Behavioral Sciences最新文献

Exposure to violence (physical, domestic, or sexual assault) increases risk for alcohol problems and alcohol use disorder (AUD), consistent with self-medication and drinking-to-cope theories of alcohol use, which posit that some individuals may misuse alcohol to alleviate distress associated with trauma. Yet how violence exposure and coping motives interact to influence objective AUD risk markers remains unclear. Emerging evidence suggests that trauma type affects psychiatric outcomes, but its role in moderating AUD risk via coping motives remains unknown. We examined these gaps in the literature in a cohort of youth (ages 16-19; n = 157) over-sampled for violence exposure. Participants completed a structured trauma interview and an assessment of drinking motives. A total of 60 participants reported experiencing sexual assault (SA), 54 physical assault (PA), and 32 domestic violence (DV). AUD risk was captured using the alcohol cue reactivity paradigm. Participants were exposed to images of alcoholic beverages, high-calorie foods (reward-related control), and neutral objects. The late positive potential (LPP), an event-related potential captured via electroencephalogram, was used to index cue reactivity. We ran two linear regression analyses to assess the relationship between trauma type and coping motives to drink on LPP to alcohol and food cues (>neutral). For alcohol cues, there was a significant SA and coping interaction. At high levels of coping motivations, SA was associated with enhanced LPP to alcohol cues. At low levels of coping motivations there was no association. No effects were observed for food cues. Our results demonstrate that heightened coping motives to drink are associated with enhanced alcohol cue reactivity among SA victims, indicating increased vulnerability for AUD risk.

Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly used to predict human behavior from plain-text descriptions of experimental tasks that range from judging disease severity to consequential medical decisions. While these methods promise quick insights without complex psychological theories, we reveal a critical flaw: they often latch onto accidental patterns in the data that seem predictive but collapse when faced with novel experimental conditions. Testing across multiple behavioral studies, we show these models can generate wildly inaccurate predictions, sometimes even reversing true relationships, when applied beyond their training context. Standard validation techniques miss this flaw, creating false confidence in their reliability. We introduce a simple diagnostic tool to spot these failures and urge researchers to prioritize theoretical grounding over statistical convenience. Without this, LLM-driven behavioral predictions risk being scientifically meaningless, despite impressive initial results.

Social acceleration and recurrent structural shocks increase habitus-field mismatch, yet similar exposure does not produce uniform trajectories of daily well-being or suicidal distress. This paper asks how comparable structural strain can generate divergent, path-dependent outcomes and why suicidal vulnerability may persist after objective conditions improve. We develop a theory-building, concept-driven framework that integrates Bourdieu's practice theory with social and behavioural scholarship on stress, anomie, and despair, and conceptualises these dynamics as social hysteresis. The regime-based model specifies two ideal-typical response orientations through which mismatch can stabilise: an anomic regime marked by shame, withdrawal, and inwardly directed harm, and a radicalising regime marked by grievance framing, moral indignation, and organised participation, without implying violent extremism. Represented through hysteresis loops, the framework implies multistability, asymmetric switching thresholds, and scarring, providing a mechanism for persistence and non-linearity in distress trajectories. The model derives testable expectations for longitudinal panel and experience-sampling designs and suggests that prevention and intervention design should combine reductions in mismatch with relational and institutional infrastructures that facilitate regime shifts and reopen the space of possibles.

This qualitative study investigates how graduate students engage with academic conferences as sites for professional development and identity construction. Grounded in academic socialization theory and employing an interpretive phenomenological approach, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 18 graduate students across diverse disciplinary fields in China. Reflexive thematic analysis revealed four distinct participation orientations: knowledge-seeking, competence-building, network-oriented, and identity-exploratory. Our findings illuminate how contemporary academic environments characterized by heightened competition, publish-or-perish pressures, and quantified evaluation systems create conditions of academic alienation, manifesting as disconnection from scholarly work, superficial collegial interactions, and weakened community belonging. Significantly, we identified conference participation as a transformative mechanism through which students counteract alienation by reclaiming meaning in scholarly labor, cultivating authentic academic dialogue, and reconstructing professional community ties. We propose an integrative conceptual framework illustrating the dynamic relationships among alienation, participation orientations, and transformative outcomes. These findings advance the theoretical understanding of academic socialization as an agentic, iterative process and offer practical implications for institutions, faculty advisors, and students seeking to support graduate student development in increasingly pressurized academic climates.

This study investigates the interplay between insecure attachment styles, materialism, and phubbing behaviors. Phubbing, the act of ignoring a partner in favor of smartphone use, is influenced by individual differences and societal norms. We hypothesized that attachment anxiety and avoidance would be positively associated with both enacted and perceived phubbing, and that materialism would mediate these relationships. Data were collected from 213 participants using validated scales for attachment, materialism, and phubbing. The results confirmed that attachment anxiety is positively associated with both enacted and perceived phubbing, while attachment avoidance is positively associated with perceived phubbing but not enacted phubbing. Materialism was found to mediate the relationship between attachment insecurity and phubbing behaviors. Specifically, materialism significantly mediated the positive relationships between attachment anxiety and both enacted and perceived phubbing, as well as between attachment avoidance and perceived phubbing. These findings suggest that materialistic values amplify the effects of insecure attachment on phubbing, highlighting the role of materialism as a compensatory mechanism for attachment-related insecurities. Future research should explore interventions targeting materialism and attachment anxiety to mitigate phubbing behaviors and improve relationship quality.

School burnout is an increasing concern in highly competitive educational contexts. As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes embedded in classrooms, it shapes both learning processes and students' stress experiences. Grounded in Mindset Theory and Conservation of Resources framework, this longitudinal study examined whether AI learning support moderates the link between stress mindset and school burnout. A sample of 850 Chinese middle school students (Mage = 15.09, 41% boys) completed two waves of surveys one year apart. Regression results showed that viewing stress as enhancing predicted lower subsequent burnout after controlling for baseline burnout and demographics. Although AI learning support did not directly predict burnout, its interaction with stress mindset was significant: the negative association between a positive stress mindset and burnout was observed when AI learning support was high. These findings suggest that AI can function as an external resource that amplifies adaptive beliefs, offering new pathways for fostering resilience in digital learning environments.

In a sample of university employees, longitudinal data were examined to test a biopsychosocial model of whether exposure to workplace sexual harassment increases hazard for chronic disease, in the context of other known biological, psychological, and social risk factors for chronic disease. Proportional hazards multiple regression was used to predict incidence of first chronic disease across 23 years of follow-up based on experience of sexual harassment. Out of a sample of N = 525, 288 incident diagnoses were observed. Effects of harassment, drinking behavior, cigarette use, depressive symptoms, anxiety, and other work stressors were considered as either fixed at baseline or as time-dependent covariates in separate models, controlling for age and baseline occupational group, which were significantly associated with disease onset. Higher scores on reported workplace sexual harassment at baseline of the study were predictive of chronic disease incidence over the next 23 years (HR = 1.038 for each increase of one unit, p = 0.0133), adjusting for age and occupation. The effect was only partially attenuated when adjusting for depressive symptoms at baseline and alcohol intake throughout follow-up (HR = 1.031, p = 0.0475), the only other covariates tested that were consistently associated with chronic disease onset and included in final models. Considering the binary comparison of any versus no harassment at baseline revealed a stronger effect on chronic disease onset (HR = 1.437, p = 0.004), which again was attenuated after considering effects of baseline depressive symptoms and previous year alcohol use (HR = 1.357, p = 0.017). Experience of sexual harassment in the workplace was the only work stressor found to be significantly associated with an elevated risk of chronic disease onset across the study period.

Past research has consistently demonstrated the negative effects of interpersonal mistreatment on student experiences by employing retrospective studies; however, little is known about the daily effects that could lead to career derailment. The present study advances evidence of the consequences of experiencing multiple forms of interpersonal mistreatment, including sexual harassment, racial harassment and microaggressions, and incivility (collectively labeled HARM) by employing an experience sampling methodology (ESM) to estimate the immediate impact of HARM on career-relevant attitudes among a sample of 202 biomedical health trainees (mentees) funded by a National Institutes of Health fellowship. Grounded in Affective Events Theory, we found that mentees' daily experiences of HARM were associated with an immediate degradation of their attitudes toward their training program mediated by negative affect. Being racially isolated in a lab or having a racially different mentor increased the prevalence of HARM; moreover, accounting for negative affect, experiences of HARM were positively associated with program attitudes for mentees who were racially well-represented, suggesting that majority status may buffer the negative impact of HARM on attitudes. Understanding these dynamics provides insight into the importance of assessing and addressing daily experiences of mistreatment among graduate and postdoctoral trainees.

Street harassment is a common form of gender-based violence against women. Bystanders are sometimes present when this violence occurs, yet there is limited literature on the factors influencing their decision to intervene. We conducted two cross-sectional studies to further explore this subject. Study 1 analyzes how personal variables (gender and political opinion), and situational variables (bystander effect and type of violence) influence the intention to respond. This study included an opportunity sample of 1563 people (79.4% women and 20.6% men) that filled out a sociodemographic data sheet, the Social Desirability Scale (SDC), and the Questionnaire of Intention to Help in VAW Cases (QIHVC). The results suggest that programs targeting women should focus on diminishing feelings of fear, while those aimed at men should stress fostering empathy toward victims. Study 2 explores correlates of bystander response intentions. This study involved an opportunity sample of 785 people (80.3% women and 19.7% men), completing the same instruments as in Study 1 and adding the Global Belief in a Just World Scale (GBJWS) and the Questionnaire on attitudes towards "piropos" (AP). The results suggest that feeling responsible may influence whether bystanders choose to intervene. These insights could be used to develop more effective training program frameworks.

Grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT), this study tested the hypothesis that body image perception delineates distinct motivational pathways, linking the perceived interpersonal style of exercise professionals to basic psychological needs, motivation quality, and long-term exercise persistence intentions. A sample of 821 regular exercisers was divided into two groups based on body image: "Satisfied" (n = 276) and "Dissatisfied due to Overweight" (n = 545). Participants completed validated measures of perceived interpersonal behaviors (supportive/thwarting), basic psychological need satisfaction/frustration, motivational regulation, and exercise persistence intention. A clear divergent pattern emerged, strongly supporting the main hypothesis. The "Satisfied" group reported a positive pathway: perceiving more need-supportive behaviors from instructors was associated with greater satisfaction of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, which in turn correlated with more self-determined motivation and stronger persistence intentions. Conversely, the "Dissatisfied" group reported a negative pathway: perceiving more need-thwarting behaviors was associated with greater need frustration, which correlated with more non-self-determined motivation and weaker persistence intentions. Measurement invariance confirmed these pathways are comparable across groups. The findings highlight that body image perception is a key correlate of distinct motivational experiences in exercise settings. Crucially, they underscore the significant association between the professional's perceived interpersonal style and these pathways. Fostering need-supportive environments that enhance autonomy, competence, and relatedness is associated with more adaptive motivation and adherence, offering a valuable framework for practitioners aiming to support clients, particularly those with body image concerns.