Too hot to help or too cold to care? On the links between ambient temperature,volunteerism, and civic engagement

We investigated the relationship between ambient temperature and prosocial behaviour in real-life settings. It was guided by two mechanisms of opposite predictions, namely (1) higher temperatures decrease prosociality by harming well-being, and (2) higher temperatures increase prosociality by promoting the embodied cognition of social warmth. In Study 1, U.S. state-level time-series data (2002–2015) supported the first mechanism, with higher temperatures predicting lower volunteer rates through lower well-being. Study 2 furthered the investigation by probing the relationship between neighbourhood temperature and civic engagement of 2268 U.S. citizens. The data partially supported the well-being mechanism and reported findings contradictory to the social embodiment mechanism. Higher temperatures predicted lower interpersonal trust and subsequently lower civic engagement. The unexpected finding hinted at a cognitive effect of heat and a compensatory mechanism in social thermoregulation. We discussed the findings regarding their methodological strengths and weaknesses, with cautions made on ecological fallacies and alternative models.     

Influence of response time frame on mood assessment

Abstract

Dental anxiety and the related avoidance of dental treatment can result in severe impairment of health. We investigated the influence on avoidance behavior of phobic severity, gender, characteristics related to generalized anxiety and depression, such as dysfunctional cognitions and sensitivity of bodily symptoms, as well as personality traits of self-efficacy and locus of control. Forty-eight dental phobics were given an initial assessment and avoidance behavior was determined by the degree of observance of three subsequent dental appointments. Principal component analysis revealed separate factors for trait and phobic anxiety as well as for avoidance and dysfunctional cognitions. Women showed a higher degree of avoidance than men. Regression analysis revealed a high desire for control over dental treatment combined with a low level of perceived control as the only significant predictor variable of avoidance. The results suggest that avoidance behavior in dental phobia could be reduced by extending patients’ control over treatment conditions.     

低色温低强度背景光照射下液晶显示颜色编码的实验研究

采用一台有源矩阵彩色液晶显示器作为主要实验装置,对低色温、低强度背景光照射下液晶显示颜色编码范围及其与色标大小的关系进行了研究。实验结果表明:(1)液晶显示器上色标大小对绝对辨认效果有显著影响,随着色标的增大,辨认错误率随之下降,但下降率则随色标的增大而递减。(2)在色温为3100K的低强度背景光照射下,液晶显示的颜色编码范围因色标大小不同而存在显著差异,当色标面积减小到1×1mm2至2×2mm2时,编码色数目仅限于3-4种。     

With a little help from my friends: A computational model for the role of social support in mood regulation

The growing interest in the role of social support in mental and physical health has led to the development of several intelligent systems that aim to use social mechanisms to simulate healthy behaviour. In this paper a computational model of a human agent is presented which describes the effect of social support on mood. According to the literature, social support can either refer to the social resources that individuals perceive to be available or to the support that is actually provided in problematic situations. The proposed model distinguishes between both roles of social support. The role of social network characteristics has been taken into account, as an individual can perceive or receive social support through his/her social network. In addition, the number of connections (friends), strength of ties (relationships), social isolation and social integration have been studied. Simulation experiments have been done to analyze the effect of the different types of support in different scenarios and also to analyze the role of various social network characteristics on the mood level. It is shown that support can help to reduce the induced stress and thus can contribute to healthy mood regulation and prevention of depression. The presented model provides a basis for an intelligent support system for people with mood regulation problems that take the social network of people into account.     

A Strange Fire: an exploration of psycho‐spiritual development aided by Jungian analysis and Vedanta

This paper explores the process of psychological and spiritual development through a series of active imaginations arising from the author's ‘psycho‐spiritual quest’, a process of transformation in which the individual progressively frees themselves from the ego's identifications and may be afforded a vision of the ‘self as consciousness’, as described by Vedanta. The author describes how this quest was facilitated by the disciplines of Transcendental Meditation, Jungian analysis and Vedanta, and how these three disciplines can work together to foster psycho‐spiritual development. The paper aims to de‐mystify the actual experiences that can accompany these practices. The records of these active imaginations, tracing some key stages in this process, are then presented, with a commentary by Marcus West, linking them to Jung's concepts of ego and Self and recent understandings of consciousness and ego development. There is a discussion of Jung's conceptualizations of the ego and the Self and his rejection of the Vedantic understanding of the Self as consciousness. These views are then explored and a reconciliation is suggested through the understanding of the process of disidentification where the difference between Jung's view of the Self and that of Vedanta is understood to be due to the extent of disidentification from the contents of consciousness.     

红光照明条件下VDT不同显示色的视觉效果比较

本研究以VDT上持续进行的视觉作业速度和眼的调节辐合时间作为指标,对红光照明条件下VDT显示的红、黄、绿、蓝、白五种字符色的视觉效果进行了比较.实验中,VDT背景光的主波长为630nm.结果表明,五种字符色在两项指标上均表现出显著差异;绿色显示的视觉效果最好,红色显示的效果最差,黄、白、蓝三色处于中间.     

Psychological individuation and spiritual enlightenment: some comparisons and points of contact

In his writings on individuation Jung often references Eastern religions and philosophies such as Buddhism, Taoism, and Hinduism. This essay discusses differences and similarities between analytical psychology's concept of individuation, especially in its advanced stages, and enlightenment as expressed in such texts as Zen (Chan) Buddhism's Ten Ox‐Herding Pictures. I advance the argument that important common features can be found while cultural differences must also be respected. There is here a convergence between West and East that can foster dialogue and mutuality.     

Too hot to help! Exploring the impact of ambient temperature on helping

Building on the conservation of resources model, we conducted three studies to explore the link between ambient temperature and individual prosocial behavior. In study 1, analyzing the two‐wave field data from a chain of retail stores in Eastern Europe, we find that, in hot, as opposed to normal temperatures, employees are less likely to act in a prosocial manner. In study 2, we replicate and extend these findings in a randomized controlled experiment by identifying mechanisms underlying the relationship between hot ambient temperature and helping behavior. Specifically, we find that heat increases fatigue that leads to reduction in positive affect and subsequently reduces individual helping. Finally, in study 3, we replicate these findings in a field experiment. Taken together, our study helps to explain how and through what mechanisms ambient temperature influences individual helping. The theoretical and practical implications of our findings are discussed.     

Illusory smoke and dazzling fog

It is well known that a flat ellipse rotating in the frontoparallel plane appears, after brief inspection, as a rigid circular disc tilting back and forth in a 3-D space. We here report that rotation of a grey-shaded ellipse on a white or on a black background produces the compelling illusion of a dark smoke or a dazzling fog (depending on the conditions of the background) moving in front of a completely white or completely black tilting disc. The fog effect disappears when there is a luminance contrast all along the perimeter of the ellipse. An experiment is reported showing that the effect can be experienced in static conditions only to a limited extent and mostly in the `dazzling' version, and that relative movement between the contours of the figure and the shaded area is crucial to the occurrence of the effect, while the occurrence of a depth effect is not. Received: 25 February 1999 / Accepted: 11 April 2000