Shame and guilt as behaviour regulators: Relationships with bullying,victimization and prosocial behaviour

This study aimed at investigating intentional and non‐intentional situations eliciting shame and guilt in relation to children's involvement in bullying, victimization and prosocial behaviour. We used the contextual model designed by Olthof, Schouten, Kuiper, Stegge, and Jennekens‐Schinkel (2000) according to which certain situations elicit more shame than guilt (‘shame‐only’, SO), whereas others elicit both guilt and shame (‘shame‐and‐guilt’, SAG). Besides these, four new scenarios were added (2 SO and 2 SAG) in which the protagonist was alternatively the perpetrator or the receiver of harm. Participants were 121 children aged 9–11, who filled in the self‐report Shame and Guilt Questionnaire, and a peer nomination survey to investigate the roles of bully, victim, prosocial and not involved. Results showed that in SAG situations, perpetrated‐harm situations elicited more guilt than neutral situations; while in SO situations, neutral situations elicited more shame than received‐harm situations. In SAG situations, prosocial children reported feeling more ashamed and guilty than bullies and not‐involved children, while in SO situations, victims scored higher on shame than not‐involved children. Results are discussed considering the contextual model employed and the relationship between emotions and behaviours.     

Directedness and engagement in chimpanzee vocal ontogeny

Directedness and engagement during pre-verbal vocal communication play a major role in language development. What was their role in the evolution of language? This question invites us to examine these behaviours in chimpanzee vocal ontogeny. We collected observational data on infant (N = 15) and juvenile (N = 13) chimpanzees at Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage, Zambia. We examined the impact of age and vocalization type (grunts, whimpers, laughs and screams) on directed cues (gaze directedness and face directedness) and engagement (mutual face directedness) during vocal communication. We also assessed the impact of directed cues and engagement on social interactions by coding the behaviour of social partners before, during and after a vocalisation, and examining whether they contingently changed their behaviour in response to the vocalisation if it was directed or if engagement occurred. We found that face directed vocalisations showed a general increase during ontogeny and we observed call-type dependent effects of age for mutual face directedness. Only face directed vocalisations were significantly predictive of behavioural responses in social partners. We conclude that like young humans, young chimpanzees routinely exhibit directed behaviours and engagement during vocal communication. This social competency improves during ontogeny and benefits individuals by increasing the chances of eliciting behavioural responses from social partners. Directedness and engagement likely provide a foundation for language phylogenetically, as well as ontogenetically.

Research Highlights

• We show that directedness and engagement routinely occur during early chimpanzee vocalisations.
• Directedness increases throughout chimpanzee vocal ontogeny, similar to human infants.
• Directedness enhances social partner responsiveness, demonstrating a direct benefit to this style of communication.
• Directedness and engagement could provide a route towards language phylogenetically as well as ontogenetically.

     

Morality,values, traditional bullying,and cyberbullying in adolescence

The aim of the present study was to investigate moral aspects and human values in traditional bullying and cyberbullying, in order to detect differences between the two types of bullying and to test the role of immoral and disengaged behaviours in mediating the relationships between personal values and involvement in bullying. Sample comprised 390 adolescents aged 14–18, balanced for gender, attending different high schools. Traditional and cyberbullying were detected by means of two self‐report measures, while the Portrait Values Questionnaire was used to assess 10 values in four dimensions according to the value system model by Schwartz (1992): self‐trascendence, self‐enhancement, openness to change, and conservation. Finally, immoral and disengaged behaviours were assessed by means of five items about behavioural and personal aspects salient for morality. Results showed that, irrespective of gender, self‐enhancement and self‐trascendence moderately predicted cyber and traditional bullying, respectively, while immoral and disengaged behaviours predicted both. Indirect effects showed that self‐enhancement and openness to change predicted both forms of bullying through immoral behaviour. Results are discussed in terms of similarities and differences between cyber and traditional bullying and with attention to the central role of morality in explaining bullying nature.     

Racial exclusion causes acute cortisol release among emerging-adult African Americans: The role of reduced perceived control

ABSTRACT

Racial discrimination contributes to stress-related health disparities among African Americans, but less is known about the acute effects of racial exclusion on the hypo-pituitary-adrenocortical response and psychological mediators. Participants were 276 Black/African American emerging-adults (54% female; M _age = 21.74, SD = 2.21) who were randomly assigned to be excluded or included by White peers via the game Cyberball. Racial exclusion (vs. inclusion) predicted: greater negative affect (F(1, 276) = 104.885, p < .0001), lower perceived control (F(1, 276) = 205.523, p < .0001), and greater cortisol release (F(1, 274) = 4.575, p = .033). Racial exclusion’s impact on cortisol release was mediated by lower perceived control (95% CI: .027, .112), but not negative affect (?.041, .013). These findings suggest that racial exclusion contributes to acute cortisol release, and that reduced perceived control is a consequence of racial discrimination that has important implications for the health of those who experience discrimination.