Grit, as an important positive psychological quality, has rarely been studied for its role involved in the mechanism between stress and psychological security. This article explores the moderating and mediating role of grit in the relationship between interpersonal stress and psychological security of freshmen through two studies. In study 1, freshmen from several Chinese universities were recruited to complete a battery of questionnaire, including assessments about interpersonal stress, grit, and psychological security. The moderating effect analysis showed that grit moderated the (...) relationship between interpersonal stress and psychological security. Specifically, grit buffered the negative effects of interpersonal stress on freshmen’s psychological security, but this effect was obvious only when the level of interpersonal stress was relatively low, and decreased when the level of interpersonal stress was high. In study 2, college freshmen from another university apart from above ones were recruited, and we verified the results of study 1 and further explored the mediating role of grit in the relationship between interpersonal stress and security. The moderating effect analysis of study 2 also verified that of study 1. The mediating effect analysis showed that interpersonal stress not only negatively predicted psychological security, but also affected psychological security through the mediation of grit. In general, grit played a mediating and moderating role in the relationship between interpersonal stress and psychological security. This study provides first-hand evidence to explain the multiple roles of grit in the relationship between interpersonal stress and psychological security. (shrink)

While the rate of Internet use among the older population in China is rapidly increasing, the outcomes associated with Internet use remain largely unexplored. Currently, there are contradictory findings indicating that Internet use is sometimes positively and sometimes negatively associated with older adults’ subjective well-being. Therefore, we examined the associations between different types of Internet use, social networks, and loneliness among Chinese older adults using data from the Chinese Longitudinal Ageing Society Survey. Internet use was classified as interpersonal communication and (...) information acquisition, and social networks were divided into family and friendship ties. The results showed that both interpersonal communication and information acquisition were associated with lower loneliness. Interpersonal communication can increase social networks, and family ties have a mediating effect on the association between Internet use for interpersonal communication and loneliness. Although information acquisition can directly decrease loneliness in older adults, it can also damage existing social networks and further increase loneliness. Family ties act as a suppressor in the association between Internet use for information acquisition and loneliness. Our study further discusses important implications for improving the subjective well-being of older adults in the digital era, based on the empirical findings. (shrink)

The division of labor in the global value chain has reshaped the competitive advantage of enterprises participating in the international market and has a significant influence on the distribution of their factor income. Based on the perspective of market choice, this paper uses China’s industrial enterprises’ data, Customs Statistical Data on Import and Export, Word Input and Output Database, and BACI database from 2000 to 2007 to analyze the effect of competitive strategy of a firm’s GVC participation on its labor (...) income share. Herein, the competition strategy is depicted by the quality and price of export goods. The empirical results show the following. Quality competition has a larger effect on labor income share than price competition. High-quality and high-price or high-quality and low-price strategies tend to have a significant negative effect on labor income share, while low-quality and low-price and low-quality and high-price strategies have a positive effect. The higher the target market GVC status, the lower the labor income share of exporting firms, and the target market GVC status amplifies that the high-quality and high-price strategies on firms’ labor income share the negative effect of high-quality and low-price strategies on exporters’ labor income share. High-quality and low-price strategies have a significant negative effect on exporters’ labor income share when competing with developing countries in developed country markets or with developed countries in developing country markets. However, the positive effect of low-quality and low-price strategies and low-quality and high-price strategies kept unchanged. The findings remain robust after controlling for endogeneity and accounting for the effects of firm heterogeneity, indicator measurement, and sample variation. (shrink)

The asymmetric distribution of lipids, maintained by flippases/floppases and scramblases, plays a pivotal role in various physiologic processes. Scramblases are proteins that move phospholipids between the leaflets of the lipid bilayer of the cellular membrane in an energy‐independent manner. Recent studies have indicated that viral infection is closely related to cellular lipid distribution. The level and distribution of phosphatidylserine (PtdSer) in cells have been demonstrated to be critical regulators of viral infections. Previous studies have supported that the infection of human (...) immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Zika virus, Ebola virus (EBOV), influenza virus, and dengue fever virus require the externalization of phospholipids mediated by scramblases, which are also involved in the pathogenicity of the pandemic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2). In this review, we review the relationship of scramblases with viruses and the potential viral effector proteins that might utilize host scramblases. (shrink)