Browsing by Author "Booth, Robert W."

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Citation - WoS: 1
Citation - Scopus: 1
Estimated Probabilities of Positive, Vs. Negative, Events Show Separable Correlations With Covid-19 Preventive Behaviours
(Elsevier, 2022) Aksu, Ayça; Booth, Robert W.; Yavuz, Burak Baran; Peker, Müjde
Research has associated optimism with better health-protective behaviours, but few studies have measured optimism or pessimism directly, by asking participants to estimate probabilities of events. We used these probability estimates to examine how optimism and/or pessimism relate to protecting oneself from COVID-19. When COVID-19 first reached Turkey, we asked a snowball sample of 494 Istanbul adults how much they engaged in various COVID-protective behaviours. They also estimated the probabilities of their catching COVID-19, and of other positive and negative events happening to them. Estimated probability of general positive events (optimism) correlated positively with officially-recommended helpful behaviours (e.g. wearing masks), but not with less-helpful behaviours (e.g. sharing ‘alternative’ COVID-related information online). Estimated probabilities of general negative events (pessimism), or of catching COVID, did not correlate significantly with helpful COVID-related behaviours; but they did correlate with psychopathological symptoms, as did less-helpful COVID-related behaviours. This shows important nuances can be revealed by measuring optimism and pessimism, as separate variables, using probability estimates.
Citation - WoS: 7
Citation - Scopus: 9
Relationships Among Self-Construal, Gender, Social Dominance Orientation, and Interpersonal Distance
(Wiley, 2018) Eke, Aylin; Booth, Robert W.; Peker, Müjde
The present research focuses on the cognitive embodiment of physical proximity,through interpersonal distance’s relationship with self‐construal, gender, and socialdominance orientation. Previous work showed that more independent self‐construalwas associated with higher distancing preferences of participants, and that femalestend to have higher interdependent self‐construal that lead them to prefer less interpersonal distance. We expected to replicate these findings. However, due to the relationship between power and interpersonal distance, it was argued that gender andperceptions regarding the social hierarchy would also play a role in predicting interpersonal distance. More specifically, it was predicted that while females who accept social hierarchies between males and females would prefer more distance when interacting with males, males would not differ in their preference for social distance.One hundred participants (67 female) completed the Comfortable Interpersonal Distance Scale, Independent and Interdependent Self‐Construal Scales and the Social Dominance Orientation Scale. Interdependent self‐construal was negatively correlated with overall preferred interpersonal distance. Moreover, females high on social dominance orientation preferred larger interpersonal distance from male adult strangers than from female adult strangers. The findings provide further support for the embodiment of self‐construal by showing that psychological closeness and heteronomy are related to physical closeness. The findings also highlight the importance of investigating communal sharing and authority ranking dimensions simultaneously when focusing on interpersonal distance as well as differentiating females’ interpersonal sensitivity due to low power with their high affiliation.