Null results for the steal-framing effect on out-group aggression

Whether intergroup conflict is a necessary condition for the evolution of human prosociality has been a matter of debate. At the center of the debate is the coevolutionary model of parochial altruism—that human cooperation with in-group members has coevolved with aggression toward out-group members. Studies using the intergroup prisoner’s dilemma–maximizing difference game to test the model have repeatedly shown that people do not exhibit out-group aggression, possibly because of an inappropriate operationalization and framing of out-group aggression. The coevolutionary model predicts out-group aggression when the actor understands that it will lead to the in-group’s benefit. However, in the game, such an aspect of out-group aggression that benefits the in-group is typically not well communicated to participants. Thus, this study tested the hypothesis that out-group aggression in the game would be promoted by a framing that emphasizes that attacking out-group members enhances the in-group’s gain. Results of two laboratory experiments with 176 Japanese university students in total showed that such a framing did not promote out-group aggression and individuals invested more money to cooperate with in-group members only, avoiding the strategy of cooperating with in-group members to harm out-group members. These results do not support the coevolutionary model.

Is a boat bigger than a ship? Null results in the investigation of vowel sound symbolism on size judgments in real language

Sound symbolism is the phenomenon by which certain kinds of phonemes are associated with perceptual and/or semantic properties. In this paper we explored size sound symbolism (i.e., the mil/mal effect) in which high-front vowels (e.g., /i/) show an association with smallness, while low-back vowels (e.g., /ɑ/) show an association with largeness. This has previously been demonstrated with nonwords, but its impact on the processing of real language is unknown. We investigated this using a size judgment task, in which participants classified words for small or large objects, containing a small- or large-associated vowel, based on their size. Words were presented auditorily in Experiment 1 and visually in Experiment 2. We did not observe an effect of vowel congruence (i.e., between object size and the size association of its vowel) in either of the experiments. This suggests that there are limits to the impact of sound symbolism on the processing of real language.

Gluino-SUGRA scenarios in light of FNAL muon g – 2 anomaly

Gluino-SUGRA ($$ \overset{\sim }{g} $$ g ~ SUGRA), which is an economical extension of the predictive mSUGRA, adopts much heavier gluino mass parameter than other gauginos mass parameters and universal scalar mass parameter at the unification scale. It can elegantly reconcile the experimental results on the Higgs boson mass, the muon g − 2, the null results in search for supersymmetry at the LHC and the results from B-physics. In this work, we propose several new ways to generate large gaugino hierarchy (i.e. M3 » M1, M2) for $$ \overset{\sim }{g} $$ g ~ SUGRA model building and then discuss in detail the implications of the new muon g − 2 results with the updated LHC constraints on such $$ \overset{\sim }{g} $$ g ~ SUGRA scenarios. We obtain the following observations: (i) for the most interesting M1 = M2 case at the GUT scale with a viable bino-like dark matter, the $$ \overset{\sim }{g} $$ g ~ SUGRA can explain the muon g − 2 anomaly at 1σ level and be consistent with the updated LHC constraints for 6 ≤ M3/M1 ≤ 9 at the GUT scale; (ii) For M1 : M2 = 5 : 1 at the GUT scale with wino-like dark matter, the $$ \overset{\sim }{g} $$ g ~ SUGRA model can explain the muon g − 2 anomaly at 2σ level and be consistent with the updated LHC constraints for 3 ≤ M3/M1 ≤ 3.2 at the GUT scale; (iii) For M1 : M2 = 3 : 2 at the GUT scale with mixed bino-wino dark matter, the $$ \overset{\sim }{g} $$ g ~ SUGRA model can explain the muon g − 2 anomaly at 1σ level and be consistent with the updated LHC constraints for 6.9 ≤ M3/M1 ≤ 7.5 at the GUT scale. Although the choice of heavy gluino will always increase the FT involved, some of the 1σ/2σ survived points of $$ \Delta {a}_{\mu}^{\mathrm{combine}} $$ ∆ a μ combine can still allow low EWFT of order several hundreds and be fairly natural. Constraints from (dimension-five operator induced) proton decay are also discussed.

Intragenerational Social Mobility and Wellbeing in Great Britain. A Biomarker Approach

Social theory has long predicted that social mobility, in particular downward social mobility, is detrimental to the wellbeing of individuals. Dissociative and ‘falling from grace’ theories suggest that mobility is stressful due to the weakening of social ties, feelings of alienation, and loss of status. In light of these theories, it is a puzzle that the majority of quantitative studies in this area have shown null results. Our approach to resolve the puzzle is twofold. First, we argue for a broader conception of the mobility process than is often used and thus focus on intragenerational occupational class mobility rather than restricting ourselves to the more commonly studied intergenerational mobility. Second, we argue that self-reported measures may be biased by habituation (or ‘entrenched deprivation’). Using nurse-collected health and biomarker data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS, 2010–12, N = 4,123), we derive a measure of allostatic load as an objective gauge of physiological ‘wear and tear,’ and compare patterns of mobility effects with self-reports of health using diagonal reference models. Our findings indicate a strong class gradient in both allostatic load and self-rated health, and that both first and current job matter for current wellbeing outcomes. However, in terms of the effects of mobility itself, we find that intragenerational social mobility is consequential for allostatic load, but not for self-rated health. Downward mobility is detrimental and upward mobility beneficial for wellbeing as assessed by allostatic load. Thus, these findings do not support the idea of generalized stress from dissociation, but they do support the ‘falling from grace’ hypothesis of negative downward mobility effects. Our findings have a further implication, namely that the differences in mobility effects between the objective and subjective outcome infer the presence of entrenched deprivation. Null results in studies of self-rated outcomes may therefore be a methodological artifact, rather than an outright rejection of decades-old social theory.

Does it pay to imitate? No evidence for social gains from lexical imitation

According to an influential hypothesis, people imitate motor movements to foster social interactions. Could imitation of language serve a similar function? We investigated this question in two pre-registered experiments. In Experiment 1, participants were asked to alternate naming pictures and matching pictures to a name provided by a partner. Crucially, and unknown to participants, the partner was in fact a computer program which in one group produced the same names as previously used by the participant, and in the other group consistently produced different names. We found no difference in how the two groups evaluated the partner or the interaction and no difference in their willingness to cooperate with the partner. In Experiment 2, we made the task more similar to natural interactions by adding a stage in which a participant and the partner introduced themselves to each other and included a measure of the participant's autistic traits. Once again, we found no effects of being imitated. We discuss how these null results may inform imitation research.

No causal effect of school closures in Japan on the spread of COVID-19 in spring 2020

Among tool kits to combat the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, school closures are one of the most frequent non-pharmaceutical interventions. However, school closures bring about substantial costs, such as learning loss. To date, studies have not reached a consensus about the effectiveness of these policies at mitigating community transmission, partly because they lack rigorous causal inference. Here we assess the causal effect of school closures in Japan on reducing the spread of COVID-19 in spring 2020. By matching each municipality with open schools to a municipality with closed schools that is the most similar in terms of potential confounders, we can estimate how many cases the municipality with open schools would have had if it had closed its schools. We do not find any evidence that school closures in Japan reduced the spread of COVID-19. Our null results suggest that policies on school closures should be reexamined given the potential negative consequences for children and parents.

Microvariação na resolução de sujeitos pronominais: português europeu vs. italiano

The present study investigates the resolution of null and overt subject pronouns in intrasentential contexts, considering the role of animacy in antecedent assignment. Participants were 15 native speakers of EP and 14 of Italian. Each language group was administered two multiple choice tasks (speeded and untimed), which had a 2x2 design, crossing the following variables: animacy of the matrix object (animate vs. inanimate) and type of pronominal embedded subject (overt vs. null). Results indicate that there is microvariation in the resolution of overt pronominal subjects in EP and in Italian: the position of the antecedent is the most relevant factor in EP, whereas, in Italian, the animacy of the antecedent is the preponderant factor. Results also show that there is microvariation in the resolution of null subjects (contra previous claims in the literature): the bias for subject antecedents is weaker in Italian than in EP. Possible reasons for the observed microvariation are discussed in detail.

Confronting SO(10) GUTs with proton decay and gravitational waves

Grand Unified Theories (GUT) predict proton decay as well as the formation of cosmic strings which can generate gravitational waves. We determine which non-supersymmetric SO(10) breaking chains provide gauge unification in addition to a gravitational signal from cosmic strings. We calculate the GUT and intermediate scales for these SO(10) breaking chains by solving the renormalisation group equations at the two-loop level. This analysis predicts the GUT scale, hence the proton lifetime, in addition to the scale of cosmic string generation and thus the associated gravitational wave signal. We determine which SO(10) breaking chains survive in the event of the null results of the next generation of gravitational waves and proton decay searches and determine the correlations between proton decay and gravitational waves scales if these observables are measured.

Null Results for the Steal-Framing Effect on Out-Group Aggression

Whether intergroup conflict is a necessary condition for the evolution of human prosociality has been a matter of debate. At the center of the debate is the coevolutionary model of parochial altruism—that human cooperation with in-group members has coevolved with aggression toward out-group members. Studies using the intergroup prisoner’s dilemma–maximizing difference game to test the model have repeatedly shown that people do not exhibit out-group aggression, possibly because of an inappropriate operationalization and framing of out-group aggression. The coevolutionary model predicts out-group aggression when the actor understands that it will lead to the in-group’s benefit. However, in the game, such an aspect of out-group aggression that benefits the in-group is typically not well communicated to participants. Thus, this study tested the hypothesis that out-group aggression in the game would be promoted by a framing that emphasizes that attacking out-group members enhances the in-group’s gain. Results of two laboratory experiments with 176 Japanese university students in total showed that such a framing did not promote out-group aggression and individuals invested more money to cooperate with in-group members only, avoiding the strategy of cooperating with in-group members to harm out-group members. These results do not support the coevolutionary model.