People's impressions of others' traits became increasingly unfavorable over time, while their impressions of their own traits improved

Perceived changes in trait attributions to others and the self. David M. Sanbonmatsu, Taylor Adams & Paul H. White. The Journal of Social Psychology, Nov 16 2022. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2022.2136060

Abstract: A study was conducted to examine the perceived changes in the impressions of others or self on 133 trait dimensions. Attributions to others were reportedly more negative over time whereas attributions to self were more positive over time. Perceived changes in others’ traits appear to be guided by basic behavioral inference processes. Trait beliefs about others tend to be revised when the traits are common and disconfirming behavior is infrequent and more diagnostic. Positive trait impressions of others change more frequently because they are more prevalent and because negative behaviors (that disconfirm positive attributions) are less frequent and more diagnostic than positive behaviors. In contrast, revisions of trait impressions of the self appear to be driven heavily by self-evaluation motivations such as the desire to see self-improvement. The favorableness of changes in trait self-concepts were positively correlated with self-esteem. The consequences of the observed patterns of attributional change for interpersonal relations are discussed.

Keywords: Attributioncorrespondent behaviorself-conceptdisconfirmation

Rolf Degen summarizing... The amount of time people objectively spent using social media was unrelated to their subjective self-reports, casting considerable doubt on previous research findings that almost always rely on self-reports

Assessing the validity of self-report social media use: Evidence of No relationship with objective smartphone use. Tamsin Mahalingham, Peter M. McEvoy, Patrick J.F. Clarke. Computers in Human Behavior, November 17 2022, 107567. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2022.107567

Abstract: Social media use research remains dominated by self-report measures, despite concerns they may not accurately reflect objective social media use. The association between commonly employed self-report measures and objective social media use remains unclear. The aim of this study was to determine the degree of association between an objective and commonly employed subjective measures of social media use. The study specifically examined a single-estimate self-report measure, a problematic social media use scale, and objective use derived from smartphone data, in a sample of 209 individuals. The findings showed a very weak non-significant relationship between the objective measure and the single-estimate measure, (r = −.04, p = .58, BF10 = 0.18), and a weak significant relationship between the objective measure and the problematic social media use scale (r = .19, p = .01, BF10 = 3.04). These findings converge with other recent research to suggest there is very little shared variance between subjective estimates of social media use and objective use. This highlights the possibility that subjective social media use may be largely unrelated to objective use, which has implications for ensuring the rigor of future research and raising potential concerns regarding the veracity of previous research.

All over the world, the percentage of people in pain increased from 26.3 in 2009 to 32.1 in 2021

Pain trends and pain growth disparities, 2009-2021. LucíaMacchia. Economics & Human Biology, November 16 2022, 101200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2022.101200

Abstract: Physical pain is a major public health concern. Yet evidence on trends in physical pain around the world barely exists. Using nationally representative data from 146 countries (N = 1.6 million respondents), this paper finds that, all over the world, the percentage of people in pain increased from 26.3 in 2009 to 32.1 in 2021. This rising trend was present in both higher- and lower-income countries. This article also documents pain disparities: In the worldwide population, pain grew faster among women, the less educated, and the poor. Although the aggregate level of pain was greater among the elderly (> 60 years old), the growth in pain was faster among the younger (< 35 years old). These findings hold after controlling for sociodemographic factors. Disparities of pain growth in higher- and lower-income nations and potential explanatory factors are also discussed. Understanding how the level of pain varies over time and across demographic groups is crucial to evaluate and shape public health policies.

Introduction

Physical pain is a common health problem with vast individual, economic, and social consequences. Pain influences people’s health, wellbeing, and risk of mortality (Smith et al., 2018, Zajacova et al., 2021a), the economy and the healthcare system (Frießem et al., 2009, Gaskin and Richard, 2012), and the individual’s immediate social environment, such as the family and the workplace (Bendelow and Williams, 1995, de Vaan and Stuart, 2019, Dueñas et al., 2016). Understanding the growth and the distribution of pain growth in society is crucial to improving citizens’ welfare and the public health system. Yet evidence on pain trends and pain growth disparities in the worldwide population barely exists. This paper uses nationally representative data from146 countries (N = 1.6 million respondents) to examine pain trends between 2009 and 2021, potential explanations for these trends, and sociodemographic disparities in pain growth.

Later analyses show that the percentage of people in pain around the world increased from 26.3 in 2009 to 32.1 in 2021. Approximately, an extra half a billion people were in pain in 2021 as compared to 2009. Pain grew faster in countries with lower (vs higher) median age, lower (vs higher) healthcare spending, lower (vs higher) general government spending, and higher (vs lower) stress. This article also shows that pain growth is unequally distributed: The growth in physical pain was faster among women, the younger, the less educated, and the poor.