Plasticity for Affective Neurocircuitry: How the Environment Affects Gene Expression

ABSTRACT— We ( Fox et al., 2005 ) recently described a gene-by-environment interaction involving child temperament and maternal social support, finding heightened behavioral inhibition in children homozygous or heterozygous for the serotonin transporter (5HTTLPR) gene short allele whose mothers reported low social support. Here, we propose a model, Plasticity for Affective Neurocircuitry, that describes the manner in which genetic disposition and environmental circumstances may interact. Children with a persistently fearful temperament (and the 5HTTLPR short allele) are more likely to experience caregiving environments in which threat is highlighted. This in turn will exacerbate an attention bias that alters critical affective neurocircuitry to threat and enhances and maintains anxious behavior in the child.     

风险情景中的机会和威胁认知

随着近年来社会经济的高速发展 ,人们面临着越来越多的风险问题。该研究的目的在于深入分析个体成就动机、风险情景中的行为反应方式以及机会 -威胁认知三者之间的关系。研究采用问卷设计 ,由成就动机量表、抽彩游戏和机会 -威胁问卷三部分组成。被试来自北京和重庆地区的三所高校 (N =2 6 2 )。结果发现 :(1)成就动机中的“回避失败”变量对个体在风险情景中的反应方式以及机会 -威胁认知有显著性的影响 (p <0 0 5 ) ;(2 )机会 -威胁认知水平不同的个体在风险情景中的反应方式有着显著性的差异 (p <0 0 1) ,机会认知与行为变量的相关达到了显著性水平 (p <0 0 5 ) ;(3)四组被试分别表现出高机会 -低威胁等 4种认知组合 ,因此机会与威胁认知可能存在于两维空间     

Situational disengagement and persistence in the face of adversity

Research suggests that the experience of belonging to a group whose academic abilities are negatively stereotyped fosters disidentification over time, that is, the psychological insulation of the self from academic evaluations and outcomes (Crocker, Major, & Steele, 1998). This research tests whether the process of disidentification can ironically improve motivation when mobilized in response to specific situations. Black and White participants were given negative feedback on an ability-diagnostic or non-diagnostic task. Subsequently, all participants were given the opportunity to persist on the task and their level of disengagement was assessed. As hypothesized, Black participants in the diagnostic condition displayed the most persistence as well as the most disengagement and this persistence response was mediated by their disengagement. The results suggest that, in contrast to chronic disengagement, situational disengagement may help facilitate motivation and persistence.     

Common and distinct factors in decision making under ambiguity and risk: A psychometric study of individual differences

The relation between decision making under ambiguity and risky decision making was examined. In Studies 1 and 2, choices under ambiguity were measured for a large sample receiving an Ellsberg-type Ambiguity-Probability Tradeoff Task. Participants with extreme scores were recruited for Part 2 of each study which consisted of a risky decision making task (Study 1) or a series of decisions under ambiguity in “real life” scenarios (Study 2). Despite a time gap of up to 2 months, individual differences in scores on Part 1 predicted scores on Part 2. In Study 3 participants received in a single session several risky decision making tasks, several measures of decision making under ambiguity, and several personality scales related to uncertainty and decision making style. Taken together, the findings support the existence of a stable dispositional trait to reduce uncertainty in decision making but also task-specific differences related to gains and losses.     

Uncertainty and confidence from the triple-network perspective: Voxel-based meta-analyses

Our subjective confidence about particular events is related to but independent from the objective certainty of the stimuli we encounter. Surprisingly, previous investigations of the neurophysiological correlates of confidence and uncertainty have largely been carried out separately. After systematically reviewing the blood oxygenation-level dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD fMRI) literature, and splitting studies on the basis of their task requirements, a voxel-based meta-analysis was performed to identify: (i) those regions which are replicably modulated by the uncertainty of environmental conditions; (ii) those regions whose activity is robustly affected by our subjective confidence; and (iii) those regions differentially activated at these contrasting times. In further meta-analyses the consistency of activation between these judgement types was assessed. Increased activation was consistently observed in the salience (anterior cingulate cortex and insula) and central executive network (dorsolateral prefrontal and posterior parietal cortices) in conditions of increased uncertainty; by contrast, default mode network (midline cortical and medial temporal lobe) regions robustly exhibited a positive relationship with subjective confidence. Regions including right parahippocampal gyrus were positively modulated by magnitude across both certainty and confidence judgements. This region was also shown to be more significantly modulated by confidence magnitude as compared with degree of environmental certainty. The functional and methodological implications of these findings are discussed with a view to improving future investigation of the neural basis of metacognitive judgement.     

Empowering leadership,uncertainty avoidance,trust, and employee creativity: Interaction effects and a mediating mechanism

Taking an interactional approach, we hypothesized that (a) there is an interaction between empowering leadership, uncertainty avoidance, and trust that affects creativity, such that empowering leadership has the strongest positive relationship with creativity when the employees have high levels of uncertainty avoidance and trust their supervisors; and (b) creative self-efficacy mediates the effect that this three-way interaction between empowering leadership, uncertainty avoidance and trust has on creativity. In Study 1, we used a time-lagged research design, collecting multi-source data from 322 employees and their supervisors. The results of Study 1 supported our hypotheses. In Study 2, we used a more temporally rigorous research design in which data were collected in three stages, with a two-month time interval separating Stages 1 and 2, and Stages 2 and 3. On the basis of the time-lagged and multi-source data from 199 employees and their supervisors, Study 2 produced the same results as Study 1. We discuss the implications of these results for future research and practice.     

The Uncertainty Paradox: Perceived Threat Moderates the Effect of Uncertainty on Political Tolerance

People respond to dissimilar political beliefs in a variety of ways, ranging from openness and acceptance to closed‐mindedness and intolerance. While there is reason to believe that uncertainty may influence political tolerance, the direction of this influence remains unclear. We propose that threat moderates the effect of uncertainty on tolerance; when safe, uncertainty leads to greater tolerance, yet when threatened, uncertainty leads to reduced tolerance. Using independent manipulations of threat and uncertainty, we provide support for this hypothesis. This research demonstrates that, although feelings of threat and uncertainty can be independent, it is also important to understand their interaction.     

Societal Threat to Safety,Compensatory Control,and Right‐Wing Authoritarianism

We analyzed directly and indirectly the relationships between societal threat to safety, perceived control, and the increase in right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA) in two studies. In Study 1 (national sample of the Italian population, N = 1,169), we performed a longitudinal analysis structured into three waves (January 2003, September 2004, and January 2005). A moderated regression analysis showed that RWA increased from 2003 to 2005 as a function of perceived societal threat to safety more among low‐ than among high RWA scorers. In experimental Study 2 (Italian university students, N = 131) a moderated mediation model showed loss of perceived control to mediate the relation between societal threat to safety and the increase in RWA, but among low authoritarians only. Limitations, implications, and possible developments of this research are discussed.     

Validity of the trait emotional intelligence questionnaire in sports and its links with performance satisfaction

ObjectiveThis research project consisted of two studies aimed at validating the trait emotional intelligence questionnaire (TEIQue) in a sports sample.DesignStudy 1 used a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to investigate if the original 4-factor structure of the TEIQue could be replicated in a sample of athletes. In addition, we explored the relationship between trait emotional intelligence (trait EI) and the demographic variables age, sex, type of sport (individual vs. team), expertise, and years of training. Study 2 used a path analysis approach to explore if trait EI is related to performance satisfaction through stress appraisal and coping behaviors.MethodIn Study 1, 973 athletes completed the TEIQue and a demographic questionnaire. In Study 2, 291 athletes completed the TEIQue. Moreover, with a recent competition in mind, they completed the Coping Inventory for Competitive Sports, as well as items on perceived intensity of stress, perceived controllability of stress, challenge and threat appraisals, coping effectiveness, and performance satisfaction.ResultsStudy 1 showed with a CFA that the original 4-factor structure of the TEIQue could be replicated in a sports sample. Of the demographic variables, only age showed a significant positive relationship with trait EI. Study 2 showed that trait EI was related to performance satisfaction through stress appraisal and coping variables.ConclusionsThis research showed that the TEIQue can be used with athletes and that trait EI is useful for understanding certain aspects of sports performance satisfaction.     

Social anxiety and interpretation of ambiguous smiles

This study investigated whether social anxiety facilitates the discrimination between genuine and ambiguous smiles. Socially anxious (N=20) and nonanxious (N=20) participants categorized as “happy” or “not happy” faces with either (1) a truly happy expression (i.e., happy eyes and a smile), (2) truly nonhappy expressions (e.g., angry eyes and an angry mouth), or (3) blended expressions with a smiling mouth and nonhappy (e.g., angry, sad, etc.) eyes. Results indicated that, relative to nonanxious participants, those high in social anxiety were more likely to judge as “not happy” any blended expression with nonhappy eyes, and they were faster in judging as “not happy” the blended expressions with angry, fearful, or disgusted eyes (but not those with sad, surprised, or neutral eyes). These results suggest, respectively, that social anxiety inhibits a benign interpretation of all the ambiguous expressions with a smile, and speeds up the detection of threatening eyes in such expressions. Importantly, no differences appeared as a function of social anxiety for truly happy or nonhappy faces. This rules out a response-bias explanation, and also reveals that social anxiety does not affect sensitivity in the recognition of prototypical expressions.