Understanding social influence of social media for healthy nutrition and lifestyle: qualitative insights (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Although previous studies have highlighted the negative effects of the promotion of unhealthy food and beverages on social media, there is limited understanding regarding the role of social media to develop social influence that can trigger social learning for the development of healthy lifestyle behaviour. This study intends to contribute by upgrading the knowledge on how advance social platforms can act as an effective educational medium for health professionals to engage with a community about healthy nutrition and lifestyle. OBJECTIVE This study intends to contribute by upgrading the knowledge on how advance social platforms can act as an effective educational medium for health professionals to engage with a community about healthy nutrition and lifestyle. METHODS The study took a social constructionist approach because such an approach can improve understanding of the social context of food consumption, living habits, use of social media and awareness about healthy lifestyle behaviour in the context of Saudi Arabia. This study collected data from health professionals (dietitians, psychiatrists, nutritionists) as well as the general public of Saudi Arabia using focus groups discussion and semi-structured interviews. RESULTS The findings of this study reveal that information and knowledge sharing among celebrities, friends, friends of friends, health professionals and patients created a social wave to learn from each other’s experiences and develop the motivation to practice healthy lifestyle behaviour. The painful stories of patients, warnings of health professionals, and the benefits of compliance with social influence led to improvements in health (happy mood, low diabetes and blood pressure, better mental condition) and increased motivation in the community to adopt healthy lifestyle behaviour. CONCLUSIONS The findings of this study reveal that information and knowledge sharing among celebrities, friends, friends of friends, health professionals and patients created a social wave to learn from each other’s experiences and develop the motivation to practice healthy lifestyle behaviour. The painful stories of patients, warnings of health professionals, and the benefits of compliance with social influence led to improvements in health (happy mood, low diabetes and blood pressure, better mental condition) and increased motivation in the community to adopt healthy lifestyle behaviour.

Perceiving Positive Facial Expression Can Relieve Depressive Moods: The Effect of Emotional Contagion on Mood in People With Subthreshold Depression

Emotional contagion is a phenomenon by which an individual’s emotions directly trigger similar emotions in others. We explored the possibility that perceiving others’ emotional facial expressions affect mood in people with subthreshold depression (sD). Around 49 participants were divided into the following four groups: participants with no depression (ND) presented with happy faces; ND participants presented with sad faces; sD participants presented with happy faces; and sD participants presented with sad faces. Participants were asked to answer an inventory about their emotional states before and after viewing the emotional faces to investigate the influence of emotional contagion on their mood. Regardless of depressive tendency, the groups presented with happy faces exhibited a slight increase in the happy mood score and a decrease in the sad mood score. The groups presented with sad faces exhibited an increased sad mood score and a decreased happy mood score. These results demonstrate that emotional contagion affects the mood in people with sD, as well as in individuals with ND. These results indicate that emotional contagion could relieve depressive moods in people with sD. It demonstrates the importance of the emotional facial expressions of those around people with sD such as family and friends from the viewpoint of emotional contagion.

MEDICAL EDUCATOR'S NONVERBAL BEHAVIOR AND ITS IMPACT ON STUDENTS AND EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Nonverbal communication has been overlooked in medical education. The purpose of this study was to explore student-teacher perceptions regarding impact of nonverbal behavior of medical educators on educational environment. METHODOLOGY: A qualitative exploratory study was conducted among purposively chosen final year students (n=150) and medical teachers (n=73) from three dental colleges of Islamabad. A web-based survey concerning three domains of kinesics (Facial expressions, Gestures, Head movement and postures) was developed and validated before execution. Comparison of participant’s responses to closed-ended questions was done by applying Fisher’s Exact Test and open-ended questions were thematically analyzed. RESULTS: Response rate of students and teachers was 46% and 63% respectively. Five out of nine closed-ended questions gave statistically significant difference among student’s and teacher’s responses (p≤0.05). Twenty-seven subthemes emerged from three domains of kinesics. Students revealed that happy mood of their teachers reduces boredom in the classroom and a teacher’s smile lets them freely express anything, whereas anger produces fear among them. According to the educators a happy instructor inspires students to study and makes the environment friendly and an undemanding smile helps build a rapport with students. Moreover, positive gestures used by teachers encourage students to clarify concepts and upright posture brings energy and motivation to the classroom. CONCLUSION: A teacher’s nonverbal behavior has a profound effect on educational environment. A smile on a teacher’s face creates a friendly and fearless environment whereas anger creates barriers to communication. A happy teacher can generate a pleasant and motivating learning environment.

Emotional Gaze: The Effects of Gaze Direction on the Perception of Facial Emotions

Previous research has found that when gaze direction matches the underlying behavioral intent communicated by the expression of a specific emotion, it enhances or facilitates the perception of that emotion; this is called the shared signal hypothesis (SSH). Specifically, a direct gaze shares an approach-orientated signal with the emotions of anger and joy, whereas an averted gaze shares an avoidance-orientated signal with fear and sadness. In this research, we attempted to verify the SSH by using different materials on Asian participants. In Experiment 1 we employed photos of models exhibiting direct and averted gazes for rating tasks, in order to study the effects of gaze direction on participants’ perception of emotion. In Experiment 2 we utilized smiling faces in a similar investigation. The results show that for neutral and smiling faces, a direct gaze (relative to a gaze of avoidance) increased the likelihood of a subject perceiving a happy mood; a gaze of avoidance increased the likelihood that anger and fear would be perceived. The effect of gaze direction on emotional expression perception was verified, but a “facilitating-impairing” pattern was not. The difference between our work and previous research may be attributable to the materials employed (which were more ecological), as well as the participants, who were from a different culture.

How negative mood hinders belief updating in depression: results from two experimental studies

Background In two experimental studies, we tested the hypothesis that negative mood would hinder the revision of negative beliefs in response to unexpectedly positive information in depression, whereas positive mood was expected to enhance belief updating. Methods In study 1 (N = 101), we used a subclinical sample to compare the film-based induction of sad v. happy mood with a distraction control group. Subsequently, participants underwent a well-established paradigm to examine intra-individual changes in performance-related expectations after unexpectedly positive performance feedback. In study 2, we applied the belief-updating task from study 1 to an inpatient sample (N = 81) and induced sad v. happy mood via film-clips v. recall of autobiographic events. Results The results of study 1 showed no significant group differences in belief updating; the severity of depressive symptoms was a negative predictor of belief revision, though, and there was a non-significant trend suggesting that the presence of sad mood hindered belief updating in the subgroup of participants with a diagnosed depressive episode. Study 2 revealed that participants updated their expectations significantly less in line with positive feedback when they underwent the induction of negative mood prior to feedback, relative to positive mood. Conclusions By indicating that the presence of negative mood can hinder the revision of negative beliefs in clinically depressed people, our findings suggest that learning from new experiences can be hampered if state negative mood is activated. Thus, interventions relying on learning from novel positive experiences should aim at reducing state negative mood in depression.

Dominant Mental State and Mood in People with Different Professional Self-Awareness

The research featured the effect of dominant mental state on professional self-awareness. The survey was conducted as part of personnel audit and involved 113 employees of an agricultural holding with 1–5 years of experience. The empirical data were provided by two questionnaires: Professional Self-Awareness and Determining the Dominant State. The activity parameter reflected the level of claims and setting for professional self-development. As an indicator of professional selfawareness, it is connected with such parameters of mental state as "active (passive) attitude to the life" and "high (low) tonus". The positivity indicator defines one’s acceptance and perception of oneself as a professional. It is interconnected with "vigor" as a mental state indicator. In subjects with an active-positive professional self-awareness, synthonic and active types of mood prevailed. In situations where activity dominated over positivity, active mood also domineered. Synthonic mood dominated if positivity indicators were more pronounced than activity. Subjects with a balanced professional self-awareness demonstrated a happy and enthusiastic mood. Enthusiastic mood prevailed when activity dominated, a happy mood increased with increasing positivity. Passive-negative professional self-awareness was associated with a contemplative mood. The research can help to prevent tonic "risk conditions", e.g. overwork and asthenic conditions. In addition, the study can be used to develop an active-positive professional self-awareness in employees, as well as the sense of vocational and psychological well-being.

How Negative Mood Hinders Belief Updating in Depression - Results from two Experimental Studies

Background: In two experimental studies, we tested the hypothesis that negative mood would hinder the revision of negative beliefs in response to unexpectedly positive information in depression, whereas positive mood was expected to enhance belief updating. Methods: In Study 1 (N = 101), we used a subclinical sample to compare the film-based induction of sad vs. happy mood with a distraction control group. Subsequently, participants underwent a well-established paradigm to examine intra-individual changes in performance-related expectations after unexpectedly positive performance feedback. In Study 2, we applied the belief-updating task from Study 1 to an inpatient sample (N = 81) and induced sad vs. happy mood via film-clips vs. recall of autobiographic events. Results: The results of Study 1 showed no significant group differences in belief updating; the severity of depressive symptoms was a negative predictor of belief revision, though, and there was a non-significant trend suggesting that the presence of sad mood hindered belief updating in the subgroup of participants with a diagnosed depressive episode. Study 2 revealed that participants updated their expectations significantly less in line with positive feedback when they underwent the induction of sad mood prior to feedback, relative to positive mood. Conclusions: By indicating that the presence of sad mood can hinder the revision of negative beliefs in clinically depressed people, our findings suggest that learning from new experiences can be hampered if state negative mood is activated. Thus, interventions relying on learning from novel positive experiences should aim at reducing state negative mood in depression.

Mood Induction Differently Affects Early Neural Correlates of Evaluative Word Processing in L1 and L2

We investigate how mood inductions impact the neural processing of emotional adjectives in one’s first language (L1) and a formally acquired second language (L2). Twenty-three student participants took part in an EEG experiment with two separate sessions. Happy or sad mood inductions were followed by series of individually presented positive, negative, or neutral adjectives in L1 (German) or L2 (English) and evaluative decisions had to be performed. Visual event-related potentials elicited during word processing were analyzed during N1 (125–200 ms), Early Posterior Negativities (EPN, 200–300 ms and 300–400 ms), N400 (350–450 ms), and the Late Positive Potential (LPP, 500–700 ms). Mood induction differentially impacted word processing already on the N1, with stronger left lateralization following happy than sad mood induction in L1, but not in L2. Moreover, regardless of language, early valence modulation was found following happy but not sad mood induction. Over occipital areas, happy mood elicited larger amplitudes of the mood-congruent positive words, whereas over temporal areas mood-incongruent negative words had higher amplitudes. In the EPN-windows, effects of mood and valence largely persisted, albeit with no difference between L1 and L2. N400 amplitude was larger for L2 than for L1. On the LPP, mood-incongruent adjectives elicited larger amplitudes than mood-congruent ones. Results reveal a remarkably early valence-general effect of mood induction on cortical processing, in line with previous reports of N1 as a first marker of contextual integration. Interestingly, this effect differed between L1 and L2. Moreover, mood-congruent effects were found in perceptual processing and mood-incongruent ERP amplification in higher-order evaluative stages.

THE ROLE OF ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOR (OCB) TOWARDS GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMPANY

In a company, employees play a very strategic role and are the most valuable assets for the company's growth and development. Employee performance is getting better and has high loyalty if in a company there is a harmonious relationship between employees and the company. For this reason the company has an obligation to always pay attention to the welfare of all employees for the performance that has been given to the company. In carrying out the task, in reality there are a variety of behaviors that are caused by employees, especially if the employee is in a happy mood which in turn makes the company more effective, such behavior is helping colleagues, avoiding conflicts, participating in work groups, this behavior is called with the term Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB). This OCB will greatly benefit every company, because the company will become more effective and efficient. If the company has employees who behave OCB certainly the company will get better. For this reason, OCB has a very important role in the growth and development of the company. Keywords: Role, Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Growth, Development.