{"title":"A joint research agenda for climate action bridges behavioral sciences and urban planning","authors":"Felix Creutzig, Lucia A. Reisch","doi":"10.1038/s44271-024-00143-z","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44271-024-00143-z","url":null,"abstract":"We argue for systematically integrating behavioral sciences and urban planning to develop a joint agenda for research and planning practice. By viewing urban form as a critical choice architecture for making people’s choices more climate-friendly, this approach may unlock new pathways for higher liveability of cities. Behavioral sciences should be systematically integrated with urban planning. Urban form is a critical choice architecture for making people’s choices more climate-friendly, and improve liveability of cities.","PeriodicalId":501698,"journal":{"name":"Communications Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"1-4"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s44271-024-00143-z.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142519181","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Erin Cooley, Jazmin L. Brown-Iannuzzi, Nava Caluori, Nicholas Elacqua, William Cipolli
{"title":"White Americans who perceive themselves to be “last place” in the racial status hierarchy are most drawn to alt-right extremism","authors":"Erin Cooley, Jazmin L. Brown-Iannuzzi, Nava Caluori, Nicholas Elacqua, William Cipolli","doi":"10.1038/s44271-024-00154-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44271-024-00154-w","url":null,"abstract":"Economic inequality and alt-right extremism have reached historic highs in the U.S. We propose that high economic inequality may uphold stereotypes that white people are wealthy which may lead some white Americans to feel in the precarious position of falling behind their racial group’s high status. For white Americans who also feel that they are being passed in status by People of Color, such perceptions may make ideologies that aim to benefit white people particularly appealing. Across two studies (Pilot: N = 465; Study 1: N = 1,449), using representative quota sampling of non-Hispanic, white Americans, we combine a measure of subjective status with latent profile analysis to identify white Americans who feel they are in “Last Place” (i.e., falling behind most white, Black, Asian, and Latinx Americans). Controlling for objective status, white Americans in this “Last Place” profile were most likely to support alt-right ideology, politicians, and events. White Americans who feel they are in “last place” – falling behind the perceived status of most white, Black, Asian, and Latinx Americans – express the most support for alt-right ideology and politics.","PeriodicalId":501698,"journal":{"name":"Communications Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"1-10"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11519339/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142524057","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Social threat avoidance depends on action-outcome predictability","authors":"Matteo Sequestro, Jade Serfaty, Julie Grèzes, Rocco Mennella","doi":"10.1038/s44271-024-00152-y","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44271-024-00152-y","url":null,"abstract":"Avoiding threatening individuals is pivotal for adaptation to our social environment. Yet, it remains unclear whether social threat avoidance is subtended by goal-directed processes, in addition to stimulus-response associations. To test this, we manipulated outcome predictability during spontaneous approach/avoidance decisions from avatars displaying angry facial expressions. Across three virtual reality experiments, we showed that participants avoided more often when they could predict the outcome of their actions, indicating goal-directed processes. However, above-chance avoidance rate when facing unpredictable outcomes suggested that stimulus-response associations also played a role. We identified two latent classes of participants: the “goal-directed class” showed above-chance avoidance only in the predictable condition, while the “stimulus-response class” showed no credible difference between conditions but had a higher overall avoidance rate. The goal-directed class exhibited greater cardiac deceleration in the predictable condition, associated with better value integration in decision-making. Computationally, this class had an increased drift-rate in the predictable condition, reflecting increased value estimation of threat avoidance. In contrast, the stimulus-response class showed higher responsiveness to threat, indicated by increased drift-rate for avoidance and increased muscular activity at response time. These results support the central role of goal-directed processes in social threat avoidance and reveal its physiological and computational correlates. Individuals avoided angry avatars more often in predictable versus unpredictable situations suggesting that social threat avoidance is influenced by goal-directed processes and not only stimulus-response processes.","PeriodicalId":501698,"journal":{"name":"Communications Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"1-17"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s44271-024-00152-y.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142515896","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hannah E. Viner, Nicola Yuill, Andreia P. Costa, Holly Radford, Anna E. Kornadt
{"title":"A qualitative interview study on quality of life and ageing experiences of autistic adults","authors":"Hannah E. Viner, Nicola Yuill, Andreia P. Costa, Holly Radford, Anna E. Kornadt","doi":"10.1038/s44271-024-00142-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44271-024-00142-0","url":null,"abstract":"Quality of life across the lifespan has been established as a key research priority by the autism community. Still relatively little is known about the quality of life and ageing experiences of older autistic adults. Most studies to date have used generic measures of quality of life which may not accurately capture the experiences of autistic people. The aim of this qualitative study was to understand how autistic adults experience and define quality of life as they age. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 16 autistic adults aged 40+ from the UK and Luxembourg. Using reflexive thematic analysis, we identified five themes that contribute to quality of life: (1) Diagnosis is pivotal, (2) Connection with others, (3) Autonomy over space and time, (4) ‘Paperwork of life’, (5) Vulnerability. This study identifies autism-specific aspects of quality of life and highlights ways in which ageing and autism intersect and impact quality of life. A qualitative analysis of interviews with 16 autistic adults older than 40 years in the UK and Luxembourg identifies five themes of great relevance to Quality of Life and Ageing.","PeriodicalId":501698,"journal":{"name":"Communications Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"1-10"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11512050/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142515894","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Eileen Lashani, Isabella G. Larsen, Philipp Kanske, Jenny Rosendahl, Jost U. Blasberg, Veronika Engert
{"title":"Witnessing their mother’s acute and prolonged stress affects executive functioning in children","authors":"Eileen Lashani, Isabella G. Larsen, Philipp Kanske, Jenny Rosendahl, Jost U. Blasberg, Veronika Engert","doi":"10.1038/s44271-024-00150-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44271-024-00150-0","url":null,"abstract":"Stress can detrimentally affect physical and mental health, especially during childhood. During this critical period, parental bonds can foster resilience or amplify stress. This study explored whether mothers’ everyday stress can act as a source of childhood stress, affecting children’s executive functioning. 76 healthy mother-child dyads participated, with mothers assigned to a stress-inducing or stress-free condition. Children observed their mothers and were subsequently tested for cognitive flexibility and working memory. Subjective stress, heart rate, and cortisol were measured repeatedly in mothers and children, alongside everyday stress perceptions. Linear mixed models showed that children’s acute stress response was associated with impaired cognitive flexibility. Maternal stress, both acute and past-month, was a better predictor of children’s cognitive performance than children’s own stress. Quadratic relationships indicated the highest error rates at very low and high maternal stress. We found no evidence that children’s working memory was impaired by their own or their mothers’ stress. Although expected covariations of acute or prolonged stress between mothers and children were not observed, an interaction between maternal past-month stress and acute stress condition provided insights into adaptive mechanisms in children. These findings underscore the significant impact of maternal stress on children’s executive functioning, illustrating how parental experiences shape children’s everyday outcomes. Mothers’ acute and prolonged stress predicted their children’s cognitive performance on a working memory and cognitive flexibility task. Quadratic effects indicated worse performance at high and low levels of maternal stress.","PeriodicalId":501698,"journal":{"name":"Communications Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"1-13"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11500099/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142515897","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Baiwei Liu, Zampeta-Sofia Alexopoulou, Freek van Ede
{"title":"Attentional shifts bias microsaccade direction but do not cause new microsaccades","authors":"Baiwei Liu, Zampeta-Sofia Alexopoulou, Freek van Ede","doi":"10.1038/s44271-024-00149-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44271-024-00149-7","url":null,"abstract":"Brain circuitry that controls where we look also contributes to attentional selection of visual contents outside current fixation, or content within the spatial layout of working memory. A behavioural manifestation of this contribution comes from modulations in microsaccade direction that accompany spatial attention shifts. Here, we address whether such modulations come about because attention shifts trigger new microsaccades or whether, instead, spatial attention only biases the direction of ongoing microsaccades that would have been made whether or not attention was also shifted. We utilised an internal-selective-attention task that has recently been shown to yield robust spatial microsaccade modulations and compared microsaccade rates following colour retrocues that were carefully matched for sensory input, but differed in whether they invited an attention shift or not. If attention shifts trigger new microsaccades then we would expect more microsaccades following attention-directing cues than following neutral cues. In contrast, we found no evidence for an increase in overall microsaccade rate, despite robust modulations in microsaccade direction. This implies that shifting spatial attention biases the direction of ongoing microsaccades without changing the probability of microsaccade occurrence. These findings help to explain why microsaccades and visual-spatial shifts of attention are often correlated but not obligatorily linked. Microsaccades are eye-movements that are modulated by covert and internal shifts of attention. This work shows how shifts in attention bias microsaccade direction without causing new microsaccades.","PeriodicalId":501698,"journal":{"name":"Communications Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"1-11"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11496105/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142515895","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Amir Izaki, Willem J. M. I. Verbeke, Pascal Vrticka, Tsachi Ein-Dor
{"title":"A narrative on the neurobiological roots of attachment-system functioning","authors":"Amir Izaki, Willem J. M. I. Verbeke, Pascal Vrticka, Tsachi Ein-Dor","doi":"10.1038/s44271-024-00147-9","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44271-024-00147-9","url":null,"abstract":"Attachment theory is one of the most comprehensive frameworks in social and developmental psychology. It describes how selective, enduring emotional bonds between infants and their caregivers are formed and maintained throughout life. These attachment bonds exhibit distinct characteristics that are intimately tied to fundamental aspects of mammalian life, including pregnancy, birth, lactation, and infant brain development. However, there is a lack of a cohesive biological narrative that explains the psychological forces shaping attachment behavior and the emergence and consolidation of attachment patterns at a neurobiological level. Here, we propose a theoretical narrative focusing on organized attachment patterns that systematically link the two primary purposes of the attachment behavioral system: the provision of tangible protection or support and the corresponding subjective feeling of safety or security. We aim for this detailed delineation of neurobiological circuits to foster more comprehensive and interdisciplinary future research. Integrating human and animal research, this Perspectives proposes a detailed neurobiological account of attachment, from prenatal influences, to early emergence and later consolidation of individual attachment patterns.","PeriodicalId":501698,"journal":{"name":"Communications Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"1-10"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s44271-024-00147-9.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142439134","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A post-Brexit intergroup contact intervention reduces affective polarization between Leavers and Remainers short-term","authors":"Nicole Tausch, Michèle D. Birtel, Paulina Górska, Sidney Bode, Carolina Rocha","doi":"10.1038/s44271-024-00146-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44271-024-00146-w","url":null,"abstract":"With mounting evidence of the harmful societal consequences of affective polarization, it is crucial to find ways of addressing it. Employing a randomized controlled trial, this study tested the effectiveness of an intervention based on theories of intergroup contact and interpersonal communication in reducing affective polarization in the context of Brexit. Participants were 120 UK self-identified Leavers and Remainers. Sixty Leaver-Remainer dyads were randomized to engage in either a facilitated intergroup interaction or a control interaction, which was equivalent in structure and tone but was unrelated to Brexit identities. Different aspects of affective polarization were assessed one month prior, immediately after, and one month after the intervention. Results indicate that the intervention increased warmth toward the outgroup, reduced unfavourable attributions of the sources of outgroup positions, and increased willingness to compromise, but only short-term. There were no statistically significant longer-term effects of the intervention. Evidence of selective attrition further suggests that those with more extreme baseline opinions were more likely to drop out. Our findings highlight the challenges of designing effective interventions that engender enduring attitude change in polarized contexts and of engaging those with extreme political views. This study can provide a useful framework for future research. Facilitated dyadic interactions between Leave and Remain voters following the Brexit referendum show short-term positive effects on some characteristics of outgroup perception.","PeriodicalId":501698,"journal":{"name":"Communications Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"1-13"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s44271-024-00146-w.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142439127","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yuna Koyama, Yui Yamaoka, Hisaaki Nishimura, Jin Kuramochi, Takeo Fujiwara
{"title":"More adverse childhood experiences are associated with increased social thinning and severe psychological distress","authors":"Yuna Koyama, Yui Yamaoka, Hisaaki Nishimura, Jin Kuramochi, Takeo Fujiwara","doi":"10.1038/s44271-024-00145-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44271-024-00145-x","url":null,"abstract":"Adverse childhood experiences have been linked to psychopathology due to reduced social networks or social thinning. However, evidence of the temporal associations between adverse childhood experiences, social networks, and psychopathology was lacking, as few studies assessed social networks repeatedly. Further, their underlying neurocognitive and biological mechanisms related to hypervigilance and inflammation remain unclear. This study aimed to clarify these associations using a three-wave population-based cohort study during the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 465), where we leveraged repeated social network assessments. Self-reported questionnaires assessed adverse childhood experiences, social network size and diversity, psychological distress, and hypervigilance regarding COVID-19. Blood tests were conducted to measure inflammation markers. Individuals with more adverse childhood experiences demonstrated lesser increases in their social networks than those without adverse childhood experiences. Decreased network sizes were associated with severe psychological distress, but this association did not remain after adjusting for baseline distress. On the other hand, reduced network diversities were associated with increased psychological distress. We did not find any paths through hypervigilance regarding COVID-19 and inflammation that explain associations between adverse childhood experiences, social thinning, and psychological distress. These findings emphasize the significant social network changes in the associations between adverse childhood experiences and psychopathology. A 3-wave population-based cohort study between June 2020 and November 2021 showed that those with more childhood adversities grew or recovered their social networks to a lesser degree and that people with smaller network increases showed more distress.","PeriodicalId":501698,"journal":{"name":"Communications Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"1-11"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s44271-024-00145-x.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142407376","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Robin Schimmelpfennig, Rachel Spicer, Cindel J. M. White, Will Gervais, Ara Norenzayan, Steven Heine, Joseph Henrich, Michael Muthukrishna
{"title":"Methodological concerns underlying a lack of evidence for cultural heterogeneity in the replication of psychological effects","authors":"Robin Schimmelpfennig, Rachel Spicer, Cindel J. M. White, Will Gervais, Ara Norenzayan, Steven Heine, Joseph Henrich, Michael Muthukrishna","doi":"10.1038/s44271-024-00135-z","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44271-024-00135-z","url":null,"abstract":"The multi-site replication study, Many Labs 2, concluded that sample location and setting did not substantially affect the replicability of findings. Here, we examine theoretical and methodological considerations for a subset of the analyses, namely exploratory tests of heterogeneity in the replicability of studies between “WEIRD and less-WEIRD cultures”. We conducted a review of literature citing the study, a re-examination of the existing cultural variability, a power stimulation for detecting cultural heterogeneity, and re-analyses of the original exploratory tests. Findings indicate little cultural variability and low power to detect cultural heterogeneity effects in the Many Labs 2 data, yet the literature review indicates the study is cited regarding the moderating role of culture. Our reanalysis of the data found that using different operationalizations of culture slightly increased effect sizes but did not substantially alter the conclusions of Many Labs 2. Future studies of cultural heterogeneity can be improved with theoretical consideration of which effects and which cultures are likely to show variation as well as a priori methodological planning for appropriate operationalizations of culture and sufficient power to detect effects. Reanalysis and simulated power analyses for the cross-cultural multi-site study, Many Labs 2, demonstrated low power for detecting cross-cultural heterogeneity.","PeriodicalId":501698,"journal":{"name":"Communications Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"1-16"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11461273/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142396607","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}