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"Literature indicates a strong relationship between narcissism and perfectionism, however, there is little information about this relationship in sports, and even less regarding the way gender affects this relationship. Our paper aims to answer the following questions, in a sample of 202 Hungarian physical education students: (i) are there gender differences in narcissism and perfectionism and how large are these differences?, (ii) how strong is the relationship between narcissism and perfectionism?, (iii) does this relationship vary as a function of perfectionism's components?, and (iv) are there any gender differences in the relationship between narcissism and perfectionism? Our results indicate that the male participants attained significantly higher levels of narcissism than the female participants. Furthermore, we found no significant gender differences in any of the three components of perfectionism a low to moderate association between narcissism and Self-oriented perfectionism and Other-oriented perfectionism, while on the entire sample, narcissism did not correlate with Socially-prescribed perfectionism. Analyzing this relationship separately in the two genders, our investigation indicates a moderate association between narcissism and all the three components of perfectionism only in the case of male participants, these relationships being non-significant for the female participants. These findings indicate that narcissism, in this specific population, is just one of the predictors of perfectionism (and maybe not even the most relevant one). We propose that future studies should focus on exploring other predictive factors of perfectionisms.

Keywords: narcissism, perfectionism, gender, sports
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"Motivation is the key force that drives the individual. According to Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000), human motivation is regulated by the degree to which personal intentions are autonomous or controlled. On the other hand, human behaviour is determined by three basic needs (competence, autonomy and relatedness) which contribute to intrinsic motivation and psychological health. This study has investigated the relationship between basic psychological needs and different types of motivation in an educational context. The research included a large sample of school students from 5th to 12th grade, enrolled in two schools from Cluj-Napoca, Romania (N = 363). All participants completed an online survey aimed to evaluate student's fulfilment of their basic psychological needs, their motivation and self-efficacy regarding Romanian literature lessons. Results showed that autonomy, competence and relatedness correlated with intrinsic motivation. Moreover, the regression results showed that basic psychological needs predicted half of the variance in intrinsic motivation. The outcomes of this study also revealed that girls displayed higher scores on self-efficacy, autonomy and identified regulation as compared to boys.

Keywords: self-determination theory, self-regulated learning, intrinsic motivation, basic psychological needs, autonomy, competence, relatedness, self-efficacy
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"The COVID-19 pandemic has a significant impact on the physical and psychological functioning of the entire world's population. Our study has had three major aims: (1) to identify the major sources of discomfort related to COVID-19 pandemic in third year psychology students, (2) to establish a hierarchy of the major sources of discomfort, and (3) to identify possible vulnerabilities for different sources of discomfort. We used a cross-sectional study to explore more accurately the individual reactions and possible vulnerabilities, also including open-ended questions to explore perceived sources of discomfort. Our study included 289 third-year psychology students from Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania (M=24.39 years, SD=7.12). All participants were assessed regarding their levels of: depression, narcissistic traits, perfectionism, perceived stress, self-esteem, intolerance of uncertainty, subjective well-being, and emotion regulation strategies. Our results indicate significant gender and age differences: male participants reported mobility restrictions as a source of discomfort more frequently than female participants, and younger students are less concerned with restrictions regarding social relations, while older students report less emotional problems and less concern with educational problems. Students living in urban areas report less emotional problems than students from rural areas. The results generated by our research point out certain social and psychological vulnerabilities for each perceived source of discomfort (emotion-regulation strategies, perfectionism, narcissism), can bring a valuable input in counselling and therapy for individuals who are maximally affected by the pandemic of COVID-19."

"Introduction: Previous research investigating the relationship between social support and depression in the LGBT+ community yielded mixed results. Considering that the LGBT+ population has a high prevalence of mental disorders and is frequently victim of discrimination, it would be essential to know if social support is related to the depressive symptoms its representatives face. The main purpose of this meta-analysis was to clarify whether there is a correlation between social support and depression in the LGBT+ population and to identify moderators of this relationship. Methods: EBSCO, PubMed, and PsychNET databases were searched. Studies that reported statistical indicators for the relationship between social support and depression in an LGBT+ sample were included in this meta-analysis. Results: 48 studies were eligible for the meta-analysis. Our results show that there is a significant negative moderate relationship between social support and depression in the LGBT+ community. The heterogeneity of the results in the literature is partially explained by the way social support was defined and measured, by gender, sexual orientation, and ethnicity. Limitations and implications of the current study are discussed. Discussion: Practical implications of these results include promoting social support, and acceptance at individual and social levels, with more emphasis on policies and practices that foster well-being and a positive climate, that encourage information sharing, and offering support related to LGBT+ issues. It is also important to create safe spaces for sexual minority youth. Considering the LGBT+ adults, all these aspects can be implemented as well in work contexts, to promote safe spaces and accepting attitudes in the workspace. Keywords: LGBT+, depression, depressive symptoms, social support, meta-analysis."

In the last two decades, most of the Romanian mitigate programs aimed at reducing school dropout, have often focused only on remedial activities. However, keeping students in school for as long as possible involves increasing their school engagement, and therefore developing dimensions that target social and emotional skills is strongly recommended. In the present study, 130 primary and secondary school students from disadvantaged backgrounds, participated for 8 months in remedial and personal development activities, whose medium-term goal is to reduce school dropout. Using scales from the BASC3 and ASEBA4 psychological test batteries, we were able to capture significant effects of the intervention in reducing emotional problems and increasing students' adaptability to school-specific tasks, even though the pandemic imposed several restrictions on activities. The collected data revealed two important outcomes. First, they confirmed the effectiveness of a complex, multilevel program, which can develop the socio-emotional abilities of children at risk of dropping out of school. Second, they help us to highlight several factors that can predict its effectiveness. We consider that these empirical data constitute a solid foundation based on which similar future programs can be designed and implemented.