Introduction: This article examines mediators and moderators that may explain the link between smartphone addiction and phubbing behavior using a sample of 794 university students.Methods: A mediation model was tested to test the hypothesis that social comparison orientation and fear of missing out would mediate the link between smartphone addiction and phubbing behavior. Additionally, a moderated mediation model was leveraged to examine loneliness as a moderator within the hypothesized model. The data collected were analyzed using SPSS.Results and Discussion: The findings show a significant positive relationship between smartphone addiction and phubbing behavior. The findings confirm the hypothesized associations and reveal that smartphone addiction is positively linked to phubbing behavior. The link, on the other hand, is partially and sequentially mediated by the fear of missing out and social comparison orientation. As a result, both mediators might be regarded as proximal variables of phubbing behavior. Moreover, the associations between both smart addiction and phubbing behaviors as well as social comparison orientation and phubbing behaviors are moderated by loneliness. These two effects were stronger for university students with high loneliness than for those with low loneliness. This study addresses a major gap in the clinical psychology literature through the attempt to explore the relationship between smartphone addiction and increased phubbing behavior among university students.

(1) Background: The present study investigated the relationships between social identity, core self-evaluation, school adaptation, and mental health problems in migrant children, and the mechanism underlying these relationships; (2) Methods: The participants were migrant middle school students in China. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS version 26. A survey comprising the social identity scale, core self-evaluation scale, school adaptation scale, and mental health scale MMHI-60 was deployed; (3) Results: Findings indicated a significant and negative association between social identity and mental health problems, and such an association was sequentially mediated by core self-evaluation and school adaptation. Furthermore, core self-evaluation and school adaptation played a chain mediation role between social identity and migrant children’s mental health problems; (4) Conclusions: It is crucial to improve social identity, core self-evaluation, and school adaptation to reduce mental health problems among this population. Therefore, the research results provide a new direction for promoting the development of mental health education for migrant workers and their children in China.

Despite the centrality of afterlife reward and punishment beliefs in the religious life of Muslims, few empirical studies have sought to understand how such beliefs affect the psychological state and social behavior of Muslims. Past scant related studies have concluded that these beliefs are unhealthy, because they are positively associated with anxiety and death anxiety. This finding contradicts a central notion in Islamic theology, which states that avoiding afterlife punishment and obtaining afterlife reward is the primary motive for Muslim religiosity. The current study attempts to deepen our understanding of how Islamic afterlife reward and punishment beliefs affect the psychological state of Muslims. The study suggests that the influence of Islamic afterlife beliefs on well-being can be better understood from the perspective of meaning management theory as well as through the eudaimonistic tradition of well-being. This study has two goals: To develop the Islamic Afterlife Reward and Punishment Beliefs (IARPB) scale, and to examine the relationship between IARPB and Muslim religiosity, death anxiety, death acceptance and integrity. Data were collected from Jordanian university students (N = 605). Exploratory and confirmatory analyses support the construct validity of the IARPB Scale. IARPB positively predicted Muslim religiosity, death anxiety, death acceptance, and integrity. Results of ad hoc analysis indicated that IARPB suppresses death anxiety and amplifies death acceptance by increasing Muslim religiosity. In general, the results indicate a positive relationship between IARPB and the psychological state of Muslims. The limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are discussed.

(1) Background: Social capital linking, bridging, and bonding have become fascinating options for sustainable development in rural Malaysia. (2) Objective: The aims of this research were (i) to evaluate how leadership styles affect the social capital in rural Malaysia, and (ii) to examine the moderating role of motivation in enhancing these relationships. (3) Methods: The researchers utilized a quantitative approach to analyze data collected through a self-administered survey involving 190 members of the Village Development and Security Committee (JKKK) in Malaysia. The concept of “leadership quality” was measured based on transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership, while “motivations” cover its extrinsic and intrinsic components. The data were analyzed using a structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. (4) Results: The findings reveal that transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership types are essential to increase social capital in rural Malaysia. It may therefore be suggested that community leadership and its effective styles should be nurtured within the rural community to address more complex problems regarding social capital development. On top of that, extrinsic and intrinsic motivations also appeared to be significant moderating factors in determining social capital development in rural Malaysia. (5) Conclusions: Based on the results, community leaders with different leadership styles may offer better social benefits to the rural community by using various incentives to engage rural residents in facilitating social activities. (6) Policy recommendations: This study suggests further implications for academics and policy makers focused on social capital for sustainable rural development in Malaysia.

The purgatory doctrine, which has played a vital role in Christian culture, states that most believers must experience afterlife punishment in order to be cleansed of their sins before entering Heaven. Traditional Islamic theology rejects the notion of purgatory (Al-Motahher) through the Balance doctrine (Mizan), which states that if the good deeds performed during a Muslim’s life outweigh their bad deeds, the person will enter heaven without suffering or punishment. This study hypothesizes that folk intuitions and cognitive biases (tendency to proportionality) explain, in part, the emergence and spread of the purgatory doctrine in the Islamic world. Drawing on a cognitive science of religion lens, the current study examines this hypothesis in an Islamic cultural context. Quantitative surveys (three studies) conducted in Jordan (n = 605, and n = 239) and Malaysia (n = 303) indicate that the doctrine of purgatory is prevalent (36% in Jordan and 69% in Malaysia) despite its contradiction with the Balance doctrine as defined by Islamic theology. To our knowledge, this is the first study documenting the phenomenon of theological incorrectness in Muslim afterlife beliefs by using empirical research. Implementation of the findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The psychological and social effects of the doctrine of purgatory (temporary afterlife punishment) have not received sufficient attention from sociologists. Temporary afterlife punishment (TAP) is any kind of ‘temporary’ torment a person believes they will receive after death as a result of one’s sins, before admission into heaven/paradise. Investigating the effects of TAP beliefs can help to understand their social impact on contemporary Islamic societies. Drawing on related research on the Protestant ethic hypothesis, and self-control theory, the present study theorized the negative psychological and social impact of TAP. We argue that the effect of the Predestination doctrine on pro-sociality is best attributed to the Protestant denial of belief in TAP, and that the positive impact of afterlife punishment beliefs on self-control and prosocial behavior decreases with belief in TAP. To test these hypotheses, we first developed the Temporary Afterlife Punishment Expectations (TAPE) scale and examined the relationship between TAPE and self-control, rule-breaking ability, and integrity (as an indicator of prosocial behavior). Data were collected from Muslim youth in two countries (Jordan N = 605 and Malaysia N = 303). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the Jordanian data support the construct validity of the TAPE scale. In line with our hypotheses, path analysis results supported the negative effects of TAPE on self-control, rule-breaking ability, and integrity. Replicating the study with the Malaysian sample led to similar results. Future research directions are recommended.