Getting lost in an infinite design space is no solution.

Almaatouq et al. argue that an "integrative experiment design" approach can help generating cumulative empirical and theoretical knowledge. Here, we discuss the novelty of their approach and scrutinize its promises and pitfalls. We argue that setting up a "design space" may turn out to be theoretically uninformative, inefficient, and even impossible. Designing truly diagnostic experiments provides a better alternative.

Sadism and Personality Disorders.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Sadistic pleasure-the enjoyment of harm-infliction to others-can have devastating interpersonal and societal consequences. The goal of the current review is to illuminate the nomological net of traits related to sadism. We aim to achieve an understanding of the current empirical status on the link between sadism and personality disorders, psychopathy, the Dark Triad, and basic personality traits in clinical and community-based samples. RECENT FINDINGS: The field is dominated by self-report studies on the Dark Triad with convenience samples. The link with DSM personality disorders has hardly been empirically studied. Existing evidence shows that sadism is most strongly related to increased psychopathic personality traits. Sadism can originate both from the interpersonal, affective, and behavioural basis of dark personality traits. There are diverging ideas on the differential status between sadism, psychopathy, and other dark traits. Research is needed on the causal impact of the broader range of personality disorders on sadism, in more diverse samples, including behavioural assessments of sadistic pleasure, as well as on the interplay of such personality traits with situational and affective aspects, and victim attitudes.

Downstream Consequences of Post-Transgression Responses: A Motive-Attribution Framework.

Victims commonly respond to experienced wrongdoing by punishing or forgiving the transgressor. While much research has looked at predictors and immediate consequences of these post-transgression responses, comparably less research has addressed the conditions under which punishment or forgiveness have positive or negative downstream consequences on the victim-transgressor relationship. Drawing from research on Social Value Orientation (SVO), we argue that both forgiveness and punishment can be rooted in either prosocial (i.e., relationship- or other-oriented), individualistic (i.e., self-oriented), or competitive (i.e., harm-oriented) motives pursued by the victim. Furthermore, we posit that downstream consequences of forgiveness and punishment crucially depend on how the transgressor interprets the victim's response. The novel motive-attribution framework presented here highlights the importance of alignment between a victim's motives and a transgressor's motive attributions underlying post-transgression responses. This framework thus contributes to a better understanding of positive and negative dynamics following post-transgression interactions.

Public acceptance of Covid-19 lockdown scenarios.

By mid-March 2020, most countries had implemented nationwide lockdown policies aimed at decelerating the spread of SARS-CoV-2. At that time, nobody knew how long these policies would have to remain in force and whether they would have to be extended, intensified or made more flexible. The present study aimed to illuminate how the general public in Germany reacted to the prospect of increasing the length, the intensity and/or the flexibility of distancing rules implied by different lockdown scenarios. Endorsement of and compliance with five specific lockdown scenarios were assessed in a large (N = 14,433) German sample. Results showed that lockdown length affected respondents' reactions much more strongly than intensity or flexibility. Additional analyses (i.e., mixture distribution modelling) showed that half of the respondents rejected any further extensions or intensifications, while 20% would endorse long-term strategies if necessary. We argue that policy-makers and political communicators should take the public's endorsement of and compliance with such scenarios into account, as should simulations predicting the effects of different lockdown scenarios.

Neuroticism and interpersonal perception: Evidence for positive, but not negative, biases.

OBJECTIVE: Personality dispositions predict how individuals perceive, interpret, and react to social interactions with others. A still unresolved question is (a) whether these personality-congruent interpersonal perceptions reflect perception biases, which occur when perceivers' dispositions systematically predict deviations between perceivers' and other people's perceptions of the same interaction, and/or selection effects, which occur when perceivers' dispositions predict their selection of interaction partners, and (b) whether these effects feed back into perceivers' personality. METHOD: Data from 110 psychology freshmen involving repeated assessments of Neuroticism and repeated interpersonal perceptions of social interactions with fellow students were analyzed to address these questions, focusing on Neuroticism. RESULTS: There is evidence for a Neuroticism-related positivity bias in interpersonal perceptions (i.e., perceivers high in Neuroticism tended to make more positive judgments of others' sociability and warmth), but little evidence for personality-congruent selection effects (i.e., Neuroticism-related preferences for interaction partners). The positivity bias did not predict intrapersonal changes in Neuroticism over time, but the selection of specific interaction partners did. CONCLUSIONS: These findings help to shed light on the interpersonal perception dynamics of Neuroticism in a real-life context and add to our understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying the interplay of personality and interpersonal perceptions.

What stops revenge taking? Effects of observed emotional reactions on revenge seeking.

What reaction stops revenge taking? Four experiments (total N = 191) examined this question where the victim of an interpersonal transgression could observe the offender's reaction (anger, sadness, pain, or calm) to a retributive noise punishment. We compared the punishment intensity selected by the participant before and after seeing the offender's reaction. Seeing the opponent in pain reduced subsequent punishment most strongly, while displays of sadness and verbal indications of suffering had no appeasing effect. Expression of anger about a retributive punishment did not increase revenge seeking relative to a calm reaction, even when the anger response was disambiguated as being angry with the punisher. It is concluded that the expression of pain is the most effective emotional display for the reduction of retaliatory aggression. The findings are discussed in light of recent research on reactive aggression and retributive justice.

"Our Country Needs a Strong Leader Right Now": Economic Inequality Enhances the Wish for a Strong Leader.

Societal inequality has been found to harm the mental and physical health of its members and undermine overall social cohesion. Here, we tested the hypothesis that economic inequality is associated with a wish for a strong leader in a study involving 28 countries from five continents (Study 1, N = 6,112), a study involving an Australian community sample (Study 2, N = 515), and two experiments (Study 3a, N = 96; Study 3b, N = 296). We found correlational (Studies 1 and 2) and experimental (Studies 3a and 3b) evidence for our prediction that higher inequality enhances the wish for a strong leader. We also found that this relationship is mediated by perceptions of anomie, except in the case of objective inequality in Study 1. This suggests that societal inequality enhances the perception that society is breaking down (anomie) and that a strong leader is needed to restore order (even when that leader is willing to challenge democratic values).

Why dysfunctional expectations in depression persist - Results from two experimental studies investigating cognitive immunization.

BACKGROUND: Research has revealed that negative expectations impact depressive symptoms. However, research on the change of dysfunctional expectations in depression is lacking so far. Therefore, the present research aimed to fill this gap by testing the hypothesis that people with the major depressive disorder (MDD), contrary to healthy individuals, maintain their expectations despite experiences that positively disconfirm expectations. Further, it was hypothesized that cognitive immunization (a cognitive reappraisal of the disconfirming evidence) is a mechanism underlying the persistence of expectations. METHOD: In Study 1, we compared individuals with MDD (N = 58) to healthy individuals (N = 59). Participants worked on the same performance test and received standardized feedback that either confirmed or disconfirmed their initial performance expectations. In Study 2, we investigated the effects of cognitive immunization on expectation change among 59 individuals reporting elevated levels of depression by varying the appraisal of expectation-disconfirming feedback. RESULTS: Results from Study 1 show that in the expectation-disconfirming condition, healthy individuals changed their expectations, whereas individuals with MDD did not. No such difference between the two groups was found for expectation-confirming feedback. Results from Study 2 indicated that varying cognitive immunization impacted expectation change, thus suggesting a crucial role of cognitive immunization in expectation change. CONCLUSIONS: These two studies indicated that individuals suffering from depression have more difficulties in changing their expectations after disconfirming experiences than do healthy individuals, and cognitive immunization might be a core mechanism underlying expectation persistence. Therefore, psychotherapeutic interventions should aim to inhibit cognitive immunization processes to enhance expectation change.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Complemented with Emotion Regulation Training for Patients with Persistent Physical Symptoms: A Randomised Clinical Trial.

INTRODUCTION: Persistent medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) are a major burden for health care. Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) is efficacious for patients with MUS, with small to medium effects. The current study investigates whether therapy outcomes of a CBT for MUS patients can be improved by complementing it with emotion regulation training. METHODS: In a multicentre trial 255 patients with at least three persisting MUS were randomised to 20 sessions of either conventional CBT (n = 128) or CBT complemented with emotion regulation training (ENCERT; n = 127). Somatic symptom severity and secondary outcomes were assessed at pre-treatment, therapy session 8, end of therapy, and 6-month follow-up. RESULTS: Linear mixed-effect models revealed medium to large effects in both study arms for almost all outcomes at the end of therapy and 6-month follow-up. ENCERT and CBT did not differ in their effect on the primary outcome (d = 0.20, 95% CI: -0.04 to 0.44). Significant time × group cross-level interactions suggested ENCERT to be of more benefit than conventional CBT for a few secondary outcomes. Moderator analyses revealed higher effects of ENCERT in patients with co-morbid mental disorders. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS: Current findings are based on a representative sample. Results demonstrate that both CBT and ENCERT can achieve strong effects on primary and secondary outcomes in MUS patients. Our results do not indicate that adding a training in emotion regulation skills generally improves the effect of CBT across all patients with MUS. Large effect sizes of both treatments and potential specific benefits of ENCERT for patients with co-morbid mental disorders are discussed.

Mutual long-term effects of school bullying, victimization, and justice sensitivity in adolescents.

In the present study, we investigate long-term relations between experiences of aggression at school and the development of justice sensitivity as a personality disposition in adolescents. We assessed justice sensitivity (from the victim, observer, and perpetrator perspective), bullying, and victimization among 565 German 12- to 18-year-olds in a one-year longitudinal study with two measurement points. Latent path analyses revealed gender differences in long-term effects of bullying and victimization on observer sensitivity and victim sensitivity. Experiences of victimization at T1 predicted an increase in victim sensitivity among girls and a decrease in victim sensitivity among boys. Bullying behavior at T1 predicted an increase in victim sensitivity among boys and a decrease in observer sensitivity among girls. We did not find long-term effects of justice sensitivity on bullying and victimization. Our findings indicate that experiences of bullying and victimization have gender-specific influences on the development of moral personality dispositions in adolescents.

On the psychometric properties of the aggressiveness-IAT for children and adolescents.

In research on aggression, implicit association tests (IATs) have been constructed to elucidate automatic processes involved in aggressiveness. Despite an increasing number of applications of the "Aggressiveness-IAT" in basic and applied research, the psychometric properties of this method for measuring an automatic aggressive self-concept have not been comprehensively investigated. Although the Aggressiveness-IAT has been used both as a cross-situationally consistent trait measure and as a measure to indicate situational changes, prior studies have not tested to what extent it reliably captures a stable trait vs. an occasion-specific aggressive self-concept. The present research scrutinizes the psychometric properties of the Aggressiveness-IAT by addressing two issues. First, we tested the reliability, consistency, and occasion specificity of the Aggressiveness-IAT in a longitudinal panel study with four waves and 574 Austrian school children/adolescents by applying latent-state trait (LST) theory. Second, we validated latent trait scores of the IAT vis-à-vis other measures either clearly related to aggression or not. Results demonstrate that 20-30% of the variance in children's and adolescents' IAT scores is situation-unspecific (i.e., "stable"), whereas 36-50% are situation-specific. Regarding its construct validity, the Aggressiveness-IAT is correlated with explicit measures of aggression and related constructs, but it is not associated with discriminant variables (e.g., school achievement). Implications for using the Aggressiveness-IAT are discussed in the light of these findings. Aggr. Behav. 41:84-95 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Exploring Asymmetries in Self-Concept Change After Discrepant Feedback.

Receiving self-relevant feedback that is discrepant from one's self-concept can lead to self-concept change. However, it is currently unclear whether positive or negative feedback has a larger effect on self-concept change. Across four studies (total N = 1,438), we demonstrate that intentions for self-concept change (Study 1) as well as actual self-concept change (Studies 2, 3, and 4) are larger (a) for larger discrepancies between self-concept and feedback and (b) for negative compared to positive discrepancies. Exploring these effects further in Study 4, we find no evidence that the opportunity for improvement influences whether self-concept change is positively or negatively biased. In sum, the present research provides consistent evidence for a negativity bias in self-concept change, investigates a theoretical explanation, and discusses alternative explanatory approaches.

How victim sensitivity affects our attitudes and behaviour towards immigrants.

Three studies explore the relation between victim sensitivity-the sensitivity to being a victim of injustice - and anti-immigration attitudes and behaviour. Based on theoretical considerations and prior research, we hypothesized that victim sensitivity positively predicts anti-immigration attitudes and behaviour over and above political orientation and ideology. Results from a longitudinal study (Study 1; N = 1038), a computerized online experiment (Study 2; N = 299), and a laboratory experiment (Study 3; N = 178) provide support for this hypothesis. Studies 2 and 3 indicate that a heightened fear of exploitation mediates the effect of victim sensitivity on anti-immigration attitudes and behaviour even though attempts to scrutinize this mechanism by 'switching off' the psychological process were unsuccessful. We discuss methodological and theoretical implications and possible avenues for future research.

Longtime nemeses or cordial allies? How individuals mentally relate science and religion.

Science and religion are influential social forces, and their interplay has been subject to many public and scholarly debates. The present article addresses how people mentally conceptualize the relationship between science and religion and how these conceptualizations can be systematized. To that end, we provide a comprehensive, integrative review of the pertinent literature. Moreover, we discuss how cognitive (in particular, epistemic beliefs) and motivational factors (in particular, epistemic needs, identity, and moral beliefs), as well as personality and contextual factors (e.g., rearing practices and cross-cultural exposure), are related to these mental conceptualizations. And finally, we provide a flowchart detailing the psychological processes leading to these mental conceptualizations. A comprehensive understanding of how individuals perceive the science-religion relationship is interesting in and of itself and practically relevant for managing societal challenges, such as science denial. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Those who (enjoy to) hurt: The influence of dark personality traits on animal- and human directed sadistic pleasure.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Sadistic pleasure - gratuitous enjoyment from inflicting pain on others - has devastating interpersonal and societal consequences. The current knowledge on non-sexual, everyday sadism - a trait that resides within the general population - is scarce. The present study therefore focussed on personality correlates of sadistic pleasure. It investigated the relationship between the Dark Triad traits, and both dispositional and state-level sadistic pleasure. METHODS: N = 120 participants filled out questionnaires to assess their level of Dark Triad traits, psychopathy subfactors, and dispositional sadism. Then, participants engaged in an animal-directed task in which they were led to believe that they were killing bugs; and in a human-directed task where they could ostensibly noise blasts another participant. The two behavioral tasks were administered within-subjects, in randomized order. Sadistic pleasure was captured by increases in reported pleasure from pre-to post-task. RESULTS: All Dark Triad traits related to increased dispositional sadism, with psychopathy showing the strongest link. The coldheartedness psychopathy subscale showed a unique combination with both self-reported sadism and increased pleasure following bug grinding. LIMITATIONS: Predominantly female and student sample, limiting generalizability of findings. CONCLUSIONS: Out of all Dark Triad components, psychopathy showed the strongest link with gaining pleasure from hurting others. The results underscore the differential predictive value of psychopathy's subcomponents for sadistic pleasure. Coldheartedness can be considered especially disturbing because of its unique relationship to deriving joy from irreversible harm-infliction (i.e. killing bugs). Our findings further establish psychopathy - and especially its coldheartedness component - as the most adverse Dark Triad trait.

A transdiagnostic internet-based maintenance treatment enhances the stability of outcome after inpatient cognitive behavioral therapy: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: High relapse rates following acute treatment for common mental health disorders support the importance of developing maintenance phase interventions. Internet-based interventions have been effective for a broad range of mental disorders, but less is known about their potential to enhance long-term outcomes of traditional face-to-face therapy. Therefore, the goal of the present study was to evaluate a transdiagnostic Internet-based maintenance treatment (TIMT) with the purpose of fostering long-term effects of inpatient psychotherapy. METHOD: In this pragmatic randomized controlled trial, a sample of 400 inpatients with affective, neurotic, and/or behavioral disorders was assigned to either 12 weeks of TIMT + treatment as usual (TAU) or to TAU-only following hospital discharge. TIMT consists of a self-management module, asynchronous patient-coach communication, online patient support group, and online-based monitoring of psychopathological symptoms. Self-ratings of psychopathological symptoms were conducted at the beginning of inpatient treatment (t1), at discharge from inpatient treatment/start of TIMT (t2), and at 3-month (t3) and 12-month follow-ups (t4). RESULTS: The TIMT + TAU group was superior to the TAU-only group with regard to differences in change of general psychopathological symptom severity from discharge to 3- and 12-month follow-up. Moreover, participants of the TIMT + TAU group showed less frequent symptom deteriorations and were more often in remission/recovery than controls. CONCLUSION: TIMT effectively enhances long-term outcome of inpatient psychotherapy.

For whom does it work? moderators of outcome on the effect of a transdiagnostic internet-based maintenance treatment after inpatient psychotherapy: randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies provide evidence for the effectiveness of Internet-based maintenance treatments for mental disorders. However, it is still unclear which participants might or might not profit from this particular kind of treatment delivery. OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to identify moderators of treatment outcome in a transdiagnostic Internet-based maintenance treatment (TIMT) offered to patients after inpatient psychotherapy for mental disorders in routine care. METHODS: Using data from a randomized controlled trial (N=400) designed to test the effectiveness of TIMT, we performed secondary analyses to identify factors moderating the effects of TIMT (intervention) when compared with those of a treatment-as-usual control condition. TIMT involved an online self-management module, asynchronous patient-therapist communication, a peer support group, and online-based progress monitoring. Participants in the control condition had unstructured access to outpatient psychotherapy, standardized outpatient face-to-face continuation treatment, and psychotropic management. Self-reports of psychopathological symptoms and potential moderators were assessed at the start of inpatient treatment (T1), at discharge from inpatient treatment/start of TIMT (T2), and at 3-month (T3) and 12-month follow-up (T4). RESULTS: Education level, positive outcome expectations, and diagnoses significantly moderated intervention versus control differences regarding changes in outcomes between T2 and T3. Only education level moderated change differences between T2 and T4. The effectiveness of the intervention (vs control) was more pronounced among participants with a low (vs high) education level (T2-T3: B=-0.32, SE 0.16, P=.049; T2-T4: B=-0.42, SE 0.21, P=.049), participants with high (vs low) positive outcome expectations (T2-T3: B=-0.12, SE 0.05, P=.02) and participants with anxiety disorder (vs mood disorder) (T2-T3: B=-0.43, SE 0.21, P=.04). Simple slope analyses revealed that despite some subgroups benefiting less from the intervention than others, all subgroups still benefited significantly. CONCLUSIONS: This transdiagnostic Internet-based maintenance treatment might be suitable for a wide range of participants differing in various clinical, motivational, and demographic characteristics. The treatment is especially effective for participants with low education levels. These findings may generalize to other Internet-based maintenance treatments.

Social influence and external feedback control in humans.

This article aims to unravel the dynamics of social influence by examining the processes that occur when one person is the target of another's influence. We hypothesized that these processes are part of a feedback loop system in an individual. This loop involves the situation (input), a goal state (reference), a comparator, a selection mechanism, a feedback predictor, and an action (output). Each element can become the target of social influence, and different types of social influence can be classified and explained by how these elements are targeted. For instance, attempting to persuade another person with strong arguments targets the goal state of the affected individual, while obedience targets the selection mechanism, and violence targets the action. In summary, this article aims to categorize, order, and explain phenomena in social influence research using a feedback loop framework focusing on the influenced individual.

Science communication gets personal: Ambivalent effects of self-disclosure in science communication on trust in science.

In an attempt to display themselves as warm, approachable, and trustworthy, researchers might reveal personal details about themselves (i.e., self-disclosure) when communicating their science to the public. Here, we test whether self-disclosure in science communication can actually increase public trust in science. We present six online experiments (overall N = 2,431), integrate their results in a mini meta-analysis, and report a field experiment in a science museum (N = 480): In sum, our findings suggest that self-disclosure leads to small, but measurable increases in laypeople's feelings of closeness toward researchers and perceptions of researchers' warmth-related trustworthiness; yet, self-disclosure also leads to decreases in competence-related trustworthiness perceptions. The credibility of scientific findings was, overall, unaffected by self-disclosing communication. Findings from the field study further question whether self-disclosure in science communication has any practical relevance. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Making sense of punishment: Transgressors' interpretation of punishment motives determines the effects of sanctions.

Punishment is expected to have an educative, behaviour-controlling effect on the transgressor. Yet, this effect often remains unattained. Here, we test the hypothesis that transgressors' inferences about punisher motives crucially shape transgressors' post-punishment attitudes and behaviour. As such, we give primacy to the social and relational dimensions of punishment in explicating how sanctions affect outcomes. Across four studies using different methodologies (N = 1189), our findings suggest that (a) communicating punishment respectfully increases transgressor perceptions that the punisher is trying to repair the relationship between the transgressor and their group (relationship-oriented motive) and reduces perceptions of harm-oriented and self-serving motives, and that (b) attributing punishment to relationship-oriented (vs. harm/self-oriented, or even victim-oriented) motives increases prosocial attitudes and behaviour. This research consolidates and extends various theoretical perspectives on interactions in justice settings, providing suggestions for how best to deliver sanctions to transgressors.