Mehmet Harma | Kadir Has University (original) (raw)

Papers by Mehmet Harma

Mediterranean Politics, 2020

We administer a survey of economic policy preferences to a representative sample of the Turkish v... more We administer a survey of economic policy preferences to a representative sample of the Turkish voting-age population. We show that policy preferences are distributed in non-linear ways that are at odds with what could be expected from a conventional left-right division. We find that while objective socioeconomic differences are bad at predicting economic policy preferences, the latter are distinctly associated with politically salient cleavages built on religiosity and ethnicity. We also examine how preferences of each party's voters compare with party programs.

Religiosity has been found to be positively associated with belief in free will (FW) in the Weste... more Religiosity has been found to be positively associated with belief in free will (FW) in the Western world. In the Muslim world, however, religiosity exhibits several characteristics that set it apart from the Western world, including an overemphasis on fate or divine predestination. We, therefore, investigated FW/determinism beliefs and different types of religiosity and conservatism in two samples in Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country (N = 1,690). In Study 1, a confirmatory factor analysis showed that FAD-Plus provided good fit to the data. Study 2 revealed that FW belief is not related to any of the religiosity measures (intrinsic, extrinsic, quest), whereas fatalistic determinism is consistently related to religiosity. The unique predictor of free will turned out to be belief in a just world. Overall, these findings indicate that FW belief is not inherently related to religiosity in Turkey, whereas fatalistic determinism is central to Turkish people’s belief systems.

Self-reported measures of driving skills have the potential shortcomings of the general self-repo... more Self-reported measures of driving skills have the potential shortcomings of the general self-report methodology such as social responding and self-enhancement biases. In the present study, the Implicit Association Test (IAT) procedure was adapted to measure the implicit evaluations of driving skills. The performance of IAT and an explicit, self-report measure of driving skills were compared in predicting driver behaviors and performance. Ninety-one Turkish male drivers participated in the study. The results showed that the implicit test and the self-reported driving skills scale showed different patterns of relationships with the outcome measures in the regression analyses. In addition, the implicit measure of driving skills moderated the relationship between self-reported driving skills and some of the outcome measures used in the current study. These results support the need to use the implicit measures in addition to self-report measures to better understand drivers evaluations of their driving skills, which has the potential to influence their risky driving.

The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between negative life events and emotional-b... more The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between negative life events and emotional-behavioral problems among adolescents from low SES; and the mediator role of self-regulation (SR) in this relationship. The study consisted of a sample of 358 7th and 8th grade-students living in Esenler neighborhood, İstanbul. Students were asked to complete a series of questionnaires, including Demographic Information Form, Life Events Checklist, Self-Regulation Inventory and Youth Self Report (YSR). Path Analysis was run to examine the associations between negative life events and internalizing-externalizing problems via self-regulation. Stability of these relationships across gender was also examined by multiple-group path analysis. Results showed that negative life events predicted both internalizing and externalizing problems directly and indirectly via self-regulation. As the number of negative life events increased, the level of self-regulation skills deteriorated, in turn, it predicted internalizing and externalizing problems. Negative life events more strongly predicted internalizing problems than externalizing problems, whereas self-regulation more strongly predicted externalizing problems than internalizing problems. Besides, the relationship between negative life events and emotional-behavioral problems, and the mediator role of self-regulation in the link between negative life events and problem behaviors did not change across gender. These findings were discussed in relation to the relevant literature focusing on the indicators and outcomes of self-regulation skills among adolescents.

Journal of Research in …, 2010

Although numerous studies examined how individual differences in mothers' discourse about their e... more Although numerous studies examined how individual differences in mothers' discourse about their early attachment experiences are associated with their caregiving behaviors toward their children, research examining how self-reported romantic attachment style is associated with maternal caregiving has been very limited. To help fill this gap, we examined whether self-reported romantic attachment style is associated with maternal caregiving behaviors observed in home settings. Mother-child interactions were observed for three hours and the mothers completed measures of attachment style and child temperament. Results indicated that attachment-related avoidance, but not attachment-related anxiety, was negatively associated with global maternal sensitivity, after controlling for the child's temperament. Consistent with the propositions of attachment theory, both attachment-related avoidance and anxiety were associated with specific caregiving themes.

a department of psychology, Middle east technical university, ankara, turkey; b department of psy... more a department of psychology, Middle east technical university, ankara, turkey; b department of psychology, istanbul Kemerburgaz university, istanbul, turkey; c department of psychology and Women's studies, university of Michigan, ann arbor, Michigan, usa

We examined culturally relevant gender differences in the attachment dimensions and their dyadic ... more We examined culturally relevant gender differences in the attachment dimensions and their dyadic associations with relationship functioning using a large sample (N = 1228). Considering that attachment avoidance is culturally incongruent with Turkish culture and there exist a sharp gender role difference in marriage, we anticipated that avoidance for women and anxiety for men would be strong dyadic predictors of satisfaction and conflict among married couples. Dyadic analyses revealed that attachment dimensions which are incongruent with cultural characteristics and gender roles predicted marital conflict and satisfaction. Avoidance, but not anxiety, had both actor and partner effects on marital satisfaction. Attachment anxiety of husbands, but not wives, was linked with marital conflict. Attachment avoidance seems to be a primary risk factor for satisfaction and attachment anxiety for conflict in the Turkish cultural context.

Two experiments investigated whether playing video games impaired subsequent self regulation. In ... more Two experiments investigated whether playing video games impaired subsequent self regulation. In Experiment 1 (n = 43), participants either played a video game (i.e. Quake III) for 10 minutes or just browsed the Internet for the same time interval. Participants in the video game condition had slower response time than participants in the no-game condition. In Experiment 2 (n = 94), participants either played Quake III, or watched Quake III game scenes, or they were asked to suppress their thought for 10 minutes. Participants in the game-playing condition and thought suppression condition showed less persistence on a given unsolvable anagram task than participants in the game-watching condition. Overall, the findings confirm the idea that playing video game consumes self-regulatory sources due to active instead of passive responses in a highly demanding game environment.

Previous work has documented that attachment security is systematically linked with child adjustm... more Previous work has documented that attachment security is systematically linked with child adjustment and academic competence. This study aims to examine the associations between parents' own report of anxious and avoidant attachment and their children's report of trait anxiety and academic self-efficacy in math and Turkish literature courses. Mothers (N=1539) and fathers (N=1436) from four cities in Turkey, separately completed the measures of attachment orientations, and their children (N=1877), attending 4th and 5th grades, completed the measures of trait anxiety and academic self-concept on math and literature courses in their school. Regression analyses showed that whereas mother attachment anxiety predicted boys' trait anxiety, father attachment avoidance predicted girls' anxiety. In predicting academic self-efficacy, mother attachment avoidance predicted their son's and father attachment anxiety predicted their daughter's academic self-efficacy in both math and literature courses. Our results confirmed the importance of having a warm and secure romantic attachment between spouses in marriage, not only for their relationship satisfaction and happiness, but also for their children's emotional adjustment and academic competence.

In this study, we examined self-regulatory skills, namely, effortful control and executive functi... more In this study, we examined self-regulatory skills, namely, effortful control and executive function, in Turkish preschoolers (N = 217) and their mediating roles in the associations between parenting and children’s socioemotional competence. We also investigated the role of family socioeconomic status and maternal psychological well-being in these concurrent associations. Mother reports were used for maternal depressive symptoms, parenting behaviors, and children’s effortful control. Individual assessment was utilized for executive function, and socioemotional competence was assessed via multiple methods (mother report, teacher report, and individual assessments). Structural equation modeling results showed that effortful control mediated the paths from power-assertion to children’s socioemotional competence. The pathway extending from depressive symptoms to socioemotional competency was mediated by power-assertiveness and effortful control. Socioeconomic status was not associated with socioemotional competence through either parenting or self-regulatory constructs. Practice or Policy: The results revealed that even moderate levels of depressive feelings experienced by mothers presented a risk factor for early effortful control and socioemotional development in young children through increasing harsh child rearing. These findings suggest that, given its potential role in the development of early fundamental abilities, it is important to take precautions against adverse effects of even low levels of maternal depression.

Although numerous studies examined how individual differences in mothers’ discourse about their e... more Although numerous studies examined how individual differences in mothers’ discourse about their early attachment experiences are associated with their caregiving behaviors toward their children, research examining how self-reported romantic attachment style is associated with maternal caregiving has been very limited. To help fill this gap, we examined whether self-reported romantic attachment style is associated with maternal caregiving behaviors observed in home settings. Mother–child interactions were observed for three hours and the mothers completed measures of attachment style and child temperament. Results indicated that attachment-related avoidance, but not attachment-related anxiety, was negatively associated with global maternal sensitivity, after controlling for the child’s temperament. Consistent with the propositions of attachment theory, both attachment-related avoidance and anxiety were associated with specific caregiving themes.

Books by Mehmet Harma

Yaygın işsizlik ve iş güvencesizliği bireyi, aileyi ve bütün toplumu derinden etkileyen kronik so... more Yaygın işsizlik ve iş güvencesizliği bireyi, aileyi ve bütün toplumu derinden etkileyen kronik sosyal sorunlarımızdır. Son yıllarda yapılan kamuoyu araştırmaları sözbirliği etmişçesine, işsizliğin Türkiye’nin en öncelikli sorunu olduğunu göstermektedir. Siyasi görüşten bağımsız olarak bütün toplum öncelikle işsizlik sorununa bir çare bulunmasını beklemektedir. İşsizlik ve iş kaybetme korkusu (iş güvencesizliği) genellikle ekonomik bir sorun olarak görülmüş, yol açtığı bireysel dram ve yıktığı hayatlar gazetelerde haber olmanın ötesine pek geçememiştir. Öncelik taşıyan bu sorunumuz Türkiye’de bütün boyutlarıyla bilimsel olarak incelenmemiştir.

İşsiz kalmak ya da her gün işten çıkarılma korkusu yaşamak kişinin ve yakın çevresinin sağlığını tehdit etmektedir. Uzun süren işsizlik ekonomik adaletsizlik ve sosyal dışlanmışlığın yanı sıra, yüksek stres, depresyon, kaygı, kalp ve damar hastalıkları gibi pek çok psikolojik ve fiziksel sağlık sorunlarına yol açmaktadır.

Elinizdeki kitapta, Türkiye’de işsizliğin ve iş güvencesizliğinin birey ve ailesi üzerindeki psikolojik ve fiziksel etkileriyle bunların çalışma hayatına yansımaları geniş bir örneklem üzerinde derinlemesine incelenmiştir. Kitapta, aynı zamanda, ilgili alanlardaki temel araştırmalar ve işsizliğe ilişkin güncel istatistikler özetlenmiş, etkili destek ve çözüm önerilerine yer verilmiştir. Bu kitap, başta alanda çalışan psikologlar olmak üzere, bu konularda araştırma yapan sosyal bilimciler, karar verme konumunda olanlar, sendikacılar ve bizzat işsizler ve işini kaybetme korkusu yaşayanlar için yararlı bir kaynak niteliğindedir.

Mediterranean Politics, 2020

Journal of Research in …, 2010