International Journal of Psychology: A Biopsychosocial Approach / Tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 2015, [vol.] 17

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hdl:20.500.12259/1149
Leidybą rėmė Lietuvos mokslo taryba / Publication sponsored by Research Council of Lithuania
  1. Viršelis / Cover
  2. Information about International Journal of Psychology: A Biopsychosocial Approach / Informacija apie Tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris 2015, [vol.] 17
  3. http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2345-024X.17

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  • Publication
    Relationships between death anxiety and empathy among medical students (pilot study)
    [Mirties nerimo ir empatijos sąsajos tarp medicinos studentų : pilotinis tyrimas]
    research article
    Vonžodienė, Justina
    ;
    Kaklauskaitė, Žydrūnė
    International journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach, 2015, [Vol.] 17, p. 117-136
    Background. Death anxiety is defined as emotionally negative reactions provoked by thoughts about death and dying of self, and death and dying of others (Lester, 1990). Empathy refers to the reactions of one individual to the observed experiences of another (Davis, 1983). As determined by Kurz and Hayes (2006) in their study, death anxiety affects the student’s successful transition from theoretical knowledge to their practical application, while medical empathy has a significant impact on patient satisfaction with treatment (Regehr, Goldberg, Hughes, 2002; Wimmer, Stuber, 2010; Ward, Cody, Schaal, Hojat, 2012) and on adherence to the treatment plan (Wimmer, Stuber, 2010), better disease outcomes and the physician-patient relationship (Caruso, Bernstein, 2014; van Ryn et al., 2014). Research studies on death anxiety among medical students are scarce. The number of articles on death anxiety’s link to empathy in foreign literature is limited, and this relationship has not been fully investigated in the studies conducted. Unfortunately, there are no studies in the Lithuanian language on the relationship between death anxiety and empathy seen as the main subject matter of the research. This suggests that the given field of science has not been fully explored. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between death anxiety and empathy among the students of Lithuanian University of Health Sciences. Methods. The study involved 47 third-year medical students of the Faculty of Medicine of Lithuanian University of Health Sciences. A questionnaire designed for the study consisted of demographic questions, empathetic concern and personal distress subscales in the scale of Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) (Davis, 1980), and the death of others and the dying of others subscales in the revised Collet–Lester Fear of Death and Dying Scale (Lester, 1990). Results & Findings. It has been found that female medical students tend to have more death of others and dying of others anxiety and display higher levels of overall empathy and personal distress than male medical students. It was also found that medical students showing greater empathetic concern have a stronger sense of death of others and dying of others anxiety than students reporting lower levels of empathetic concern.
      111  121
  • Publication
    Autonomy as a personal resource for students occupational well-being
    [Autonomija kaip studentų profesinės gerovės asmeninis išteklius]
    research article
    Bandzevičienė, Rita
    ;
    Paradnikė, Kristina
    International journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach, 2015, [Vol.] 17, p. 97-115
    Background. The awareness of resources that help to overcome life challenges and flourish even in the conditions of uncertainty is critically important for young individuals transitioning from school to labor market. Autonomy, as self-governance, based on the basis of personal interests, integrated goals and values, is linked with a number of positive constructs. Those include performance, creativity, greater sense of personal reward and energy, engagement in pro-social activities and etc. Thus, autonomy might be a promising personal resource for successful functioning and occupational well-being manifested as satisfaction with life, engagement and academic major satisfaction. Purpose. The purpose of the study was to analyze the role of students’ autonomy when predicting satisfaction with life, engagement and academic major satisfaction. Method. The sample consisted of 148 college students (97.3% male, 2.7% female; mean age 19.69 ± 1.30). The Short version of Utrecht Work Engagement Scale – student version (Schaufeli et al., 2002), Satisfaction With Life Scale (Diener et al., 1985), Academic Major Satisfaction Scale (Nauta, 2007) and Dispositional Index of Autonomous Functioning scale (Weinstein et al., 2012) were used in the study. Results. Only one of the components of autonomy, authorship/self-congruence in particular, had significant positive relationship with study variables and was a significant predictor of study engagement, satisfaction with life and academic major satisfaction. Conclusion. Our findings suggest that at least to some extent autonomy might serve as an important resource of students’ well-being while struggling in academic settings.
      45  120
  • Publication
    Face recognition peculiarities of different age people in a Lithuanian sample
    [Sirtingo amžiaus žmonių veidų atpažinimo ypatumai Lietuvos populiacijoje]
    research article
    Saikauskienė, Albina
    ;
    Daugirdienė, Aušra
    International journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach = Tarptautinis psichologijos žurnalas: biopsichosocialinis požiūris. Kaunas : Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas, [Nr.] 17 (2015), p. 7-23
    Background. The paper presents empirical data and analyses biological and psychological face recognition aspects. The function of face recognition is particularly important in the process of social interaction. Despite the experience acquired in everyday face recognition, the ability to recognize faces weakens with aging. The issue of face recognition is not completely new on a worldwide scale, however, researchers present conflicting results and raise new questions about this phenomenon. What is more, in Lithuania, research on face recognition is developed not enough. It motivated us to initiate this study as well as data from researches carried out in other countries that found cultural differences in the processing of facial information (Blais et al., 2008). For example, adults from China showed a disposition to process informa- tion holistically, whereas individuals from Britain – to process information analytically (Kelly et al., 2011). Purpose. The aims of the research were: 1) to determine at what age people recognize faces best and when this ability starts worsening; 2) to determine the differences in face recognition ability among different age groups. Method. The experiment was carried out. The methodology of the research was based on the similar type of research (Germine, Duchaine, Nakayama, 2011; Hay, Cox, 2000; Tanaka, Farah, 1993). 80 black-and-white photographs depicting people of different ages were presented to the research participants for recognition. Results and conclusions. The research results revealed that the ability to recognize faces reaches its optimal level in the interval of 20–35 years of age. The comparison between different age groups showed that young adults (20–35 years old) better than adolescents (11–18 years old) and senior adults (56–75 years old) memorized and rec- ognized faces of different age people they had already seen.
      42  94
  • Publication
    Do you think like a fifth-grader? Exploring the teacher characteristics of importance to students from two diverse elementary schools in a rural Midwestern community
    [Ar mąstai kaip penktokas? Mokytojų charakteristikų, svarbių dviejų skirtingų pradinių mokyklų mokiniams Vidurio Vakarų kaimiškoje bendruomenėje, tyrimas]
    research article
    Crow, Sherry R.
    ;
    Knoell, Christopher M.
    ;
    Kracl, Carrie
    ;
    Harshbarger, Dena
    International journal of psychology: a biopsychosocial approach, 2015, [Vol.] 17, p. 39-56
    Background. Since 2002, No Child Left Behind has caused administrators to place great emphasis on academic learning. This has practitioners seeking strategies that will produce student academic growth, yet few are looking to bolster student-teacher relationships (S-T relationships), a strategy that has shown promise in the area of student achievement for students of differing abilities and in different types of schools and situations. Purpose. The purpose of this study was to explore S-T relationships and answer the central question: “What teacher behaviors influence fifth-grade students’ perceptions of desirable teacher characteristics?” Method. Research was conducted with the primary qualitative data collected from 24 semi-structured student interviews. Results and discussion. Results revealed teacher behaviors that were valued by students. The behaviors included consistent help (with high expectations); a sense of humor; active listening, providing for a sense of community, and several others. The identification of these behaviors could provide goals for personal development by teachers, as well as assist administrators and other hiring officials searching for potentially successful hires. These themes could also provide a foundation around which a perceiver survey could be developed. Conclusions. Regardless of circumstances and developments, educators and districts must never overlook the importance of cultivating student-teacher relationships in their classrooms.
      65  79