Normative and Non-Normative Difficult Behaviors of Toddlers in the Situation of Entering the Role of Older Sibling

abstract. The purpose of the study was to verify whether the birth of younger siblings is associated with an increase in the number of difficult normative and non-normative behaviors in children at the toddler’s age. The study involved 68 pairs of parents with children aged 24 to 36 months. There were two groups of respondents: 1. parents of only  children (N = 36 pairs), and 2. parents with two children (N = 32 pairs). Individual variables concerning children were analyzed: the intensity of adverse behaviors and the intensity of rebellious behaviors related to the crisis of the second and third year of life. These variables were measured with the Questionnaire for Child Behavior in the Age of 1.5–5 years (CBCL) and the Behavior Scale of 2–3 years. The analysis of the obtained data has shown that the only children manifest more non-normative behaviors than their peers who have a younger sibling. Girls who played the role of an older sister showed slightly more undesirable behaviors than their peers. The results of the above studies allowed  to determine that the birth of younger siblings is associated with the occurrence of more non-normative behaviors differently for girls and boys.

Aggressive Coping Strategy of Adolescents in Social Conflict Situation. Analysis of Personality and Family Determinants

The aim of the study was to search for the personality and family predictors of an aggressive coping strategy of adolescents in the social conflict situation. The following tools were applied: Danuta Borecka-Biernat’s Questionnaire to Study Strategies for Coping with a Social Conflict Situation by Adolescents (KSMK), Stress Evaluation Questionnaire (KOS) by Dorota Włodarczyk and Kazimierz Wrześniewski, Morris Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), Questionnaire to Study a Sense of Control (KBPK) by Grażyna Krasowicz and Anna Kurzyp-Wojnarska, Three-Factor State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (TISCO) by Charles Spielberg and K. Wrześniewski, Parental Attitudes Scale (SPR) by Mieczysław Plopa, and Questionnaire to Investigate Strategies for Coping with a Social Conflict Situation by Parents in the Perception of a Child (SRwSK) by Danuta Borecka-Biernat. The empirical research was carried out in the junior high schools and comprised 893 adolescent (468 girls and 425 boys) aged 13–15. The research showed that judging the conflict as a threat, a higher evaluation of the physical characteristics of a young person, a strong belief in the influence of others on the positive and negative effects of the events, and the response with anger in interpersonal situations posing a threat to ‘I’ coincide with an aggressive coping strategy of adolescents in the social conflict situation. Moreover, the analysis of the results has shown that the adolescents’ aggressive way of reacting to emotional tension, which arises in the social confl ict situation, is shaped by the parents’ inadequate educational attitude of the emotional distance towards their adolescent child, as well as by the parents’ aggressive pattern of reacting to the conflict.

Procrastination Behaviors in Students of Junior High School, High School, and University: A Comparative Analysis

Procrastination studies have a very short history in Poland, even though the data reveal a significant increase of procrastinators both among the students and the general population. The results of the present study concern the interrelations between age, gender, and the tendency to procrastinate. Three educational stages (junior high school, high school, and university) were taken into account.
The study was carried out with the use of the PSS questionnaire of Steel (2010) adapted by Stępień and Cieciuch with corrections suggested by Marlena Stępień and Ewa Topolewska (2014). The highest rates of procrastination were noted in the high school students and the lowest ones in the junior high school students. Moreover, the rate of procrastination behaviors was higher in girls than in boys on both those educational levels. That tendency gets reversed only on the university level and solely in the non-adaptive aspect of procrastination.

Selected Determinants of Attitudes of Emerging Adults towards Old Age and Seniors

The number of elderly people in the population is constantly increasing. The seniors’ wellbeing relies heavily not only upon the activities they undertake but also on the attitude of the society toward them. Of particular importance is the attitude of the emerging adults, because it is at this stage that the process of the identity formation takes place. The aim of the study was to discover the state of knowledge, attitudes, and the frequency and quality of contacts with elderly people among the emerging adults. 180 students (87 women and 93 men) aged 18–25 (M = 22.5) participated in the study. The following tools were applied: the author’s own questionnaire to measure the contact frequency and quality, the Kogan’s Attitudes Towards Old People, and the Palmore’s Facts on Aging Quiz. Emerging adults have proven to hold ambivalent attitudes toward old people. A signifi cant correlation has been found between the knowledge and the attitudes. The frequency of contact with elderly people was negatively correlated with the intensity of the negative attitude. The quality of contact with elderly people differentiates the emerging adults’ attitudes.

The Levinsonian Dream in Relation to Fatherhood. Research on Students in Novice Phase.

This paper presents a way of conceptualization of the Levinsonian Dream in relation to fatherhood and describes its shape in men at the novice phase in the following aspects: family planning, fatherhood valuing, one’s own preparation to fatherhood, taking part in a child’s life, and the relationship between fatherhood and other men activities. Research based on the author’s own survey concerning the Dream in relation to fatherhood was conducted on a sample of 33 male students aged 22–29. Qualitative and quantitative analysis has shown a substantial differentiation of men in terms of the extension, coherence, order, and realism of the Dream in relation to their future fatherhood. Rarely it constituted the main part of a holistic Dream describing the vision of their adult life, and in most cases it contained elements derived from both traditional and modern models of the father’s role.

Psychological Determinants of Marital Satisfaction among Older Couples.Perspective of Lars Tornstam’s Theory of Gerotranscendence – Multilevel Modeling Approach

Studies into the determinants of marital satisfaction are today a significant research area in psychology. The investigations conducted so far involve mainly the couples at the stages of early and middle adulthood. Relatively few studies focus on identification of the factors of marital success specific to the late adulthood, on  determining the degree of similarity (fit) of spouses in terms of these factors and its impact on marital satisfaction of seniors. The purpose of this article is to identify the subject variables relevant to marital satisfaction of elderly people, both at the level of an individual and a couple. The study involved 120 participants (60 marriages) aged 60–75. We used 9 psychological methods to measure: marital satisfaction (KDM-2), life balance (KBŻ), religiousness (SRSZ), styles of coping with stress (CISS), self-esteem (SES), hope for success (KNS), location of health control (MHLC), value system (SWS), valuation crisis (KKW), and emotional intelligence (INTE). The results confirmed the complexity of the construct of marital satisfaction and allowed to identify the key predictors of happiness in marriage at old age