In vegetarians, aversion towards nonvegetarian food prevails at the subjective level and is consistent with their personal beliefs. In contrast, at the neural level, the intrinsic motivational salience of this type of food is preserved

Food processing and emotion regulation in vegetarians and omnivores: An event-related potential investigation. Matteo Giraldo, Giulia Buodo, Michela Sarlo. Appetite, June 26 2019, 104334. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2019.104334

Abstract: The present study investigated cognitive reappraisal during exposure to vegetarian and nonvegetarian food cues in food-deprived vegetarian and omnivore participants. In particular, we were interested in clarifying the motivational meaning of the foods that vegetarians avoid, as revealed by self-reported food craving, valence, and arousal, as well as by ERP measures of neural processing during passive viewing and emotional regulation. Twenty-four vegetarians and twenty-one omnivores were instructed to either passively look at the pictures (Watch) or to change the appetitive value of the food (Increase or Decrease). In vegetarians, meat and fish dishes elicited lower desire to eat, pleasantness, and arousal during each condition as compared to both omnivores and vegetarian food. In contrast with the subjective data, no group differences were observed in any of the ERP measures, suggesting that similar neural processing of food-cues occurred in vegetarians and omnivores both during passive viewing and cognitive reappraisal. Concerning the late ERP effects during cognitive reappraisal, we found an enhancement of the P300 and LPP amplitudes during the Increase and the Decrease as compared to the Watch condition and a reduction of the SW amplitude in the Decrease as compared to Watch condition. These results suggest that in a food deprivation condition it is difficult to reduce the appetitive value of food stimuli, as this cognitive strategy appears to require greater effort and a longer time to be implemented with respect to up-regulation. Overall, our findings suggest that, in vegetarians, aversion towards nonvegetarian food prevails at the subjective level and is consistent with their personal beliefs. In contrast, at the neural level, the intrinsic motivational salience of this type of food is preserved.

Contrary to previous reports, our analyses found no significant effects of Internet exposure on brain structure & across a range of executive functions (impulse inhibition, attention control, task-switching & fluid intelligence)

Loh, Kep Kee, Priyanka Chakraborty, Anup Sadhu, Moumita Mukherjee, Himadri Datta, Garga Chatterjee, and Ryota Kanai. 2019. “Longitudinal Cognitive and Brain Changes Associated with One-month of Increased Internet Access.” PsyArXiv. June 26. doi:10.31234/osf.io/p927z

Abstract: Internet technologies have profoundly changed the way we access information, manage our tasks, consume media, and our social interactions. The present work aims to provide insights into the long-term, causal influence of Internet exposure on our cognitive systems via an unprecedented, intervention-based experiment where we investigated the potential brain and cognitive changes that occurred in a rare sample of 35 young Indian adults who had minimal prior contact with Internet-related technologies, after being provided with unlimited Internet access for a month. Additionally, we performed cross-sectional comparisons of brain structure and cognitive measures between these subjects and a control group that consisted individuals who are frequent users of the Internet. Our key findings indicated that one month of increased Internet access resulted in increased media-multitasking behaviors and decreased abilities to process emotional content in faces. Critically, contrary to previous reports, our cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses found no significant effects of Internet exposure on brain structure and across a range of executive functions (impulse inhibition, attention control, task-switching and fluid intelligence) and social-cognitive measures (social network sizes, loneliness and face perception ability).

Indirect effect through sexual disgust sensitivity explains over 50% of the total effect of sex on censorship support & renders the direct effect of sex non-significant; the indirect effect through pathogen disgust sensitivity is also significant

Sexual disgust sensitivity mediates the sex difference in support of censoring hate speech. Jinguang Zhang. Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 145, 15 July 2019, Pages 89-96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.03.028

Abstract: Prior research showed that women are generally more supportive than men of censoring hate speech and this sex difference remained significant after such variables as authoritarianism and political conservatism were controlled for. However, an explanation of that sex difference is lacking. A recent theory distinguishes between pathogen-, sexual, and moral disgust, and we hypothesize that pathogen- and sexual disgust sensitivity will mediate the sex difference in support of censoring hate speech. This is because 1) women typically show stronger pathogen- and sexual disgust sensitivity and 2) people higher in pathogen- and sexual disgust sensitivity are more repulsed by stimuli related to infection (e.g., blood) and sexual assaults. Hate speech can produce both types of stimuli by instigating violence. Indeed, two studies (N = 250 and 289) show a robust indirect effect through sexual disgust sensitivity that explains over 50% of the total effect of sex on censorship support and renders the direct effect of sex non-significant. The indirect effect through pathogen disgust sensitivity is also significant but the direct effect of sex remains significant. These findings extend censorship-attitude research, inform the explanation of a similar sex difference in political intolerance, and further suggest that sexual disgust sensitivity shapes political psychology.


Check also... From 2012: Predicting the Importance of Freedom of Speech and the Perceived Harm of Hate Speech. Daniel M Downs, Gloria Cowan. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Volume42, Issue6, June 2012, Pages 1353-1375. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2019/06/from-2012-men-rated-freedom-of-speech.html

The More Modest You are, the Happier You are: The Mediating Roles of Emotional Intelligence and Self-esteem

The More Modest You are, the Happier You are: The Mediating Roles of Emotional Intelligence and Self-esteem. Chuhua Zheng, Yanhong Wu. Journal of Happiness Studies, June 26 2019. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10902-019-00144-4

Abstract: Modesty, often defined as a goal-direct self-presentational behavior, is highly beneficial to behavioral health regulation, self-efficacy, interpersonal relation, and group performance. Recent theories and studies have provided evidence that modesty is linked to adaptive well-being, but the potential mechanisms underlying this relationship remain poorly understood. This study examined the mediating roles of emotional intelligence (EI) and self-esteem (SE) in the relationship between modesty and subjective well-being (SWB) as well as depression among 500 Chinese adults. The results showed that higher levels of modesty were positively associated with EI, SE, SWB, and negatively correlated with depression. Furthermore, EI and SE were positively related to SWB, and were negatively related to depression. Path analyses indicated that EI and SE mediated the relationship between modesty and both SWB and depression in-sequence. EI was also a direct mediator between modesty and depression, whereas SE played an indirect role through its relationship with EI. These findings suggest an important role of modesty in promoting well-being and provide the preliminary evidence regarding possible mechanisms through which modesty contributes to well-being.

Keywords: Modesty Emotional intelligence Self-esteem Subjective well-being Depression

Time Use and Happiness of Millionaires: Evidence From the Netherlands

Time Use and Happiness of Millionaires: Evidence From the Netherlands. Paul Smeets et al. Social Psychological and Personality Science, June 25, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550619854751

Abstract: How do the very wealthy spend their time, and how does time use relate to well-being? In two studies in the Netherlands, the affluent (N = 863; N = 690) and the general population (N = 1,232; N = 306) spent time in surprisingly similar ways such as by spending the same amount of time working. Yet the nature of their time use differed in critical ways that are related to life satisfaction. In Study 1, millionaires spent more time engaged in active leisure (e.g., exercising and volunteering) rather than passive leisure (e.g., watching television and relaxing). In Study 2, millionaires spent more time engaged in tasks at work over which they had more control. The affluent sample belongs to the top of the income and wealth distribution, representing a significantly wealthier sample than in previous studies. These results further our understanding of when and how wealth may translate into greater well-being. All materials for this article are available at https://osf.io/vndmt/

Keywords: time use, wealth, life satisfaction, millionaires, social class