The perception-behavior dissociation in the ultimatum game in unmedicated patients with major depressive disorders.

Patients with major depressive disorders (MDD) exhibit social dysfunction, as illustrated by the lower acceptance rate of unfair proposals in the Ultimatum Game (UG) among patients with MDD compared with a control group. However, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. In this study, we explored whether patients with MDD had altered perceptions of fairness or altered perception-behavior linkages compared with the control group, using a multilevel moderated mediation framework. Sixty-eight unmedicated patients with MDD and 55 members of a control group were recruited. Using generalized linear mixed effects models and multilevel structural equation modeling, we investigated the differences in the linkages between fairness level, fairness perception, and acceptance behavior among the two groups playing the UG. The results showed that the patients with MDD had a lower acceptance rate of unfair proposals than the control group. Fairness perception mediated the relationship between fairness level and acceptance behavior for both groups of participants when they played with human proposers but not computer proposers. The mediation effect was stronger among the control group than among the MDD patients. The linkage between fairness perception and acceptance behavior was attenuated among the patients with MDD compared with the control group. In conclusion, MDD patients were impaired in their ability to flexibly adjust acceptance behavior based on fairness perception in social interactions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

A school rampage threatens beliefs in justice: A longitudinal study of the belief in a just world among Chinese adolescents.

INTRODUCTION: The current study examined whether and how severe injustice such as a school attack threatens the belief in a just world (BJW). METHOD: We collected longitudinal data on the BJW from adolescents in China who witnessed random school attacks on the news (N = 227). RESULTS: Change analyses provided evidence that the BJW increased after witnessing severe injustice. Furthermore, we tested for moderating effects of buffer variables, such as life satisfaction and perceived social support, on change in the BJW. Findings showed that these variables buffered the threat to the BJW after observing unfairness. DISCUSSION: We discuss these results in the context of justice motive theory and suggest implications for future research and practical implications.

A Follow-Up Investigation of Mental Health Among Discharged COVID-19 Patients in Wuhan, China.

Objective: To understand the mental health status and its risk factors among discharged COVID-19 patients during the first month of centralized quarantine and the subsequent home isolation. Methods: The scales of the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), General Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7), and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) were used to measure the symptoms of insomnia, anxiety, and depression in 782 COVID-19 patients during the first month of centralized quarantine (March 16 to 26, 2020) and then during home isolation (April 3 to 10, 2020). Results: During the centralized quarantine, the prevalence rates of insomnia, anxiety, and depressive symptoms were 44.37, 31.59, and 27.62%, respectively, and those during the home isolation decreased significantly at 27.11, 17.26, and 16.11%, respectively. In both waves, women showed a higher prevalence of symptoms of poor mental health compared to men, and middle-aged (40-59 years old) and elderly (≥60 years old) showed a higher risk of symptoms of poor mental health compared to the younger. In addition, the severity of COVID-19 revealed no significant relationship to symptoms of poor mental health, whereas, the interaction analysis revealed that those with other underlying diseases showed more symptoms of poor mental health during the centralized quarantine and a greater decrease during the follow-up home isolation. Conclusion: The discharged COVID-19 patients suffered from mental health problems such as, insomnia, depression, and anxiety, and this was especially so for women, the middle-aged and elderly, and those with underlying diseases, but along with the rehabilitation and the environmental change from centralized quarantine to home isolation, all the mental symptoms were significantly alleviated. Based on a follow-up investigation, the current results provide critical evidence for mental health and early rehabilitation upon the discharged COVID-19 patients.

Victim Sensitivity and Its Neural Correlates Among Patients With Major Depressive Disorder.

BACKGROUND: Dysfunctional beliefs about the self are common in the development of depressive symptoms, but it remains unclear how depressed patients respond to unfair treatment, both dispositionally and neurally. The present research is an attempt to explore the differences in sensitivity to injustice as a victim and its neural correlates in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) versus healthy controls. METHODS: First episodic, drug-naïve patients with MDD (n = 30) and a control group (n = 30) were recruited to compare their differences in victim sensitivity. A second group of patients with MDD (n = 23) and their controls (n = 28) were recruited to replicate the findings and completed resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning. Spontaneous brain activity measured by fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) was used to characterize the neural correlates of victim sensitivity both in patients and in healthy controls. RESULTS: Higher victim sensitivity was consistently found in patients with MDD than healthy controls in both datasets. Multiple regression analysis on the fALFF showed a significant interaction effect between diagnosis and victim sensitivity in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). CONCLUSIONS: The patients with MDD show higher sensitivity to injustice as a victim, which may be independent of their disease course. The MDD patients differ from healthy controls in the neural correlates of victim sensitivity. These findings shed light on the linkage between cognitive control subserved by the DLPFC and negative bias towards the self implicated by higher victim sensitivity among the depressed patients.

Culture Change and Affectionate Communication in China and the United States: Evidence From Google Digitized Books 1960-2008.

Humans are born with the ability and the need for affection, but communicating affection as a social behavior is historically bound. Based on the digitized books of Google Ngram Viewer from 1960 through 2008, the present research investigated affectionate communication (AC) in China and the United States, and its changing landscape along with social changes from collectivist to individualistic environments. In particular, we analyzed the frequency in terms of verbal affection (e.g., love you, like you), non-verbal affection (e.g., hug, kiss), and individualism (indicated by the use of first-person singular pronouns such as I, me, and myself) in Chinese and American books. The results revealed an increasing trend for AC in recent decades, although the frequency of affection words was lower in Chinese than in American books. Further, individualism was positively related to the frequency of affection words in both Chinese and American books. These results demonstrate the effect of cultural changes on AC, in that affection exchange becomes popular in adaptation to individualistic urban environments. These findings exemplify a cross-cultural difference in the expression of love and the cultural universality of social change in Eastern and Western societies.

Cultural value mismatch in urbanizing China: A large-scale analysis of collectivism and happiness based on social media and nationwide survey.

Throughout history, collectivism has contributed much to social bonding and human wellness. However, it remains unclear whether the collectivism-wellness equation still applies, when there is a mismatch between the collectivistic values and the ecological environment of urbanisation. Testing the hypothesis of cultural value mismatch (e.g., high urbanised & high collectivistic, or low urbanised & low collectivistic), two studies were designed to examine the relationship between collectivism and emotional wellbeing in China, with urbanisation as moderator. Based on the emotion analysis of tweets among 1.6 millions of Weibo users, Study 1 found that the province-level collectivism scores were significantly and positively related to negative emotions in high urbanised provinces, but this relationship was not significant in low or middle urbanised provinces. Using a nationwide survey dataset, Study 2 showed that, on the individual level, those with higher collectivism reported less negative emotions, but only in low- and middle-urbanised provinces, not in high-urbanised provinces. On positive emotions in all areas, the positive effect of collectivism was observed on individual level, but not on province level. These findings support the value mismatch hypothesis of urbanisation, suggesting that the purchasing power of collectivism on wellbeing is compromised in urbanising China.

Time frame and justice motive: future perspective moderates the adaptive function of general belief in a just world.

BACKGROUND: The human ability to envision the future, that is, to take a future perspective (FP), plays a key role in the justice motive and its function in transcending disadvantages and misfortunes. The present research investigated whether individual (Study 1) and situational (Study 2) differences in FP moderated the association of general belief in a just world (GBJW) with psychological resilience. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We investigated FP, GBJW, and resilience in sample of adolescents (n = 223) and disaster survivors (n = 218) in China. In Study 1, adolescents revealed stronger GBJW than PBJW, and GBJW uniquely predicted resilience in the daily lives of those with high FP (but not those with low FP). In Study 2, natural priming of FP (vs. no FP) facilitated the association of GBJW with resilience after disaster. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Supporting predictions, participants endorsed GBJW more strongly than PBJW. Further, GBJW interacted with FP in both studies, such that there was an association between GBJW and resilience at high but not low levels of FP. The results corroborate recent findings suggesting that GBJW may be more psychologically adaptive than PBJW among some populations. They also confirm that focusing on the future is an important aspect of the adaptive function of just-world beliefs.