Does Digital Intergroup Contact Reduce Prejudice? A Meta-Analysis.

With the ubiquity of technology in the modern life, contact between different social groups via different digital means is an everyday reality. Can such a digital intergroup contact reduce prejudice, or does it exacerbate it? In this study, we summarize the present evidence on the links between intergroup digital contact and prejudice in a variety of intergroup contexts. We meta-analyzed experimental and correlational evidence from 88 independent samples (n = 9,385). Digital intergroup contact showed a small but significant effect consistent with prejudice reduction (g = 0.25). Direct digital contact showed larger effect than indirect forms of contact, and contact via computer-mediated communication showed larger effects than contact achieved via other activities such as interacting with nonplayable characters or embodiment. The effects were similar regardless of the type of out-group targeted by prejudice. Overall, meta-analytical results suggest that digital intergroup contact may reduce prejudice.

An Intersectional Perspective on Age Stereotypes: Bisexual and Gay Men are Stereotyped as Younger than Heterosexual Men Even When Aging.

We analyzed the age stereotypes of heterosexual, gay, and bisexual men and the implications of such stereotypes for the conceptualization of older gay and bisexual men, specifically. In Study 1a (N = 158) and 1b (N = 155), we found that compared to heterosexual men, participants stereotyped gay men more on young- than elderly-stereotypical traits. Participants represented bisexual men not as "somewhere in between" the stereotypes about heterosexual and gay men, but were characterized more by young- than elderly-stereotypical traits. In Study 2 (N = 106), we reasoned that because of their sexual orientation, both older gay and bisexual men would be viewed as atypical subtypes of older men, considered to be heterosexual by default. As atypical subtypes, both older gay and bisexual men may be stereotyped less on traits associated with elderly men and more on traits associated with their sexual orientation membership, namely young-stereotypical traits. Consistently, compared with older heterosexual men, both older gay and bisexual men were perceived as less typical of older men, and their perceived atypicality accounted for them being stereotyped less as older and more as younger men. The results have been examined for intersectional stereotyping research and practical implications are discussed.

Trust predicts COVID-19 prescribed and discretionary behavioral intentions in 23 countries.

The worldwide spread of a new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) since December 2019 has posed a severe threat to individuals' well-being. While the world at large is waiting that the released vaccines immunize most citizens, public health experts suggest that, in the meantime, it is only through behavior change that the spread of COVID-19 can be controlled. Importantly, the required behaviors are aimed not only at safeguarding one's own health. Instead, individuals are asked to adapt their behaviors to protect the community at large. This raises the question of which social concerns and moral principles make people willing to do so. We considered in 23 countries (N = 6948) individuals' willingness to engage in prescribed and discretionary behaviors, as well as country-level and individual-level factors that might drive such behavioral intentions. Results from multilevel multiple regressions, with country as the nesting variable, showed that publicized number of infections were not significantly related to individual intentions to comply with the prescribed measures and intentions to engage in discretionary prosocial behaviors. Instead, psychological differences in terms of trust in government, citizens, and in particular toward science predicted individuals' behavioral intentions across countries. The more people endorsed moral principles of fairness and care (vs. loyalty and authority), the more they were inclined to report trust in science, which, in turn, statistically predicted prescribed and discretionary behavioral intentions. Results have implications for the type of intervention and public communication strategies that should be most effective to induce the behavioral changes that are needed to control the COVID-19 outbreak.

Imagined Intergroup Physical Contact Improves Attitudes Toward Immigrants.

In this set of research, we investigated the effects of intergroup physical contact on intergroup attitudes by relying on indirect contact strategies, namely the imagined contact paradigm. We implemented the imagined contact paradigm by leading participants to shape the mental imagery upon pictorial information. Specifically, in Study 1 participants saw a picture of a white hand touching a black hand [i.e., intergroup physical contact condition (InterPC)] or a picture of an outdoor scene (i.e., control condition), and were asked to imagine being either the toucher or in the outdoor scene, respectively. Results demonstrated that InterPC compared to control condition reduced intergroup bias. In Study 2 we compared the InterPC condition to a condition in which participants saw a white hand touching another white hand [i.e., intragroup physical contact (IntraPC)], and imagined to be the toucher. Again, we found that participants in the InterPC condition showed reduced intergroup bias compared to the IntraPC. Study 3 replicated results of Studies 1 and 2 by using an implicit measure of prejudice. Also, Study 3 further showed that asking participants to merely look at the picture of a white hand touching a black hand, without imagining being the toucher was not effective in reducing implicit prejudice. Results were discussed with respect to the literature on physical contact and prejudice reduction processes.

Automatic female dehumanization across the menstrual cycle.

In this study, we investigate whether hormonal shifts during the menstrual cycle contribute to the dehumanization of other women and men. Female participants with different levels of likelihood of conception (LoC) completed a semantic priming paradigm in a lexical decision task. When the word 'woman' was the prime, animal words were more accessible in high versus low LoC whereas human words were more inhibited in the high versus low LoC. When the word 'man' was used as the prime, no difference was found in terms of accessibility between high and low LoC for either animal or human words. These results show that the female dehumanization is automatically elicited by menstrual cycle-related processes and likely associated with an enhanced activation of mate-attraction goals.

Adolescents' Appraisal of Homophobic Epithets: The Role of Individual and Situational Factors.

Homophobic epithets have become commonly used insults among adolescents. However, evidence suggests that there are differences in how these homophobic epithets are evaluated based on beliefs held by the observer and the context in which they are used. To examine this, Italian high school students were asked to rate the offensiveness of homophobic epithets, as well as to consider how they or others would react to homophobic epithets across various situations. Homophobic beliefs and beliefs about the social acceptability of homophobic epithets were also examined. It was found that greater perceived social acceptability of homophobic epithets was related to dismissive reactions to their use, whereas homophobic beliefs were predictive of negative emotional reactions but in varying ways depending on the specific context. The results indicate that homophobic epithets may not always be perceived as homophobic by adolescents, and that attempts to alter the social acceptability of these insults may be an effective manner of reducing their use.

Gender hierarchy in the space: the role of gender status in shaping the spatial agency bias.

According to the Spatial Agency Bias (SAB), more agentic groups (men) are envisioned to the left of less agentic groups (women). This research investigated the role of social status in shaping the spatial representation of gender couples. Participants were presented pairs consisting of one male and one female target who confirmed gender stereotypes. The status of the targets in each pair was systematically varied (high-status vs. low-status job). Participants chose the target order (female/male vs. male/female) they preferred. In line with gender-status expectations (male: high-status, female: low-status), a male in a high-status job led to a spatial arrangement that favored the male/female order, regardless of the status of the female target. The female/male order was favored only when the female had a high-status job and the male a low-status job. No SAB occurred for pairs in which both targets displayed low-status jobs. The implications of status for the SAB are discussed.

Facing Europe: visualizing spontaneous in-group projection.

Individuals perceive their own group to be more typical of a shared superordinate identity than other groups are. This in-group projection process has been demonstrated with both self-report and indirect measures. The two studies reported here extend this research to the visual level, specifically, within the domain of faces. Using an innovative reverse-correlation approach, we found that German and Portuguese participants' visual representations of European faces resembled the appearance typical for their own national identity. This effect was found even among participants who explicitly denied that one nation was more typical of Europe than the other (Study 1). Moreover, Study 2 provides experimental evidence that in-group projection is restricted to inclusive superordinate groups, as the effect was not observed for visual representations of a category ("Australian") that did not include participants' in-group. Implications for the in-group projection model, as well as for the applicability of reverse-correlation paradigms, are discussed.

What do you mean by "European"? Evidence of spontaneous ingroup projection.

The ingroup projection model posits that group members project ingroup features onto a superordinate category. The present research aimed at isolating the cognitive underpinnings of this process. If ingroup projection is a spontaneous cognitive process, a superordinate category prime should facilitate the processing of the ingroup prototype rather than the outgroup prototype. Three studies support this hypothesis by comparing subliminal semantic priming in two different populations, an intra- versus intergroup situation, and with an ingroup prototype manipulated by changing the intergroup context. Results indicated that the superordinate category prime facilitated the processing of ingroup rather than outgroup traits (Experiment 1) and that these traits depended on the particular content of the ingroup prototype made salient by different contexts (Experiments 2 and 3). The findings indicate that the cognitive representation of the superordinate category is based on ingroup traits and that this representation is context dependent.

Non-invasive assessment of coronary flow reserve and ADMA levels: a case-control study of early rheumatoid arthritis patients.

OBJECTIVE: Plasma concentration of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), a major endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase, is considered a novel risk factor for endothelial dysfunction associated with enhanced atherosclerosis. Coronary microcirculation abnormalities have been demonstrated in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (ERA) without any signs or symptoms of coronary artery disease (CAD). The aim of the study was to compare the ERA and control groups with ADMA, intima-media thickness (IMT) and coronary flow reserve (CFR) levels. It assessed whether ERA patients have more cardiovascular risk (endothelial dysfunction and coronary microvascular abnormalities), and evaluated whether any difference in IMT/CFR between ERA and controls can be explained by any difference in ADMA levels between the groups. METHODS: The study involved 25 ERA patients (female/male 21/4; mean age 52.04 +/- 14.05 years; disease duration

Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA): an endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase and a novel cardiovascular risk molecule.

Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), a methyl derivate of the amino acid arginine, is produced by the physiological degradation of methylated proteins. ADMA is the major endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase (NOS), the enzyme which synthesizes nitric oxide (NO), a molecule endowed with important anti-atherosclerotic properties. Increased plasma ADMA concentrations cause impaired NO synthesis leading to endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerotic vascular disease. Increased plasma ADMA levels mainly occur following inhibition of the enzyme responsible for ADMA catabolism, dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH), by oxidative stress triggered by several cardiovascular risk factors. This paper reviews the effects on cardiovascular function produced by ADMA administration to experimental animals and humans. In addition, a number of clinical conditions associated with increased plasma ADMA concentrations are considered. Then the growing body of literature indicating that plasma ADMA levels have a predictive value for major cardiovascular events in prospective studies is discussed. Finally, an analysis is provided of the published data concerning the possibility to modulate plasma ADMA levels using drugs belonging to different pharmacological classes.

Like me or like us: is ingroup projection just social projection?

Research has shown abundant evidence for social projection, that is, the tendency to expect similarity between oneself and others (Krueger, 1998a, 1998b). This effect is stronger when others constitute an ingroup instead of an outgroup (Robbins & Krueger, 2005). A different line of research has shown evidence for ingroup projection, that is, the tendency to use ingroup instead of outgroup features to define an inclusive category (Wenzel, Mummendey, Weber, & Waldzus, 2003). In this research, we examine whether ingroup (i.e., Germans) projection to an inclusive category (i.e., Europeans) is different from the projection of self-attributes to the same inclusive category. In two studies, German participants rated how typical a series of attributes was for the ingroup, an inclusive category, the self, and an outgroup (i.e., Italians). The attributes varied in their relevance to the groups under consideration. The results showed that ingroup projection is stronger than social projection, but only when typical ingroup attributes are concerned. Moreover, ingroup projection weakened when the image of the ingroup was manipulated to be less positive, while social projection remained stable. These findings imply that ingroup projection is not simply social projection.

Nomina sunt omina: on the inductive potential of nouns and adjectives in person perception.

Six studies (N = 491) investigated the inductive potential of nouns versus adjectives in person perception. In the first 5 studies, targets were either described by an adjective (e.g., Mark is homosexual) or by the corresponding noun (e.g., Mark is a homosexual) or by both (Study 3). The authors predicted and found that nouns, more so than adjectives, (a) facilitate descriptor-congruent inferences but inhibit incongruent inferences (Studies 1-3), (b) inhibit alternative classifications (Study 4), and (c) imply essentialism of congruent but not of incongruent preferences (Study 5). This was supported for different group memberships and inclinations (athletics, arts, religion, sexual preference, drinking behavior, etc.), languages (Italian and German), and response formats, suggesting that despite the surface similarity of nouns and adjectives, nouns have a more powerful impact on person perception. Study 6 investigated the inverse relationship, showing that more essentialist beliefs (in terms of a genetic predisposition rather than training) lead speakers to use more nouns and fewer adjectives. Possible extensions of G. R. Semin and K. Fiedler's (1988) linguistic category model and potential applications for language use in intergroup contexts are discussed.

Immunomodulation with glatiramer acetate prevents long-term inflammatory pain.

The potential application of glatiramer acetate (GA) therapy as a safe pharmacological treatment for the attenuation or prevention of long-term inflammatory pain in a rat model was explored. Peripheral inflammatory pain was induced by an injection of Complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA) into the plantar surface of the hind paw. Genome-wide DNA microarray studies were used to survey molecular mechanisms involved in long-term GA analgesic responses. Administration of a single or double subcutaneous injection of GA before, or immediately after, intraplantar injection of pro-inflammatory CFA significantly attenuated allodynia and hyperalgesic pain responses up to approximately 3 weeks after CFA treatment. These beneficial effects of GA immunization therapy coincided with the attenuation of expression of the chemotactic fractalkine chemokine (CX3CL1) in the dorsal horn of the lumbar spinal cord (L4-L5) in response to CFA treatment, assessed by DNA microarray and confirmed immunocytochemically (ICC). This study is consistent with the hypothesis that a novel mechanism through which GA immunization therapy may beneficially influence long-term allodynia and hyperalgesia is through central regulation of fractalkine-mediated responses.

Effects of the bisphosphonate ibandronate on hyperalgesia, substance P, and cytokine levels in a rat model of persistent inflammatory pain.

The anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties of different bisphosphonates have been demonstrated in both animal and human studies. Ibandronate is a third-generation bisphosphonate effective in managing different types of bone pain. In this study we investigated its effects in a standard pre-clinical model of inflammatory pain. We evaluated the effects of a single injection of different doses (0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 mg/kg i.p.) of ibandronate on inflammatory oedema and cutaneous hyperalgesia produced by the intraplantar injection of complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) in the rat hind-paw. In addition, we measured the effects of this drug (1.0 mg/kg i.p.) on hind-paw levels of different pro-inflammatory mediators (PGE-2, SP, TNF-alpha, and IL-1beta). We also measured the levels of SP protein and of its mRNA in the ipsilateral dorsal root ganglia (DRG). Ibandronate proved able to reduce the inflammatory oedema, the hyperalgesia to mechanical stimulation, and the levels of SP in the inflamed tissue as measured 3 and 7 days following CFA-injection. This drug significantly reduced the levels of TNF-alpha and IL-1beta only on day 7. On the other hand, the levels of PGE-2 in the inflamed hind-paw were unaffected by the administration of this bisphosphonate. Finally, ibandronate blocked the overexpression of SP mRNA in DRG induced by CFA-injection in the hind-paw. These data help to complete the pharmacodynamic profile of ibandronate, while also suggesting an involvement of several inflammatory mediators, with special reference to substance P, in the analgesic action of this bisphosphonate.

Increased tumor necrosis factor-alpha and prostaglandin E2 concentrations in the cerebrospinal fluid of rats with inflammatory hyperalgesia: the effects of analgesic drugs.

BACKGROUND: We examined the changes in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) after intraplantar administration of complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) in rats. In addition, we investigated whether different analgesic drugs orally administered at antihyperalgesic doses were able to prevent the changes in PGE2 and TNF-alpha spinal levels associated with hindpaw inflammation. METHODS: The Randall-Selitto paw-withdrawal test was used to measure inflammatory hyperalgesia. Tramadol (7.5 mg/kg), paracetamol (65 mg/kg), tramadol plus paracetamol and nimesulide (5 mg/kg) were administered orally twice a day, starting from the first day after the CFA injection. PGE2 in the CSF was measured by enzyme immunoassay, and TNF-alpha by ELISA. Behavioral and biochemical parameters were measured on Day 7 after intraplantar injection of CFA or saline. RESULTS: Withdrawal thresholds to mechanical stimuli decreased markedly in the CFA-treated paw. In these animals the quantification of proinflammatory mediators in the CSF revealed a significant increase in both PGE2 and TNF-alpha concentrations. All the pharmacological treatments prevented the development of the hyperalgesia as well as the PGE2 increase in the CSF. Conversely, a prevention of the increase in TNF-alpha levels was observed only in rats treated with nimesulide or tramadol and paracetamol in combination. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that peripheral inflammatory hyperalgesia is associated with significant changes of proinflammatory mediators in the CSF. It is important to note, however, that spinal PGE2 and TNF-alpha proved to be differently affected by pharmacological treatments able to fully abolish the hyperalgesia.

Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) induces vascular endothelium impairment and aggravates post-ischemic ventricular dysfunction in rats.

Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) is an endogenous nitric oxide (NO) inhibitor recognized as an independent risk factor for endothelial dysfunction and coronary heart diseases. This study investigated whether ADMA (10 mg/kg day for 14 days) affected endothelial function and aggravated post-ischemic ventricular dysfunction in the perfused rat heart. Systolic blood pressure and heart rate, plasma levels of ADMA and nitrite/nitrate were measured in vehicle- and ADMA-treated rats. Perfused hearts were submitted to global ischemia-reperfusion and vascular endothelial dysfunction was examined with angiotensin II in coronary vessels and aortic rings. Endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) mRNA expression in aortic and cardiac tissues were measured. ADMA-treated rats had higher systolic blood pressure (1.3-fold, P<0.01) and slower heart rate (16%, P<0.05) than controls. Plasma ADMA rose (1.9-fold, P<0.01) and nitrite/nitrate concentration decreased 59% (P<0.001). Ventricular contraction (stiffness) increased significantly, with worsening of post-ischemic ventricular dysfunction. In preparations from ADMA-treated rats the coronary vasculature's response to angiotensin II was almost doubled (P<0.01) and the maximal vasorelaxant effect of acetylcholine in aortic rings was significantly lower than in preparations from vehicle-treated rats. In cardiac and aortic tissues eNOS mRNA and ACE mRNA levels were similar in controls and ADMA-treated rats. The increased plasma levels of ADMA presumably cause endothelial dysfunction because of a deficiency in NO production, which also appears involved in the aggravation of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury.

External nasal dilator strips (ENDS) may improve breathlessness in cancer patients.

RATIONALE: ENDS (external nasal dilator strips) are adhesive bands containing a central elastic strip providing a spring action. The possibility of reducing the cumulated effort of continuous breathing or decreasing the perception of exertion would be of major benefit to oncological dyspneic patients, namely in presence of a cachexia-asthenia complex. METHODS: Nine patients complaining of dyspnea were included in this pilot study. The ENDS were applied at 0800 and at 1600. Perception of dyspnea and tolerability was assessed 12 h after the first application of the ENDS. No other treatment changes were performed during the evaluation time. RESULTS: As a result of the application of ENDS, one patient perceived a good improvement of dyspnea, three moderate, two little, and three none. Tolerability was good for four patients and moderate for another four. Seven out of nine patients decided to carry on with the application of ENDS afterwards. CONCLUSIONS: The application of ENDS may be useful in cancer patients with dyspnea. It could be particularly helpful to patients suffering from cachexia and profound fatigue. However, further research is needed to affirm that ENDS might have an important place in relieving dyspnea.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition and angiotensin AT1-receptor antagonism equally improve endothelial vasodilator function in L-NAME-induced hypertensive rats.

Male Sprague-Dawley rats given N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) in drinking water for 8 weeks showed: (1) a clear-cut increase in systolic blood pressure; (2) a consistent decrease of endothelial-cell nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) gene expression in aortic tissue; (3) a marked reduction of plasma nitrite/nitrate concentrations; (4) a reduction of the relaxant activity of acetylcholine (ACh, from 10(-10) to 10(-4) M) on norepinephrine-precontracted aortic rings (reduction by 48+/-5%); (5) a marked decrease (-58%) of the basal release of 6-keto-prostaglandin F1alpha (6-keto-PGF1alpha) from aortic rings. In L-NAME-treated rats, administration in the last 4 weeks of either the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor enalapril (10 mg/kg/day in tap water) or the angiotensin AT(1)-receptor antagonist losartan (10 mg/kg/day in tap water) decreased systolic blood pressure levels, completely restored eNOS mRNA levels in aortic tissue and plasma nitrite/nitrate levels, and allowed a consistent recovery of both the relaxant activity of acetylcholine and the generation of 6-keto-PGF1alpha. Coadministration of icatibant, a bradykinin B(2)-receptor antagonist (200 microg/kg/day), with enalapril blunted the stimulatory effect of the ACE inhibitor on eNOS mRNA expression, circulating levels of nitrite/nitrate, the relaxant activity of ACh and the release of 6-keto-PGF1alpha in L-NAME-treated rats. The generation of 6-keto-PGF1alpha from aortic rings was also decreased in rats coadministered icatibant with losartan. These findings indicate that (1) the ACE inhibitor enalapril and the angiotensin AT(1)-receptor blocker losartan are equally effective to reverse NAME-induced endothelial dysfunction; (2) the beneficial effect of enalapril on the endothelial vasodilator function in L-NAME-treated rats is mediated by bradykinin B(2)-receptor activation; and (3) the enhanced endothelial generation of prostacyclin induced by losartan in L-NAME rats is also mediated by bradykinin B(2)-receptor activation.