Parental adultcentrism, organisational trust, and doping myths
Contents
- Therapeutic use of prohibited substances in elite sport
- The impact of a university music gymnastics course on creativity
- Challenges and trends in digital inequalities among young people
- Organisational trust as a cornerstone in an unpredictable business environment
- When “Can I help you?” hurts – microaggressions against Roma
- “Are children the future?” – Adultcentrism among parents
- The functioning of procedural memory in Tourette syndrome
Therapeutic use of prohibited substances in elite sport
Over the last century, several international federations have created anti-doping rules, including a list of prohibited substances and methods, which includes several commonly used therapeutic substances. It has therefore become necessary to establish a procedure that allows athletes to receive appropriate treatment during competitions through therapeutic use exemptions.
This study uses official records to analyse the prevalence of Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) at the Olympic and Paralympic Games between 2016 and 2022. The results show that therapeutic use exemptions are rare: 0.90% among Olympic athletes and 2.76% among Paralympic athletes. The most commonly involved substances were glucocorticoids and stimulants. The study concludes that the low prevalence of TUEs reinforces the integrity and proper functioning of the system, thus promoting fair competition and protecting the health of the athletes.
The impact of a university music gymnastics course on creativity
In the 21st century, creativity is considered to be the most effective of all cognitive abilities and the most usable human ability in the long term. In order to develop it, it is necessary to use teaching methods that promote autonomy, cooperation and thinking in terms of possibilities. Psychomotor activities can be used to promote creativity. The movement material of gymnastics combined with music and dance offers a wealth of opportunities to promote creativity. In the study by Alexandra Mikó and Katalin Kovács, the aim was to develop the creativity of university students through a 13-week music gymnastics course, incorporating methods that support autonomy. At the end of the intervention, the overall creativity score of the study group showed a minimal decrease, while the score of the control group showed an increase. In terms of motivation, the scores for the extrinsic motivation subfactors decreased and for the intrinsic motivation-acquisition subfactor increased in the study group; in contrast, the control group scored higher on the extrinsic motivation subfactors. Regarding the self-assembled gymnastics routines, the study group designed a significantly more varied routine at the end of the intervention. These trend-level results are encouraging and raise further questions, which in turn may inspire further investigation.
Challenges and trends in digital inequalities among young people
Béla Bauer and András Déri examined some key aspects of digital inequalities among young people aged 15-29, based on data from a quadrennial large-sample youth survey conducted between 2000 and 2020. Their study shows that although access to technology increased significantly during this period, classical dimensions of inequality still affected access opportunities in 2020. While initially the privilege of regular access to the internet was reserved for those well-provided with cultural capital, this connection faded over time. Today, access can mainly be explained with material-economic factors, and cultural inequalities are reflected along the lines of usage skills and habits.
Organisational trust as a cornerstone in an unpredictable business environment
The social and economic events of recent years have triggered a series of changes in organisations and had a powerful impact on workplace dynamics and relationships. The dimension of stability has become more important, with trust, psychological security, and resilience being determining factors. Trust is a hidden factor and, at the same time, an opportunity in the organisation, whose conscious development and promotion can prove to be a key factor in today’s unpredictable business environment. The ability to build, stabilise, maintain and restore organisational trust is therefore one of the most important leadership competencies in the current global economy. The article reviews the most important theoretical aspects of this topic and calls for trust to become a focus for organisations: if organisations build on trust, they are more likely to more effectively meet the challenges of an uncertain and unpredictable business environment. High levels of trust and the ensuing psychology security contribute to a positive workplace atmosphere and efficient operations.
When “Can I help you?” hurts – microaggressions against Roma
The research of Boglárka Nyúl and her colleagues examined the shopping experiences of Roma people in Hungary, a group that is often exposed to hidden discrimination. The retail environment often becomes a site of hidden prejudice. Roma shoppers often feel themselves under surveillance, which puts an emotional burden on them and presents them with a dilemma: confront discrimination and possibly make a difference, or avoid conflict entirely. The research highlights how even seemingly innocent interactions, like a store clerk’s “Can I help you?”, can be experienced as microaggressions by Roma shoppers, who often interpret this question as the clerk’s assumption that they are going to steal. The authors highlight the psychological and emotional burden of these interactions that Roma people must face almost every time they enter a public space.
The study encourages greater awareness and sensitivity among majority groups and retail workers in recognizing hidden biases and creating a more inclusive society.
“Are children the future?” – Adultcentrism among parents
“You don’t understand yet.” “Don’t be so childish.” These are typical adult-centric phrases that children often hear from us adults. Adultcentrism means that we judge children’s abilities and problems from an adult perspective, which distorts our view of them. This adultcentrism is also reflected in our thinking about the responsibilities and development of children and may influence how we raise children, especially the extent to which we involve them in our decisions. For the first time in Hungary, the authors of this study investigated the characteristics of this mindset bias and its relationship with parenting. Their online questionnaire survey involved 422 parents raising children aged 4-11. Their analysis shows that extreme forms of such bias are rare among Hungarian parents, and moderate levels of bias are not associated with negative parenting behaviours. The results show that two main types of adult-centred thinking are typical of Hungarian parents: on the one hand, they tend to think of children in future-oriented terms (“they will become somebody”), and on the other hand, they tend to underestimate children’s agency. The study also draws attention to differences between fashionable concepts such as ageism, childism and adultcentrism.
The functioning of procedural memory in Tourette syndrome
Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by repetitive movements and vocalisations, called tics. On the neural level, tics can be connected to the frontostriatal circuits, which also play a prominent role in procedural memory. Procedural memory enables us to extract repeating patterns from our environment and it also underlies skill-based and habitual behaviour. The present review summarises findings on procedural memory in TS. Results are mixed: some aspects of procedural memory seem to be impaired in TS, whereas other aspects appear intact or even enhanced. The study describes these results in the context of the neural background and outlines possible explanations for the different results as well as directions for further research.