Conspicuous consumption (purchase of expensive goods and services in order to visibly demonstrate buying power) is a frequent and widely spread type of consumer behavior. Besides its economic dimension, conspicuous consumption certainly also has its - for now under studied - psychological dimension. So far, it has been reported that positive attitude towards conspicuous consumption is associated with conformity, high esteem of authority, social anxiety, Machiavellism, and ruthless self-advancement. In this study, using a sample of 272 high school students (aged 16-18) we studied predictive relationship between narcissism and materialism, and the attitude towards conspicuous consumption. The data indicated that materialism was a significant predictor of the attitude towards conspicuous consumption, quite in line with some previous research. In spite of a significant correlation between narcissism and materialism, narcissism was not a significant predictor of the attitude towards conspicuous consumption. Thus, this study has widened nomological network of the attitude towards conspicuous consumption and clearly delineated two seemingly similar psychological constructs: materialism and the attitude towards conspicuous consumption.

Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) atmospheric plasma treatment is an innovative non‐thermal food processing technology. There is an abundant body of research on the effectiveness in inactivation of foodborne pathogens on fresh fruit and vegetable produce with atmospheric air DBD plasma. However, studies that disclose plasma interactions with fruit or vegetable juices are scarce in number to the knowledge of the author. Color changes of orange and carrot juice blend due to atmospheric air DBD plasma treatment have been examined to estimate the extent of juice changes after treatments at varying durations of 5 s,15 s, and 30 s. Results indicate potentiality of cloud loss reduction, while treatments can cause minor degradation of color attributes. However, browning of treated samples was not observed. The influence of this new non‐thermal treatment on measured properties of orange and carrot juice blend shows promising results which need to be further confirmed and established. Practical applications The work described in this research offers an innovative treatment of orange and carrot juice blend with atmospheric air DBD plasma. This article assesses the suitability of atmospheric air DBD plasma to be used in orange and carrot juice blend, and its effects on color attributes. The results indicate the potential of treatment as a browning inhibitor in orange and carrot juice blend during processing which could be of practical industrial relevance.

While it is universally agreed that empathy deficit is a necessary condition for the dark roster membership, the literature provides no consensus regarding differential associations between individual Dark Triad traits with cognitive and affective empathy. With this in mind, we have investigated topology of the network consisting of Affective and Cognitive Measure of Empathy, Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire, and Short Dark Triad traits (SD3). The network analysis disclosed cohesive configuration of multiply connected study variables, thus confirming their aversive coaction. Two main axes of study variables were identified: the ‘dark’ affective dissonance-rivalry-psychopathy axis, and the ‘brighter’ admiration-SD3 narcissism axis; each characterized by its specific manifestation of empathic deficit. Affective dissonance was the most central while affective resonance was the most redundant node of the network.  Rivalry — a node connecting the two axes — had the greatest strength in the network and was closer to affective dissonance than to psychopathy. Involvement of affective dissonance uncovered the dual nature of Machiavellianism by shifting it away from psychopathy and closer to narcissism. Overall, by use of structural information not accessible by other means, this study substantiates the proposition about the essential role of distinct empathic deficits in the constellation of antagonistic traits.

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The period of adolescence is characterized by rapid physical, biological and social changes, which is reflected in a specific daily rhythm of work, behavior and diet. Diet of adolescents is characterized by eating large amounts of fast food. Social changes of population that have occurred in recent years affect the behavior of adolescents and their eating habits. The aim of the research in this paper was to determine the attitude of high school students from several towns in the Republic of Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina) toward eating and consumption of fast food as food products that are commonly found in their menu. In this paper, a survey is conducted among high school students of both sexes aged between 15 and 18. The survey included 12 questions that can be classified into two groups: knowledge of fast food and eating habits.Half of the interviewees (49.73%) believe that there is no particular reason for choosing fast food, while one-third (33.78%) choose this kind of food products because of their taste. 51.60% is careful about the amount of fast food that they eat. Over half of the interviewees (58.09%) do not have a reason to give up consuming fast food, and 31, 58% do it so because they think that this diet is harmful to health.For breakfast 19,11% of the interviewees eat croissants and buns, sandwiches or candies that they buy on their way to school. During and after meals 33.62% of the interviewees usually drink water, and 21.53% drink refreshing fizzy drinks or fruit juices (21.02% of responses). The amount of fizzy drinks that the interviewees drink during the day goes from one glass (30,09%) to 2-3 glasses (24.7%). The interviewed students mostly like eating meat and vegetables (37.82%), fruit (23.06%), but they do not like eating vegetarian dishes (31.04%), strongly flavored dishes (18.07% ) and meatless dishes (17.24%).