The 2020 jSchool – Virtual

The jSchool offers the chance to gain valuable experience in designing cross-cultural research in small groups under supervision of early-career researchers. The event is a platform for psychology students to conduct research in an international setting and in their field of interest, with the aim to produce meaningful insights suitable for publication in scientific journals.

This year’s jSchool will run from the 6th of July to the 11th of July. The application period for jSchool 2020 closed on June 1st, applications for jSchool 2021 will open early next year for Supervisors and in Spring for students.

Venue update: A virtual format

In light of the COVID-19 travel restrictions on global movement and to protect your health, we have gotten creative to continue to offer opportunities to motivated students for the 2020-2021 JRP year. Therefore, jSchool 2020 will look a little different as we bring the programme online into a virtual format. At jSchool Virtual, you can expect an exciting and fulfilling week unlike any conference or workshop. You will spend several hours each day online with your research group, during which we expect that you will focus on discussing literature, theory, and objectives of the study. You and your team will be asked to produce an appropriate design and management plan for the project and to present it to the rest of the participants at the end of the jSchool week. Students will have the chance to meet the organising team, supervisors, guest lecturers, and student participants. Alongside the jSchool, you will be able to obtain a deeper knowledge about the JRP and all the unique opportunities it can offer to you. Throughout the week, guest lectures, an open conference, and career seminars will be complimented by informal coffee conversations with JRP Alumni and other social and networking opportunities.

Theme

The theme of the 2020 jSchool will concern the field of Development: Psychological science for the next generation.
This has been selected to allow the participants to explore current psychological challenges and opportunities within a growing area, which allows them to apply their skills to a diverse range of academic fields. Each year we select projects that vary across multiple domains of knowledge, methods, applications, and public interest.

Projects

The following projects have been selected for the 2020 jSchool.

Deconstruction of personal values: Cross-national replication study

One of the most stable theories in psychology (Schwartz theory of basic values) suggests ten personal value priorities positioned in a circumplex indicating relationships among them. However, recent studies are indicating differences in construing of value priorities depending on the context and age. This project will position the meaning behind the construct of personal values in a historical and social context by examining the replicability of the theory of basic values in different countries. The study will be conducted on the sample of emerging adults using a mix-methodology framework.

The Futures in the Present: The Relationship between Personal and Societal Development

What do people imagine might happen in the future, and how is that related to the actual present, past, and the future? The research team will explore the relationship between ontogenesis (personal development) and sociogenesis (societal development) in the case of imagining collective futures. We will conduct two applications of a survey about what people in different cultural and socio-economic contexts imagine might happen in the future, how that corresponds to current events, their political attitudes, personality traits and attitudes towards the future (e.g., optimism, openness, tolerance for ambiguity), behaviours in the present (e.g., conservation, political engagement), and how people creatively construct personal narratives of the future from available cultural resources (e.g., media discourses, fiction).

The dimensionality of political ideology in boomers and zoomers: A grassroots approach

The issues youth is facing today may differ from what their (grand)parents deem important. As “boomers”, perceived by youth as anyone who is old and out of touch, are the demographic group most likely to vote (and be elected), politics is incentivized to address their perceptions. In response, we will explore whether the “zoomers’” conceptualization of the political landscape is different from boomers’, and whether those differences, resulting in youth’s disconnect from current political discourse, could deter them from voting and engaging in other conventional/traditional civic behaviours.

Parent and child moderators of the relation between familial risk and child well-being

Early and middle-childhood risk is associated with a number of negative outcomes for children throughout their development. Using longitudinal data (child age 8-17), from 1421 families in 9 countries, we examine whether familial and child factors moderate the relation between childhood risk and child outcomes. Examining risk factors such as low SES and family chaos as predictors, youth impulsivity and parental warmth as moderators, and prosocial behavior, social competence and child adjustment as outcomes, we can test findings across new cultural groups and examine models of resiliency. For students who are able to do so, this project will encourage new data collection, but for those unable to access a new subject pool, an existing cross-national data set can be made available for analyses.

Using a Mouse-tracker to unravel peer influence in adolescence

Peer influence is cited as one of the strongest predictors of maladaptive behaviours in adolescents. Decades of social influence research suggested that social modelling is primarily motivated by the desire to belong to the modelled group, and to reduce uncertainty about what is the appropriate behaviour. Whereas the first motive received much research attention, there is still a paucity in research on the uncertainty reduction account. This may in part be due to lack of insight in one’s own uncertainty or reluctance to report it. Technologies such as mouse-tracker software provide new opportunities to unobtrusively measure if uncertainty is indeed reduced due to peer information.

Dietary habits, inhibition and spontaneous food intake in children: A cross-cultural study

A healthy and balanced diet is important for child development and growth, and prevention of obesity and non-communicable diseases later in life. Environmental factors that influence consumption such as large portion sizes, availability and positioning of certain products, are moderated by cognitive factors such as inhibitory control. The relationship between inhibition and food intake has been documented in adults, adolescents and children. However, the development of executive functions in children, including inhibition, may vary cross-culturally. Further, large developmental shifts in executive control occur across childhood, which may render certain age groups to be more at risk when exposed to unhealthy food. This study will examine the relationship between baseline cultural diets, development of inhibition and food intake in children from different European countries.