Christienne G. Damatac , Marleen J. ter Avest , Tom F. Wilderjans , Véronique De Gucht , Dion H.A. Woestenburg , Laurens Landeweerd , Tessel E. Galesloot , Linda Geerligs , Judith R. Homberg , Corina U. Greven
{"title":"Exploring sensory processing sensitivity: Relationships with mental and somatic health, interactions with positive and negative environments, and evidence for differential susceptibility","authors":"Christienne G. Damatac , Marleen J. ter Avest , Tom F. Wilderjans , Véronique De Gucht , Dion H.A. Woestenburg , Laurens Landeweerd , Tessel E. Galesloot , Linda Geerligs , Judith R. Homberg , Corina U. Greven","doi":"10.1016/j.crbeha.2024.100165","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbeha.2024.100165","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Environment may play a role in how the evolutionarily conserved personality trait sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) relates to health. Nevertheless, there has been no comprehensive investigation of the relationships between SPS and mental and somatic health outcomes in a large sample, while accounting for neuroticism and environmental variables. To better understand susceptibility to positive and negative environments, we systematically investigated associations between SPS and several health-related outcomes: stress-related traits, neurodevelopmental (ADHD and autistic) traits, well-being, and somatic health in 252 adults (ages 30–39 years) from a population-based sample. We then evaluated how environmental factors modify those relationships by testing SPS interactions with lifetime or current measures of positive or negative environments. Finally, we formally tested whether SPS is a factor for differential susceptibility. Notably, we found that higher SPS related to more burnout, anxiety, depression, stress, health complaints, and nonprescription medication use but not to total neurodevelopmental traits. Even after controlling for neuroticism, burnout, anxiety, and health complaints associations with SPS remained significant. We also found small to modest associations between SPS subscales and neurodevelopmental trait subscales. Of note, in unfavorable environments (threatening life events), higher SPS related to more autistic traits. In favorable environments (social support), SPS related to more life satisfaction, supporting the theory of SPS as a factor for differential susceptibility to environments. This study illustrates that SPS may be a risk factor for stress-related and somatic symptoms, independent of neuroticism. We conclude that SPS may moderate sensitivity to environments, possibly as an adaptation factor, enabling highly sensitive individuals to be more malleable to environmental influences.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":72746,"journal":{"name":"Current research in behavioral sciences","volume":"8 ","pages":"Article 100165"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143173187","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}
Monica Gori , Maria Bianca Amadeo , Andrea Escelsior , Davide Esposito , Alberto Inuggi , Riccardo Guglielmo , Luis Polena , Juxhin Bode , Beatriz Pereira da Silva , Mario Amore , Gianluca Serafini
{"title":"Insights into audio-visual temporal perception in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia","authors":"Monica Gori , Maria Bianca Amadeo , Andrea Escelsior , Davide Esposito , Alberto Inuggi , Riccardo Guglielmo , Luis Polena , Juxhin Bode , Beatriz Pereira da Silva , Mario Amore , Gianluca Serafini","doi":"10.1016/j.crbeha.2025.100169","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbeha.2025.100169","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Our perception of the world and sense of self are deeply influenced by our perception of time. Research in psychiatric disorders has shown altered temporal perception across a variety of tasks, though the mechanisms behind these changes remain unclear. This study aims to explore temporal processing in patients with bipolar disorder (BD) and schizophrenia (SZ) by examining auditory, visual, and audio-visual temporal perception. The results revealed impaired temporal performance across all sensory modalities and the absence of auditory dominance in both patient groups. Specifically, in SZ patients, multisensory processing was associated with visual precision, while in BD patients, there was no such relationship with either visual or auditory precision. Notably, in SZ, visual precision was significantly linked to negative symptoms. Moreover, despite the lack of auditory dominance and similar deficits in unisensory performance, neither patient group benefited from redundant multisensory information in the temporal task. These findings highlight distinct patterns of temporal processing in BD and SZ compared to healthy controls, suggesting potential pathways for targeted interventions, such as integrating sensory training into clinical rehabilitative frameworks.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":72746,"journal":{"name":"Current research in behavioral sciences","volume":"8 ","pages":"Article 100169"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143311102","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}
Maria Wirth, M. Clara de Paula Couto, Paula Molina Sander, Klaus Rothermund
{"title":"Social normative beliefs and older adults’ volunteering – A daily diary study","authors":"Maria Wirth, M. Clara de Paula Couto, Paula Molina Sander, Klaus Rothermund","doi":"10.1016/j.crbeha.2024.100167","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbeha.2024.100167","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Older adults are faced with societal normative expectations that set standards for age-appropriate behavior. They supposedly align their behavior with what is socially expected of them to avoid backlash and disapproval. However, a link between societal norms and older adults’ behavior has not been established in previous studies. In a pre-registered daily diary study, we tested the link between the societal norm that older adults should contribute to the common good (i.e., social activation) and volunteering in everyday life in a sample of older adults (N = 78, 60 –85 years). We presented (fictitious) social consensus feedback indicating that a majority of society either agrees or disagrees with social activation and tested the effect of this consensus feedback on endorsing social activation and engaging in daily volunteering. Replicating previous studies, participants who were told that a majority agrees with social activation reported higher endorsement of social activation than those being told that a majority disagrees. Daily volunteering did not differ between social consensus groups. However, we found a significant relation between endorsement of social activation and daily volunteering for the agreement but not the disagreement group. This finding indicates that strongly endorsing social activation may be a prerequisite for societal appeals regarding older adults’ volunteering to become effective. Given the relatively low level of daily volunteering in our sample, these results warrant further investigation. Our findings offer important insights for initiatives promoting social participation among older adults.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":72746,"journal":{"name":"Current research in behavioral sciences","volume":"8 ","pages":"Article 100167"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143173188","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":"The stress-busting power of Digital Self-Efficacy: Does training format matter for workers?","authors":"Milton Paredes-Aguirre , Olivia Hernandez-Pozas , Yarid Ayala , Ronald Campoverde Aguirre","doi":"10.1016/j.crbeha.2024.100161","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbeha.2024.100161","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Individuals' confidence in their ability to effectively use digital technologies, termed Digital Self-Efficacy (DSE), has become essential in today's workplace, especially with the rise of remote work and increasing reliance on technology. However, the relationships among DSE, job stressors, and Psychological Detachment (PD) are still not fully understood. This study examines the moderating role of DSE in the relationship between Work Intensification (WI), Role Ambiguity (RA), Organizational Support (OS), and PD. Using PLS-SEM, we analyzed data from 653 workers in Ecuador. The findings confirmed the expected negative impact of WI and the positive influence of OS on PD. Interestingly, a positive relationship between RA and PD was observed, contrary to initial expectations. The study also revealed differences between workers who underwent Self-directed versus Directed digital competence training. These results contribute to a deeper understanding of the role digital skills play in managing job stress and fostering recovery in modern work environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":72746,"journal":{"name":"Current research in behavioral sciences","volume":"8 ","pages":"Article 100161"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143173129","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":"When a bright future is in mind: Young adults’ positive views on aging contribute to resilience through enhanced sense of control","authors":"Yue Yang Sun, Tianyuan Li","doi":"10.1016/j.crbeha.2024.100166","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbeha.2024.100166","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Extensive research has revealed that older adults’ views on aging are influential to their well-being, but fewer studies have examined the effects of young adults’ views on aging. Individuals’ views on aging form as early as childhood. Reflecting a positive outlook about one's own future, we expect young adults’ positive views on aging to contribute to their resilience level, with sense of control mediating the effect. Two studies were conducted with two different samples of Chinese young adults. Study 1 assessed attitudes toward older adults as the indicator of views on aging and found that more positive attitudes toward older adults were related to a higher level of resilience, and the effect was mediated by a stronger sense of control. Study 2 assessed four different indicators of views on aging (attitudes toward older adults, aging anxiety, hostile ageism, and benevolent ageism). Except for benevolent ageism, young adults’ more positive attitudes toward older adults, less aging anxiety, and lower levels of hostile ageism were all related to higher levels of resilience, and the effects were all mediated by sense of control. The results were similar regardless of whether the four indicators were tested in separate models or simultaneously in the same model. The findings highlight the importance of positive views on aging for young adults’ psychological adjustment. Positive views on aging can serve as a valuable personal resource for young adults to ensure control in life and keep their heads high even facing adversities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":72746,"journal":{"name":"Current research in behavioral sciences","volume":"8 ","pages":"Article 100166"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143173127","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}
Marine Granjon , Nicolas Pillaud , Maria Popa-Roch , Benoite Aubé , Odile Rohmer
{"title":"Attitudes towards invisible disabilities: Evidence from behavioral tendencies","authors":"Marine Granjon , Nicolas Pillaud , Maria Popa-Roch , Benoite Aubé , Odile Rohmer","doi":"10.1016/j.crbeha.2024.100164","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbeha.2024.100164","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Invisible disabilities account for 70–80 % of all disabilities yet are often overlooked in social psychology research. Despite their prevalence, these conditions are frequently misunderstood and less recognized, leading to potential biases and negative perceptions. This research aims to address a critical knowledge gap by investigating attitudes toward invisible disability. We hypothesize that attitudes toward invisible disabilities are more negative than toward visible disabilities. Using an immersive behavioral tendency paradigm, the VAAST (Visual Approach/Avoidance by the Self Task), we were able to observe participants' approach/avoidance reactions in a simulated environment. Three studies (<em>N</em><sub>total</sub> = 444) were conducted. Studies 1 and 2 compared approach-avoidance tendencies towards visible and invisible disabilities, the former in the general population and the latter within a population of teachers. Study 3 used a variation of this paradigm, the Incidental-VAAST, to address control bias. Results, supported by multi-level frequentist and Bayesian statistics, as well as a mini meta-analysis, indicated consistently stronger negative attitudes towards invisible disabilities. By showing that individuals with invisible disabilities face greater prejudice than those with visible disabilities, this research advances our understanding of how visibility impacts social bias, adding depth to theories of prejudice.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":72746,"journal":{"name":"Current research in behavioral sciences","volume":"8 ","pages":"Article 100164"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143173128","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}
Nicola Milano, Maria Luongo, Michela Ponticorvo, Davide Marocco
{"title":"Semantic analysis of test items through large language model embeddings predicts a-priori factorial structure of personality tests","authors":"Nicola Milano, Maria Luongo, Michela Ponticorvo, Davide Marocco","doi":"10.1016/j.crbeha.2025.100168","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbeha.2025.100168","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this article, we explore the use of Large Language Models (LLMs) for predicting factor loadings in personality tests through the semantic analysis of test items. By leveraging text embeddings generated from LLMs, we evaluate the semantic similarity of test items and their alignment with hypothesized factorial structures without depending on human response data. Our methodology involves using embeddings from four different personality test to examine correlations between item semantics and their grouping in principal factors. Our results indicate that LLM-derived embeddings can effectively capture semantic similarities among test items, showing moderate to high correlation with the factorial structure produced by humans respondents in all tests, potentially serving as a valid measure of content validity for initial survey design and refinement. This approach offers valuable insights into the robustness of embedding techniques in psychological evaluations, showing a significant correlation with traditional test structures and providing a novel perspective on test item analysis.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":72746,"journal":{"name":"Current research in behavioral sciences","volume":"8 ","pages":"Article 100168"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143173186","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":"The causal role of numerical and non-numerical order processing abilities in the early development of mathematics skills: Evidence from an intervention study","authors":"Kinga Morsanyi , Jort Peters , Eleonora Battaglia , Delphine Sasanguie , Bert Reynvoet","doi":"10.1016/j.crbeha.2023.100144","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crbeha.2023.100144","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Understanding the basis of mathematical development is essential for supporting mathematics learning and to develop efficient interventions for remediating early problems. In the past decade, evidence has accumulated in support of the importance of ordering skills (i.e., tasks that tap into children's ability to recall the order of items or to judge the correctness of the order of items) in predicting early mathematics performance. Nevertheless, so far these studies have only provided correlational evidence, and intervention studies are lacking. The aim of the current study was to fill this gap by investigating the potential causal role of three types of ordering abilities (number ordering, daily event ordering and order working memory) in the development of mathematics skills during the first year of primary school. Children participated in six brief training sessions over a three-week period, and their mathematics skills and mathematics anxiety were measured before and after the training. In addition to the three training conditions, an active control group was also involved, with children completing reading comprehension exercises. Our findings showed that children's performance improved substantially on all ordering tasks as a result of training. Additionally, training in daily event ordering and number ordering has led to large increases in children's formal mathematics skills. Mathematics anxiety was not affected by the interventions. The current results provide initial evidence for the usefulness of order processing training in developing children's early mathematics skills. They also show that these results are not specific to the domain of numerical ordering.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":72746,"journal":{"name":"Current research in behavioral sciences","volume":"6 ","pages":"Article 100144"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666518223000487/pdfft?md5=7964ae7e630e0c690684ebb174982eda&pid=1-s2.0-S2666518223000487-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139100032","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":"Discrete memories of a continuous world: A working memory perspective on event segmentation","authors":"Berna Güler , Zeynep Adıgüzel , Bilge Uysal , Eren Günseli","doi":"10.1016/j.crbeha.2023.100145","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crbeha.2023.100145","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>We perceive the world in a continuum but remember our past as discrete episodic events. Dominant models of event segmentation suggest that prediction errors or contextual changes are the driving factors that parse continuous experiences into segmented events. These models propose working memory to hold a critical role in event segmentation, yet the particular functioning of working memory that underlies segmented episodic memories remains unclear. Here, we first review the literature regarding the factors that result in the segmentation of episodic memories. Next, we discuss the role of working memory under two possible models regarding how it represents information within each event and suggest experimental predictions. Clarifying the contributions of working memory to event segmentation is important to improve our understanding of the structure of episodic memories.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":72746,"journal":{"name":"Current research in behavioral sciences","volume":"6 ","pages":"Article 100145"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666518223000499/pdfft?md5=3b2e8cab473373d19d1532e9a0a6a13e&pid=1-s2.0-S2666518223000499-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139100033","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":"Caffeine Use and Attentional Engagement in Everyday Life","authors":"Tyler B. Kruger, Mike J. Dixon, Daniel Smilek","doi":"10.1016/j.crbeha.2024.100152","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbeha.2024.100152","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Caffeine is a common component of various beverages and foods with approximately 80% of the world's population consuming caffeinated products daily. Here we examined how caffeine consumption and different motivations for consuming caffeine (e.g., cognitive enhancement, negative affect relief, reinforcing effects, and weight control) relate to self-reported inattention, mind-wandering, and deep, effortless concentration (i.e., flow) in everyday life in a university student population via two online surveys (<em>N</em> = 224 and <em>N</em> = 234). Our results indicated that, contrary to what one might expect, the amount of caffeine consumed in a typical day (estimated in milligrams) was not related to attention-related experiences in everyday life. However, we found that those who are more likely to ingest caffeine to potentially enhance their cognition, or to experience the reinforcing effects of caffeine, or to help relieve negative affect showed higher levels of inattention in everyday life.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":72746,"journal":{"name":"Current research in behavioral sciences","volume":"7 ","pages":"Article 100152"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666518224000068/pdfft?md5=7af71f256da7a5198e472d77bd5e8a26&pid=1-s2.0-S2666518224000068-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141398732","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}