If giving money to the Red Cross increases well-being, does taking money from the Red Cross increase ill-being?

If giving money to the Red Cross increases well-being, does taking money from the Red Cross increase ill-being? – Evidence from three experiments. Frank Martela, Richard M. Ryan. Journal of Research in Personality, Volume 93, August 2021, 104114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2021.104114

Highlights

• A small sum of money donated to Red Cross in a button-pushing activity increased participant well-being.

• Similar sum of money detracted from a donation to Red Cross in a button-pushing activity did not increase ill-being.

• Participants might compensate their negative impact by emphasizing the positive impact they are having towards science.

Abstract: Does having a negative impact on others decrease one’s well-being? In three separate pre-registered studies (n = 111, n = 445, & n = 447), participants engaged in a button-pushing activity for 4 min in three conditions: earning money for themselves (~60c), also earning money for the Red Cross (~15c), or also reducing the money distributed to the Red Cross (~15c). The results of the individual studies and a meta-analysis across them showed that positive impact increased well-being, but even though participants were aware of the negative impact they were having, there was no increased ill-being in the negative impact condition. In Study 3 we examined whether participants in the negative impact condition are mentally compensating by emphasizing the positive impact they are having towards science.

Keywords: Antisocial behaviorIll-beingProsocial behaviorProsocial impactWell-being

5. General discussion

In this series of studies we set out to examine whether engaging in behavior that has negative social impact would lead to ill-being in a fashion mirroring the positive effects of engaging in behaviors with positive social impact. More particularly, in three studies, we examined participants who were exposed to similar dosage of positive impact and negative impact effect – in this case donating money to the Red Cross or taking money away from the Red Cross – to examine whether prosocial impact would increase well-being and antisocial impact increase ill-being.

First, findings from our initial study showed that although the manipulations were effective, effect sizes were modest. We thus moved to larger samples in Studies 2 and 3. In line with previous findings (e.g., Martela and Ryan, 2016a, Martela and Ryan, 2016b, Martela and Ryan, 2020), the zero-order correlations in both studies revealed that beneficence satisfaction and frustration were associated with increased well-being and ill-being, respectively. Also in line with previous research (e.g. Aknin et al., 2013, Martela and Ryan, 2016a), these studies demonstrated that engaging in prosocial behavior increased participants’ sense of vitality (Study 2), situational meaning (Studies 2 & 3), and positive affect (Study 3). Meta-analysis across the three studies confirmed these positive effects on positive affect, vitality, and situational meaning. However, even though we used three different indicators of ill-being and two sufficiently powered studies, we found no evidence that the negative impact condition increased people’s ill-being, either when examining the studies individually or when conducting a meta-analysis across them. Instead, people in the negative impact condition, as compared to the neutral condition, experienced more prosocial impact, vitality, and meaningfulness in Study 2, and more situational meaningfulness and a sense that they were helping science in Study 3. The meta-analysis across three studies confirmed both these positive effects of being in the negative impact condition on well-being indicators as well as showing positive effects on both beneficence satisfaction and frustration relative to participants in the neutral condition. Perhaps partially explaining this result, findings in Study 3 showed that participants in the negative impact condition also reported feeling that they contributed more towards science than participants in the neutral condition. In recognizing the potentially negative impact they were having, the participants might have consciously or unconsciously focused upon the positive impact of their activity, perhaps to mitigate any feelings associated with their negative impact.

Feeling one is harming others is arguably hard to integrate (Martela & Ryan, 2020; Ryan & Deci, 2017), leading people to engage in defenses and rationalizations (Simler and Hanson, 2018, Tsang, 2002, Weinstein et al., 2012), as well as attempts to repair harm where possible (Legate et al., 2015). The psychological well-being dynamics in antisocial situations thus might be more complex and less straightforward than often thought – this could also explain why so little research on the topic has been previously published. The present results thus emphasize the need for more research in the future to further identify the defense mechanisms that might lead participants having an antisocial impact not suffering from it but instead even having a higher well-being because of it.

Certain limitations need to be acknowledged. First, all samples were gathered within one country and through the same online channel, Mturk, making it important to replicate the findings in other samples and cultures. Second, well-being was measured using self-reports, calling for future research utilizing others ways of measuring it. Third, one of our key findings was negative – we didn’t find any effect of antisocial behavior on well-being and ill-being indicators raising the question as to the adequacy of the research design. Yet arguing against this, manipulation checks showed that participants realized that they were having a negative impact in the negative impact condition, and on the other side of the ledger, the positive impact condition demonstrated that the paradigm could in principle cause differences in well-being. Minimally, what this study thus appears to show is that the same “dosage” of impact, which when positive is capable of increasing participants well-being is not enough, when negative, to increase participants ill-being to a similar degree. This led us to look for and find that participants might be compensating for the negative impact by emphasizing the positive impacts the same activity was causing. We hope this research spurs more inquiry into the potential asymmetry of impact on well-being and ill-being from beneficial and harmful results of one’s actions.

Open practices

Preregistration: All three studies were preregistered at OSF.

Data: The data for all three studies is publicly available at: https://osf.io/5h4cr/?view_only=641468da56d24730b92f1b4a3b666f8e.

Stereotypes about men’s lower sexual self-control uniquely predict attitudes about women’s mundane (but potentially sexually arousing) behaviors, like public breastfeeding and immodest clothing

Moon, Jordan W., Val Wongsomboon, and Barış Sevi. 2021. “Beliefs About Men’s Sexual Self-control Predict Attitudes Toward Women’s Immodest Clothing and Public Breastfeeding.” PsyArXiv. September 2. doi:10.31234/osf.io/67vh9

Abstract: Why do some people have negative views toward mundane behaviors such as women breastfeeding in public or wearing revealing clothing? We suggest that moral opposition to these behaviors may partly stem from their perceived effects on men’s sexual responses. We hypothesized that (a) people would stereotype men as having relatively less control of their sexual urges (i.e., lower sexual self-control) compared to women and that (b) stereotypes about men’s sexual self-control would uniquely predict attitudes about women’s mundane (but potentially sexually arousing) behaviors. Five studies show that (a) people stereotyped men (vs. women) as lacking sexual self-control (Study 1) and (b) endorsement of this stereotype was associated with opposition to public breastfeeding and immodest clothing (Studies 2-5). The effects hold even after controlling for potential confounds and seem specific to relevant moral domains, although women (vs. men) tend not to view these behaviors as moral issues.

Effects of perinatal gonadal hormones on human sexual orientation; women with isolated deficiency reported lower androphilia & higher levels of bisexuality; seems there is a role of perinatal estrogens in organizing sexual orientation

Evidence that perinatal ovarian hormones promote women’s sexual attraction to men. Talia N. Shirazi et al. Psychoneuroendocrinology, Volume 134, December 2021, 105431. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2021.105431

Highlights

• Studied effects of perinatal gonadal hormones on human sexual orientation.

• Participants were typically-developing or had isolated GnRH deficiency (IGD).

• Women with IGD reported lower androphilia and higher levels of bisexuality.

• There were no consistent differences between the two groups of men.

• Results suggest a role of perinatal estrogens in organizing sexual orientation.

Abstract: Ovarian estrogens may influence the development of the human brain and behavior, but there are few opportunities to test this possibility. Isolated GnRH deficiency (IGD) is a rare endocrine disorder that could provide evidence for the role of estrogens in organizing sexually differentiated phenotypes: Unlike typical development, development in individuals with IGD is characterized by low or absent gonadal hormone production after the first trimester of gestation. Because external genitalia develop in the first trimester, external appearance is nevertheless concordant with gonadal sex in people with IGD. We therefore investigated the effects of gonadal hormones on sexual orientation by comparing participants with IGD (n = 97) to controls (n = 1670). Women with IGD reported lower male-attraction compared with typically developing women. In contrast, no consistent sexuality differences between IGD and typically developing men were evident. Ovarian hormones after the first trimester appear to influence female-typical dimensions of sexual orientation.

Keywords: AndrophiliaGynephiliaIsolated GnRH deficiencySex hormonesSexual orientation

Religions “in the wild” are the varied set of religious activities that occurred before the emergence of organized religions with doctrines, or that persist at the margins of those organized traditions, & that mostly focus on misfortune

Deriving Features of Religions in the Wild—How Communication and Threat-Detection May Predict Spirits, Gods, Witches, and Shamans. Pascal Boyer. Human Nature volume 32, pp 557–581. Sep 14 2021. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12110-021-09410-y

Abstract: Religions “in the wild” are the varied set of religious activities that occurred before the emergence of organized religions with doctrines, or that persist at the margins of those organized traditions. These religious activities mostly focus on misfortune; on how to remedy specific cases of illness, accidents, failures; and on how to prevent them. I present a general model to account for the cross-cultural recurrence of these particular themes. The model is based on (independently established) features of human psychology—namely, (a) epistemic vigilance, the set of systems whereby we evaluate the quality of information and of sources of information, and (b) threat-detection psychology, the set of evolved systems geared at detecting potential danger in the environment. Given these two sets of systems, the dynamics of communication will favor particular types of messages about misfortune. This makes it possible to predict recurrent features of religious systems, such as the focus on nonphysical agents, the focus on particular cases rather than general aspects of misfortune, and the emergence of specialists. The model could illuminate not just why such representations are culturally successful, but also why people are motivated to formulate them in the first place.

Misperceptions of the Opponent Fringe & the Miscalibration of Political Contempt: Reflecting on opponents’ (presumed nefarious) election tactics made partisans subsequently more accepting of unfair tactics on their own side

Parker, Victoria A., Matthew Feinberg, Alexa M. Tullett, and Anne E. Wilson. 2021. “The Ties That Blind: Misperceptions of the Opponent Fringe and the Miscalibration of Political Contempt.” PsyArXiv. October 1. doi:10.31234/osf.io/cr23g.

Abstract: Americans’ hostility toward political opponents has intensified to a degree not fully explained by actual ideological polarization. We propose that political animosity may be based particularly on partisans’ overestimation of the prevalence of extreme, egregious views held by only a minority of opponents but imagined to be widespread. Across five studies (N= 4993; three preregistered), we examine issue extremity as an antecedent of false polarization. Both liberals and conservatives report high agreement with their party’s moderate issues but low agreement with the extreme issues associated with their side. As expected, false polarization did not occur for all issues. Partisans were fairly accurate in estimating opponents’ moderate issues (even underestimating agreement somewhat). In contrast, partisans consistently overestimated the prevalence of their opponents’ extreme, egregious political attitudes. (Over)estimation of political opponents’ agreement with extreme issues predicted cross-partisan dislike, which in turn predicted unwillingness to engage with opponents, foreclosing opportunities to correct misperceptions (Studies 2-4b). Participants explicitly attributed their dislike of political opponents to opponents’ views on extreme issues more than moderate issues (Study 3). Partisans also reported greater unwillingness to publicly voice their views on their side’s extreme (relative to moderate) issues, a self-silencing which may perpetuate misconceptions (Studies 1, 2, 4a&b). Time spent watching partisan media (controlling political orientation) predicted greater overestimations of the prevalence of extreme views (Studies 2, 4a&b). Salience of opponents’ malevolence mattered: first reflecting on opponents’ (presumed nefarious) election tactics made partisans on both sides subsequently more accepting of unfair tactics from their own side (Studies 4a&b).

Supplemental Materials osf.io/p87nj/ 

We systematically underestimate how caring and interested distant strangers are in one’s own intimate revelations and these miscalibrated expectations create a psychological barrier to deeper conversations

Kardas, M., Kumar, A., & Epley, N. (2021). Overly shallow?: Miscalibrated expectations create a barrier to deeper conversation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Sep 2021. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000281

Abstract: People may want deep and meaningful relationships with others, but may also be reluctant to engage in the deep and meaningful conversations with strangers that could create those relationships. We hypothesized that people systematically underestimate how caring and interested distant strangers are in one’s own intimate revelations and that these miscalibrated expectations create a psychological barrier to deeper conversations. As predicted, conversations between strangers felt less awkward, and created more connectedness and happiness, than the participants themselves expected (Experiments 1a–5). Participants were especially prone to overestimate how awkward deep conversations would be compared with shallow conversations (Experiments 2–5). Notably, they also felt more connected to deep conversation partners than shallow conversation partners after having both types of conversations (Experiments 6a–b). Systematic differences between expectations and experiences arose because participants expected others to care less about their disclosures in conversation than others actually did (Experiments 1a, 1b, 4a, 4b, 5, and 6a). As a result, participants more accurately predicted the outcomes of their conversations when speaking with close friends, family, or partners whose care and interest is more clearly known (Experiment 5). Miscalibrated expectations about others matter because they guide decisions about which topics to discuss in conversation, such that more calibrated expectations encourage deeper conversation (Experiments 7a–7b). Misunderstanding others can encourage overly shallow interactions

Check also Connecting with others makes people happier, but strangers in close proximity often ignore each other; we may avoid pleasant conversations with strangers because of miscalibrated concerns about starting them:

Hello, stranger? Pleasant conversations are preceded by concerns about starting one. Juliana Schroeder, Donald Lyons, & Nicholas Epley. Accepted Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. Jun 2021. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2021/06/connecting-with-others-makes-people.html

Why we find shamans, who use magic, convincing? Supernatural theories of disease often reflect abstract cognition about rare phenomena whose causes are unobservable (e.g., infection, mental illness)

Lightner, Aaron, Cynthiann Heckelsmiller, and Edward H. Hagen. 2021. “Ethnomedical Specialists and Their Supernatural Theories of Disease.” PsyArXiv. October 1. doi:10.31234/osf.io/gbamc

Abstract: Religious healing specialists such as shamans often use magic. Evolutionary theories that seek to explain why laypersons find these specialists convincing focus on the origins of magical cognition and belief in the supernatural. In two studies, we reframe the problem by investigating relationships among ethnomedical specialists, who possess extensive theories of disease that can often appear “supernatural,” and religious healing specialists. In study 1, we coded and analyzed cross-cultural descriptions of ethnomedical specialists in 47 cultures, finding 24% were also religious leaders and 74% used supernatural theories of disease. We identified correlates of the use of supernatural concepts among ethnomedical specialists; incentives and disincentives to patronize ethnomedical specialists; and distinct clusters of ethnomedical specialists that we label prestigious teachers, feared diviners, and efficacious healers. In study 2, we interviewed 84 Maasai pastoralists and their traditional religious and non-religious healing specialists. We found that laypersons relied on medicinal services based on combinations of efficacy, religious identity, and interpersonal trust. Further, laypersons and specialists largely used abstract concepts that were not conspicuously supernatural to describe how local medicines work. We conclude that religious healers in traditional societies often fulfill a practical and specialized service to local clients, and argue that supernatural theories of disease often reflect abstract cognition about rare phenomena whose causes are unobservable (e.g., infection, mental illness) instead of a separate “religious” style of thinking.

Supplemental Materials osf.io/9wsvx

From 2006... Personality dispositions are linked to happiness, physical & psychological health, spirituality, & identity at an individual level; to quality of relationships with peers, family, & romantic others at an interpersonal level

Personality and the Prediction of Consequential Outcomes. Daniel J. Ozer and Verónica Benet-Martínez. Annual Review of Psychology  Volume 57, 2006  Ozer, pp 401-421. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.57.102904.190127

Abstract: Personality has consequences. Measures of personality have contemporaneous and predictive relations to a variety of important outcomes. Using the Big Five factors as heuristics for organizing the research literature, numerous consequential relations are identified. Personality dispositions are associated with happiness, physical and psychological health, spirituality, and identity at an individual level; associated with the quality of relationships with peers, family, and romantic others at an interpersonal level; and associated with occupational choice, satisfaction, and performance, as well as community involvement, criminal activity, and political ideology at a social institutional level.

Key Words: individual differences , traits , life outcomes , consequences

 

INDIVIDUAL OUTCOMES

By individual outcomes, we mean those that do not inherently depend upon a social process in order to define or give meaning to the outcome variable. Physical health and psychopathology are routinely understood as individual outcomes, while the inclusion here of happiness, spirituality, and virtue reflects the growing influence of positive psychology. Although these variables might be understood as features of personality rather than outcomes influenced by personality, we would argue that conscientiousness (to choose the most difficult trait for our view) as a virtue and conscientiousness as a trait are not quite the same things, though they clearly are related. Someone might be conscientious (in the trait sense) for purely instrumental purposes, and this would not constitute a virtue under at least some conceptions of that term.

Identity and self-concept, understood as outcomes, provide the greatest challenge to this kind of organizational scheme. The role of the individual, important others, and the larger social environment most certainly play a part in the development of self and identity; but ultimately, we believe that individuals experience aspects of their identity as a part of themselves, and so we include identity as an individual outcome.

Happiness and Subjective Well-Being

Few topics have attracted as much recent attention in personality psychology as the study of subjective well-being (SWB), persons' evaluations of their own lives (Diener et al. 1999). SWB includes both a cognitive component, such as a judgment of one's life satisfaction (Diener et al. 1985), and an affective component that includes the experience of positive and absence of negative emotions (Larsen 2000). Two robust conclusions from studies in this area are that personality dispositions are strong predictors of most components of SWB (see Diener & Lucas 1999 for a review), and demographic and contextual factors, including age, sex, marital status, employment, social class, and culture, are only weakly to moderately related to SWB (Diener et al. 1999, Ryan & Deci 2001).

Studies trying to unpack the link between personality dispositions and SWB mainly point to the relations between certain largely genetic, affective/cognitive traits related to neuroticism and extraversion (e.g., positive and negative affect, optimism, self-esteem) and the way individuals appraise and react to environmental rewards and punishments (DeNeve & Cooper 1998). Specifically, individuals high in extraversion and low in neuroticism tend to see events and situations in a more positive light, are less responsive to negative feedback, and tend to discount opportunities that are not available to them. Individual differences in conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness to experience are less strongly and consistently associated with SWB, mostly because these traits sources reside in “rewards in the environment” (Diener & Lucas 1999). In summary, SWB is strongly predicted by personality traits that are largely a function of temperament (i.e., extraversion and neuroticism) and moderately predicted by personality dispositions significantly driven by environmental influences (conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness to experience).

Recent cross-cultural studies of SWB (Benet-Martínez & Karakitapoglu-Aygün 2003, Kwan et al. 1997, Schimmack et al. 2002) shed light on some possible moderator and mediator variables in the relation between personality factors and SWB. First, the links between both extraversion and neuroticism and SWB are moderated by culture. In individualist societies like the United States, where pleasure and positive mood are highly emphasized and valued, hedonic balance (i.e., the ratio of positive to negative affect) is a particularly strong predictor of SWB (Schimmack et al. 2002). Secondly, across cultures, the links between the Big Five and SWB are largely mediated by intra- and interpersonal esteem evaluations. Specifically, self-esteem appears to be a powerful mediator of the influence of extraversion, neuroticism, and conscientiousness on SWB, whereas relational esteem (i.e., satisfaction with relationships with family and friends) mediates the influence of agreeableness and extraversion on SWB (Benet-Martínez & Karakitapoglu-Aygün 2003, Kwan et al. 1997). Although the relative weights of self-esteem and relationship harmony in predicting SWB vary across cultures (e.g., self-esteem is a uniquely important predictor in Western cultures), the weights of each of the Big Five dimensions on self-esteem and relationship harmony seem to be cross-culturally equivalent (Benet-Martínez & Karakitapoglu-Aygün 2003, Kwan et al. 1997).

Spirituality and Virtues

There is very little research directly investigating the relation between personality dispositions and variables referring to religious or spiritual concerns. This lack of attention to spiritual matters in personality psychology is puzzling for two reasons, as described by Emmons (1999): First, personality psychologists such as Allport and Murphy were among the first to study religion and spirituality from a psychological perspective. Despite this early interest in spirituality, the topic fell out of favor in the 1960s and 1970s, as various controversies flourished. Second, personality psychology's neglect of spirituality has occurred in the context of a discipline centrally concerned with understanding the whole person, a concern that undoubtedly involves understanding what is meaningful to the person and how this meaning is experienced as bringing growth and transcendence to one's life. Emmons (1999) argues that spiritual and religious goals and practices are not only a distinctive element of a person's beliefs and behaviors; for many, religious beliefs and practices may be a central theme of their identity.

Piedmont (1999, 2004) developed a measure of spiritual transcendence, with universality, connectedness, and prayer fulfillment subscales, that is unrelated to the traits of the Five Factor Model and has incremental validity in predicting posttreatment symptoms and coping resources in an outpatient substance abuse sample. MacDonald (2000) also explored the links between basic personality traits and spiritual concerns and behaviors. Five distinct components are identified and described by MacDonald: cognitive orientation (perceptions and attitudes regarding spirituality), experiential/phenomenological (mystical, transcendental, and transpersonal experiences), existential well-being (a sense of meaning, purpose, and resilience regarding one's existence), paranormal beliefs (including ESP and other paranormal phenomena), and religiousness (religious practices). These five components are differentially related to the Big Five personality constructs but are not subsumed by them. In particular, the religiousness and cognitive orientation components were most notably predicted by agreeableness and conscientiousness. Not surprisingly, the experiential/phenomenological and paranormal components were predicted by openness, while existential well-being was strongly predicted by extraversion and low neuroticism.

Recent theoretical work on the classification and delineation of core character strengths and virtues—which can be grouped in terms of their relevance to wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence (Peterson & Seligman 2002)—convincingly relates most of these attributes to different sets of personality dispositions. Clearly, certain traits facilitate or impede the development of specific strengths and virtues (e.g., agreeableness facilitates compassion, conscientiousness facilitates perseverance, openness fosters creativity), while at the same time the cultivation of these virtues consolidates the very same personality dispositions from which these virtues sprang. Although most of the aforementioned personality-virtue links have yet to be examined empirically, the following virtues have been shown to have clear associations with personality: gratitude (extraversion and agreeableness; McCullough et al. 2002), forgiveness (agreeableness and openness; Thompson et al. 2005), inspiration (extraversion and openness; Thrash & Elliot 2004), and humor (low neuroticism and agreeableness; Cann & Calhoun 2001).

Physical Health and Longevity

Personality traits have a stable and cumulative effect on both the health and length of individuals' lives (Caspi et al. 2005). With regard to longevity, studies show that positive emotionality (extraversion) and conscientiousness predict longer lives (Danner et al. 2001, Friedman et al. 1995), and hostility (low agreeableness) predicts poorer physical health (e.g., cardiovascular illness) and earlier mortality (Miller et al. 1996). The relation between neuroticism and health and longevity is more complex, given that some studies support an association between neuroticism and increased risk of actual disease, whereas others show links with illness behavior only (Smith & Spiro 2002). The link between personality and health may reflect three different though overlapping processes (Contrada et al. 1999). First, personality traits are associated with factors that cause disease. The hostility component of low agreeableness (i.e., anger, cynicism, and mistrust) is associated with sympathetic nervous system activation that is in turn associated with coronary artery disease (Smith & Spiro 2002). Whether personality has a causal role or whether the association is spurious remains unclear (Caspi et al. 2005). Second, personality may lead to behaviors that protect or diminish health. Extraversion is associated with more numerous social relationships and greater social support, both of which are positively correlated with health outcomes (Berkman et al. 2000). Various unhealthy habits and behaviors including smoking, improper diet, and lack of exercise are negatively correlated to conscientiousness (Bogg & Roberts 2004, Hampson et al. 2000). Last, personality traits are related to the successful implementation of health-related coping behaviors (David & Suls 1999, Scheier & Carver 1993) and adherence to treatment regimens (Kenford et al. 2002). The increasing evidence for these three personality-health processes is clarifying the particular health outcomes associated with particular traits (Caspi et al. 2005): Agreeableness (e.g., hostility) seems to be most directly associated with the disease processes, conscientiousness (e.g., low impulse control) is clearly implicated in health-risk behaviors, and neuroticism (e.g., vulnerability and rumination) seems to contribute to disease by shaping reactions to illness.

Finally, in contrast with the more traditional medical approach to personality and health, which tends to focus on “negative” traits such as anxiety, hostility, and impulsivity, positive psychology research informs us about personality traits that define resiliency (e.g., optimism, self-esteem, creativity), predict health, and represent important resources for the individual and society ( Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi 2000). There is growing evidence that the positive emotions and dispositions subsumed by the extraversion dimension lead to improved coping and the development of psychological skills and resources (Fredrickson & Joiner 2002).

Psychopathology

The previously described links between personality and SWB are not sufficient for understanding the relation between personality and psychopathology (e.g., personality disorders, clinical depression, and schizophrenia). This is so because SWB is not synonymous with mental or psychological health (Diener et al. 1999). Some delusional individuals may feel happy and satisfied with their lives, and yet we would not say that they possess mental health.

Recent research demonstrates strong links between the personality dispositions and both Axis I and II psychological disorders. Specifically, substance abuse disorders are largely predicted by higher openness and lower conscientiousness (Trull & Sher 1994). Anxiety disorders are primarily predicted by higher neuroticism, and depression is mostly linked to neuroticism and low extraversion (Trull & Sher 1994). Associations between personality traits and Axis II disorders are even more evident given the growing prevalence of dimensional conceptualizations of personality disorders. Dimensional models of personality disorders suggest that they may be understood as extreme expressions of personality traits (Trull & Durrett 2005). It is apparent that personality disorders have substantial associations with the five factors; neuroticism has the strongest relationship with personality disorders, whereas openness to experience has only a modest relationship.

Self-Concept and Identity

While many psychologists would understand self-concept and identity to be an integral part of personality, how one characterizes oneself, the groups one belongs to, and the goals and values one possesses may be understood as outcomes as well. The structure of social and personal identifications, goals, and priorities that constitute self and identity (Marcia 1980) may be understood not only as a function of life experience and cultural context, but also as a domain where personality dispositions play a part. How do personality traits influence self-concept and identity? Work in this area shows that personality traits affect the formation of identity, while at the same time identity both directs and becomes a part of personality through exploration and commitment processes in identity development (Helson & Srivastava 2001). Clancy & Dollinger (1993) have shown robust relations between personality traits and Marcia's (1980) four categories of identity development (achieved, moratorium, diffuse, and foreclosed). Specifically, foreclosure is predicted by low levels of openness to experience; identity achievement is predicted by low neuroticism, conscientiousness, and extraversion. Both moratorium and diffusion stages involve neuroticism. Additionally, diffusion is inversely related to agreeableness. Openness to experience may be the most important personality trait in terms of impact on identity development (Duriez et al. 2004, Helson & Srivastava 2001).

Furthering this typological approach to identity, recent longitudinal studies have explored the interactive roles of personality and identity over the life span, while focusing on more complex identity constructs such as identity consolidation (development of a coherent, grounded, and positive identity; Pals 1999) and identity integration (Helson & Srivastava 2001). This work shows that identity consolidation is predicted by an early configuration of personality traits related to openness to experience (desire for exploration and stimulation), low neuroticism (low rumination), and conscientiousness (ambition). This pattern of personality traits leads to an organized and committed yet flexible exploration of identity, which in turn predicts well-being. These identity choices lead to particular personal and professional choices that consolidate earlier personality traits (Helson & Srivastava 2001, Pals 1999). The influence of personality traits is seen both at the level of narrower, cognitive, identity-relevant processes such as identity language (Pennebaker & King 1999), autobiographical memories (Thorne & Klohnen 1993), and self-concept clarity (Campbell et al. 1996), as well as at the broad level of life story narratives (McAdams 2001).

Personality dispositions also influence more contextualized types of identities, such as cultural identity. For example, among immigrants, ethnic cultural identity is mainly predicted by conscientiousness and agreeableness (i.e., warmth and commitment towards one's culture of origin), whereas identification with the dominant host culture is largely predicted by openness and extraversion (Benet-Martínez & Haritatos 2005, Ryder et al. 2000). Further, supporting other studies on identity consolidation, openness to experience and low neuroticism predict the degree to which an individual's ethnic and mainstream identities are well integrated within a coherent sense of self (Benet-Martínez & Haritatos 2005).

Corrupt government hiring is common in developing countries; hires pay bribes averaging 17 months of salary

Weaver, Jeffrey. 2021. "Jobs for Sale: Corruption and Misallocation in Hiring." American Economic Review, 111 (10): 3093-3122. Oct 2021. https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20201062

Abstract: Corrupt government hiring is common in developing countries. This paper uses original data to document the operation and consequences of corrupt hiring in a health bureaucracy. Hires pay bribes averaging 17 months of salary, but contrary to conventional wisdom, their observable quality is comparable to counterfactual merit-based hires. Exploiting variation across jobs, I show that the consequences of corrupt allocations depend on the correlation between wealth and quality among applicants: service delivery outcomes are good for jobs where this was positive and poor when negative. In this setting, the correlation was typically positive, leading to relatively good performance of hires. 

We need to apply more surveillance & control techniques: Some pledged to being meat-free, but, although "pledges can encourage meat consumers to reduce their intake, [...] additional mechanisms are needed to sustain commitments"

Monitoring a meat-free pledge with smartphones: An experimental study. Jared Piazza et al. Appetite, October 1 2021, 105726. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2021.105726

Abstract: Pledges are a popular strategy to encourage meat reduction, though experimental studies of their efficacy are lacking. Three-hundred and twenty-five participants from three different countries (UK, Germany, Australia) were randomly assigned to pledge 28 days meat-free or not, and their behavior was tracked via smartphones. Participants answered daily surveys regarding their eating behavior, meat cravings, and shared photos of their meals. Baseline data was collected prior to the pledge, after the 28 days, and one-month post-intervention. Participants assigned to the pledge condition ate less meat across the 28 days, compared to control participants. Meat reductions, observed at outtake, did not endure one-month post-intervention. Overall, German participants ate the least amount of meat, and showed the sharpest decrease in consumption when pledging. Meat cravings tended to increase among pledgers, relative to control participants. Pledgers who reported high starting intentions and conflict about meat tended to eat less meat and reported fewer cravings. All participants reported reduced meat-eating justifications one-month post-intervention. These findings provide experimental evidence that pledges can encourage meat consumers to reduce their intake, though additional mechanisms are needed to sustain commitments.

Keywords: Meat reductionPledgingConflicted omnivoresSmartphonesExperience sampling

LGBT Americans are clearly liberal compared to straight & cisgender respondents)—also, bisexual & transgender respondents are frequently less liberal than lesbians and gay men

Political Distinctiveness and Diversity Among LGBT Americans. Philip Edward Jones. Public Opinion Quarterly, nfab030, September 25 2021. https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfab030

Abstract: At least partly due to data limitations, academic analyses of public opinion rarely acknowledge lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) identities. Our models of political attitudes almost always overlook respondents’ sexual orientation and gender identities, and targeted research on the views of LGBT people is uncommon. This omission has obscured both the distinctiveness of LGBT Americans and the diversity within the group. Using recent large-N surveys, this article shows that LGBT Americans are distinctively liberal compared to otherwise similar straight and cisgender respondents—in their general political predispositions, electoral choices, and attitudes on a wide range of policy matters. At the same time, there is substantial diversity within the community—bisexual and transgender respondents are frequently less liberal than lesbians and gay men. Analysis of intersecting identities reveals substantial differences between bisexual men and bisexual women, but little evidence of diversity based on gender within lesbian/gay and transgender subgroups. Given these findings, public opinion scholars should routinely incorporate measures of LGBT identities in their analyses, alongside race, gender, class, and other politically salient respondent characteristics.

Our moral successes are exceeded by our moral failures; one influential reason for such failure is that compliance with moral norms is motivated not by an intrinsic interest in being moral, but by an interest in appearing moral

Moral failure and the evolution of appearing moral. Scott M. James. Philosophical Psychology, Sep 29 2021. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515089.2021.1983161

Abstract: Standard adaptationist accounts of our moral psychology are motivated largely by our moral successes—empathy, altruism, cooperation, and so on. But a growing body of social psychology research indicates that our moral successes are, if anything, exceeded by our moral failures. One influential reason for such failure, according to the findings, is that compliance with moral norms—when it occurs—is motivated not by an intrinsic interest in being moral, but by an interest in appearing moral. I argue, first, that such research represents a dilemma for standard adaptationist accounts. On the one hand, if the standard account asserts that moral judgment evolved to regulate behavior by ensuring moral compliance even when tempted by egoistic gain, then we should observe regular moral compliance even when tempted by egoistic gain. But this is precisely what the data do not show. On the other hand, if the standard account asserts that moral judgment evolved simply to make moral compliance [more]* likely, then this puts the standard account in direct competition with other, more modest, accounts, ones that limit evolution’s role to what I call social compliance. 

Keywords: Evolutionary ethicsmoral failureBatsonJoyce

* Original says "moral"

Juvenile zebrafish: Some environmental enrichment paradigms produce anxiolytic-like effects and improve immunity

Different Influences of Anxiety Models, Environmental Enrichment, Standard Conditions and Intraspecies Variation (sex, personality and strain) on Stress and Quality of life in Adult and Juvenile Zebrafish: A Systematic Review. Jhon Buenhombre et al. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, September 27 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.09.047

Highlights

• Some environment>al enrichment paradigms produce anxiolytic-like effects and improve immunity.

• Unpredictable chronic stress and aquarium-related stressors induce anxiogenic-like effects.

• Developmental, social, intraspecies variation and test-related factors affect environmental manipulations.

• Comparison of different levels of stress would define optimal ranges of husbandry, standardisation and stress resilience.

Abstract: Antagonist and long-lasting environmental manipulations (EM) have successfully induced or reduced the stress responses and quality of life of zebrafish. For instance, environmental enrichment (EE) generally reduces anxiety-related behaviours and improves immunity, while unpredictable chronic stress (UCS) and aquarium-related stressors generate the opposite effects. However, there is an absence of consistency in outcomes for some EM, such as acute exposure to stressors, social enrichment and some items of structural enrichment. Therefore, considering intraspecies variation (sex, personality, and strain), increasing intervention complexity while improving standardisation of protocols and contemplating the possibility that EE may act as a mild stressor on a spectrum between too much (UCS) and too little (standard conditions) stress intensity or stimulation, would reduce the inconsistencies of these outcomes. It would also help explore the mechanism behind stress resilience and to standardise EM protocols. Thus, this review critically analyses and compares knowledge existing over the last decade concerning environmental manipulations for zebrafish and the influences that sex, strain, and personality may have on behavioural, physiological, and fitness-related responses.

Keywords: Stress resiliencezebrafishenvironmental enrichmentstrainsexpersonalityneurophysiologybehaviour

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EE can be housing conditions promoting social interactions, sensory-motor and cognitive stimulation with novel stimuli and physical exercise

Human mortality at extreme age: Power calculations make it implausible that there is an upper bound below 130 years

Human mortality at extreme age. Léo R. Belzile, Anthony C. Davison, Holger Rootzén and Dmitrii Zholud. Royal Society Open Science, Volume 8, Issue 9, September 29 2021. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.202097

Abstract: We use a combination of extreme value statistics, survival analysis and computer-intensive methods to analyse the mortality of Italian and French semi-supercentenarians. After accounting for the effects of the sampling frame, extreme-value modelling leads to the conclusion that constant force of mortality beyond 108 years describes the data well and there is no evidence of differences between countries and cohorts. These findings are consistent with use of a Gompertz model and with previous analysis of the International Database on Longevity and suggest that any physical upper bound for the human lifespan is so large that it is unlikely to be approached. Power calculations make it implausible that there is an upper bound below 130 years. There is no evidence of differences in survival between women and men after age 108 in the Italian data and the International Database on Longevity, but survival is lower for men in the French data.

7. Discussion

The results of the analysis of the newly available ISTAT data agree strikingly well with those for the IDL supercentenarians and for the women in the France 2019 data. Once the effects of the sampling frame are taken into account by allowing for truncation and censoring of the ages at death, a model with constant hazard after age 108 fits all three datasets well; it corresponds to a constant probability of 0.49 that a living person will survive for one further year, with 95% confidence interval (0.47, 0.50). Power calculations make it implausible that there is an upper limit to the human lifespan of 130 years or below.

Although many fewer men than women reach high ages, no difference in survival between the sexes is discernible in the ISTAT and the IDL data. Survival of men after age 108 is lower in the France 2019 data, but it seems unlikely that this reflects a real difference. It seems more plausible that this is due to gender imbalance, some form of age bias or is a false positive caused by multiple testing.

If the ISTAT and France 2019 data are split by birth cohort, then we find roughly constant mortality from age 105 for those born before the end of 1905, whereas those born in 1906 and later have lower mortality for ages 105–107; this explains the cohort effects detected by [13]. Possibly the mortality plateau is reached later for later cohorts. The plausibility of this hypothesis could be weighed if further high-quality data become available.

Psychology Within and Without the State

Psychology Within and Without the State. H. Clark Barrett. Annual Review of Psychology, September 21, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-020821-110248

Abstract: Psychological research in small-scale societies is crucial for what it stands to tell us about human psychological diversity. However, people in these communities, typically Indigenous communities in the global South, have been underrepresented and sometimes misrepresented in psychological research. Here I discuss the promises and pitfalls of psychological research in these communities, reviewing why they have been of interest to social scientists and how cross-cultural comparisons have been used to test psychological hypotheses. I consider factors that may be undertheorized in our research, such as political and economic marginalization, and how these might influence our data and conclusions. I argue that more just and accurate representation of people from small-scale communities around the world will provide us with a fuller picture of human psychological similarity and diversity, and it will help us to better understand how this diversity is shaped by historical and social processes.

Effective incentives for increasing COVID-19 vaccine uptake

Effective incentives for increasing COVID-19 vaccine uptake. Gul Deniz Salali, Mete Sefa Uysal. Psychological Medicine, September 20 2021. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291721004013

Abstract: In this study, we examined the relative effectiveness of prestige-based incentives (vaccination of an expert scientist/president/politician/celebrity/religious leader), conformist incentives (vaccination of friends and family) and risk-based incentives (witnessing death or illness of a person from the disease) for increasing participants' chances of getting vaccinated with respect to their coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine intention. We conducted a cross-cultural survey using demographically representative samples from the UK (n = 1533), USA (n = 1550) and Turkey (n = 1567). The most effective incentives in all three countries were vaccination of an expert scientist, followed by vaccination of friends and family members and knowing someone dying from the disease. Vaccination of an expert scientist was significantly more effective at increasing vaccine intention than any other incentive. Vaccine incentives, regardless of the incentive type, were much less effective for those who originally refused the COVID-19 vaccine than for those who were hesitant to receive the vaccine. Although the percentage of vaccine-hesitant participants was highest in Turkey, the mean effectiveness scores of incentives were also the highest in Turkey, suggesting that an informed vaccine promotion strategy can be successful in this country. Our findings have policy applicability and suggest that positive vaccination messages delivered by expert scientists, vaccination of friends and family and risk-based incentives can be effective at increasing vaccine uptake.

Industrial policy in Korea: Although output, input use, & labor productivity of the targeted industries/regions grew significantly faster, the misallocation of resources within them got significantly worse, so TFP did not increase

The Plant-Level View of an Industrial Policy: The Korean Heavy Industry Drive of 1973. Minho Kim, Munseob Lee & Yongseok Shin. NBER Working Paper 29252, September 2021. https://www.nber.org/papers/w29252

Abstract: Does industrial policy work? This is a subject of long-standing debates among economists and policymakers. Using newly digitized microdata, we evaluate the Korean government's policy that promoted heavy and chemical industries between 1973 and 1979 by cutting taxes and building new industrial complexes for them. We show that output, input use, and labor productivity of the targeted industries and regions grew significantly faster than those of non-targeted ones. While the plant-level total factor productivity also grew faster in targeted industries and regions, the misallocation of resources within them got significantly worse, especially among the entrants, so that the total factor productivity at the industry-region level did not increase relative to the non-targeted industries and regions. In addition, we provide new evidence on how industrial policy reshapes the economy: (i) The establishment size distribution of targeted industries and regions shifted to the right with thicker tails due to the entry of large establishments and (ii) the targeted industries became more important in the economy's input-output structure in the sense that their output multipliers increased significantly more. 

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Summary in Other Countries’ Industrial Policies Don’t Justify Our Own. Scott Lincicome. Cato, Sep 2021. https://www.cato.org/blog/other-countries-industrial-policies-dont-justify-our-own

Excerpts:

First, labor productivity and output did indeed rise faster in the Korean factories targeted by the HCI policies, but total factor productivity (i.e., how efficiently and intensely all inputs are utilized in production) in those industries actually declined during the HCI period. In particular, Korean government policies led to a severe misallocation of resources in targeted industries, thus negating any plant‐​level gains. As the authors put it, “resource allocation across plants within the targeted industries/​regions worsened substantially, to the point where the gains in plant‐​level productivity are completely undone by the worsened misallocation.” This misallocation was most severe among new establishments that had sprung up during the HCI period, suggesting that the government subsidies buoyed big, new, inefficient firms, not particularly nimble or productive ones. And even though Korea’s industrial policies ended in 1979, productivity in the targeted industries continued to decline through the 1980s.

Second, the same misallocation of resources did not occur in non‐​targeted industries in the 1970s. Thus, the authors conclude, productivity at targeted Korean industries would have been 40 percent higher in 1980 had no industrial policies been implemented. “In other words, the exacerbated misallocation within the targeted industries/​regions relative to the non‐​targeted ones had the effect amounting to a 2.8-percent-per-year loss in total factor productivity during this period.”

Third, Korean industrial policies increased business concentration in targeted industries, with potentially damaging implications. For example, the average size of a targeted firm more than quadrupled between 1967–1980, while the average size of a non‐​targeted firm increased to a much lesser degree over the same period (see Figure 1). Many of the ballooning establishments in the targeted industries were new entrants with the greatest misallocation of resources.

The authors speculate that Korea’s HCI drive may therefore have been instrumental in empowering the large family‐​run conglomerates, known as Chaebols, whose outsized political and economic influence has for decades been a big problem for South Korea. (Many new HCI establishments with the highest misallocation of resources were in fact owned by these Chaebols.)

Perceivers’ impressions of others are largely dictated by their individual characteristics and local environment, rather than their cultural background... it's mostly not them, nor your culture, it's mostly just you

Hester, Neil, Sally Y. Xie, and Eric Hehman. 2021. “Little Between-region and Between-country Variance When Forming Impressions of Others.” PsyArXiv. September 28. doi:10.31234/osf.io/ynhwz

Abstract: To what extent are perceivers’ first impressions of others dictated by cultural background versus personal idiosyncrasies? To address this question, we analyzed a globally diverse dataset containing 11,481 adult participants’ ratings of 120 targets across 45 countries (2,597,624 total ratings). Across ratings of 13 traits, we find that perceivers’ idiosyncratic differences accounted for ~29% of variance and impressions on their own and ~16% in conjunction with target characteristics. However, country- and region-level differences, here a proxy for culture, accounted for on average 3.2% (i.e., both alone and in conjunction with target characteristics). We replicated this pattern of effects in a pre-registered analysis on an entirely novel dataset containing 7,007 participants’ ratings of 100 targets across 41 countries (24,886 total ratings). Together, this work suggests that perceivers’ impressions of others are largely dictated by their individual characteristics and local environment, rather than their cultural background.

Supplemental Materials osf.io/gry69

Men in same-sex relationships reported less frequent public displays of affection & greater display-related vigilance than women, while women reported greater overall variability in their gender expression

The feminine target: Gender expression in same-sex relationships as a predictor of experiences with public displays of affection. Lauren Matheson et al. The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, June 08, 2021. https://doi.org/10.3138/cjhs.2021-0024

Abstract: The extent to which sexual minority individuals present publicly as masculine, feminine, or both has been associated with their perceptions of threat and safety in public spaces. The current study investigates the role of gender expression in men and women’s experiences of public displays of affection (PDAs) in same-sex relationships. Participants (N = 528) reported their own gender expression as well as that of their partner, perceptions of support for PDAs, PDA-related vigilance, general vigilance and overall PDA frequency. Men in same-sex relationships reported less frequent PDAs and greater PDA-related vigilance than women, while women reported greater overall variability in their gender expression than men. Multiple regression analyses show femininity within the participant (for men) or their partner (for both men and women) was associated with greater general and PDA-related vigilance. These findings align with previous research on femmephobia, in which femininity is described as making individuals feel ‘targeted’ for other forms of oppression (e.g., homophobia, sexism, transphobia; Hoskin, 2019). Although femininity was associated with greater vigilance, the association between masculinity within a same-sex relationship and vigilance was more tenuous, demonstrating evidence of masculinity serving as both a potential target for homophobic violence as well as a source of protection. The dual nature of masculinity was particularly salient among women in same-sex relationships, where masculinity tempered by femininity was associated with greater perceived support for PDAs but for women with partners low in femininity, the more masculine their partner, the greater their reported levels of vigilance.

Keywords: Affection, displays of affection, femininity, masculinity, public displays of affection, same-sex relationships, sexual minority

Induced appearance comparisons predicted increased envy, which in turn predicted greater willingness to spread negative (but not positive) gossip about an attractive woman

Envy Mediates the Relationship Between Physical Appearance Comparison and Women’s Intrasexual Gossip. Rachael Morgan, Ashley Locke & Steven Arnocky. Evolutionary Psychological Science, Sep 27 2021. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40806-021-00298-6

Abstract: Physical attractiveness is a central component of women’s mate value. However, the extent to which women possess attractive physical traits varies between individuals, placing less attractive women at a mating disadvantage. Researchers have suggested that envy may have evolved as an emotion that promotes intrasexual competition in response to unfavorable social comparisons on important mate value traits, such as physical attractiveness. Previous research has shown that envy mediates links between unfavorable appearance comparisons and women’s intended appearance-enhancement behavior. In the current research, we extended this framework to examine the link between upward appearance comparisons and women’s intrasexual gossip. Women were assigned to either an appearance comparison or control advertisement rating task, and subsequently completed measures of state envy and gossip toward a same-sex rival. Results found that induced appearance comparisons predicted increased envy, which in turn predicted greater willingness to spread negative (but not positive) gossip about an attractive woman. Two cross-sectional survey studies (online supplement) replicated the model whereby more self-reported upward appearance comparisons predicted more self-reported gossip (Supplemental Study 1) and indirect aggression toward other women (Supplemental Study 2), and these links were mediated by dispositional envy. These results support the hypothesis that envy is an adaptation that promotes intrasexual competition using social aggression in response to unfavorable social comparisons on important mate value traits.

Why do people eat the same breakfast every day? Goals and circadian rhythms of variety seeking in meals

Why do people eat the same breakfast every day? Goals and circadian rhythms of variety seeking in meals. Romain Cadario, Carey K. Morewedge. Appetite, September 28 2021, 105716. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2021.105716

Abstract: People exhibit a circadian rhythm in the variety of foods they eat. Many people happily eat the same foods for breakfast day after day, yet seek more variety in the foods they eat for lunch and dinner. We identify psychological goals as a driver of this diurnal pattern of variety seeking, complementing other biological and cultural drivers. People are more likely to pursue hedonic goals for meals as the day progresses, which leads them to seek more variety for dinners and lunches than breakfasts. We find evidentiary support for our theory in studies with French and American participants (N = 4481) using diary data, event reconstruction methods, and experiments. Both endogenously and exogenously induced variation in hedonic goal activation modulates variety seeking in meals across days. Hedonic goal activation predicts variety seeking for meals when controlling for factors including time devoted to meal preparation and eating, the presence or absence of other people, and whether people ate a meal inside or outside their home. Goal activation also explain differences in time spent on meals, whereas increasing time spent on meals does not increase variety seeking. Finally, we observed that a similar increase in hedonic goal activation enacts a larger increase in variety seeking at breakfast than at lunch than at dinner, suggesting a diminishing marginal effect of hedonic goal activation on variety seeking.

Keywords: BreakfastVariety seekingHedonic goalEatingCircadian rhythm