{"title":"When Gig Work Gets Ruff: The Affective Benefits of Daily Human–Animal Interactions for Mental Health","authors":"Ana Junça-Silva","doi":"10.1002/ijop.70209","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ijop.70209","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Gig work has emerged as one of the fastest-growing employment trends, with its expansion accelerating during the COVID-19 pandemic. As this form of work continues to evolve, it has brought to light several characteristics—such as instability, isolation and lack of social support—that may adversely affect workers' mental health. Accordingly, it is essential to identify mechanisms and conditions that can protect gig workers from psychological deterioration. Grounded in Affective Events Theory, this study investigated (1) the mediating role of daily affect ratio in the relationship between daily human-animal interactions (HAI) and mental health, and (2) the moderating role of neuroticism in this indirect relationship. Using a daily diary design involving 205 freelance journalists (5 daily observations per participant, totalling 1025 observations), multilevel analyses yielded three key findings. First, daily HAI was positively associated with mental health through its enhancement of the daily affect ratio. Second, the positive effect of daily HAI on affect ratio was stronger among individuals with higher levels of neuroticism. Third, neuroticism amplified the indirect effect of daily HAI on mental health via affect ratio. Theoretical and practical implications for supporting gig workers' mental health are discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":48146,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Psychology","volume":"61 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13065372/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147646966","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Changhao Yuan, Huiling Zhou, Aoxuan Wang, Huaibin Jiang, Na Xiao
{"title":"Associations Between Depression and Problematic Social Media Use: A Longitudinal Study and Daily Diary Study","authors":"Changhao Yuan, Huiling Zhou, Aoxuan Wang, Huaibin Jiang, Na Xiao","doi":"10.1002/ijop.70210","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ijop.70210","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Depression is frequently associated with problematic social media use (PSMU), yet evidence integrating day-to-day dynamics with longer-term temporal ordering remains limited. We conducted two studies to examine these associations. In Study 1, 169 college students completed a 2-week daily diary assessing depressive symptoms adapted from the Kutcher Adolescent Depression Scale and PSMU derived from the PSMU Scale. Dynamic structural equation modelling indicated reciprocal within-person lagged effects: higher daily depression predicted higher PSMU on the next day, and higher daily PSMU also predicted higher depression on the next day. In Study 2, 473 adolescents were assessed over a 9-month period using the PSMU Scale and the Kutcher Adolescent Depression Scale at each wave. Longitudinal analyses showed that depression at T1 predicted PSMU at T2, whereas PSMU at T1 did not predict depression at T2. Together, these findings suggest that depression and PSMU may reinforce each other in daily life, but over longer periods, depression appears to be a more robust antecedent of problematic social media engagement. Implications for prevention and intervention targeting depressive symptoms and maladaptive social media use are discussed.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":48146,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Psychology","volume":"61 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147628618","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Iva Linda Maruščáková, Lea Jakob, Hana Vostrá Vydrová, Marek Špinka
{"title":"Dark Triad Traits Affect the Perception of Emotions in Animal Calls","authors":"Iva Linda Maruščáková, Lea Jakob, Hana Vostrá Vydrová, Marek Špinka","doi":"10.1002/ijop.70205","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ijop.70205","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Humans can recognize emotions from vocalisations of various animal species. Our study examined whether human psychological differences in dark personality traits (as measured by SD3) and musician experience affect the decoding of emotions in animal calls. Respondents assessed the situation and the valence and intensity of emotion experienced by the animal in calls of piglets recorded in three social and one painful situation. With increasing psychopathy scores, individuals made more misclassification errors between social and painful calls and also perceived the social calls as more negative. Higher Machiavellianism scores were associated with a more positively perceived valence of social and painful calls. Furthermore, respondents with musician experience and using Czech (as opposed to English) positively shifted the perceived valence of social calls. These findings indicate that humans with higher psychopathic traits may possess mechanisms that blunt the difference between distressing and positive vocal signals, thus making it easier to exploit or manipulate others. Furthermore, interindividual personality differences and musical experiences influence how humans perceive emotions in vocal signals devoid of verbal cues. The implications are made for human-animal interaction, the general dark triad theory, and the perception of emotions in nonverbal human infant calls.</p>","PeriodicalId":48146,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Psychology","volume":"61 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13049094/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147616658","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Isabella R L Bossom, Sarah Enouy, Julie Blais, Michael J A Wohl, Scott Pruysers, Nassim Tabri
{"title":"Explaining Unique and Common Variance in Financially Focused Self-Concept From Dark Triad and Honesty-Humility Personality Traits Using Commonality Analyses.","authors":"Isabella R L Bossom, Sarah Enouy, Julie Blais, Michael J A Wohl, Scott Pruysers, Nassim Tabri","doi":"10.1002/ijop.70196","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ijop.70196","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We investigated the personality correlates of financially focused self-concept, a construct describing individuals who overemphasise financial success as central to their self-definition and self-worth. We examined the unique and shared associations between financially focused self-concept and the Dark Triad traits (Machiavellianism, psychopathy and narcissism) as well as Honesty-Humility at the facet level to provide greater specificity than trait-level analysis. Using cross-sectional data from 1725 Canadian adults who completed validated self-report measures, we conducted commonality analyses. Results revealed significant associations between financially focused self-concept and Machiavellianism facets (antagonism and planfulness), all psychopathy facets, narcissistic vulnerability and lower levels of greed-avoidance and modesty. These findings enhance understanding of the personality profiles of individuals who prioritise financial success excessively.</p>","PeriodicalId":48146,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Psychology","volume":"61 2","pages":"e70196"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12972641/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147390896","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Moral Decision-Making Under Ego Depletion in Virtual Reality: The Buffering Role of Emotion.","authors":"Yanglei Cao, Yatong Liu, Changfeng Wang","doi":"10.1002/ijop.70197","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ijop.70197","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>While dual-process theory has advanced our understanding of moral decision-making, traditional research has relied heavily on text-based scenarios. These paradigms fail to elicit genuine behavioural responses, thereby obscuring the underlying mechanisms of moral action. The present study employed two experiments to investigate the interactive effects of ego depletion and emotion on moral decision-making, as well as the underlying physiological mechanisms, within a Virtual Reality (VR) environment. Study 1 revealed that, compared to text-based conditions, VR elicited heightened physiological arousal-manifested as accelerated heart rate and respiratory rate-reflecting a state of high somatic engagement. Under low ego depletion, this immersion resulted in increased utilitarian tendencies. However, this facilitating effect of VR was nullified under high ego depletion conditions. Study 2 demonstrated that positive emotion effectively buffers the negative impact of ego depletion on moral decision-making, preserving utilitarian tendencies even under high depletion. These results suggest that moral decision-making in realistic contexts is not a purely cognitive exercise in abstract reasoning; rather, it is a resource-dependent process characterised by a dynamic interplay between cognition, emotion, and situational context. Beyond validating positive emotion as a buffer against cognitive depletion, this study underscores the critical importance of ecological validity.</p>","PeriodicalId":48146,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Psychology","volume":"61 2","pages":"e70197"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147390859","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Mitigating the Experience of Everyday Boredom: The Role of Conscientiousness.","authors":"Jie Liu, Wenqi Li, Dan Lin","doi":"10.1002/ijop.70201","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ijop.70201","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study examined the relation between HEXACO personality traits and the experience of everyday boredom. Grounded in the theoretical frameworks concerning both boredom and personality, we particularly focused on the link and underlying mechanisms of conscientiousness and state boredom. Three studies-two daily diary studies and one experience sampling study-were conducted. Across the three studies, with 401 Chinese participants answering around 5900 daily episodes, the results consistently demonstrated that trait conscientiousness was a negative predictor of everyday boredom. State conscientiousness explained the conscientiousness-boredom relation. More importantly, situational meaning moderated the conscientiousness-boredom relation in the way that conscientious people were less likely to feel bored even in situations that were less meaningful to them. The implications of these findings are discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":48146,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Psychology","volume":"61 2","pages":"e70201"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147390883","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Menelaos Apostolou, Mark Sullman, Jessica D Ayers, Agata Błachnio, Rajneesh Choubisa, Hesham F Gadelrab, Tetiana Hill, Shanmukh Kamble, Yanina Lisun, Denisse Manrique-Millones, Rosa Millones-Rivalles, Yohsuke Ohtsubo, Aneta Przepiórka, Burcu Tekeş, Germano Vera Cruz, Yan Wang, Yukino Watanabe, Arya Ghorbani, Ghada Shahrour
{"title":"Do People Get the Friends They Want? A Cross-Cultural Investigation.","authors":"Menelaos Apostolou, Mark Sullman, Jessica D Ayers, Agata Błachnio, Rajneesh Choubisa, Hesham F Gadelrab, Tetiana Hill, Shanmukh Kamble, Yanina Lisun, Denisse Manrique-Millones, Rosa Millones-Rivalles, Yohsuke Ohtsubo, Aneta Przepiórka, Burcu Tekeş, Germano Vera Cruz, Yan Wang, Yukino Watanabe, Arya Ghorbani, Ghada Shahrour","doi":"10.1002/ijop.70198","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ijop.70198","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>People desire friends who have qualities such as similarity, the ability to provide support, opportunities for socialisation, assistance in achieving self-serving goals and access to potential mates. In the current study, we aimed to examine the degree of overlap between the friends people consider ideal and those they actually have. Using a sample of 6224 participants from 12 countries, we found that, across five dimensions of friendship, ideal and actual friendships considerably overlapped and ideal preferences were significant and strong predictors of actual friendships. Still, the overlap between ideal and actual friendships was not complete; rather, a small deficit emerged, with participants getting less of what they wanted. These results were consistent across the 12 countries in our sample. We also found significant effects of the Dark Triad personality traits on several dimensions of friendship.</p>","PeriodicalId":48146,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Psychology","volume":"61 2","pages":"e70198"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12972647/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147390938","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Role of Personality in Vaccination Attitudes: A Replication and Extension.","authors":"Holly A Kendell, Philip A Vernon","doi":"10.1002/ijop.70199","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ijop.70199","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study is a replication and extension of previous research which demonstrated that individuals who identified as Vaxxers and Anti-vaxxers during the COVID-19 pandemic differ in several personality traits. We aimed to further explore personality trait differences between vaccine supporters and opponents. Our study recruited 219 individuals via mTurk who either strongly supported or strongly opposed being vaccinated for COVID-19. Participants completed measures of HEXACO traits honesty-humility and conscientiousness, locus of control, desirability of control, intolerance of uncertainty, generic conspiracy beliefs, and the Dark Triad. Significant differences were found between the groups on measures of generic conspiracy beliefs and intolerance of uncertainty, in the expected directions. These results suggest that vaccine supporters and opponents differ in key personality traits, highlighting the importance of psychological factors in shaping vaccination attitudes. Examining these factors can guide and inform public health interventions and contribute to greater success in vaccination efforts.</p>","PeriodicalId":48146,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Psychology","volume":"61 2","pages":"e70199"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12981999/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147445625","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Correction to 'Regional Differences in Intergroup Trust Between Northern and Southern China'.","authors":"","doi":"10.1002/ijop.70200","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ijop.70200","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48146,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Psychology","volume":"61 2","pages":"e70200"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147436649","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Larysa Zasiekina, Serhii Zasiekin, Victor Kuperman
{"title":"Moral Injury and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in War: The Effect of Marital Status and Previous Genocidal Trauma.","authors":"Larysa Zasiekina, Serhii Zasiekin, Victor Kuperman","doi":"10.1002/ijop.70204","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ijop.70204","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study examines the intergenerational transfer of the genocidal trauma of the Holodomor (1932-33) and explores how marital status moderates its impact on moral injury and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the context of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Moral injury, distinct from PTSD, arises from the violation of moral beliefs, leading to emotional distress characterised by guilt, shame, anger, disgust and a sense of betrayal. While previous research predominantly focused on direct survivors of genocide, this study expands the understanding of moral injury to their descendants, particularly the third and fourth generations, highlighting the often-overlooked familial dynamics involved. Through a sample of 1857 participants, our findings reveal that married descendants of Holodomor survivors exhibit significantly higher levels of moral injury when familial genocidal trauma is present, contrasting with non-married individuals who show no significant difference. This suggests that marital status plays a vital role in shaping the emotional burden of inherited moral injury, as these individuals grapple with the dual responsibilities of familial protection and the distress of genocidal trauma. Our results indicate that the interaction of genocidal trauma and marital status does not extend to PTSD. These findings emphasise the need for targeted family-based interventions to address the complexities of intergenerational moral injury.</p>","PeriodicalId":48146,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Psychology","volume":"61 2","pages":"e70204"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13004653/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147490902","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}