British journal of psychology最新文献

We examined the sharing behaviour of children (aged 6–12) when presented with a generous vs. a selfish norm of sharing, or after having a choice of whether or not to request the (same) social-norm information. We found that with age children shared more overall and were more influenced by the generous norm in their recommendations to others. Moreover, the results show a significant effect of information-seeking on children's behaviour: children who were presented with the choice to request social-norm information and actively chose to request it were significantly more influenced by the information in their own sharing decisions and in their recommendation to others, compared with children who were presented with the same social-norm information without asking for it. The findings highlight the importance of an active search for information, rather than the information content per se, as a key factor in understanding the effect of social-norm information on children's sharing behaviour.

Loneliness is a major public health issue, leading to serious physical and mental health problems. Research has shown that trait-like, chronically lonely individuals exhibit either avoidance or approach behaviour towards social connections. However, how social avoidance and approach motivation co-occur in trait-like, chronically lonely individuals remains unclear. We hypothesized that loneliness would first induce social avoidance and then approach motivation, given the inherent negative bias of loneliness and the general process model of threat and defence, which asserts that threat first activates avoidance motivation followed by approach motivation. To test this hypothesis, we used sub- and supra-second time bisection tasks in social and non-social contexts based on the motivational dimensional model of time perception. The results showed that high-loneliness (HL) and low-loneliness (LL) individuals had similar sub-second time estimates in non-social contexts. However, HL individuals lengthened time in the sub-second range in social contexts and shortened time in the supra-second range compared to LL individuals, regardless of social or non-social context. These findings suggest that HL individuals exhibit proximal social avoidance and distal general approach as a defence mechanism, which is consistent with the general process model of threat and defence and extends the evolutionary theory of loneliness.

Previous research has often portrayed first-generation college students – students whose parents do not have a four-year university degree – through a deficit lens, depicting them as lacking in skills, knowledge or potential compared to continuing-generation students. It, however, remains unknown how first-generation and continuing-generation students perceive themselves with respect to their own goals and obligations. Who do they want to be and to what extent do they think of themselves as meeting their own goals and obligations? To answer these questions, we assessed students' ideal and ought selves, as well as self-discrepancies, based on Higgins's theory (Higgins, 1987), in a relatively large sample of students in the US (N = 1244) across three waves. Overall, we found no significant differences in the content of ideal and ought selves, or perceived self-discrepancies between first-generation and continuing-generation students. Responses were strikingly similar, with both groups mentioning almost identical characteristics for their ideal and ought selves. Furthermore, there were no significant differences in ideal or ought self-discrepancies between the two groups of students. Despite common deficit narratives, first-generation students did not think of themselves as being further away from their aspired selves than continuing-generation students.

Familiar faces elicit more confident and interactive behaviour in adults than unfamiliar faces. However, it remains unclear whether familiarity influences children's social functioning. Here, we investigated how face familiarity would affect 9- to 11-year-old children's perspective-taking ability. We assessed perspective-taking ability with an adapted version of the Director Task where the Director's face was a picture of a familiar peer or a stranger. In Study 1 (N = 34), children showed a higher perspective-taking ability when facing a familiar peer than a stranger. In Study 2 and Study 3 (N = 30 respectively), children built up familiarity with originally unfamiliar faces through either social interaction or person knowledge learning. Face familiarity developed through social interaction but not person knowledge learning promoted children's subsequent perspective-taking ability. Based on these findings, we propose a link between face familiarity and social functioning, which can quickly set the mind to different socially prepared states.

The objective was to provide up-to-date clinical and cost-effectiveness evidence investigating eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) for treatment or prevention of adult post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We conducted a systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cost-effectiveness studies assessing PTSD symptoms in adults, published since the NICE 2018 guidelines. EMDR was compared with trauma-focused-cognitive behavioural therapy (TF-CBT), waitlist or usual care. Six databases were searched in September 2023. Risk of bias was assessed. Data synthesis included Bayesian meta-analyses of standardized mean differences if sufficient data were available from at least three RCTs. From 2038 records, 17 studies met the eligibility criteria. One modelling-based study reported cost-effectiveness, finding EMDR the most cost-effective intervention compared to 10 others, including TF-CBT. Sixteen RCTs (n = 1031) providing clinical PTSD outcome data were identified. Most studies had small sample sizes, and all but one was at high/moderate risk of bias. Additionally, 13 RCTs from NICE 2018 guidelines contributed to meta-analyses. EMDR treatment was generally of shorter duration with a lower burden on patient time. Meta-analyses found EMDR was statistically significantly better than waitlist/usual care. There was no significant difference in treatment effect between EMDR and TF-CBT, both reported significantly improved PTSD symptoms.

In everyday life, listeners spontaneously and rapidly form first impressions from others' voices. Previous research shows that, compared to non-autistic people, autistic people show similarities and differences in how they evaluate others based on their faces. However, it remains unclear whether autistic people form first impressions from voices in the same way as non-autistic people. We asked both autistic and non-autistic listeners to rate an inferred characteristic (trustworthiness) and an apparent characteristic (age) from voice recordings to establish how they form first impressions from voices. Non-autistic and autistic listeners formed first impressions for age and trustworthiness in similar ways. Specifically, both groups showed comparable overall ratings of age and trustworthiness of voices. Further, both autistic and non-autistic listeners required similar amounts of information to form an impression. Finally, when comparing trait impressions within- and across-groups, we again found no systematic evidence of impression formation differing between autistic and non-autistic people. These findings indicate that first impression formation is potentially a relative social strength in autism. This suggests that the social challenges encountered by autistic people may be confined to specific areas of social perception rather than being universally pervasive.

The relative contribution of decision-making and motor engagement at encoding, on route memory, was examined using virtual reality (VR). During encoding, participants explored 12 virtual environments for 40 s each. Navigation strategy during encoding was manipulated within-subjects. On Active trials, participants made decisions about their route of travel. On Guided trials, they followed a pre-determined path overlaid on the road, removing the need for decision-making. On Passive trials, participants simply viewed a set route, without initiating decision-making nor engaging movement during encoding. Following exploration of each environment, participants were asked to ‘re-trace their steps’ using the exact route they had just travelled. We also manipulated type of VR implementation (Desktop VR, Headset VR) between subjects. Movement in a Desktop-VR group was controlled via keyboard input, limiting motoric engagement. Movement in a Headset-VR group occurred using a VR-compatible steering wheel, requiring relatively greater motoric engagement. We found an effect of navigation strategy only in the Headset-VR group: route memory was significantly better following Active and Guided relative to Passive trials. Memory did not differ following Active relative to Guided trial types, suggesting that decision-making does not underlie the memory benefit. We suggest route memory is enhanced when initiating physical movement during encoding.

Theories of cultural evolution suggest that humans may learn to represent others' minds through cultural practices including verbal instruction. It has been demonstrated that humans use less sophisticated mental state words when describing out-group members compared to in-group members, but whether this impacts on how out-group members' minds are represented has not yet been determined. The media is one of the main ways in which information about out-groups is shared; therefore, across three experiments we explored whether the language used in the media to describe out-groups, specifically language about mental states, shapes how recipients represent the minds of out-group members. All three experiments measured the extent to which participants represented out-group members as individuals with distinctive minds. Experiment 1 compared language in a left-leaning versus a right-leaning UK news source. Experiment 2 tested the effect of including or omitting mental states or first-person language, while Experiment 3 examined the impact of varying the amount of mental state language. We show that participants are more prone to take into account each out-group member's mind when inferring their mental states when mental state language is used to introduce them. This demonstrates the clear role of cultural learning on how people think about others' minds.

Reduction of red meat consumption is urgently needed, but there is concern that meat-reduction appeals may lead to reactance. Across three studies (total N = 2978), two of which were preregistered, participants were shown a meat-reduction appeal that was paired with an image that linked meat to its animal origins, a meat-only image or no image to test whether different message characteristics affected how messages were processed. Results show that reactance mediates the relationship between empathy and meat-related attitudes and intentions. Additionally, results provide some evidence that Democrats (vs. Republicans) are more likely to have indirect effects of message condition (seeing a meat-animal association image vs. a meat-only image or a no image condition) on meat-related attitudes and intentions through empathy and reactance. Results have implications for the design of meat reduction appeals as they may elicit both empathy and reactance, leading to opposing effects on persuasion.

This study investigated how social (faces and eyes) and non-social (arrows) stimuli modulate attentional orienting in a spatial Stroop task, using a distributional approach. Data from 11 studies (N = 705) were analysed through cumulative distribution functions (CDF), delta functions, and polynomial trend analyses. Three models were applied: (1) a reaction time (RT) model comparing social (faces and eyes) vs. non-social stimuli under congruent and incongruent conditions, (2) a delta model assessing conflict effects across quantiles, and (3) a trend model identifying specific delta function patterns. Non-social targets produced a standard congruency effect (SCE), with faster responses in congruent trials but no consistent conflict reduction across the distribution. In contrast, social stimuli exhibited a reversed congruency effect (RCE), with faster responses in incongruent trials, emerging from the second quantile onward and minimal conflict among the fastest responses. Social targets exhibited comparable reaction times in the RT model and similar early delta plot patterns, suggesting shared initial perceptual and attentional mechanisms between faces and eyes. However, faces eventually induced a larger RCE, possibly due to their more complex configuration. These findings highlight distinctive patterns between social and non-social processing in the spatial Stroop task.