Differential relationship of jumping-to-conclusions and incorrigibility with delusion severity. Christina Andreou, Ruth Veckenstedt, Thies Lüdtke, Vasilis P. Bozikas, Steffen Moritz. Psychiatry Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2018.04.014
Highlights
•We investigated trait and state aspects of jumping-to-conclusions and incorrigibility
•The two reasoning biases showed differential associations with delusion severity
•Results suggest different roles of the two biases in delusion formation / maintenance
Abstract: Reasoning biases such as jumping-to-conclusions (JTC) and incorrigibility have been suggested to contribute to the generation and maintenance of delusions. However, it is still debated whether these biases represent stable traits of patients with delusions, or are related to state fluctuations in delusion severity. The present study aimed to elucidate this question by combining a cross-sectional with a longitudinal approach. JTC, incorrigibility and delusion severity were assessed in 79 patients with a history of delusions over a 6-month period. To allow for a differentiated look into effects of time vs. symptom changes, patients were divided into patients with (D+) and without (D-) current delusions at baseline. Significant improvement of delusions was noted in D+ at follow-up. JTC did not differ between the two patient groups either at baseline or over time. In contrast, incorrigibility was significantly higher in D+ than D- at baseline; this difference remained stable throughout the 6-month follow-up period. The two biases did not significantly co-vary over time. Our results suggest a dissociation between incorrigibility and JTC as regards their relation to current presence of delusions, and tentatively support theoretical accounts attributing different roles to the two biases in the generation (JTC) and maintenance (incorrigibility) of delusions.
Keywords: Reasoning biases, Cognitive biases, Jumping-to-conclusions, Belief flexibility, Bias against disconfirmatory evidence, Psychosis
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
Friday, April 6, 2018
Niels Bohr suggested that willed actions come with slower movement execution than reactions, and therefore that a film’s hero is able to get the upper hand even though the villain normally draws first. This is due to independent systems for willed (the bad guy's) and reactive (the hero's) movements
Disarming the gunslinger effect: Reaction beats intention for cooperative actions. Lisa Weller, Wilfried Kunde, Roland Pfister. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13423-018-1462-5
Abstract: According to the famous physicist Niels Bohr, gunfights at high noon in Western movies not only captivate the cinema audience but also provide an accurate illustration of a psychophysical law. He suggested that willed actions come with slower movement execution than reactions, and therefore that a film’s hero is able to get the upper hand even though the villain normally draws first. A corresponding “gunslinger effect” has been substantiated by empirical studies. Because these studies used a markedly competitive setting, however, it is currently unclear whether the gunslinger effect indeed reflects structural differences between willed actions and reactive movements, or whether it is a by-product of the competitive setting. To obtain bullet-proof evidence for a true reactive advantage, we investigated willed and reactive movements during a cooperative interaction of two participants. A pronounced reactive advantage emerged, indicating that two independent systems indeed control willed and reactive movements.
Abstract: According to the famous physicist Niels Bohr, gunfights at high noon in Western movies not only captivate the cinema audience but also provide an accurate illustration of a psychophysical law. He suggested that willed actions come with slower movement execution than reactions, and therefore that a film’s hero is able to get the upper hand even though the villain normally draws first. A corresponding “gunslinger effect” has been substantiated by empirical studies. Because these studies used a markedly competitive setting, however, it is currently unclear whether the gunslinger effect indeed reflects structural differences between willed actions and reactive movements, or whether it is a by-product of the competitive setting. To obtain bullet-proof evidence for a true reactive advantage, we investigated willed and reactive movements during a cooperative interaction of two participants. A pronounced reactive advantage emerged, indicating that two independent systems indeed control willed and reactive movements.
Thursday, April 5, 2018
Sexual orientation, competitiveness and income: Gay men compete less than straight men. Lesbians compete as much as straight women
Sexual orientation, competitiveness and income. Thomas Buser, Lydia Geijtenbeek, Erik Plug. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2018.03.017
Highlights
• We ask whether differences in preferences for competition can explain why gays earn less than other men and lesbians earn more than other women.
• We conduct an experiment on a Dutch online survey panel to measure the competitive preferences of gay, lesbian and straight panel members.
• We link our experimental measure of competitiveness to earnings and education data.
• Gay men compete less than straight men. Lesbians compete as much as straight women.
• Competitiveness predicts earnings and education levels and differences in competitive preferences can partially explain the gay earnings penalty.
Abstract: Do gays earn less than other men because they are less competitive? Do lesbians earn more than other women because they are more competitive? To answer these questions, we conduct an experiment on a Dutch online survey panel to measure the competitive preferences of gay, lesbian and straight panel members. We find that gay men compete less than straight men, while lesbians compete as much as straight women. Linking our experimental measure of competitiveness to earnings and education data, we find that competitiveness predicts earnings and education levels and that differences in competitive preferences can partially explain the gay earnings penalty but not the lesbian premium.
Highlights
• We ask whether differences in preferences for competition can explain why gays earn less than other men and lesbians earn more than other women.
• We conduct an experiment on a Dutch online survey panel to measure the competitive preferences of gay, lesbian and straight panel members.
• We link our experimental measure of competitiveness to earnings and education data.
• Gay men compete less than straight men. Lesbians compete as much as straight women.
• Competitiveness predicts earnings and education levels and differences in competitive preferences can partially explain the gay earnings penalty.
Abstract: Do gays earn less than other men because they are less competitive? Do lesbians earn more than other women because they are more competitive? To answer these questions, we conduct an experiment on a Dutch online survey panel to measure the competitive preferences of gay, lesbian and straight panel members. We find that gay men compete less than straight men, while lesbians compete as much as straight women. Linking our experimental measure of competitiveness to earnings and education data, we find that competitiveness predicts earnings and education levels and that differences in competitive preferences can partially explain the gay earnings penalty but not the lesbian premium.
Of course, a piece about frogs surviving our devilish devices to kill them is not in the front page, but page six or part D: A Few Species of Frogs That Vanished May Be on the Rebound
A Few Species of Frogs That Vanished May Be on the Rebound. Carl Zimmer. The New York Times, March 29, 2018. Full article with photos at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/29/science/frog-species-panama-fungus-rebound.html
Photo - A healthy variable harlequin frog with golden coloring in the streams of Panama. Credit Cori Richards-Zawacki
In 2013, two biologists named Jamie Voyles and Corinne L. Richards-Zawacki spent weeks slogging up and down mountainsides in Panama. “We were bug-bitten and beat up,” recalled Dr. Voyles, now an assistant professor at the University of Nevada, Reno.
Near the end of their trek, they came to a stop. In front of them sat the object of their quest: a single gold-and-black frog.
“I can’t tell you what that moment was like,” Dr. Voyles said.
She had feared that variable harlequin frogs had disappeared entirely from Panama. As recently as the early 2000s, they had been easy to find in the country’s high-altitude forests.
“They used to be so abundant that you could barely walk without stepping on them,” Dr. Voyles said.
But in recent years, Dr. Voyles and her colleagues started to encounter sick frogs, and then dead ones. And then they couldn’t find any variable harlequin frogs at all.
Many other species at Dr. Voyles’s research sites in Panama suffered the same grim fate. As had frogs around the world. Dr. Voyles and other frog researchers found that many of the dead frogs were covered with the same aggressive skin fungus, known as Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis or Bd.
As Bd spread from forest to forest, and continent to continent, researchers feared that amphibians might suffer mass extinctions. Today, many species of frogs and toads are still dwindling, and some have disappeared altogether.
But scientists like Dr. Voyles have also found a little cause for hope: a handful of species appear to be coming back. After discovering variable harlequin frogs again, she and her colleagues have returned to their Panama research sites and found a few other species that had previously vanished.
“They’re not in large numbers — their abundances are low,” Dr. Voyles said. “But we think that as more time goes by, we’ll find more species that we thought were lost.”
Now scientists are trying to figure out what accounts for these rebounds. On Thursday, Dr. Voyles and her colleagues published evidence suggesting that the frogs have gained potent defenses in their skin against the fungus.
Photo A Pristamantis frog in Panama. Credit Cori Richards-Zawacki
But other experts are divided about whether the researchers found a cause of the rebound. It’s possible that there are other causes at work. Even climate change — which is posing its own threats to many frog species — may be temporarily helping some frogs withstand the fungus.
When Dr. Voyles rediscovered a few vanished frog species, she initially suspected that the Bd fungus was becoming less deadly. In outbreaks of other pathogens, they have sometimes evolved into milder forms that no longer wipe out the hosts they depend on for their survival.
To test that idea, Dr. Voyles and her colleagues got hold of frozen Bd samples gathered in Panama in 2004, early in the epidemic. They infected frogs with the old fungus, and observed how it compared to new strains of Bd. “It’s still pretty lethal over a decade later,” Dr. Voyles said. “So I was wrong.”
Dr. Voyles was left with the possibility that the frogs themselves had changed. At first she found this idea unlikely, because there hadn’t been much time for the frogs to evolve. While Bd can multiply in a matter of days, it can take many months for a frog to develop into a sexually mature adult.
She tested the hypothesis anyway. Dr. Voyles and her colleagues knew that frogs fight infections with potent skin secretions containing pathogen-killing molecules. Dr. Voyles and other researchers have found that when they add skin secretions to lab-grown Bd, it slows down the fungus’s growth.
Dr. Voyles wondered if frogs had acquired more potent skin secretions, allowing them to rebound. To test that possibility, she and her colleagues collected skin secretions from captive frogs in the Maryland Zoo. The frogs descend from ancestors that had been captured in Panama before the Bd epidemic.
The researchers added skin secretions from captive frogs to petri dishes of growing Bd. They then measured how much the frog’s secretions slowed down the fungus’s growth.
They then carried out the same treatment with skin secretions taken from rebounding populations of wild frogs. The researchers found a big difference between the two trials.
“We had multiple species that were between two and fivefold different in their effectiveness,” said Dr. Voyles, “which is pretty striking.”
Dr. Voyles speculated that some species of frogs included a few mutants with skin secretions that were effective against Bd. While many other frogs died off, the mutants survived and passed down their defensive genes.
James P. Collins, an evolutionary ecologist at Arizona State University, said he found Dr. Voyles’s explanation compelling. “This would be the first candidate I’d put on the table,” he said.
A scientist swabs a glass frog to gather a sample for study. Jamie Voyles
But Karen R. Lips of the University of Maryland wasn’t persuaded that the researchers made a convincing case for skin secretions. “They don’t actually provide data that really supports that,” she said.
To determine how much good skin secretions do, Dr. Lips said, it would be necessary to infect frogs and see whether stronger skin secretions actually keep more frogs alive.
Dr. Lips’s skepticism comes from her own research on frog defenses. In some of her studies, she focuses not on skin secretions, but on the genes involved in the frog immune system.
She and her colleagues have found that some frogs respond to infections by switching on many of these genes and using them to make lots of immune-related proteins. But those frogs all die, along with the frogs that have a weaker genetic response.
“Their genes are going crazy, but it doesn’t matter,” Dr. Lips said.
It’s possible that the immune system of frogs will turn out to be a key to the rebound of some species, or their skin secretions — or both. It’s also possible that other factors matter.
The Bd fungus can grow only in cool temperatures. If some frogs moved down to lower altitudes where it’s warmer, they might be spared.
“You wind up selecting for animals that like to live in some spots as opposed to animals that live in cooler, shady spots,” Dr. Collins said.
In some places, the frogs may not even have to move to gain this protection. In February, a team of Spanish researchers reported that three species of frogs in Spain are growing in numbers, even though Bd is present in the country and it can infect all the species there. They concluded that global warming is raising the temperature where the frogs live, keeping the fungus in check.
In these cases, the frogs may be getting only a temporary reprieve. Their habitats may eventually get too hot not only for the fungus, but for the frogs themselves.
“The skin secretion part of the story is probably not the only thing that’s going on,” Dr. Voyles acknowledged. “There’s probably lots of different reasons why different species have survived and, in some cases, recovered.”
Dr. Voyles also emphasized that the recovery of a few species was no reason to lean back and assume that nature would take care of the Bd crisis.
“I want to put out the message that this is still bad,” she said. The rebound, she argues, “definitely is a glimmer of hope. But it does not mean by any means that everything is back and there is no problem.”
A version of this article appears in print on April 3, 2018, on Page D3 of the New York edition with the headline: Frog Species on the Rebound.
Europe's international edition: page 6, Rebound Offers Hope For Frog Species
Photo - A healthy variable harlequin frog with golden coloring in the streams of Panama. Credit Cori Richards-Zawacki
In 2013, two biologists named Jamie Voyles and Corinne L. Richards-Zawacki spent weeks slogging up and down mountainsides in Panama. “We were bug-bitten and beat up,” recalled Dr. Voyles, now an assistant professor at the University of Nevada, Reno.
Near the end of their trek, they came to a stop. In front of them sat the object of their quest: a single gold-and-black frog.
“I can’t tell you what that moment was like,” Dr. Voyles said.
She had feared that variable harlequin frogs had disappeared entirely from Panama. As recently as the early 2000s, they had been easy to find in the country’s high-altitude forests.
“They used to be so abundant that you could barely walk without stepping on them,” Dr. Voyles said.
But in recent years, Dr. Voyles and her colleagues started to encounter sick frogs, and then dead ones. And then they couldn’t find any variable harlequin frogs at all.
Many other species at Dr. Voyles’s research sites in Panama suffered the same grim fate. As had frogs around the world. Dr. Voyles and other frog researchers found that many of the dead frogs were covered with the same aggressive skin fungus, known as Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis or Bd.
As Bd spread from forest to forest, and continent to continent, researchers feared that amphibians might suffer mass extinctions. Today, many species of frogs and toads are still dwindling, and some have disappeared altogether.
But scientists like Dr. Voyles have also found a little cause for hope: a handful of species appear to be coming back. After discovering variable harlequin frogs again, she and her colleagues have returned to their Panama research sites and found a few other species that had previously vanished.
“They’re not in large numbers — their abundances are low,” Dr. Voyles said. “But we think that as more time goes by, we’ll find more species that we thought were lost.”
Now scientists are trying to figure out what accounts for these rebounds. On Thursday, Dr. Voyles and her colleagues published evidence suggesting that the frogs have gained potent defenses in their skin against the fungus.
Photo A Pristamantis frog in Panama. Credit Cori Richards-Zawacki
But other experts are divided about whether the researchers found a cause of the rebound. It’s possible that there are other causes at work. Even climate change — which is posing its own threats to many frog species — may be temporarily helping some frogs withstand the fungus.
When Dr. Voyles rediscovered a few vanished frog species, she initially suspected that the Bd fungus was becoming less deadly. In outbreaks of other pathogens, they have sometimes evolved into milder forms that no longer wipe out the hosts they depend on for their survival.
To test that idea, Dr. Voyles and her colleagues got hold of frozen Bd samples gathered in Panama in 2004, early in the epidemic. They infected frogs with the old fungus, and observed how it compared to new strains of Bd. “It’s still pretty lethal over a decade later,” Dr. Voyles said. “So I was wrong.”
Dr. Voyles was left with the possibility that the frogs themselves had changed. At first she found this idea unlikely, because there hadn’t been much time for the frogs to evolve. While Bd can multiply in a matter of days, it can take many months for a frog to develop into a sexually mature adult.
She tested the hypothesis anyway. Dr. Voyles and her colleagues knew that frogs fight infections with potent skin secretions containing pathogen-killing molecules. Dr. Voyles and other researchers have found that when they add skin secretions to lab-grown Bd, it slows down the fungus’s growth.
Dr. Voyles wondered if frogs had acquired more potent skin secretions, allowing them to rebound. To test that possibility, she and her colleagues collected skin secretions from captive frogs in the Maryland Zoo. The frogs descend from ancestors that had been captured in Panama before the Bd epidemic.
The researchers added skin secretions from captive frogs to petri dishes of growing Bd. They then measured how much the frog’s secretions slowed down the fungus’s growth.
They then carried out the same treatment with skin secretions taken from rebounding populations of wild frogs. The researchers found a big difference between the two trials.
“We had multiple species that were between two and fivefold different in their effectiveness,” said Dr. Voyles, “which is pretty striking.”
Dr. Voyles speculated that some species of frogs included a few mutants with skin secretions that were effective against Bd. While many other frogs died off, the mutants survived and passed down their defensive genes.
James P. Collins, an evolutionary ecologist at Arizona State University, said he found Dr. Voyles’s explanation compelling. “This would be the first candidate I’d put on the table,” he said.
A scientist swabs a glass frog to gather a sample for study. Jamie Voyles
But Karen R. Lips of the University of Maryland wasn’t persuaded that the researchers made a convincing case for skin secretions. “They don’t actually provide data that really supports that,” she said.
To determine how much good skin secretions do, Dr. Lips said, it would be necessary to infect frogs and see whether stronger skin secretions actually keep more frogs alive.
Dr. Lips’s skepticism comes from her own research on frog defenses. In some of her studies, she focuses not on skin secretions, but on the genes involved in the frog immune system.
She and her colleagues have found that some frogs respond to infections by switching on many of these genes and using them to make lots of immune-related proteins. But those frogs all die, along with the frogs that have a weaker genetic response.
“Their genes are going crazy, but it doesn’t matter,” Dr. Lips said.
It’s possible that the immune system of frogs will turn out to be a key to the rebound of some species, or their skin secretions — or both. It’s also possible that other factors matter.
The Bd fungus can grow only in cool temperatures. If some frogs moved down to lower altitudes where it’s warmer, they might be spared.
“You wind up selecting for animals that like to live in some spots as opposed to animals that live in cooler, shady spots,” Dr. Collins said.
In some places, the frogs may not even have to move to gain this protection. In February, a team of Spanish researchers reported that three species of frogs in Spain are growing in numbers, even though Bd is present in the country and it can infect all the species there. They concluded that global warming is raising the temperature where the frogs live, keeping the fungus in check.
In these cases, the frogs may be getting only a temporary reprieve. Their habitats may eventually get too hot not only for the fungus, but for the frogs themselves.
“The skin secretion part of the story is probably not the only thing that’s going on,” Dr. Voyles acknowledged. “There’s probably lots of different reasons why different species have survived and, in some cases, recovered.”
Dr. Voyles also emphasized that the recovery of a few species was no reason to lean back and assume that nature would take care of the Bd crisis.
“I want to put out the message that this is still bad,” she said. The rebound, she argues, “definitely is a glimmer of hope. But it does not mean by any means that everything is back and there is no problem.”
A version of this article appears in print on April 3, 2018, on Page D3 of the New York edition with the headline: Frog Species on the Rebound.
Europe's international edition: page 6, Rebound Offers Hope For Frog Species
Consumption of hard news television programs has a negative effect on the development of mental well-being over time. Soft news consumption, by contrast, has a marginally positive impact on the trend in well-being
Jul 2017: News Consumption and Its Unpleasant Side Effect: Studying the Effect of Hard and Soft News Exposure on Mental Well-Being Over Time. Mark Boukes, Rens Vliegenthart. Journal of Media Psychology Theories Methods and Applications 29(3):137-147, 10.1027/1864-1105/a000224
Abstract: Following the news is generally understood to be crucial for democracy as it allows citizens to politically participate in an informed manner; yet, one may wonder about the unintended side effects it has for the mental well-being of citizens. With news focusing on the negative and worrisome events in the world, framing that evokes a sense of powerlessness, and lack of entertainment value, this study hypothesizes that news consumption decreases mental well-being via negative hedonic experiences; thereby, we differentiate between hard and soft news. Using a panel survey in combination with latent growth curve modeling (n = 2,767), we demonstrate that the consumption of hard news television programs has a negative effect on the development of mental well-being over time. Soft news consumption, by contrast, has a marginally positive impact on the trend in well-being. This can be explained by the differential topic focus, framing and style of soft news vis-à-vis hard news. Investigating the effects of news consumption on mental well-being provides insight into the impact news exposure has on variables other than the political ones, which definitively are not less societally relevant.
Keywords: news consumption, mental well-being, hedonic experiences, negativity, hard versus soft news
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
Abstract: Following the news is generally understood to be crucial for democracy as it allows citizens to politically participate in an informed manner; yet, one may wonder about the unintended side effects it has for the mental well-being of citizens. With news focusing on the negative and worrisome events in the world, framing that evokes a sense of powerlessness, and lack of entertainment value, this study hypothesizes that news consumption decreases mental well-being via negative hedonic experiences; thereby, we differentiate between hard and soft news. Using a panel survey in combination with latent growth curve modeling (n = 2,767), we demonstrate that the consumption of hard news television programs has a negative effect on the development of mental well-being over time. Soft news consumption, by contrast, has a marginally positive impact on the trend in well-being. This can be explained by the differential topic focus, framing and style of soft news vis-à-vis hard news. Investigating the effects of news consumption on mental well-being provides insight into the impact news exposure has on variables other than the political ones, which definitively are not less societally relevant.
Keywords: news consumption, mental well-being, hedonic experiences, negativity, hard versus soft news
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
We are positively biased about our personal future while at the same time being negatively biased about the future of our country
Shrikanth, S., Szpunar, P. M., & Szpunar, K. K. (2018). Staying positive in a dystopian future: A novel dissociation between personal and collective cognition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. Apr 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xge0000421
Abstract: The future of groups of people is a topic of broad interest in society and academia. Nonetheless, relatively little is known about the manner in which people think about the collective future of groups, and whether personal and collective future thinking represent distinct domains of future-oriented cognition. In the present studies (N = 691), we used an adapted future fluency task to demonstrate a novel domain-by-valence interaction between personal and collective future thinking, such that U.S.-based participants were positively biased about their personal future while at the same time being negatively biased about the future of their country. We further present evidence that this valence-based dissociation extends into the distant future, emerges in a non-U.S. (Canadian) sample, depends on the individual’s relation to the group, and has consequences for how people think about the world around them. Taken together, our findings represent the first behavioral evidence of a dissociation between personal and collective future thinking, and suggest that the study of collective future thinking represents a fruitful endeavor for psychological science.
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
Abstract: The future of groups of people is a topic of broad interest in society and academia. Nonetheless, relatively little is known about the manner in which people think about the collective future of groups, and whether personal and collective future thinking represent distinct domains of future-oriented cognition. In the present studies (N = 691), we used an adapted future fluency task to demonstrate a novel domain-by-valence interaction between personal and collective future thinking, such that U.S.-based participants were positively biased about their personal future while at the same time being negatively biased about the future of their country. We further present evidence that this valence-based dissociation extends into the distant future, emerges in a non-U.S. (Canadian) sample, depends on the individual’s relation to the group, and has consequences for how people think about the world around them. Taken together, our findings represent the first behavioral evidence of a dissociation between personal and collective future thinking, and suggest that the study of collective future thinking represents a fruitful endeavor for psychological science.
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
Clinton supporters, in contrast, remained below baseline levels of general happiness six months after the election. Moral and political values, and exposure to media inconsistent with those values, predicted lasting change in subjective well-being
Article in press: Lench, H. C., Levine, L. J., Perez, K., Haggenmiller, Z. K., Carlson, S. J., & Tibbett, T. (2018). Changes in subjective well-being following the U.S. Presidential Election of 2016. Emotion. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3bv7f8sd
Abstract: This investigation examined predictors of changes over time in subjective well-being (SWB) after the 2016 United States presidential election. Two indicators of SWB-general happiness and life satisfaction-were assessed three weeks before the election, the week of the election, three weeks later, and six months later. Partisanship predicted both indicators of SWB, with Trump supporters experiencing improved SWB after the election, Clinton supporters experiencing worsened SWB after the election, and those who viewed both candidates as bad also experiencing worsened SWB after the election. The impact of the election on SWB decreased over time, with all participants returning to baseline life satisfaction six months after the election. Trump supporters and those who viewed both candidates as bad for the country also returned to baseline general happiness six months after the election. Clinton supporters, in contrast, remained below baseline levels of general happiness six months after the election. Moral and political values, and exposure to media inconsistent with those values, predicted lasting change in subjective well-being. National events can affect how people perceive the overall quality of their lives and these effects are exacerbated when moral and political values are involved.
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
Abstract: This investigation examined predictors of changes over time in subjective well-being (SWB) after the 2016 United States presidential election. Two indicators of SWB-general happiness and life satisfaction-were assessed three weeks before the election, the week of the election, three weeks later, and six months later. Partisanship predicted both indicators of SWB, with Trump supporters experiencing improved SWB after the election, Clinton supporters experiencing worsened SWB after the election, and those who viewed both candidates as bad also experiencing worsened SWB after the election. The impact of the election on SWB decreased over time, with all participants returning to baseline life satisfaction six months after the election. Trump supporters and those who viewed both candidates as bad for the country also returned to baseline general happiness six months after the election. Clinton supporters, in contrast, remained below baseline levels of general happiness six months after the election. Moral and political values, and exposure to media inconsistent with those values, predicted lasting change in subjective well-being. National events can affect how people perceive the overall quality of their lives and these effects are exacerbated when moral and political values are involved.
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
Wednesday, April 4, 2018
Participants more readily verify the grammaticality of a statement when it corresponds to their opinion. These findings may help explain why opinions are sometimes change resistant
That’s My Truth: Evidence for Involuntary Opinion Confirmation. Michael Gilead, Moran Sela, Anat Maril. Social Psychological and Personality Science. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1948550618762300
Abstract: Past research has investigated deliberate mental acts that allow people to remain entrenched in their convictions. The purpose of the current investigation was to examine whether opinion-confirmation processes can occur involuntarily. We conducted experiments wherein participants made speeded judgments of the grammatical accuracy of statements pertaining to various matters of opinion, and subsequently rated their agreement with those statements. The results show that participants more readily verify the grammaticality of a statement when it corresponds to their opinion. These findings may help explain why opinions are sometimes change resistant, in showing that acceptance (rejection) of confirmatory (contradictory) opinions can occur involuntarily. We discuss possible applications of the paradigm described herein.
Keywords: social cognition, motivated cognition, language, attitudes, automatic processes
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
Abstract: Past research has investigated deliberate mental acts that allow people to remain entrenched in their convictions. The purpose of the current investigation was to examine whether opinion-confirmation processes can occur involuntarily. We conducted experiments wherein participants made speeded judgments of the grammatical accuracy of statements pertaining to various matters of opinion, and subsequently rated their agreement with those statements. The results show that participants more readily verify the grammaticality of a statement when it corresponds to their opinion. These findings may help explain why opinions are sometimes change resistant, in showing that acceptance (rejection) of confirmatory (contradictory) opinions can occur involuntarily. We discuss possible applications of the paradigm described herein.
Keywords: social cognition, motivated cognition, language, attitudes, automatic processes
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
The Impact of Health and Health Behavior on the Formation of Intimate Relationships
The Impact of Health and Health Behavior on the Formation of Intimate Relationships. Ingmar Rapp, Jonathan Gruhler. English abstract of Der Einfluss der Gesundheit und des Gesundheitsverhaltens auf die Entstehung von Partnerschaften. In KZfSS Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11577-018-0513-2
Abstract: This paper examines the influence of physical and mental health and health behavior on the formation of intimate relationships. Data were obtained from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) for the years 2002–2014 and contain information about 6071 individuals and 4194 newly formed partnerships. For men, better mental health increasingly accelerates partnership formation in middle and later adulthood. For women, better physical and mental health reduce the transition rate into partnership at a young age and increase the transition rate into partnership at an older age. Physical inactivity and overweight reduce the likelihood of partnership formation for both women and men, whereas smoking is positively associated with partnership formation for women. The findings help to better understand how health and health behavior affect the formation of intimate relationships. Moreover, the results contribute to explaining health disparities between individuals with or without a partner.
Abstract: This paper examines the influence of physical and mental health and health behavior on the formation of intimate relationships. Data were obtained from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) for the years 2002–2014 and contain information about 6071 individuals and 4194 newly formed partnerships. For men, better mental health increasingly accelerates partnership formation in middle and later adulthood. For women, better physical and mental health reduce the transition rate into partnership at a young age and increase the transition rate into partnership at an older age. Physical inactivity and overweight reduce the likelihood of partnership formation for both women and men, whereas smoking is positively associated with partnership formation for women. The findings help to better understand how health and health behavior affect the formation of intimate relationships. Moreover, the results contribute to explaining health disparities between individuals with or without a partner.
Theories of human altruism: Future theoretical models would greatly benefit from being inclusive rather than exclusive in allowing for the possibility of co-existing egoistic and altruistic motivational drives
Theories of human altruism: a systematic review. Svetlana Feigin, Glynn Owens and Felicity Goodyear-Smith. Annals of Neuroscience and Psychology, 2014. http://www.vipoa.org/neuropsychol/1/1
Abstract: The goal of this systematic review was to summarise the social psychological literature on theories of altruism in humans from 1960 to 2014. Material was sourced through online databases, book sections, grey literature and hand searches. All social psychological literature on altruism in humans from 1960 to June 2014 was eligible for inclusion in the review. Items were critically reviewed according to key characteristics and findings. Non-English items and original research papers were excluded. Of 1881 potentially eligible items, 308 were selected for critical appraisal; of these, 97 were included in the review as 'Theory' articles, being separated into pseudo-altruism (selfishly-motivated) and true (selfless) altruism. Within these categories lie a range of models. The influences behind altruism are complex and do not arise from a single source but rather a multitude of sources both within and outside the individual. Future theoretical models would greatly benefit from being inclusive rather than exclusive in allowing for the possibility of co-existing motivational drives (egoistic and altruistic).
Keywords: Altruism, altruistic behaviour, empathy, helping behaviour, pro-social behaviour
h/t: Raphael R
Abstract: The goal of this systematic review was to summarise the social psychological literature on theories of altruism in humans from 1960 to 2014. Material was sourced through online databases, book sections, grey literature and hand searches. All social psychological literature on altruism in humans from 1960 to June 2014 was eligible for inclusion in the review. Items were critically reviewed according to key characteristics and findings. Non-English items and original research papers were excluded. Of 1881 potentially eligible items, 308 were selected for critical appraisal; of these, 97 were included in the review as 'Theory' articles, being separated into pseudo-altruism (selfishly-motivated) and true (selfless) altruism. Within these categories lie a range of models. The influences behind altruism are complex and do not arise from a single source but rather a multitude of sources both within and outside the individual. Future theoretical models would greatly benefit from being inclusive rather than exclusive in allowing for the possibility of co-existing motivational drives (egoistic and altruistic).
Keywords: Altruism, altruistic behaviour, empathy, helping behaviour, pro-social behaviour
h/t: Raphael R
Tuesday, April 3, 2018
Beneficial effect of hot spring bathing on stress levels in Japanese macaques
Beneficial effect of hot spring bathing on stress levels in Japanese macaques. Rafaela S. C. Takeshita et al. Primates, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10329-018-0655-x
Abstract: The ability of animals to survive dramatic climates depends on their physiology, morphology and behaviour, but is often influenced by the configuration of their habitat. Along with autonomic responses, thermoregulatory behaviours, including postural adjustments, social aggregation, and use of trees for shelter, help individuals maintain homeostasis across climate variations. Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) are the world’s most northerly species of nonhuman primates and have adapted to extremely cold environments. Given that thermoregulatory stress can increase glucocorticoid concentrations in primates, we hypothesized that by using an available hot spring, Japanese macaques could gain protection against weather-induced cold stress during winter. We studied 12 adult female Japanese macaques living in Jigokudani Monkey Park, Japan, during the spring birth season (April to June) and winter mating season (October to December). We collected faecal samples for determination of faecal glucocorticoid (fGC) metabolite concentrations by enzyme immunoassay, as well as behavioural data to determine time spent in the hot springs, dominance rank, aggression rates, and affiliative behaviours. We used nonparametric statistics to examine seasonal changes in hot spring bathing, and the relationship between rank and air temperature on hot spring bathing. We used general linear mixed-effect models to examine factors impacting hormone concentrations. We found that Japanese macaques use hot spring bathing for thermoregulation during the winter. In the studied troop, the single hot spring is a restricted resource favoured by dominant females. High social rank had both costs and benefits: dominant females sustained high fGC levels, which were associated with high aggression rates in winter, but benefited by priority of access to the hot spring, which was associated with low fGC concentrations and therefore might help reduce energy expenditure and subsequent body heat loss. This unique habit of hot spring bathing by Japanese macaques illustrates how behavioural flexibility can help counter cold climate stress, with likely implications for reproduction and survival.
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
Abstract: The ability of animals to survive dramatic climates depends on their physiology, morphology and behaviour, but is often influenced by the configuration of their habitat. Along with autonomic responses, thermoregulatory behaviours, including postural adjustments, social aggregation, and use of trees for shelter, help individuals maintain homeostasis across climate variations. Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) are the world’s most northerly species of nonhuman primates and have adapted to extremely cold environments. Given that thermoregulatory stress can increase glucocorticoid concentrations in primates, we hypothesized that by using an available hot spring, Japanese macaques could gain protection against weather-induced cold stress during winter. We studied 12 adult female Japanese macaques living in Jigokudani Monkey Park, Japan, during the spring birth season (April to June) and winter mating season (October to December). We collected faecal samples for determination of faecal glucocorticoid (fGC) metabolite concentrations by enzyme immunoassay, as well as behavioural data to determine time spent in the hot springs, dominance rank, aggression rates, and affiliative behaviours. We used nonparametric statistics to examine seasonal changes in hot spring bathing, and the relationship between rank and air temperature on hot spring bathing. We used general linear mixed-effect models to examine factors impacting hormone concentrations. We found that Japanese macaques use hot spring bathing for thermoregulation during the winter. In the studied troop, the single hot spring is a restricted resource favoured by dominant females. High social rank had both costs and benefits: dominant females sustained high fGC levels, which were associated with high aggression rates in winter, but benefited by priority of access to the hot spring, which was associated with low fGC concentrations and therefore might help reduce energy expenditure and subsequent body heat loss. This unique habit of hot spring bathing by Japanese macaques illustrates how behavioural flexibility can help counter cold climate stress, with likely implications for reproduction and survival.
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
While low performers on a political knowledge task are expected to engage in overconfident self‐placement and self‐assessment when reflecting on their performance, I also expect the increased salience of partisan identities to exacerbate this phenomenon
Partisanship, Political Knowledge, and the Dunning‐Kruger Effect. Ian G. Anson. Political Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12490
Abstract: A widely cited finding in social psychology holds that individuals with low levels of competence will judge themselves to be higher achieving than they really are. In the present study, I examine how the so‐called “Dunning‐Kruger effect” conditions citizens' perceptions of political knowledgeability. While low performers on a political knowledge task are expected to engage in overconfident self‐placement and self‐assessment when reflecting on their performance, I also expect the increased salience of partisan identities to exacerbate this phenomenon due to the effects of directional motivated reasoning. Survey experimental results confirm the Dunning‐Kruger effect in the realm of political knowledge. They also show that individuals with moderately low political expertise rate themselves as increasingly politically knowledgeable when partisan identities are made salient. This below‐average group is also likely to rely on partisan source cues to evaluate the political knowledge of peers. In a concluding section, I comment on the meaning of these findings for contemporary debates about rational ignorance, motivated reasoning, and political polarization.
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
Abstract: A widely cited finding in social psychology holds that individuals with low levels of competence will judge themselves to be higher achieving than they really are. In the present study, I examine how the so‐called “Dunning‐Kruger effect” conditions citizens' perceptions of political knowledgeability. While low performers on a political knowledge task are expected to engage in overconfident self‐placement and self‐assessment when reflecting on their performance, I also expect the increased salience of partisan identities to exacerbate this phenomenon due to the effects of directional motivated reasoning. Survey experimental results confirm the Dunning‐Kruger effect in the realm of political knowledge. They also show that individuals with moderately low political expertise rate themselves as increasingly politically knowledgeable when partisan identities are made salient. This below‐average group is also likely to rely on partisan source cues to evaluate the political knowledge of peers. In a concluding section, I comment on the meaning of these findings for contemporary debates about rational ignorance, motivated reasoning, and political polarization.
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
A Dual‐Process Motivational Model of Attitudes toward Vegetarians and Vegans
A Dual‐Process Motivational Model of Attitudes toward Vegetarians and Vegans. Madeline Judge, Marc S Wilson. European Journal of Social Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2386
Abstract: Vegetarians and vegans comprise a minority of most western populations. However, relatively little research has investigated the psychological foundations of attitudes towards this minority group. The following study employs a dual process model of intergroup attitudes to explore the motivational basis of non‐vegetarians’ attitudes towards vegetarians and vegans. Participants were 1326 individuals recruited through advertisements in a national newspaper in New Zealand. Non‐vegetarian participants first completed measures of ideological attitudes and social worldviews, and then were randomly assigned to complete a measure of outgroup attitudes towards either vegetarians or vegans. Although non‐vegetarians’ attitudes towards both vegetarians and vegans were generally positive, attitudes towards vegans were significantly less positive than attitudes towards vegetarians, and male participants expressed significantly less positive attitudes towards both outgroups than female participants. The structural equation model predicting attitudes towards vegetarians and vegans fit the data well and explained a significant amount of the variance in attitudes.
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
Abstract: Vegetarians and vegans comprise a minority of most western populations. However, relatively little research has investigated the psychological foundations of attitudes towards this minority group. The following study employs a dual process model of intergroup attitudes to explore the motivational basis of non‐vegetarians’ attitudes towards vegetarians and vegans. Participants were 1326 individuals recruited through advertisements in a national newspaper in New Zealand. Non‐vegetarian participants first completed measures of ideological attitudes and social worldviews, and then were randomly assigned to complete a measure of outgroup attitudes towards either vegetarians or vegans. Although non‐vegetarians’ attitudes towards both vegetarians and vegans were generally positive, attitudes towards vegans were significantly less positive than attitudes towards vegetarians, and male participants expressed significantly less positive attitudes towards both outgroups than female participants. The structural equation model predicting attitudes towards vegetarians and vegans fit the data well and explained a significant amount of the variance in attitudes.
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
Situational meaninglessness and state boredom: Cross-sectional and experience-sampling findings
Situational meaninglessness and state boredom: Cross-sectional and experience-sampling findings.
Christian S. Chan et al. Motivation and Emotion, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11031-018-9693-3
Abstract: Theories of boredom assert that boredom is a product of situational meaninglessness. We conducted two studies to test if the perceived meaningfulness of a situation is associated with state boredom, above and beyond sadness, personality traits, and boredom proneness. In Study 1, 105 participants (72.4% female: mean age = 33.9 years, SD = 17.5) described situations in which they experienced boredom, no boredom, engagement, or sadness. They then rated the level of state boredom, sadness, and meaninglessness that they experienced in that situation. As hypothesized, state boredom was associated with situational meaninglessness, before and after controlling for sadness. In Study 2, 148 participants (73.0% female; mean age = 19.2 years, SD = 1.8) first provided baseline data on personality traits and boredom proneness. Through a smartphone app-based experience-sampling method, they then responded to a brief questionnaire multiple times a day, across 7 days. The questionnaire asked about the nature of their current activity, whether the activity was done alone or with other people, and their affective state. Results from multilevel modelling of 3022 entries suggest that perceived meaningfulness of the activity was negatively associated with state boredom, above and beyond sadness, personality, and boredom proneness. We also found that being with others during the activity acted as a moderator; activities lower in perceived meaningfulness were associated with higher ratings of state boredom when done with others than when done alone. These results demonstrate that perceptions of meaninglessness characterize state boredom.
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
Christian S. Chan et al. Motivation and Emotion, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11031-018-9693-3
Abstract: Theories of boredom assert that boredom is a product of situational meaninglessness. We conducted two studies to test if the perceived meaningfulness of a situation is associated with state boredom, above and beyond sadness, personality traits, and boredom proneness. In Study 1, 105 participants (72.4% female: mean age = 33.9 years, SD = 17.5) described situations in which they experienced boredom, no boredom, engagement, or sadness. They then rated the level of state boredom, sadness, and meaninglessness that they experienced in that situation. As hypothesized, state boredom was associated with situational meaninglessness, before and after controlling for sadness. In Study 2, 148 participants (73.0% female; mean age = 19.2 years, SD = 1.8) first provided baseline data on personality traits and boredom proneness. Through a smartphone app-based experience-sampling method, they then responded to a brief questionnaire multiple times a day, across 7 days. The questionnaire asked about the nature of their current activity, whether the activity was done alone or with other people, and their affective state. Results from multilevel modelling of 3022 entries suggest that perceived meaningfulness of the activity was negatively associated with state boredom, above and beyond sadness, personality, and boredom proneness. We also found that being with others during the activity acted as a moderator; activities lower in perceived meaningfulness were associated with higher ratings of state boredom when done with others than when done alone. These results demonstrate that perceptions of meaninglessness characterize state boredom.
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
Monday, April 2, 2018
Perceptions of Microaggressive Behavior Across the Ideological Spectrum
Harper, Craig A., 2018. “Perceptions of Microaggressive Behavior Across the Ideological Spectrum”. PsyArXiv. April 2. doi:10.17605/OSF.IO/973V8
Abstract: Microaggressions–subtle slights that communicate implicit bias–have become a widespread concern in recent years.However, the empirical credibility of microaggression theory has been questioned due to a lack of conceptual clarity and the prevalence of methodological biases within microaggression research. Challenging the empirical validity of the traditional demographics-based microaggression concept, this study examined the potential for cross-spectrum microaggression perception being a method for derogating opposition viewpoints, consistent with existing work on ideological prejudice. Using an experimental online survey (N= 404), there was a significant association between participants’ ideological orientation and their judgements of the ‘perpetrators’and ‘victims’of microaggressions when ‘victims’were associated with leftist causes, but not right-wing causes. These associations were not moderated by emotional investment in ideological orientation (i.e., collective narcissism). Implications for microaggression theory, diversity training programs, and the study of politically-salient individual differences are subsequently discussed.
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
Abstract: Microaggressions–subtle slights that communicate implicit bias–have become a widespread concern in recent years.However, the empirical credibility of microaggression theory has been questioned due to a lack of conceptual clarity and the prevalence of methodological biases within microaggression research. Challenging the empirical validity of the traditional demographics-based microaggression concept, this study examined the potential for cross-spectrum microaggression perception being a method for derogating opposition viewpoints, consistent with existing work on ideological prejudice. Using an experimental online survey (N= 404), there was a significant association between participants’ ideological orientation and their judgements of the ‘perpetrators’and ‘victims’of microaggressions when ‘victims’were associated with leftist causes, but not right-wing causes. These associations were not moderated by emotional investment in ideological orientation (i.e., collective narcissism). Implications for microaggression theory, diversity training programs, and the study of politically-salient individual differences are subsequently discussed.
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
The cosmic gorilla effect or the problem of undetected non terrestrial intelligent signals: It is worse for those with reflexive cognitive style
The cosmic gorilla effect or the problem of undetected non terrestrial intelligent signals. Gabriel G. De la Torre, Manuel A.Garcia. Acta Astronautica, Volume 146, May 2018, Pages 83-91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2018.02.036
Highlights
• New ETI/NTI classification is provided and discussed.
• Inattentional blindness experiment shows potential explanation for silence.
• Role of dark matter in new forms of ETI is discussed.
• Reflexive cognitive style resulted less effective in the inattentional blindness task.
Abstract: This article points to a long lasting problem in space research and cosmology, the problem of undetected signs of non terrestrial life and civilizations. We intentionally avoid the term extraterrestrial as we consider other possibilities that may arise but not fall strictly within the extraterrestrial scope. We discuss the role of new physics including dark matter and string theory in the search for life and other non terrestrial intelligence. A new classification for non terrestrial civilizations with three types and five dimensions is also provided. We also explain how our own neurophysiology, psychology and consciousness can play a major role in this search of non terrestrial civilizations task and how they have been neglected up to this date. To test this, 137 adults were evaluated using the cognitive reflection test, an attention/awareness questionnaire and a visuospatial searching task with aerial view images to determine the presence of inattentional blindness.
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
Highlights
• New ETI/NTI classification is provided and discussed.
• Inattentional blindness experiment shows potential explanation for silence.
• Role of dark matter in new forms of ETI is discussed.
• Reflexive cognitive style resulted less effective in the inattentional blindness task.
Abstract: This article points to a long lasting problem in space research and cosmology, the problem of undetected signs of non terrestrial life and civilizations. We intentionally avoid the term extraterrestrial as we consider other possibilities that may arise but not fall strictly within the extraterrestrial scope. We discuss the role of new physics including dark matter and string theory in the search for life and other non terrestrial intelligence. A new classification for non terrestrial civilizations with three types and five dimensions is also provided. We also explain how our own neurophysiology, psychology and consciousness can play a major role in this search of non terrestrial civilizations task and how they have been neglected up to this date. To test this, 137 adults were evaluated using the cognitive reflection test, an attention/awareness questionnaire and a visuospatial searching task with aerial view images to determine the presence of inattentional blindness.
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
Men, but not women, who experienced greater intensity of an earthquake became more risk tolerant a year after it. Risk preferences are persistent even five years after the Earthquake at almost the same magnitude as those shortly after it. Also, these men gamble more.
Do Risk Preferences Change? Evidence from the Great East Japan Earthquake. Chie Hanaoka, Hitoshi Shigeoka, and Yasutora Watanabe. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics. Apr 2018, Vol. 10, No. 2: Pages 298-330. https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/app.20170048
Abstract: We investigate whether individuals' risk preferences change after experiencing a natural disaster, specifically, the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. Exploiting the panels of nationally representative surveys on risk preferences, we find that men who experienced greater intensity of the earthquake became more risk tolerant a year after the Earthquake. Interestingly, the effects on men's risk preferences are persistent even five years after the Earthquake at almost the same magnitude as those shortly after the Earthquake. Furthermore, these men gamble more, which is consistent with the direction of changes in risk preferences. We find no such pattern for women. (JEL D12, D81, J16, Q54)
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
Abstract: We investigate whether individuals' risk preferences change after experiencing a natural disaster, specifically, the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. Exploiting the panels of nationally representative surveys on risk preferences, we find that men who experienced greater intensity of the earthquake became more risk tolerant a year after the Earthquake. Interestingly, the effects on men's risk preferences are persistent even five years after the Earthquake at almost the same magnitude as those shortly after the Earthquake. Furthermore, these men gamble more, which is consistent with the direction of changes in risk preferences. We find no such pattern for women. (JEL D12, D81, J16, Q54)
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
Sunday, April 1, 2018
Politically-focused intrusive thoughts and associated ritualistic behaviors after the 2016 elections in the USA
Politically-focused intrusive thoughts and associated ritualistic behaviors in a community sample. Sandra L. Cepeda et al. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2018.03.011
Highlights
• Political intrusive thoughts and ritualistic behaviors (PITRB) occurred frequently.
• 25.2% reported experiencing at least one PITRB multiple times a day.
• PITRB was associated with all measures of psychopathology and disability.
• Anxiety control moderated the relationship between PITRB and both anxiety and depression.
Abstract: A significant proportion of the U.S. population report increased stress attributed to the political climate following the controversial 2016 United States (U.S.) Presidential election. The political stressors paired with the growth in news consumption and social media-use could be a potential trigger for obsessive-compulsive-like symptoms specific to politics in some individuals. This study aimed to elucidate the rate of Politically-focused Intrusive Thoughts and associated Ritualistic Behaviors (PITRB), their demographic and clinical correlates, and the degree of association with political ideology. Survey data were collected using the crowdsourcing platform Mechanical Turk. A total of N = 484 individuals completed the survey. Measures of politically-focused intrusive thoughts and ritualistic behaviors, general obsessive-compulsive symptoms, depression, anxiety, anxiety control, worry, and disability were administered, as well as a measure of social and economic conservative affiliation. Results showed that a quarter of the sample (25.2%) had at least one PITRB more than once a day. PITRB was associated with all measures of psychopathology and disability. Finally, anxiety control moderated the relationship between PITRB and both anxiety and depression. No differences in psychopathology were found between major party affiliations. The findings suggest that politically-focused intrusive thoughts and ritualistic behaviors are associated with psychopathology domains in a manner comparable to general obsessive-compulsive symptoms.
Keywords: Obsessive-compulsive disorder; Anxiety; Politics; Impairment; Social media
Highlights
• Political intrusive thoughts and ritualistic behaviors (PITRB) occurred frequently.
• 25.2% reported experiencing at least one PITRB multiple times a day.
• PITRB was associated with all measures of psychopathology and disability.
• Anxiety control moderated the relationship between PITRB and both anxiety and depression.
Abstract: A significant proportion of the U.S. population report increased stress attributed to the political climate following the controversial 2016 United States (U.S.) Presidential election. The political stressors paired with the growth in news consumption and social media-use could be a potential trigger for obsessive-compulsive-like symptoms specific to politics in some individuals. This study aimed to elucidate the rate of Politically-focused Intrusive Thoughts and associated Ritualistic Behaviors (PITRB), their demographic and clinical correlates, and the degree of association with political ideology. Survey data were collected using the crowdsourcing platform Mechanical Turk. A total of N = 484 individuals completed the survey. Measures of politically-focused intrusive thoughts and ritualistic behaviors, general obsessive-compulsive symptoms, depression, anxiety, anxiety control, worry, and disability were administered, as well as a measure of social and economic conservative affiliation. Results showed that a quarter of the sample (25.2%) had at least one PITRB more than once a day. PITRB was associated with all measures of psychopathology and disability. Finally, anxiety control moderated the relationship between PITRB and both anxiety and depression. No differences in psychopathology were found between major party affiliations. The findings suggest that politically-focused intrusive thoughts and ritualistic behaviors are associated with psychopathology domains in a manner comparable to general obsessive-compulsive symptoms.
Keywords: Obsessive-compulsive disorder; Anxiety; Politics; Impairment; Social media
Saturday, March 31, 2018
Changes in Japan in the Last Fifteen Years, by Noah Smith
Changes in Japan in the Last Fifteen Years. Noah Smith. Mar 2018, https://twitter.com/Noahpinion
1/I have been coming to Japan since 2002.
Since that time, the country has changed enormously. Year-to-year the changes are small, but looking back, they really add up.
Here are some of the things that have changed.
2/One of the biggest changes is diversity. Especially in Tokyo.
Thanks to the tourism boom, the place is jam-packed with non-Japanese people. But that's not nearly all of it.
3/There are non-Japanese people working everywhere in Tokyo. Latin American chefs in yakitori restaurants. Swedish clerks in clothing stores. Indian staff in electronics stores. Chinese exchange students behind cash registers. Chinese salary workers in company offices.
4/Foreign languages are commonplace.
In 2002 people were impressed that I could speak a few sentences of Japanese. Now, people are just relieved.
5/The second big thing that has changed is gender roles.
In 2002, housewives were still the norm. Now they're increasingly uncommon.
6/In 2002, "office ladies" would flood lunch restaurants while male salarymen stayed at their desks.
Now, the OLs are mostly gone.
7/Furthermore, there is now open discussion of sexism in Japanese society, whereas 15 years ago there was very little.
8/A third big change is where people live.
15 years ago, there were tons of "parasite singles" living with (and living off of) their parents into their 30s.
Now, there are few. A lot of young people have moved out, and a substantial fraction have gotten roommates.
9/In addition to these three big changes, there have been many minor changes.
With the fall in youth idleness, there are fewer bands, fashion kids, and other young people engaged in such lifestyles.
10/Styles in Tokyo are plainer and more conservative. A few people still dress wild, but "miniskirt and knee boots" has been replaced with "jeans and sneakers" among normal folks.
Osaka is still more flamboyant.
11/Both Tokyo and Osaka are denser and more built-up. Construction continues apace.
12/Startups and entrepreneurship are more common.
There is a tech entrepreneur class here that didn't exist 15 years ago.
13/America's mystique has mostly worn off. Now it's Japan that has the mystique, with boatloads of American tourist kids racing down the street yelling "OMG I'm in Japan!"
14/Half-Japanese kids are starting to become more visible among groups of schoolkids. Mostly half-white but also some half-black. And I'm sure lots of half-Chinese or half-Korean or half-Vietnamese kids I didn't even notice.
15/In general, Japan has changed in ways I'd expect from globalization and economic liberalization.
The one thing that hasn't changed: the prices.
I can still get a Lipton milk tea in any convenience store for 105 yen!
(end)
1/I have been coming to Japan since 2002.
Since that time, the country has changed enormously. Year-to-year the changes are small, but looking back, they really add up.
Here are some of the things that have changed.
2/One of the biggest changes is diversity. Especially in Tokyo.
Thanks to the tourism boom, the place is jam-packed with non-Japanese people. But that's not nearly all of it.
3/There are non-Japanese people working everywhere in Tokyo. Latin American chefs in yakitori restaurants. Swedish clerks in clothing stores. Indian staff in electronics stores. Chinese exchange students behind cash registers. Chinese salary workers in company offices.
4/Foreign languages are commonplace.
In 2002 people were impressed that I could speak a few sentences of Japanese. Now, people are just relieved.
5/The second big thing that has changed is gender roles.
In 2002, housewives were still the norm. Now they're increasingly uncommon.
6/In 2002, "office ladies" would flood lunch restaurants while male salarymen stayed at their desks.
Now, the OLs are mostly gone.
7/Furthermore, there is now open discussion of sexism in Japanese society, whereas 15 years ago there was very little.
8/A third big change is where people live.
15 years ago, there were tons of "parasite singles" living with (and living off of) their parents into their 30s.
Now, there are few. A lot of young people have moved out, and a substantial fraction have gotten roommates.
9/In addition to these three big changes, there have been many minor changes.
With the fall in youth idleness, there are fewer bands, fashion kids, and other young people engaged in such lifestyles.
10/Styles in Tokyo are plainer and more conservative. A few people still dress wild, but "miniskirt and knee boots" has been replaced with "jeans and sneakers" among normal folks.
Osaka is still more flamboyant.
11/Both Tokyo and Osaka are denser and more built-up. Construction continues apace.
12/Startups and entrepreneurship are more common.
There is a tech entrepreneur class here that didn't exist 15 years ago.
13/America's mystique has mostly worn off. Now it's Japan that has the mystique, with boatloads of American tourist kids racing down the street yelling "OMG I'm in Japan!"
14/Half-Japanese kids are starting to become more visible among groups of schoolkids. Mostly half-white but also some half-black. And I'm sure lots of half-Chinese or half-Korean or half-Vietnamese kids I didn't even notice.
15/In general, Japan has changed in ways I'd expect from globalization and economic liberalization.
The one thing that hasn't changed: the prices.
I can still get a Lipton milk tea in any convenience store for 105 yen!
(end)
Women made more negative attributions about, & experienced diminished desire to affiliate with, female targets wearing (vs. not wearing) cosmetics. This penalty was specific to female observers, mediated by decreases in perceived trustworthiness, & driven by less desirable women
DelPriore, D. J., Bradshaw, H. K., & Hill, S. E. (2018). Appearance Enhancement Produces a Strategic Beautification Penalty Among Women. Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ebs0000118
Abstract: Previous research demonstrates that women’s beauty is rewarded across a myriad of social contexts, especially by men. Accordingly, from a functional perspective, another woman’s attractiveness can signal competitive disadvantage—and evoke negative responses—among female observers. Further, because the benefits of beauty are rewarded based on superficial qualities rather than on merit or performance, women may perceive same-sex others who use appearance enhancement to gain advantages as being dishonest or manipulative. We examined these possibilities across four experiments testing whether college-aged women impose a strategic beautification penalty (SBP) on female targets that have enhanced their appearances with cosmetics. We found that women made more negative attributions about, and experienced diminished desire to affiliate with, female targets wearing (vs. not wearing) cosmetics. The SBP was: specific to female observers (Experiment 2); mediated by decreases in perceived trustworthiness (Experiment 3); and driven by less desirable women (Experiment 4). Importantly, the negative effects of beautification effort extended beyond the increased physical attractiveness that resulted from this effort. The results suggest that engaging in appearance enhancement can produce unintended negative consequences for relationships between women.
Check also: The Causes and Consequences of Women’s Competitive Beautification. Danielle J. DelPriore, Marjorie L. Prokosch, and Sarah E. Hill. The Oxford Handbook of Women and Competition, edited by Maryanne L. Fisher. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/08/the-causes-and-consequences-of-womens.html
Local mating markets in humans and non-human animals. Ronald Noë. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, October 2017, 71:148.
https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/09/local-mating-markets-in-humans-and-non.html
The Reversed Gender Gap in Education and Assortative Mating in Europe. De Hauw, Yolien, Grow, Andre, and Van Bavel, Jan. European Journal of Population, https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/09/highly-educated-women-tend-to-partner.html
Marzoli, D., Havlícek, J. and Roberts, S. C. (2017), Human mating strategies: from past causes to present consequences. WIREs Cognitive Science, e1456. doi:10.1002/wcs.1456. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/09/enhancing-mens-perception-of-their-own.html
Beauty, Effort, and Misrepresentation: How Beauty Work Affects Judgments of Moral Character and Consumer Preferences. Adriana Samper Linyun W Yang Michelle E Daniels. Journal of Consumer Research, ucx116, https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucx116. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/11/beauty-effort-and-misrepresentation-how.html
Behavioral display of lumbar curvature in response to the opposite sex. Zeynep Şenveli Bilkent University, Graduate Program in Neuroscience - Master's degree thesis. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/08/behavioral-display-of-lumbar-curvature.html
Abstract: Previous research demonstrates that women’s beauty is rewarded across a myriad of social contexts, especially by men. Accordingly, from a functional perspective, another woman’s attractiveness can signal competitive disadvantage—and evoke negative responses—among female observers. Further, because the benefits of beauty are rewarded based on superficial qualities rather than on merit or performance, women may perceive same-sex others who use appearance enhancement to gain advantages as being dishonest or manipulative. We examined these possibilities across four experiments testing whether college-aged women impose a strategic beautification penalty (SBP) on female targets that have enhanced their appearances with cosmetics. We found that women made more negative attributions about, and experienced diminished desire to affiliate with, female targets wearing (vs. not wearing) cosmetics. The SBP was: specific to female observers (Experiment 2); mediated by decreases in perceived trustworthiness (Experiment 3); and driven by less desirable women (Experiment 4). Importantly, the negative effects of beautification effort extended beyond the increased physical attractiveness that resulted from this effort. The results suggest that engaging in appearance enhancement can produce unintended negative consequences for relationships between women.
Check also: The Causes and Consequences of Women’s Competitive Beautification. Danielle J. DelPriore, Marjorie L. Prokosch, and Sarah E. Hill. The Oxford Handbook of Women and Competition, edited by Maryanne L. Fisher. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/08/the-causes-and-consequences-of-womens.html
Local mating markets in humans and non-human animals. Ronald Noë. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, October 2017, 71:148.
https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/09/local-mating-markets-in-humans-and-non.html
The Reversed Gender Gap in Education and Assortative Mating in Europe. De Hauw, Yolien, Grow, Andre, and Van Bavel, Jan. European Journal of Population, https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/09/highly-educated-women-tend-to-partner.html
Marzoli, D., Havlícek, J. and Roberts, S. C. (2017), Human mating strategies: from past causes to present consequences. WIREs Cognitive Science, e1456. doi:10.1002/wcs.1456. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/09/enhancing-mens-perception-of-their-own.html
Beauty, Effort, and Misrepresentation: How Beauty Work Affects Judgments of Moral Character and Consumer Preferences. Adriana Samper Linyun W Yang Michelle E Daniels. Journal of Consumer Research, ucx116, https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucx116. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/11/beauty-effort-and-misrepresentation-how.html
Behavioral display of lumbar curvature in response to the opposite sex. Zeynep Şenveli Bilkent University, Graduate Program in Neuroscience - Master's degree thesis. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/08/behavioral-display-of-lumbar-curvature.html
Macaques show human-like curiosity: Willingness to pay (or to lose) to obtain information that provides no instrumental or strategic benefit, with the amount to pay scaling with the amount of information
Monkeys are Curious about Counterfactual Outcomes. Maya Zhe Wang, Benjamin Hayden. bioRxiv, https://doi.org/10.1101/291708
Abstract: While many non-human animals show basic exploratory behaviors, it remains unclear whether any animals possess human-like curiosity. We propose that human-like curiosity satisfies three formal criteria: (1) willingness to pay (or to sacrifice reward) to obtain information, (2) that the information provides no instrumental or strategic benefit (and the subject understands this), and (3) the amount the subject is willing to pay scales with the amount of information available. Although previous work, including our own, demonstrates that some animals will sacrifice juice rewards for information, that information normally predicts upcoming rewards and their ostensible curiosity may therefore be a byproduct of reinforcement processes. Here we get around this potential confound by showing that macaques sacrifice juice to obtain information about counterfactual outcomes (outcomes that could have occurred had the subject chosen differently). Moreover, willingness-to-pay scales with the information (Shannon entropy) offered by the counterfactual option. These results demonstrate human-like curiosity in non-human animals according to our strict criteria, which circumvent several confounds associated with less stringent criteria.
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
Abstract: While many non-human animals show basic exploratory behaviors, it remains unclear whether any animals possess human-like curiosity. We propose that human-like curiosity satisfies three formal criteria: (1) willingness to pay (or to sacrifice reward) to obtain information, (2) that the information provides no instrumental or strategic benefit (and the subject understands this), and (3) the amount the subject is willing to pay scales with the amount of information available. Although previous work, including our own, demonstrates that some animals will sacrifice juice rewards for information, that information normally predicts upcoming rewards and their ostensible curiosity may therefore be a byproduct of reinforcement processes. Here we get around this potential confound by showing that macaques sacrifice juice to obtain information about counterfactual outcomes (outcomes that could have occurred had the subject chosen differently). Moreover, willingness-to-pay scales with the information (Shannon entropy) offered by the counterfactual option. These results demonstrate human-like curiosity in non-human animals according to our strict criteria, which circumvent several confounds associated with less stringent criteria.
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
Friday, March 30, 2018
We tested the hypothesis that we humans feel disgust when reminded of our animal nature. Some disgusting things may remind us of our animal nature, but they are not disgusting because they do so
Kollareth, D., & Russell, J. A. (2018). Even unpleasant reminders that you are an animal need not disgust you. Emotion, 18(2), 304-312. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/emo0000365
Abstract: Three studies (Ns = 200, 400, 400) tested the hypothesis that we humans feel disgust when reminded of our animal nature. Participants verbally rated their disgust reaction to pictures of humans engaged in various unpleasant actions. For pictures of events that present danger or suffering, accompanied by an explicit and vivid reminder that animals face the same situation, participants reported fear and sadness rather than disgust. For pictures of events that present a norm violation, an explicit animal reminder (relative to a human picture alone) did not lead to a consequent increment in disgust. For pictures of events that present a physically disgusting contamination, an explicit animal reminder (relative to a human picture alone) led to a decrement in disgust. Thus, not all unpleasant animal reminders are disgusting. Some disgusting things may remind us of our animal nature, but they are not disgusting because they do so.
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
Abstract: Three studies (Ns = 200, 400, 400) tested the hypothesis that we humans feel disgust when reminded of our animal nature. Participants verbally rated their disgust reaction to pictures of humans engaged in various unpleasant actions. For pictures of events that present danger or suffering, accompanied by an explicit and vivid reminder that animals face the same situation, participants reported fear and sadness rather than disgust. For pictures of events that present a norm violation, an explicit animal reminder (relative to a human picture alone) did not lead to a consequent increment in disgust. For pictures of events that present a physically disgusting contamination, an explicit animal reminder (relative to a human picture alone) led to a decrement in disgust. Thus, not all unpleasant animal reminders are disgusting. Some disgusting things may remind us of our animal nature, but they are not disgusting because they do so.
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
Retaliation on a voodoo doll symbolizing an abusive supervisor restores justice
Righting a wrong: Retaliation on a voodoo doll symbolizing an abusive supervisor restores justice. Lindie H.Liang et al. The Leadership Quarterly, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2018.01.004
Abstract: When a subordinate receives abusive treatment from a supervisor, a natural response is to retaliate against the supervisor. Although retaliation is dysfunctional and should be discouraged, we examine the potential functional role retaliation plays in terms of alleviating the negative consequences of abusive supervision on subordinate justice perceptions. Based on the notion that retaliation following mistreatment can restore justice for victims, we propose a model whereby retaliation following abusive supervision alleviates the negative effect of abusive supervision on subordinate justice perceptions. In two experimental studies (Study 1 and 2), whereby we manipulated abusive supervision and subordinate symbolic retaliation—in particular, harming a voodoo doll that represents the abusive supervisor—we found general support for our predictions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Abstract: When a subordinate receives abusive treatment from a supervisor, a natural response is to retaliate against the supervisor. Although retaliation is dysfunctional and should be discouraged, we examine the potential functional role retaliation plays in terms of alleviating the negative consequences of abusive supervision on subordinate justice perceptions. Based on the notion that retaliation following mistreatment can restore justice for victims, we propose a model whereby retaliation following abusive supervision alleviates the negative effect of abusive supervision on subordinate justice perceptions. In two experimental studies (Study 1 and 2), whereby we manipulated abusive supervision and subordinate symbolic retaliation—in particular, harming a voodoo doll that represents the abusive supervisor—we found general support for our predictions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Thursday, March 29, 2018
Not using smartphones in the bedroom increases happiness and quality of life; risk of smartphone addiction decreases when smartphones are left outside the bedroom; sleeping without smartphones improves sleep, relationships, focus and wellbeing
Sleeping with the frenemy: How restricting ‘bedroom use’ of smartphones impacts happiness and wellbeing. Nicola Hughes, Jolanta Burke. Computers in Human Behavior, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.03.047
Highlights:
• Not using smartphones in the bedroom increases happiness and quality of life
• Risk of smartphone addiction decreases when smartphones are left outside the bedroom
• Going to bed without smartphones in the room improves quality of sleep
• Sleeping without smartphones improves sleep, relationships, focus and wellbeing
• 93.6% of participants “might” or “would” consider not sleeping with their phone again
Abstract: Smartphone technology has dramatically changed the way people interact with the physical and online world. Research shows both positive and negative impacts of smartphone and social platform use. Positive outcomes relate to social capital and engagement, while negative impacts result from compulsive usage, negative comparisons and the stress of being ‘always on’. Little evidence is available regarding wellbeing impacts of smartphone use at particular times of day. This study measures the impact of overnight smartphone use on wellbeing. Experimental group participants abstained from smartphone use in the bedroom for one week. The Subjective Happiness Scale, Quality of Life Scale, Smartphone Addiction Scale and Intensity & Time Affect Survey were issued at the beginning and end of the week. Paired sample T-Tests compared pre and post intervention participant surveys scores. It was hypothesised that subjective wellbeing would increase. In three out of four measures (SAS-SV, SHS and QOLS) the hypothesis was upheld, although impacts were relatively small. 93.6% of experimental group participants said they “might’ or “would” consider self-imposing intervention conditions moving forward, suggesting that participants experienced greater benefits not measurable through the questionnaires selected. Some qualitative analysis supports exploration of findings. Further research to explore other wellbeing impacts is encouraged.
Keywords: Smartphone; social media; social overload; subjective wellbeing; cyber psychology; positive psychology
Check also Hypernatural Monitoring: A Social Rehearsal Account of Smartphone Addiction. Samuel P. L. Veissière and Moriah Stendel. Front. Psychol., 20 February 2018 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00141
Abstract: We present a deflationary account of smartphone addiction by situating this purportedly antisocial phenomenon within the fundamentally social dispositions of our species. While we agree with contemporary critics that the hyper-connectedness and unpredictable rewards of mobile technology can modulate negative affect, we propose to place the locus of addiction on an evolutionarily older mechanism: the human need to monitor and be monitored by others. Drawing from key findings in evolutionary anthropology and the cognitive science of religion, we articulate a hypernatural monitoring model of smartphone addiction grounded in a general social rehearsal theory of human cognition. Building on recent predictive-processing views of perception and addiction in cognitive neuroscience, we describe the role of social reward anticipation and prediction errors in mediating dysfunctional smartphone use. We conclude with insights from contemplative philosophies and harm-reduction models on finding the right rituals for honoring social connections and setting intentional protocols for the consumption of social information.
Highlights:
• Not using smartphones in the bedroom increases happiness and quality of life
• Risk of smartphone addiction decreases when smartphones are left outside the bedroom
• Going to bed without smartphones in the room improves quality of sleep
• Sleeping without smartphones improves sleep, relationships, focus and wellbeing
• 93.6% of participants “might” or “would” consider not sleeping with their phone again
Abstract: Smartphone technology has dramatically changed the way people interact with the physical and online world. Research shows both positive and negative impacts of smartphone and social platform use. Positive outcomes relate to social capital and engagement, while negative impacts result from compulsive usage, negative comparisons and the stress of being ‘always on’. Little evidence is available regarding wellbeing impacts of smartphone use at particular times of day. This study measures the impact of overnight smartphone use on wellbeing. Experimental group participants abstained from smartphone use in the bedroom for one week. The Subjective Happiness Scale, Quality of Life Scale, Smartphone Addiction Scale and Intensity & Time Affect Survey were issued at the beginning and end of the week. Paired sample T-Tests compared pre and post intervention participant surveys scores. It was hypothesised that subjective wellbeing would increase. In three out of four measures (SAS-SV, SHS and QOLS) the hypothesis was upheld, although impacts were relatively small. 93.6% of experimental group participants said they “might’ or “would” consider self-imposing intervention conditions moving forward, suggesting that participants experienced greater benefits not measurable through the questionnaires selected. Some qualitative analysis supports exploration of findings. Further research to explore other wellbeing impacts is encouraged.
Keywords: Smartphone; social media; social overload; subjective wellbeing; cyber psychology; positive psychology
Check also Hypernatural Monitoring: A Social Rehearsal Account of Smartphone Addiction. Samuel P. L. Veissière and Moriah Stendel. Front. Psychol., 20 February 2018 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00141
Abstract: We present a deflationary account of smartphone addiction by situating this purportedly antisocial phenomenon within the fundamentally social dispositions of our species. While we agree with contemporary critics that the hyper-connectedness and unpredictable rewards of mobile technology can modulate negative affect, we propose to place the locus of addiction on an evolutionarily older mechanism: the human need to monitor and be monitored by others. Drawing from key findings in evolutionary anthropology and the cognitive science of religion, we articulate a hypernatural monitoring model of smartphone addiction grounded in a general social rehearsal theory of human cognition. Building on recent predictive-processing views of perception and addiction in cognitive neuroscience, we describe the role of social reward anticipation and prediction errors in mediating dysfunctional smartphone use. We conclude with insights from contemplative philosophies and harm-reduction models on finding the right rituals for honoring social connections and setting intentional protocols for the consumption of social information.
Adolescents Who Experienced Negative Alcohol-Related Consequences Are Willing to Experience These Consequences Again in the Future
Wicki, M., Mallett, K. A., Delgrande Jordan, M., Reavy, R., Turrisi, R., Archimi, A., & Kuntsche, E. (2018). Adolescents Who Experienced Negative Alcohol-Related Consequences Are Willing to Experience These Consequences Again in the Future. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pha0000184
Abstract: Alcohol use and risky single occasion drinking are common among adolescents and are associated with a higher risk of various negative social, physical, academic, or sexual consequences. Studies have shown that among college students, willingness to experience negative consequences is associated with a higher likelihood of experiencing these consequences in the future. However, it remains unclear how experiencing negative consequences influences adolescents’ willingness to experience them again. Based on a representative sample of 1,333 alcohol-using 14- to 15-year-olds (47.9% female), a path model was used to examine the associations between risky drinking, negative social and physical consequences, and willingness to experience the specific consequence in the future. As hypothesized, more frequent risky drinking was positively associated with experiencing negative consequences (i.e., saying or doing embarrassing things, regretted sexual experiences, impairment of schoolwork, problems with parents/friends, accident or injury, hangover, vomiting, memory lapses). Contrary to our second hypothesis, adolescents who experienced a negative consequence were also consistently willing to experience it in the future. Findings suggest that adolescents may see the experience of negative consequences as a necessary evil to attain the positive consequences. Prevention efforts may benefit from focusing on ways of attaining positive consequences by promoting alternatives to engaging in risky drinking practices, as well as reducing negative consequences (e.g., by promoting protective behavioral strategies).
Check also Hangover and Risk for Alcohol Use Disorders: Existing Evidence and Potential Mechanisms. Thomas M. Piasecki, Brandon M. Robertson, and Amee J. Epler. Curr Drug Abuse Rev. 2010 Jun; 3(2): 92–102. DOI: 10.2174/1874473711003020092
Abstract: Alcohol use and risky single occasion drinking are common among adolescents and are associated with a higher risk of various negative social, physical, academic, or sexual consequences. Studies have shown that among college students, willingness to experience negative consequences is associated with a higher likelihood of experiencing these consequences in the future. However, it remains unclear how experiencing negative consequences influences adolescents’ willingness to experience them again. Based on a representative sample of 1,333 alcohol-using 14- to 15-year-olds (47.9% female), a path model was used to examine the associations between risky drinking, negative social and physical consequences, and willingness to experience the specific consequence in the future. As hypothesized, more frequent risky drinking was positively associated with experiencing negative consequences (i.e., saying or doing embarrassing things, regretted sexual experiences, impairment of schoolwork, problems with parents/friends, accident or injury, hangover, vomiting, memory lapses). Contrary to our second hypothesis, adolescents who experienced a negative consequence were also consistently willing to experience it in the future. Findings suggest that adolescents may see the experience of negative consequences as a necessary evil to attain the positive consequences. Prevention efforts may benefit from focusing on ways of attaining positive consequences by promoting alternatives to engaging in risky drinking practices, as well as reducing negative consequences (e.g., by promoting protective behavioral strategies).
Check also Hangover and Risk for Alcohol Use Disorders: Existing Evidence and Potential Mechanisms. Thomas M. Piasecki, Brandon M. Robertson, and Amee J. Epler. Curr Drug Abuse Rev. 2010 Jun; 3(2): 92–102. DOI: 10.2174/1874473711003020092
Abstract: Hangover may be related to propensity to develop alcohol use disorders (AUDs). However, the etiological role, if any, played by hangover in AUD is unclear. From a motivational perspective, hangover can be construed as either a deterrent to future alcohol consumption or a setting event for negative reinforcement that could promote deviant drinking practices (e.g., “hair-of-the-dog” drinking). Hangover could be related to AUD risk even if it does not play a direct role in promoting or inhibiting near-term drinking. For example, measures of hangover might serve as symptoms of AUD or as markers of individual differences that more directly account for AUD risk. Empirical evidence (though usually indirect) exists to support contentions that hangover is related to both risk for and protection from AUD. In this article, we briefly address variation in assessment strategies in existing hangover research because measures of hangover frequency and hangover susceptibility may prove to have different correlates. Next, we review the existing, limited evidence on relations between hangover and AUD risk. Finally, we sketch a variety of theoretically-informed hypotheses that might help delineate productive lines of inquiry for this emerging field.
Keywords: hangover, alcohol, alcohol use disorder, risk, individual differences
Willpower theories predict outcomes across domains of academics, health, goal progress, interpersonal relationships, and well‐being. Generally, limited willpower theorists' belief in their limited capacity results in poorer outcomes, particularly during times of high demand
Lay theories of willpower. Zoë Francis, Veronika Job. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12381
Abstract: Some people believe that willpower relies on a limited resource and that performing cognitive work (such as using self‐control) results in mental fatigue. Others believe that willpower is nonlimited and that performing cognitive work instead prepares and energizes them for more. These differing lay theories of willpower determine whether or not one's self‐control performance actually does decrease or increase after use, with only limited willpower theorists showing a decrease (the ego depletion effect). Due to the self‐control requirements of everyday life, willpower theories also predict outcomes across domains of academics, health, goal progress, interpersonal relationships, and well‐being. Generally, limited willpower theorists' belief in their limited capacity results in poorer outcomes, particularly during times of high demand. By understanding how willpower theories form and function, interventions that encourage nonlimited willpower theories may be created to improve people's performance and well‐being.
Abstract: Some people believe that willpower relies on a limited resource and that performing cognitive work (such as using self‐control) results in mental fatigue. Others believe that willpower is nonlimited and that performing cognitive work instead prepares and energizes them for more. These differing lay theories of willpower determine whether or not one's self‐control performance actually does decrease or increase after use, with only limited willpower theorists showing a decrease (the ego depletion effect). Due to the self‐control requirements of everyday life, willpower theories also predict outcomes across domains of academics, health, goal progress, interpersonal relationships, and well‐being. Generally, limited willpower theorists' belief in their limited capacity results in poorer outcomes, particularly during times of high demand. By understanding how willpower theories form and function, interventions that encourage nonlimited willpower theories may be created to improve people's performance and well‐being.
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
The Unresponsive Avenger: More Evidence That Disinterested Third Parties Do Not Punish Altruistically
Pedersen, Eric J., William B McAuliffe, and Michael E McCullough 2018. “The Unresponsive Avenger: More Evidence That Disinterested Third Parties Do Not Punish Altruistically”. PsyArXiv. March 28. doi:10.1037/xge0000410
Abstract: Many social scientists believe humans possess an evolved motivation to punish violations of norms—including norm violations that do not harm them directly. However, most empirical evidence for so-called altruistic punishment comes from experimental economics games that create experimental demand for third-party punishment, raising the possibility that the third-party punishment uncovered in these experiments has been motivated by a desire to appear concerned about social norms rather than by actual concern about upholding them. Here we present the results of five experiments in which we used an aggression paradigm to contrast second-party and third-party punishment with minimal experimental demand. We also summarize the results of these experiments meta-analytically. We found robust evidence that subjects who were insulted by a stranger experienced anger and punished the insulter. To a lesser degree, subjects who witnessed a friend receive an insult also became angry and punished the insulter. In contrast, we found robust evidence that subjects who witnessed a stranger receive an insult did not punish the insulter, although they did experience modest amounts of anger. In only one experiment did we find any punishment on behalf of a stranger, and this result could plausibly be explained by the desire to escape the moral censure of other bystanders. Our results suggest that experimental designs that rely on demand-laden methods to test hypotheses about third-party punishment may have overstated the case for the existence of this trait.
Abstract: Many social scientists believe humans possess an evolved motivation to punish violations of norms—including norm violations that do not harm them directly. However, most empirical evidence for so-called altruistic punishment comes from experimental economics games that create experimental demand for third-party punishment, raising the possibility that the third-party punishment uncovered in these experiments has been motivated by a desire to appear concerned about social norms rather than by actual concern about upholding them. Here we present the results of five experiments in which we used an aggression paradigm to contrast second-party and third-party punishment with minimal experimental demand. We also summarize the results of these experiments meta-analytically. We found robust evidence that subjects who were insulted by a stranger experienced anger and punished the insulter. To a lesser degree, subjects who witnessed a friend receive an insult also became angry and punished the insulter. In contrast, we found robust evidence that subjects who witnessed a stranger receive an insult did not punish the insulter, although they did experience modest amounts of anger. In only one experiment did we find any punishment on behalf of a stranger, and this result could plausibly be explained by the desire to escape the moral censure of other bystanders. Our results suggest that experimental designs that rely on demand-laden methods to test hypotheses about third-party punishment may have overstated the case for the existence of this trait.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
