scholarly journals Large Gatherings? No, Thank You. Devaluation of Crowded Social Scenes During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Massaccesi ◽  
Emilio Chiappini ◽  
Riccardo Paracampo ◽  
Sebastian Korb
Keyword(s):  
Small Groups ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Physical Distance ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Relationship Closeness ◽  
Normative Ratings ◽  
Long Term Impact ◽  
Large Groups ◽  
Social Scenes

In most European countries, the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (spring 2020) led to the imposition of physical distancing rules, resulting in a drastic and sudden reduction of real-life social interactions. Even people not directly affected by the virus itself were impacted in their physical and/or mental health, as well as in their financial security, by governmental lockdown measures. We investigated whether the combination of these events had changed people's appraisal of social scenes by testing 241 participants recruited mainly in Italy, Austria, and Germany in an online, preregistered study conducted about 50 days after the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in Europe. Images depicting individuals alone, in small groups (up to four people), and in large groups (more than seven people) were rated in terms of valence, arousal, and perceived physical distance. Pre-pandemic normative ratings were obtained from a validated database (OASIS). Several self-report measures were also taken, and condensed into four factors through factor analysis. All images were rated as more arousing compared to the pre-pandemic period, and the greater the decrease in real-life physical interactions reported by participants, the higher the ratings of arousal. As expected, only images depicting large gatherings of people were rated less positively during, compared to before, the pandemic. These ratings of valence were, however, moderated by a factor that included participants' number of days in isolation, relationship closeness, and perceived COVID-19 threat. Higher scores on this factor were associated with more positive ratings of images of individuals alone and in small groups, suggesting an increased appreciation of safer social situations, such as intimate and small-group contacts. The same factor was inversely related to the perceived physical distance between individuals in images of small and large groups, suggesting an impact of lockdown measures and contagion-related worries on the representation of interpersonal space. These findings point to rapid and compelling psychological and social consequences of the lockdown measures imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic on the perception of social groups. Further studies should assess the long-term impact of such events as typical everyday life is restored.

scholarly journals Large gatherings? No, thank you. Devaluation of crowded social scenes during the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Massaccesi ◽  
Emilio Chiappini ◽  
Riccardo Paracampo ◽  
Sebastian Korb
Keyword(s):  
Small Groups ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Physical Distance ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Relationship Closeness ◽  
Normative Ratings ◽  
Long Term Impact ◽  
Large Groups ◽  
Social Scenes

In most European countries, the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (spring 2020) led to the imposition of physical distancing rules, resulting in a drastic and sudden reduction of real-life social interactions. Even people not directly affected by the virus itself were impacted in their physical and/or mental health, as well as in their financial security, by governmental lockdown measures. We investigated if the combination of these events had changed people’s appraisal of social scenes by testing 241 participants recruited mainly in Italy, Austria, and Germany in an online, pre-registered study conducted about 50 days after the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in Europe. Images depicting individuals alone, in small groups (up to four people) and in large groups (more than seven people) were rated in terms of valence, arousal, and perceived physical distance. Pre-pandemic normative ratings were obtained from a validated database (Kurdi et al., 2017). Several self-report measures were also taken, and condensed into four factors through factor analysis. All images were rated as more arousing compared to the pre-pandemic period, and the greater the decrease in real-life physical interactions reported by participants, the higher the ratings of arousal. As expected, only images depicting large gatherings of people were rated less positively during, compared to before, the pandemic. These ratings of valence were however moderated by a factor that included participants’ number of days in isolation, relationship closeness, and perceived COVID-19 threat. Higher scores on this factor were associated with more positive ratings of images of individuals alone and in small groups, suggesting an increased appreciation of safer social situations, such as intimate and small-group contacts. The same factor was inversely related to the perceived physical distance between individuals in images of small and large groups, suggesting an impact of lockdown measures and contagion-related worries on the representation of interpersonal space. These findings point to rapid and compelling psychological and social consequences of the lockdown measures imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic on the perception of social groups. Further studies should assess the long-term impact of such events as typical everyday life is restored.

scholarly journals The Influence of Alcohol Consumption on Fighting, Shoplifting and Vandalism in Young Adults

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. 3509
Author(s):  
Ieuan Evans ◽  
Jon Heron ◽  
Joseph Murray ◽  
Matthew Hickman ◽  
Gemma Hammerton
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Alcohol Consumption ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Experimental Findings ◽  
Avon Longitudinal Study ◽  
Causal Component

Experimental studies support the conventional belief that people behave more aggressively whilst under the influence of alcohol. To examine how these experimental findings manifest in real life situations, this study uses a method for estimating evidence for causality with observational data—‘situational decomposition’ to examine the association between alcohol consumption and crime in young adults from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Self-report questionnaires were completed at age 24 years to assess typical alcohol consumption and frequency, participation in fighting, shoplifting and vandalism in the previous year, and whether these crimes were committed under the influence of alcohol. Situational decomposition compares the strength of two associations, (1) the total association between alcohol consumption and crime (sober or intoxicated) versus (2) the association between alcohol consumption and crime committed while sober. There was an association between typical alcohol consumption and total crime for fighting [OR (95% CI): 1.47 (1.29, 1.67)], shoplifting [OR (95% CI): 1.25 (1.12, 1.40)], and vandalism [OR (95% CI): 1.33 (1.12, 1.57)]. The associations for both fighting and shoplifting had a small causal component (with the association for sober crime slightly smaller than the association for total crime). However, the association for vandalism had a larger causal component.

scholarly journals Cross-cultural validation of the "International affective picture system" (IAPS) on a sample from Bosnia and Herzegovina

Psihologija ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sasa Drace ◽  
Emir Efendic ◽  
Mirna Kusturica ◽  
Lamija Landzo
Keyword(s):  
Bosnia And Herzegovina ◽  
North American ◽  
International Affective Picture System ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Affective Ratings ◽  
The North ◽  
Stratified Sample ◽  
Valence And Arousal ◽  
Normative Ratings

In this study the normative ratings of the International Affective Picture System (IAPS, Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention [CSEA], 1995) were compared with the ratings from a Bosnian sample. Seventy-two psychology undergraduates from the University of Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) rated valence, dominance and arousal for a stratified sample of 60 pictures that was selected from the IAPS. Reliability coefficients indicate that the self-report ratings are internally consistent. The affective ratings from our sample correlated strongly with the North American ratings at: .95, .81 and .91, respectively for valence, arousal and dominance. Consistent with expectations, mean valence and dominance ratings did not differ significantly between the Bosnian and North American sample. Furthermore, plotting of the Bosnian valence and arousal ratings results in a similar boomerang shaped distribution as the North American affective ratings. Taken together, findings obtained from the Bosnian sample confirm the cross-cultural validity of the IAPS.

scholarly journals Climate-mediated cooperation promotes niche expansion in burying beetles

eLife ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syuan-Jyun Sun ◽  
Dustin R Rubenstein ◽  
Bo-Fei Chen ◽  
Shih-Fan Chan ◽  
Jian-Nan Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Small Groups ◽  
Social Insects ◽  
Breeding Success ◽  
Cooperative Groups ◽  
Burying Beetles ◽  
Ecological Consequences ◽  
Social Species ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Large Groups

The ability to form cooperative societies may explain why humans and social insects have come to dominate the earth. Here we examine the ecological consequences of cooperation by quantifying the fitness of cooperative (large groups) and non-cooperative (small groups) phenotypes in burying beetles (Nicrophorus nepalensis) along an elevational and temperature gradient. We experimentally created large and small groups along the gradient and manipulated interspecific competition with flies by heating carcasses. We show that cooperative groups performed as thermal generalists with similarly high breeding success at all temperatures and elevations, whereas non-cooperative groups performed as thermal specialists with higher breeding success only at intermediate temperatures and elevations. Studying the ecological consequences of cooperation may not only help us to understand why so many species of social insects have conquered the earth, but also to determine how climate change will affect the success of these and other social species, including our own.

scholarly journals Development of Herbarium Book as Biology Instructional Media in Plant Morphology Subject for Biology Education Undergraduate Students, University of Pasir Pangaraian

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-19
Author(s):  
Dahlia Dahlia
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Small Groups ◽  
Leaf Morphology ◽  
Biology Education ◽  
Plant Morphology ◽  
Average Score ◽  
Study Program ◽  
Individual Assessment ◽  
Large Groups

The development of instructional especially media of a herbarium book is an innovation that aims to assist students in searching directly the object of leaf morphology studies. This development research starts from the needs analysis stage which is used to gather information, planning in media making, media design, media making, after that product validation by a team of media experts and material experts, then testing individual products, small groups and large groups. The subject of this product testing were students of the Biology Education Study Program at Pasir Pengaraian University. The results of the validation by the material experts showed that the quality of learning media using the herbarium book on leaf morphology material was included in the "very feasible" criteria, with an average score of 86.46%. The results of validation by media experts are included in the "very feasible" criteria, with an average score of 88.54%. Individual assessment obtained the criteria of "very feasible", with an average score of 84.16%. Judgement from small groups obtained a percentage of eligibility of 81.45% with very feasible criteria, and judgement from large groups of 83.95% with "very feasible" criteria. The results of the development of herbarium book media are very decent.

Neurobiological and psychosomatic aspects of infertility in women

2020 ◽  
pp. 21-28
Author(s):  
N. N. Stenyaeva ◽  
D. F. Chritinin
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Medicine ◽  
Term Treatment ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
The Social ◽  
Long Term Treatment ◽  
Psychosomatic Aspects ◽  
Long Term Impact ◽  
The Relationship

In recent years, ideas about the regulation of the autonomic functions of the human body and the psychosomatic effects of sex hormones have expanded significantly. Dysregulation of the HPG-axis is involved in the pathogenesis of a number of stressassociated mental illnesses. Infertility and its long-term treatment is characterized by a long-term impact on patients of various stressful factors. Reproductive medicine has now made impressive advances in biotechnology. Reproductive medicine has now achieved impressive success due to the revolutionary development of biotechnologies. Nevertheless, a significant number of couples have to struggle unsuccessfully with infertility for many years, and the social consequences of this are extremely significant for the family and society as a whole. Taking into account the relationship between the mental and somatic health of infertile women, greater attention of clinicians to the mental sphere of patients, providing forced childless couples with the necessary psychological and psychiatric care will reduce stress during infertility treatment and increase patient satisfaction.

Multimodal emotion perception in young and elderly patients with multiple sclerosis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxime Montembeault ◽  
Estefania Brando ◽  
Kim Charest ◽  
Alexandra Tremblay ◽  
Élaine Roger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Recognition ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Emotion Perception ◽  
Recognition Task ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Self Monitoring ◽  
Facial Emotions ◽  
Multimodal Emotion Recognition ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Better Than

Background. Studies suggest that emotion recognition and empathy are impaired in patients with MS (pwMS). Nonetheless, most studies of emotion recognition have used facial stimuli, are restricted to young samples, and rely self-report assessments of empathy. The aims of this study are to determine the impact of MS and age on multimodal emotion recognition (facial emotions and vocal emotional bursts) and on socioemotional sensitivity (as reported by the participants and their informants). We also aim to investigate the associations between emotion recognition, socioemotional sensitivity, and cognitive measures. Methods. We recruited 13 young healthy controls (HC), 14 young pwMS, 14 elderly HC and 15 elderly pwMS. They underwent a short neuropsychological battery, an experimental emotion recognition task including facial emotions and vocal emotional bursts. Both participants and their study informants completed the Revised-Self Monitoring Scale (RSMS) to assess the participant’s socioemotional sensitivity. Results. There was a significant effect of age and group on recognition of both facial emotions and emotional vocal bursts, HC performing significantly better than pwMS, and young participants performing better than elderly participants (no interaction effect). The same effects were observed on self-reported socioemotional sensitivity. However, lower socioemotional sensitivity in pwMS was not reported by the informants. Finally, multimodal emotion recognition did not correlate with socioemotional sensitivity, but it correlated with global cognitive severity. Conclusion. PwMS present with multimodal emotion perception deficits. Our results extend previous findings of decreased emotion perception and empathy to a group of elderly pwMS, in which advancing age does not accentuate these deficits. However, the decreased socioemotional sensitivity reported by pwMS does not appear to be observed by their relatives, nor to correlate with their emotion perception impairments. Future studies should investigate the real-life impacts of emotion perception deficits in pwMS.

The development of digital teaching materials using Macromedia flash for Junior High School class VII

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Fanzeka ◽  
R. Rusli ◽  
H. Hastuty ◽  
N. Nasrullah
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Small Groups ◽  
Junior High School ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Junior High ◽  
Teaching Materials ◽  
School Class ◽  
High School Class ◽  
Large Groups

This research aims to develop and produce digital teaching materials products using Macromedia flash application that are valid, practical and effective. This research method refers to a 4D development, and disseminate. Research instruments in the form of validation sheets by material expert and media expert to measure validity; questionnaires of learners; responses to measure practicality; and test of learning outcomes to measure effectiveness. The trial of teaching materials was conducted to class VII learners at SMPN 6 Makassar. The result showed that digital teaching materials developed using Macromedia flash applications in class VII junior high school comparison materials had valid criteria with validity score of 3.70 for the material and 3.50 for media, practically score of 3.60 for small groups and 3.51 for large groups, and effective with an effectiveness score of 90% for small groups and 86%.

Terrorism Manifestations

2014 ◽  
pp. 45-60
Author(s):  
Jonathan R. White
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Small Groups ◽  
Unconventional Warfare ◽  
International Alliances ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Terrorist Groups ◽  
War And Conflict ◽  
The Media ◽  
Large Groups

This chapter examines the tactical aspects of terrorism. It begins by focusing on the nature of war and conflict in the 21st century, suggesting that technology, economic structures, and communication have changed the way war is waged. It argues that small groups of aggrieved people may conduct campaigns of unconventional warfare against individual nations or international alliances. Although such violence is manifested in many ways, it is typically labeled as “terrorism.” The chapter also demonstrates how large groups and nation states may participate in terrorist activities by either using terrorist tactics or supporting terrorist groups. The next part of the chapter focuses on the specific actions that constitute the tactics of terrorism, examining tactical innovations within various campaigns. The chapter concludes with an analysis of tactical force multipliers, and it introduces the role of the media within this context.

scholarly journals Concept, Possibilities and Pilot-Testing of a New Smartphone Application for the Social and Life Sciences to Study Human Behavior Including Validation Data from Personality Psychology

J ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Montag ◽  
Harald Baumeister ◽  
Christopher Kannen ◽  
Rayna Sariyska ◽  
Eva-Maria Meßner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Internet Of Things ◽  
Human Behavior ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Smartphone Application ◽  
Self Report ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Validation Data ◽  
Personality Psychology ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Internet Of Things

With the advent of the World Wide Web, the smartphone and the Internet of Things, not only society but also the sciences are rapidly changing. In particular, the social sciences can profit from these digital developments, because now scientists have the power to study real-life human behavior via smartphones and other devices connected to the Internet of Things on a large-scale level. Although this sounds easy, scientists often face the problem that no practicable solution exists to participate in such a new scientific movement, due to a lack of an interdisciplinary network. If so, the development time of a new product, such as a smartphone application to get insights into human behavior takes an enormous amount of time and resources. Given this problem, the present work presents an easy way to use a smartphone application, which can be applied by social scientists to study a large range of scientific questions. The application provides measurements of variables via tracking smartphone–use patterns, such as call behavior, application use (e.g., social media), GPS and many others. In addition, the presented Android-based smartphone application, called Insights, can also be used to administer self-report questionnaires for conducting experience sampling and to search for co-variations between smartphone usage/smartphone data and self-report data. Of importance, the present work gives a detailed overview on how to conduct a study using an application such as Insights, starting from designing the study, installing the application to analyzing the data. In the present work, server requirements and privacy issues are also discussed. Furthermore, first validation data from personality psychology are presented. Such validation data are important in establishing trust in the applied technology to track behavior. In sum, the aim of the present work is (i) to provide interested scientists a short overview on how to conduct a study with smartphone app tracking technology, (ii) to present the features of the designed smartphone application and (iii) to demonstrate its validity with a proof of concept study, hence correlating smartphone usage with personality measures.

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