Pub Date : 2024-08-24DOI: 10.1038/s44271-024-00128-y
Sarah K. Buehler, Millie Lowther, Paulina B. Lukow, Peter A. Kirk, Alexandra C. Pike, Yumeya Yamamori, Alice V. Chavanne, Siobhan Gormley, Talya Goble, Ella W. Tuominen, Jessica Aylward, Tayla McCloud, Julia Rodriguez-Sanchez, Oliver J. Robinson
Anxiety involves the anticipation of aversive outcomes and can impair neurocognitive processes, such as the ability to recall faces encoded during the anxious state. It is important to precisely delineate and determine the replicability of these effects using causal state anxiety inductions in the general population. This study therefore aimed to replicate prior research on the distinct impacts of threat-of-shock-induced anxiety on the encoding and recognition stage of emotional face processing, in a large asymptomatic sample (n = 92). We successfully replicated previous results demonstrating impaired recognition of faces encoded under threat-of-shock. This was supported by a mega-analysis across three independent studies using the same paradigm (n = 211). Underlying this, a whole-brain fMRI analysis revealed enhanced activation in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), alongside previously seen activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) when combined in a mega-analysis with the fMRI findings we aimed to replicate. We further found replications of hippocampus activation when the retrieval and encoding states were congruent. Our results support the notion that state anxiety disrupts face recognition, potentially due to attentional demands of anxious arousal competing with affective stimuli processing during encoding and suggest that regions of the cingulate cortex play pivotal roles in this. Across replications, threat-of-shock during encoding impairs emotional face recognition; a mega-analysis across studies implicates increased BOLD activity in anterior and posterior cingulate cortex in the process.
{"title":"Independent replications reveal anterior and posterior cingulate cortex activation underlying state anxiety-attenuated face encoding","authors":"Sarah K. Buehler, Millie Lowther, Paulina B. Lukow, Peter A. Kirk, Alexandra C. Pike, Yumeya Yamamori, Alice V. Chavanne, Siobhan Gormley, Talya Goble, Ella W. Tuominen, Jessica Aylward, Tayla McCloud, Julia Rodriguez-Sanchez, Oliver J. Robinson","doi":"10.1038/s44271-024-00128-y","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44271-024-00128-y","url":null,"abstract":"Anxiety involves the anticipation of aversive outcomes and can impair neurocognitive processes, such as the ability to recall faces encoded during the anxious state. It is important to precisely delineate and determine the replicability of these effects using causal state anxiety inductions in the general population. This study therefore aimed to replicate prior research on the distinct impacts of threat-of-shock-induced anxiety on the encoding and recognition stage of emotional face processing, in a large asymptomatic sample (n = 92). We successfully replicated previous results demonstrating impaired recognition of faces encoded under threat-of-shock. This was supported by a mega-analysis across three independent studies using the same paradigm (n = 211). Underlying this, a whole-brain fMRI analysis revealed enhanced activation in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), alongside previously seen activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) when combined in a mega-analysis with the fMRI findings we aimed to replicate. We further found replications of hippocampus activation when the retrieval and encoding states were congruent. Our results support the notion that state anxiety disrupts face recognition, potentially due to attentional demands of anxious arousal competing with affective stimuli processing during encoding and suggest that regions of the cingulate cortex play pivotal roles in this. Across replications, threat-of-shock during encoding impairs emotional face recognition; a mega-analysis across studies implicates increased BOLD activity in anterior and posterior cingulate cortex in the process.","PeriodicalId":501698,"journal":{"name":"Communications Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"1-10"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s44271-024-00128-y.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142050574","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-23DOI: 10.1038/s44271-024-00127-z
Roman Stengelin, Luke Maurits, Robert Hepach, Daniel Benjamin Moritz Haun
People exhibit more risk-prone behaviors when together with peers than when in private. The interplay of social context effects and other variables that alter human risk preferences (i.e., age, sex, or culture) remains poorly understood. Here, we explored risk preferences among Namibian Hai||om and Ovambo children (N = 144; AgeRange = 6–10 years). Participants chose between risky and safe options in private or during peer presence. In a third condition, children collaborated with peers before their risk preferences were assessed in those peers’ presence. Children from both societies were risk-averse, but Hai||om children showed greater risk aversion than their Ovambo counterparts. Across cultures and ages, boys were less averse to risks than girls. This effect was most pronounced during peer presence, whereas collaboration did not additionally affect risk preferences. These results suggest a dynamic interplay of individual, social, and cultural factors shaping children’s risk preferences. Namibian Hai||om and Ovambo children aged 6 to 10 were generally risk averse. However, across both cultures and ages, boys were less risk averse than girls, especially in the presence of peers.
{"title":"Children’s risk preferences vary across sexes, social contexts, and cultures","authors":"Roman Stengelin, Luke Maurits, Robert Hepach, Daniel Benjamin Moritz Haun","doi":"10.1038/s44271-024-00127-z","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44271-024-00127-z","url":null,"abstract":"People exhibit more risk-prone behaviors when together with peers than when in private. The interplay of social context effects and other variables that alter human risk preferences (i.e., age, sex, or culture) remains poorly understood. Here, we explored risk preferences among Namibian Hai||om and Ovambo children (N = 144; AgeRange = 6–10 years). Participants chose between risky and safe options in private or during peer presence. In a third condition, children collaborated with peers before their risk preferences were assessed in those peers’ presence. Children from both societies were risk-averse, but Hai||om children showed greater risk aversion than their Ovambo counterparts. Across cultures and ages, boys were less averse to risks than girls. This effect was most pronounced during peer presence, whereas collaboration did not additionally affect risk preferences. These results suggest a dynamic interplay of individual, social, and cultural factors shaping children’s risk preferences. Namibian Hai||om and Ovambo children aged 6 to 10 were generally risk averse. However, across both cultures and ages, boys were less risk averse than girls, especially in the presence of peers.","PeriodicalId":501698,"journal":{"name":"Communications Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"1-10"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s44271-024-00127-z.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142050573","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-22DOI: 10.1038/s44271-024-00130-4
Catherine Malboeuf-Hurtubise, David Lefrançois, Marc-André Éthier, Jonathan Smith, Terra Léger-Goodes, Catherine M. Herba
Interventions targeting children’s eco-anxiety have focused on fostering hope, however this is disconnected from children’s need to explore and express despair regarding the climate crisis. Adults can help by acknowledging and discussing these emotions with children. Interventions targeting children’s eco-anxiety have focused on fostering hope, however this is disconnected from children’s need to explore and express despair regarding the climate crisis. Adults can help by acknowledging and discussing these emotions with children.
{"title":"Exploring children’s despair in the face of climate change","authors":"Catherine Malboeuf-Hurtubise, David Lefrançois, Marc-André Éthier, Jonathan Smith, Terra Léger-Goodes, Catherine M. Herba","doi":"10.1038/s44271-024-00130-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44271-024-00130-4","url":null,"abstract":"Interventions targeting children’s eco-anxiety have focused on fostering hope, however this is disconnected from children’s need to explore and express despair regarding the climate crisis. Adults can help by acknowledging and discussing these emotions with children. Interventions targeting children’s eco-anxiety have focused on fostering hope, however this is disconnected from children’s need to explore and express despair regarding the climate crisis. Adults can help by acknowledging and discussing these emotions with children.","PeriodicalId":501698,"journal":{"name":"Communications Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"1-3"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s44271-024-00130-4.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142050568","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-20DOI: 10.1038/s44271-024-00126-0
Communications Psychology is celebrating its first birthday and has recently reached the publication of its 100th peer-reviewed paper. We mark our transition to toddlerhood by reflecting on publications, milestones, and development.
{"title":"A year of growth","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s44271-024-00126-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44271-024-00126-0","url":null,"abstract":"Communications Psychology is celebrating its first birthday and has recently reached the publication of its 100th peer-reviewed paper. We mark our transition to toddlerhood by reflecting on publications, milestones, and development.","PeriodicalId":501698,"journal":{"name":"Communications Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"1-2"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s44271-024-00126-0.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142013707","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-20DOI: 10.1038/s44271-024-00131-3
Katarina Begus, Elizabeth Bonawitz
This study investigates 16-month-old infants’ sensitivity to the informativeness of evidence and its potential link to infants’ ability to draw accurate causal inferences and predict unfolding events. Employing concurrent EEG and eye tracking, data from 66 infants revealed significantly increased theta oscillatory activity when infants expected to see causally unconfounded evidence compared to confounded evidence, suggesting heightened cognitive engagement in anticipation of informative evidence. Crucially, this difference was more pronounced in the subset of infants who later made correct predictions, suggesting that they had correctly inferred the causal structure based on the evidence presented. This research sheds light on infants’ motivation to seek explanatory causal information, suggesting that even at 16 months, infants can strategically direct attention to situations conducive to acquiring informative evidence, potentially laying the groundwork for the impressive abilities of humans to rapidly acquire knowledge and develop causal theories of the world. 16-month-old infants showed heightened theta oscillations for informative versus uninformative causal evidence. This relationship was more pronounced in infants who subsequently made correct predictions based on this information.
{"title":"Infants evaluate informativeness of evidence and predict causal events as revealed in theta oscillations and predictive looking","authors":"Katarina Begus, Elizabeth Bonawitz","doi":"10.1038/s44271-024-00131-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44271-024-00131-3","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigates 16-month-old infants’ sensitivity to the informativeness of evidence and its potential link to infants’ ability to draw accurate causal inferences and predict unfolding events. Employing concurrent EEG and eye tracking, data from 66 infants revealed significantly increased theta oscillatory activity when infants expected to see causally unconfounded evidence compared to confounded evidence, suggesting heightened cognitive engagement in anticipation of informative evidence. Crucially, this difference was more pronounced in the subset of infants who later made correct predictions, suggesting that they had correctly inferred the causal structure based on the evidence presented. This research sheds light on infants’ motivation to seek explanatory causal information, suggesting that even at 16 months, infants can strategically direct attention to situations conducive to acquiring informative evidence, potentially laying the groundwork for the impressive abilities of humans to rapidly acquire knowledge and develop causal theories of the world. 16-month-old infants showed heightened theta oscillations for informative versus uninformative causal evidence. This relationship was more pronounced in infants who subsequently made correct predictions based on this information.","PeriodicalId":501698,"journal":{"name":"Communications Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"1-9"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s44271-024-00131-3.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142013704","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-15DOI: 10.1038/s44271-024-00125-1
Ana-Maria Bliuc, John M. Betts, Matteo Vergani, Ayoub Bouguettaya, Mioara Cristea
We propose a framework integrating insights from computational social science, political, and social psychology to explain how extreme polarization can occur in deeply divided societies. Extreme polarization in a society emerges through a dynamic and complex process where societal, group, and individual factors interact. Dissent at different levels of analysis represents the driver of this process, where societal-level ideological dissent divides society into opposing camps, each with contrasting collective narratives. Within these opposing camps, further dissent leads to the formation of splinter factions and radical cells—sub-groups with increasingly extreme views. At the group level, collective narratives underpinning group identity become more extreme as society fragments. At the individual level, this process involves the internalization of an extreme group narrative and norms sanctioning radical behavior. The intense bonding within these groups and the convergence of personal and group identities through identity fusion increase the likelihood of radical group behavior. A theoretical framework informed by computational social science and social psychology explains the process of polarization as the gradual fragmentation of a divided society.
{"title":"A theoretical framework for polarization as the gradual fragmentation of a divided society","authors":"Ana-Maria Bliuc, John M. Betts, Matteo Vergani, Ayoub Bouguettaya, Mioara Cristea","doi":"10.1038/s44271-024-00125-1","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44271-024-00125-1","url":null,"abstract":"We propose a framework integrating insights from computational social science, political, and social psychology to explain how extreme polarization can occur in deeply divided societies. Extreme polarization in a society emerges through a dynamic and complex process where societal, group, and individual factors interact. Dissent at different levels of analysis represents the driver of this process, where societal-level ideological dissent divides society into opposing camps, each with contrasting collective narratives. Within these opposing camps, further dissent leads to the formation of splinter factions and radical cells—sub-groups with increasingly extreme views. At the group level, collective narratives underpinning group identity become more extreme as society fragments. At the individual level, this process involves the internalization of an extreme group narrative and norms sanctioning radical behavior. The intense bonding within these groups and the convergence of personal and group identities through identity fusion increase the likelihood of radical group behavior. A theoretical framework informed by computational social science and social psychology explains the process of polarization as the gradual fragmentation of a divided society.","PeriodicalId":501698,"journal":{"name":"Communications Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"1-10"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s44271-024-00125-1.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141986138","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-14DOI: 10.1038/s44271-024-00121-5
Sacha Altay, Andrea De Angelis, Emma Hoes
Media literacy tips typically encourage people to be skeptical of the news despite the small prevalence of false news in Western democracies. Would such tips be effective if they promoted trust in true news instead? A pre-registered experiment (N = 3919, US) showed that Skepticism-enhancing tips, Trust-inducing tips, and a mix of both tips, increased participants’ sharing and accuracy discernment. The Trust-inducing tips boosted true news sharing and acceptance, the Skepticism-enhancing tips hindered false news sharing and acceptance, while the Mixed tips did both. Yet, the effects of the tips were more alike than different, with very similar effect sizes across conditions for true and false news. We experimentally manipulated the proportion of true and false news participants were exposed to. The Trust and Skepticism tips were most effective when participants were exposed to equal proportions of true and false news, while the Mixed tips were most effective when exposed to 75% of true news - the most realistic proportion. Moreover, the Trust-inducing tips increased trust in traditional media. Overall, we show that to be most effective, media literacy tips should aim both to foster skepticism towards false news and to promote trust in true news. Media literacy tips promoting trust in true news, skepticism of false news, or a mix of both, were all effective in improving discernment between true and false news stories relative to a control condition without tips.
{"title":"Media literacy tips promoting reliable news improve discernment and enhance trust in traditional media","authors":"Sacha Altay, Andrea De Angelis, Emma Hoes","doi":"10.1038/s44271-024-00121-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44271-024-00121-5","url":null,"abstract":"Media literacy tips typically encourage people to be skeptical of the news despite the small prevalence of false news in Western democracies. Would such tips be effective if they promoted trust in true news instead? A pre-registered experiment (N = 3919, US) showed that Skepticism-enhancing tips, Trust-inducing tips, and a mix of both tips, increased participants’ sharing and accuracy discernment. The Trust-inducing tips boosted true news sharing and acceptance, the Skepticism-enhancing tips hindered false news sharing and acceptance, while the Mixed tips did both. Yet, the effects of the tips were more alike than different, with very similar effect sizes across conditions for true and false news. We experimentally manipulated the proportion of true and false news participants were exposed to. The Trust and Skepticism tips were most effective when participants were exposed to equal proportions of true and false news, while the Mixed tips were most effective when exposed to 75% of true news - the most realistic proportion. Moreover, the Trust-inducing tips increased trust in traditional media. Overall, we show that to be most effective, media literacy tips should aim both to foster skepticism towards false news and to promote trust in true news. Media literacy tips promoting trust in true news, skepticism of false news, or a mix of both, were all effective in improving discernment between true and false news stories relative to a control condition without tips.","PeriodicalId":501698,"journal":{"name":"Communications Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"1-9"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s44271-024-00121-5.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141986139","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-07DOI: 10.1038/s44271-024-00122-4
Annah G. McCurry, Robert C. May, David I. Donaldson
Researchers examining conflict between intimate partners believe that the experience and expression of emotion drives aggressive behaviour. Intra-personally, increases in negative affect make aggression more likely. Inter-personally, theoretical models suggest that each individuals’ perception of their partners’ emotion also influences aggression, potentially creating a Violence Escalation Cycle. Here, using a lab-based aggression task across a primary study (n = 104, number of trials = 3095) and a replication (n = 58, number of trials = 3167), we show that both intra- and inter-personal experiences of negative emotion predict reactive aggression within couples, revealing retaliation but not escalation. Critically, analyses of facial affect reveal that prototypic displays of negative emotions have a compounding effect, leading to dramatic changes in aggression depending on whether one, both, or neither partner expressed negative emotion. We propose a mechanism by which temporal delays (i.e., experimentally imposed forced breaks) reduce aggression by decreasing negative emotional arousal and limiting impulsive action. Our results show that both forced breaks and elective breaks (i.e., extra participant-initiated extensions of the forced break time) reduce aggression, providing exciting evidence that interventions focused on preventing impulsive action when people are in a provoked state can reduce aggression within couples. Couples competing in a reaction time task where they can play loud sounds to their partner are more aggressive when negative facial affect is expressed. Couples retaliate, but introducing short breaks reduces negative affect and aggressive behaviour.
{"title":"Both partners’ negative emotion drives aggression during couples’ conflict","authors":"Annah G. McCurry, Robert C. May, David I. Donaldson","doi":"10.1038/s44271-024-00122-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44271-024-00122-4","url":null,"abstract":"Researchers examining conflict between intimate partners believe that the experience and expression of emotion drives aggressive behaviour. Intra-personally, increases in negative affect make aggression more likely. Inter-personally, theoretical models suggest that each individuals’ perception of their partners’ emotion also influences aggression, potentially creating a Violence Escalation Cycle. Here, using a lab-based aggression task across a primary study (n = 104, number of trials = 3095) and a replication (n = 58, number of trials = 3167), we show that both intra- and inter-personal experiences of negative emotion predict reactive aggression within couples, revealing retaliation but not escalation. Critically, analyses of facial affect reveal that prototypic displays of negative emotions have a compounding effect, leading to dramatic changes in aggression depending on whether one, both, or neither partner expressed negative emotion. We propose a mechanism by which temporal delays (i.e., experimentally imposed forced breaks) reduce aggression by decreasing negative emotional arousal and limiting impulsive action. Our results show that both forced breaks and elective breaks (i.e., extra participant-initiated extensions of the forced break time) reduce aggression, providing exciting evidence that interventions focused on preventing impulsive action when people are in a provoked state can reduce aggression within couples. Couples competing in a reaction time task where they can play loud sounds to their partner are more aggressive when negative facial affect is expressed. Couples retaliate, but introducing short breaks reduces negative affect and aggressive behaviour.","PeriodicalId":501698,"journal":{"name":"Communications Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"1-16"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s44271-024-00122-4.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141968504","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-05DOI: 10.1038/s44271-024-00116-2
Marieke S. Wieringa, Barbara C. N. Müller, Gijsbert Bijlstra, Tibor Bosse
The harm-made mind phenomenon implies that witnessing intentional harm towards agents with ambiguous minds, such as robots, leads to augmented mind perception in these agents. We conducted two replications of previous work on this effect and extended it by testing if robots that detect and simulate emotions elicit a stronger harm-made mind effect than robots that do not. Additionally, we explored if someone is perceived as less prosocial when harming a robot compared to treating it kindly. The harm made mind-effect was replicated: participants attributed a higher capacity to experience pain to the robot when it was harmed, compared to when it was not harmed. We did not find evidence that this effect was influenced by the robot’s ability to detect and simulate emotions. There were significant but conflicting direct and indirect effects of harm on the perception of mind in the robot: while harm had a positive indirect effect on mind perception in the robot through the perceived capacity for pain, the direct effect of harm on mind perception was negative. This suggests that robots are both anthropomorphized and dehumanized when harmed intentionally. Additionally, the results showed that someone is perceived as less prosocial when harming a robot compared to treating it kindly. A replication of the harm-made mind effect finds conflicting effects of harm on the perception of mind in robots —robots were both anthropomorphized and dehumanized when harmed intentionally while the harmer was perceived as less prosocial.
{"title":"Robots are both anthropomorphized and dehumanized when harmed intentionally","authors":"Marieke S. Wieringa, Barbara C. N. Müller, Gijsbert Bijlstra, Tibor Bosse","doi":"10.1038/s44271-024-00116-2","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44271-024-00116-2","url":null,"abstract":"The harm-made mind phenomenon implies that witnessing intentional harm towards agents with ambiguous minds, such as robots, leads to augmented mind perception in these agents. We conducted two replications of previous work on this effect and extended it by testing if robots that detect and simulate emotions elicit a stronger harm-made mind effect than robots that do not. Additionally, we explored if someone is perceived as less prosocial when harming a robot compared to treating it kindly. The harm made mind-effect was replicated: participants attributed a higher capacity to experience pain to the robot when it was harmed, compared to when it was not harmed. We did not find evidence that this effect was influenced by the robot’s ability to detect and simulate emotions. There were significant but conflicting direct and indirect effects of harm on the perception of mind in the robot: while harm had a positive indirect effect on mind perception in the robot through the perceived capacity for pain, the direct effect of harm on mind perception was negative. This suggests that robots are both anthropomorphized and dehumanized when harmed intentionally. Additionally, the results showed that someone is perceived as less prosocial when harming a robot compared to treating it kindly. A replication of the harm-made mind effect finds conflicting effects of harm on the perception of mind in robots —robots were both anthropomorphized and dehumanized when harmed intentionally while the harmer was perceived as less prosocial.","PeriodicalId":501698,"journal":{"name":"Communications Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"1-11"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s44271-024-00116-2.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141968582","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Online communities have become a central part of the internet. Understanding what motivates users to join these communities, and how they affect them and others, spans various psychological domains, including organizational psychology, political and social psychology, and clinical and health psychology. We focus on online communities that are exemplary for three domains: work, hate, and addictions. We review the risks that emerge from these online communities but also recognize the opportunities that work and behavioral addiction communities present for groups and individuals. With the continued evolution of online spheres, online communities are likely to have an increasingly significant role in all spheres of life, ranging from personal to professional and from individual to societal. Psychological research provides critical insights into understanding the formation of online communities, and the implications for individuals and society. To counteract risks, it needs to identify opportunities for prevention and support. Online Communities play an increasing role in online behaviour and affect offline lives. Psychological research on online work communities, hate communities, and communities dedicated to behavioural addictions highlights risks and – in some cases - opportunities.
{"title":"Online communities come with real-world consequences for individuals and societies","authors":"Atte Oksanen, Magdalena Celuch, Reetta Oksa, Iina Savolainen","doi":"10.1038/s44271-024-00112-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44271-024-00112-6","url":null,"abstract":"Online communities have become a central part of the internet. Understanding what motivates users to join these communities, and how they affect them and others, spans various psychological domains, including organizational psychology, political and social psychology, and clinical and health psychology. We focus on online communities that are exemplary for three domains: work, hate, and addictions. We review the risks that emerge from these online communities but also recognize the opportunities that work and behavioral addiction communities present for groups and individuals. With the continued evolution of online spheres, online communities are likely to have an increasingly significant role in all spheres of life, ranging from personal to professional and from individual to societal. Psychological research provides critical insights into understanding the formation of online communities, and the implications for individuals and society. To counteract risks, it needs to identify opportunities for prevention and support. Online Communities play an increasing role in online behaviour and affect offline lives. Psychological research on online work communities, hate communities, and communities dedicated to behavioural addictions highlights risks and – in some cases - opportunities.","PeriodicalId":501698,"journal":{"name":"Communications Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"1-9"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s44271-024-00112-6.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141968583","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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