No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Common misconceptions of p-values are based on certain beliefs and attributions about the significance of the results. Thus, they affect the professionals' decisions and jeopardize the quality of interventions and the accumulation of valid scientific knowledge. We conducted a survey on 164 academic psychologists (134 Italian, 30 Chilean) questioned on this topic. Our findings are consistent with previous research and suggest that some participants do not know how to correctly interpret p-values. The inverse probability fallacy presents the greatest comprehension problems, followed by the replication fallacy. These results highlight the importance of the statistical re-education of researchers. Recommendations for improving statistical cognition are proposed.

Attribution theory suggests the hypothesis that heterosexuals' attitudes toward homosexual sexual orientation will be more negative when homosexuality is attributed to controllable causes. Our randomized study analyzed (a) whether beliefs about the genetic or environmental etiology of the homosexual sexual orientation can be immediately modified by reading a text and (b) the causal effect of attributions about the controllability (environmental etiology) or noncontrollability (genetic etiology) of homosexual sexual orientation on the rejection of same-sex parenting and their social rights. The sample was composed of 190 Spanish university students with a mean age of 22.07 years (SD = 8.46). The results show that beliefs about the etiology of the sexual orientation could be modified by means of a written text. Furthermore, participants who believed that sexual orientation had a genetic etiology showed greater support for social rights and less rejection of same-sex parenting. However, the effects were detected only when there was a traditional opposition to the family with same-sex parenting. When the opposition was normative, the effect was not statistically significant. Our results can be useful in planning variables for intervention programs designed to foster tolerance toward and normality of sexual diversity.

In this study, we developed a new instrument named Scale Beliefs about Children's Adjustment on Same-Sex Families (SBCASSF). The scale was developed to assess of the adults' beliefs about negative impacts on children who are raised by same-sex parents. An initial pool of 95 items was generated by the authors based on a review of the literature on homophobia and feedback from several focus groups. Research findings, based on a sample of 212 university students (mean age 22 years, SD = 8.28), supported the reliability and validity of the scale. The final versions of the SBCASSF included items reflecting the following two factors: individual opposition (α = .87) and normative opposition (α = .88). Convergent validity of the scale is demonstrated by predictable correlations with beliefs about the cause of same-sex sexual orientation and the support for gay and lesbian rights. Our study reveals a strong positive association between high scores on SBCASSF and beliefs that the origin of same-sex sexual orientation is learned and opposition to gay and lesbian rights.

The aim of this study was to clarify the direction of the stress-neuroticism relationship in a sample of 200 nursing students from three Spanish universities before their entry into the work force using a two-wave longitudinal design. The Stressful Life Events Scale and NEO-FFI Neuroticism subscale were administered at the beginning (T1) and end (T2) of nursing studies. Female students reported higher scores in both perceived stress due to life events and neuroticism than males. Older students scored higher in life events stress than younger ones. High neuroticism was associated with a high level of stress. Finally, neuroticism scores rose in the group in which stress increased from T1 to T2. Our findings partially support the stress causation interactionist model of stress in which life events can modify personality traits.

The shortened version of the Polymorphous Prejudice Scale (PPS) analyzes new manifestations of prejudice toward gay men and lesbian women. Specifically, this instrument consists of 16 items distributed in four subscales: values gay progress, positive beliefs about gay men, positive beliefs about lesbian women and, resistance to heteronormative expectations. The aim of the current study is to add new evidence about the reliability and validity of the scale. The scale is administrated to 348 heterosexual university students from Spain with a mean age of 22.62 years (SD = 7.63). Reliability and factorial validity estimates are presented. A four-factor structure is supported using confirmatory factor analysis (short version). Our results can be useful in planning variables for intervention programs designed to foster the tolerance and normality of sexual diversity.