A virtual reality paradigm simulating blood donation serves as a platform to test interventions to promote donation.

Effective interventions that support blood donor retention are needed. Yet, integrating an intervention into the time-pressed and operationally sensitive context of a blood donation center requires justification for disruptions to an optimized process. This research provides evidence that virtual reality (VR) paradigms can serve as a research environment in which interventions can be tested prior to being delivered in blood donation centers. Study 1 (N = 48) demonstrated that 360°-video VR blood donation environments elicit a similar profile of emotional experience to a live donor center. Presence and immersion were high, and cybersickness symptoms low. Study 2 (N = 134) was an experiment deploying the 360°-video VR environments to test the impact of an intervention on emotional experience and intentions to donate. Participants in the intervention condition who engaged in a suite of tasks drawn from the process model of emotion regulation (including attentional deployment, positive reappraisal, and response modulation) reported more positive emotion than participants in a control condition, which in turn increased intentions to donate blood. By showing the promise for benefitting donor experience via a relatively low-cost and low-resource methodology, this research supports the use of VR paradigms to trial interventions prior to deployment in operationally-context field settings.

Motives matter: The psychological experience of ostracizing among sources.

Individuals ostracize others for myriad reasons, yet the influence of those reasons on the psychological experience of ostracizing is yet unknown. Two studies aimed to determine the emotional and behavioral sequelae of ostracizing for different motives, directly comparing punitive to defensive motives. We focused our examination on a suite of emotions expected to arise as a function of (1) the situations that give rise to ostracizing for punitive and defensive reasons (anger, fear, anxiety, and sadness) and (2) the act of ostracizing itself (i.e., pride and guilt). The research employed a novel paradigm to induce the experience of ostracizing for defensive or punitive motives. Study 1 (N = 372) investigated sources' experienced emotion as a function of motive. Study 2 (N = 743) expanded consideration to behavioral intentions, including intentions to continue ostracizing and to recruit others to join in ostracizing the target. Across both studies and supported by an internal meta-analysis, ostracizing for defensive reasons was associated with higher levels of guilt, fear, and anxiety, and lower levels of anger, compared to ostracizing for punitive reasons. Neither sadness nor positive emotion (pride or happiness) differed significantly according to motive in either study. Moreover, guilt and anger mediated the impact of motive on intentions to continue ostracizing and recruit others to join them in ostracizing. To the extent that punitive sources experienced anger relative to defensive sources, they expressed greater intentions to continue ostracizing the target and to recruit others to join in ostracizing the target. To the extent that defensive sources experienced guilt relative to punitive sources, they reported reduced intentions to continue ostracizing the target. Findings add to a growing literature on ostracism sources, and highlight the mediating role of sources' emotion in guiding future actions.

Psychological responses to blood donated by men who have sex with men.

BACKGROUND: Restrictions previously limiting the ability of men who have sex with men to donate blood are being eased in a number of nations worldwide. In the context of these changes, it is important to determine public perceptions of receiving a transfusion of blood donated by men who have sex with men. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In online surveys, 510 (Study 1) and 1,062 (Study 2) heterosexual participants reported attitudes, anxiety, disgust, and gratitude towards potentially receiving a transfusion of blood donated by a homosexual male donor and a heterosexual male donor. In Study 2, half of the participants were reminded of the safety testing carried out on donated blood samples. Negative attitudes, anxiety, disgust, and gratitude were compared between the two donors using t-tests and within-participants indirect effects analysis. RESULTS: Stronger negative attitudes, higher anxiety and disgust, and lower gratitude were reported in relation to a potential transfusion of blood donated by the homosexual male donor relative to the heterosexual male donor (|d|=0.26-0.46). This was the case even when participants were reminded of the safety testing completed on donated blood samples in Study 2. In both studies, the effect of donor sexual orientation on attitudes was explained via heightened anxiety and disgust and attenuated gratitude (b=0.05-0.30). DISCUSSION: Considering receiving a transfusion of blood donated by a homosexual male donor elicits more negative attitudes, anxiety and disgust, and less positive emotion, relative to blood donated by a heterosexual male donor. These attitudes and emotional reactions are not shifted by a reminder of the safety testing carried out on donated blood samples. In the context of changing restrictions on blood donation by men who have sex with men, these findings highlight a challenge to shift public perception to embrace this cohort of donors.

Warming up cool cooperators.

Explaining why someone repeats high-cost cooperation towards non-reciprocating strangers is difficult. Warm glow offers an explanation. We argue that warm glow, as a mechanism to sustain long-term cooperation, cools off over time but can be warmed up with a simple intervention message. We tested our predictions in the context of repeat voluntary blood donation (high-cost helping of a non-reciprocating stranger) across 6 studies: a field-based experiment (n = 5,821) comparing warm-glow and impure-altruism messages; an implementation study comparing a 3-yr pre-implementation period among all first-time donors in Australia (N = 270,353) with a 2-yr post-implementation period (N = 170, 317); and 4 studies (n = 716, 1,124, 932, 1,592) exploring mechanisms. We show that there are relatively warm and cool cooperators, not cooling cooperators. Cooperation among cool cooperators is enhanced by a warm-glow-plus-identity message. Furthermore, the behavioural facilitation of future cooperation, by booking an appointment, is associated with being a warm cooperator. Societal implications are discussed.

Beyond fear: A longitudinal investigation of emotions and risk of a vasovagal reaction in first-time whole-blood donors.

BACKGROUND: Fear is a recognized predictor of vasovagal reactions (VVRs) in blood donors. However, less is known about the role of other emotions, including positive emotions, that donors might experience. The aim of this study was to identify the emotions experienced in center that predict onsite VVRs, and to determine at what point during the donation appointment, the experience of these emotions is most influential. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A sample of 442 first-time whole-blood donors (57.7% female; mean ± SD age 30.7 ± 11.7 years) completed a survey in the waiting area and before venepuncture in the donation chair to assess their current emotional experience. The survey data were matched with routinely-collected demographic, donation, and donor adverse event information. A generalized estimating equations model was used to identify emotions associated with the occurrence of a VVR. RESULTS: A total of 56 (12.7%) participants experienced a VVR. The occurrence of a VVR was significantly associated with lower love/closeness/trust (OR: 0.53, 95%CI: 0.34-0.82) and higher scared/fearful/afraid (OR: 1.96, 95%CI: 1.18-3.25) states. Significant interaction effects suggested that the effect of scared/fearful/afraid decreased while stressed/nervous/overwhelmed increased from the waiting area to before venepuncture on the likelihood of a VVR. DISCUSSION: To effectively reduce donor VVR risk, blood collection agencies need to address a broader range of emotions at different points during the donation process.

Evidence of the unidimensional structure of mind perception.

The last decade has witnessed intense interest in how people perceive the minds of other entities (humans, non-human animals, and non-living objects and forces) and how this perception impacts behavior. Despite the attention paid to the topic, the psychological structure of mind perception-that is, the underlying properties that account for variance across judgements of entities-is not clear and extant reports conflict in terms of how to understand the structure. In the present research, we evaluated the psychological structure of mind perception by having participants evaluate a wide array of human, non-human animal, and non-animal entities. Using an entirely within-participants design, varied measurement approaches, and data-driven analyses, four studies demonstrated that mind perception is best conceptualized along a single dimension.

From human wellbeing to animal welfare.

What does it mean to be "well" and how might such a state be cultivated? When we speak of wellbeing, it is of ourselves and fellow humans. When it comes to nonhuman animals, consideration turns to welfare. My aim herein is to suggest that theoretical approaches to human wellbeing might be beneficially applied to consideration of animal welfare, and in so doing, introduce new lines of inquiry and practice. I will review current approaches to human wellbeing, adopting a triarchic structure that delineates hedonic wellbeing, eudaimonic wellbeing, and social wellbeing. For each, I present a conceptual definition and a review of how researchers have endeavored to measure the construct. Drawing these three domains of research together, I highlight how these traditionally anthropocentric lines of inquiry might be extended to the question of animal welfare - namely by considering hedonic welfare, eudaimonic welfare, and social welfare as potentially distinguishable and complementary components of the broader construct of animal welfare.

The Impact of Temporal Trajectories of Emotional Experience on Blood Donor Return.

BACKGROUND: Despite recognition that blood donation is an affectively poignant process, many aspects of donors' emotional experiences and their consequences remain unexamined. PURPOSE: This study tracked the donor's experience of several positive and negative emotions live as they arose during the donation process and tracked the impact of that experience on donor return. METHODS: New whole blood donors (N = 414) reported their experience of 10 positive and 10 negative discrete emotions before, during, and after donation. Return behavior of these donors and a business-as-usual control group was tracked over the next 6 months. RESULTS: In total, 46.4% of participants and 43.2% of the control group returned to donate within 6 months. On the basis of established relevance to blood donation and statistical considerations, group-based latent trajectories of three emotions (joy, calm, and stress) were modeled over time, revealing five classes of emotion trajectories. A trajectory of low/increasing joy and calm and high/decreasing stress was associated with significantly lower probability of return (preturn = .28, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.20, 0.38) relative to all but one other trajectory group and the control group. A trajectory of medium-high/increasing joy, high calm, and low/decreasing stress was associated with a significantly greater probability of return (preturn = .59, 95% CI = 0.49, 0.69) relative to two other trajectory classes and the control group. CONCLUSIONS: By identifying blood donors' emotion trajectories over time and the impact of those trajectories on return behavior, this research paves the way for the development of effective emotion-focused interventions to boost retention.

Emotional mechanisms and format effects of motivational questions for blood donation.

Prior studies suggest that responding to online motivational questions increases blood donation intention. The present studies were designed to extend these findings by (a) exploring the impact of methodologic variations in the content and order of administration of specific questions on donation intention and (b) examining anticipated positive and negative emotional reactions as potential mediators. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: In the first study, 4709 respondents (51.2% female; mean ± SD age, 38.4 ± 12.1 years) were randomly assigned to one of four motivational questions or a no-question control. In the second study, 5291 respondents (52.7% female; mean ± SD age, 37.3 ± 11.9 years) were randomly assigned to one of six motivational questions or a no-question control. In both studies, the motivational questions were followed by measures of donation intention, anticipated warm glow, and anticipated regret. RESULTS: In Study 1, three of the four questions were associated with higher donation intentions, with anticipated warm glow being a potential partial mediator for two of the questions. In Study 2, five of the six questions were associated with higher donation intentions, with anticipated warm glow and anticipated regret being potential partial mediators for three of the questions. These effects were largely consistent among donors and nondonors. CONCLUSION: These studies expand our understanding of the association between particular motivational questions and donation intentions and provide preliminary support for the notion that specific questions may influence donation intention by increasing anticipated positive and negative emotional reactions to the thought of giving or not giving, respectively.

Anthropomorphism in comparative affective science: Advocating a mindful approach.

Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human-like capacities and traits to non-human entities. Anthropomorphism is ubiquitous in everyday life and in scientific domains, operating both implicitly and explicitly as a function of the human lens through which we view the world. A rich history of work in psychology, animal behavior, cognitive science, and philosophy has highlighted the negative and, to a lesser degree, the positive implications of anthropomorphism. In this article, we aim to provide a nuanced perspective of how anthropomorphism impacts the work of comparative affective science. Specifically, we discuss three domains of empirical inquiry in which lessons can be drawn about the benefits and pitfalls of anthropomorphism: responses to death, inequity aversion, and prosocial behavior. On balance, we advocate a mindful approach to anthropomorphizing in comparative affective science, and comparative science more generally.

The immutability of valence and arousal in the foundation of emotion.

Over the past century, great debate has ensued regarding the fundamental properties of emotions. The idea that 2 properties-valence and arousal-are critical for emotion and psychologically irreducible has had substantial staying power in the literature. In the present report, we examine whether a third dimension-reflecting the social properties of emotion-might arise if stimuli high in that dimension (i.e., "theoretically social emotions") were included in the task and, or, if social information was primed. We used a similarity-rating task to evaluate whether a dimension representing the "socialness" of emotion-the extent to which emotions are associated with social contexts-might arise as the result of inclusion of emotion words that are theorized to represent "social emotions." In Study 1, we assessed the dimensional structure of 41 different emotion terms (of which 41% were "social emotions") based on pairwise similarity ratings of a subset of the emotion terms. In Study 2, we tested whether priming social information before and during the similarity rating task would shift the emergent dimensional structure of emotion words. Results of multidimensional scaling across both studies indicated that the structure of emotion is best described by 2 dimensions-valence and arousal-and was not influenced by the priming of social information. Contrary to predictions, evidence did not emerge for a third dimension corresponding to socialness, nor any other property. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

The misery-is-not-miserly effect revisited: Replication despite opportunities for compensatory consumption.

Sadness increases how much decision makers pay to acquire goods, even when decision makers are unaware of it. This effect is coined the "misery-is-not-miserly effect". The paper that first established this effect is the second most-cited article appearing in Psychological Science in 2004. In light of its impact, the present study sought to assess whether the misery-is-not-miserly effect would replicate (a) in a novel context and (b) even when another way of alleviating a sense of loss (i.e., compensatory consumption) was available. Results revealed that the effect replicated in the novel context and, despite a prediction otherwise, even when individuals had an opportunity to engage in compensatory consumption. Moreover, a meta-analysis of the original effect and that observed in the present study yielded a small-to-medium effect (Cohen's d = 0.43). As such, the present study lends evidentiary support to the misery-is-not-miserly effect and provides impetus for future research exploring the impact of sadness on consumer decision-making, specifically, and of emotion on decision processes, more generally.

Humans are ultrasocial and emotional.

Given the highly social nature of the human emotion system, it is likely that it subserved the evolution of ultrasociality. We review how the experience and functions of human emotions enable social processes that promote ultrasociality (e.g., cooperation). We also point out that emotion may represent one route to redress one of the negative consequences of ultrasociality: ecosystem domination.

Expression and functional roles of estrogen receptor GPR30 in human intervertebral disc.

Estrogen withdrawal, a characteristic of female aging, is associated with age-related intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration. The function of estrogen is mediated by two classic nuclear receptors, estrogen receptor (ER)-α and -ß, and a membrane bound G-protein-coupled receptor 30 (GPR30). To date, the expression and function of GPR30 in human spine is poorly understood. This study aimed to evaluate GPR30 expression in IVD, and its role in estrogen-related regulation of proliferation and apoptosis of disc nucleus pulposus (NP) cells. GPR30 expression was examined in 30 human adult NP and 9 fetal IVD. Results showed that GPR30 was expressed in NP cells at both mRNA and protein levels. In human fetal IVD, GPR30 protein was expressed in the NP at 12-14 weeks gestation, but was undetectable at 8-11 weeks. The effect of 17ß-estradiol (E2) on GPR30-mediated proliferation and interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß)-induced apoptosis of NP cells was investigated. Cultured NP cells were treated with or without E2, GPR30 antagonist G36, and ER antagonist ICI 182,780. NP cell viability was tested by MTS assay. Apoptosis was determined by flow cytometry using fluorescence labeled annexin-V, TUNEL assay and immumnocytochemical staining of activated caspase-3. E2 enhanced cell proliferation and prevented IL-1ß-induced cell death, but the effect was partially blocked by G36 and completely abrogated by a combination of ICI 182,780 and G36. This study demonstrates that GPR30 is expressed in human IVD to transmit signals triggering E2-induced NP cell proliferation and protecting against IL-1ß-induced apoptosis. The effects of E2 on NP cells require both GPR30 and classic estrogen receptors.

Expression of growth differentiation factor 6 in the human developing fetal spine retreats from vertebral ossifying regions and is restricted to cartilaginous tissues.

During embryogenesis vertebral segmentation is initiated by sclerotomal cell migration and condensation around the notochord, forming anlagen of vertebral bodies and intervertebral discs. The factors that govern the segmentation are not clear. Previous research demonstrated that mutations in growth differentiation factor 6 resulted in congenital vertebral fusion, suggesting this factor plays a role in development of vertebral column. In this study, we detected expression and localization of growth differentiation factor 6 in human fetal spinal column, especially in the period of early ossification of vertebrae and the developing intervertebral discs. The extracellular matrix proteins were also examined. Results showed that high levels of growth differentiation factor 6 were expressed in the nucleus pulposus of intervertebral discs and the hypertrophic chondrocytes adjacent to the ossification centre in vertebral bodies, where strong expression of proteoglycan and collagens was also detected. As fetal age increased, the expression of growth differentiation factor 6 was decreased correspondingly with the progress of ossification in vertebral bodies and restricted to cartilaginous regions. This expression pattern and the genetic link to vertebral fusion suggest that growth differentiation factor 6 may play an important role in suppression of ossification to ensure proper vertebral segmentation during spinal development.

Revisiting the Effect of Anthropomorphizing a Social Cause Campaign.

Recent research suggests that anthropomorphism can be harnessed as a tool to boost intentions to comply with social cause campaigns. Drawing on the human tendency to extend moral concern to entities portrayed as humanlike, it has been argued that adding personified features to a social campaign elevates anticipated guilt at failing to comply, and this subsequently boosts intentions to comply with that campaign. The present research aimed to extend extant research by disentangling the effects of emotional and non-emotional anthropomorphism, and differentiating amongst other emotional mechanisms of the anthropomorphism-compliance effect (namely, anticipated pride and anticipated regret). Experiment 1 (N = 294) compared the effectiveness of positive, negative, and emotionally-neutral anthropomorphized campaign posters for boosting campaign compliance intentions against non-anthropomorphized posters. We also measured potential mechanisms including anticipated guilt, regret, and pride. Results failed to support the anthropomorphism-compliance effect, and no changes in anticipated emotion according to anthropomorphism emerged. Experiments 2 (N = 150) and 3 (N = 196) represented further tests of the anthropomorphism-compliance effect. Despite high statistical power and efforts to closely replicate the conditions under which the anthropomorphism-compliance effect had been previously observed, no differences in compliance intention or anticipated emotion according to anthropomorphism emerged. A meta-analysis of the effects of anthropomorphism on compliance and anticipated emotion across the three experiments revealed effect size estimates that did not differ significantly from zero. The results of these three experiments suggest that the anthropomorphism-compliance effect is fragile and perhaps subject to contextual and idiographic influences. Thus, this research provides important insight and impetus for future research on the applied and theoretical utility of anthropomorphizing social cause campaigns.

Ostracizing for a Reason: A Novel Source Paradigm for Examining the Nature and Consequences of Motivated Ostracism.

Ostracism, a complex social phenomenon, involves both targets (ostracized individuals) and sources (ostracizers). The current experiment redressed a gap in the ostracism literature by devising a novel, three-phase paradigm to investigate motivated ostracizing. In the current study, 83 females were assigned to one of four conditions during a Cyberball game: motivated sources chose to ostracize an obnoxious fellow player, induced sources ostracized a fellow player at the behest of the experimenter, targets were ostracized, and included participants received the ball proportionately. Analysis of participants' primary needs, emotions, ratings of their co-players, and behavior toward their co-players indicated that being the target of ostracism was a robustly aversive experience. Both motivated and induced sources reported fortified control. Moreover, a motive for ostracizing influenced source experience: induced sources experienced greater levels of negative moral emotion and behaved more prosocially toward their target than motivated sources. The flexibility and demonstrated impact of this novel paradigm adds to the toolkit available to researchers interested in expanding insight into the psychological processes underlying, and the motivational and behavioral outcomes of being, a source of ostracism.

Warm thanks: gratitude expression facilitates social affiliation in new relationships via perceived warmth.

Recent theorizing on the nature and function of gratitude (the find-remind-and-bind theory; Algoe, 2012) stipulates that expressing gratitude should serve to alert previously unacquainted peers to the potential for a high-quality social bond (i.e., a find function). Although the logic of this premise is supported by extant research, it has not, as yet, been tested empirically. In the current study, participants received a note from a previously unacquainted peer that contained an expression of gratitude (or did not) with regard to prior benefits provided by the participant. After providing ratings of the peer and ostensibly completing the study, participants were given an opportunity to spontaneously give their contact information to the peer, which served as a behavioral measure of affiliation. In line with the proposed find function of gratitude expressions, recipients of expressions of gratitude were more likely to extend the effort to continue the relationship with the novel peer by providing that peer with a means to contact them. This experiment also provided evidence that perceptions of interpersonal warmth (e.g., friendliness, thoughtfulness) serve as the mechanism via which gratitude expressions facilitate affiliation: insofar as gratitude expressions signaled interpersonal warmth of the expresser, they prompted investment in the burgeoning social bond. As such, these findings provide the first empirical evidence regarding 1 of the 3 central premises of the find-remind-and-bind theory of gratitude (Algoe, 2012) in the context of novel relationships.

Donor research in australia: challenges and promise.

Donors are the key to the core business of Blood Collection Agencies (BCAs). However, historically, they have not been a focus of research undertaken by these organizations. This model is now changing, with significant donor research groups established in a number of countries, including Australia. Donor research in the Australian Red Cross Blood Service (Blood Service) is concentrated in the Donor and Community Research (DCR) team. Cognizant of the complex and ever-changing landscape with regard to optimal donor management, the DCR team collaborates with academics located at universities around Australia to coordinate a broad program of research that addresses both short- and-long term challenges to the blood supply. This type of collaboration is not, however, without challenges. Two major collaborative programs of the Blood Service's research, focusing on i) the recruitment and retention of plasmapheresis donors and ii) the role of the emotion pride in donor motivation and return, are showcased to elucidate how the challenges of conducting collaborative BCA research can be met. In so doing, these and the other research programs described herein demonstrate how the Blood Service supports and contributes to research that not only revises operational procedures but also contributes to advances in basic science.

Tag, you're it: affect tagging promotes goal formation and selection.

Building upon Huang & Bargh's (H&B's) theory, we propose a complementary view that goal formation and selection are both supported by affect. We suggest that goals may form when affect "tags" discrete behaviors and their outcomes. Further, we propose that goal-associated affect may help guide selection between competing goals, for example, in the case of short-term and long-term goals.