Message Framing Effects on Individuals' Social Distancing and Helping Behavior During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This research responds to urgent calls to fill knowledge gaps on COVID-19 (new coronavirus) in communicating social distancing messages to the public in the most convincing ways. The authors explore the effectiveness of framing social distancing messages around prosocial vs. self-interested appeals in driving message compliance and helping behavior. The results show that when a message emphasizes benefits for everyone in society, rather than solely for the individual, citizens find the message more persuasive to engage in social distancing, and also more motivating to help others. The results further demonstrate that the proposed effects are higher for individuals who have a lower locus of control and lower fear of coronavirus as prosocial messages lead them to feel a joint responsibility in protecting from the pandemic. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.

Lower Locus Coeruleus MRI intensity in patients with late-life major depression

Background The locus coeruleus (LC) is the major noradrenergic source in the central nervous system. Structural alterations in the LC contribute to the pathophysiology of different neuropsychiatric disorders, which may increase to a variable extent the likelihood of developing neurodegenerative conditions. The characterization of such alterations may therefore help to predict progression to neurodegenerative disorders. Despite the LC cannot be visualized with conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), specific MRI sequences have been developed to infer its structural integrity. Methods We quantified LC signal Contrast Ratios (LCCRs) in late-life major depressive disorder (MDD) (n = 37, 9 with comorbid aMCI), amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI) (n = 21, without comorbid MDD), and healthy controls (HCs) (n = 31), and also assessed the putative modulatory effects of comorbidities and other clinical variables. Results LCCRs were lower in MDD compared to aMCI and HCs. While no effects of aMCI comorbidity were observed, lower LCCRs were specifically observed in patients taking serotonin/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs). Conclusion Our results do not support the hypothesis that lower LCCRs characterize the different clinical groups that may eventually develop a neurodegenerative disorder. Conversely, our results were specifically observed in patients with late-life MDD taking SNRIs. Further research with larger samples is warranted to ascertain whether medication or particular clinical features of patients taking SNRIs are associated with changes in LC neurons.

After the Midterm Ordeal: Election Results and Presidential Belief Systems

The study of midterm elections can reveal an important influence on the beliefs of presidents. Employing constructs from the “operational code “literature regarding presidential foreign policy-making, we examine the impact of midterm election results upon presidential beliefs during two “normal” midterm elections: 1990 and 1994. We hypothesize that midterm elections encourage presidents to find the nature of the political universe more conflictual, to develop a lower locus of personal control over their environment, and to adopt more adversarial positions about their approach to personal goals. These effects should vary with the scale of the midterm setback. We find support for these hypotheses, usually with greater effects in the 1994 than 1990 case. Given the larger effects of the 1994 election upon the president, its status as a “normal” midterm election lies in question. Further research into other midterm cases is necessary to formulate a typology of midterm effects upon presidential beliefs.