Beyond the Situation: Hanging Out with Peers now is Associated with Short-Term Mindsets Later.

It is well-established that unstructured unsupervised socializing with peers (UUS) motivates deviance while in that specific context. In this article, we extend this situational view by arguing that repeated UUS may also gradually shape adolescents' norms and decision making beyond the situation. Specifically, we argue that UUS promotes short-term mindsets, i.e., an increased focus on present rewards at the expense of considering future consequences. We test this hypothesis with fixed-effects models, using longitudinal data from a representative sample of 1,675 adolescents from Zurich, Switzerland. Consistent with our preregistered predictions, more frequent UUS is associated with increased short-term mindsets. Thus, our finding suggests that the effects of UUS on later deviance might be driven by becoming more present-oriented. This link offers new insights into the developmental pathways toward adolescent delinquency and offers a potential target for intervention. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40865-024-00249-2.

Healthy cravings? Impact of imagined healthy food consumption on craving for healthy foods and motivation to eat healthily - Results of an initial experimental study.

Craving for high-calorie foods predicts consumption of high-calorie foods thereby contributing to unhealthy eating habits and, potentially in the long term, to the development of overweight, obesity, and eating disorder pathology. Thus, effective interventions tackling craving for unhealthy foods and motivating healthy eating behavior are needed. This initial study tested if an experimental mental imagery procedure could induce craving for healthy foods and increase the motivation to eat healthily. Participants (N = 82) were randomized to either a healthy craving mental imagery condition or to a neutral mental imagery control condition. Craving for healthy foods and motivation to eat healthily was assessed before and after the experimental manipulation via self-report. A (disguised) food choice for healthy versus unhealthy food was added as a behavioural measure at the end of the experiment. Repeated measures of variance analyses with time (pre vs. post experimental manipulation) and condition (healthy craving mental imagery versus neutral mental imagery) yielded significant interactions for healthy craving and motivation to eat healthily: Post-hoc tests showed that craving for healthy foods and motivation to eat healthily increased significantly after the experimental manipulation in the healthy craving mental imagery condition, but not in the neutral mental imagery condition. Results of this initial study suggest that an experimental mental imagery induction of craving for healthy food leads to an increase in healthy craving and motivation to eat healthily. Further experimental research is needed to rule out priming effects, to test the underlying mechanisms of this effect, and evaluate the potential of this mental imagery procedure in a clinical context.

Time perspective predicts levels of anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 outbreak: A cross-cultural study.

The COVID-19 outbreak and governmental measures to keep the population safe had a great impact on many aspects of society, including well-being. Using data from N = 1281 participants from six countries (Argentina, France, Greece, Italy, Japan, and Turkey), we first explored differences in anxiety, depression (measured with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; HADS), and time perspectives (Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory; ZTPI), between these countries during the first weeks of the pandemic. We observed that Turkish participants reported the highest levels of anxiety, and Japanese and Greek the lowest. For depression symptoms, the Japanese scored highest and Italians lowest. Next, for each country, we investigated how well the relatively time-stable personality traits of time perspectives, chronotype (reduced Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire; rMEQ), and Big Five personality traits (short Big Five Inventory; BFI) predicted the levels of anxiety and depression (HADS). The regression analyses showed that negative attitudes towards the past predicted the levels of both anxiety and depression in most of the countries we analyzed. Additionally, in many countries, a Past Positive orientation negatively predicted depression whereas the Present Fatalistic subscale predicted anxiety and depression. The chronotype did not contribute additionally to the models. The Big Five traits (and particularly neuroticism) showed substantial incremental explanatory power for anxiety in some countries but did not consistently predict anxiety levels. For depression, the additional variance accounted for by including the BFI as predictors was rather small. Importantly, the ZTPI subscales were retained as significant predictors in the model still when the BFI and rMEQ were considered as potential predictors. Our results yield evidence that the ZTPI time perspectives are valuable predictors for anxiety and depression levels during the first period of the pandemic.

The Blursday database as a resource to study subjective temporalities during COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns triggered worldwide changes in the daily routines of human experience. The Blursday database provides repeated measures of subjective time and related processes from participants in nine countries tested on 14 questionnaires and 15 behavioural tasks during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 2,840 participants completed at least one task, and 439 participants completed all tasks in the first session. The database and all data collection tools are accessible to researchers for studying the effects of social isolation on temporal information processing, time perspective, decision-making, sleep, metacognition, attention, memory, self-perception and mindfulness. Blursday includes quantitative statistics such as sleep patterns, personality traits, psychological well-being and lockdown indices. The database provides quantitative insights on the effects of lockdown (stringency and mobility) and subjective confinement on time perception (duration, passage of time and temporal distances). Perceived isolation affects time perception, and we report an inter-individual central tendency effect in retrospective duration estimation.

Red visual stimulation in the Ganzfeld leads to a relative overestimation of duration compared to green.

A Ganzfeld is a homogenized visual and auditory perceptual field which can induce altered states of consciousness (ASC; Metzger, 1929; Schmidt & Prein, 2019). Using a balanced intrasubject design, we compared participants' experience during two differently colored (red, green) 25-min Ganzfeld sessions with brown noise as acoustic stimulation. Participants were exposed to the colored visual field through commercially available goggles and to brown noise over headphones. We selected 67 participants with some prior meditation experience to increase the probability that they would engage meaningfully with this specifically restricted stimulus situation. We tested the functional components of the standard cognitive model of time perception (Zakay & Block, 1997) in a path analysis for direct (red vs. green light) and indirect effects (arousal, attention) on subjective duration and perceived passage of time. Subjective arousal and valence states were measured using the Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM). The amount of attention directed to time and the perceived passage of time were rated with standard visual analog scales (VAS). Participants also estimated the duration of each Ganzfeld exposure. The session with the red visual field lasted significantly longer than did the green session (µred = 23.1 min; µgreen = 19.8 min). After the green session, participants rated their arousal level to have significantly decreased; after the red session, individuals on average felt emotionally less positive. Multiple path analyses revealed that the effect of color on estimated duration is completely mediated through higher arousal levels during the red Ganzfeld session. In turn, the higher arousal level generates a longer subjective estimate of duration. For induction of relaxation in studies probing altered states of consciousness employing the Ganzfeld technique, we recommend using the green light.

A German Validation of Four Questionnaires Crucial to the Study of Time Perception: BPS, CFC-14, SAQ, and MQT.

We aimed to validate four established questionnaires related to time perception in German (Consideration of Future Consequences-14 scale (CFC-14), Boredom Proneness Scale (BPS), Metacognitive Questionnaire on Time (MQT), and Self-Awareness Questionnaire (SAQ)) using a back-translation method. Exploratory factor analyses were conducted on the data of 273 German-speaking participants to evaluate the factorial structures. Internal consistencies indicated good reliability values of the questionnaires and the respective subscales, except for the MQT. Intercorrelations between the questionnaires were examined to test their external validities and gain additional insight into the associations among the constructs. The consideration of future consequences was negatively linked to boredom proneness, whereas interoceptive awareness of one's bodily sensations was positively associated with boredom proneness. Additionally, interoceptive awareness was linked to metacognitive beliefs about which factors influence time perception. The results are discussed in regard to human time perception. Conclusion: The validated German questionnaires can now be used in research projects. Initial observations on how the questionnaires are related to each other fit the current knowledge on how human time perception works, yielding the first evidence for the external validity of the German versions of these established questionnaires. For evidence of criterion validity, future studies should more thoroughly investigate the external validities analyzing the correlations with other validated measures.