People who help people: A needs assessment of those who provide interpersonal support to individuals with chronic illnesses

Social support during an ongoing illness has been shown to be beneficial for both the provider and the receiver, but people often struggle with offering effective, appropriate support. There is a lack of communication-focused training not specifically tied to caregiving or training that is designed for all social network members of a person experiencing a chronic illness, which we call interpersonal support providers (ISPs). We conducted a concurrent mixed-methods needs assessment, surveying both ISPs and support receivers, to understand communicative challenges and inform an evidence-based intervention. Analysis of results from an online survey (N_providers = 91, N_receivers = 97), consisting of five open-ended and 15 quantitative items, suggests that ISPs have difficulty managing their worries and emotions while providing comfort to others, which may impact support quality. In addition, ISPs and receivers both identify “listening” as a key skill for ISPs to hone, though ISPs feel they are more skilled at listening than receivers say they are. Lastly, ISPs feel they are good at sharing information and advice, but receivers often perceive it as patronizing or unhelpful. These results will inform the creation of an intervention for everyone offering emotional, esteem, and informational support to individuals with chronic illnesses.     

Ordinance influences individuals' perceptions towards prospects of social circumstance but not the status quo: An experimental field study on sexual minorities issues in Japan

Scientific evidence shows that institutional decisions can change individuals' private attitudes towards relevant issues. However, little is known about their effect on individuals' perceptions of social norms. This intriguing question has gained the attention of scholars. Nonetheless, the findings are primarily observed only in samples of the Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, and Democratic countries, leading to doubts about their generalisability. This study experimentally tested residents' (N = 411) reactions to the new Tokyo ordinance prohibiting discrimination against sexual minorities enacted on October 5, 2018, and tested whether it dispelled self–other discrepancies regarding tolerance towards sexual minorities (i.e., pluralistic ignorance). The results showed that exposure to information about enactment increased future perceptions of support and understanding of sexual minorities. By contrast, private attitudes, perceptions of current social norms, and willingness to speak out did not change. Willingness to speak out was indirectly enhanced through increased perceptions of gaining future support. Furthermore, Tokyo residents overestimated other residents' negative attitudes towards sexual minorities. However, even when informed of the new ordinance, this self–other discrepancy in intolerance towards sexual minorities was not corrected. These findings suggest that institutional decisions can shape the perception of social norm change in the future beyond Western countries.     

Worldviews about change: Their structure and their implications for understanding responses to sustainability,technology, and political change

People hold different perspectives about how they think the world is changing or should change. We examined five of these “worldviews” about change: Progress, Golden Age, Endless Cycle, Maintenance, and Balance. In Studies 1–4 (total N = 2733) we established reliable measures of each change worldview, and showed how these help explain when people will support or oppose social change in contexts spanning sustainability, technological innovations, and political elections. In mapping out these relationships we identify how the importance of different change worldviews varies across contexts, with Balance most critical for understanding support for sustainability, Progress/Golden Age important for understanding responses to innovations, and Golden Age uniquely important for preferring Trump/Republicans in the 2016 US election. These relationships were independent of prominent individual differences (e.g., values, political orientation for elections) or context-specific factors (e.g., self-reported innovativeness for responses to innovations). Study 5 (N = 2140) examined generalizability in 10 countries/regions spanning five continents, establishing that these worldviews exhibited metric invariance, but with country/region differences in how change worldviews were related to support for sustainability. These findings show that change worldviews can act as a general “lens” people use to help determine whether to support or oppose social change.     

Susceptibility to prosocial and antisocial influence in adolescence following mindfulness training

Mindfulness training programmes have shown to encourage prosocial behaviours and reduce antisocial tendencies in adolescents. However, less is known about whether training affects susceptibility to prosocial and antisocial influence. The current study investigated the effect of mindfulness training (compared with an active control) on self-reported prosocial and antisocial tendencies and susceptibility to prosocial and antisocial influence. 465 adolescents aged 11–16 years were randomly allocated to one of two training programmes. Pre- and post-training, participants completed a social influence task. Self-reported likelihood of engaging in prosocial and antisocial behaviours did not change post-training, and regardless of training group, participants showed a higher propensity for prosocial influence than for antisocial influence. Finally, participants were less influenced by antisocial ratings following both training programmes.     

自闭症谱系障碍社交动机理论：机制及干预探索

自闭症谱系障碍(Autism Spectrum Disorder, ASD)表现为社会交往困难以及重复刻板兴趣或行为。社交动机理论提出ASD个体是由于社交动机缺乏导致的社交障碍。目前该理论缺乏理论元素及结构关系的系统论证, 及基于此理论的低龄ASD儿童群体的研究证据。本研究拟采用心理实验法、眼动及近红外脑成像技术, 探索低龄ASD儿童早期社交奖赏、社交定向异常眼动标记及眶额叶脑区活动的神经机制。此外, 通过音乐奖赏强化学习的干预方式改善该理论的核心元素(社交奖赏), 观测能否改善ASD儿童的社交动机。本研究的开展有望对该理论进行系统验证, 并形成改善社交行为的潜在干预方案。     

Examining Safety Behavior Subtypes Across Distinct Social Contexts in Social Anxiety Disorder and Major Depression

People with social anxiety disorder (SAD) use different types of safety behaviors that have been classified as avoidance vs. impression management. The current study investigated differences in safety behavior subtype use in 132 individuals with principal diagnoses of social anxiety disorder (SAD, n = 69), major depressive disorder (MDD, n = 30), and nonpatient controls (n = 33) across two social contexts: an interpersonal relationship-building task (social affiliation) and a speech task (social performance). We examined whether diagnostic groups differed in safety behavior subtype use and whether group differences varied by social context. We also explored relationships between avoidance and impression management safety behaviors, respectively, and positive and negative valence affective and behavioral outcomes within the social affiliation and social performance contexts. Safety behavior use varied by diagnosis (SAD > MDD > nonpatient controls). The effect of diagnosis on impression management safety behavior use depended on social context: use was comparable for the principal SAD and MDD groups in the social performance context, whereas the SAD group used more impression management safety behaviors than the MDD group in the social affiliation context. Greater use of avoidance safety behaviors related to higher negative affect and anxious behaviors, and lower positive affect and approach behaviors across contexts. Impression management safety behaviors were most strongly associated with higher positive affect and approach behaviors within the social performance context. These findings underscore the potential value of assessing safety behavior subtypes across different contexts and within major depression, in addition to SAD.     

Inoculation against conspiracy theories: A consumer side approach to India's fake news problem

We attempt to replicate Roozenbeek and van der Linden's Western-based study in India by employing the Bad News Game, an online game, in which players take on the role of a misinformation tycoon. They are exposed to weakened doses of the strategies employed in conspiracy and fake news production with the aim to cognitively inoculate them against misinformation. The proliferation of inexpensive mobile connections coupled with a lack of digital literacy has resulted in a conspiratorial pandemic in developing countries like India. We test the game's impact on an Indian sample (n = 1002) using a within-subject design. We provide evidence of significant improvement in the ability of participants to identify the misinformation produced using Conspiracy, Impersonation, and to a lesser extent, the Discrediting technique, while observing greater truth discernment in correctly identifying true news. We also conduct sub-sample analyses. These findings have positive implications for methods that protect users from malignant online content.     

“均”与“寡”阶段性变动下中国居民公平感的变迁

利用中国综合社会调查和中国社会状况综合调查重复截面数据,通过年龄-时期-队列模型对居民公平感的时代变化进行分析。研究发现公平感在年龄上呈“J”型趋势;从时期效应看, 2008年公平感较高, 2010～2013年在低谷徘徊,2015年以后又开始回升;从队列视角看,建国前出生队列公平感偏低,建国后初期的队列相对较高,“50”后有所下滑,从“60”后开始公平感持续走低,到“80”后跌入低谷,但“90”后又开始升高。从1949年前后“寡且不均”到建国初期阶段的“寡且均”,再到改革开放40年快速经济增长下“不寡但不均”的社会变迁过程影响了居民的公平感。