High occupational level is associated with poor response to the treatment of depression: A replication study. Laura Mandelli et al. European Neuropsychopharmacology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroneuro.2019.01.107
Abstract
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a leading cause of disability and inability to work. There is evidence that occupational factors may precipitate a MDD episode and interfere with the recovery process. In a previous investigation, we found that those employed in high occupational levels had a worse outcome after treatment for depression (Mandelli et al., 2016). The aim of the present study was to further investigate response to treatments for depression according to occupational status on an independent sample of MDD patients.
Six hundred and forty-seven (647) subjects with a stable working occupation were taken from a larger independent sample of MDD patients evaluated for response and resistance to treatment for depression, after at least one adequate treatment trial. Three broad occupational categories were considered: ‘manager’, ‘white-collar’, ‘blue-collar’ and ‘self-employed’.
Managers had the highest rate of non-response and resistance to treatments. White-collar workers also had high non-response and resistance rates. At the opposite, Blue-collar workers had significantly lower rates of non-response and resistance. Self-employed were in between White- and Blue-collar workers and did not significantly differ from the other occupational categories.
The findings of this replication study substantially support our previous observations. MDD patients employed in high-middle occupations may have a less favorable outcome after standard treatments of depression. Working stressful condition and other psychosocial factors at work should be investigated more closely in relation to treatment outcomes in MDD.
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Consumers tend to consume too rapidly, growing tired of initially well-liked stimuli such as a favorite snack/an enjoyable video game more quickly than they would if they slowed consumption
Galak, Jeffrey; Kruger, Justin; Loewenstein, George (2018): Too Much of a Good Thing: Insensitivity to Rate of Consumption Leads to Unforeseen Satiation. https://kilthub.cmu.edu/articles/Too_Much_of_a_Good_Thing_Insensitivity_to_Rate_of_Consumption_Leads_to_Unforeseen_Satiation/6708902/1
Abstract: Consumers are often able to choose how often to consume the things they enjoy. The research presented here suggests that consumers tend to consume too rapidly, growing tired of initially well-liked stimuli such as a favorite snack (Experiments 1 and 4) or an enjoyable video game (Experiments 2 and 3) more quickly than they would if they slowed consumption. The results also suggest that this because of an underestimation of the extent to which breaks reset adaptation. The results present a paradox: Participants who chose their own rate of consumption enjoyed the stimulus less than participants who had a slower rate of consumption chosen for them.
Abstract: Consumers are often able to choose how often to consume the things they enjoy. The research presented here suggests that consumers tend to consume too rapidly, growing tired of initially well-liked stimuli such as a favorite snack (Experiments 1 and 4) or an enjoyable video game (Experiments 2 and 3) more quickly than they would if they slowed consumption. The results also suggest that this because of an underestimation of the extent to which breaks reset adaptation. The results present a paradox: Participants who chose their own rate of consumption enjoyed the stimulus less than participants who had a slower rate of consumption chosen for them.
Sovereign Bonds since Waterloo: The returns on external sovereign bonds have been sufficiently high to compensate for risk; & full repudiation is rare, the median haircut is below 50%
Sovereign Bonds since Waterloo. Josefin Meyer, Carmen M. Reinhart, Christoph TrebeschNBER Working Paper No. 25543, February 2019. https://www.nber.org/papers/w25543
Abstract: This paper studies external sovereign bonds as an asset class. We compile a new database of 220,000 monthly prices of foreign-currency government bonds traded in London and New York between 1815 (the Battle of Waterloo) and 2016, covering 91 countries. Our main insight is that, as in equity markets, the returns on external sovereign bonds have been sufficiently high to compensate for risk. Real ex-post returns averaged 7% annually across two centuries, including default episodes, major wars, and global crises. This represents an excess return of around 4% above US or UK government bonds, which is comparable to stocks and outperforms corporate bonds. The observed returns are hard to reconcile with canonical theoretical models and with the degree of credit risk in this market, as measured by historical default and recovery rates. Based on our archive of more than 300 sovereign debt restructurings since 1815, we show that full repudiation is rare; the median haircut is below 50%.
Abstract: This paper studies external sovereign bonds as an asset class. We compile a new database of 220,000 monthly prices of foreign-currency government bonds traded in London and New York between 1815 (the Battle of Waterloo) and 2016, covering 91 countries. Our main insight is that, as in equity markets, the returns on external sovereign bonds have been sufficiently high to compensate for risk. Real ex-post returns averaged 7% annually across two centuries, including default episodes, major wars, and global crises. This represents an excess return of around 4% above US or UK government bonds, which is comparable to stocks and outperforms corporate bonds. The observed returns are hard to reconcile with canonical theoretical models and with the degree of credit risk in this market, as measured by historical default and recovery rates. Based on our archive of more than 300 sovereign debt restructurings since 1815, we show that full repudiation is rare; the median haircut is below 50%.
Given the inherent complexity & ambiguity of the political realm, ideological uncertainty undermines political efficacy & interest, motivating individuals to disengage from participating in electoral politics
Ideological uncertainty and investment of the self in politics. Joseph A.Vitriola et al. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Volume 82, May 2019, Pages 85-97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2019.01.005
Abstract: Ideological orientation may provide some citizens with an efficient heuristic for guiding their political judgment. Accordingly, one might expect that ideological uncertainty would lead individuals to engage more deeply with the political domain in order to acquire a sufficient level of subjective certainty that the ideological orientation they have adopted is the “right” one. Given the inherent complexity and ambiguity of the political realm, however, we propose that ideological uncertainty should instead undermine political efficacy and interest, thereby motivating individuals to disengage and withdrawal from participating in electoral politics. Using both correlational and experimental methods, we conduct four studies on both convenience and representative samples in the context of two electoral contexts to test this hypothesis. Study 1 (N = 343) and Study 2 (N = 1054) demonstrate that ideological uncertainty covaries with reduced levels of political engagement and participation in the 2012 and 2016 U.S. Presidential Election, respectively. Study 3 (N = 170) and Study 4 (N = 798) replicate and extend the results of Study 1 and 2 by experimentally manipulating ideological uncertainty using an original and innovative false-feedback paradigm. We demonstrate the causal effect of ideological uncertainty on political engagement (independent of demographic variables, political knowledge, and ideological extremity and conviction), and find that it is particularly pronounced among individuals who reflect on the meaning of their political judgment and behaviors for their political orientation. Implications for political choice and behavior are considered.
Abstract: Ideological orientation may provide some citizens with an efficient heuristic for guiding their political judgment. Accordingly, one might expect that ideological uncertainty would lead individuals to engage more deeply with the political domain in order to acquire a sufficient level of subjective certainty that the ideological orientation they have adopted is the “right” one. Given the inherent complexity and ambiguity of the political realm, however, we propose that ideological uncertainty should instead undermine political efficacy and interest, thereby motivating individuals to disengage and withdrawal from participating in electoral politics. Using both correlational and experimental methods, we conduct four studies on both convenience and representative samples in the context of two electoral contexts to test this hypothesis. Study 1 (N = 343) and Study 2 (N = 1054) demonstrate that ideological uncertainty covaries with reduced levels of political engagement and participation in the 2012 and 2016 U.S. Presidential Election, respectively. Study 3 (N = 170) and Study 4 (N = 798) replicate and extend the results of Study 1 and 2 by experimentally manipulating ideological uncertainty using an original and innovative false-feedback paradigm. We demonstrate the causal effect of ideological uncertainty on political engagement (independent of demographic variables, political knowledge, and ideological extremity and conviction), and find that it is particularly pronounced among individuals who reflect on the meaning of their political judgment and behaviors for their political orientation. Implications for political choice and behavior are considered.
From 2015... Past research suggests moral behavior is highly inconsistent, which leaves little room for a personological approach to morality; authors reveal a surprisingly large degree of moral consistency
From 2015... A foundation beam for studying morality from a personological point of view: Are individual differences in moral behaviors and thoughts consistent? Peter Meindl et al. Journal of Research in Personality, Volume 59, December 2015, Pages 81-92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2015.09.005
Highlights
• Past research suggests moral behavior is highly inconsistent.
• This leaves little room for a personological approach to morality.
• We tested the consistency of real world morality via two experience sampling studies.
• Results reveal a surprisingly large degree of moral consistency.
• Personality appears to have the potential to profoundly impact moral life.
Abstract: Morality is a topic of burgeoning scientific interest, and the relevance of personological factors to moral behavior has interdisciplinary implications for the social sciences, public policy, and philosophy. However, relatively little research has investigated the role of personological factors in moral life, perhaps because of lingering skepticism about the robustness of moral traits. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether morality is consistent across many occasions of everyday life, implying that personological factors play an important role in moral behavior. A novel method of assessing moral behaviors was developed and employed in two experience sampling studies (4075 total observations). Results showed that moral behavior is consistent in many different ways, suggesting that personological factors substantially impact moral life.
Highlights
• Past research suggests moral behavior is highly inconsistent.
• This leaves little room for a personological approach to morality.
• We tested the consistency of real world morality via two experience sampling studies.
• Results reveal a surprisingly large degree of moral consistency.
• Personality appears to have the potential to profoundly impact moral life.
Abstract: Morality is a topic of burgeoning scientific interest, and the relevance of personological factors to moral behavior has interdisciplinary implications for the social sciences, public policy, and philosophy. However, relatively little research has investigated the role of personological factors in moral life, perhaps because of lingering skepticism about the robustness of moral traits. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether morality is consistent across many occasions of everyday life, implying that personological factors play an important role in moral behavior. A novel method of assessing moral behaviors was developed and employed in two experience sampling studies (4075 total observations). Results showed that moral behavior is consistent in many different ways, suggesting that personological factors substantially impact moral life.
Why would people vote to ban a product they regularly consume? This question is at the crux of the controversies over a variety of ballot initiatives restricting certain agricultural production practices
An Experiment on the Vote-Buy Gap with Application to Cage-Free Eggs. Andrew Paul, Jayson Lusk. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2019.02.005
Highlights
• The vote-buy gap can be replicated in the lab.
• Many people vote to ban a product they purchase.
• The behavior is not driven by a sample selection effect.
• Information asymmetry may be one driver of the effect.
Abstract: Why would people vote to ban a product they regularly consume? This question is at the crux of the controversies over a variety of ballot initiatives restricting certain agricultural production practices. This research moves the question to a controlled laboratory setting with real food and real money to explore the underlying causes of the so-called vote-buy gap. Respondents first made a shopping choice between snack options, some of which included eggs from caged hens as an ingredient. After selecting a snack, participants then voted on a proposition to ban snack options that utilized eggs from caged hens. We show that the vote-buy gap can be replicated in the lab: in the control condition, approximately 80% of the individuals who chose snacks with caged eggs when shopping subsequently voted to ban snacks with caged eggs. The finding rules out the suggestion that the vote-buy gap is an illusion or statistical artifact, as it can be re-created in an experimental lab setting at an individual level. A number of experimental treatments were conducted to test hypotheses related to the underlying causes of the vote-buy gap. We found qualified support for the hypothesis that the vote-buy gap is a result of information asymmetries, but little evidence that it results from public good or expressive voting phenomena.
Highlights
• The vote-buy gap can be replicated in the lab.
• Many people vote to ban a product they purchase.
• The behavior is not driven by a sample selection effect.
• Information asymmetry may be one driver of the effect.
Abstract: Why would people vote to ban a product they regularly consume? This question is at the crux of the controversies over a variety of ballot initiatives restricting certain agricultural production practices. This research moves the question to a controlled laboratory setting with real food and real money to explore the underlying causes of the so-called vote-buy gap. Respondents first made a shopping choice between snack options, some of which included eggs from caged hens as an ingredient. After selecting a snack, participants then voted on a proposition to ban snack options that utilized eggs from caged hens. We show that the vote-buy gap can be replicated in the lab: in the control condition, approximately 80% of the individuals who chose snacks with caged eggs when shopping subsequently voted to ban snacks with caged eggs. The finding rules out the suggestion that the vote-buy gap is an illusion or statistical artifact, as it can be re-created in an experimental lab setting at an individual level. A number of experimental treatments were conducted to test hypotheses related to the underlying causes of the vote-buy gap. We found qualified support for the hypothesis that the vote-buy gap is a result of information asymmetries, but little evidence that it results from public good or expressive voting phenomena.
Rolf Degen summarizing: 38% of subjects derived pleasure from purportedly grinding live bugs, some demanded even more than they had been granted
Psychopathy subfactors distinctively predispose to dispositional and state-level of sadistic pleasure.. Jill Lobbestael, Martijn van Teffelen, Roy F. Baumeister. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2019.02.003
Highlights
• Sadistic pleasure has devastating interpersonal and societal consequences.
• The current knowledge on non-sexual, subclinical forms of sadistic pleasure is poor.
• Coldheartedness showed the strongest relationship to sadistic pleasure.
• Increased Coldheartedness related to more pleasure and less guilt after bug grinding.
Abstract
Background and objectives: Sadistic pleasure — the enjoyment of harm-infliction to others — can have devastating interpersonal and societal consequences. The current knowledge on non-sexual, subclinical forms of sadistic pleasure is poor. The present study therefore focussed on the personality correlates of sadistic pleasure and investigated the relationship between the different subcomponents of psychopathy and both dispositional and state-level sadistic pleasure.
Method: N = 120 males drawn from a community sample filled out questionnaires to assess their level of psychopathy and dispositional sadism. Then, participants engaged in a bug-grinder procedure in which they were led to believe that they were killing pill bugs. The positive affect they reported after ostensibly killing the bugs served as measures of sadistic pleasure. The bug-grinding task was repeated a second time after installing either a positive victim attitude combined with giving human names to the bugs, or a negative victim attitude combined with labeling the bugs with numbers.
Results: Although the Self-centred Impulsivity component of psychopathy had some relevance to sadism, it was the Coldheartedness subscale that showed the strongest relationship to sadistic pleasure. Specifically, increased Coldheartedness was uniquely related to more positive affect, along with less guilt after bug grinding.
Limitations: Drawbacks of the study include the unique reliance on a male, community sample, and the potential impact of demand characteristics, including a suggestion that the participant put at least some bugs into the grinder.
Conclusions: Our findings underscore the differential predictive value of psychopathy components for sadistic pleasure. Coldheartedness can be considered especially disturbing because of its unique relationship to harm-infliction of the most irreversible nature (i.e. killing), and gaining pleasure out of it.
Highlights
• Sadistic pleasure has devastating interpersonal and societal consequences.
• The current knowledge on non-sexual, subclinical forms of sadistic pleasure is poor.
• Coldheartedness showed the strongest relationship to sadistic pleasure.
• Increased Coldheartedness related to more pleasure and less guilt after bug grinding.
Abstract
Background and objectives: Sadistic pleasure — the enjoyment of harm-infliction to others — can have devastating interpersonal and societal consequences. The current knowledge on non-sexual, subclinical forms of sadistic pleasure is poor. The present study therefore focussed on the personality correlates of sadistic pleasure and investigated the relationship between the different subcomponents of psychopathy and both dispositional and state-level sadistic pleasure.
Method: N = 120 males drawn from a community sample filled out questionnaires to assess their level of psychopathy and dispositional sadism. Then, participants engaged in a bug-grinder procedure in which they were led to believe that they were killing pill bugs. The positive affect they reported after ostensibly killing the bugs served as measures of sadistic pleasure. The bug-grinding task was repeated a second time after installing either a positive victim attitude combined with giving human names to the bugs, or a negative victim attitude combined with labeling the bugs with numbers.
Results: Although the Self-centred Impulsivity component of psychopathy had some relevance to sadism, it was the Coldheartedness subscale that showed the strongest relationship to sadistic pleasure. Specifically, increased Coldheartedness was uniquely related to more positive affect, along with less guilt after bug grinding.
Limitations: Drawbacks of the study include the unique reliance on a male, community sample, and the potential impact of demand characteristics, including a suggestion that the participant put at least some bugs into the grinder.
Conclusions: Our findings underscore the differential predictive value of psychopathy components for sadistic pleasure. Coldheartedness can be considered especially disturbing because of its unique relationship to harm-infliction of the most irreversible nature (i.e. killing), and gaining pleasure out of it.
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