Measuring Subjective Inequality: Development and Validation of the Perceived Economic Inequality Scale (PEIS).

The main goal of the present research is to develop and validate the Perceived Economic Inequality Scale (PEIS), an instrument measuring individuals' perceptions of economic inequality at the national level. The study was conducted on a representative sample of the Italian population (N = 1,446, 51% women). The factorial structure of the scale was assessed through cross-validated exploratory-confirmatory factor analyses. To inspect the PEIS psychometric properties, item and correlation analyses were performed. The results showed that the PEIS is a valid and reliable unidimensional measure of perceived economic inequality at the national level. Further support of the PEIS construct validity was provided by the correlation of the scale score with the perceived wage gap and ideological beliefs like the economic system justification, social dominance orientation, meritocratic beliefs, and participants' political orientation. Crucially, multigroup confirmatory factor analysis supported configural, metric, and scalar invariances of the scale across socio-demographic groups. The PEIS allows researchers to assess the subjective component of economic inequality by also serving as a useful tool for unpacking the psychological correlates of perceived inequality.

Measuring Subjective Inequality: Development and Validation of the Perceived Economic Inequality Scale (PEIS)

The main goal of the present research is to develop and validate the Perceived Economic Inequality Scale (PEIS), an instrument measuring individuals’ perceptions of economic inequality at the national level. The study was conducted on a representative sample of the Italian population (N = 1,446, 51% women). The factorial structure of the scale was assessed through cross-validated exploratory-confirmatory factor analyses. To inspect the PEIS psychometric properties, item and correlation analyses were performed. The results showed that the PEIS is a valid and reliable unidimensional measure of perceived economic inequality at the national level. Further support of the PEIS construct validity was provided by the correlation of the scale score with the perceived wage gap and ideological beliefs like the economic system justification, social dominance orientation, meritocratic beliefs, and participants’ political orientation. Crucially, multigroup confirmatory factor analysis supported configural, metric, and scalar invariances of the scale across socio-demographic groups. The PEIS allows researchers to assess the subjective component of economic inequality by also serving as a useful tool for unpacking the psychological correlates of perceived inequality. (AU)

On the lowest rung of the ladder: How social exclusion, perceived economic inequality and stigma increase homeless people's resignation.

Despite the relevance of social exclusion and economic inequality for homelessness, empirical studies investigating how these issues relate to homeless people's psychological well-being are scarce. We aimed to fill this gap by conducting two quasi-experimental studies on homeless and non-homeless groups. The first study (N = 200) showed that homeless (vs. non-homeless) people presented higher levels of resignation, characterized by depression, alienation, helplessness, and unworthiness (Williams, 2009). The second study (N = 183) replicated the findings from Study 1 and showed that perceived economic inequality could increase homeless people's resignation by emphasizing perceptions of social exclusion. Additional analyses found that identification with the stigmatized homeless group could mediate the relationship between perceived inequality and social exclusion, increasing the resignation. Overall, the results showed that chronic social exclusion of homeless people is associated with higher levels of resignation. Moreover, they showed the role of perceived economic inequality and homeless group stigmatized identification as group-specific mechanisms favouring social exclusion and ultimately worsening psychological well-being.

Burnout and workplace dehumanization at the supermarket: A field study during the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy.

This study explores the psychological effects of the COVID-19 emergency on workers employed in the supermarket sector by analysing their levels of burnout and the relationship between the burnout syndrome and employees' workplace experiences. A sample of 422 Italian workers answered a survey addressing the burnout dimensions (i.e., exhaustion, cynicism, and professional inefficacy) along with perceived organizational factors and dehumanizing representations. Results showed that 32% of the respondents had symptoms of severe burnout, and 41% had symptoms of exhaustion and cynicism. More specifically, through cluster analysis, four burnout profiles were identified: "burnout" (high on all three dimensions), "engagement" (low on all three dimensions), "overextended" (high on exhaustion), and "disengaged" (moderate on exhaustion and cynicism). Each cluster showed a different pattern of correlates with the organizational and dehumanizing perceptions. Our findings contribute to the knowledge gaps of burnout and workplace experiences by providing insights into the ongoing health emergency among supermarket clerks. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.

Intergroup biologization and outgroup prejudice in the time of COVID-19.

Through two studies (N = 602) conducted in Italy between February and March 2020, we examined the impact of the COVID-19 emergency on biologization-a form of dehumanization that involves the perception of others as contagious entities-and outgroup prejudice. Overall, results showed that higher emergency perception was associated with greater biologization toward the groups most affected by the virus, namely the Chinese outgroup and the Italian ingroup. In turn, biologization toward the outgroup increased prejudice against that group. We also found that when the pandemic hit Italy, the greater emergency perception was associated with increased emotional closeness with Chinese people, resulting in reduced biologization and prejudice toward them. However, these results held true only for Italian respondents who reported higher levels of ingroup biologization. Taken together, our findings contribute to the knowledge gaps of biologization and prejudice by also providing relevant insights into the ongoing health emergency.

The ACME shop: A paradigm to investigate working (self-) objectification.

The paper presents an open usable tool, the ACME shop paradigm, for experimentally studying self-objectification due to objectifying work activities. The paradigm consists of a simulation in which participants are asked to perform an objectifying (repetitive, fragmented, and other directed) vs a non-objectifying work activity. Two studies tested the construct (convergent and discriminant) validity of the paradigm by showing its effectiveness in inducing different facets of working self-objectification - but not other forms of dehumanization - in laboratory and online settings. In the objectifying condition, participants self-objectified more, that is they self-attributed less human mental state and self-perceived as more instrument-like than participants in the non-objectifying and control (an activity characterized by objectifying features but not related to the work domain) conditions. Moreover, the convergent and discriminant validity of the paradigm in inducing self-objectification, and no other type of dehumanization, was demonstrated by the significant impact of objectifying condition on self-attribution of both agency and experience and not on self-perception as animal-like. Applications of the paradigm will be discussed.

Measuring objectification through the Body Inversion Paradigm: Methodological issues.

Objectification occurs when a person is perceived and/or treated like an object. With the present work, we overview the available measures of objectification and present a series of studies aimed at investigating the validity of the task of inverted body recognition proposed by Bernard and colleagues (2012), which might potentially be a useful cognitive measure of objectification. We conducted three studies. Study 1 (N = 101) is a direct replication of Bernard et al.'s study: participants were presented with the same photos of sexualized male and female targets used in the original research. Study 2a (N = 100) is a conceptual replication: we used different images of scantily dressed male and female models. Finally, in Study 2b (N = 100), we investigated a boundary condition by presenting to participants photos of the same models as in Study 2a, but fully dressed and non-sexualized. Using mixed-effects models for completely-crossed classified data structures, we investigated the relationship between the inversion effect and the stimulus' asymmetry, sexualization and attractiveness, and the perceivers' self-objectification, sexism, and automatic woman-human association. Study 1 replicated the original results, showing a stronger inversion effect for male photos. However, no difference between male and female stimuli emerged in either Study 2a or 2b. Moreover, the impact of the other variables on the inversion effect was highly unstable across the studies. These aspects together indicate that the inversion effect depends on the specific set of stimuli and limits the generalizability of results collected using this method.

Do Self-Objectified Women Believe Themselves to Be Free? Sexual Objectification and Belief in Personal Free Will.

The present study aims to investigate the indirect link between sexual objectification and belief in personal free will. We hypothesized that being subjected to objectifying commentary would lead women to self-objectify and, in turn, to perceive themselves as having less personal free will. In this study, 105 women were asked to sign up a website created for this study by providing a personal description and a photo. After signing up, they received feedback from a fictitious male user. Depending on the condition, the comment was neutral (baseline), focused on their description (non-objectifying) or focused on their physical appearance (objectifying). The results showed that participants in the objectifying condition (vs. non-objectifying vs. baseline) self-objectified (i.e., perceived themselves as lacking human mental states and more as an instrument vs. a human) and, in turn, believed that they had less personal free will. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings for educators and therapists are discussed.

Stability of a novel Lidocaine, Adrenaline and Tetracaine sterile thermosensitive gel: A ready-to-use formulation.

BACKGROUND: Superficial wounds that require suturing are often the reason children visit the Paediatric Emergency Department. Suturing is usually accompanied by perilesional administration of lidocaine, a local anaesthetic drug that improves pain tolerance. In paediatric patients, this approach has a low compliance because lidocaine has to be injected, which in children generates fear and anxiety, a sterile anaesthetic gel could improve the child compliance. OBJECTIVE: To develop a sterile and stable sterile gel capable of remaining in place over time for topical anaesthesia. METHOD: Different formulations were analysed by HPLC, by UV and fluorimetric detection. Two different sterilisation methods were tested. MAIN OUTCOME: To maintain the original stability of the gel also after sterilisation process. RESULTS: Four different gels were prepared and analysed; the most stable gel lasts over 3 months with a degradation less than 10%. CONCLUSION: The use of Poloxamer 407 guarantees stability of the preparation, showing a reduction in oxidative reaction, and gives the gel the right texture for application to a bleeding wound.

Dirty jobs and dehumanization of workers.

The present study aims at expanding research on dehumanization in the work domain by exploring laypeople's dehumanizing perceptions towards stigmatized workers. Starting from Hughes' (1951, Social psychology at the crossroads, Harper & Brothers, New York; Ashforth & Kreiner, 1999, Academy of Management Review, 24, 413) concept of 'dirty work', the present research aims to demonstrate that the different types of occupational taint elicit distinct dehumanizing images of certain occupational groups. Employing a cluster analysis, the results showed that workers in the physical taint cluster were most strongly associated with biological metaphors, workers in the social taint cluster were perceived as most similar to objects, and workers in the moral taint cluster were perceived as most similar to animals. The theoretical and practical implications are considered.

The (Female) Graduate: Choice and Consequences of Women's Clothing.

This research investigates how female students choose their graduation outfit and how clothing affects observers' judgments. In Study 1, we manipulated the students' graduation outfit so as to look professional or sexy. Female peers, adults, and professors formed a first impression about the students, their thesis work and guessed their graduation scores (thesis points and final mark). All participant groups judged the professionally dressed students as more competent, as having put more effort in their thesis, and as having obtained better scores than when the same students dressed sexy. In Studies 2 and 3 we replicated previous findings by using photos portraying real students in their actual graduation outfits. We found that sexy clothing, considered inappropriate for the occasion, affected estimated and actual graduation scores negatively and that this effect was mediated by perceived incompetence. Results are discussed with respect to women's evaluation on the basis of their appearance.

Grand Theft Auto is a "Sandbox" Game, but There are Weapons, Criminals, and Prostitutes in the Sandbox: Response to Ferguson and Donnellan (2017).

In this issue, (Ferguson, C. J., & Donnellan, B. D., Journal of Youth and and Adolescence, published online 21 June 2017) criticize one of our studies (Gabbiadini, A., Riva, P., Andrighetto, L., Volpato, C., & Bushman, B. J., PLoS ONE, 11: 1-14, 2016) that found violent sexist video games can reduce empathy for female violence victims in male players who identify with violent male game characters, and do so by increasing masculine beliefs. Their main criticism is a "straw person" argument built on a claim that we never made (i.e., a direct effect of sexist-violent video games on empathy). They also made several other criticisms of our article. We appreciate the opportunity to respond to their criticisms in this article. We also point out some flaws in their reanalysis. Despite their criticisms, the core contributions of our original article remain intact.

Work and freedom? Working self-objectification and belief in personal free will.

The current work aimed to extend the burgeoning literature on working objectification by investigating the effects of particular job activities on self-perception. By integrating relevant theoretical reflections with recent empirical evidence, we expected that performing objectifying (i.e., repetitive, fragmented, and other-directed) tasks would affect participants' self-objectification and, in turn, their belief in personal free will. In three studies, we consistently found that performing a manual (Study 1 and Study 2) or a computer (Study 3) objectifying task (vs. a non-objectifying task and vs. the baseline condition) led participants to objectify themselves in terms of both decreased self-attribution of human mental states (Study 1 and Study 3) and increased self-perception of being instrument-like (Study 2 and Study 3). Crucially, this increased self-objectification mediated the relationship between performing an objectifying activity and the participants' decreased belief in personal free will. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are considered.

Neuromodulation can reduce aggressive behavior elicited by violent video games.

Research has shown that exposure to violent media increases aggression. However, the neural underpinnings of violent-media-related aggression are poorly understood. Additionally, few experiments have tested hypotheses concerning how to reduce violent-media-related aggression. In this experiment, we focused on a brain area involved in the regulation of aggressive impulses-the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (rVLPFC). We tested the hypothesis that brain polarization through anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over rVLPFC reduces aggression related to violent video games. Participants (N = 79) were randomly assigned to play a violent or a nonviolent video game while receiving anodal or sham stimulation. Afterward, participants aggressed against an ostensible partner using the Taylor aggression paradigm (Taylor Journal of Personality, 35, 297-310, 1967), which measures both unprovoked and provoked aggression. Among those who received sham stimulation, unprovoked aggression was significantly higher for violent-game players than for nonviolent-game players. Among those who received anodal stimulation, unprovoked aggression did not differ for violent- and nonviolent-game players. Thus, anodal stimulation reduced unprovoked aggression in violent-game players. No significant effects were found for provoked aggression, suggesting tit-for-tat responding. This experiment sheds light on one possible neural underpinning of violent-media-related aggression-the rVLPFC, a brain area involved in regulating negative feelings and aggressive impulses.

Predicting onset and maintenance of men's eating disorders / Predictores de inicio y desarrollo de patología alimentaria en hombres

Background/Objective: Eating disorders (EDs) represent serious yet understudied mental health issues, particularly amongst young adult men attending colleges, who are at the average age of onset. Despite this and recent evidence that in young adult men the core ED symptoms are prevalent and remain relatively stable over the college period, little is known about factors associated with both the onset and maintenance of diagnosable EDs in this population. This work sought to address these research gaps. Method: Logistic regression analyses were conducted using data from an on-going longitudinal study of eating and mental health issues to examine the influence of theoretically relevant factors in predicting the onset and maintenance of men's (DSM-5) EDs at 4-year follow-up (N=2,507). Results: Body dissatisfaction, self-objectification, appearance-ideal internalization, dieting, and negative affectivity were all predictors of ED onset and maintenance. Self-objectification was the largest contributor to both ED onset and maintenance. Conclusions: The findings highlight potentially similar psychosocial foci for prevention and treatment efforts. Implications for improving existing preventive and treatment approaches are discussed (AU)

Antecedentes/Objetivo: Los trastornos de la conducta alimentaria (TCAs) representan graves, aunque poco estudiados, problemas de salud mental en las universidades, especialmente en hombres jóvenes, quienes se encuentran en la edad media de inicio. A pesar de la evidencia de que en hombres adultos jóvenes los principales síntomas de TCA son frecuentes y se mantienen relativamente estables durante el período universitario, poco se sabe sobre los factores asociados con la aparición y el mantenimiento de los TCAs en esta población. Este trabajo trata de abordar estas lagunas de investigación. Método: Se realizaron análisis de regresión logística utilizando datos de un estudio longitudinal en curso sobre alimentación y salud mental para examinar la influencia de factores teóricamente relevantes para predecir la aparición y el mantenimiento de los TCAs (DSM-5) en hombres durante 4 años de seguimiento (N=2.507). Resultados: La insatisfacción corporal, la auto-objetivación, la internalización de la apariencia ideal, las dietas, y la afectividad negativa fueron predictores de inicio y mantenimiento de TCA. La auto-objetivación fue el mayor contribuyente a la aparición y mantenimiento de TCA. Conclusiones: Los resultados destacan focos similares para su prevención y tratamiento. Se discuten las implicaciones para mejorar los enfoques preventivos y de tratamiento existentes (AU)

Dopaminergic Medication Modulates Learning from Feedback and Error-Related Negativity in Parkinson's Disease: A Pilot Study.

Dopamine systems mediate key aspects of reward learning. Parkinson's disease (PD) represents a valuable model to study reward mechanisms because both the disease process and the anti-Parkinson medications influence dopamine neurotransmission. The aim of this pilot study was to investigate whether the level of levodopa differently modulates learning from positive and negative feedback and its electrophysiological correlate, the error related negativity (ERN), in PD. Ten PD patients and ten healthy participants performed a two-stage reinforcement learning task. In the Learning Phase, they had to learn the correct stimulus within a stimulus pair on the basis of a probabilistic positive or negative feedback. Three sets of stimulus pairs were used. In the Testing Phase, the participants were tested with novel combinations of the stimuli previously experienced to evaluate whether they learned more from positive or negative feedback. PD patients performed the task both ON- and OFF-levodopa in two separate sessions while they remained on stable therapy with dopamine agonists. The electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded during the task. PD patients were less accurate in negative than positive learning both OFF- and ON-levodopa. In the OFF-levodopa state they were less accurate than controls in negative learning. PD patients had a smaller ERN amplitude OFF- than ON-levodopa only in negative learning. In the OFF-levodopa state they had a smaller ERN amplitude than controls in negative learning. We hypothesize that high tonic dopaminergic stimulation due to the dopamine agonist medication, combined to the low level of phasic dopamine due to the OFF-levodopa state, could prevent phasic "dopamine dips" indicated by the ERN needed for learning from negative feedback.

Acting like a Tough Guy: Violent-Sexist Video Games, Identification with Game Characters, Masculine Beliefs, & Empathy for Female Violence Victims.

Empathy--putting oneself in another's shoes--has been described as the "social glue" that holds society together. This study investigates how exposure to sexist video games can decrease empathy for female violence victims. We hypothesized that playing violent-sexist video games would increase endorsement of masculine beliefs, especially among participants who highly identify with dominant and aggressive male game characters. We also hypothesized that the endorsement of masculine beliefs would reduce empathy toward female violence victims. Participants (N = 154) were randomly assigned to play a violent-sexist game, a violent-only game, or a non-violent game. After gameplay, measures of identification with the game character, traditional masculine beliefs, and empathy for female violence victims were assessed. We found that participants' gender and their identification with the violent male video game character moderated the effects of the exposure to sexist-violent video games on masculine beliefs. Our results supported the prediction that playing violent-sexist video games increases masculine beliefs, which occurred for male (but not female) participants who were highly identified with the game character. Masculine beliefs, in turn, negatively predicted empathic feelings for female violence victims. Overall, our study shows who is most affected by the exposure to sexist-violent video games, and why the effects occur. (200 words).

Selective attention impairment in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Objective of this study was to evaluate attentional control mechanisms in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) using an auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) paradigm. Fifteen mild to moderate ALS patients and 15 healthy controls were administered a brief neuropsychological test battery and an ERPs paradigm assessing selective attention. Four types of auditory stimuli were presented in random order: short standard (200 Hz, 200 ms), long standard (200 Hz, 500 ms), short deviant (1000 Hz, 200 ms) and long deviant (1000 Hz, 500 ms). Participants had to respond to the long deviant stimuli only. During the task the electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded. The N200, P300 and re-orienting negativity (RON) ERP components were analysed. Compared to controls ALS patients showed reduced amplitudes and delayed latencies of N200, P300 and RON. These results could be attributable to both an alteration in change detection resulting in a reduction of the allocation and re-orientation of attentional resources or a general slowing or reduction of neural processing efficiency in the same system. The ERPs results support the hypothesis that ALS involves extramotor cognitive functions including auditory attentional processing at all processing stages, early (200 ms) and late (300-600 ms). These data prove the usefulness and sensitivity of the auditory ERPs in detection of cognitive functions in ALS patients.

Predicting onset and maintenance of men's eating disorders.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Eating disorders (EDs) represent serious yet understudied mental health issues, particularly amongst young adult men attending colleges, who are at the average age of onset. Despite this and recent evidence that in young adult men the core ED symptoms are prevalent and remain relatively stable over the college period, little is known about factors associated with both the onset and maintenance of diagnosable EDs in this population. This work sought to address these research gaps. METHOD: Logistic regression analyses were conducted using data from an on-going longitudinal study of eating and mental health issues to examine the influence of theoretically relevant factors in predicting the onset and maintenance of men's (DSM-5) EDs at 4-year follow-up (N = 2,507). RESULTS: Body dissatisfaction, self-objectification, appearance-ideal internalization, dieting, and negative affectivity were all predictors of ED onset and maintenance. Self-objectification was the largest contributor to both ED onset and maintenance. CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight potentially similar psychosocial foci for prevention and treatment efforts. Implications for improving existing preventive and treatment approaches are discussed.

Antecedentes/Objetivo: Los trastornos de la conducta alimentaria (TCAs) representan graves, aunque poco estudiados, problemas de salud mental en las universidades, especialmente en hombres jóvenes, quienes se encuentran en la edad media de inicio. A pesar de la evidencia de que en hombres adultos jóvenes los principales síntomas de TCA son frecuentes y se mantienen relativamente estables durante el período universitario, poco se sabe sobre los factores asociados con la aparición y el mantenimiento de los TCAs en esta población. Este trabajo trata de abordar estas lagunas de investigación. Método: Se realizaron análisis de regresión logística utilizando datos de un estudio longitudinal en curso sobre alimentación y salud mental para examinar la influencia de factores teóricamente relevantes para predecir la aparición y el mantenimiento de los TCAs (DSM-5) en hombres durante 4 años de seguimiento (N = 2.507). Resultados: La insatisfacción corporal, la auto-objetivación, la internalización de la apariencia ideal, las dietas, y la afectividad negativa fueron predictores de inicio y mantenimiento de TCA. La auto-objetivación fue el mayor contribuyente a la aparición y mantenimiento de TCA. Conclusiones: Los resultados destacan focos similares para su prevención y tratamiento. Se discuten las implicaciones para mejorar los enfoques preventivos y de tratamiento existentes.

The Social Appearance Anxiety Scale in Italian Adolescent Populations: Construct Validation and Group Discrimination in Community and Clinical Eating Disorders Samples.

Anxiety in situations where one's overall appearance (including body shape) may be negatively evaluated is hypothesized to play a central role in Eating Disorders (EDs) and in their co-occurrence with Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). Three studies were conducted among community (N = 1995) and clinical (N = 703) ED samples of 11- to 18-year-old Italian girls and boys to (a) evaluate the psychometric qualities and measurement equivalence/invariance (ME/I) of the Social Appearance Anxiety (SAA) Scale (SAAS) and (b) determine to what extent SAA or other situational domains of social anxiety related to EDs distinguish adolescents with an ED only from those with SAD. Results upheld the one-factor structure and ME/I of the SAAS across samples, gender, age categories, and diagnostic status (i.e., ED participants with and without comorbid SAD). The SAAS demonstrated high internal consistency and 3-week test-retest reliability. The strength of the inter-relationships between SAAS and measures of body image, teasing about appearance, ED symptoms, depression, social anxiety, avoidance, and distress, as well as the ability of SAAS to discriminate community adolescents with high and low levels of ED symptoms and community participants from ED participants provided construct validity evidence. Only SAA strongly differentiated adolescents with any ED from those with comorbid SAD (23.2 %). Latent mean comparisons across all study groups were performed and discussed.