Major Coping-behavior and Risk-perception Factors for the COVID-19 Pandemic and their Psychobehavioral Characteristics

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has dramatically changed people’s behavior, to prevent infection and overcome the general adversity caused by the implementation of infection-prevention measures. Here, we investigated the main coping-behavior and risk-perception factors, and the underlying psychological mechanisms (e.g., psychobehavioral characteristics) of coping behavior. We recruited 2,885 Japanese participants (1,524 women, ages 20–91 years). First, we identified four coping-behavior factors (two related to infection and two related to general adversity) and three risk-perception factors (one related to medical aspects and two related to society). Second, we demonstrated that infection prevention was promoted by female sex and etiquette in the Power to Live scale. General-adversity coping behavior was facilitated by shortages of daily necessities. Thus, we identified four parsimonious coping-behavior factors, as well as the risk-perception factors and demographic and psychobehavioral characteristics that influenced them. These results will benefit strategic approaches to optimize the social response to the pandemic.

Harnessing Moral Psychology to Reduce Meat Consumption

How can we make moral progress on factory farming? Part of the answer lies in human moral psychology. Meat consumption remains high, despite increased awareness of its negative impact on animal welfare. Weakness of will is part of the explanation: acceptance of the ethical arguments doesn’t always motivate changes in dietary habits. However, we draw on scientific evidence to argue that many consumers aren’t fully convinced that they morally ought to reduce their meat consumption. We then identify two key psychological mechanisms—motivated reasoning and social proof—that lead people to resist the ethical reasons. Finally, we show how to harness these psychological mechanisms to encourage reductions in meat consumption. A central lesson for moral progress generally is that durable social change requires socially-embedded reasoning.

How Does Social Class Affect Need for Structure during the COVID-19 Pandemic? A Moderated Mediating Model Analysis

The COVID-19 pandemic is profoundly affecting the minds and behaviors of people worldwide. This study investigated the differences in the need for structure among people from different social classes and the psychological mechanisms underlying this need, as well as the moderating effect of the threat posed by the pandemic. Using data collected from non-student adults in China, we found that the lower an individual’s social class, the lower their need for structure, and this effect was based on the mediating role of perceived control. However, the mediating effect was moderated by pandemic threat, and the above relationship existed only when this threat was low. When the level of pandemic threat was higher, neither the effect of social class nor of perceived control on the need for structure were significant. Specifically, in higher-threat situations, the need for structure among individuals from higher social classes and who had a higher sense of control increased significantly, meaning the mediating effect was no longer significant. This finding showed that under the threat of a pandemic, individuals who have a lower need for structure will still pursue and prefer structure and order. The theoretical and practical implications of the research are also discussed.

Rethinking Mindfulness in Education within Two Frameworks: Articulating the “Threefold Model of Mindful Wisdom” with the “Theory of Mental Interference”

The existent trend of implementing mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) into public education came along with an increasing scientific record regarding the definitional construct of mindfulness, effects of various mindfulness-based interventions and their basic mechanisms. In terms of the rising definitional discourse in the interdisciplinary field of mindfulness, the “threefold model of mindful wisdom” (TMMW) was proposed. In the present paper’s quest of rethinking mindfulness in education, the relevance of the TMMW for didactics in modern Western educational systems (with special interest on the region of Germany) is examined, affirmed in several points and—with the aid of the “Theory of Mental Interference” (TMI)—methodically linked to individual learners’ needs. The TMI has been developed at the University of Hamburg since 1984 by Wagner and colleagues. This is compatible with the TMMW with regard to the concept of self and basic psychological mechanisms of “mindful exercises”. Its basic approach conceives the epistemic level of cognitive processes (1) to be unbiased by affect and (2) to be different from a level of mental interference, which in case of an arising default habitually interferes with the cognitive processes. Implications for further research, for modern educational systems and for MBPs in education are discussed.

Being in a crowd bonds people via physiological synchrony

Collective events can generate intense emotions, shape group identities, and forge strong bonds. Do these effects extend to remote participation, and what are the psychological mechanisms underpinning their social power? We monitored psycho-physiological activity among groups of basketball fans who either attended games in-person (in a stadium) or watched games live on television in small groups. In-person attendance was associated with greater synchronicity in autonomic nervous system activation at the group level, which resulted in more transformative experiences and contributed to stronger identity fusion. Our findings suggest that the social effects of sports depend substantially on the inter-personal dynamics unfolding among fans, rather than being prompted simply by watching the game itself. Given the increasing prevalence of virtual experiences, this has potentially wide-reaching implications for many domains of collective human interaction.

Two components of body-image disturbance are differentially associated with distinct eating disorder characteristics in healthy young women

Body-image disturbance comprises two components. The first is perceptual in nature, and is measured by a discrepancy between one’s actual body and perceived self-image (“perceived–actual discrepancy”). The other component is affective, and is measured by a discrepancy between one’s perceived self-image and ideal body image (“perceived–ideal discrepancy”). The present study evaluated the relationships between body-image disturbance and characteristics of eating disorders such as symptoms and related personality traits. In a psychophysiological experiment, female university students (mean ± SD age = 21.0 ± 1.38 years) were presented with silhouette images of their own bodies that were distorted in terms of width. The participants were asked whether each silhouette image was more overweight than their actual or ideal body images. Eating-disorder characteristics were assessed using six factors from the Japanese version of the Eating Disorder Inventory 2 (EDI2). We found that perceived–actual discrepancies correlated with negative self-evaluation (i.e., factor 3 of the EDI2), whereas perceived–ideal discrepancies correlated with dissatisfaction with one’s own body (i.e., factor 2 of EDI2). These results imply that distinct psychological mechanisms underlie the two components of body-image disturbance.

Cognitive behaviour therapy for adolescents with eating disorders: An effective alternative to the disease-based treatments

Several clinical services offer eclectic multidisciplinary treatments with no evidence of efficacy and effectiveness for adolescents with eating disorders. These treatments are usually based on the ‘disease model’ of eating disorders. The model postulates that eating disorders are the result of a specific disease (i.e., anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa or other eating disorders), and patients are considered not to have control of their illness. Therefore, they need the external control of parents and/or health professionals. In this model, the patients adopt a passive role in the treatment. On the contrary, enhanced cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT-E) for adolescents is based on a ‘psychological model’ of eating disorders. Patients are helped to understand the psychological mechanisms that maintain their eating disorder and are ‘actively’ involved in the recovery process. Clinical studies showed that more than 60% of adolescent patients who complete the treatment achieve a full response at 12-month follow-up. The treatment is well accepted by young people and their parents, and its collaborative nature is well suited to ambivalent young patients who may be particularly concerned about control issues and for parents who cannot participate in all treatment sessions.

Museum of Outstanding Figures in Ukrainian Culture

This paper deals with a famous problem of epistemic logic – logical omniscience. Logical omniscience occurs in the logical systems where the axiomatics is complete and consequently an agent using inference rules knows everything about the system. Logical omniscience is a major problem due to complexity problems and the inability for adequate human reasoning modeling. It is studied both informal logic and philosophy of psychology (bounded rationality). It is important for bounded rationality because it reflects the problem of formal characterization of purely psychological mechanisms. Paper proposes to solve it using the ideas from the philosophical bounded rationality and intuitionistic logic. Special regions of deductible formulas developed according to psychologistic criterion should guide the deductive model. The method is compared to other ones presented in the literature on logical omniscience such as Hintikka’s and Vinkov and Fominuh. Views from different perspectives such as computer science and artificial intelligence are also provided.

EXPRESS: The psychological role of music and attentional control for religious experiences in worship

This study investigated the psychological dynamics during worship experiences under the influence of different music conditions. 60 believers were recruited to participate in experiments where they were asked to engage in worship and to connect with God while continuously ranking how strongly they sensed the presence of the divine. After each condition, they were asked to rate how well they were able to focus on God during the worship procedure. Based on a previously published feedback loop model that portrays global psychological mechanisms in worship, we deduced two hypotheses: (i) the ability to focus on God is positively associated with how strong the subjective religious experience becomes; (ii) and the different musical conditions yield varying degrees in the intensity of the felt presence of God. Our statistical analyses on the current sample demonstrate that both alternative hypotheses can be accepted. For the latter thesis, two further assumptions were at play: (a) we speculated that religious worship songs were associated with stronger divine experiences than with secular ones; and (b) it was assumed that if they could worship to their own selection of songs, the experience would be more powerful than with the ones that were provided by the research team. Whereas upon our investigation the former assumption can be deemed correct, the latter shows a positive but insignificant association.

The product life cycle revisited: an integrative review and research agenda

Purpose This paper aims to respond to calls in academia for an update of the product lifecycle (PLC). Through a systematic literature review, the authors provide an updated agenda, which aims to advance the PLC concept in research, teaching and practice. Design/methodology/approach The authors started by surveying 101 marketing academics globally to ascertain whether a PLC update was viewed necessary and beneficial in the marketing community and thereafter conducted citation analysis of marketing research papers and textbooks to ascertain PLC usage. The subsequent literature review methodology was split into two sections. First, 97 empirical articles were reviewed based on an evaluative framework. Second, research pertaining to the PLC determinants were assessed and discussed. Findings From the results of this review and primary data from marketing academics, the authors find that the method of predicting the PLC based on past sales has been largely unsuccessful and perceived as somewhat outdated. However, a new stream of PLC literature is emerging, which takes a consumer-centric perspective to the PLC and has seen more success at modeling lifecycles in various industries. Research limitations/implications First, the study outlines the most contemporary and successful methodological approaches to modeling the PLC. Namely, the use of artificial intelligence, big data, demand modeling and consumer psychological mechanisms. Second, it provides several future research avenues using modern market trends such as sustainability, globalization, digitization and Covid-19 to push the PLC into the 21st century. Originality/value The PLC has shown to be resolutely popular in management application and education. However, without a continued effort in academic PLC research to update the knowledge around the concept, its use as a productive management tool will likely become outdated. This study provides a necessary and comprehensive literature update resulting in actionable future research and teaching agendas intended to advance the PLC concept into the modern market context.