Meta-analysis: Purchasing experiences buys greater happiness than purchasing material possessions, but mostly when consumed together with others and among the well-to-do

Re-examining the Experiential Advantage in Consumption: A Meta-Analysis and Review. Evan Weingarten, Joseph K Goodman. Journal of Consumer Research, ucaa047, September 16 2020. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucaa047

Rolf Degen's take: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf/status/1309342466831798272

Abstract: A wealth of consumer research has proposed an experiential advantage: consumers yield greater happiness from purchasing experiences compared to material possessions. While this research stream has undoubtedly influenced consumer research, few have questioned its limitations, explored moderators, or investigated filedrawer effects. This has left marketing managers, consumers, and researchers questioning the relevance of the experiential advantage. To address these questions, the authors develop a model of consumer happiness and well-being based on psychological needs (i.e., autonomy, relatedness, self-esteem, and meaningfulness), and conduct an experiential advantage meta-analysis to test this model. Collecting 360 effect sizes from 141 studies, the meta-analysis supports the experiential advantage (d = 0.383, 95% CI [0.336, 0.430]), of which approximately a third of the effect may be attributable to publication bias. The analysis finds differential effects depending on the type of dependent measure, suggesting that the experiential advantage may be more tied to relatedness than to happiness and willingness-to-pay. The experiential advantage is reduced for negative experiences, for solitary experiences, for lower socioeconomic status consumers, and when experiences provide a similar level of utilitarian benefits relative to material goods. Finally, results suggest future studies in this literature should use larger sample sizes than current practice.

Psychopathy is inversely associated with nature connectedness; high scoring on psychopathy was associated with a preference for inner-city living, but did not match residential history

Examining the connection between nature connectedness and dark personality. D. Fido et al. Journal of Environmental Psychology, September 24 2020, 101499. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2020.101499

Rolf Degen's take: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf/status/1309345665894567936

Highlights

• Psychopathy is inversely associated with nature connectedness.

• High scoring on psychopathy was associated with a preference for inner-city living, but did not match residential history.

• The nature-based IAT may not be a valid measure of implicit nature connectedness.

Abstract: The psychological construct of nature connectedness - the depth of an individual’s relationship with the natural world - has not only been associated with benefits for mental well-being but has also shown relationships with personality traits relevant to the dark personality literature. These include agreeableness, cognitive and affective empathy, and callous and uncaring traits. Across two independently-sampled studies we delineate relationships between explicit and implicit indices of nature connectedness and dark personality. In Study 1 (N = 304), psychopathy (and Machiavellianism) was associated with self-reported, but not implicitly-measured, nature connectedness. Moreover, individuals scoring high on dark personality exhibited a preference for inner-city, relative to suburban or rural living. In Study 2 (N = 209), we replicated the findings of Study 1 in relation to explicit measures of nature connectedness but did not find further relationships between dark personality and the population densities of where participants had previously lived. Limitations of implicit and pseudo indices of nature connectedness are outlined, and the results are discussed in relation to future research and the potential role of nature connectedness interventions in forensic populations. Data, syntax, and the manuscript pre-print are available here: [https://osf.io/3mg5d/?view_only=b5c7749d4a7945c5a161f0915a2d0259].

Keywords: Nature ConnectednessPsychopathyNarcissismMachiavellianismSadism

Motivated reasoning and policy information: Politicians are more resistant to debiasing interventions than the general public

Motivated reasoning and policy information: Politicians are more resistant to debiasing interventions than the general public. Julian Christensen & Donald P. Moynihan. Forthcoming in Behavioural Public Policy, accepted Aug 2020. https://pure.au.dk/portal/files/196718602/Accepted_manuscript_including_supplementary_materials.pdf

Abstract: A growing body of evidence shows that politicians use motivated reasoning to fit evidence with prior beliefs. In this, they are not unlike other people. We use survey experiments to reaffirm prior work showing that politicians, like the public they represent, engage in motivated reasoning. However, we also show that politicians are more resistant to debiasing interventions than others. When required to justify their evaluations, politicians rely more on prior political attitudes and less on policy information, increasing the probability of erroneous decisions. The results raise the troubling implication that the specialized role of elected officials makes them more immune to the correction of biases, and in this way, less representative of the voters they serve when they process policy information.

Keywords: Motivated reasoning, elite behavior, politicians, debiasing interventions, justification requirements, accountability

The brain: Evidence for improvement in personality & behavior following frontal polar & anterior dorsolateral prefrontal damage; both lesion location & premorbid functioning contribute to improvements

Neural correlates of improvements in personality and behavior following a neurological event. Marcie L. King et al. Neuropsychologia, Volume 145, August 2020, 106579. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.11.023

Highlights

• Evidence for improvement in personality and behavior following a neurological event.

• Improvement related to frontal polar and anterior dorsolateral prefrontal damage.

• Both lesion location and premorbid functioning contribute to improvements.

Abstract: Research on changes in personality and behavior following brain damage has focused largely on negative outcomes, such as increased irritability, moodiness, and social inappropriateness. However, clinical observations suggest that some patients may actually show positive personality and behavioral changes following a neurological event. In the current work, we investigated neuroanatomical correlates of positive personality and behavioral changes following a discrete neurological event (e.g., stroke, benign tumor resection). Patients (N = 97) were rated by a well-known family member or friend on five domains of personality and behavior: social behavior, irascibility, hypo-emotionality, distress, and executive functioning. Ratings were acquired during the chronic epoch of recovery, when psychological status was stabilized. We identified patients who showed positive changes in personality and behavior in one or more domains of functioning. Lesion analyses indicated that positive changes in personality and behavior were most consistently related to damage to the bilateral frontal polar regions and the right anterior dorsolateral prefrontal region. These findings support the conclusion that improvements in personality and behavior can occur after a neurological event, and that such changes have systematic neuroanatomical correlates. Patients who showed positive changes in personality and behavior following a neurological event were rated as having more disturbed functioning prior to the event. Our study may be taken as preliminary evidence that improvements in personality and behavior following a neurological event may involve dampening of (premorbidly) more extreme expressions of emotion.

Keywords: PersonalityBehaviorLesionNeurological event

Smaller amygdala is associated with neuroticism, anxiety; it is not associated with depression symptoms

Smaller amygdala volume and increased neuroticism predict anxiety symptoms in healthy subjects: A volumetric approach using manual tracing. Yifan Hua et al. Neuropsychologia, Volume 145, August 2020, 106564. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.11.008

Rolf Degen's take: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf/status/1309124354421272585

Highlights

• Findings linking amygdala volume to trait anxiety in healthy and anxiety groups are mixed.

• Discrepancies may be due to use of automated amygdala segmentation vs. manual tracing.

• Here, manually traced amygdala volume negatively correlated with neuroticism and trait anxiety.

• Neuroticism also mediated the association between amygdala volume and trait anxiety.

• Amygdala volume was not associated with depression symptoms.

Abstract: Volume reductions in the amygdala (AMY) have been found in patients with anxiety disorders, but findings are mixed in subclinical participants with high trait anxiety scores, in whom both reductions and increases in AMY volume have been identified. One potential reason for such discrepancies could be the employment of different methods to determine the AMY volume (i.e., manual tracing in psychiatric research vs. automated methods), in non-patient research. In addition to trait anxiety, smaller AMY volume has also been linked to neuroticism, a personality trait consistently linked to increased vulnerability to anxiety. However, it is not clear how AMY volume and neuroticism together may contribute to anxiety symptoms in healthy functioning. These issues were investigated in a sample of 46 healthy participants who underwent anatomical MRI scanning and completed questionnaires measuring trait anxiety and neuroticism. AMY volume was assessed using manual tracing, based on anatomical landmarks identified in each participant's anatomical image. First, smaller left AMY volume was linked to higher levels of neuroticism (p = .013) and trait anxiety (p = .024), which in turn were positively correlated with each other. Moreover, AMY volume had a significant indirect effect on trait anxiety through neuroticism (ab = − .009, 95% CI [− .019, − .002]). This effect was not bidirectional, as trait anxiety did not predict AMY volume through neuroticism. Collectively, these findings provide support for a brain-personality-symptom framework of understanding affective dysregulation, which may help inform the development of prevention and intervention paradigms targeting preservation of AMY volume and reduction of neuroticism, to protect against anxiety symptoms.

Keywords: AmygdalaNeuroticismTrait anxietyVolumeManual tracing

Information processing is widely influenced by the presence of others; the influence on cognitive processing extends from the sensitivity to others’ attention and action, their perceptions, perspectives, beliefs & goals

Altercentric Cognition: How Others Influence Our Cognitive Processing. Dora Kampis, Victoria Southgate. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, September 24 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2020.09.003

Rolf Degen's take: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf/status/1309111875251122176

Highlights

.  Humans are altercentric: our information processing is widely influenced by the presence of other agents.

.  The influence of others on cognitive processing extends from the sensitivity to others’ attention and action, their perceptions, perspectives, and beliefs, even when our immediate goal is individual.

.  Altercentric effects range from short-term effects, such as motor mimicry, gaze cueing, and influence on perceptual sensitivity, to influences on semantic processing and short as well as long-term memory.

.  Altercentrism may function to align input across different individuals, thus facilitating interpersonal coordination, communication, group dynamics, and cumulative culture.

Abstract: Humans are ultrasocial, yet, theories of cognition have often been occupied with the solitary mind. Over the past decade, an increasing volume of work has revealed how individual cognition is influenced by the presence of others. Not only do we rapidly identify others in our environment, but we also align our attention with their attention, which influences what we perceive, represent, and remember, even when our immediate goals do not involve coordination. Here, we refer to the human sensitivity to others and to the targets and content of their attention as ‘altercentrism’; and aim to bring seemingly disparate findings together, suggesting that they are all reflections of the altercentric nature of human cognition.

Keywords: altercentrismsocial cognitionmirroringperspective takingself and otherattentional bias

Participants preferred to interact (being friends or developing a relationship) with an intelligent person regardless of whether or not that person was sexist

When sexism is not a problem: The role of perceived intelligence in willingness to interact with someone who is sexist. Elena Agadullina. The Journal of Social Psychology, Sep 22 2020. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2020.1819187

Rolf Degen's take: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf/status/1309065848250826752

ABSTRACT: Two studies examined factors that would influence people’s preferences for interaction with a perpetrator of sexism. In Study 1 (n = 348), participants preferred to interact (being friends or developing a relationship) with an intelligent person regardless of whether or not that person was sexist. Study 2 (n = 614) replicated this finding and confirmed that where a perpetrator had a high level of intelligence, people were more willing to interact with them, regardless of the perpetrator’s sex and the perceived commission or non-commission of sexist behavior. Moreover, Study 2 provides evidence that participants’ hostile sexism beliefs are a significant covariate of a willingness to interact with unintelligent women. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for the understanding of person perception.

KEYWORDS: Sexism, intelligence, halo effect, person perception