Germany: Sales of green cars continue to decline; the high-consumption SUVs and off-road vehicles again lead the new registration statistics with a 21pct increase in registration

New cars: Sales of green efficiency classes continue to decline. dena Press release, Berlin. Jul 25 2019. https://www.dena.de/newsroom/meldungen/2019/neuwagen-absatz-gruener-effizienzklassen-geht-weiter-zurueck

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dena monitoring report: Trend towards SUVs and off-road vehicles continues uninterrupted / Average CO2 emissions increase

Despite the climate protection debate, low-emission passenger cars in the German new car market are not getting through enough to reduce CO 2 emissions in the automotive sector. The share of vehicles with the best efficiency ratings fell by around 5 percent in 2018, while the number of newly registered cars with a total of more than 3.4 million remained at the previous year's level. At the same time, the trend towards high-consumption SUVs and off-road vehicles continues unabated. These will lead to the new registration statistics in 2018 as well. This is one reason why the average CO 2 emissions of newly registered passenger cars increased by almost 2 percent. This continues the negative development in CO 2 emissions and the distribution of CO 2 efficiency classes. These are the main findings of the dena monitoring report on the development of new registrations of CO 2 -efficient passenger cars in 2018.

"In the midst of an intensely conducted social debate on climate protection, we note that sales of green efficiency classes are falling and that the average CO 2 emissions of new cars continue to increase. That should make politics, manufacturers and consumers think and be a wake-up call, "says Andreas Kuhlmann, chairman of dena's management. "In order to achieve climate protection goals in transport, framework conditions must be created urgently, which make the purchase of low-emission and emission-free vehicles attractive. At the same time, the trend towards high-consumption vehicles must be counteracted. Coupling company car taxation and the private purchase of passenger cars with their CO 2 emissions can be an effective step in this direction. However, this system should be revenue-neutral, possibly through the inclusion of bonus-penalty schemes. Also, fuels should be taxed more heavily depending on their CO 2 intensity. Because the low-consumption vehicles that are new to the market today are also a guarantee for the affordable individual mobility of the future. "

Share of energy-efficient cars drops below 70 percent
In 2018, only 69 percent of all newly registered cars belonged to one of the green efficiency classes (A +, A, B). In 2017 there were still 72.8 percent and in 2016 still 74.4 percent. The examination of new registrations by segment confirms the negative trend: in 2017, the efficiency classes A +, A and B still accounted for more than 80 percent of five segments. By 2018, the share of the hyper-midsize segment was highest at 76 percent, followed by the middle class at 71.9 percent and the upper middle class at 71.6 percent.

SUVs achieve the highest increase with 21 percent
Together, the high-consumption SUVs and off-road vehicles again lead the new registration statistics. SUVs achieve the highest increase with 21 percent, off-road vehicles only two percent. In the compact car category, the negative trend continues with a decline of another 5.9 percent (755,498 cars, down from 47,501 units compared to 2017).

CO 2 emissions and consumption: significant increase compared to the previous year
In total, newly registered passenger cars in 2018 consumed 5.7 liters of gasoline or 5.1 liters of diesel per 100 kilometers, according to the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC). Thus, the average CO 2 emissions of newly registered passenger cars increased by 1.9 percent to 130.3 g CO 2 / km (2017: 127.9 g CO 2 / km). One reason for this is the high number of registrations of SUVs and off-road vehicles, which average 134.3 g CO 2 / km (2017: 133.2 g CO 2 / km) and 163.1 g CO 2 / km (2017: 159 , 2 g CO 2 / km) emitted. In addition, since 1 September 2018, the NEDC values ​​have been recalculated from the new WLTP test procedure, leading on average to increased values. The average CO 2 emissions of German new registrations, at 9.9 g CO 2 / km, once again exceed the European fleet average of 120.4 g CO 2 / km.

Trend continues in 2019
In the first five months of 2019, the segment of SUVs and off-road vehicles grew again by 17.5 or 12.7 percent. In the pan-European mix, an average emissions value of the new vehicle fleet of 95 g CO 2 / km is to be achieved in 2020. This would correspond to an average consumption of 3.6 liters of diesel or 4.1 liters of gas per 100 kilometers. In view of the increasing popularity of emission-intensive vehicles, this goal is hardly achievable, according to dena, without changing the political framework conditions and corresponding sales strategies of the manufacturers.
The monitoring report "Development of new registrations of CO 2 -efficient passenger cars 2018" was prepared by the dena initiative "Information platform car label". The basis was the current car registration data from the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA). The fuel consumption was calculated according to the measurement cycle NEDC. The information platform Passenger Car Label is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.
After switching to the new WLTP test cycle in September 2018, around 12 percent of the vehicles (407,263 cars without RVs) could not be assigned to any efficiency class. According to Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt, however, these deficits have no significant influence on the average CO 2 emissions. This effect was taken into account when calculating the figures for energy efficiency classes.

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Full text & charts in the link above

Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy lost its superiority over Supportive Psychotherapy after two years

Two-Year Follow-Up after Treatment with the Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy versus Supportive Psychotherapy for Early-Onset Chronic Depression. E
Schramm et al. Psychother Psychosom 2019;88:154–164. https://doi.org/10.1159/000500189

Abstract
Background: Evidence on the long-term efficacy of psychotherapeutic approaches for chronic depression is scarce.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of the Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy (CBASP) compared to Supportive Psychotherapy (SP) 1 year and 2 years after treatment termination.

Methods: In this study, we present 1- and 2-year follow-up assessments of a prospective, multicenter, evaluator-blinded, randomized clinical trial of outpatients with early-onset chronic major depression (n = 268). The initial treatment included 32 sessions of CBASP or SP over 48 weeks. The primary outcome was the rate of “well weeks” (Longitudinal Interval Follow-Up Evaluation; no/minimal symptoms) after 1 year and 2 years. The secondary outcomes were, among others, clinician- and self-rated depressive symptoms, response/remission rates, and quality of life.

Results: Of the 268 randomized patients, 207 (77%) participated in the follow-up. In the intention-to-treat analysis, there was no statistically significant difference between CBASP and SP patients in experiencing well weeks (CBASP: mean [SD] of 48.6 [36.9] weeks; SP: 39.0 [34.8]; rate ratio 1.26, 95% CI 0.99–1.59, p = 0.057, d = 0.18) and in remission rates (CBASP: 1 year 40%, 2 years 40.2%; SP: 1 year 28.9%, 2 years 33%) in the 2 years after treatment. Statistically significant effects were found in favor of CBASP 1 year after treatment termination regarding the rate of well weeks, self-rated depressive symptoms, and depression-related quality of life.

Conclusions: CBASP lost its superiority over SP at some point between the first and the second year. This suggests the necessity of maintenance treatment for early-onset chronically depressed patients remitted with CBASP during the acute therapy phase, as well as the sequential integration of other treatment strategies, including medication for those who did not reach remission.

Keywords: Chronic depressionPsychotherapyRandomized controlled trialFollow-upCognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy

Children of gay fathers received significantly lower scores on internalizing (anxiety, depression) & externalizing (aggression, rule-breaking); daughters had significantly lower internalizing scores

Green, R.-J., Rubio, R. J., Rothblum, E. D., Bergman, K., & Katuzny, K. E. (2019). Gay fathers by surrogacy: Prejudice, parenting, and well-being of female and male children. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 6(3), 269-283. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000325

Abstract: This research focused on behavioral functioning of children conceived via gestational surrogacy and raised by gay fathers. Gay fathers from 68 families with children aged 3–10 years completed the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist. Their scores were compared to those from a normative sample of parents matched for parent’s occupation and children’s gender, age, and race/ethnicity. Children of gay fathers received significantly lower scores on internalizing (anxiety, depression) and externalizing (aggression, rule-breaking) than children in the comparison sample. Most notably, daughters of gay fathers had significantly lower internalizing scores than did daughters in the national database. Gay fathers also completed measures of parenting styles, social support, and perceived prejudice. Fathers who reported less authoritarian or permissive parenting, more positive coparenting, and more social support from friends had children with fewer behavior problems. Gay fathers’ reports of family members receiving higher levels of antigay microaggressions were associated with parents’ greater stigma consciousness, more anger/aggression from spouse/partner, and less positive parenting and coparenting. Results are discussed in terms of gay and heterosexual parents’ gender-related socialization of daughters’ internalizing problems and the impact of minority stress on same-sex couples’ parenting.

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Why would same-sex parents have children whose behavioral functioning is sometimes better than the functioning of heterosexual parents’ children? One possible reason is that male-male and female-female parents who have children in the context of a same-sex relationship do not get pregnant by accident. By contrast, surveys of women in the general population indicate that 45% of pregnancies in the United States are unintended (this includes pregnancies that are terminated; Finer & Zolna, 2016). Obviously, many unintended pregnancies of heterosexual parents result in children who are very much loved and nurtured; however, many other such children remain unwanted. By contrast, in the case of same-sex parents, having children via surrogacy always involves extensive effort, planning, and very high financial costs. These children are very much wanted. Thus, a group of gay fathers via surrogacy may start out with a higher level of planning ability and greater commitment to having children than a normative group of parents in the general population may have, which in turn could contribute to these gay fathers’ better parenting and better child outcomes overall.

Our results were mostly consistent with the second hypothesis—that positive couple interaction and more effective parenting styles would be associated with more positive functioning among children. These findings indicate that gay fathers who report utilizing more permissive or authoritarian styles of parenting—and who engage in less positive coparenting—have children with more internalizing and externalizing problems. These results are similar to findings from studies of different-sex parents who use more authoritarian and permissive parenting styles and have less positive coparenting (cf. Darling, 1999; and McHale & Lindahl, 2011 for reviews). In this regard, the determinants of child outcomes seem similar in many different types of families. The processes and quality of parenting appear to be more important to children’s well-being than does a family’s composition (whether the family is headed by same-sex male or female coparents, single parents, stepparents, grandparents, etc.).

Are people who create or consume art more prosocial (e.g., more likely to volunteer and make charitable donations)? It seems they are.

Kou, X., Konrath, S., & Goldstein, T. R. (2019). The relationship among different types of arts engagement, empathy, and prosocial behavior. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/aca0000269

Abstract: The arts have long been promoted as helping people learn and care about situations and people other than themselves. However, large-scale research on this question is sparse. The current paper uses four national datasets to examine how arts engagement is associated with prosocial traits and behaviors. We ask the following: Are people who create or consume art more prosocial (e.g., more likely to volunteer and make charitable donations)? Does this depend upon art genre (visual arts, performing arts, or literature)? Does engaging in the arts at one time predict prosocial behavior 7 years later? And vice versa? We include sociodemographic and health controls to rule out confounds. To date, this is the most comprehensive investigation of how arts engagement is associated with prosocial behavior, and has implications for theory and practice.

Found a preference for more trustworthy-looking faces when participants considered a long-term versus a short-term relationship; social anxiety correlated positively with trustworthiness preferences

Carrito, M. L., Santos, I. M., Bem-Haja, P., Lopes, A. A., Silva, C. F., & Perrett, D. I. (2019). The attractive side of trustworthiness: Effects of relationship context and social interaction anxiety on face preferences. Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ebs0000177

Abstract: Previous studies have highlighted the influence of conditional mating strategies in attractiveness preferences. “Good genes” and dominance cues are perceived as attractive when considering short-term relationships. In contrast, cues for better parenting abilities and trustworthiness are considered more attractive when participants ponder a long-term relationship. We investigated women’s and men’s attractiveness preferences in other-sex faces that were structurally altered along a continuum of apparent trustworthiness. Faces were adjusted in shape toward the perceived trustworthy–untrustworthy extremes defined on the basis of previously created prototypes. We anticipated that perceived trustworthiness would be more important for long-term than short-term relationships because of the greater costs of exploitation. Also, we explored individual differences in preferences, anticipating that participants with high social interaction anxiety would prefer more trustworthy-looking faces. As expected, we found a preference for more trustworthy-looking faces when participants considered a long-term versus a short-term relationship. Social interaction anxiety correlated positively with trustworthiness preferences, probably reflecting an avoidance response in anxious individuals, induced by untrustworthy cues. Collectively, these findings constitute novel evidence of the influence of individual differences in mate choice–relevant face preferences.

Brain regions in response to character feedback associated with the state self-esteem

Brain regions in response to character feedback associated with the state self-esteem. Maoying Peng et al.  Biological Psychology, July 25 2019, 107734. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2019.107734

Highlights
• We found that participants reported higher state self-esteem following the character feedback irrespective of valence, compared with the appearance feedback.
• And the dorsal striatum was more activated in response to SCP and the lateral prefrontal cortex was more activated in response to the SCN compared to the appearance feedback.
• Moreover, the activation of dorsal striatum was significantly correlated with the difference scores of people’s reported state self-esteem after receiving SCP versus SAP, and the activation of LPFC was significantly correlated with the difference scores of people’s reported state self-esteem after receiving SCN versus SAN.

Abstract: Research on the Sociometer theory of self-esteem have demonstrated that manipulations of interpersonal appraisal reliably influence an individual’s state self-esteem and that state levels of self-esteem correlate very highly with perceived acceptance and rejection. However, how social feedback from different sources (e.g., appearance vs. character) affect the state self-esteem and its neural underpinnings have not been explored. To address this, participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while viewing either appearance-related feedback words or character-related feedback words, and for each feedback word, they were asked to rate their state self-esteem. Results showed that participants reported a higher state self-esteem following character feedback, irrespective of valence, than that following appearance feedback. Moreover, fMRI results demonstrated that the left caudate tail was more activated in response to positive character feedback and the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC), dorsal anterior cingulate, posterior cingulate, and precuneus were more activated in response to negative character feedback than in response to appearance feedback. Moreover, activation of the left caudate tail was significantly correlated with the difference in participant’s reported state self-esteem scores after receiving positive character feedback versus that after receiving positive appearance feedback. Further, activation of the LPFC was significantly correlated with a difference in participant’s reported state self-esteem scores after receiving negative character feedback versus that after receiving negative appearance feedback. These findings suggest a reward-related mechanism when processing positive social feedback and a self-critical processing when processing the negative social feedback on an important aspect of self-concept (e.g., character-related).

Keywords: state self-esteemcharacter feedbackappearance feedbackfMRIcaudatelateral prefrontal cortex

The More You Have, the More You Want? Higher Social Class Predicts a Greater Desire for Wealth and Status

The More You Have, the More You Want? Higher Social Class Predicts a Greater Desire for Wealth and Status. Zhechen Wang  Jolanda Jetten  Niklas K. Steffens. European Journal of Social Psychology, July 25 2019. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2620

Abstract: Traditional theories have focused on the intentions of lower‐class individuals to climb on the social ladder, yet they have paid relatively little attention to the motivations of upper‐class individuals to ascend even higher. Addressing this issue, Studies 1 and 2 provided cross‐national evidence that higher social class is associated with a greater desire for wealth and status. Moreover, by manipulating perceived social class, Studies 3 and 5 experimentally confirmed that compared to people in the lower‐class group, those in the upper‐class group express a stronger desire for wealth and status. Furthermore, in line with self‐categorization theory predictions, Studies 3‐5 showed that upper‐class individuals tend to see and use wealth and status as important attributes in defining and categorizing self, and such tendency explains the effect of social class on desire for wealth and status. Together, our findings demonstrate a “having more—wanting more” relationship, and its consequences are further discussed.