Kiesu Kim

Internet memes increasingly move from social media into physical product packaging, yet little is known about how consumers respond when online cultural symbols become package design cues. Drawing on the Stimulus–Organism–Response framework, this study examines how meme-based packaging shapes purchase intention and sharing intention through perceived value, brand warmth, and cultural resonance. A between-subjects survey experiment was conducted with 305 Chinese adult consumers, who evaluated either a meme-based packaging stimulus or a no-explicit-meme conventional packaging control stimulus. Partial least squares structural equation modeling showed that purchase intention and sharing intention followed different dominant mechanisms. Perceived value was the strongest predictor of purchase intention, whereas cultural resonance was the strongest predictor of sharing intention. Visual attractiveness most strongly enhanced perceived value, while playfulness and expression–product fit contributed more clearly to brand warmth and cultural resonance. Mediation results further showed that brand warmth and cultural resonance consistently transmitted the effects of meme-packaging cues, whereas the value route was more selective. These findings show how online cultural symbols can continue to shape consumer evaluation and social transmission after entering physical product interfaces.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060971

Authors: Nalanying Pulie Chao Jin Wen Liu Liting Tan

Early childhood is a critical period for creative personality development. Guided by Amabile’s Componential Model of Creativity, this research explored the higher-order structure, developmental trajectories, and predictive role of preschoolers’ creative personality. Study 1 suggested an emergent three-factor higher-order structure comprising intrinsic driving, growing, and openness factors. Due to the longitudinal instability of the openness factor observed at this age, subsequent analyses focused on the two core components. Study 2 employed longitudinal latent growth modeling to examine the developmental trajectories of the intrinsic driving and growing factors across three waves. Study 3 assessed the predictive effects of these two factors on creative thinking performance (specifically figural divergent thinking). The results indicated that: (1) the nine teacher-rated dimensions of preschoolers’ creative personality exhibited preliminary evidence of multidimensional higher-order organization; (2) both intrinsic driving and growing factors significantly increased with age, following distinct linear trajectories; and (3) only the intrinsic driving factor significantly predicted figural divergent thinking in the structural model. While an emergent three-factor structure appeared in cross-sectional data, the longitudinal and predictive findings primarily support the stability and relevance of the core socio-motivational components. Teacher-observed personality tendencies are relevant to early figural divergent thinking but should not be interpreted as evidence for creativity as a whole. These results suggest the relevance of intrinsic driving tendencies to preschoolers’ figural divergent thinking.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060970

Authors: Josipa Jurić Linda Podrug Krstulović Ines Blažević

Digital media is increasingly shaping the ways in which children learn, communicate, and participate in everyday activities from an early age. The aim of this study was to examine how educators in early childhood education and care perceive the role of digital media in children’s learning, behaviour, and development, with particular emphasis on patterns of use, educational potential, and the role of educators and parents in mediating children’s digital experiences. The study specifically contributes to understanding these issues within the Croatian preschool context, where qualitative research on educators’ everyday experiences with digital media remains limited. The study employed a qualitative approach using focus groups conducted with a sample of 20 female educators from Croatia, organised into four focus groups. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings suggest that educators perceive digital media as a useful yet complex pedagogical tool whose value depends on the way it is used. A distinction was particularly evident between passive and active use of digital content, with active, guided, and purposeful use perceived as having greater educational potential. At the same time, educators also recognised the potential of digital media to support children’s learning, motivation, creativity, and engagement when integrated meaningfully into educational activities. Educators emphasized the importance of their own role in guiding children’s digital experiences, as well as the significant influence of the family environment on patterns of media use. They also highlighted challenges related to excessive screen exposure, the lack of clear pedagogical guidelines, and the need for additional professional support. The findings suggest the importance of strengthening educators’ digital competences, supporting collaboration with parents, and developing clearer pedagogical guidance for the use of digital media in early childhood education and care.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060969

Authors: Gamze Mukba Serkan Oruç

Professionals working in family and social services are frequently exposed to emotionally demanding interpersonal experiences, which may influence both their occupational well-being and their perceptions of close relationships. This study was conducted to examine the mediating role of compassion fatigue in the relationship between emotional intelligence and marital anxiety among unmarried mental health professionals in Türkiye. The sample consisted of 311 unmarried mental health workers, including psychologists, social workers, and psychological counselors employed in provincial directorates of the Ministry of Family and Social Services. Data were collected using the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire—Short Form (TEQue-SF), the Compassion Fatigue—Short Scale, and the Marital Anxiety Scale. Mediation analysis was conducted using PROCESS Macro Model 4. The findings revealed that emotional intelligence negatively predicted compassion fatigue. Emotional intelligence also negatively predicted marital anxiety, while compassion fatigue did not directly predict marital anxiety. Mediation analysis revealed that compassion fatigue played a significant moderate mediating role in the relationship between emotional intelligence and marital anxiety. These findings suggest that occupational emotional experiences may be indirectly associated with relationship-related concerns among unmarried mental health professionals. The results highlight the importance of considering both emotional intelligence and compassion fatigue in understanding marital anxiety and supporting the development of training, supervision, and psychoeducational interventions aimed at strengthening emotional regulation and professional well-being. Future research including both unmarried and married professionals, as well as longitudinal and mixed-method designs incorporating qualitative interviews, may further clarify these relationships and the mechanisms underlying them.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060968

Authors: Corrine Hays Ylisse Yepez Hurley Riley Todd I. Herrenkohl

Childhood trauma, encompassing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and racially motivated discrimination, poses significant threats to students’ neurological, social–emotional, and academic development. In school contexts, the behavioral effects are often misinterpreted as willful misconduct and addressed through exclusionary disciplinary measures, perpetuating systemic inequities that disproportionately affect students of color and deepen the school-to-prison pipeline. This article synthesizes research on the intersection between trauma, student learning, and school discipline, emphasizing how trauma-related behaviors are frequently met with responses that fail to address underlying needs. We explore the Trauma-Informed Programs and Practices for Schools (TIPPS) framework as a systems-level model for creating safe, inclusive learning environments. Within this framework, restorative practices are highlighted as a key strategy for reducing reliance on punitive discipline and promoting accountability, relationship-building, and a sense of community. We conclude with actionable recommendations for school practitioners who desire a more active role in restorative practices and advancing trauma-informed, equity-driven system-change consistent with the TIPPS model.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060967

Authors: Firdavs Khaydarov Kennon A. Lattal

Social coordination refers to conjoint responses of two or more organisms that produce consequences for each and can be maintained by coordination-dependent reinforcement. Previous experimental investigations of coordination typically arranged immediate reinforcement following a coordinated response, leaving the effects of delayed reinforcement on coordination largely unexplored. The present investigation examined the effects of delayed reinforcement on coordinated responding across two experiments using pairs of pigeons. Experiment 1 evaluated the effects of progressively increasing delays of reinforcement on coordinated responding and assessed whether coordination-reinforcer dependency influenced the persistence of coordination. Coordination ratios and coordination rates generally were lower during delayed relative to immediate reinforcement. In addition, break points, which were used as a measure of persistence, were consistently higher during coordination-dependent than coordination-independent delayed reinforcement. Experiment 2 compared coordinated responding maintained under signaled and unsignaled progressively increasing delays of coordination-dependent reinforcement. Coordination generally persisted at higher levels during signaled than unsignaled delays, and coordination ratios and coordination rates maintained under signaled delays more closely resembled performance maintained under immediate reinforcement. These findings suggest that delayed reinforcement weakens coordinated responding and that delay-correlated stimuli may attenuate some of the disruptive effects of delay on coordinated behavior.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060966

Authors: Carol D. Ryff

This article examined a conception of personal growth put forth in a multidimensional model of psychological well-being over 35 years ago. The model is widely used around the world. One key dimension of well-being is personal growth, which is examined in detail here. The conceptual underpinnings of this construct are reviewed, as well as its formal definition and empirical operationalization. Decades of scientific research about personal growth are selectively reviewed, focusing on factors that predict different levels of personal growth as well as how it is linked with other phenomena such as health, biological risk factors, and cognitive capacities. Future directions in the science and practice of personal growth are put forth, including the need to address obstacles to personal growth tied to widening inequality, the role of the arts and humanities in nurturing personal becoming, and the need to elevate virtue and ethics as core features of eudaimonia, with exemplars from human history provided.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060965

Authors: Yi An Ji Xu Dingbang Luh Tiansheng Xia Yibing Chen

Anthropomorphism is a widely used marketing strategy, yet less is known about how baby-schema anthropomorphic cues embedded in eco-friendly logos function as compact visual identity cues to promote consumers’ green purchase intention through positive emotional attribution. Drawing on baby-schema theory and mental-state attribution, we examine the impact of anthropomorphic eco-friendly logos on green purchase intention, the mediating roles of perceived love and perceived hope, their sequential pathway, and the moderating effect of environmental attitude. A within-subjects study was conducted with 299 valid participants in China, using established and adapted scale items for data collection. Our results demonstrated that anthropomorphic eco-friendly logos significantly enhanced green purchase intention. Perceived love and perceived hope each mediated this relationship, and the sequential pathway from perceived love to perceived hope was also significant. Moreover, environmental attitude positively moderated the link between anthropomorphic logos and perceived love, with a stronger effect among consumers with higher pro-environmental attitudes. These findings highlight a positive emotional attribution mechanism through which anthropomorphic eco-friendly logo cues promote green consumption and clarify the boundary role of environmental attitude.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060964

Authors: Miraç Barış Usta Şeyma Aker Melis Elif Şenel Meryem Macit Efe Feride Burcu Taflan Uygar Bayrakdar Emrah Gulboy Senay Kilincel Oguzhan Kilincel

Parental burnout, characterized by emotional exhaustion and a sense of detachment, is a significant challenge for families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). While traditional research often focuses on socioeconomic status, this study examines how physical living conditions and household characteristics influence burnout levels in the Turkish context. A relational survey model was conducted with 131 parents of children with ASD. Data were collected via online surveys using a Sociodemographic Data Form and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), which was adapted to the parenting role. Multiple linear regression analysis was applied to identify variables predicting total burnout scores. The analysis revealed that most sociodemographic variables, including income, education level, and parental age, did not significantly predict burnout. However, the “number of rooms in the house” was identified as the only statistically significant predictor (p = 0.033). Specifically, as the number of rooms increased, the total burnout scores of parents significantly decreased. The findings suggest that physical living space serves as a critical “spatial resource” and a protective factor against parental burnout. For families of children with ASD, having a private area for self-regulation is more decisive for mental health than economic status alone. Future support strategies should prioritize improving the quality of life through spatial arrangements and respite services.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060963

Authors: Christin Grothaus

Self-silencing, the suppression of self-expression to preserve relationships, has been theorised as context-dependent, yet research has examined this construct primarily at the between-group level, leaving within-person variation underexplored. This qualitative study examined how self-silencing varies across relationship domains among 53 young adults (30 women, 23 men) at international universities in Thailand, using semi-structured interviews (n = 10) and written reflections (n = 43) analysed through reflexive thematic analysis. Findings showed that self-silencing was relationship-specific: participants distinguished relationships in which they expressed themselves from those in which they did not, with perceived security as the most consistent distinction. This pattern operated independently of family socialisation: supportive later relationships could undo learned silence, and fragile ones could introduce silence in participants from expressive families. Thai cultural values of kreng jai and jai yen gave participants a vocabulary for silence but did not dictate where it occurred. The meaning of self-silencing differed by gender, with women more clearly framing silence as care and men as emotional control. Self-silencing carried cumulative psychological costs and took varied behavioural forms. These findings suggest that self-silencing operates as a relationship-specific process rather than a stable personal characteristic.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060962

Authors: Yu Yuan Jinqiao Zhang Yunxiao Ma Lixuan Huang

Grounded in the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning and Cognitive Load Theory, this study examined how cue-based instructional support relates to L2 Chinese vocabulary processing and immediate learning outcomes. Forty intermediate-to-advanced learners studied 24 disyllabic pseudowords under four within-subject conditions: no cueing, verbal cueing (linguistic–semantic support via definitions and collocations), physical cueing (typographical enhancement via bolded targets and underlined contextual words), and full cueing. Eye movements, immediate post-tests, and questionnaires were analyzed. The results revealed selective, measure-dependent effects rather than uniform facilitation. In the Orthographic Choice Task, no cueing outperformed full cueing. In the Semantic Priming Decision Task, verbal cueing yielded a higher accuracy than physical cueing, indicating that linguistic–semantic support benefited initial meaning-related processing more than typographical enhancement. No differences emerged in the Sentence Acceptability Judgment Task. Eye-tracking showed shorter first fixations under physical than verbal cueing, suggesting the limited facilitation of early visual orienting. Full cueing showed no consistent advantage over verbal cueing but elicited larger pupil sizes and longer total fixation durations on targets, indicating additional coordination demands. Learners most often preferred full-cueing materials, yet rated verbal cueing as most helpful. An effective cue-based design should align the cue format and content with the target learning dimension while avoiding unnecessary processing demands. The findings reflect immediate learning under controlled conditions rather than long-term acquisition.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060959

Authors: Alison Fixsen Reka Nagy Magdalena Bailey

Female fashion models face intense bodily surveillance within a competitive and largely unregulated industry. While many young recruits endure the industry’s initial demands, less is known about how these formative experiences are later interpreted. Grounded in feminist and phenomenological perspectives, this article presents an inductive analysis of 18 semi-structured interviews with female models aged 25+, exploring entry into modelling, socialization into industry norms, and longer-term effects on body image, eating attitudes, and embodied practices. Five interconnected themes were identified: growing up “superfast”; learning to eat less; being treated as a product; boundary violations as a darker side of modelling; and building resilience within a callous industry. Early immersion in modelling culture shaped psychological development, with self-worth becoming closely tied to conformity with a narrowly defined thin ideal. Aesthetic labour extended beyond paid work to continuous bodily regulation and self-surveillance, producing a persistent tension between the lived, sensing body (Leib) and the body as an object for evaluation (Körper). Disordered eating emerged as a normalised employment strategy. While maturity could soften this process, participants described ongoing attempts to reconcile bodily needs with external judgements. The fashion industry thus emerges as a concentrated site of objectification, with enduring consequences for embodied wellbeing.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060961

Authors: Yixian Zhong Mutong Niu Qianfeng Zhang Haoran Sun Yurong Liu

Academic stress is widely related to student engagement, yet its multidimensional nature and underlying processes remain insufficiently examined in laboratory learning contexts. This study explored the relationship between different sources of academic stress and academic engagement in chemistry laboratory courses, with learning burnout as a potential mediator. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1647 undergraduate school students. Academic stress was conceptualized as three dimensions: students’ academic self-perceptions (SP), faculty work and examinations (WE), and academic expectations (AExp). The results showed that these stress dimensions were differentially related to academic engagement. In addition, learning burnout was found to be associated with the relationship between academic stress and engagement, suggesting a mediating role. Notably, workload-related stress was more strongly related to engagement, whereas expectation-related stress showed a stronger association with burnout. These findings suggest that academic stress is not a unitary construct and that different stress sources may be associated with engagement through distinct patterns. The results provide a basis for understanding how stress operates in laboratory learning contexts and offer implications for both research and instructional practice.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060960

Authors: Haiyan Cui Min Xie Shuyue Zhang

Against the backdrop of the growing prevalence of social anxiety among college students, it is of great significance to explore the internal and external protective resources of college students to prevent and buffer social anxiety. Resilience, as an important protective psychological trait, is closely associated with social anxiety. However, how resilience functions through internal and external resources of psychological flexibility and perceived parental emotional support remains to be systematically explored. Based on the stress and coping theory and related research, this study constructed a moderated mediation model. It aimed to examine the relationship between resilience and social anxiety among college students, as well as the mediating role of psychological flexibility and the moderating role of perceived parental emotional support. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1713 college students using a questionnaire survey method. The results showed that resilience negatively and significantly predicted college students’ social anxiety, with psychological flexibility playing a mediating role. Perceived parental emotional support moderated the relationship between resilience and psychological flexibility, as well as the relationship between resilience and social anxiety. Specifically, perceived parental emotional support strengthened the positive predictive effect of resilience on psychological flexibility, while also enhancing the direct negative predictive effect of resilience on social anxiety. This study reveals the internal mechanism through which resilience is associated with college students’ social anxiety, providing empirical evidence and practical implications for mental health education and intervention.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060958

Authors: Ronald M. Rapee Kay Bussey Donna Cross Sally Fitzpatrick

Social anxiety, peer victimisation, and social support are key issues during mid-childhood that provide important influence in the later adolescent years. While extensive research has evaluated these constructs in isolation and during adolescence, almost no longitudinal studies have evaluated relationships between them during mid-childhood. The current study obtained self-report measures of social anxiety, peer victimisation, and social support from a close friend, from 7846 students from grades three and four (M age = 9.01 yr), on three occasions over two years. Path analyses examined mediating and moderating relationships, as well as moderation by binary gender. There was minimal moderation by gender on any of the relationships between variables. Over time, there was a stronger positive prediction from social anxiety to later victimisation (β’s = 0.09–0.12) than from victimisation to later social anxiety (β’s = 0.04–0.07). Social anxiety negatively predicted later social support (β’s = −0.05 to −0.09), but social support did not consistently predict later social anxiety (β’s = −0.01 to −0.02). Interestingly, the results did not support a buffering effect of social support on peer victimisation; however, these longitudinal data did support several indirect paths. The results highlight the cyclical relationship between social anxiety and peer victimisation but point to social anxiety as a unidirectional predictor of social support from a close friend during the middle to late childhood years. Early intervention for social anxiety may produce positive downstream effects on both peer victimisation and social support.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060957

Authors: Junting Liu Liangdong Lu

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly used to produce multimedia content, raising important questions about how users evaluate and respond to such content. While prior research has examined AI transparency and technology adoption, the cognitive mechanisms linking external cues to user trust and behavioral outcomes remain insufficiently understood. Grounded in the heuristic–systematic model (HSM), this study investigates how transparency labels and presentation quality influence cognitive processing, perceived authenticity, trust, and perceived risk in AI-generated video content. A 2 × 2 between-subjects experiment was conducted with 617 participants. The results show that AI transparency labels reduce perceived authenticity but do not directly affect trust or adoption intention. Higher presentation quality reduces reliance on heuristic processing. Perceived authenticity is associated with lower cognitive load and greater systematic processing, systematic processing is positively associated with trust, whereas heuristic processing is negatively associated with trust. Trust is positively associated with both adoption intention and sharing intention, whereas perceived risk is negatively associated with these outcomes. These findings highlight the central roles of cognitive processing and trust–risk dynamics in shaping user responses to AI-generated content and provide implications for transparency design and trust development in AI-mediated environments.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060956

Authors: Lijun Zuo Guan Yang

Previous research has documented certain associations between physical exercise and sleep quality, yet little is known about the potential influencing mechanisms and boundary conditions underlying them. Thus, the present study aims to examine the potential mediating role of depressive symptoms and the moderating effect of physical health in this relationship. Using the individual-level survey data of 1613 emerging adults aged 18–25 from the China Family Panel Studies (Mage = 20.45 years, SDage = 1.32; 53.8% female), the common method bias test, descriptive statistics and correlation analysis, mediation effect analysis, moderation effect analysis, and simple slope test were sequentially performed using SPSS 27.0, with the significance level set at 5%. The results disclosed that depressive symptoms may play a partial mediating role between physical exercise and sleep quality among emerging adults, and physical health significantly moderated the association between physical exercise and depressive symptoms, indicating a stronger negative association among emerging adults with worse physical health compared to those with better physical health. In addition, exploratory analyses suggested that physical health may also moderate the associations between physical exercise and sleep quality, as well as between depressive symptoms and sleep quality. These findings suggest that emerging adults with lower physical health may often accompany higher depressive symptoms and poorer sleep quality, and also highlight the importance of actively engaging in physical exercise and developing regular exercise habits in daily life to effectively address this problem.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060955

Authors: Peng Li Lifang Fan Xintao Wen Meng Guo Wenbin Feng Ye Wang

(1) Background: Student burnout, widely regarded as a form of “hidden dropout” among adolescents, is associated with lower educational quality and mental health. Grounded in the Study Demands–Resources (SD–R) and Conservation of Resources (COR) theories, this study investigates the relationship between school-based resources, family dynamics, and personal resources by examining how teacher emotional support is associated with burnout through family cohesion and meaning in life; (2) Methods: a moderated mediation model was tested using a sample of 1224 adolescents (Mage = 14.27, SD = 1.72; 48% female); (3) Results: Analysis revealed that: 1. Teacher emotional support significantly and negatively predicted student burnout (β = −0.28, p < 0.001). 2. Family cohesion partially mediated this relationship, accounting for 36% of the total effect. 3. Meaning in life significantly moderated both the direct path and the second half of the mediation pathway (family cohesion → burnout). Notably, meaning in life was associated with a stronger negative association between teacher emotional support and student burnout, but a weaker negative association between family cohesion and student burnout, a pattern consistent with differential resource utilization; (4) Conclusions: These findings suggest a differentiated pattern of resource interplay: school-based emotional resources may connect to family-based relational resources, and the protective role of each external resource may be further moderated by adolescents’ internal meaning systems. These findings highlight the agentic role of adolescents in resource management and point to the value of multi-system interventions.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060954

Authors: Joana Vieira dos Santos Mariana Marques Cátia Sousa Alexandra Gomes Luis Felipe Lopes

Illegitimate tasks are assignments that threaten professional identity by not being related to the intrinsic quality or morality of the main profession. This concept has gained attention within the Stress as Offense to Self (SOS) theory, which emphasizes the impact of self-esteem in stressful situations, particularly in the workplace. The SOS theory suggests that self-esteem plays a critical role in how individuals respond to stress: when self-esteem is threatened, it triggers adverse reactions affecting mental, physical, and behavioral dimensions; conversely, strengthening self-esteem promotes well-being. Illegitimate tasks are perceived as unnecessary or unreasonable, varying by profession and non-voluntary in nature, leading to a lack of purpose and meaning for the employee. The Bern Illegitimate Tasks Scale (BITS) was created to assess and quantify these tasks, demonstrating robust psychometric properties across different languages and cultural contexts, including Spanish, Swedish, and Portuguese adaptations. This study aims to translate and adapt the BITS for a public university context characterized by bureaucratic culture. The sample comprises 601 participants from a Portuguese public higher education institution. The translation process followed rigorous procedures to ensure equivalence between the original and Portuguese versions. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and internal consistency analysis, revealing satisfactory fit indices and high reliability. Despite contextual limitations, the findings affirm the reliability of the adapted scale for application in similar contexts. Future research should aim for more representative samples to enhance generalizability.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060953

Authors: Zongzhao Mo Ronghuan Jiang Xiaodong Li

This study examined the reversal error phenomenon in Chinese students’ algebra word problem-solving, focusing on how sentence structures influence performance and problem representation strategies across educational levels. Using a person-centered Bayesian classification approach, this study analyzed individual differences in problem-solving strategies across different grade levels. Results confirmed the presence of reversal errors among Chinese students, with sentence structures significantly affecting error rates. Students demonstrated superior performance on congruent problems compared to incongruent problems, showing both fewer errors and faster response times across all grade levels. The study revealed that students processed congruent problems and incongruent problems using fundamentally different strategies. The analysis identified five distinct strategy profiles across grade levels, revealing grade-related differences in strategy use: younger students predominantly relied on direct translation, whereas older students more frequently employed analytic strategies. These findings advance our understanding of cognitive processes in algebra problem-solving and suggest targeted interventions for addressing the reversal error.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060952

Authors: Rongxia Zhuang Li Liao Yunbo Liu Xiaoxi Lin

Digital transformation is reshaping technical and vocational education and training (TVET), yet the behavioral processes through which students’ digital learning competence is associated with learning performance remain underexplored. Drawing on Biggs’ presage–process–product (3P) model, this cross-sectional study examined a dual-path moderated mediation model in which active and rule-based learning participation served as differentiated process pathways, while teacher–student interaction and curriculum practicality were specified as contextual moderators. Survey data were collected from 3693 students in Chinese higher vocational colleges. Hierarchical regression and bootstrapped moderated mediation analyses indicated that digital learning competence was positively associated with learning performance. Active learning participation mediated this association, whereas rule-based learning participation did not function as a stable positive mediator. At higher levels of teacher–student interaction and curriculum practicality, digital learning competence showed stronger associations with active learning participation and stronger indirect associations with learning performance. The rule-based pathway appeared more conditional and reflected an externally regulated, prescribed-task-oriented form of behavioral participation, rather than a stable process pathway associated with deep learning. These findings extend the 3P model to digital learning in higher vocational education, differentiate behavioral forms of participation, and highlight the importance of interactive and practice-oriented instructional contexts.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060951

Authors: Caibin Duan Dequn Song Ling Yuan Lihua Zhang

This study used a dual-task paradigm to explore how stimuli with different semantic links to verbal working memory (WM) content affect attention across sensory channels and time courses. The results show: (1) In the visual channel, stimuli that were semantically the same as or similar to verbal WM content captured attention, with both types producing similar effects. This guidance weakened in the later stage of cognitive processing, possibly due to attentional control. (2) In the auditory channel, stimuli with same or similar semantics did not guide attention. These findings suggest that verbal WM content influences attention differently depending on sensory channel and processing time.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060950

Authors: Zhe Cui Chenxi Sun Xinan Zhao Ningning Chen

Quantitative behavioral research depends on clear construct specification and psychometrically sound measurement tools, especially when emerging constructs are examined in context-sensitive organizational settings. This study developed and validated a scale of excellence-driven behavior among faculty and staff in Chinese public universities. A mixed-methods measurement-development design was used. First, the construct domain was derived from Excellence-Driven theory and contextualized within public universities. Second, qualitative evidence from semi-structured interviews and open-ended questionnaires using the Critical Incident Technique was used to generate and refine behavioral indicators. Third, the resulting instrument was examined through item analysis, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and reliability and validity assessment. The findings supported a two-dimensional structure consisting of Excellence-Driven Cognition and Learning and Excellence-Driven Display. The scale showed acceptable evidence of internal structure, internal consistency, convergent validity, discriminant validity between the two dimensions, and preliminary criterion-related validity. These results provide initial psychometric support for the use of the scale in future research on excellence-driven behavior among faculty and staff in Chinese public universities, while further evidence regarding temporal stability, measurement invariance, and broader empirical distinction from adjacent constructs is still needed.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060949

Authors: Lukas Hümpfer-Gerhards Sabine Schwager Mark Benecke Stephanie Fuhrmann Jana Kunert Michel Knigge

This paper presents results from the project schAUT, a participatory research project initiated by Humboldt University Berlin, Goethe University Frankfurt a.M. and White Unicorn e.V., funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF; FKZ: 01NV2104). It aimed to identify and reduce barriers to learning and participation in mainstream schools, with a particular focus on autistic students. This paper introduces a questionnaire and a program to support School Organizational Development (SOD), aiming to provide equitable and accessible learning environments grounded in international frameworks on inclusive education. This study combines qualitative and quantitative approaches to examine the subjective experiences of barriers. We present data obtained through a multi-phase development and validation phase. The results show that neurodivergent participants generally experienced higher subjective barriers, although we observed that barriers affect neurotypical students as well, highlighting a subjective nature. We argue that these findings support neurodiversity as a relevant concept, especially in educational contexts. This supports Larrauri et al.’s Big-Tent approach to neurodiversity, emphasizing individual variability while acknowledging structural biases towards neurotypical norms in educational environments. The study highlights the value of multiperspective approaches in (participatory) research and SOD, to develop strategies for an inclusive educational environment through neurodiversity-informed decision processes and enable equitable learning environments for all students.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060948

Authors: Changxu Wang Jinyong Guo

As digital technology has become increasingly integrated into rural governance and daily life in China, Internet use among rural residents exerts a multifaceted influence on their mental health. A key mechanism lies in its restructuring of the neighborhood social environment. Uncovering this mechanism is essential for understanding the theoretical and practical connections between rural social transformation and individual well-being in the digital age. This study applied a binary probit model to data from the 2020 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) to examine the impact of Internet use on the mental health of rural residents. Mediation analysis was used to examine the role of the neighborhood social environment, and the conditional mixed process method was applied to address potential endogeneity issues. Empirical results demonstrate that access to the Internet, along with the breadth and depth of its use all significantly improve the mental health of rural residents. Internet use promotes mental health by strengthening neighborhood relationship and trust, whereas it also negatively affects mental health by suppressing neighborhood identity. Heterogeneity analyses reveal three key dimensions of variation. (1) By usage type: Activities such as gaming, short-video consumption, and WeChat communication show positive associations with mental health, whereas online shopping and learning exhibit non-significant effects. (2) By user group: The mental health benefits are more pronounced among women, less-educated individuals, and middle-aged to older adults. (3) By region: Positive associations are observed in central and western China, with the most substantial effect in the central region. This study elucidates the mechanism through which Internet use affects mental health: the restructuring of traditional, place-based social capital in rural neighborhoods. These findings offer robust empirical support for policies that integrate digital initiatives with the nurturing of local community bonds to improve rural mental health and foster livable and harmonious villages.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060947

Authors: Dennis López-Odar Arístides Vara-Horna Zaida Asencios-Gonzalez Eloína Callejas

Although the consequences of intimate partner violence (IPV) for female victims have been widely documented, the psychological and academic correlates of perpetration remain underexplored. This study examines whether emotional distress statistically mediates the association between IPV perpetration and academic presenteeism among male university students. A cross-sectional survey was administered to 343 students from the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés in Bolivia. Using validated instruments and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling, we assessed direct and indirect associations. Findings indicate that 50.1% of students reported perpetrating at least one form of IPV since entering university, with stalking and psychological violence being most common. Perpetrators reported higher levels of emotional distress compared to non-perpetrators and exhibited higher academic presenteeism (reduced academic functioning despite physical attendance). The structural model indicated a significant indirect statistical effect of IPV perpetration on academic presenteeism through emotional distress (β = 0.137, p < 0.001), accounting for 36.2% of the total effect. These findings suggest that universities may consider perpetrator-focused components within broader prevention and support systems, integrating behavioral accountability with screening, referral, and academic support while recognizing that intervention effectiveness was not tested in this study.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060946

Authors: Chen Liu Xiaofen Wan Zhihao Ni Sheng Su Chunhua Kang

This paper proposes a novel framework, HyperGAT-BERT-RAS, that integrates (1) a HyperGraph Attention Network (HyperGAT) with BERT for enhanced semantic representation; (2) a Reference Answer Set (RAS) constructed via clustering of full-score answers; and (3) Siamese Neural Networks (SNNs) for similarity-based scoring. Experiments on the Ohsumed and ASAP-5 datasets demonstrate that (i) HyperGAT-BERT achieves 72.95% accuracy on Ohsumed text classification, outperforming baseline HyperGAT by 3.28%, and (ii) the full HyperGAT-BERT-RAS achieves 78.66% accuracy and 0.7806 F1-score, with RAS contributing the most to performance gains. These improvements suggest the potential for more reliable scoring of diverse student answers, reduced teacher grading burden, and enhanced feasibility of AI-assisted formative assessment in real classrooms, although empirical validation with teachers and students is needed.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060945

Authors: Kavya Iyer Richard Stevenson Vydia Permashwar Brittany Howell Stephanie DeLuca

Children with developmental disabilities are less physically active and at increased risk for chronic conditions that physical activity might ameliorate. This study examined the relationships between the impact of physical activity (e.g., muscles burning, body tiredness), physical activity time and fatigue in children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) and Down Syndrome (DS) in comparison to typically developing (TD) children. A convenience sample of children and parents was enrolled. All children were between 4 and 10 years, ambulatory, medically stable, not taking sleep-aid medications and were either TD (n = 20) or diagnosed with CP (n = 14) or DS (n = 5). Children and parents separately answered questionnaires about participation in physical activity and fatigue during the past week, yielding retrospective data. Additionally, they completed prospective questionnaires for 3 consecutive days. Repeated measures multivariate and univariate analyses (post hoc) of variance, along with correlations between variables were completed. Analyses of retrospective data yielded no specific findings. Prospectively, all groups of parents reported that as the impact of physical activity increased, perceptions of fatigue decreased (r = −0.349; p < 0.001). Parents of children with Cerebral Palsy noted a negative relationship between the time spent doing physical activity and perceptions of fatigue (r = −0.553; p < 0.001). Between-group differences in perceptions of fatigue occurred for children with CP compared to TD (F = 8.248; p < 0.001). Parent-reported findings suggest potential associations between physical activity participation and perceptions of fatigue across diagnostic groups.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060944

Authors: Xi Tan Hyeran Choi Seung-Wan Kang

Organizational commitment is crucial for employee retention and performance; however, little is known about how social and leadership resources translate into organizational commitment through routine learning behaviors. Based on the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, this study explores how trust and leader’s vision of talent influence organizational commitment through three informal training formats: peer/supervisor coaching, knowledge sharing, and job rotation. Using data from the 2023 Korea Human Capital Enterprise Survey (N = 10,371), this study employs a generalized structural equation model that combines Bernoulli logit mediation equations with Gaussian identity outcome equations, along with the bootstrap method, to test the proposed mediation model. The results show that trust and leader’s vision of talent are positively correlated with organizational commitment, whereas knowledge sharing and job rotation significantly mediate these relationships. Peer/supervisor coaching shows no mediating effect. This study conceptualizes informal training as a mechanism through which workplace resources are implemented and translated into employee attitudes, thereby extending COR theory from resource acquisition and protection to resource utilization processes in everyday organizational contexts. The findings suggest that organizations should strengthen trust-based and development-oriented human resource practices to foster employee commitment. These implications extend beyond Korean firms to global HR practitioners seeking to build learning-supportive workplaces.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060943

Authors: Milijana Buac Margarita Kaushanskaya

Background: Bilingual children are frequently exposed to accented speech, yet it remains unclear how accent familiarity affects their ability to learn new words. This study examined Spanish–English bilingual children’s (n = 46) novel word learning from speakers with familiar and unfamiliar accents and investigated individual differences related to learning from accented input. Methods: Children completed an experimental word-learning task in which they learned novel word–object pairings produced by three speakers: a speaker of General American English, a Spanish-accented English speaker (familiar accent), and a Korean-accented English speaker (unfamiliar accent). Individual-differences analyses examined associations between learning outcomes and children’s language skills, length of bilingualism, and characteristics of language input in the home environment. Results: Children showed more difficulty learning novel words from the unfamiliar Korean-accented speaker than from the familiar Spanish-accented speaker and the General American-English speaker. Language skills were associated with learning from the familiar accent but not the unfamiliar accent. Length of bilingualism was positively associated with learning from the unfamiliar accent, whereas greater strength of foreign-accented English in the environment was negatively associated with learning from the native speaker. Conclusions: These findings suggest that accent familiarity facilitates bilingual children’s word learning and that experience-related factors contribute to their ability to accommodate accent variability.

Behavioral Sciences doi: 10.3390/bs16060942

Authors: Anabela Vieira Vasco Costa Tânia Brandão

Parents of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D) are responsible for intensive daily disease management and often experience high levels of emotional distress. This study examined whether fear of hypoglycemia mediates the association between parents’ emotion regulation strategies and diabetes-related distress. Participants were recruited through Facebook and WhatsApp groups for parents of children and adolescents with T1D, and data was collected via self-report online questionnaires. A total of 102 parents, 92.2% mothers (aged 32–58 years) of children with T1D aged 8–17 years, completed measures of fear of hypoglycemia (Hypoglycemia Fear Survey—Parent Version), diabetes distress (Problem Areas in Diabetes-Parent Revised) and emotion regulation strategies (Emotion Regulation Questionnaire), along with a sociodemographic questionnaire. Four mediation models were tested using PROCESS, including cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression as predictors and the worry and behavior subscales of fear of hypoglycemia as mediators. Results revealed a significant indirect effect of worry on the relationship between cognitive reappraisal and diabetes distress (indirect effect = −0.15, 95% CI [−0.35, −0.02]), highlighting worry as a potential mediator between these variables, while the direct effect was negative but non-significant. No significant indirect effects were found for expressive suppression on the behavior subscale (indirect effect = 0.12; 95% IC [−0.07; 0.36]) or on the worry subscale (indirect effect = 0.07; 95% IC [−0.08; 0.24]). These findings suggest that cognitive reappraisal may be associated with lower diabetes-related distress through lower levels of excessive worry about hypoglycemia. Clinically, the results highlight fear-related cognition can be a relevant intervention target, alongside emotion regulation skills, in psychosocial support programs for parents of youth with T1D.