Sound induces analgesia through corticothalamic circuits. Wenjie Zhou et al. Science, Jul 7 2022, Vol 377, Issue 6602, pp. 198-204, DOI: 10.1126/science.abn4663
The pain-reducing effects of music: That sound can effectively suppress pain has been known for some time. However, it is still unclear what drives the analgetic effect induced by music or noise. Zhou et al. used a range of methods to demonstrate in mice that the auditory cortex is functionally connected to regions involved in nociception (see the Perspective by Kuner and Kuner). The neuronal circuits depend on the physical location of the pain. Whereas the analgetic effect of a 5-decibel signal-to-noise ratio white noise on the hindpaws involved projections from the auditory cortex to the posterior thalamic nuclei, on the forepaws, it involved projections from the auditory cortex to the ventral posterior nuclei. Distinct thalamic nuclei are thus involved in the processing of nociceptive information perceived at distinct physical locations. —PRS
Abstract: Sound—including music and noise—can relieve pain in humans, but the underlying neural mechanisms remain unknown. We discovered that analgesic effects of sound depended on a low (5-decibel) signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) relative to ambient noise in mice. Viral tracing, microendoscopic calcium imaging, and multitetrode recordings in freely moving mice showed that low-SNR sounds inhibited glutamatergic inputs from the auditory cortex (ACxGlu) to the thalamic posterior (PO) and ventral posterior (VP) nuclei. Optogenetic or chemogenetic inhibition of the ACxGlu→PO and ACxGlu→VP circuits mimicked the low-SNR sound–induced analgesia in inflamed hindpaws and forepaws, respectively. Artificial activation of these two circuits abolished the sound-induced analgesia. Our study reveals the corticothalamic circuits underlying sound-promoted analgesia by deciphering the role of the auditory system in pain processing.
Sexual Fantasies, from Part II - Copulatory Adaptations. Rui Miguel Costa. In The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Sexual Psychology, pp 209-240. Jun 30 2022. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108943567.011
Summary: Sexual fantasies refer to mental imagery of sexual activity with an emotional component that absorbs the fantasizer. These images are often sexually arousing and enjoyable, but they can elicit guilt and be unwanted and intrusive. Reported frequency of sexual fantasizing is subject to large individual differences. The present chapter reviews and discusses the role of motivational tendencies underlying sexual fantasies and the relationship between sexual functioning and sexual fantasies. Men report more frequent fantasies than women, but at least part of the difference is explained by greater frequency of masturbation accompanied by fantasies for men than women. Sexual desire does not require the experience of fantasies, but fantasy frequency is robustly related to sexual desire in the reproductive years. Tendency to experience sexual fantasies is related to imagery ability, in general, but the modest correlations suggest independent processes. Unlike sexual activity that requires compromise between partners’ desires, fantasies are unconstrained by physical and social reality; as such, they provide a window into sexual motivations that guide cognitions and behavior. Predictions of sex differences in fantasy contents based on evolutionary theory have been confirmed by many studies. Women are more likely than men to fantasize about sex with the current partner, and less likely than men to fantasize about group sex, sex with strangers, extradyadic relationships, and sex with (legally) much younger partners. This is interpreted as fantasies reflecting sex-differentiated mating strategies. However, a substantial proportion of women report fantasies of group sex, sex with unknown men, and sex with men other than their current partner. This suggests that a certain degree of sperm competition has occurred in human evolutionary history, which is corroborated by the relative size of men’s testes in comparison with other primates. Generally (and against expectations), women do not fantasize more about sex with much older partners and famous people. Fantasies involving sexual aggression are very common. Men fantasize more than women about forcing someone to have sex. Some studies report that women fantasize more about being forced to have sex, but others have failed to find this sex differences. Still, more women than men report that the fantasy of being forced to have sex is among their favorites. These fantasies are typically very sexually arousing, but they may challenge evolutionary explanations and the notion of fantasies revealing motivations, as rape is reported to be traumatic and revolting by victims. Several explanations are discussed. Rape fantasies might facilitate intercourse and sexual pleasure in circumstances of psychological ambivalence, when the environment is safe. In women, evidence of a relationship between sexual fantasies and sexual satisfaction is mixed. Sexual satisfaction is unrelated to female coital fantasies and to male fantasies, in general. Many variables that may cause fantasy-related dissatisfaction are discussed; these include fantasies provoking guilt feelings, preference for arousal solely induced by sensory and emotional stimulation, fantasies being used as escapes from relationship problems and other stressors of reality, and lack of adequate sleep leading to greater fantasy-induced arousal.
Men’s Provisioning of Oral Sex, from Part II - Copulatory Adaptations. Gavin Vance. In The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Sexual Psychology, pp 271-293, June 2022. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108943543.014
Summary: Men sometimes engage in noncopulatory sexual behaviors, such as cunnilingus and other kinds of sexual foreplay. Men involved in long-term romantic relationships, in particular, tend to provision their partners with oral sex. Potential adaptive functions of cunnilingus in humans are discussed with a focus on the hypothesis that men use oral sex provisioning as part of a general benefit-provisioning, long-term mating strategy. Other potential adaptive functions are also considered, including the infidelity detection hypothesis and several hypotheses concerning sperm competition adaptations. Some research has proposed the possibility that men may use oral sex as a form of infidelity detection, wherein they might be able to smell or taste the semen of rival males in their partner’s vagina. Other research has posited that men might perform cunnilingus in order to induce orgasm in their partners, thereby increasing the amount of sperm retained in her reproductive tract after ejaculation. Still others have suggested that men might perform cunnilingus to increase their own arousal, thus increasing their subsequent ejaculate volume. These adaptive perspectives are couched within the wider literature on oral sex, which includes data regarding the frequency of oral sex in adolescent, preindustrial and non-Western samples, as well as women’s desire for receiving oral sex. Regarding the relative infrequency of cunnilingus in preindustrial and non-Western samples, in particular, men’s provisioning of oral sex is considered as potentially being a part of an evolved cognition for benefit-provisioning mate retention in general, rather than oral sex itself serving a specific adaptive function. Specifically, oral sex may be one type of sexual favor that men, especially those in Western cultures, sometimes provide to their long-term partners. Additional data regarding the increased sexual and relationship satisfaction in women who engage in a wider variety of sexual practices and who more frequently experience orgasm further supports the mate retention hypothesis of men’s provisioning of oral sex. Nevertheless, the available literature investigating these potential adaptive functions is currently insufficient to draw any decisive conclusions. Finally, gaps in the current literature and suggestions for future research that may help determine the evolved nature of men’s oral sex provisioning are discussed.
Yours Truly: On the Complex Relationship Between Authenticity and Honesty. Erica R. Bailey, Sheena S. Iyengar. Current Opinion in Psychology, July 8 2022, 101419. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101419
Abstract: Authenticity is defined as being true to yourself, but does being true to yourself always mean being truthful? The apparent similarity between authenticity and honesty has obscured directly scrutinizing possible tension between the two constructs. In the current paper, we review recent research which reveals their orthogonality, highlighting how honesty can decrease authenticity and dishonesty can increase authenticity. In addition, we delineate between honesty with the self and self-rated authenticity, as well as honesty with others and perceived authenticity. Finally, we propose the importance of coherence and morality which describe when honesty will serve (or harm) authenticity both intra- and interpersonally, illuminating avenues for future research.
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People reliably report that their “true self”, the often-cited source of authenticity, is more moral and generally better than the true selves of others.
Abstract:
The capacity to elicit vivid visual mental images varies within an
extensive range across individuals between hyper- and aphantasia. It
is not clear, however, whether imagery vividness is constant across
the lifespan or changes during development and later in life. Without
enforcing the constraints of strict experimental procedures and
representativity across the entire population, our purpose was to
explore the self-reported level of imagery vividness and determine
the relative proportions of aphantasic/hyperphantasic participants in
different age groups. Relying on the frequently used Vividness of
Visual Imagery Questionnaire, we collected data on a random sample of
2252 participants between the ages of 12 to 60 years. We found a
novel developmental pattern that describes a declining ability to
elicit vivid visual mental images in the group averages of different
age groups from adolescence to middle age. This effect involves both
a decreasing proportion of individuals with vivid visual imagery
vividness and an increasing proportion of individuals with low
imagery vividness as maturation (based on bone age assessments in
adolescents) and ageing progress. These findings may shed some light
on the developmental mechanisms of our internal, stimulus-independent
processes, and might also help to determine genetic, maturational,
and age-dependent factors in the cases of hyper- and aphantasia.
We examined whether visual imagery vividness is constant across the lifespan, or whether it changes during development and later in life. Our results show - for the first time - that visual imagery vividness declines with age, and this decline is more pronounced in males than females. Above average imagery vividness is common during the teenage years, while the proportion of hyperphantasics sharply declines from adolescence to middle age. Aphantasia, on the other hand, is non-existent in adolescents, and seems to become increasingly prevalent in the later years. Additionally, in 11 to13-year-old adolescents, advanced biological maturity (measured via bone age assessment) is correlated with weaker visual imagery vividness. We interpret these findings as evidence for the waning of imagery vividness as a function of chronological age between adolescence and middle age, and as a function of biological age in adolescents.
We believe that the discovered developmental changes in visual imagery vividness and in the prevalence of aphantasia are novel findings. In terms of visual mental imagery and ageing, there exist different experimental approaches, as well as studies on mental rotation, visuo-spatial internal representation, and visual working memory (for recent examples see: Craik & Dirkx, 1992; Dror & Kosslyn, 1994; Isaac & Marks, 1994; Wimmer et al., 2015) trying to define and model the phenomenon of visual internal representations. However, these studies approach mental imagery from a stimulus-response, functional perspective of short-term memory, while our study looks at the development of external stimulus independent visual mental imagery. The latter could avoid the potential biases of perceptual changes or decline due to ageing.
Our results contradict some of the already heterogeneous results of earlier studies measuring visual imagery vividness over the lifespan mentioned in the introduction (Isaac & Marks, 1994; Campos & Sueiro, 1993; Kemps & Newson, 2005; White et al., 1977; Wolmer et al., 1999). We noted that these studies use comparatively small sample sizes, limited age-based distribution, and other artefacts, which may contribute to inconsistent findings. The above described, age-related declining pattern of imagery vividness seems to provide a fresh and more coherent picture, and perhaps an alternative way of thinking about the background of internal representations. Our results may also shed light on the necessity of more representative surveys in this field to get more persuasive information about the maturational effects of the phenomenon.
Our observation on the remarkable distribution of the two extremes – namely hyper- and aphantasia – is also unique in the literature. Most previous studies on aphantasia look at its role in different cognitive functions, and potential impairments or compensative internal processes, mainly only in adult samples (for recent examples, see: Jacobs et al., 2018; Pounder et al., 2018; Keogh et al., 2021; Milton et al., 2021; Wicken et al., 2021). However, to understand the phenomenon more comprehensively, it would be essential to examine the nature of lifelong prevalence as well. The fact that both chronological and biological age are negatively correlated with visual imagery vividness seems to uncover a developmental process and indicates the existence of “developmental aphantasia” in addition to the potentially genetically based and acquired forms.
The other terminus of the visual imagery vividness spectrum is the phenomenon of hyperphantasia (Zeman, 2020). In contrast to aphantasia, this kind of extreme, ’offline-perceptual’ experience means to have abnormally strong, or photo-like, even eidetic imagery. According to the previous prevalence calculations, this mental representational ability is more frequent in the group of elementary-school-aged children, than among subjects in other age groups (Giray et al., 1976; Haber, 1979; Haber & Haber, 1964). Different theoretical approaches exist to explain this distributional pattern of which the most popular viewpoint is the developmental hypothesis (Haber, 1979; Haber & Haber, 1964). According to this assumption, extreme visual imagery vividness is an early capacity, modulated or lost by the progression of developmental processes during childhood. Nevertheless, this aspect could not necessarily provide a reliable explanation to any longitudinal observations, namely to the cases within the eidetic subjects that remained eidetically classified in the entire experimental time interval (Leask et al., 1969). Based on our findings, we would like to suggest that in addition to the genetically based neurodiversity along the visual imagery spectrum, a lifelong developmental pattern of decreasing visual imagery vividness is also part of the picture. The mechanism behind this decline and the neural background is not within the scope of our investigation here, however, we hope to facilitate a more detailed investigation of the neural correlates.
Inspired by our current findings we propose that the vividness of visual mental imagery is shaped by developmental factors, and there is a natural tendency for less vivid mental images with both maturation and ageing (see Fig. 2). Although we leave the possibility open that there might be a small proportion of individuals with genetically based hyper- or aphantasia whose imaging capacities are unaffected by maturational or developmental factors, we also claim the relevance of the developmental changes. As for future studies, this relevance might be twofold. On one hand, by acknowledging the changing distributions of imaging capacities, future studies might involve samples more representative for age and gender to determine the actual prevalence of either, potentially genetically based extremes. On the other hand, the clear declining tendency raises several questions about the developmental mechanisms that bring about such a remarkable change. For example, is there a difference between genetically based and developmental hyper- and aphantasia?
Instead of indulging in further exciting but unanswered questions, let us also note the limitations of our exploratory study that could be overcome in further investigations. First, despite the large number of participants in the adult age groups, our study cannot be considered representative, and it is not longitudinal. Therefore, we cannot completely rule out confounds related to random samples, and confounds that may include social, educational, technological, or lifestyle changes over time that may affect the spectrum of mental imagery vividness across the examined age groups. It would be very important to systematically study these potential confounds in future studies. Additionally, although unlikely, we cannot rule out the possibility that aphantasics from older age brackets were more inclined to participate in our study, e.g., by being overrepresented among the readers of the news portal where the invitation link of the study was published. Attrition bias might also be present if, e.g., mortality would decrease in the presence of aphantasia, or increase in the general and hyperphantasic population. The latter effect, that is, the relative decrease in the number of people with high imagery vividness in the population might be due to a confound with psychiatric or neurodegenerative diseases reducing life expectancy (Ji et al., 2019; Pearson et al., 2013; Pearson et al., 2015). It is also a shortcoming of this exploratory study that we used a self-report questionnaire that is subject to several response biases, and it may not be readily applicable in children.
Since it seems relevant to extend the current investigation to childhood, where over-reporting of imagery experience might be an issue, more objective measures involving lower levels of cognitive complexity are called for. For example, a no-report version (Frässle et al. 2014; Ziman et al., 2022) of the binocular rivalry dominance priming method (Milton et al., 2021; Pearson et al., 2008, 201; Keogh & Pearson 2018) might be a useful paradigm in forthcoming studies. The essence of this method is that there is an imagery instruction before each rivalry trial, and the induced mental image is expected to affect perceptual decisions about the multistable stimulus (Pearson et al., 2008). The facilitatory effect correlates with the subjective vividness reports (Pearson et al., 2011), and it is not present in subjects with aphantasia (Keogh & Pearson 2018). Although this method seems to deal with the subjectivity of self-reports, the rivalry paradigm is still short of objectivity since participants intentionally report their subjective percepts on each primed rivalry trial, involving criterion level problems, and individual results suggest on demand responses in a significant number of catch trials (Pearson et al., 2011). To solve this issue, a ‘no-report’ version of the rivalry paradigm, based on eye-tracking has been introduced (Frässle et al, 2014; Ziman et al., 2022). Another recently introduced method for the objective study of aphantasia uses the pupillary light response (Kay et al. 2022). During imagery of light or dark objects, the pupils react similarly as in natural vision: they dilate while imaging dark stimuli and constrict while imaging bright stimuli. Kay et al. (2022) found that the degree of imagery-evoked pupillary light response correlates with the proportion of successful priming in the binocular rivalry task and seems to be absent in aphantasia. Since intentional behavioural responses are not required (e.g., choices of questionnaire alternatives or button presses), while behavioural correlates of imagery vividness can be measured, these paradigms are good candidates for future objective studies of visual imagery vividness.
The lifelong changes in visual imagery vividness found in the current study should encourage future research to establish advanced, more objective techniques to measure vividness to determine exact age group standards that should help more precise prevalence estimations of hyper- or aphantasia. In addition to the prevalence estimations, the neural background of these conditions might be better revealed relying on the developmental information confirmed by objective methods, which should, in turn, help the understanding of visual imagery in general.
To sum up, we found a novel developmental pattern showing a declining ability to elicit vivid visual images as age increases from adolescence to middle age. This effect involves both a decreasing proportion of individuals with very vivid visual imagery and an increasing proportion of individuals with weak visual imagery as maturation and ageing progress. These findings may shed some light on the developmental mechanisms of our internal, stimulus-independent processes, and might also help to determine genetic, maturational, and age-dependent factors in the cases of hyper- and aphantasia.
Mac Giolla, Erik, Simon Karlsson, David A. Neequaye, and Magnus Bergquist. 2022. “Evaluating the Replicability of Social Priming Studies.” PsyArXiv. July 8. doi:10.31234/osf.io/dwg9v
Abstract: To assess the replicability of social priming findings we reviewed the extant close replication attempts in the field. In total, we found 65 close replications, that replicated 46 unique findings. Ninety-four percent of the replications had effect sizes smaller than the effect they replicated, only 18% of the replications reported a significant p-value in the original direction, and the 95% confidence interval of the replication effects included the original effects only 26% of the time. The strongest predictor of replication success was whether or not the replication team included at least one of the authors of the original paper. Twelve of the 16 replications with at least one original author produced a significant effect in the original direction and the meta-analytic average of these studies suggest a significant priming effect (d = 0.33, 95% CI[0.26; 0.65]). In stark contrast, none of the 49 replications by independent research teams produced a significant effect in the original direction and the meta-analytic average was virtually zero (d = 0.001, 95% CI[-0.03; 0.03]). We argue that these results have shifted the burden of proof back onto advocates of social priming. Successful replications from independent research teams will likely be required to convince sceptics that social priming exists at all.
Zonszein, Stephanie, and Guy Grossman. 2022. “Turnout Turnaround:
Ethnic Minority Victories Mobilize White Voters.” OSF Preprints.
July 5. doi:10.31219/osf.io/w2dg8
Abstract:
In many countries, the number of ethnic minority representatives has
been steadily increasing. How is such a trend shaping electoral
behavior? Past work has generally focused on the political engagement
of ethnic minorities as a response to having a co-ethnic on the
ballot. In contrast, less attention has been devoted to assessing
whether an ethnic minority incumbent shapes the electoral behavior of
majority-group members. We argue that increased political
representation of minorities can be experienced as an external threat
to a historically white dominant political context. This in turn may
politically activate white constituents aiming to revert their
(perceived) disempowerment. We test this argument employing a novel
dataset that characterizes candidates' ethnicity, covering four UK
Parliamentary general elections, and a regression discontinuity
design of close elections between ethnic minority and majority-group
candidates. Comparing constituencies that are otherwise identical,
except for being represented by a minority Member of Parliament (MP),
we find that an MP's ethnicity matters for electoral participation:
turnout in constituencies narrowly represented by an ethnic minority
MP is 3.6 percentage points larger than in constituencies narrowly
represented by a white MP. Consistent with our argument, we find that
such difference in turnout is driven by majority-white
constituencies, and that voters in these constituencies choose the
party of the minority incumbent’s strongest white opponent.
However, this dynamic does not overpower minorities' incumbency
advantage, but it contributes to polarizing the electorate along
ethnic lines. Our findings have important implications for intergroup
relations, political behavior, and recent political dynamics more
broadly.
Abdulla Alabbasi, A. M., Thompson, T. L., Runco, M. A., Alansari, L. A., & Ayoub, A. E. A. (2022). Gender differences in creative potential: A meta-analysis of mean differences and variability. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. Jul 2022. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000506
Abstract: The current study examined gender differences in divergent thinking (DT) using meta-analyses of mean difference and variation. The main objective of the meta-analysis of mean difference was to resolve contradictory findings in the creativity literature regarding the prevalence of creativity among males or females in creative potential. The meta-analysis of variation aimed to test the greater male variability hypothesis (GMVH) in DT. To test gender differences in means (i.e., Hedges’ g), results from 213 studies (k = 1,251; N = 115,289) were analyzed using a three-level approach. Females slightly outperformed males in DT, g = −.065, 95% CI [−.095, −.034], p = ≤ .001. Three-level multiple regression analyses showed that the mean effect size significantly varied by (a) country, (b) DT subscale, (c) type of task, and (d) ability (gifted vs. nongifted). In the second meta-analysis, the GMVH in creative potential was tested by synthesizing the results of 1,152 effect sizes from 187 studies (k = 1,152; N = 101,328). The results confirmed the existence of greater male variability (GMV) in DT, (InVR) = 1.216, 95% CI [1.14, 1.29], p ≤ .001, indicating 21.6% GMV in DT. Multiple regression analyses explained 29.82% of variability in the mean effect (InVR) at Level-2 (within-studies variance), and 5% of the variability in the mean effect at Level-3 (between-studies variance). The mean difference findings support the gender similarity hypothesis, while variation results tend to support the gender differences hypothesis. Limitations and recommendations for future studies are discussed.
Discussion
Gender Differences in Means
Although seminal review research on gender differences in mean DT scores supported the gender similarity hypothesis (e.g., Baer, 2012; Baer & Kaufman, 2008; Kogan, 1974; Runco et al., 2010), an empirical quantitative investigation was warranted. The current results show a small effect size (Cohen, 1988), favoring females. Interestingly, previous findings indicated that females mostly outperformed males in DT abilities (Thompson et al., 2021), yet males have shown a slight advantage in terms of creative performance (Hora et al., 2021). Such a pattern of findings suggest that females may initially show greater creative potential, but that males are able to apply their potential more fruitfully in terms of achievements.
Regarding DT subscales, the results showed a significantly larger mean effect size for fluency, in favor of females, while the smallest gender difference was observed for originality. This is one of the most interesting and significant findings, given that originality is the central feature of creativity (Acar et al., 2019; Runco & Jaeger, 2012). Females also scored higher than males in the composite DT score. Although the composite score is a useful index, it might be misleading since it offers an incomplete assessment of individual differences in creative potential. For educators, the emphasis should be on originality more than any other DT index, first because it is an essential element in any creative work or behavior (Runco, 2014) and, second, because the current findings showed no significant gender difference in originality, unlike fluency, which may be biased against males.
Another important consideration for educators is the type of task used in DT tests when assessing students’ creative potential (e.g., to identify gifted students). The current finding is consistent with some previous studies reporting that females outperform males in verbal tasks (Abraham, 2016; Halpern et al., 2007). This is not to say that educators (or researchers) should avoid using verbal DT tests; in fact, we believe that both task types elicit unique information about an individual’s creative potential. Our recommendation is that both verbal and figural tasks be used to screen students for special programs (e.g., gifted student programs), as using both mediums seem to capture a fuller spectrum of gender strengths. Finally, the comparison between gifted and nongifted samples showed that both gifted females and nongifted females outperformed gifted males and nongifted males, although the magnitude of the effect size was larger in gifted females than gifted males, supporting some previous giftedness and DT findings (e.g., Abdulla Alabbasi et al., 2021; Bahar & Ozturk, 2018).
Gender Differences in Variability
The GMVH was initially proposed as a possible explanation for greater male superiority in different cognitive domains throughout human history (see Feingold, 1992 for a historical review). Several meta-analytic reviews of GMVH in intellectual abilities supported greater male variability in most of the tested intellectual abilities (Feingold, 1992; Gray et al., 2019; Hedges & Friedman, 1993). For creativity, studies on gender differences in variability have been conducted in both Eastern (He & Wong, 2011; He et al., 2013; Ju et al., 2015; Lau & Cheung, 2015) and Western cultural contexts (Karwowski, Jankowska, Gajda, et al., 2016; Taylor & Barbot, 2021), and one study was conducted with an African sample (Karwowski Jankowska, Gralewski, et al., 2016). These investigations attributed different findings to cultural differences (e.g., He et al., 2013), type of task (e.g., Taylor & Barbot, 2021), and the obtained or reported variance ratio (VR). For instance, whereas He and Wong (2011) reported a VR of 1.62 for the composite score of the test for Creative Thinking-Drawing Production (TCT-DP), He et al. (2013) reported a VR of 1.30, Ju et al. (2015) reported a VR of 1.06, and Karwowski, Jankowska, Gralewski, et al. (2016) reported a VR of 1.82. However, earlier studies were limited in terms of the assessments used (all used the TCT-DP except Lau & Cheung, 2015; Taylor & Barbot, 2021), type of task (all used figural tasks except Lau & Cheung, 2015; Taylor & Barbot, 2021), the capacity for cultural comparisons, and sample size. By retrieving the raw data from 187 studies, we were able to calculate the (InVR) of a sample of 101,328, providing a clearer picture of GMVH in creative potential. Moreover, we were able to test different moderators (see Tables 4 and 5) to explain the high heterogeneity observed in the mean effect size. The mean effect size obtained in the current study was less than most previous studies (except Ju et al., 2015). Note here that a VR between .90 and 1.10 indicates a small effect size, while a VR greater than 1.10 would indicate GMV (Karwowski, Jankowska, Gralewski, et al., 2016; Lau & Cheung, 2015). The major findings from the moderator analysis were: (a) greater male DT variability was observed in verbal tasks (InVR = 1.249); (b) among DT subscales, GMV was observed in the elaboration subscale (InVR = 1.429); and (c) among DT tests, a GMV was observed in Wallach and Kogan’s tests (InVR = 1.316).
First, regarding type of task, the current findings differ from previous meta-analyses on GMVH in other cognitive abilities. For instance, Feingold (1992) reported that males and females did not differ in verbal tests such as short-term memory (STM), abstract reasoning, and perceptual speed, whereas a large male variability was found in mechanical reasoning, for example. Hedges and Nowell (1995) reported a negligible difference between males and females in the VR for vocabulary (VR = 1.00–1.08) and reading comprehension (VR = 1.03–1.16), compared with spatial ability (VR = 1.27) and mechanical reasoning (VR = 1.45–1.74). The current finding (i.e., GMV in verbal DT) is also inconsistent with Lau and Cheung (2015), who concluded that GMV was supported in figural tasks, while not much variability was observed in verbal tasks. Greater male variability in elaboration is one area that deserves further future investigation, given that none of the previous studies on GMVH in creative potential targeted or assessed elaboration. The same is true for differences in variability between DT tests, which was not tested before.
Limitations and Future Directions
The limitations of meta-analyses often originate in the limitations of the primary studies. First, DT tests are not synonymous with creativity. Studies show mixed evidence on DT tests’ predictive validity, with some suggesting test scores are unrelated to real-world creative achievement (Baer, 1993), and others suggesting that they account for up to half of the variance in creative achievement (Plucker, 1999). Nevertheless, DT tests have consistently been the most popular way to measure creativity (Abdulla & Cramond, 2017; Plucker & Makel, 2010), and thus, synthesis of these results continues to be a useful metric of the state of the creativity literature.
The overall sample of the meta-analysis was also limited because creativity research has tended to be conducted more often with youth rather than adults. The mean age of the overall sample was 13.91, and only 25.4% of the included studies consisted of participants above the age of 18 (see Figure 3).
Fig 3
As such, there was an age ceiling that limits the generalizability of these findings. This is important because there is some evidence indicating that DT increases with age (Fusi et al., 2021; Shah & Gustafsson, 2021), at least up to middle-age (until about 40 years-old; Massimiliano, 2015; Reese et al., 2001). The creativity literature overall would benefit from extending data collection to older samples to gain a better understanding of life span creativity.
Additional steps to diversify primary samples would further improve the generalizability of future meta-analyses of DT data. Though the current study attempted to emphasize cultural variability and included some studies in Arabic, the sample still primarily comprised Western, English-speaking participants. Similarly, few to no studies allowed participants to self-identify outside of the female-male binary. Future investigations from more diverse countries, including those speaking different languages, and with data collection that allows for the representation of nonbinary gender identities would provide richer data.
Can vaccination intentions against COVID-19 be nudged? Elena Kantorowicz-Reznichenko, Jaroslaw Kantorowicz, Liam Wells. Behavioural Public Policy, July 8 2022. https://doi.org/10.1017/bpp.2022.20
Abstract: Once vaccines against COVID-19 became available in many countries, a new challenge has emerged – how to increase the number of people who vaccinate? Different policies are being considered and implemented, including behaviourally informed interventions (i.e., nudges). In this study, we have experimentally examined two types of nudges on representative samples of two countries – descriptive social norms (Israel) and saliency of either the death experience from COVID-19 or its symptoms (UK). To increase the legitimacy of nudges, we have also examined the effectiveness of transparent nudges, where the goal of the nudge and the reasons of its implementation (expected effectiveness) were disclosed. We did not find evidence that informing people that the vast majority of their country-people intend to vaccinate enhanced vaccination intentions in Israel. We also did not find evidence that making the death experience from COVID-19, or its hard symptoms, salient enhanced vaccination intentions in the UK. Finally, transparent nudges as well did not change the results. We further provide evidence for the reasons why people choose not to vaccinate, and whether different factors such as gender, belief in conspiracy theories, political ideology, and risk perception, play a role in people's intentions to vaccinate or susceptibility to nudges.
Discussion and conclusion
In this article, we aimed to examine a number of soft interventions to increase people's intention to vaccinate. Vaccination is currently considered the main solution to the global pandemic and vaccinating the majority of the population is a key public policy goal. At least in democratic countries, governments do not wish to force people to vaccinate, respecting their freedoms and rights over their bodies. Therefore, other methods to encourage vaccination are necessary. Nudging is one popular method, which has been used in many countries around the world for different public policies (e.g., increasing tax compliance, organ donation, savings). Therefore, it has been also discussed and considered in the context of vaccination against COVID-19.
We have experimentally examined three nudges, in two countries, which at the initial period of vaccination availability appeared to be leading in rates of vaccination. Those countries are also similar in terms of their public being generally supportive of different nudges (Reisch & Sunstein, Reference Reisch and Sunstein2016; Pe'er et al., Reference Pe'er, Feldman, Gamliel, Sahar, Tikotsky, Hod and Schupak2019). General support of nudges was also found in many other countries (e.g., Jung & Mellers, Reference Jung and Mellers2016; Sunstein et al., Reference Sunstein, Reisch and Rauber2018, Reference Sunstein, Reisch and Kaiser2019), thus constituting an instrument that has a potential to direct people's behaviour across different countries. First, we examined the effectiveness of a descriptive social norm on a representative sample of the Israeli (Jewish)Footnote18 population. In particular, we have utilized findings from psychology indicating that people follow the behaviour of others, in order to encourage vaccination intentions. Overall, the average intention of people to vaccinate was high, which is a promising result. However, the nudge itself did not make a difference. Also, a more ‘legitimate’ nudge which was transparent about its method and goal did not change people's choices.
We have also run an experiment to examine two additional nudges on a representative sample of the population in the UK. This experiment used the saliency nudge, utilizing findings from psychology that making certain factors more salient might affect how people treat probabilities, and in turn, which choices they make. The experiments made either the death experience very vivid and alarming or stressed the symptoms of COVID-19. Also, in the UK already in the baseline people had high intentions to vaccinate on average. The saliency nudges had very limited effect to none at all. In particular, when considering the full sample, none of the nudges changed the choices. Looking at the restricted sample (those participants who passed the manipulation check) showed a very small effect of the transparent death saliency nudge. Even though statistically significant, the small effect does not seem to be promising. In addition, we have examined the choices of different subgroups in the two countries but found no differences in the effectiveness of the nudge.
Our studies were well powered as we have based our sample sizes on a power analysis. Therefore, the null results are unlikely to be the result of lack of statistical power. One explanation might be that nudges are effective when people do not have strong preferences either way. In that case, it is not costly to follow a certain nudge. Some studies suggested that the inability of the nudge to change the behaviour of some people might be derived from a stronger preference of those people against the direction of the nudge (Bronchetti et al., Reference Bronchetti, Dee, Huffman and Magenheim2013; Beshears et al., Reference Beshears, Choi, Laibson, Madrian and Milkman2015; Jachimowicz et al., Reference Jachimowicz, Duncan, Weber and Johnson2019). For example, Bronchetti et al. (Reference Bronchetti, Dee, Huffman and Magenheim2013) raised the possibility that people with lower income are more resistant to default nudges that direct them to allocate money for savings because they already have plans how to use this money.
The context of the new vaccination is sensitive. On the one hand, there is an ongoing (threatening) pandemic with many uncertainties in respect of its long-term effects. On the other hand, the developed vaccine (which at the time of the study was not approved yet) is novel and entails many uncertainties with respect to the long-term effects. People are either more afraid of the former, or more of the latter. Therefore, it is difficult to affect their choices with nudges that target their intuitive system of decision making, instead of the deliberative process of decision making. In other words, it might be necessary to first address people's concerns, before having an effect on their behaviour. Our results seem to support the recently expressed opinion of one of the ‘founders’ of the concept of nudges himself, that nudges might not be a sufficient instrument to enhance vaccination to end the current pandemic,Footnote19 even though there is evidence that at least using reminders and simplifying the process of vaccination has a positive effect (Dai et al., Reference Dai, Saccardo, Han, Roh, Raja, Vangala, Modi, Pandya, Sloyan and Croymans2021).
Our results demonstrate that many people are willing to vaccinate. But there is also a smaller group which is hesitant. From our investigation of the reasons for this hesitation, it seems that the primary reason is the concern about the side effects. Even at the stage of our experiments it was clear that once the vaccine will be available, there will not be sufficient evidence of their long-term effects. This is due to the urgency in approving this vaccine and saving the world from the pandemic. Therefore, this concern is understandable.
Consequently, to encourage vaccination, governments should invest more in understanding people's concerns and trying to address them. For example, by investing in campaigns where people receive more information on the trade-offs between the uncertain long-term effects of the vaccine, and the uncertain (probably worse) long-term effects of contracting COVID-19. Relying solely on soft interventions such as nudges seems not to be sufficient.
One limitation of this study is that we focus on people's intentions rather than vaccination uptake, thus potentially facing the problem of intention-behaviour gap (Sheeran, Reference Sheeran2002). In the specific context of vaccinations for example, several studies have found that even when people intend to vaccinate, they do not always follow through (e.g., Bronchetti et al., Reference Bronchetti, Dee, Huffman and Magenheim2013; Chang et al., Reference Chang, Jacobson, Shah, Pramanik and Shah2021). Nevertheless, there are many studies demonstrating that an intention to vaccinate is generally a strong predictor of an actual uptake of vaccines (daCosta DiBonaventura & Chapman, Reference daCosta DiBonaventura and Chapman2005; Lehmann et al., Reference Lehmann, Ruiter, Chapman and Kok2014; Fall et al., Reference Fall, Izaute and Chakroun-Baggioni2018; Jensen et al., Reference Jensen, Ayers and Koskan2022). In the specific context of this article, at the time of the study we have found that 63.6% of the Israeli participants and 75.3% of the UK participants (control groups), respectively, either ‘strongly agreed’ or ‘agreed’ that they would vaccinate themselves against COVID-19. Looking at the most recent data to date of vaccination uptake we see that nearly 77 persons per 100 population have taken the first dose and around 69 per 100 are fully vaccinated in Israel. In the UK, almost 78 persons per 100 population have taken the first dose, and nearly 73 in 100 are fully vaccinated.Footnote20 Therefore, the baseline intentions in our studies (which were expressed before the vaccine became available) seem to be overall aligned with the actual rate of vaccination as reported by WHO for the beginning of the year 2022.
Furthermore, even though we do not have a way to directly translate our results from intentions to behaviour, our findings seem to be conservative in this respect. From the studies of the intention-behaviour gap, it seems that the gap is mostly driven by people who intend to act but eventually fail to do so (Sheeran, Reference Sheeran2002).Footnote21 Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that if the investigated nudges in this article did not change people's intention, it probably would not change people's behaviour.
A related potential concern is that currently there is more knowledge about the effectiveness of the vaccine and its short-term safety.Footnote22 The fact that uncertainty regarding those two factors were the main reasons for some of our subjects not to intend to vaccinate, might suggest our results would change at this stage. However, the level of uncertainty was similar for all participants in our studies. And yet many indicated an intention to vaccinate. Those who were hesitant or reluctant did not seem on average to change their minds in response to the employed nudges. Whereas the new information may have on itself encouraged people to vaccinate, there is no immediate reason to believe it would influence the level of effectiveness of the nudge. For example, in Israel, even after the vaccines against COVID-19 were made available, and evidence of its efficacy and short-term safety had emerged, the two main concerns of the people who were still hesitant about vaccination remained its effectiveness and safety (e.g., Heller et al., Reference Heller, Chun, Shlomo, Gewirtz-Meydan, Acri, Kulkarni and Grinstein-Weiss2022). Also in the UK, the long-term safety was still a major concern for people who were choosing not to vaccinate themselves (Majeed et al., Reference Majeed, Papaluca and Molokhia2021). However, Majeed et al. (Reference Majeed, Papaluca and Molokhia2021) stated that the emerging data on the benefits of the vaccine also reduce vaccine hesitancy. Therefore, it might be reasonable to assume, that those who are still hesitating at this stage, more than a year after vaccines were introduced and with the current reliable information on the effectiveness and short-term safety of vaccines, are those who hold stronger preference against vaccinating. Consequently, our results might again be viewed as conservative, and suggest that other strategies, which are addressing the persisting concerns are needed, rather than simply using ‘system 1’ nudges to enhance vaccination.
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