Extent of Hostility in Educated Indian Unemployed Youth: A Micro Analysis

This study was designed to ascertain the level of hostility in educated unemployed youth (N = 150) as against employed youth (N = 150) at micro level by employing an Indian adaptation of the Buss-Durkee Hostility Scale. Results of statistical comparison revealed a significant difference between the two groups in terms of hostility and its various dimensions barring indirect aggression, negativism, and verbal aggression. However, both the groups tended to have a moderate amount of hostility and its dimensions. The results further showed the relative standing of the two groups on the dimensions of hostility, positing the job-seekers as possessing a high sense of guilt and low indirect aggression, and the employed youth, being high on irritability, and, like their counterparts, low on indirect aggression. Also, the study indicated a correlation among the dimensions of hostility with one another and with the total scale scores.     

Dominance of persistence over adaptation in forward masking

Persistence of excitation and neural adaptation are competing theories proposed to explain the mechanisms underlying psychophysical forward masking. Previous research has been directed towards finding models that accurately describe the phenomenon but cannot account for the underlying explanation. The current study was designed to determine which theory best accounts for results obtained from behavioral gap duration adjustment tasks. Thirteen adults adjusted the gap within asymmetrical noise markers to be subjectively equal to the gap within equal-intensity-noise markers. The duration of the perceived gap between the asymmetrical markers is expected to vary depending on which theory dominates perception. The persistence of excitation mechanism would lead to longer duration gaps when the second noise marker is lower in intensity than the preceding. Neural adaptation would result in matched gaps that are shorter in duration when the second noise marker was lower in level. The outcome of our data analysis is consistent with the persistence of excitation as a dominant mechanism in forward masking.     

Poor emotional responsiveness in clinical hypertension: Reduced accuracy in the labelling and matching of emotional faces amongst individuals with hypertension and prehypertension

Psychological factors are known to play an important part in the origin of many medical conditions including hypertension. Recent studies have reported elevated blood pressure (even in the normal range of variation) to be associated with a reduced responsiveness to emotions or ‘emotional dampening’. Our aim was to assess emotional dampening in individuals with more extreme blood pressure levels including prehypertensives (N = 58) and hypertensives (N = 60) by comparing their emotion recognition ability with normotensives (N = 57). Participants completed novel facial emotion matching and facial emotion labelling tasks following blood pressure measurement and their accuracy of emotion recognition and average response times were compared. The normotensives demonstrated a significantly higher accuracy of emotion recognition than the prehypertensives and the hypertensives in labelling of facial emotions. This difference generalised to the task where two facial halves (upper & lower) had to be matched on the basis of emotions. In neither the labelling nor matching emotion conditions did the groups differ in their speed of emotion processing. Findings of the present study extend reports of ‘emotional dampening’ to hypertensives as well as to those at-risk for developing hypertension (i.e. prehypertensives) and have important implications for understanding the psychological component of such medical conditions as hypertension.     

The effect of stress on craving for methadone depends on the timing of last methadone dose

Background

This study examined the extent to which the timing of last methadone dose moderates the influence of a laboratory stressor on craving for methadone in a sample of methadone maintenance patients.

Methods

Methadone maintenance patients (N = 41) completed a computerized stress manipulation with two levels (low and high stress) on two separate days: (1) immediately following the administration of their standard daily methadone dose and (2) immediately prior to receiving their standard daily dose. The impact of stress, timing of methadone dose and their interaction were examined on self-report measures of stress and craving for methadone.

Results

Craving ratings varied according to the timing of last methadone dose. Immediately following methadone dose (i.e., day 1), there was no effect for stress on craving (0.12; p = 0.30). However, prior to receiving methadone dose (i.e., day 2), the high stress effect on craving was significant (1.51; p < 0.001).

Discussion

The present findings indicate that patients currently receiving methadone maintenance treatment may be particularly vulnerable to stress-related relapse immediately prior to daily methadone dosing.     

Prepurchase Attribute Verifiability,Source Credibility,and Persuasion

Recent research has found that search and experience attribute claims are processed differently by consumers, with search attribute claims typically being more believable than experience attribute claims. It is, however, routinely the case that marketers desire to promote a product by making a claim featuring an experience attribute. The marketing literature has largely neglected the issue of how to enhance persuasion of experience attribute claims. The purpose of this research was to fill this void. We reason that source credibility impacts the receipt of experience claims and search claims differently. We then report results of 2 experiments featuring 2 different types of sources in the context of 2 different categories that suggest a source high in credibility can be employed to make experience claims more persuasive. The contributions our study makes to the persuasion literature and avenues for future research are discussed.     

Artificial intelligence consumer behavior: A hybrid review and research agenda

The advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technology and its applications has drastically transformed consumer behavior (CB). As consumers interact with these applications on multiple platforms and touchpoints, it becomes crucial to understand how these interactions affect consumer behavior and its components, including personality, attitude, engagement, decision-making, and trust. The research on the relationship between artificial intelligence and consumer behavior (hereafter referred to as AI CB) revolves around these topics and has grown exponentially in recent years. A rigorous review is required to provide directions for future studies by comprehending the extensive literature, understanding research gaps, and identifying the future directions for scholarly work. This article aims to address this research gap by analyzing 107 AI CB articles using the bibliometric and framework-based methodology to provide insights into publication trends, dominant theories, methods, antecedents, decisions, and outcomes in the AI CB literature. Most importantly, the review identifies clusters of research fronts and provides a thematic framework for current research. These clusters or themes relate to AI interaction with consumer behavior dimensions, including consumer acceptance and trust, consumer interaction and engagement, attitude and personality, decision-making, and adoption. This thematic framework and TCM-ADO analysis offer future research directions to advance theory development and have implications for industry and society.     

Exploring the role of augmented reality as a new brand advocate

Augmented reality (AR) has proven to be a potential source of disruption in the marketing discipline. Abundant research has attested to AR's potential by exploring the impact of AR attributes on behavioral intentions and users' attitudes. However, AR's potential to spark customer interactions, co-create value, and foster brand advocacy remains poorly understood. This study explores whether and how AR can turn users into brand advocates. Applying structural equation modeling to a sample of 502 AR users, the study finds that AR empowers users during their shopping experience, creating strong brand attachment and engagement and ultimately leading to brand advocacy. This brand-focused study, which goes beyond the technical aspects of AR, is unique and has the potential to inform the strategic decision-making of managers aiming to enhance the customer experience by means of AR implementation.     

Self-reported posttraumatic growth predicts greater subsequent posttraumatic stress amidst war and terrorism

Background and objective: This study tested three alternative explanations for research indicating a positive, but heterogeneous relationship between self-reported posttraumatic growth (PTG) and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PSS): (a) the third-variable hypothesis that the relationship between PTG and PSS is a spurious one driven by positive relationships with resource loss, (b) the growth over time hypothesis that the relationship between PTG and PSS is initially a positive one, but becomes negative over time, and (c) the moderator hypothesis that resource loss moderates the relationship between PTG and PSS such that PTG is associated with lower levels of PSS as loss increases. Design and method: A nationally representative sample (N?=?1622) of Israelis was assessed at three time points during a period of ongoing violence. PTG, resource loss, and the interaction between PTG and loss were examined as lagged predictors of PSS to test the proposed hypotheses. Results: Results were inconsistent with all three hypotheses, showing that PTG positively predicted subsequent PSS when accounting for main and interactive effects of loss. Conclusions: Our results suggest that self-reported PTG is a meaningful but counterintuitive predictor of poorer mental health following trauma.     

Moderating Role of Work Support in Stressor–Burnout Relationship: An Empirical Investigation Among Police Personnel in India

Policing has been contended as one of the most stressful occupations around the globe. With increasing police suicide cases and an upsurge in misconduct toward civilians by the police in India, a study on police stress and burnout was necessitated. The present study aimed at identifying the antecedents of burnout among police personnel. It further investigated the role of work support as a protective factor moderating the stressor and burnout relationship. A survey was conducted in the capital state of India. A total of 491 police personnel at inspector and sub-inspector rank from 128 police stations participated in this study. Multiple and hierarchical regression analyses were performed to examine the antecedents of burnout and to assess the buffering role of work support. The findings of the study revealed that among the several stressors, organizational and work–home interface positively significantly contributed to the development of burnout. The evidence for work support as a moderator was also observed. The findings of this study offer several practical implications to combat police stress and burnout. This study contributes to the growing literature on police burnout in the Indian context and highlights the role of work support in the policing context.