Katarina Sokić

Prison social climate represents enduring social, emotional, organisational and physical characteristics of a correctional institution as perceived by inmates and correctional staff. Prison social climate may be attributed partly to the shared environment and common characteristics of individual prisoners in the unit/prison. It is assumed that prison social climate also exerts lasting, post-incarceration effects. Thus, this study aims to describe the potential criminogenic impacts of different prison social climate dimensions on prisoners' behaviour within prison and upon release. Among reviewed prison social climate dimensions, observed staff-prisoner relationships, prisoner-to-prisoner relationships, and observed levels of safety are considered the most important determinants of prison social climate. Despite the conceptual and methodological diversity of the reviewed studies, it could be concluded that prisoners who rated their institutional experiences more negatively, especially in terms of in-prison relationships and security, were more likely to misbehave in prison and were more likely to (re)offend.

In Croatian prisons, there is a relatively high prevalence of offenders convicted for abuse of narcotic drugs (Art173/2, CC/97) who are heterogeneous in terms of their characteristics. Determining the relationship between the characteristics of those offenders and their behaviour before and during the execution of prison sentences helps predict their future behaviour. Therefore, this study aims to determine the profile of perpetrators of crimes related to the abuse of narcotic drugs, to investigate potential differences among subgroups of these perpetrators, and to examine whether they differ in the assessed risk for future criminal behaviour/probability of recidivism, penitentiary opinion on conditional release (CR), and Conditional release Committee decision on CR. We analysed penitentiaries’ reports with the opinion on CR for 111 male drug abuse offenders (Mage = 31; SDage = 6.51), containing rich data related to various offenders’ characteristics and behaviours. Specifically, we analysed offenders’ socio-demographic and anamnestic data, previous convictions, imposed security measures with sentence, proposed special obligations with CR, elements from the individual programs for the execution of prison sentence, mitigating and aggravating circumstances of committing the crime, positive reasons in prisoners’ application for CR, and penitentiaries’ explanations in support of the prisoners’ application for CR. The conducted cluster analysis did not show statistically significant differences between subgroups of offenders in the assessed risk for future criminal behaviour/probability of recidivism, penitentiary opinion on CR, and Conditional release Committee decision on CR, but there were low to moderate correlations between specific offenders' characteristics and these variables.

Impulsive buying is a growing problem of modern society with significant financial and psychological consequences, and it is necessary to examine the mechanisms underlying it. Understanding the mechanisms driving this behaviour is crucial. Impulsive buying consists of two key aspects: a cognitive aspect, characterised by a lack of planning and reflection, and an affective aspect, involving emotional responses that can occur before, during, or after a purchase. This study aimed to explore the relationship between personality traits, as measured by the HEXACO model, and tendencies toward impulsive buying. Specifically, it examined how the HEXACO traits differentially predict the cognitive and affective components of impulsive buying tendencies.

In the realm of digital transformation, effective leadership and motivation are pivotal for organisations navigating the complexities of today’s systems. This study explores the intersection of intrinsic motivation and mental well-being among mature students—an analogy that sheds light on strategies applicable to organisational contexts. In developed nations like the UK, mental health for mature students is increasingly recognised as a crucial component of their educational journey. Mature students, who typically enrol in higher education after an educational gap and upon turning 21, often face specific challenges that can impact their mental well-being while pursuing academic goals. The primary objective of our study was to assess the relationship between intrinsic motivation and the mental well-being of mature students. The study included 248 full-time undergraduate mature students enrolled in private higher education institutions in the UK. These participants were 21 years and older. The research employed two measurement scales: the four-item Intrinsic Motivation Scale, adapted from Jaramillo, and the Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale. Data collection utilised online Google Forms with multiple choice self-report formatted questions, and our analysis involved both descriptive and inferential statistics. Our research revealed a significant positive correlation between variables of intrinsic motivation and mental well-being. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) results confirmed the construct in the model. The results indicated that intrinsic motivation significantly predicts mental well-being among mature students (Cohen’s effect size value, f² = 0.54). Recognising and addressing the unique difficulties individuals encounter and providing appropriate support can enhance their well-being and contribute to the overall success of the higher education community.

In the realm of digital transformation, effective leadership and motivation are pivotal for organisations navigating the complexities of today’s systems. This study explores the intersection of intrinsic motivation and mental well-being among mature students—an analogy that sheds light on strategies applicable to organisational contexts. In developed nations like the UK, mental health for mature students is increasingly recognised as a crucial component of their educational journey. Mature students, who typically enrol in higher education after an educational gap and upon turning 21, often face specific challenges that can impact their mental well-being while pursuing academic goals. The primary objective of our study was to assess the relationship between intrinsic motivation and the mental well-being of mature students. Our research revealed a significant positive correlation between these two variables. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) results supported a one-factor solution for the sample data from mature students. Additionally, we found that intrinsic motivation is a significant predictor of the mental well-being of mature students. Recognising and addressing the unique difficulties individuals encounter and providing appropriate support can enhance their well-being and contribute to the overall success of the higher education community.

The main aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between Dark Tetrad traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy and sadism) and ability emotional intelligence dimensions – self-emotion appraisal, others’ emotion appraisal, use of emotion and regulation of emotion. The Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale, Short Dark Triad and Assessment of Sadistic Personality were applied to a sample of 322 participants from the general population (63% women) of Croatia. Results showed that both psychopathy and sadism had negative relations with emotional intelligence. Sadism showed significant effects on self-emotion appraisal, others’ emotion appraisal, and use of emotion dimensions, while psychopathy showed significant effect on regulation of emotion. Machiavellianism negatively correlated to a weaker degree with self-emotion appraisal and others’ emotion appraisal, but it showed no significant effects on emotional intelligence dimensions in regression analysis. Narcissism showed positive effects on EI as a whole, use of emotion and self-emotion appraisal. The results highlighted the importance of the dark traits in the explanation of emotional intelligence and showed that the dark traits are differently associated with emotional intelligence dimensions.

One of the most prominent models of psychopathy operationalizes this construct as consisting of four factors: interpersonal, affective, lifestyle and antisocial traits. These traits show different relationship patterns with other constructs, and these relations may differ in men and women. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the relations between psychopathic traits and indicators of emotional distress (depression, anxiety and stress), differ between men and women. Data was collected on 650 students (60% women) at the University of Zagreb. The results of Canonical Correlation Analysis indicated that affective psychopathic traits have adaptive potential and represent a protective factor for experiencing emotional distress, while Lifestyle and Antisocial behavior represent risk factors for emotional distress. Moreover, sex had a moderating role in the relationship between Interpersonal and Lifestyle traits and distress, indicating that psychopathic traits seem to be more adaptive in males, compared to females.