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The effects of the parent-child relationship and parental educational involvement on adolescent depression, self-injury, and suicidal ideation: The roles of defeat and meaning in life HU Yiqiu, ZENG Zihao, PENG Liyi, WANG Hongcai, LIU Shuangjin, YANG Qin, FANG Xiaoyi Acta Psychologica Sinica    2023, 55 (1): 129-141.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.00129 Abstract （10837）   HTML （1088）    PDF（pc） （844KB）（15599）       Knowledge map    Save Because of their high incidence as well as high risk, adolescent psychological problems have been a constant pressing topic of governmental, psychological, sociological, and medical interest for research. Adolescent depression, self-injury, and suicidal ideation not only have serious impacts on an individual social functioning, the burden of disease and economic pressures caused by self-harming incidents also make it vital to explore the factors affecting these behaviors and their developmental mechanisms. Ecosystem theory emphasizes the role and significance of the environment in the process of individual development, believing that individual development is the result of one’s interactions with the surrounding environment. As the innermost structure in the ecosystem, family is the environment that is most relevant for individuals, having the greatest influence. In this study, two important components of the parent-child subsystem parent-child relationship (child) and educational involvement (parent) were introduced to explore their combined effects on adolescent depression, self-injury, and suicidal ideation from a binary perspective. The roles of frustration and sense of meaning in life were also investigated from an integrated motivational-volitional model perspective. The current study built a moderated mediation model exploring the combined effects of the parent-child relationship on adolescent depression, self-injury, and suicidal ideation. A total of 930 middle school students (501 boys, 429 girls; average age = 15.24 ± 1.66 years) and their parents participated in this investigation. After given their informed consent, both parents and students completed the Short Form of Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, the Deliberate Self-Harm Inventory, the Four-item Depressive Symptom Index − Suicidality Subscale, the Parent-Child Intimacy Questionnaire, Parental Involvement in Primary School Children Education, the Defeat Scale, and the Chinese Meaning in Life Questionnaire. SPSS 26.0, AMOS 23.0, and Mplus 7.0 were used to analyze the data. The results indicated that: (1) Compared to individuals with a low parent-child relationship and low educational involvement, adolescents with a high parent-child relationship and high educational involvement had lower levels of defeat. Compared to adolescents with a low parent-child relationship and high educational involvement, individuals with a high parent-child relationship and low educational involvement showed lower levels of defeat; (2) Defeat partially mediated the relationship between the parent-child relationship and educational involvement and adolescent depression, self-injury, and suicidal ideation; (3) The second half of the mediation model was moderated by meaning in life, that is, with the increase of meaning in life, the effect of defeat on depression, self-injury, and suicidal ideation gradually decreased. Based on ecosystem theory and integrated motivational-volitional model, and using innovative polynomial regression and response surface analysis, the current study investigated the influence of the parent-child relationship and parents' educational involvement on adolescent depression, self-injury, and suicidal ideation, as well as the mediating and moderating effects of defeat and meaning in life. The results providing additional evidence for the relevant developmental theories of depression, self-injury, and suicidal ideation. This study also offers more insight into potential psychological crisis behavioral interventions. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Associations between empathy and negative affect: Effect of emotion regulation GUO Xiaodong, ZHENG Hong, RUAN Dun, HU Dingding, WANG Yi, WANG Yanyu, Raymond C. K. CHAN Acta Psychologica Sinica    2023, 55 (6): 892-904.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.00892 Abstract （8861）   HTML （759）    PDF（pc） （1267KB）（10899）       Knowledge map    Save Empathy refers to understanding, inferring and sharing others’ emotional states, which can be divided into affective and cognitive components. Although empathy contributes to prosocial behaviors and harmonious interpersonal relationships, it also increases an individual’s negative emotional experiences and affect distress. Emotion regulation, the psychological process of managing one’s own emotions, has been found to be closely associated with empathy. Cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression are two commonly used strategies to regulate emotions, of which cognitive reappraisal is effective in reducing negative emotional experiences while expressive suppression is usually correlated with more affective distress. However, the roles of emotion regulation strategies in the empathic response are still unclear. We conducted two studies to investigate the roles of emotion regulation on the negative affect related to empathy using self-report questionnaires and experimental task respectively. Study 1 administered the Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy (QCAE), the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) to 442 college students. The moderating effects of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression on the association between empathy and negative affect were examined separately. Study 2 adopted the Chinese version of the Empathic Accuracy Task (EAT) to further examine the effect of emotion regulation (i.e. cognitive reappraisal) on cognitive empathy and affective responses. The EAT requires participants to continuously rate targets’ emotional valence in video clips as a second person and rate emotional valence and arousal of both targets and themselves after each video. Seventy-five participants (33 for experiment 1 and 42 for experiment 2) were recruited to perform the EAT under two conditions, i.e., naturally viewing without any instructions and applying cognitive reappraisal while viewing the scenarios. Paired sample t tests and repeated-measure ANOVA were performed to examine the effect of cognitive reappraisal on task performance. Findings from Study 1 showed that affective empathy was significantly correlated with higher levels of anxiety and stress, while empathic concern was correlated with less anxiety, stress and depression. However, when participants endorsed cognitive reappraisal more frequently, such positive association between affective empathy and stress was reduced, while the negative association between empathic concern and anxiety was strengthened. Cognitive empathy was significantly correlated with reduced depression. Expressive suppression strengthened the negative association between cognitive empathy and depression. Moreover, negative correlations between cognitive empathy and anxiety as well as stress emerged for participants endorsing cognitive reappraisal more frequently. Findings from Study 2 showed that task performances of the EAT were significantly improved when participants endorsed cognitive reappraisal strategy compared to the condition of naturally viewing. Specifically, under the cognitive reappraisal condition participants scored higher empathic accuracy, experienced less negative affect in reaction to others’ affect distress, and experienced more positive affect in reaction to others’ positive emotions. Taken together, the findings from these two studies suggested that both cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression play a protective role in the associations between empathy and negative affect, and the endorsement of cognitive reappraisal would improve task performance on both cognitive and affective empathy. Our findings shed light on the psychological mechanisms of empathy and provide new approach for improving individuals’ social cognitive ability, especially for early intervention in clinical and subclinical populations. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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An effect of menstrual cycle phase on episodic memory LI Jianhua, XIE Jiajia, ZHUANG Jin-Ying Acta Psychologica Sinica    2022, 54 (5): 466-480.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2022.00466 Abstract （7823）   HTML （921）    PDF（pc） （6306KB）（12006）       Knowledge map    Save Episodic memory refers to the recollection of personally experienced events in a specific context. Evolutionary psychology findings have suggested that female sex hormones may be important influencing factors for episodic memory, but the specific mechanism underlying these influences are unclear. The aim of the present study was to examine whether periodic fluctuations of estrogen and progesterone over the menstrual cycle may influence episodic memory in the What-Where-When Task. Healthy women with stable menstrual cycles and not taking exogenous hormones were recruited for two experiments. In Experiment 1, episodic memory was tested with 33 women during the late follicular phase (FP) and during the mid-luteal phase (LP) with the following five tasks employing images of objects as stimuli: object-only, position-only, object-position binding, object-order binding, and position-order binding. The testing order was counter-balanced across subjects. After a learning phase, participants were asked to recollect elements according to the requirements of each task, and the accuracy rates of their recollections were recorded as dependent variables. The results of Experiment 1 showed that recollection accuracy differed between the late FP and mid-LP for only one of the tasks, namely the position-order binding task. Thus, in Experiment 2, event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during the performance of the position-order binding task, while recollection accuracy performance was evaluated. For the position-order binding task in both experiments, a significantly higher response accuracy rate was observed in the mid-LP than in the late FP. Regarding the ERP results, amplitudes of the P300 component and the late positive component (LPC) in frontal cortices, which has associated with cognitive control, were found to be higher in the mid-LP than in the late FP. The present results support the notion that people may have greater cognitive control of episodic memory in the mid-LP than in the late FP. In conclusion, the present results showed that menstrual cycle phase affects position-order binding memory performance and concomitant neural activities. Better episodic memory performance during the mid-LP, relative to the late FP, could be attributed to better cognitive control ability. This study provides new information on physiological factors that can affect episodic memory. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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The influence of anxiety on weight perception CHEN Xuyan, LI Peng, YAN Zhiying Acta Psychologica Sinica    2023, 55 (1): 66-78.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.00066 Abstract （7730）   HTML （749）    PDF（pc） （812KB）（10818）       Knowledge map    Save The economy of action argues that individuals’ perceptions of the physical environment are related to the resources they possess. Anxiety is an emotion characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil, often associated with threat or risk, that can be viewed as a manifestation of inadequate coping resources. Therefore, anxiety may affect individuals’ perceptions of the physical environment around them. Previous studies have shown that exercise influence perceptual judgments mostly based on vision-based perceptual indicators, and rarely involved stress anxiety and trait anxiety that are more common in the field of life. However, this study employed weight-based perception indicators rather than vision-based indicators to investigate the effects of two kinds of state anxiety in daily life with different mechanisms and the more stable trait anxiety on the perception of object weight, and proposed the following research hypothesis: individuals perceived objects as heavier in state or trait anxiety. In the present work, we conducted three studies to systematically investigate the effects of three types of anxiety with different attributes on the perception of weight: body posture-induced anxiety (Experiment 1), external task-induced anxiety (Experiment 2), and trait anxiety, which is stable at the personality level (Experiment 3). Participants in both Experiment 1 and Experiment 2 were asked to report their anxiety before and after the experimental task was manipulated and to judge the weight of the backpack they carried. In Experiment 1, 64 participants were randomly assigned to the anxious body posture group (n = 32) and the relaxed body posture group (n = 32) by being asked to do different body postures. In Experiment 2, 65 participants were randomly assigned to either the mental arithmetic task group (n = 33) or the odd-even task group (n = 32). In Experiment 3, based on the scores of the Trait Anxiety Inventory (T-AI) Scale, high and low scorers were selected to constitute a high-level trait anxiety group (n = 64) and a low-level trait anxiety group (n = 64), and were asked to perceive the post-test weight of the three backpacks. The results of three experiments showed that the influence of anxiety on weight perception. In Experiment 1, we found that the anxious body posture induced anxiety, and participants in the anxious body posture group perceived the weight of the object as heavier than those in the relaxed body posture group. The results of Experiment 2 revealed that the stressful mental arithmetic task induced anxiety, and participants in the mental arithmetic task group perceived the weight of the object as heavier than those in the odd-even judgment task group. The results of Experiment 3 indicated that participants in the high-level trait anxiety group perceived the weight of the object as heavier than those in the low-level trait anxiety group. The results of the three experiments suggest that either the state anxiety induced by physical changes or cognitive evaluations, or the more stable trait anxiety at the personality level, affects individuals’ perceptions of physical properties of objects, leading them to perceive objects as heavier. This study extends the indicator of perception from the visual to the weight domain at the theoretical level, validates and extends the economy of action theory again; the revealed features of weight perception of anxious individuals provide a new physical perspective for anxiety intervention, and such findings can be applied to the design of human-computer interfaces in the future, which is of great practical significance. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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The influence of positive co-experience on teacher-student relationship: The mediating role of emotional bonding DING Yuting, ZHANG Chang, LI Ranran, DING Wenyu, ZHU Jing, LIU Wei, CHEN Ning Acta Psychologica Sinica    2023, 55 (5): 726-739.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.00726 Abstract （7434）   HTML （567）    PDF（pc） （826KB）（10947）       Knowledge map    Save The teacher-student relationship is a key factor that contributes to educational activities and has hence long been considered an important topic in the field of educational practice and research. Previous studies have found that co-experience improves the development of interpersonal relationships. However, the question remains of whether positive co-experience has the same effect on the quality of teacher-student relationships. The current research aims to investigate the impact of positive co-experience on teacher-student relationships and the underlying mechanism. Building on previous studies, two main hypotheses are proposed: Firstly, that positive co-experience effectively promotes the development of teacher-student relationships (H1); secondly, that this effect is mediated by emotional bonding (H2). Three studies have been conducted to test these hypotheses (H1 & H2). In study 1, a total of 1, 273 students were invited to complete a questionnaire exploring aspects of positive co-experience, positive emotional bonding, teacher-student relationships, and a self-assessment of academic performance. In study 2, all students in a middle school in Shanghai were enrolled as research subjects. Taking each class as a unit, we randomly divided students into three groups. A mixed experimental design of 2 (time: pre-test vs. post-test) × 3 (positive co-experience type: sharing and recall group vs. simple recall group vs. normal group) was adopted. In the pre-test, all subjects in three groups were asked to complete the questionnaires. The students and their teachers would then take part in a sports festival, which was designed to foster positive co-experience within teacher-student relationships. The researchers took photos during this process and made a photo album for the enrolled students and teachers. In the post-test, all three groups were required to complete the questionnaire: students in the “sharing and recall group” were required to complete the questionnaire after reviewing the album of their shared experience with their teachers. “the simple recall group” was asked to complete the questionnaire after reviewing the album with their teachers without sharing experience with their teachers; and the normal group, as a control, completed the questionnaire directly. In study 3, 152 middle school students were invited to participate. We divided them into four groups and conducted a mixed experimental design grid with dimensions of 4 (positive co-experience type: recall vs. imagination vs. example vs. control) × 2 (teacher category: specific teacher vs. group teacher). The four groups of subjects were then required to complete tasks assessing the psychological distance and positive emotional bonding between themselves, a specific teacher, and the group teacher, respectively. They were then graded for “the vignette task”. In conclusion, the results of these studies congruently indicate that positive co-experience has a stable facilitatory effect on teacher-student relationships, and further, that positive emotional bonding plays a mediating role in the relationship between positive co-experience and teacher-student relationships. Further, sharing can promote the level of positive emotional bonding between teachers and students, and the positive co-experience of imagination, recall, and example can improve the level of positive emotional bonding between teenage students and their teachers. We also found that the positive aspect of the teacher-student relationship can be transferred to the group relationship between teachers and students. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Failed players, successful advertisements: Does showing the failure experience increase observers’ intention to try? LUAN Mo, LI Junpeng Acta Psychologica Sinica    2022, 54 (12): 1562-1578.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2022.01562 Abstract （7058）   HTML （703）    PDF（pc） （4926KB）（9065）       Knowledge map    Save It is a common strategy of advertising to show pleasant experience of users, but the effect may be opposite on game advertising. Most games are based on the principle of competition, which makes the result of the game a key factor. Success or failure would not only affect the motivation of game players, but also affect the observers. However, there are few researches on investigating how observing others' failure influences individuals' willingness to try a task, especially in the context of game. Would observing the failure (vs. success) of others in the ads of game improve observers' intention to download the game? If yes, what are the underlying psychological mechanism and boundary conditions? Based on social comparison theory and competition theory, the current research explored the influence of observing others' failure on observers' download intention of the games, and the serial mediation model of downward social comparison and competitive motivation, as well as the moderating role of difficulty and the observers' trait competitiveness were discussed. Experiment 1 explored the main effect of game results on observers’ download intention. In Experiment 1A, each participant was required to watch an ad of game. We hypothesized that after observing the failure (vs. success) of others in game advertising, individuals show higher download intention. Experiment 1B tried to replicate the main effect in a real-world context. Experiment 2 measured downward social comparison and competitive motivation through another game ad. We hypothesized that the results of the game influence observers’ download intention through the serial mediator effect of downward social comparison and competitive motivation. In Experiment 3, we devised two levels in a same game that varied in their difficulty. We hypothesized that for simple tasks, observing failure facilitates observers’ download intention, whereas for difficult tasks, this effect would be weakened. Experiment 4 explored the moderating role of observers’ trait competitiveness through the same ad of Experiment 1A. We hypothesized that for individuals with a high level of trait competitiveness, observing failure facilitates their download intention, whereas for individuals with a low level of trait competitiveness, observing failure no longer has the edge. The results of Experiment 1 provided evidence for the influence of game results on download intention. When observing failure (vs. success), individuals showed higher download intention, which supported hypothesis 1. Experiment 2 replicated the main effect through another game advertising video. Results of Experiment 2 proved the serial mediator effect of downward social comparison and trait competitiveness in the impact of observing others’ failure on download intention, which confirmed hypothesis 2. Results of Experiment 3 suggested that when individuals were faced with difficult tasks, the effect of observing others’ failure was no longer significant. In other words, task difficulty played a moderating role between observing failure and download intention, which confirmed hypothesis 3 and further verified the mediating effect. Results of Experiment 4 supported that the observer's trait competitiveness played a moderating role between observing failure and observers’ download intention. Although observing others’ failure in game advertising improved observers' download intention as a whole, this effect still varied from person to person. For individuals with high trait competitiveness, observing the failure of others would lead to higher download intention. For individuals with low trait competitiveness, this effect was no longer present. Hypothesis 4 was supported. Taken together, based on the game advertising situation, these studies confirmed the positive effect of observing others' failure on observers’ behavior intention, and expanded the research on the impact of displaying failed product experience on advertising in the field of consumer behavior. The findings of the current research also added an alternative perspective to the social learning literature. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Is older adult happier with more filial piety children? The role of filial responsibility expectation of older adult LI Xiying, JIN Yitong, LIU Jing, ZHANG Xingyu, PI Zhongling Acta Psychologica Sinica    2022, 54 (11): 1381-1390.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2022.01381 Abstract （6015）   HTML （585）    PDF（pc） （2546KB）（8207）       Knowledge map    Save Filial piety is an essential variable influencing the intergenerational interaction in the context of Chinese culture. Filial piety is a model of China’s refined traditional culture which guides family interactions based on blood relationships. It is, therefore, a social moral and normative behavior standard. Filial piety plays a vital role in older adults’ lives. However, conclusions from previous studies concerning the relationship between filial responsibility expectation and older adults’ quality of life are not consistent. This is partly because the studies did not consider filial support behaviors from adult children and filial discrepancy. Few studies have investigated whether older adults’ filial responsibility expectations match filial support from children and the effects of filial discrepancy on their life satisfaction and loneliness. To bridge this gap, the present study aimed to test whether filial discrepancy affects older adults’ life satisfaction and loneliness using a quadratic polynomial regression with response surface analysis. Our results showed that older adults’ life satisfaction was higher when emotional expectation and support, as well as contact expectation and support matched compared with when these expectations and supports did not match. The slope of the matching line was significantly positive (β = 3.23, p < 0.001). Specifically, a good match between emotional expectation and support linearly increased life satisfaction. Life satisfaction was higher when contact expectation and support matched than when they did not match. Moreover, the slope of the matching line was significantly positive (β = 1.74, p = 0.010). Specifically, when the contact expectation and support matched, life satisfaction increased with the increase in these two variables. Notably, older adults’ high life satisfaction was associated with children’s high instrumental support, but not the instrumental expectation. It was found that when emotional expectation and emotional support were mismatched, older adults felt lonelier when the emotional expectation was higher than emotional support compared with when the emotional expectation was lower than emotional support. Low loneliness was associated with high contact support and information support. However, loneliness was not related to contact expectation, information expectation, instrumental expectation, or instrumental support. In summary, our study found significant differences in the impact of filial discrepancy on the positive indicator of happiness in older adults (life satisfaction) and the negative indicator (loneliness). For life satisfaction, matching emotional expectation and emotional support, as well as contact expectation and contact support, are critical factors which improve older adults’ life satisfaction. In terms of loneliness, higher emotional expectation compared with emotional support increases older adults’ loneliness. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Accept or change your fate: Exploring the Golem effect and underdog effect of underdog expectations MA Jun, ZHU Mengting Acta Psychologica Sinica    2023, 55 (6): 1029-1048.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.01029 Abstract （5963）   HTML （378）    PDF（pc） （1227KB）（7202）       Knowledge map    Save In organisations, some employees are heralded as rising stars, whilst others are considered underdogs with no prospects. Scholars define individuals’ perceptions that others view them as unlikely to succeed as underdog expectation. The traditional view indicates that when individuals experience underdog expectations from others, they will reduce their subsequent performance through a sense of self-efficacy. This phenomenon, in which one’s performance is manipulated by someone else’s negative assessment, is also known as the Golem effect. Indeed, some studies have suggested that underdog expectations can enhance their desire to prove others wrong to improve performance. However, such studies have only focused on the influence of underdog expectations on employee behavior as social-situation cues but have disregarded its interaction with individuals’ traits. By integrating the preceding arguments, we proposed a comprehensive model based on trait activation theory, which examines the Golem and underdog effects. Specifically, under the moderating effect of underdog expectations, employees with fixed mindsets have a negative impact on subsequent task performance through feedback- avoiding behavior. Meanwhile, employees with growth mindsets have a positive impact on subsequent task performance by proving others wrong. The task context (task focus vs. future focus) plays a role in inhibiting and amplifying the two interactions. This study aimed to explore the reasons why employees who are trapped in underdog expectations become a Golem manipulated by fate and how to counter strike and become an underdog in the workplace. This study constructed a three-term interaction model of nested moderated mediation model. Three studies were designed to explore the internal and intervention mechanisms of the Golem and underdog effects activated by underdog expectations. In the first study, the existence of three interactions was initially examined through a multi-source, multi-point questionnaire of 341 employees. To test the stability of the three interactions and the extensibility of the research conclusions in different groups, a second multi-source and multi-time questionnaire survey involving 650 employees and a field study based on a quasi-experiment were designed for retesting. Regression analysis, bootstrap method and Johnson−Neyman (J−N) technology were used to analyse the questionnaire data to examine the moderated mediation effects of the three-term interaction. T-tests were used to analyse data from the field study. The analyses of the study showed the following results. (1) The interaction between underdog expectations and fixed mindsets positively affects subsequent task performance through feedback-avoiding behavior. (2) The interaction between underdog expectations and growth mindsets positively affects subsequent task performance through the desire to prove others wrong. (3) Lastly, task focus reduces the positive moderating effect of underdog expectations on fixed mindsets, and future focus strengthens the positive moderating effect of underdog expectations on growth mindsets. Findings of our research have several theoretical and practical implications. This study revealed the causes of the Golem and underdog effects, thereby enriching and expanding the research on implicit theory. It showed that fixed and growth mindsets have different paths in processing negative information, which is helpful in integrating the research on underdog and topdog employees. It also provided a theoretical explanation and transformation idea for the emergence and popularity of the depressed culture represented by the lie down and Buddha-like mindsets. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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“Neijuan” in China: The psychological concept and its characteristic dimensions ZHANG Wen, PAN Chao, YAO Shiming, ZHU Jiajia, LING Dong, YANG Hanchun, XU Jingsha, MU Yan Acta Psychologica Sinica    2024, 56 (1): 107-123.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00107 Abstract （5888）   HTML （449）    PDF（pc） （745KB）（8896）       Knowledge map    Save With the deepening and spread of reform and opening-up, China has undergone rapid and unprecedented economic growth and societal transformations over the past few decades. Accumulating evidence has revealed the impacts of sociocultural changes on Chinese mental health. Since 2020, a popular buzzword, “Neijuan” (involution), has garnered significant attention and discussion in daily life. Neijuan could be traced back to agricultural involution, which refers to a process of inward over-elaboration in agricultural development. This concept was first identified by the anthropologist Geertz (1963), who observed that population growth failed to enhance productivity growth and economic development. Despite Neijuan's growing attention, it is still unclear about the connotation and characteristic dimensions of this social phenomenon. Cultural psychology provides a solid theoretical and empirical basis for exploring how social and cultural changes affect individuals’ psychological states and behaviors. In this context, we propose that Neijuan is a multidimensional psychological concept of great significance in this new era, closely connected to cultural changes in China’s rapid development and growth. To explore the psychological concept of Neijuan, Study 1 employed a grounded theory approach through in-depth interviews to clarify the intricate psychological components of Neijuan. Based on the results of Study 1, Studies 2 and 3 developed a measurement tool to validate the multiple characteristic dimensions of Neijuan in Chinese culture, utilizing exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The findings suggested that Neijuan comprises four dimensions: resource scarcity, social norm, psychological pressure, and competition. Subsequently, Study 4 used Neijuan scenario-based task in the university and workplace environments to assess participants’ behavioral tendencies related to Neijuan and examined the relationship between individuals’ perceptions of Neijuan and their actual behaviors. Results revealed that individuals with higher levels of perceived Nejuan exhibited a greater tendency to engage in behaviors associated with Neijuan. In summary, the series of studies sought to explore the psychological concept and multiple characteristic dimensions of Neijuan, which provides a theoretical and empirical basis for understanding this significant phenomenon in the contemporary era. The current research also offers an effective measurement tool to assess individuals’ perception of Neijuan and enlightens future research on the effect of Neijuan on psychological maladjustment and non-benign competition behaviors related to Neijuan. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Effects of interruption on work performance and the moderating effects of mental fatigue CHEN Yueyuan, FANG Weining, GUO Beiyuan, BAO Haifeng Acta Psychologica Sinica    2023, 55 (1): 22-35.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.00022 Abstract （5550）   HTML （461）    PDF（pc） （5100KB）（7829）       Knowledge map    Save Task interruption is known to harm work performance, especially on working memory-related tasks. However, little is known about brain activity patterns during task interruption and the moderating effects of mental fatigue. The impact of work interruption on subsequent behavioral performance is mainly caused by affecting working memory (WM) and attention. Therefore, exploring the mechanisms underlying the impact of interruption on work performance in different fatigue states will improve and contribute to the development of the cognitive theory of interruption. Combined with behavioral and electrophysiological data, we adopted the event-related potential (ERP) technique to explore the effect of interruption on working memory and the moderating role of fatigue on the interruption process. We designed a 2 (fatigue: fatigue, nonfatigue) × 2 (task type: task interruption, suspension interruption) × 2 (trial type: before interruption, after interruption) within-group design and added a noninterrupted baseline task as the control condition. The study randomly selected 20 healthy participants to perform spatial 2-back tasks in different fatigue states in various interruption conditions (math problem task interruption, suspension interruption and noninterrupted). A continuous performance test (AX-CPT) was used to induce fatigue before the fatigue session. The behavioral data showed that accuracy in the primary task was reduced, and response time was increased after interruption. The behavioral performance decline in the primary tasks in the fatigue state was more significant than that in the nonfatigue state. ERP results showed that the P200 and P300 amplitudes induced by the 2-back task significantly increased after interruption. The P200 latency in the fatigue state was significantly shorter than that in the nonfatigue state; the latency with task interruption was longer than that with suspension interruption; and the latency after interruption trials was significantly longer than that before interruption trials. The P300 amplitude in the frontal lobe in the fatigue state was lower than that in the nonfatigue state. The amplitude difference between trials after interruption was more significant in the fatigue state than in the nonfatigue state. In addition, the P300 amplitude induced by task interruption was significantly higher than that induced by suspension interruption, while the same effect did not appear in the nonfatigue state. In conclusion, work interruption caused a decrease in the attention resources available for the primary task after the interruption. The irrelevant information in the task interruption interfered with primary task performance (working memory task), and the fatigue state further aggravated the negative effect of the interruption on working memory and attention. This research revealed the cognitive process underlying task interruption, identified the effects of fatigue and supported the memory for goals model of interruption. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Do not think any virtue trivial, and thus neglect it: Serial mediating role of social mindfulness and perspective taking WANG Yimeng, ZHANG Jingmin, WANG Fengyan, XU Wentao, LIU Weiting Acta Psychologica Sinica    2023, 55 (4): 626-641.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.00626 Abstract （5517）   HTML （690）    PDF（pc） （1586KB）（7374）       Knowledge map    Save Mindfulness has roots in Eastern Buddhism and is generally defined as focusing one’s complete attention to experiences occurring in the present moment in a nonjudgmental or accepting way. The objective of mindfulness intervention is to first understand current experiences then gradually develop self-awareness and wisdom. Moreover, following Buddhist ethics, mindfulness predicts wisdom, which is linked with emphasis on individualized moral foundations of care, empathy, benevolence, and so on. Social mindfulness, as a positive quality and state behavior of mindful attention to others, may potentially affect the influence of mindfulness on wisdom by providing an indirect way to promote the common good. Moreover, social mindfulness involves minding the needs and interests of others in a way that honors the idea that most people prefer choosing for themselves. Based on this statement, the skill of processing the perspectives of others may lay the foundation for social mindfulness. Therefore, based on the above propositions, the hypothesis that mindfulness positively affects wisdom, mediated by perspective taking and social mindfulness, is proposed in this study. Through three studies, the above hypothesis is examined. For Study 1 (n=417), a self-rated wisdom, mindfulness, and social mindfulness questionnaire is adopted to investigate the link between trait mindfulness, wisdom, and social mindfulness. For Study 2 (n=80), data on state mindfulness, social mindfulness, and wisdom are collected at three points using a switching replication experimental design, which further examines the influence of social mindfulness on the link between mindfulness and wisdom at the state level. For Study 3 (n=412), social mindfulness is manipulated using the scenario simulation method, and the role of perspective taking is considered, which demonstrates the influence of mindfulness on wisdom through perspective taking and social mindfulness. Results show multidimensional mindfulness, with awareness and acceptance, is positively correlated with increased social mindfulness and wisdom, thereby verifying the mediating role of social mindfulness. Mindfulness intervention can effectively initiate state mindfulness and simultaneously improve social mindfulness and wisdom within a short period. Manipulated social mindfulness can enhance the positive predicted effect of mindfulness on wisdom and verify the mediating role of social mindfulness. Evidence on the mediating effect of perspective taking and social mindfulness is provided in this study. Specifically, mindful individuals are likely to demonstrate benign attention in interpersonal interactions by perspective taking, thereby constructing a practical path to wisdom. The theoretical model aims to complement and enrich the burgeoning mindfulness, wisdom, and morality literature. In studies 1 and 2, the standard finding (trait and state levels) that mindfulness triggers wisdom is replicated, and the correlation between mindfulness, social mindfulness, and wisdom is explored. A new perspective for improving individual wisdom is also provided. In summary, mindfulness positively influences wisdom through perspective taking and social mindfulness, thereby suggesting an indirect path from mindfulness to wisdom. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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The influence of language and context on sensorimotor simulation of concrete concepts SHI Rubin, XIE Jiushu, YANG Mengqing, WANG Ruiming Acta Psychologica Sinica    2022, 54 (6): 583-594.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2022.00583 Abstract （5420）   HTML （580）    PDF（pc） （410KB）（6202）       Knowledge map    Save How concepts are represented in the brain is an important topic in cognitive science. There are two different theories on this research question, i.e., propositional symbol theory and perceptual symbol theory. The difference between these two theories is how to treat the relationship between the internal symbol and the external archetype. The propositional symbol theory holds that the relationship between the two is arbitrary. Perceptual information does not participate in the processing of concepts. While perceptual symbols theory holds that the relationship between the two is similar. Perceptual information participates in the processing of concepts. People learn conceptual information in the vertical space. The spatial information is stored in long-term memory along with the representation of concepts. This hypothesis has been supported by many studies and is in line with the perceptual symbol theory. However, few studies have tested what factors influence sensorimotor simulation in conceptual processing. In this study, the semantic relevance judgment paradigm is used to test this question. The present study examined whether the sensorimotor simulation participates in conceptual processing in the first and second languages. Then, the present study examined how situational information modulates conceptual processing, by manipulating the intensity of spatial information and the level of semantic processing. In Experiment 1, the semantic relevance judgment paradigm is used to test whether sensorimotor simulation is involved in the second language processing and whether there is any difference between the first language and second language processing. The results of Experiment 1 show that the sensorimotor simulation has participated in the second language processing. However, there is an accuracy advantage in the sensorimotor simulation in the first language. In Experiment 2, two experiments are conducted to test the effect of the perceptual situation on sensorimotor simulation. Experiment 2a tests the influence of perceptual situation on sensorimotor simulation by changing the intensity of individual perceptual in vertical spatial axis. The results show that the sensorimotor simulation can be found in both strong and weak spatial perception. The effect of semantic processing level on perceptual motion simulation is tested in Experiment 2b. The experiment manipulates the level of semantic processing by using the semantic relevance judgment task and word judgment task. The results show that sensorimotor simulation participates in the processing of concepts, while semantic situational did not modulate this effect. The results of Experiment 2 suggest that sensorimotor stimulation may be automatic in conceptual processing. The present study conducted two experiments to test the role of sensorimotor simulation in conceptual processing. Results found that the sensorimotor simulation participates in conceptual representation, supporting the perceptual symbol theory. Furthermore, the sensorimotor simulation takes place in both Chinese and English. This finding extends the perceptual symbol theory. Finally, results found that sensorimotor stimulation may be automatic in conceptual representation and is not affected by spatial information and semantic processing. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Can you perceive my efforts? The impact of social status on consumers’ preferences for complexity CHEN Zengxiang, HE Yun, LI Xiao, WANG Lin Acta Psychologica Sinica    2022, 54 (9): 1106-1121.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2022.01106 Abstract （5401）   HTML （660）    PDF（pc） （822KB）（6281）       Knowledge map    Save Aesthetic is the first medium of a product in the era of “appearance economy.” Previous studies have explored the effects of aesthetic elements on consumer behavior, including color, packaging transparency, size, logo shape, and so on. Unlike existing studies, this research discusses the overall dimension of design, that is, the degree of complexity of the design. Specifically, we propose that people’s subjective social status affects their preference for complexity in design. Meanwhile, people with low social status are more likely to prefer a complex packaging design than those with high social status. We conducted five experiments to test the hypotheses. Experiment 1 used 2 (social status: low vs. high) × 2 (product design: simple vs. complex) between-subjects design with 198 adults (female = 128) participating in the experiment. The results showed that people with relatively low social status have higher evaluations of complex packaging designs (vs. simple designs). At the same time, the level of complexity did not influence how people with high social status evaluate products. Using a more rigorous method to manipulate the social status, Experiment 2 employed a one-factor two-level (social status: low vs. high) between-subjects design with 134 adults (female = 97). After manipulating social statuses, participants reported their preferences between complex and simple packaging designs. The result confirmed that people with low social status prefer products with complex designs (vs. simple designs). Similar to Experiment 2, Experiment 3 (211 participants, female = 151) also used a one-way design (social status: low vs. high vs. control) but added a control group as the baseline group for comparison. The results confirmed that a low social status could drive preference for complexity. Furthermore, the results showed that people with low social status prefer complex packing design more than those in control and high social status groups. At the same time, no significant difference was observed in the preference between the high social status and control groups. Experiment 3 also found that consumers’ perceived effort mediated the above effect. Specifically, low social status individuals (vs. individuals in high social status vs. individuals in the control group) perceived that complex packing products entailed more effort from producers. Hence, they preferred such products. Experiment 4 was a pre-registration experiment (200 participants, female = 151). The experimental design and procedure were the same as in Experiment 2. The results also showed that people with low social status preferred complex packaging designs and believed these products had a higher value. Compared with high social status individuals, low social status individuals perceived that producers spent more effort on a product if it had a complex packaging design. Thus, these consumers perceived higher product value, as well as higher preference toward the product (sequential mediation: model 6). Experiment 5 tested the mediation effect by moderators. We proposed that the impact of social status only existed in consumers who believed in the value of effort. Experiment 5 used a 2 (social status: low vs. high) × 2 (product design: simple vs. complex) × 2 (belief in effort value: low vs. high) between-subjects design (346 participants, female = 208). The ANOVA revealed a three-way interaction. Furthermore, the Johnson-Neyman analysis found that the preference for complex design among low social status individuals only existed among those who believed in the value of effort. The results of this interaction again suggested that the preference of low social status individuals for complexity stems from their perception of the producer’s effort in making these products. This study has the following theoretical contributions. First, it brings the perspective of subjective social status to the study of consumer aesthetics. Second, it provides a new mechanism for the role of social status, i.e., social status affects people’s behavior by influencing their perceived importance of effort. Previous explanations of the behavior of low social status individuals have tended to be from a compensatory psychological perspective. In contrast, the current research takes the perspective of effort to demonstrate that low social status individuals value effort, which influences their behavior. Third, this research also contributes to the study of consumer effort, as this study finds that simply changing the level of complexity of packaging design can change people’s perceptions of producer effort. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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The effect of cumulative risk related to family adversity on social adjustment among left-behind children in China: The mediating role of stress and the moderating role of psychosocial resources FAN Xing-hua, FANG Xiao-yi, ZHAO Xian, CHEN Feng-ju Acta Psychologica Sinica    2023, 55 (8): 1270-1284.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.01270 Abstract （5324）   HTML （495）    PDF（pc） （838KB）（7439）       Knowledge map    Save In China, left-behind children (LBC) refer to children (under the age of 16) who remain at rural regions while both of their parents migrate to urban area for work, or one of their parents migrates for work and the other has limited capacity to care for their children. Relative to non-left-behind children (NLBC), LBC are exposed to various risk factors related to family, such as lack of parental care and insufficient family support, which could increase their vulnerability to psychological and behavioral problems. Based on Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory and the cumulative risk (CR) model, this study used two-wave data (T1 and T2) and examined the association between cumulative risk related to family adversity (T1) and social adjustment outcomes (T1/T2), in which stress (T1/T2) is a mediator, and examined the moderating role of psychosocial resources (T1) in this association. A two-wave longitudinal household surveys were conducted among six hundred fifty-one families of rural children. A total of 285 children whose both parents migrated for work throughout the study waves were categorized as the LBC group, while 366 children who reported living with their parents at least one of waves were categorized as the control group. All measures in the surveys showed good reliability, including family adversity, stress, psychosocial resources (i.e., psychological capital and social support) and social adjustment (i.e., subjective well-being, depression, positive behaviors and problem behaviors). Data analyses were performed using SPSS 24.0 and AMOS 22.0. Results showed that: (1) LBC’s T1 cumulative risk related to family adversity was linearly associated with their T1/T2 social adjustment; (2) After controlling for gender and age, LBC’s T1 cumulative risk related to family adversity was negatively associated with T1 social adjustment (β = −0.42, p < 0.001), and T1 stress mediated this association. The association between stress and social adjustment was moderated by psychosocial resources, with a higher level of psychosocial resources associated with a smaller mediating effect of stress. (3) After controlling for gender and age, T1 stress and T1 social adjustment, T1 cumulative risk related to family adversity were negatively associated with T2 social adjustment (β = −0.23, p < 0.001), and T2 stress mediated this relationship. T1 psychosocial resources moderated the association of T1 cumulative risk related to family adversity on both T2 social adjustment and T2 stress. This showed that with the level of T1 psychosocial resources increasing, the main effect of T1 cumulative risk related to family adversity on T2 social adjustment and the mediation effect of T2 stress decreased and became statistically non-significant. The findings of this study demonstrate the detrimental impact of cumulative risk related to family adversity on social adjustment among LBC, as well as the mediating role of stress and the moderating role of psychosocial resources. Overall, these findings suggest that family risk factors are proximal factors for LBC’s social maladjustment, and future intervention should attend to psychosocial resource promotion. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Positive emotions enhance adaptability to contextual-cueing learning CHEN Xiaoyu, DU Yuanyuan, LIU Qiang Acta Psychologica Sinica    2022, 54 (12): 1481-1490.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2022.01481 Abstract （5268）   HTML （359）    PDF（pc） （838KB）（7058）       Knowledge map    Save Contextual cueing refers to the global properties of a context or scene used to search for specific objects and regions. Chun and Jiang (1998) found that in a visual search, the reaction time to repeated configurations was shorter than the reaction time to newly generated configurations. The benefit of repeated context-target association is widely known as the contextual-cueing effect, which indicates that the subject has learned the contextual association by which attention is guided to facilitate the searching. However, the learning of contextual cueing lacks adaptability. When the subject has learned a set of contexts, it is difficult to update a new target into existing contexts (re-learning) or to learn a new set of contexts (new-learning). Previous studies have shown that restarted learning processes can facilitate the learning of new context-target associations, while updating old contexts is associated with the scope of attention. Notably, positive emotions could broaden the scope of attention and break the cognitive fixation on old processes; therefore, it is possible to improve the adaptability of contextual-cueing learning via positive emotions. This study aimed to explore whether positive emotions could enhance the adaptability of contextual learning. To this end, we recruited a sample of 18 young adults with positive and neutral affective priming as experimental conditions and control conditions, respectively, which allowed us to explore the contextual-cueing effect under the conditions of re-learning and new-learning. It should be noted that contextual cueing was defined in operation as the reaction time to the newly generated configuration minus that to the repeated configuration. The experiment was divided into two phases: the learning phase and the switch phase. In the learning phase, the subjects learned a set of contextual cues. In the switch phase, with the contextual-cueing effect as the dependent variable, a repeated measures ANOVA was conducted with the emotional valence (positive versus neutral), the new contextual-cueing learning type (re-learning versus new-learning), and the time phase (early phase versus late phase). The results indicated that neutral emotions did not facilitate contextual-cueing learning irrespective of the new contextual-cueing learning type. However, positive emotion improved learning in the new-learning condition, in which the contextual-cueing effect was higher in positive emotions than in neutral emotions both in the late phase and the early phase, whereas the re-learning condition did not show any sign of a contextual- cueing effect above zero. This study indicates that positive emotions can improve the adaptability of contextual-cueing learning and that the underlying mechanism restarts learning processing, which fails to prevent an automatic retrieval of the old presentations caused by similarity. Therefore, it facilitates the learning of new contextual cueing but does not update learned contextual cueing. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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The effect of spouse emotional intelligence on employee work engagement: The mediating role of employee life well-being and the moderating role of gender ZHENG Xiaoming, YU Yu, LIU Xin Acta Psychologica Sinica    2022, 54 (6): 646-664.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2022.00646 Abstract （5136）   HTML （761）    PDF（pc） （1237KB）（7324）       Knowledge map    Save Extant emotional intelligence (EI) research has documented its intrapersonal benefits and has begun to examine its interpersonal effects. However, this line of research has primarily focused on the interpersonal effects of EI in the work context, while ignoring the potential influences from non-work domain. Considering employees’ family may have a spillover effect on their work behaviors, in this research, we propose that spouse EI will affect employees’ work engagement. Specifically, integrating effort-recovery model with the EI literature, we argue that spouse EI exerts a positive impact on employee work engagement through improving employees’ life well-being. Furthermore, we argue that employee gender alters the aboved relationships such that the positive interpersonal influences of spouse EI will be stronger among male employees than among female employees. We conducted two studies to examine the hypothesized model. In Study 1, we collected two-wave survey data from a large bank. At time 1, 126 employees and their spouses rated their own EI and provided their demographic information. At time 2, two weeks later, 126 employees evaluated their own life well-being and work engagement. The final valid sample consisted of 124 employee-spouse dyads. In Study 2, we collected three-wave survey data from an internet company. At time 1, 80 employees assessed their own EI and some control variables (i.e., leader EI, coworker EI, job demands, and job control); and their 80 spouses evaluated their own EI and provided their demographic information. At time 2, one month later, 78 employees rated their own life well-being. At time 3, another month later, 73 employees rated their own work engagement. The HR department of the company provided the archival data of employees’ demographic information. The final valid sample included 73 employee-spouse dyads. Regression analysis and bootstrapping technique were used to test the mediation, moderation, and moderated-mediation effects. In line with the hypotheses, two studies consistently showed that: (1) Spouse EI was positively related to employee life well-being; (2) Employee life well-being was positively related to employee work engagement; (3) Employee life well-being served as a mediator to transmit the effect of spouse EI on employee work engagement; (4) Employee gender moderated the relationship between spouse EI and employee life well-being such that when employees were male, the positive effect of spouse EI on employee life well-being was stronger; (5) Employee gender also moderated the indirect effect of spouse EI on employee work engagement via employee life well-being such that the indirect effect was stronger among male employees than among female employees. Our theoretical contributions are threefold. First, our research has deepened our understanding on EI, as it is among the first to establish a link between spouse EI and employee work engagement and supports the interpersonal effects of EI from the family to the work domain. Second, our research identifies employee life well-being as a key mediator that explains how spouse EI affects employee work engagement. Third, our research highlights the role of employee gender and unravels the conditions under which spouse EI exerts more or less effects on employee work engagement. Practically, our research offers implications to improve employee life well-being and work engagement through improving spouse EI, especially wife EI. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Effects of endogenous spatial cue validity on audiovisual integration in older adults GAO Yulin, TANG Xiaoyu, LIU Siyu, WANG Aijun, ZHANG Ming Acta Psychologica Sinica    2023, 55 (5): 671-684.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.00671 Abstract （5114）   HTML （208）    PDF（pc） （906KB）（6891）       Knowledge map    Save Audiovisual integration is the integration of visual and auditory information into a unified, coherent and stable perceptual process. Although endogenous spatial attention can promote audiovisual integration in youth, studies have found differences in endogenous spatial attention between older adults and youth. It is unclear how endogenous spatial attention affects audiovisual integration in older adults and how audiovisual integration differs between older adults and young adults under endogenous spatial attention conditions. In this study, using the endogenous cue-target paradigm, three experiments investigated how endogenous spatial attention affects the audiovisual integration of elderly individuals under 50% (Experiment 1), 70% (Experiment 2), and 90% (Experiment 3) conditions. A mixed 2 (participant type: elderly vs. young) × 2 (cue type: valid cue vs. invalid cue) × 3 (target stimulus type: A vs. V vs. AV) experimental design was used. The visual stimulus was a 2° × 2° red (RGB: 234, 86, 97) and yellow (RGB: 247, 200, 125) intersecting meta−pattern, the auditory stimulus was a 1600 Hz, 60 dB sinusoidal tone presented by ear headphones, and the audiovisual stimulus was visual and auditory stimuli presented simultaneously on the same side. The gaze screen was presented for 500 ms, followed by a cue screen for 200 ms. The cue was an arrow pointing left or right. After a time interval of 600 ms, the target stimulus (A vs. V vs. AV) was presented in a box on the left or right side for 100 ms. Before the experiment, participants were informed that the cue validity was 50% for Experiment 1, 70% for Experiment 2, and 90% for Experiment 3 and were asked to judge the orientation of the target stimulus and to press the (N/M) key quickly and accurately. From the reaction time results, it is clear that the reaction time of elderly people is significantly slower than that of younger people. From the relative amount of multisensory response enhancement (rMRE) and race model results, we can see that (1) audiovisual integration was weaker in older adults than in younger adults regardless of cue validity; (2) at 50% cue validity (Experiment 1), audiovisual integration in the valid cue condition was not significantly different from that in the invalid cue condition for both older and younger adults; (3) at 70% cue validity (Experiment 2), audiovisual integration in the valid cue condition was not significantly different from that in the invalid cue condition for older adults, and audiovisual integration in the valid cue condition was significantly higher than that in the invalid cue condition for younger adults; and (4) at 90% cue validity (Experiment 3), audiovisual integration in the valid cue condition was significantly higher than that in the invalid cue condition for both older and younger adults. Endogenous spatial attention had different moderating effects on audiovisual integration in older adults under different cue validity conditions and could promote audiovisual integration in older adults under high cue validity conditions. The findings further support the spatial uncertainty hypothesis and deepen the understanding of the interaction between endogenous attention and audiovisual integration. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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The covariant relationship between adolescent friendship networks and bullying: A longitudinal social network analysis ZHANG Yunyun, ZHANG Qiwen, ZHANG Libin, REN Ping, QIN Xingna, CHANG Ruisheng Acta Psychologica Sinica    2022, 54 (9): 1048-1058.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2022.01048 Abstract （5084）   HTML （643）    PDF（pc） （577KB）（6753）       Knowledge map    Save Bullying is a group process that involves multiple behaviors and multiagent interactions. However, few studies have focused on the development of bullying-related behaviors in the context of peer group interaction and relationship change, particularly in friendship networks. Although social support theory suggests that positive friendships act as a buffer, previous research has found that victims have difficulty making friends. Furthermore, recent research on friendship networks has indicated that the potential buffering role of friends may depend on the extent to which friends engage in certain behaviors. It is thus crucial to determine how victims shape their friendship networks and the protection mechanisms or detrimental effects associated with victims that such networks can trigger. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to longitudinally examine the selection and influence effects of victimization in dynamic classroom friendship networks using a sample of Chinese adolescents. We expected that (1) while peers tend to avoid selecting victims as friends (H1a: peer avoidance effect), victims tend to select other victimized youth as friends (H1b: peer selection effects), and that (2) the more friends that an adolescent has, the less he or she is victimized (H2a: peer protective effect), whereas one's victimization increases as a result of one’s friends being victimized (H2b: peer influence effect). A total of 1406 eighth-grade students in public middle schools from Central China were recruited to participate in three assessments, with an interval of six months. Peer nomination was applied to evaluate friendship and victimization, with a maximum of five nominations allowed from classmates who fit the description. Capitalizing on longitudinal social network analysis (SIENA) to disentangle selection and influence processes, this study focuses on the role of friendship in adolescents’ peer victimization after controlling for structural characteristics of the network (e.g., transitivity and reciprocity) in friendship network dynamics. It was found that (1) while peers avoided selecting victims as friends (peer avoidance effect), victims tended to select other victims as friends (peer selection effect); (2) whether peers nominated others as friends was not influenced by their level of victimization; (3) having more friends decreased one’s level of victimization (peer protection effect), while being friends with a victim increased one’s possibility of being victimized over time (peer influence effect); (4) the higher the victimization level of an adolescent was, the higher his or her victimization level gradually rose over time (enhanced effect of victimization); and (5) the level of victimization decreased over time among girls compared to that of boys. These results revealed the peer selection and influence effects on the covariation of friendship networks and victimization among Chinese adolescents and demonstrated the peer “contagion” that is associated with victimization, which provides insights for interventions for school bullying. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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The effect of reward prediction errors on temporal order and source memory ZHANG Hongchi, CHENG Xuan, MAO Weibin Acta Psychologica Sinica    2023, 55 (7): 1049-1062.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.01049 Abstract （5013）   HTML （281）    PDF（pc） （5471KB）（6305）       Knowledge map    Save The human brain automatically segments continuous experiences into discrete events to better remember ongoing experiences in daily life. This automatic process is known as event segmentation. The time points between different events are called event boundaries—they indicate when one event ends, and another begins. Studies have shown that the event boundaries may enhance the item-context source memory of information at the boundaries but impair temporal order memory in across-event information. Notably, previous studies mainly focused on the boundaries caused by changes in the external environment and rarely paid attention to the subjective boundaries caused by changes in an individual’s internal psychological context. Moreover, Rouhani et al. (2020) first confirmed that reward prediction errors (RPE) could be used as event boundaries to influence memory. Additionally, it has been demonstrated that the RPE event boundary reduces the temporal order memory in across-event information. However, the effects of the RPE event boundary on temporal order and source memory and whether the mnemonic trade-off effect exists are not clear. The neurophysiological mechanisms underlying the effects of event boundaries on memory require further examination. This study used behavioral and event-related potentials (ERP) technology in three experiments to explore the effect of RPE event boundaries on temporal order and source memory, respectively, based on behavioral and neurophysiological mechanisms. Experiment 1 used a neutral scene picture matching value as materials. The value of successive pictures fluctuates around an average value to form an event, and event boundaries denote when there is a significant shift in the value, which is the reward prediction error. The participants were required to complete two memory tests: a temporal order memory test and a source memory test. The source memory test was presented with a neutral scene picture, and participants were asked to choose a value that matched the learning stage from the two alternatives. We aimed to explore the effect of the RPE event boundary on temporal order and source memory. However, no mnemonic trade-off effect was observed. Therefore, whether other factors might influence the mnemonic trade-off effect that exists is not clear. In Experiment 2, RPE was divided into high and low strength. We aimed to explore the effects of different RPE strengths on temporal order and source memory. After we obtained stable results, in Experiment 3, we used ERP technology to explore the N400 and P600 effects under different conditions at the memory retrieval stage in the high RPE condition to examine the detailed mechanism of the effect of event boundary on memory. The behavioral results showed that the RPE event boundary enhanced only the neutral scene picture-value source memory of information at the boundaries in Experiment 1. High and low RPE event boundaries affect temporal order and source memory differently. The high RPE event boundary enhanced the neutral scene picture-value source memory of information at the boundaries. Further it reduced the temporal order memory of information across-events, which caused the mnemonic trade-off effect between temporal order and source memory in Experiment 2. The ERP results showed that compared to the within-event/non-boundary condition, correctly retrieving information of temporal order and source memory in the across-event/boundary condition induced a larger N400 (350−550ms) effect but did not induce a larger P600 (600−1000ms) effect in Experiment 3. These two memory tests were activated in different brain regions. The temporal order memory in the across-events condition was mainly activated in the anterior region, while the source memory boundary condition was mainly activated in the parietal region. This study can be summarized as follows. The segmentation strength of the event boundary is an important factor affecting the mnemonic trade-off effect between temporal order and source memory. The mnemonic trade-off effect only occurs when the representation difference between events is sufficiently vast, and the segmentation strength of the boundary is sufficiently high. Furthermore, the N400 component is an important index that reflects the integration and segmentation of episodic memory using event boundaries. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Personality subtypes of depressive disorders and their functional connectivity basis LI Yu, WEI Dongtao, QIU Jiang Acta Psychologica Sinica    2023, 55 (5): 740-751.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.00740 Abstract （4967）   HTML （223）    PDF（pc） （2489KB）（7400）       Knowledge map    Save Heterogeneity among mental health issues has always attracted considerable attention, thereby restricting research on mental health and cognitive neuroscience. Additionally, the person-centred approach to personality research, which emphasizes population heterogeneity, has received more attention. On the other hand, the heterogeneity among depressive patients has been a problem that cannot be ignored (most studies ignored the actual situation and directly assumed sample homogeneity). A large number of empirical studies have provided evidence that isolated personality traits are often associated with depression. Only a few studies have considered the probable effect from a taxonomy perspective. Moreover, the neural mechanisms of personality types in depression remain unclear. This study aimed to reveal different personality subtypes of depressive disorders and elucidate subtypes from the perspective of resting-state functional connectivity. Personality and resting-state functional imaging data of 135 depressive patients and 133 controls were collected. First, combined with “depression diagnosis”, the personality types in depressive patients and controls were identified through functional random forest. Specifically, neuroticism and extraversion (input features) were fitted with the diagnosis of depression by a random forest model. The random seeds were set to 1234, and 500 decision trees were fitted. The performance of the model was evaluated by tenfold cross-validation. Subsequently, the random forest algorithm generated a proximity matrix that represented the similarity between paired participants. Then, based on the proximity matrix, community detection clustering analysis was conducted on depressive patients and controls, and personality types associated with depression diagnosis were obtained. Finally, we selected nodes of the subcortical network as regions of interest according to the power-264 template and calculated the functional connectivity map of the region of interest to the whole brain. Based on the functional connectivity map, the differences in resting-state functional connectivity between the main types were compared. Personality and resting-state functional imaging data of 159 depressive patients and 156 controls were collected. First, combined with “depression diagnosis”, the personality types in depressive patients and controls were identified through functional random forest. Specifically, neuroticism and extraversion (input features) were fitted with the diagnosis of depression by a random forest model. The random seeds were set to 1234, and 500 decision trees were fitted. The performance of the model was evaluated by tenfold cross-validation. Subsequently, the random forest algorithm generated a proximity matrix that represented the similarity between paired participants. Then, based on the proximity matrix, community detection clustering analysis was conducted on depressive patients and controls, and personality types associated with depression diagnosis were obtained. Finally, we selected the amygdala, hippocampus, insula (AAL atlas) and limbic network, default network, and control network (Schaefer-Yeo template) as regions of interest and calculated the functional connectivity of the subcortical regions to the networks. ANOVA was used to compare resting-state functional connectivity between the personality types. The results showed the following. (1) Depression was more common among individuals with high neuroticism and low extraversion tendencies, but there were also individuals with low neuroticism and high extraversion tendencies. The controls were more likely to be individuals with low neuroticism and high extraversion. (2) The results of resting-state functional connectivity showed no significant difference between depression and controls. (3) The functional connectivity strength of the left amygdala/insula-limbic network was significantly different across personality subtypes. In summary, the personality subtypes of depression identified by person-centred perspectives are more in line with reality and individual cognitive patterns, and they have potential clinical adaptive value. The findings of this study enhance the understanding of heterogeneity among depressive disorders. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics