睡眠不足对人际交互的影响及其认知神经机制

睡眠不足会对人的认知、情感和人际交互产生诸多影响。这种影响在社会情绪层面表现为个体情绪共情和认知共情的减少,易激惹性与愤怒情绪的增加;在社会行为层面则表现为亲社会行为的减少和攻击行为的增加。在睡眠不足状态下,情绪系统和认知系统功能连接的减弱可能是这些变化的潜在机制。未来应结合生态效度较高的睡眠操作手段,系统考察睡眠不足如何导致各种高级社会情绪的改变,以及这些社会情绪的变化如何导致社会行为的变化。     

Interviews with ethnic interviewees: Non-verbal communication errors in impression formation

Two studies are described concerning ethnic interviewees in interviews. The first study (a style of presentation study) revealed several differences in non-verbal behaviour displayed by Dutch and ethnic interviewees in interviews. The second study showed that interviewees with an ‘ethnic style’ of non-verbal presentation were assessed more negatively than interviewees with a ‘Dutch style’ of non-verbal presentation by a Dutch selection board. Finally, some implications of the results are discussed.     

Personality and context-related factors of helping and helping-related affect during early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 pandemic led to introduction of lockdown measures in many countries, while in Serbia the Government also introduced the curfew by which vulnerable groups of citizens were prohibited from leaving their homes at any time. In such a situation many citizens organized to voluntarily offer their help to those in isolation, which offered a unique opportunity to examine prosocial behavior in the natural setting of global crisis. This study examined the differences between non-helpers and helpers, as well as groups of helpers who provided their help to close or unknown others, in personality (prosocial tendencies, selfishness and communal narcissism) and context-related factors (situation specific empathy and fear) of prosocial behaviors. Additionally, the study also analyzed the helping-related affect among helpers, depending on the recipient of help and personality characteristics. Results revealed that groups of helpers with different recipients of help (close persons, unknown persons or both) were not different among each other, but they were different from non-helpers. Non-helpers were more selfish and had self-focused prosocial tendencies, and they showed less empathy towards people in isolation, compared to helper groups. However, the helping-related affect depended on the recipient of help and helper's personality traits. This study confirmed some previous findings and offered novel insights into factors related to helping in crises.     

Sense of community improves community participation in Chinese residential communities: The mediating role of sense of community responsibility and prosocial tendencies

Community participation is essential for community development and enhancing quality of life. Several studies have focused on the relationship between sense of community (SOC) and community participation in organizational settings. Guided by the community experiences framework, this study aims to examine how a SOC improves community participation in Chinese residential communities. Moreover, the study aims to assess the mediating role of SOC responsibility (SOC-R) and prosocial tendencies in that relationship. A sample of 433 residents completed questionnaires regarding their SOC, sense of community responsibility, prosocial tendencies, and community participation. Using a linear regression model, we found that a SOC can positively predict the level of community participation. Mediation effect analysis revealed that a SOC-R mediated the relationship between SOC and community participation. In addition, prosocial tendencies mediated the association between the SOC and community participation. Using multiple mediation analysis, we found that SOC-R and prosocial tendencies mediated the link between a SOC and community participation in a sequential manner. The findings of this study complement existing research by uncovering the mechanism underlying the relationship between a SOC and community participation.     

The significance of unusual acts in sexual homicide

In addition to being an unusual form of crime, sexual homicide (SH) sometimes includes unusual crime scene behaviours, such as carving on the victim, evisceration (i.e., removal of internal organs), skinning the victim, cannibalism and vampirism. The current study investigates these unusual crime scene behaviours to better understand their meaning as well as to explore whether such behaviours are associated with a specific crime-commission process. Using a sample of 762 SH cases, the study uses a combination of chi-square and stepwise forward logistic regression analyses to identify the differences between cases with and without unusual acts. Findings reveal that SH cases with unusual acts present a specific crime-commission process. This crime-commission process is characterised by a greater level of sadism—as demonstrated by the presence of mutilation and foreign object insertion—as well as a greater level of organisation from the selection of a contact location where the risk of being seen or heard was low. These findings provide a better understanding of these behaviours and could help investigators facing such cases.     

When the poor give more than the rich: The role of resource evaluability on relative giving

Five experiments examined the role of resource evaluability on giving. We systematically varied participants' resources they and another potential donor received and whether they could donate to a recipient either by themselves or with the other donor. Participants in the relative advantage condition received more resources than the other donor, and those in the relative disadvantage condition received fewer resources than the other donor. The presence of the other donor made participants' resources evaluable and shaped giving: Relatively disadvantaged participants were proportionally more generous than advantaged participants but only when they could evaluate their resources. Neither the mere presence of others nor reputational concerns could explain the results. Exploratory mediation and moderation analyses further showed that relatively disadvantaged participants give proportionally more the higher and the more equal they perceive their status to the advantaged donor. This shows that the generosity of those who have less does depend on how they evaluate their status compared to other donors. Our results provide insights into the question of why and when resource asymmetries between donors result in prosocial giving and can influence fundraising strategies of charitable organizations.     

Normal values for Type A behaviour patterns in Danish men and women and in potential high-risk groups

The Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS) was administered to a normal population of randomly selected Danish adults, to patients consulting a cardiologist, and to physicians in order to compare those groups in terms of their coronary-prone (Type A) behaviour patterns. The standard procedure of rating the JAS was used in order to obtain scores for each of the four subscales: Type A (time urgency and ambitiousness), Factor S (speed and impatience) Factor H (hard-driving and competitive) and Factor J (job involvement). Gender differences were observed in the normal population for each of the four subscale scores, and age-related differences were obtained for Factor J. Elevated scores for Factor S were obtained by physicians and by people in the population who had a cardiovascular disorder. Physicians had also elevated scores for Factor J, whereas their Factor H scores tended to be reduced. No reliable differences in JAS subscale scores were observed between four groups of heart patients (i.e. angina pectoris, arterial hypertension, atrial fibrillation and atherosclerosis), although there was a tendency for Factor J to be elevated in atherosclerosis. The findings provide normal values for JAS scores in Danish men and women, and suggest that some facets of coronary-prone behaviour may be enhanced in Danish high-risk groups.     

Smoking and Type A behaviour

This study examines the relationship between Type A behaviour and smoking. Data were gathered from a random sample of 100 undergraduate male daily smokers, with a mean age of 21.2 years (SD = 2.72), using the Type A Behaviour Scale (Bortner and Rosenman, 1967). Results reveal that Type A smokers are heavier daily consumers of cigarettes than Type B smokers (t = 2.90, p less than 0.01). The observed relationship between smoking and Type A behaviour remains significant even when the influence of aggression in partialled out. The need to further investigate the interplay of genetic and non-genetic predispositions, and smoking in the incidence of coronary heart diseases (CHD) is suggested.