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  • Psychopathy and behavior problems: a comparison of incarcerated male and female juvenile delinquents
    Publication . Pechorro, Pedro Santos; Vieira, Duarte Nuno; Poiares, Carlos Alberto; Vieira, Rui Xavier; Maroco, Joao; Neves de Jesus, Saul; Nunes, Cristina
    The objective of the present study was to compare incarcerated male and female juvenile offenders regarding psychopathic traits, behavior problems, psychopathy taxon, conduct disorder, self-reported delinquent behavior, and crime seriousness. Within a total forensic sample of 261 detainee participants, subdivided in a male group (n = 217) and a female group (n = 44), statistically significant differences were found. Female juvenile offenders show less callous-unemotional traits, more emotional symptoms, more prosocial behaviors, less self-reported delinquent behavior, and lower crime seriousness. Conduct disorder prevalence was very high, but no statistically significant gender differences were found. The predictive importance of psychopathic traits, behavior problems, psychopathy taxon, and conduct disorder for the prediction of group membership (female versus male) was established by binary logistic regression. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
  • Review of optimism, creativity and spirituality in tourism research
    Publication . Garces, Soraia; Pocinho, Margarida; Neves de Jesus, Saul
    Purpose - Optimism, creativity, and spirituality are important variables in Positive Psychology that can lead to better lives. The authors believe these are also fundamental concepts that can bring a new understanding of the tourism experiences, particularly in the current trend of the 'experience economy'. The study aimed to explore optimism, creativity, and spirituality from a Positive Psychology perspective on tourism settings to deepen the understanding of the state of the art and develop ideas for improvement of tourism research experiences Design - An extensive systematic literature review was developed anchored on PRISMA (2009) guidelines. The search engine Online Knowledge Library (B-On) was used and the search terms 'Optimism', 'Creativity' and 'Spirituality' crossed individually with 'Tourism', 'Travel' and 'Visitor'. In-depth analysis considering the chosen inclusion/exclusion criteria were undertaken concluding with a sample of 31 references. Findings - Overall, results showed a lack of optimism studies on tourism, leading to an urgent need to endeavor in the challenge of developing research. Creativity in tourism is mainly used as a background for the place and its culture and considers organizational, structural and product innovation development. Further, tourism can be seen as a spiritual activity seeking personal enrichment and fulfillment. Originality of the research - This study considers three variables not usually applied to tourism contexts as is clear by the low number of references found. The application of these and consequently of Positive Psychology on tourism is per se new, allowing the emergence of novel and important discussions on tourism.
  • Teacher motivation: bibliometric analysis of the relationship with individual and organizational variables, and work attitudes
    Publication . Viseu, João; Neves de Jesus, Saul; Quevedo-Blasco, Raul; Rus, Claudia L.; Canavarro, Jose M.
    Teachers' motivation is essential to the success of educational policies. When studying this concept, it is necessary to examine school and teacher characteristics. Due to the relevance of this theme, it becomes crucial to analyze the body of research conducted about it, taking into account organizational variables -as schools are organizations-but also psychological capital and work satisfaction. Therefore, a bibliometric study was conducted using Web of Science (WoS) database, having defined the search period for the years 2000-2013 and only considering works that belong to the psychology field. 33 documents in total fulfilled the inclusion criteria, where it was verified that: (a) 2012 was the year with most publications; (b) work satisfaction was the concept which was most frequently studied, along with teacher motivation; (c) the educational psychology category had the most documents; and (d) English was the dominant language in these works. The United States of America and Canada obtained the highest values in the following bibliometric indicators: number of documents (Ndoc) and number of researchers (Nres), and Israel had a higher level of productivity (Prod) than the other countries. The results and their implications are discussed. Copyright (C) 2014, Konrad Lorenz University Foundation. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC BY-NC ND Licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).
  • Coping as a moderator of the influence of economic stressors on psychological health
    Publication . Neves de Jesus, Saul; Leal, Ana Rita; Viseu, J.; Matavelli, Rafaela Dias; Pereira, Joana; Greenglass, Esther; Pinto, Patrícia
    Since 2008, there has been a decline in the economy of several European countries, including Portugal. In the literature, it is emphasized that periods of economic uncertainty propitiate the appearance of mental health problems and diminish populations? well-being. The aim of the present study, with 729 Portuguese participants, 33.9% (n=247) males and 66.1% (n=482) females with an average age of 37 years old (M=36.99; SD=12.81), was to examine the relationship between economic hardship, financial threat, and financial well-being (i.e., economic stressors) and stress, anxiety, and depression (i.e., psychological health indicators), as well as to test the moderation effect of coping in the aforementioned relationship. To achieve these goals, a cross-sectional design was implemented and structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the obtained data. Our results underline that coping affects the relationship between economic stressors and psychological health since subjects with lower coping levels are more vulnerable to economic stress factors than those with higher coping levels. The moderation effect was more evident in the relationships between economic hardship and stress, anxiety, and depression. The main implications of this study are presented, as well as its? limitations and suggestions for future research.
  • Validity and reliability evidence of the psychological capital questionnaire-12 in a sample of Mexican workers
    Publication . Santana-Cardenas, Soraya; Viseu, João; Lopez Nunez, Maria Inmaculada; Neves de Jesus, Saul
    Psychological capital is a construct that is included in the positive organizational behavior framework, which is based on positive psychology principles. This concept is composed by four dimensions, self-efficacy, hope, resilience, and optimism, which have a synergistic action. The aim of this study was to report the psychometric properties of one of the measures of psychological capital, the Psychological Capital Questionnaire-12 (PCQ-12), in a sample of 396 Mexican workers. This instruments' factor structure was analyzed through a confirmatory factor analysis. Reliability was assessed with the Cronbach's Alpha and Composite Reliability coefficients. Furthermore, convergent and discriminant validity were also evaluated. Based on three concurrent models, it was observed that the model which possessed a better fit was composed by four-correlated factors. The implications of these results are discussed, and recommendations are provided for future researches. This paper, which presents a different factor structure than the usual of psychological capital, suggests that cultural differences may play a crucial role on the way the assessed construct behaves.
  • A criação e gestão de miniempresas na sala de aula: opiniões dos alunos e professores participantes do Programa Empreender na Escola
    Publication . Imaginario, Susana; Cristo, Euridice; Neves de Jesus, Saul; Morais, Fatima
    The Entrepreneurship in the School Program is an educational program aiming to promote the development of skills in the area of entrepreneurship through the creation and management of "Import/Export" pupil enterprises, operating in commercial partnerships and exchanging products that later were sold in the local community. Conducted under the Strategic Program of "Network of Cities and Urban Competitiveness and Innovation of the Blue Corridor" it was implemented in 12 schools in 7 counties of the Alentejo region, Portugal, involving 281 students and 27 teachers from the primary and secondary education levels, organized into 18 pupil enterprises and 9 commercial partnerships. Using a random sample of participants including students and teachers, we aimed to know their opinion about the development of the project, as well as their views of their participation using a questionnaire developed for the purpose. The results demonstrated that the establishment of interpersonal relationships was very important to the participants and should be maintained and encouraged in similar programs in the future. In addition, the bureaucracy of the Program should be reduced, allowing the pupil enterprises to start selling their " imported" products earlier.
  • Attitudes of adolescents regarding health: evaluation of a school-based health promotion program in Seville, Spain
    Publication . Lima-Serrano, Marta; Neves de Jesus, Saul; Salvador Lima-Rodriguez, Joaquin
    The study examined differences in attitudes regarding health within students in their fourth year of mandatory secondary school in Seville, Spain. The students were divided into two groups according to their participation in the "Forma Joven" health promotion program. A descriptive and bivariate analysis was conducted. As there were no significant differences in the socio-demographic characteristics of the two groups, the groups were considered homogeneous. Attitudes were also similar in both groups. Statistically significant differences were only found in the level of danger assigned to two of the thirteen transit situations explored: "not using a seatbelt" and "entering a vehicle when the driver has been drinking," with the lower level of risk corresponding to the group of students participating in the program. These findings are consistent with the results of previous studies and invites reflection upon the effectiveness of such programs. In the case of the "Forma Joven" program, the ineffectiveness could be attributable to a lack of systematization in the program's implementation. In the future, interventions to increase the effectiveness of the program should be proposed.
  • Psychological Capital of Spanish Workers: Confirmatory Factor Analysis of PCQ-12
    Publication . Inmaculada Lopez-Nunez, Ma; Neves de Jesus, Saul; Viseu, João; Santana-Cardenas, Soraya
    Background: The concept of positive psychological capital draws from the study of positive organizational behavior and refers to a psychological state characterized by self-efficacy, hope, resilience, and optimism that can be developed and related to job performance. Methods: This paper analyzed the reliability and factorial structure of the Psychological Capital Questionnaire-12 (PCQ-12) in a sample composed by Spanish workers (N = 339), from different professional sectors, through a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results: The analysis assessed a model with four-correlated factors competing with a second-order model proposed by the authors of this instrument. The results of the adjustment and reliability values of the dimensions are discussed in light of various studies which differ from our model or support it along with its limitations and contributes. Conclusion: Our results indicate the need to contemplate this instrument's sensitivity towards cultural differences, both geographical and organizational.