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Conceptualization of time poverty and its impact on well-being: From the perspective of scarcity theory SUN Xiaomin, YANG Shuting, KONG Xiaoshan, LIU Zhenzhen, MA Rongzi, YUAN Yue, ZHANG Nan, JIANG Xinying, CAO Peiling, BAO Ruiji, LIN Yiqin, LI Ning, LI Zhihang Advances in Psychological Science    2024, 32 (1): 27-38.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2024.00027 Abstract （3636）   HTML （183）    PDF（pc） （716KB）（4423）       Knowledge map    Save In today’s fast-paced world, increasing numbers of individuals are facing time poverty, i.e., having too much to do and not enough time. It can impact people's cognitive processes and behaviors by affecting their attention. However, the extant literature provides only a limited understanding of the influence of time poverty and its effects on individual multi-faceted well-being. Therefore, a comprehensive investigation of the concept of time poverty and its impact on well-being is of great importance theoretically and practically. The current study intends to present a three-dimensional theoretical model for the construct of time poverty from an integrated perspective, aiming to explore its effects on multi-faceted subjective well-being and investigate the potential mechanisms by which time poverty reduces well-being based on scarcity theory. Specifically, the current study proposes a three-dimensional structure for the concept of time poverty, which includes length, intensity, and quality. Most researchers agree that spending an excessive amount of time on paid work or unpaid domestic work and having an insufficient amount of free time leads to time poverty. Moreover, the number of tasks to be completed per unit of time may be an independent source of pressure resulting in the perception of time poverty. The stressful pace caused by over-rapid task completion and too short intervals could increase the sense of time poverty. Lastly, the quality dimension of time poverty comprises time integrity, time autonomy, and time synchronization. Low time quality could worsen the perception of time poverty. Based on the three-dimensional model of time poverty, the current study aims to develop a time poverty scale and construct a large-scale Chinese time poverty database. This database is designed to collect demographic information as well as the level of time poverty of representative samples, aiming to explore the dominant type of time poverty for different demographic groups and trace the dynamic changes in time poverty over time. Furthermore, the current study proposes that time poverty can have a significant impact on people’s well-being. Time poverty can develop a scarcity mindset, leading people to focus on the scarcity of time. Consequently, they overemphasize productivity, resulting in a strong inclination of completing more tasks in a shorter amount of time. Such a mindset shifts people’s attention from the activity’s process to its results, reducing intrinsic motivation and, as a result, ruining people’s well-being. An excessive focus on productivity can also harm interpersonal and family well-being by underestimating the importance of investing time and energy in nurturing relationships, thereby lowering the quality of relationship-oriented interactions. Therefore, we argue that by promoting the over-productivity orientation, time poverty can adversely affect individual, interpersonal, and family well-being. Furthermore, time poverty in one spouse's workplace produces an over-productivity tendency which then spills over to the family environment and is conveyed to the other spouse in their daily interactions. Such processes are likely to negatively influence both parties’ well-being. Overall, the current project develops a three-dimensional time poverty theoretical model, based on which a time poverty scale will be developed. With the new scale, a large-scale database will be constructed. The project will explore the experiences of different groups of people with distinct characteristics in Chinese society, and how such experiences influence personal, interpersonal, and family well-being. The results of the current project are of great importance for not only the successful coping of time poverty for individuals but also for societies aiming to improve the well-being of their people. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Does classical music make you smarter? A meta-analysis based on generalized Mozart effect CHEN Lijun, HUANG Meilin, JIANG Xiaoliu, WANG Xinjian Advances in Psychological Science    2023, 31 (12): 2232-2262.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2023.02232 Abstract （3296）   HTML （160）    PDF（pc） （1262KB）（3777）       Knowledge map    Save Since the last century, scholars have increasingly focused on examining how Mozart’s music affects people’s cognitive performance, leading to rapid growth in the empirical literature on the Mozart effect. However, the effect size reported in empirical studies has been inconsistent. To address this, we conducted a meta-analysis based on a systematic and comprehensive review of studies on the impact of classical music, seeking to determine its influence on cognitive performance and the underlying mechanisms at work. We also investigated whether the characteristics of research participants (e.g., age group, gender, cultural context) and elements of experimental design (e.g., type of experimental design, types of control music, the order of music, cognitive task and cerebral hemisphere) moderate the magnitude of the Mozart effect. We identified studies by searching Web of Science, PubMed, ProQuest, WanFang, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure from 1993 to 2022 using the following terms: (“Mozart effect” OR “Mozart music” OR “music effect” OR “classical music”) AND (cognit* OR intellig* OR spati*). Our selection criteria were as follows: (1) the study reported original empirical findings; (2) at least two out of three possible treatments (listening to Mozart's Sonata KV 448, other classical music, or silence/other sounds) were administered to the groups; (3) the study involved the generalized Mozart effect and cognitive performance; (4) participants were the general public, excluding clinical or animal samples; (5) the study was written in either Chinese or English (the languages spoken by the authors). Ninety-one studies (with a total of 172 independent effect sizes and 7,159 participants) were included in the meta-analysis. Given that effect size could be influenced by participant characteristics (e.g., age, gender, cultural context), we applied a random-effects model. After coding the data, the “metafor” package (version 3.4.0) in R software was used to evaluate the total effect size of classical music and to analyze the publication bias test and moderating effects. The results showed that classical music improved cognitive task performance with a small effect (g = 0.36, 95% CI [0.24, 0.49]). The impact of publication bias was minimal, and the major findings remained valid. Additionally, the moderation analyses revealed that the strength of the relationship was moderated by age group, cultural context, type of experimental design, and dominant hemisphere of the brain. Specifically, the effect size of Chinese subjects was significantly larger than that of foreign subjects (g: 0.64 > 0.27, p = 0.018), and the effect size of preoperational stage children (3~6 years) was the largest (g= 1.10). Compared with the within-subject design, the between-subject effect was significantly greater (g: 0.48 > 0.22, p = 0.037). The right hemisphere also performed much better than the left (g: 0.44 > 0.08, p = 0.019). Moreover, gender interacted with age group, cultural context and cerebral hemisphere. The direct priming hypothesis received more robust support from this meta-analysis (g: 1.29 > 0.34, p = 0.045). To summarize, this study makes several important theoretical advances. First, this study systematically assessed the effects of listening to classical music on cognitive performance basing on a broad definition of Mozart effect, covering a wider range of musical genres and cognitive task types. It bridged the limitations of existing meta-analyses, clarified the debate on the reliability and scientific validity of the Mozart effect, and laid the groundwork for in-depth discussions. More importantly, this paper was the first to compare the effect sizes based on the "Direct Priming Hypothesis" and the "Arousal-mood Hypothesis", indicating the former to be more adept at explaining the Mozart effect. This provided a clearer theoretical guide for future researches. Finally, by examining the moderation effects of several factors, this paper explained why previous literature on the Mozart effect has reported inconsistent findings and provided more targeted design guidance for future studies. Beyond its theoretical advancements, the current paper’s results also have practical implications, such as the implications of age group differences and their interactions for children's cognitive development. The results can also aid in utilizing music education more effectively to boost cognitive performance. Future researches are encouraged to examine the long-term facilitative effect of classical music on cognitive performance, to explore the role of music preference in cognitive facilitation, and to explore more underlying moderators for the intervention effect size, such as subjects' personality traits, familiarity with music, and difficulty of the cognitive task. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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The occurrence mechanism of short video indulgence from the perspective of human-computer interaction DONG Wanghao, WANG Weijun, WANG Xingchao, LI Wenqing Advances in Psychological Science    2023, 31 (12): 2337-2349.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2023.02337 Abstract （2456）   HTML （137）    PDF（pc） （721KB）（3734）       Knowledge map    Save Short video indulgence refers to an individual’s compulsive and uncontrollable consumption of short videos, leading to significant behavioral or attention impairments, and subsequently causing difficulties in interpersonal relationships, learning, and/or work adaptation. With the continuous expansion of the short video user base and the trend towards younger groups, threats of short video indulgence to users’ physical and mental health have aroused extensive attention. From a human-computer interaction perspective, we synthesized and delineated the relevant factors contributing to the occurrence of short video indulgence. The objective is to formulate a comprehensive framework delineating the intricate mechanism that underpins the phenomenon of short video indulgence, thereby shedding light on the intricacies involved in its developmental process. At first, in order to explore the delineation between short video usage and indulgence, we categorized short video usage into “instrumental” and “ritualistic” forms. Instrumental usage refers to user behavior driven by specific goals or needs, where short videos serve as tools or means to achieve particular objectives. Ritualistic usage refers to user behavior without a specific objective, where short videos become habitual behaviors associated with particular contexts, times, or situations. The transition from conventional utilization of short videos to the state of short video indulgence appears to encompass a notable shift in usage behavior, evolving from a utilitarian “instrumental” function to a more “ritualistic” engagement. After that, the present work formulates a conceptual framework delineating the mechanisms underlying the onset of short video indulgence, delving into the domains of human-computer interaction and susceptibility traits. The first section encompasses four facets: information technology, content provision, human-computer interaction, and user experience. Their salient characteristics encompass technological advancement, content richness, interactive efficiency, and user immersion. Furthermore, propelled by recommendation algorithms, users’ engagement with short videos becomes increasingly fortified. The second section systematically expounds the susceptibility factors contributing to short video indulgence. The four categories of unique susceptibility traits align with the four stages of interactive mechanisms, while the categories represented by common susceptibility traits have an inducing effect on general addictive behaviors. Considering the analogous nature of short video indulgence to general online indulgence, the unique and common susceptibility traits exhibit mutual intersection and overlap. Overall, the role of interactive mechanisms lies in arousing susceptibility traits, rendering individuals more susceptible to allure and ensnarement in a cycle of addictive behaviors. Simultaneously, susceptibility traits amplify users’ responsiveness and vulnerability to inducing factors. The multifaceted components within the realm of human-computer interaction, propelled by recommendation algorithms, intricately intertwine with users’ susceptibility traits, driving the transformation of users’ engagement with short videos from an “instrumental” to a “ritualistic” approach, ultimately leading to the emergence of short video indulgence. This framework seeks to illuminate the genesis and progression of short video indulgence, offering researchers in this domain a comprehensive conceptual structure to foster the scientific governance of short video indulgence. Subsequently, in order to achieve a deeper understanding of the mechanism behind short video indulgence, we offered theoretical interpretations of short video indulgence from cognitive, emotional, motivational, and social perspectives. The dual process theory, opponent process theory, uses and gratifications theory and social shaping of technology theory were employed to elucidate the process of short video indulgence formation. Finally, this study concludes by summarizing the existing shortcomings in the current field of research. The points are concluded as follows: 1) The research methods are limited, there should be a diversification of research perspectives; 2) Insufficient attention to technology emphasizes the need to emphasize improvements in technology that contribute to addiction; 3) The mechanism of formation is unclear, there should be a deepening of the research into the mechanisms of occurrence; 4) Inadequate research on user characteristics highlights the need to focus on susceptibility factor studies. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Tainted or elegant? Sexy effect on marketing XIE Zhipeng, QIN Huanyu, WANG Ziye, WANG Jingyuan, HE Yi Advances in Psychological Science    2023, 31 (11): 2200-2218.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2023.02200 Abstract （2147）   HTML （70）    PDF（pc） （743KB）（3182）       Knowledge map    Save Sexiness refers to an individual’s outward sexual charm or inner sexual attractiveness that is able to attract attention and induce sexual thoughts in others. As one of the most important forms of advertising, sexual advertisements trigger consumers’ sexual associations, emotions, or impulses by incorporating sexual content to promote brands and products. With the development of technology and the economy, the construct of sexual advertisements has become more complicated. New market trends such as “de-sexualization”, “sexual innuendo” and “over-sexualization” have emerged. However, existing theories regarding sexual advertisements cannot meet the needs of the rapidly growing market. Scholars have not yet reached a consensus on the classification of sexual advertisement. In addition, there are many contradictions in the theory and practice of the sexy effect in marketing, accompanied by a fragmented distribution of research fields. Drawing on studies from psychology, sociology, management, and other fields, this paper reviews the categories, effects, mechanisms and boundaries of sexual advertisements. This paper comprehensively and systematically studies sexual advertisements to provide a reference for both scholars and practitioners alike. First, this paper classifies sexual advertisements based on three aspects: direct representation, indirect representation, and social relationship representation. We found that sexual advertisements with direct representation may be perceived as immoral by consumers. And indirect representation may be difficult to perceive. Besides, sexual advertisements of social relationship representation can signal social connection and emotion, which can be utilized by the brands. Compared to direct and indirect represented sexual advertisements, the form of social relationship representation is more easily accepted by consumers. That’s why sexual advertisements of social relationship representation are becoming more and more common in recent years. Second, sexual advertisements are a powerful tool in marketing, but it is also a double-edged sword. On the one hand, sexual advertisements meet consumers’ compensatory needs by attracting their attention, enhancing their positive attitudes, and promoting manufacturers to realize their marketing goals. On the other hand, advertisements that are focused excessively on sexual content may result in attention loss for the brand. In this case, sexual content may be counterproductive to the brand’s long-term image. Direct sexual arousing advertisements and excessive sexual innuendo are easily perceived by consumers as lacking morality, and more importantly, carry certain legal risks. Finally, sexual advertisements influence consumers’ perceptions in different ways. The explanatory mechanism of sexual advertisement has shifted from consumer cognition and physiological impulses to social benefits. This paper specifically explores the mediating mechanism of the effect of sexual advertisements from four aspects, including consumer cognition, physiological motivation, sexual self-schema and social presence. The study shows that sexual advertisements can evoke consumers’ sexual thoughts and change their attitudes toward the advertised brands. However, these effects vary in different contexts. Accordingly, different product types, advertising contexts and individual traits also have an impact on the boundaries of the effects of sexual advertisements. As a whole, the concept of sexiness has gone through dramatic changes in recent years. Specifically, consumers are more open towards sexiness due to the changes in social trends and regulations, and the rising social status of women. In addition, the introduction of sub-cultural elements such as anime and manga has enriched the definition of sexiness. In the future, we can focus on these newly-emerged types of sexual advertisements. Moreover, the psychological and social mechanism and moderating effect of sexual advertisements can also be explored in future research. For example, future researchers may pay attention to the perceptual differences in sexiness under different cultural contexts. They may also focus on other interaction effects that could arouse sexual impulses, for example, specific colors and color saturation in advertisements. Also, future research can also explore new channels of sexy content, including AR and VR, etc. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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“Rat Race” or “Lying Flat”? The effect of competition stress on psychological compensation WANG Wangshuai, YI Yanxi, LUO Zhiwei, LI Jie Advances in Psychological Science    2024, 32 (7): 1057-1072.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2024.01057 Abstract （1885）   HTML （99）    PDF（pc） （710KB）（2973）       Knowledge map    Save In the modern society with rapidly accelerating pace, competition has become ubiquitous and intense. No doubt that competition can lead to aversive psychological stress. Interestingly, in response to the competition stress, individuals choose two contradictory compensation strategies, as some go “Rat Race”, while others do “Lying Flat”. Why do individuals make contrasting choices? Does it result from different types of stress? What are the psychological mechanisms and boundary conditions of the “Rat Race” and “Lying Flat” effects, respectively? In the current literature, none of these questions has been answered. Therefore, the core concepts of this research are competition stress and psychological compensation; the central story is to reveal the relationship between different types of competition stress and psychological compensation. More specifically, this research distinguishes the multi-dimensional attributes of competition stress. Based on the theory of psychological compensation, we then explore individuals’ compensation strategies when faced with different types of competition stress. The paper is structured into three main sections: (1) competition stress is a multi-dimensional concept, encompassing both competition result stress and competition process stress; (2) competition result stress leads to the fluid compensation strategy, which is termed as the “Rat Race” effect. The psychological mechanism of this effect is self-esteem threat, and the boundary condition is self-affirmation; (3) competition process stress drives the escapism compensation strategy, which is termed as the “Lying Flat” effect. The psychological mechanism of this effect is well-being threat, and the boundary condition is social support. This study marks the first attempt to identify different types of competition stress and examines how they respectively affect individuals’ compensation strategies. The present paper significantly contributes to the existing literature on competition stress, psychological compensation, self-esteem, and well-being. Moreover, research findings can guide companies’ marketing activities, promote individual well-being, and assist public policy making. The research questions of this paper are rooted in practicality and real-world, and answering these questions in turn contributes to the extant literature in at least two ways. First, while existing research on competition stress has shed light on how it alters an individual’s physical and mental states, it portrayed competition stress as a unidimensional construct, overlooking its potential multidimensional nature. Moreover, prior studies have failed to explore individuals’ compensatory strategies under competition stress. Consequently, this research reveals the multidimensional attribute of competition stress, delineating it into competition result stress and competition process stress. Subsequently, how different types of competition stress lead to contrasting compensatory strategies are analyzed, including the “Rat Race” effect engendered by competition result stress and the “Lying Flat” effect prompted by competition process stress. Second, this paper contributes to the literature on self-esteem and well-being. Specifically, regarding self-esteem, while previous research has primarily examined its direct influence on individuals, this study uncovers that self-esteem serves as the underlying psychological mechanism driving the “Rat Race” effect. In terms of well-being, despite being frequently investigated in extant research, yet it received less attention in explaining psychological compensation. Therefore, findings from the present research enrich the literature on well-being, expanding our understanding of its connections with competition stress and compensatory behaviors. Aside from the theoretical contributions, the current research also provides practical implications in three ways. For enterprises, the psychological compensation behavior impelled by competition stress is shown to follow a traceable pattern, which can be leveraged for increasing market share and sales profits. For instance, product slogans aimed at individuals opting for “Rat Race” can aim to evoke their competitive mindset, while brands tailored to those embracing “Lying Flat” should emphasize concepts like escaping the “noise” and maintaining the inner peace. As for individuals, it is suggested that when faced with severe competition stress, individuals can restore psychological resources through recalling past successful experiences or seeking for the support from families and friends. Furthermore, for policymakers, given that over-competition may lead to negative outcomes, this research reminds policymakers to maintain a moderate competition level in the society and to make necessary interventions when necessary. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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The effect of scarcity mindset on the executive function in children living in poverty and its mechanisms JIANG Ying, HU Jia, FENG Liangyu, REN Qidan Advances in Psychological Science    2024, 32 (5): 728-737.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2024.00728 Abstract （1949）   HTML （166）    PDF（pc） （565KB）（2972）       Knowledge map    Save China has now embarked on the new journey of rural revitalization from poverty eradication to the elimination of absolute poverty. Thus, how to comprehensively and effectively measure the rapidly changing environment after poverty eradication, investigate the negative impact of potential poverty on children's cognitive development, and reveal its internal mechanisms have become important scientific issues at present. Therefore, this project intends to systematically examine the impact of experiencing multidimensional poverty on school-age children's executive function and explore its mechanisms based on scarcity mindset. First, with the current income of poverty-stricken families exceeding the poverty line, there are several potential poverty subordinate conditions that require consideration and could construct a dynamic poverty model under the context of rural revitalization. Thus, it is necessary to summarize the meaning of multidimensional poverty comprehensively and examine the impact of the transformation of poverty dimensions on children's executive function over a long time span. Second, as much attention has been paid to the environment or individual characteristics in explaining poverty in previous studies, the perception of poverty has always been ignored despite its leading role in children’s development. In fact, based on the implicit theory, the perception will gradually form a specific mindset which allows individuals to organize and encode information in terms of life experiences and often leads their development. However, the role of scarcity in children is still unclear. Accordingly, this study extends the findings of previous work on scarcity theory in younger Chinese samples to explain the adverse effects of poverty on executive function and reveals the internal mechanisms underlying the scarcity mindset. Specifically, this project includes four studies. Study 1 proposes a multidimensional overlapping deprivation analysis method to assess children's poverty experiences and examines the effect of multi-poverty and its changing patterns over time on executive function using potential transition analysis. Study 2 intends to clarify the moderating role of scarcity on the relation between poverty and executive function in a sample of school-aged children through a moderation-of-process design. Based on the results above, Study 3 ties to explore the multiple attention mechanisms of scarcity between poverty and decreased executive function for confused components (i.e., selective attention and sustained attention) in the attention process. To better understand scarcity mindset, which is a more generalized mindset or primed state for children in poverty, study 4 will use fMRI to explore the neural mechanisms of scarcity under different scarcity priming conditions. Overall, considering the profound impact of early child development, education should parallel poverty reduction and sustainable development. China is now still exploring a path at this stage that corresponds with its own national conditions and is suitable for preventing children from returning to poverty when they grow up. This not only requires the improvement of material environments but also the consideration of psychological aspects to ensure the healthy development of children who have experienced poverty. Therefore, this study creatively starts from children’s initiative in understanding and constructing the world, not only broadens the perception of children’s experiences in poverty but also fills the gap that often considers economic background while ignoring the subject’s interaction with the environment. In addition, the results of attention and neural mechanisms of poverty and decreased executive function help distinguish the key attention components of scarcity, providing scientific evidence for precise interventions. Thus, in future education, this study provides a new perspective that changing the scarcity mindset could alleviate the cognitive impairment of children in poverty. Combined with the characteristics of children's development, corresponding intervention courses could be designed for schools that allow impoverished children to experience and grow in actual participation and serve the construction of rural revitalization in China. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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The conceptualization, antecedents and interventions of occupational calling in Chinese context XIE Baoguo, ZHANG Xiaowen, MIAO Jialing, ZHANG Xinrou, XU Jia Advances in Psychological Science    2023, 31 (12): 2219-2231.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2023.02219 Abstract （1592）   HTML （85）    PDF（pc） （752KB）（2968）       Knowledge map    Save Under the dual impact of the digital transformation of enterprises and individuals’ increasingly strong pursuit of deeper work meaning, a good grasp of occupational calling is an important prerequisite for improving organizational performance and human resource management practices. Existing research on occupational calling neglects the uniqueness of Chinese context, of which there is also little research on the antecedents for dynamics, and interventions of occupational calling. This research attempts to fill these important gaps in the Chinese context. Specifically, this research attempts to enrich and expand the theoretical research in the following three ways: (a) drawing on the collective self-fulfillment perspective of Chinese culture, this research identifies the core components of occupational calling, and develops an indigenous occupational calling scale, (b) based on the self-determination theory, this research adopts a rigorous longitudinal research design to explore the antecedents for dynamics of occupational calling, and (c) based on micro-management practices, this research adopts a journaling intervention to examine the roles of social impact and social worth interventions in stimulating employees’ occupational calling. Theoretically, this study enriches and extends calling literature on the conceptualization, antecedents, and micro-interventions. First, it provides a new perspective for understanding the connotation and structure of occupational calling. Occupational calling is a concept with strong cultural dependence, and different cultural groups may have different understandings. Considering the cultural differences between the East and the West, and the rich interpretation of China culture itself, this study takes the emic orientation to deeply explore the connotation and structure of the occupational calling in the context of China, and develops a measurement tool. Second, this study expands and enriches the research on the antecedents of occupational calling. Generally, there are few researches on the antecedents and influencing mechanisms of occupational calling. To date, limited studies mostly use cross-sectional research, and the causal relationship between variables is difficult to determine. Moreover, the existing research mainly investigates the positive factors of the dynamic change of occupational calling from the facilitation perspective, neglecting the negative factors of calling from the inhibitory perspective. The investigation of the negative factors that cause the dynamic change of occupational calling greatly deepens people’s theoretical understanding of the protective factors of occupational calling. Third, it fills the research gap of the stimulating mechanism of occupational calling. Literature shows that the occupational calling can be stimulated through micro-management practice. However, to date, only two studies have explored the stimulation of occupational calling. In this study, the effects of social worth and social value interventions on occupational calling were examined, which fills the important theoretical and practical gap in this field. In practice, this study provides organizations with practical implications for how to protect and improve employees’ occupational calling. First, it is conducive to solving the management problem that it is difficult to integrate personal goals with organizational goals. How to achieve the integration of personal goals and organizational goals has always been one of the core issues in organizational management. The application of the research results is conducive to the effective integration of organizational goals and employee goals, and to achieve a win-win situation for both organizations and employees. Secondly, the results provide a reliable organizational tool for human resource management studies and practices. On the one hand, it provides an effective cross-cultural empirical tool for scholars to empirical study occupational calling. On the other hand, it provides a reliable personnel selection and evaluation tool for human resource management. Third, this study provides an important scientific support for all kinds of organizations on how to protect, promote and stimulate their employees’ occupational calling. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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When AI learns to empathize: Topics, scenarios, and optimization of empathy computing from a psychological perspective HOU Hanchao, NI Shiguang, LIN Shuya, WANG Pusheng Advances in Psychological Science    2024, 32 (5): 845-858.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2024.00845 Abstract （1734）   HTML （78）    PDF（pc） （729KB）（2858）       Knowledge map    Save Empathy computing is an emerging research field that integrates artificial intelligence (AI) and big data technology to predict, identify, simulate, and generate human empathy. This field builds upon psychological studies in terms of concepts, measurements, neural foundations, and applications of empathy, and employs innovative computing approaches for analyzing and simulating empathy. This article critically reviews current research on empathy computing and discusses its future directions from a psychological perspective, with the aim of facilitating foundational research and practical applications in this field. The current research on empathy computing can be categorized into four themes based on different purposes and methods. On one hand, empathy computing primarily aims to analyze and comprehend empathy using computers. This endeavor can be further divided into two categories: (1) individual empathy assessment, which focuses on analyzing individual empathetic traits, and (2) empathetic content classification, which focuses on analyzing empathetic features in texts rather than individuals. On the other hand, research also focuses on simulating and expressing empathy through computing, which includes (3) the design of empathetic response systems and (4) the development of generative empathetic dialogue systems. The former provides users with a limited number of predefined rule-based responses and feedback to express empathy, while the latter utilizes AI to automatically generate a wide range of empathetic dialogues without relying on predefined rules. These four research streams are relatively independent yet complementary. Moreover, as research progresses, new directions will continue to emerge, such as improving the empathic capabilities of computers through brain-computer interface technology. Although research on empathy computing is still in its early stages, it has shown potential for innovative applications in scenarios such as mental health, education, business services, and public management. With the increasing prevalence of artificial intelligence, these fields, which involve substantial interpersonal interactions, are positioned to become the primary domains for human-computer interaction. As a result, they emerge as the key application scenarios for empathy computing. In the realm of mental health, empathy computing can assist in automatically evaluating and enhancing therapists' empathetic abilities. Additionally, it can provide personalized empathetic support and guidance through AI-driven chatbots. In the field of education, empathy computing can facilitate the learning process by employing empathetic AI tutors. Within the business sector, it enables organizations to deliver tailored customer experiences, thereby enhancing satisfaction and fostering loyalty through the generation of empathic dialogues. In public management, empathy computing can be used to generate empathetic discourse to counteract negative speech. Additionally, it facilitates policymakers to respond empathetically to citizens' needs and inquiries, thereby fostering trust between the government and the public. These four scenarios illustrate the vast potential applications of empathy computing. However, due to concerns related to safety and ethics, complete reliance on computers to perform empathetic tasks is currently not feasible. Instead, a collaboration between humans and computers is necessary. Empathy computing represents a transformative frontier, not only providing methods to measure and analyze empathy automatically on a larger scale but also enriching the theoretical landscape of empathy research. It extends traditional studies on empathy in interpersonal relationships to explore its emerging manifestations in human-AI relationships. This expansion raises novel questions about the universality of empathy and its potential evolution in human-computer interaction. Empathy computing holds the promise of serving as a cornerstone for a unified theory of empathy that encompasses diverse relationship dynamics, ranging from human-human to human-machine interactions and beyond. It is beneficial for comprehensively understanding empathy and effectively promoting it in the context of an intelligent society. Future research should focus on developing integrated theoretical models of empathy computing, establishing reliable psychological and behavioral datasets of empathy-related characteristics, and validating and refining empathy computing research through a human-centered approach. Psychologists play indispensable roles in leading, evaluating, and optimizing research and practice in this field. The collaboration of scholars in psychology and computer science is imperative to ensure that AI learns empathy effectively and ethically, thereby fostering people’s wellbeing in the forthcoming intelligent society. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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The influence of mindfulness meditation on mind wandering and its mechanism SHAO Hongtao, REN Guiqin, DING Xiaoqian, SHI Mengmeng, LI Ruiyan, LI Yang Advances in Psychological Science    2023, 31 (12): 2368-2379.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2023.02368 Abstract （1748）   HTML （68）    PDF（pc） （465KB）（2818）       Knowledge map    Save Mind wandering is a common psychological phenomenon that we commonly face in our daily lives, and it can have negative effects, such as increasing the incidence of car accidents and affecting academic performance. Given the adverse effects of mind wandering on people, it is particularly important to adopt a reasonable intervention to mitigate the negative effects of mind wandering. Mindfulness meditation as a form of intervention has gained traction in recent years. In order to investigate the effects of mindfulness meditation on mind wandering and its mechanism, based on a systematic review of previous studies, the present study summarized the effects of mindfulness meditation on mind wandering from different perspectives, such as training duration, training format, the setting of the controlled group, and different groups. Combining the two aspects of neural mechanism and related theoretical models, the mechanism of mindfulness meditation to improve mind wandering was also explained. First of all, there are different training durations for mindfulness meditation, such as 8 minutes, 4 days, 8 weeks or even longer. This study analyzed the effects of different training durations of mindfulness meditation on mind wandering, and clarified that different training durations of mindfulness meditation have different effects on the improvement of mind wandering, and fewer longitudinal studies have been used in the past. Second, there are many forms of training for mindfulness meditation, such as mindful breathing exercise, sitting meditation, and body scan. This study found that different forms of mindfulness meditation have different effects on mind wandering by comparing different studies. Third, most of the previous related studies were examined in the form of randomized experimental group and controlled group. Based on the examination of different controlled groups, it is clear that it is important to use appropriate controlled group in the study of mindfulness meditation on mind wandering, such as the use of controlled group by considering active controlled group and passive controlled group. This method is conducive to avoiding the interference of additional variables and highlighting the effect of mindfulness meditation. Fourth, by examining different groups, it was also found that the degree of effectiveness of mindfulness meditation in reducing mind wandering may depend on the characteristics of the target group. For example, the researcher's study on the normal group found that mindfulness meditation reduced the occurrence of mind wandering. In contrast, for individuals with negative emotions, the improvement of mind wandering by mindfulness meditation was shown to be protective. Fifth, by measuring the changes in neural mechanisms before and after the intervention, for example, EEG components such as alpha and beta, ERP components such as N2, P3, and MMN, and the default mode network in the brain, we explained the mechanism of action of mindfulness meditation to improve mind wandering from the perspective of neural mechanisms. Sixth, combining the natural cognitive fluctuation model and the cycle of meditation and mind wandering, the present study found that the improvement of mind wandering by mindfulness meditation works through different stages, such as attentional modulation, meta-consciousness enhancement, and the calming thought. These stages do not necessarily occur in a sequential manner, and the applicability of these stages to other forms of mindfulness meditation needs to be verified. Previous studies have defined mind wandering as a single structure and directly examined the effects of mindfulness meditation on mind wandering, without distinguishing between intentional and unintentional mind wandering. Future research should continue to delve deeper and clarify the effects of mindfulness meditation on different types of mind wandering. In addition, previous studies have examined the effects of a single form of mindfulness meditation on mind wandering, neglecting a direct comparison of the effects of different forms of mindfulness meditation on mind wandering. In the future, it is possible to directly compare the effects of different forms of mindfulness meditation on mind wandering, in order to clarify the most effective form of improving mind wandering, and to determine the most effective duration of different forms of mindfulness meditation interventions. In the future, we can also continue to explore the underlying mechanisms, such as understanding the time course of the effects of mindfulness meditation, exploring the reasons for the differences between different processes, and validating the different stages of mindfulness meditation to improve mind wandering, so as to validate and improve the existing theoretical models. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Have gender stereotypes changed or not changed? Evidence from contents, methods, and consequences WANG Zhen, GUAN Jian Advances in Psychological Science    2024, 32 (6): 939-950.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2024.00939 Abstract （1308）   HTML （57）    PDF（pc） （559KB）（2812）       Knowledge map    Save Stereotypes have been defined as beliefs about the characteristics, attributes, and behaviors of people classified into social categories. Stereotypes are traditionally perceived as resistant to change. However, they may be changed under contexts of the impacts of societal changes on human culture and psychology. Given that gender stereotypes are expected to be more unshakable than other stereotypes (e.g., race stereotypes), it implies that there is a potential for changing other stereotypes, provided that gender stereotypes can be changed. Therefore, this article reviewed changes in gender stereotypes from their contents, methods, and consequences. According to the social role theory, gender stereotypes are built on social roles. Therefore, gender stereotypes are expected to change with the changes in the roles of men and women. Considerable studies have found that gender stereotypes have changed. Specifically, some studies have shown that women are perceived to increase their masculine characteristics (e.g., agency) over time, while men are not perceived to increase feminine characteristics (e.g., communion). Differently, others have indicated that both women and men are perceived to increase in counterstereotypical traits over time. However, in contrast to these findings depicting changes in gender stereotypes, several studies did not find significant changes, and they believed that gender stereotypes persist over time. One of the possible reasons for these conflicting findings is that different methods have been used in previous studies. The research methods of gender stereotype changes can be divided into traditional methods and new techniques. The traditional methods usually involve the past-present-future rating paradigm, cross-sequential design, and cross-temporal meta-analysis. Word embedding, as a new technique, has become increasingly important in recent years. All research methods have their relative advantages and disadvantages. The consequences of gender stereotype changes can be categorized into positive and negative outcomes. In terms of positive outcomes, gender stereotype changes increase the possibility of men being involved in more household labor, which may result in better relationship quality for the couple. Besides, the new male role in parental care for children generates many benefits, such as better academic performance, higher levels of self-esteem, and fewer behavioral problems in children. Additionally, gender stereotype changes can promote women’s economic independence and reduce the gender gap. However, there are also negative outcomes with the changes in gender stereotypes. Specifically, these changes intensify low fertility rates and birth rates. Notably, even if gender stereotypes towards targets become more and more positive over time, targets may not treat the stereotypes as compliments. On the contrary, they may perceive the stereotypes as a form of gender prejudice, eventually impairing interpersonal and intergroup relationships. Further research on gender stereotype changes can be discussed from the following aspects: first, it is important for researchers to conduct studies with diverse research methods in the future. Second, future research should pay attention to not treating gender stereotypes as a single construct. Instead, they should be investigated through the perspective of classification (e.g., descriptive and prescriptive gender stereotypes). Third, given that stereotypical gender characteristics seem to interact with each other to build gender stereotypes, future research should examine gender stereotype changes by treating gender stereotypes as a complex system from a network approach. Last, we should not ignore cultural impacts on gender stereotype changes. Given that China has undergone more unprecedented societal transformations than Western countries over the past decades, the social roles in China have undergone tremendous changes. Therefore, it is indispensable to investigate gender stereotype changes in China. Furthermore, not only the gender stereotype changes, future studies need to explore changes in stereotypes about other categories, such as race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, classes, and religion. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Dancing with AI: AI-employee collaboration in the systemic view YIN Meng, NIU Xiongying Advances in Psychological Science    2024, 32 (1): 162-176.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2024.00162 Abstract （1755）   HTML （111）    PDF（pc） （679KB）（2649）       Knowledge map    Save AI-employee collaboration is an interactive system composed of “AI-human-organization” with the goal of completing tasks efficiently. Promoting AI-employee collaboration is crucial for driving the deep integration of AI and the real economy, as well as the mental health and career development of employees in the digital era. However, the conceptual connotation of AI and AI-employee collaboration has not yet been systematically elaborated in the literature, which has led to ambiguity in the meaning of AI in organizations as well as confusion between concepts of different AI application. In addition, the research of AI-employee collaboration is fragmented and complex across disciplines, and the academic community lacks a comprehensive understanding of the current status and future direction of AI-employee collaboration research. Based on the above limitations, we conducted a comprehensive search of the literature related to AI-employee collaboration, coded the publication information, theoretical basis, core research conclusions and other contents of the literature, and organized the content of the paper based on a systemic review after reading the literature in depth. We first clarify the concept and dimensions of AI in the workplace, and then discuss the systemic view of AI-employee collaboration, and further clarify the conceptual connotation of AI-employee collaboration from the systemic view. This helps to unify the academic dialogue and lay the foundation for subsequent research on AI-employee collaboration. Then, based on the systemic view of AI-employee collaboration, the paper constructs a research framework of AI-employee collaboration using I-P-O paradigm, and describes AI-employee collaboration as input, process and output of a system in detail. At the input of the system, AI, employees, and organizations work together to drive the design, implementation, and use of AI. At the AI level, we review from three dimensions: physical attributes, mental attributes and ethical attributes. At the employee level, we review from four aspects: attitude, KSAs, personalities and demographic characteristics. At the organizational level, we review from three perspectives: organizational readiness, organizational support, organizational climate and culture. In the process of the system, actors operate around work tasks, and they influence the output by performing the tasks. Therefore, the process is a task configuration, including two aspects: task goal and interaction approaches. We further propose that optimizing AI-employee collaboration requires attention to the dynamic matching of interaction approaches and task goal. At the output of the system, we summarize the outcomes of three actors: employees, AI and organization. The research framework explicitly describes the components and internal mechanisms of AI-employee collaboration system, and provides a basic theoretical framework guide for further more in-depth research. Finally, based on the limitations of the research framework, we propose future research prospects from five perspectives. (1) Future research should emphasize the ethical issues in AI-employee collaboration system, providing more empirical and experimental evidence for the impact of ethical attributes on AI-employee collaboration. (2) Future research should develop objective measurements of the organizational consequences of AI-employee collaboration. (3) Future research should explore more individual factors that may influence AI-employee collaboration, such as prompt ability, cultural values, etc. (4) Future research should further elaborate the task configuration of AI-employee collaboration and examine the efficiency and effectiveness of AI-employee collaboration with different task configurations. (5) Future research should expand the research framework based on the new developments of I-P-O paradigm, such as feedback loops. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Awe’s prosocial effect: The mediating role of the small self and the authentic self ZHAO Yue, HU Xiaoyong, MA Jiaxin Advances in Psychological Science    2023, 31 (11): 2171-2182.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2023.02171 Abstract （1603）   HTML （90）    PDF（pc） （494KB）（2618）       Knowledge map    Save Awe is an emotional response to vast stimuli that challenge the current frames of reference and require a new schema to accommodate. A large body of empirical studies have highlighted that awe engenders various forms of prosocial behavior. Regarding the psychological mechanisms implicated, the small-self hypothesis posits that the vastness of stimuli that evokes awe elicits feelings of self-smallness, which diverts the individual's attention away from the self and towards others, thus promoting prosocial behavior; the authentic-self hypothesis suggests that awe helps to facilitate a shift in the individual's attention from regular mundane concerns to a larger spiritual presence, which stimulates the individual's pursuit of his or her authentic self, thus promoting prosocial behavior. Though these two hypotheses present distinct viewpoints regarding the psychological mechanisms through which awe fosters prosocial behavior from the perspectives of attention and transformation, relatively. Nevertheless, the relationship between the two suppositions in the promotion of prosocial behavior via awe remains unclear. An organized theoretical framework is wanting to clarify and integrate this inquiry, which can potentially be resolved by considering the “Big Two” perspective. Based on the Big Two framework, the agentic and communal dimensions are considered as the fundamental aspects of the self. The small self, which is affiliated and submissive, is part of the communal dimension of the self-concept. On the other hand, the authentic self is seen as unique and self-determined, and is part of the agentic dimension of self. Positive awe can enhance prosocial behavior through two parallel pathways, the agentic dimension (authentic self) and the communal dimension (small self) of self. The Big Two framework is also beneficial in comprehending the recent discoveries in the field of threat-based awe. Although threat-based awe can promote prosocial behavior on the communal dimension of the self (small self), it also impedes prosocial behavior on the agentic dimension of the self (powerlessness). As opposed to the consistent findings obtained in the field of positive awe, threat-based awe produces contrasting effects on prosocial behavior. Research in this domain will facilitate the examination of the pivotal position of emotions in relation to human sociability. Future research endeavors could develop into the following domains: primordially, scrutinizing the universality of the effects of awe on prosocial behavior, with particular emphasis on threat-based awe tinged with fear, which has elicited inconsistent and heterogeneous findings in extant research and warrant further exploration with greater depth in the future. Secondly, the prevailing hypotheses suffer from certain inadequacies. The notion of “small-self” lays emphasis on the act of shifting attention, which results in a stark dichotomy between self-directed and other-directed attention. Similarly, the “authentic-self” hypothesis warrants refinement regarding the mechanisms involved in the generation of prosocial motivation. In due course, there is a pressing need for both theoretical and empirical advancement aimed at redressing the deficiencies that currently exist. Lastly, although interventions aimed at facilitating awe have been proposed, very few initiatives target the core mechanism through which awe engenders transformation of small and authentic selves. Hence, future studies ought to construct intervention programs focused on self-transformation for this mechanism, imparting a scientific psychological insight to progress a philanthropic-based third distribution strategy. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Neurocognitive basis underlying interpersonal emotion regulation DONG Wanxin, YU Wenwen, XIE Hui, ZHANG Dandan Advances in Psychological Science    2024, 32 (1): 131-137.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2024.00131 Abstract （1738）   HTML （86）    PDF（pc） （409KB）（2608）       Knowledge map    Save Interpersonal emotion regulation refers to the process in which one person intentionally influences the emotional state of another person during social interactions. It has been found to be beneficial for individual psychological well-being and the development of social relationships, and it has distinct advantages compared to Interpersonal emotion regulation (i.e. individual’s regulation of their own emotional states). In recent years, research on the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying interpersonal emotion regulation has gained momentum, providing some insights into the neural basis of this process. Specifically, interpersonal emotion regulation involves the participation of the mentalizing system (including the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, the temporo-parietal junction, and the anterior insula), the emotional response system (including the amygdala and the insula), and the emotion regulation system (including the frontal and parietal lobes), with the mentalizing system being the core brain area. This present review focused on these three brain networks and provided an overview of the current understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying extrinsic and intrinsic interpersonal emotion regulation. In extrinsic interpersonal regulation, the regulator relies on the mentalizing system to infer the emotional state of the target and selects appropriate emotion regulation strategies for him. The regulator also needs to engage the emotion regulation system to actively search for and implement emotion regulation strategies, in order to alter the neural activity levels of the target’s emotion response system. Furthermore, the regulator's reward system is likely involved and promotes emotion regulation during prosocial helping. In intrinsic interpersonal regulation, the target relies on the mentalizing system to understand the regulating intentions and behaviors of others. With the help of others providing regulation strategies, the target' s reliance on the prefrontal control system tends to decrease during emotion regulation. However, the field of interpersonal emotion regulation is still relatively new, and our understanding of its cognitive and neural mechanisms, particularly the cognitive neuroscientific mechanisms, is still limited. Based on existing research, we believed there are four important issues that need to be addressed in future studies. Firstly, the current research on the brain mechanisms underlying extrinsic and intrinsic interpersonal emotion regulation is still incomplete, and the available neuroscientific evidence is insufficient. We recommended that future studies utilize brain imaging techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), along with innovative research paradigms in interpersonal emotion regulation, to explore those unanswered questions. Secondly, most existing studies have focused on the neural activity of single brains and lack dual-brain research. However, dual-brain evidence is essential for constructing cognitive neuroscientific models of interpersonal emotion regulation. We suggested using whole-brain coverage techniques such as electroencephalography and near-infrared spectroscopy hyperscanning to reveal the interactive processes between regulator and target. Thirdly, the cognitive neuroscientific models of interpersonal emotion regulation are not yet fully developed, and the specific brain regions that distinguish interpersonal regulation from self-regulation need further investigation and clarification. We recommend future research to fully consider the interactive and complex nature of interpersonal emotion regulation, examine the impact of various factors such as interpersonal relationship contexts, gender, personality traits, and intimacy levels on interpersonal emotion regulation using a combination of neurophysiological observations, behavioral measurements, and path analysis techniques to reveal the cognitive mechanisms underlying the interaction between regulator and target. Fourthly, there is currently a lack of applied research in the field, particularly in terms of noninvasive neuromodulation as well as a lack of intervention studies. We recommend that future applied research be conducted in two areas: enhancing the interpersonal emotion regulation abilities of healthy individuals through training and providing clinical interventions for specific populations such as individuals with depression. In conclusion, the field of interpersonal emotion regulation is still emerging, and further research should prioritize addressing the aforementioned issues to advance this important area of research. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Warm reading: Clarifying the mechanisms of empathy in text reading TONG Yuguang, LI Ying, CHEN Jie Advances in Psychological Science    2023, 31 (11): 2025-2039.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2023.02025 Abstract （1901）   HTML （79）    PDF（pc） （639KB）（2596）       Knowledge map    Save The Social Processes and Content Entrained by Narrative (SPaCEN) model was proposed in recent years. This model marked a significant shift in the focus of text reading research away from coherent representations and toward the principles and goals of social functions. One of the key social cognitive skills is empathy, which can provide a valuable lens through which to examine how text reading serves a social purpose. Understanding the social role of empathy in text reading necessitates having a thorough understanding of the whole life cycle of empathy in text, including the process of its initiation, its action and the operation of its subsequent influence. Empathy during reading can be induced through the linguistic features of the text, textual elements, and self-simulation processes. Specifically, the linguistic features of the text coordinate attentional resources and balance aesthetic experiences by manipulating vocabulary, phonetics and rhetorical techniques to obtain an enhanced empathic experience; the textual elements induce empathic experiences by constructing scenes with different content features; and the self-simulation process emphasizes the reader's awareness and evaluation process of the textual information. The empathy induced by different pathways all include three components of empathy, narrative involvement, emotion and evaluation in different degrees. Various writing styles, reader attributes, and text qualities all influence how readers act on their empathic experiences. Specifically, authors may choose writing strategies that aim to evoke empathic experiences of certain readers for specific groups, depending on the intended audience group, including bounded narrative empathy acting on in-groups, ambassadorial narrative empathy acting on out-groups, and broadcast narrative empathy acting on objects of general interest. Readers' internal (e.g., experiences, personality traits) and external characteristics (e.g., reading style, reading medium, reading environment) can also contribute to differences in empathic experiences. Different genre types and text features may induce or enhance readers' empathic experiences through different paths such as arousing attention, activating familiar features, and reducing defensiveness. The arrangement of textual content can also facilitate readers' integration into the storyline from a character's perspective by easing readers' inferences about the psychological theory of textual roles through emotional valence, perspective markers, and protagonist characteristics. The distributed elementary processing model of text reading and empathy offers a new view on how empathy in text reading processes from a multidimensional perspective. According to this model, the author, the reader and the text work together to produce empathy. The author's writing strategy, the type and content of the text, and the characteristics of the reader all influence the empathic experience of the reader. With the superposition of the elements in each component, a slow activation of empathy from scratch is gradually achieved. The model further assumes that the empathic experience activated by text reading is reflected at the neural level, the cognitive-emotional level, and the behavioral level. Along with memory, encoding, and retrieval-related brain regions (e.g., dorsolateral prefrontal cortex associated with intertemporal and cross-modal processing), as well as motivational and reasoning-related brain regions (e.g., ventral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate gyrus, temporoparietal junction) being active during reading, explicitly empathy-related brain regions such as the inferior frontal gyrus also exhibit sustained or fluctuating activation. In conclusion, reading with empathy not only improves readers' comprehension of others' thoughts and feelings and their ability to draw inferences about the theory of mind underlying texts, but it also serves to dispel prejudices and encourage actions that assist animals and the environment. Future research should concentrate on how to maximize the effectiveness of text reading in triggering empathy, creating a strong spiritual motivation for readers, and promoting the development and improvement of their healthy personalities at the application level, in addition to identifying which idiosyncratic text elements can effectively trigger empathy at the basic processing level. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Exploring the proximal and distal ripple effects of star employees in the organizational context: The theoretical framework of social influence ZHAO Kai, YANG Runshu, YU Xi, PENG Gege Advances in Psychological Science    2024, 32 (8): 1265-1286.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2024.01265 Abstract （1707）   HTML （89）    PDF（pc） （1084KB）（2584）       Knowledge map    Save As a kind of important strategic talent capital, star employees only occupy a small proportion of the organizational staff, but make an extremely high contribution to the organization. Star employees can contribute to the organizational value creation activities not only through their direct disproportionately high and prolonged performance, social capital, and visibility, but also via exerting extensive and profound influences on their colleagues, that is, star employees’ ripple effects. Based on a systematic literature review, this study draws upon the theoretical framework of social influence to specifically elaborate how star employees generate proximal ripple effects on their nonstar team members and the whole team, and then how to generate distal ripple effects on external-team colleagues in the organizational context. Further, this study also explores the boundary conditions of these ripple effects from the perspectives of human resource management practice and star employees’ interpersonal characteristic. Specifically, we proposed three research modules, including four theoretical models. Module 1 draws upon social comparison theory and resource perspective to examine the “double-edged sword” influences of star employee on their nonstar colleagues’ psychological state and interpersonal behavior within a same team (model 1). Module 2 investigates the social influence of star employees on their affiliated groups’ task performance (model 2) and creativity performance (model 3), focusing on the mechanisms of group climate or collective behaviors. Both of Module 1 and Module 2 explore the boundary conditions of the social influence from the perspectives of star employees’ interpersonal characteristics and the relevant HRM practices. Module 3 explores, under what conditions and through what means, the key attributes of star employees exert distal social influence on the colleagues outside the team (model 4). This study makes three primary theoretical contributions. First, this study analyzes the boundary conditions of ripple effects of star employees from the perspective of “interpersonal characteristics”. This attempt transcends the limitations of previous studies, which solely focused on the explicit features of stars such as identity, quantity, and network position. By doing this, we shift the research focus to the source of social influence—star employees, whose interpersonal characteristics can significantly affect the outcomes of ripple effects. Second, this study expands the boundary conditions of stars’ ripple effects from the perspective of “HRM practices”. Ripple effects, inherently exploring the social impacts of interpersonal interactions, are shaped not only by the characteristics and behaviors of the interacting parties, but also by the social context. Therefore, this study introduces HRM practices as critical contextual factors, to help scholars and managers deepen their understanding of how HRM practices promote or inhibit the various ripple effects of star employees. Additionally, it provides evidence-based management recommendations for managers to adopt proper HRM practices to maximize the positive ripple effects of star employees and mitigate their negative impacts. Third, this study extends the scope of objectives who may be influenced by star employees’ ripple effects. We not only investigate the stars’ influence on their teams, but also extend the influence to their colleagues outside the team. On the one hand, our research breaks through the dyadic interpersonal relationship of star employees’ social influence, which is the centric approach of prior research, by facilitating scholars’ knowledge about how star employees exert spillover effects on their teams from a collective influence standpoint. On the other hand, by investigating the formation, mediating mechanisms, outcomes and boundary conditions of distal ripple effects of star employees, scholars can gain a more comprehensive understanding of the diffusion processes for the role modelling, resource sharing, and reputation dissemination of star employees. In conclusion, our theoretical framework will not only be helpful for scholars to gain a more comprehensive and deep understanding about how star employees exert positive or negative social influences on organizational value creation, but also provide valuable suggestions on the star employee management practices for Chinese organizations. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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The influence of AI awareness on employee’s psychological and behavioral outcomes and its theoretical explanation WANG Tao, ZHAN Xiaojun, YU Wei Advances in Psychological Science    2024, 32 (7): 1195-1208.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2024.01195 Abstract （1368）   HTML （50）    PDF（pc） （609KB）（2500）       Knowledge map    Save AI awareness refers to an employee's perception that the use of AI affects their work attitude, behavior, well-being, and work environment. The fourth Industrial Revolution has arrived, and while AI improves employee performance, it also brings risks and uncertainties that have a huge impact on employees. Although many studies have explored the impact of AI awareness on employees' psychological and behavioral outcomes, due to scholars' academic background, current studies are more focused on the field of relative segmentation. At the same time, because the concept of AI awareness is relatively new, its name is not unified, and the ambiguity of the concept limits the public's in-depth insight into AI awareness. In addition, the action path and boundary conditions of AI awareness on employees' psychological and behavioral outcomes have not yet been clarified, and the lack of AI awareness research framework has hindered the understanding of how AI application affects employees' psychological and behavioral outcomes. In order to explore the specific impact of AI application on employees and its function explanation mechanism, firstly, the research on AI awareness was systematically reviewed, the concept connotation of AI awareness was clarified, and AI awareness was re-defined as employees' perception of the impact of AI application on their work attitude, behavior, well-being and working environment. This definition highlights the two-sided nature of AI awareness, that is, AI awareness has both positive and negative effects on employees, rather than just negative effects. Second, it reveals the effects of AI awareness, advancing the understanding of how AI awareness affects employee psychology and behavior. The positive and negative effects of AI awareness on employees' psychological state are explained from the three aspects of emotion, stress and cognition, and the positive and negative effects of AI awareness on employees' behaviors are explained from the two aspects of active and negative behaviors, so that organizations and academia can more clearly, comprehensively and systematically recognize the important effects of AI application on employees' psychological and behavioral outcomes. Promote research in related fields. Thirdly, the theoretical explanation mechanism of AI awareness is explained based on resource perspective (conservation of resources theory, JD-R model), pressure perspective (cognitive evaluation theory), psychological needs perspective (self-determination theory), and environment perspective (person-environment fit theory). Finally, the paper elaborates on five aspects: exploring the multi-level driving mechanism of AI awareness, enriching the action mechanism of AI awareness, mining the spillover effect of AI awareness and strengthening the interaction impact between AI and employees, and builds an integrated model diagram for future research on AI awareness, which will help promote local relevant research. By answering the above questions, it is expected to provide theoretical reference for the subsequent research of scholars, enhance the academic community's cognition and understanding of how the application of AI affects employees, and provide new ideas for promoting the development of AI research. At the same time, it is revealed that managers in the era of Industry 4.0 should re-examine themselves, understand, learn and trust AI technology, use AI technology to develop new skills to improve their management ability, help organizations adopt AI technology more effectively, prevent risks and promote the healthy development of organizations. Managers must clarify the use of AI technology, allow employees to participate in the process of developing and implementing AI systems, eliminate misunderstandings and mistrust, and conduct AI technology training for employees, so that employees have more understanding of AI, reduce the sense of rejection of AI, and recognize that coexistence with AI is an inevitable development of the times. At the same time, it also informs employees that the purpose of applying AI is to help rather than replace them, relieve employees' anxiety and sense of threat, reduce their fear of unemployment, enhance employees' positive cognition of the application of AI, and then reduce their negative evaluation of the application of AI, and help organizations maximize the positive side of AI and reduce the dark side brought by AI. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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Balanced time perspective and mental health: Mechanisms and theoretical framework LI Xiaobao, YU Xuchen, LYU Houchao Advances in Psychological Science    2024, 32 (1): 138-150.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2024.00138 Abstract （1931）   HTML （114）    PDF（pc） （588KB）（2478）       Knowledge map    Save Time Perspective is a crucial psychological framework that allows individuals to classify, organize, and manage their life and social experiences, describing how individuals view their past, present, and future. Recent research suggests that achieving a balance between the past, present, and future time perspectives is essential for optimizing social adaptation, facilitating well-being, and promoting mental health. Thus, much attention has been paid to the relationships between balanced time perspective (BTP) and mental health. However, the theoretical framework and underlying mechanisms linking BTP to mental health remain unclear due to the lack of clarity in its concept and limited measurement methods. Our review aims to clarify the conceptual orientations of BTP and explore the underlying mechanisms between BTP and mental health. The concept of BTP is developed based on time perspective research, specifically according to Zimbardo Time Perspective Theory. This theory suggests that time perspective is an individual’s adaptive process of external social and cultural environment. And different time perspectives may lead to various behavioral decisions and mental health outcomes. There are five common time perspectives, including Past Positive (viewing the past in a positive light), Past Negative (viewing the past in a negative attitude), Present Hedonistic (a preference for immediate gratification), Present Fatalistic (a helpless and fatalistic outlook of life), and Future (a tendency to plan for the future). All of these time perspectives are evidently associated with happiness-related variables. In contrast to a specific temporal bias, the idea of a balanced time perspective is proposed to optimize individuals’ well-being and mental health. Based on the existing literature, this review first distinguished two conceptual orientations of BTP. One is the “time shift orientation” BTP, which is defined as the cognitive process or mental ability to effectively switch between different time perspectives based on situational demands. The other is “general healthy orientation” BTP, which combines high level of adaptive time perspectives (e.g., Past Positive, Future, and Present Hedonistic) with low levels of maladaptive time perspectives (e.g., Past Negative and Present Fatalistic), reflecting an overall positive outlook on subjective time. The former is a theoretical concept with limited research on measuring the process or capacity of switching between time perspectives. The latter is the dominant focus of current research, and the existing scales and methods of BTP are all designed to assess the general healthy orientation toward the past, the present, and the future. Our review also proposed a dual-pathway theoretical framework to clarify the direct and indirect paths between BTP and mental health. The direct pathway emphasizes the direct effect of habitual temporal cognitive processes on mental health. The indirect pathway highlights the role of BTP in influencing adaptive behaviors, which in turn affect mental health. In terms of the time shift orientation BTP, higher BTP requires individuals to effectively switch between time perspectives. Such a switching capacity might help individuals to have greater psychological and social adaptation. Additionally, higher BTP enables individuals to better observe and evaluate environmental characteristics, thereby inhibiting maladaptive time perspectives and exhibiting adaptive time perspectives. This necessitates strong self-regulation abilities in individuals. Therefore, the self-regulation process, including self-control and flexible selection of emotional regulation strategies, may serve as underlying mechanisms linking time shift orientation BTP and mental health. Regarding the general healthy orientation, the higher the BTP is, the more likely individuals are to positively think about the past, experience the present, and anticipate the future, resulting in good mental health. For instance, recalling past positive experiences and anticipating positive future events can directly facilitate life satisfaction and positive emotions. Conversely, viewing the past and future from a negative perspective is easy to induce negative emotions. General healthy orientation BTP can also indirectly promote mental health through a range of adaptive behaviors. For example, individuals with high levels of adaptive time perspectives (e.g., Past Positive and Future) tend to have more adaptive behaviors such as planning, healthy eating, exercise, and environmental protection. On the contrary, individuals higher on Past Negative and Present Fatalistic are likely to exhibit problematic behaviors such as aggression and substance abuse. These behaviors can further promote or damage mental health. In addition, the dual-pathway model also discussed the potential moderating role of age and life environment between BTP and mental health. Future research should aim to clearly distinguish between these different conceptual orientations of BTP, focus on developing measurement methods for time shift orientation BTP, and deepen both theoretical and empirical exploration of BTP and mental health, particularly within the context of Chinese culture. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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A meta-analysis of the relationship between achievement goal orientation and academic achievement: The mediating role of self-efficacy and student engagement WU Jiahui, FU Hailun Advances in Psychological Science    2024, 32 (7): 1104-1125.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2024.01104 Abstract （1018）   HTML （43）    PDF（pc） （963KB）（2439）       Knowledge map    Save Achievement goal orientation is an important source of motivation for individuals, and it affects academic performance by influencing cognitive, emotional, and motivational processes related to academics. Examining the relationship between achievement goal orientation and academic performance can reveal the intrinsic reasons for differentiation in students’ grades, thereby deepening the understanding of the inherent mechanisms of students’ learning processes at a micro level. Consequently, there is growing interest in the relationship between achievement goal orientation and academic performance. With continuing advances in developmental psychology, current research is increasingly focusing on the mediating mechanisms between achievement goal orientation and academic performance. A review the literature reveals that current research mainly focuses on exploring the independent and chained effects of self-efficacy and student engagement on academic performance at the non-intellectual factor level. Self-efficacy refers to an individual’s belief in their perceived ability to achieve predetermined goals, which is a key factor influencing students’ learning engagement and academic performance. Student engagement refers to the time and effort individuals invest in purposeful educational activities and is an important proximal factor in predicting students’ academic performance. However, there are no uniform findings on the strength of the correlation between achievement goal orientation and academic performance. There is also no clear conclusion on which moderating factors influence both, as well as the extent to which mediating factors affect them. Furthermore, current meta-analyses have a relatively scattered explanatory perspective on achievement goal orientation; so far, only the relationship between the sub-dimensions of achievement goal orientation and academic performance has been explored. In addition, some studies have placed achievement goal orientation within the intermediate structure of motivation and behavior, focusing on the association between achievement goal orientation and its antecedents and consequences. Moreover, current meta-analyses have not fully explored the potential moderating factors in the relationship between the four-factor structure of achievement goal orientation and academic performance. Due to the limited number of studies on the relationship between mastery-avoidance goals and academic performance, previous research has mostly focused on overall tracking by incorporating mastery-avoidance goals into mastery goals. Finally, current meta-analyses have not yet thoroughly investigate the mediating of non-intellectual factors between achievement goal orientation and academic performance, with most studies focusing on integrating effect sizes and exploring possible moderating variables, using samples that do not involve mediating variables. Specifically, the meta-analysis of the four-factor structural model of achievement goal orientation, dating back approximately ten years, may suffer from time lag bias. Therefore, the present study, based on achievement goal orientation theory, expectancy-value theory, and self-efficacy theory, conducted a meta-analysis to explore the consistencies and differences in existing international studies. It provides a comprehensive report on the relevance of the relationship between achievement goal orientation and academic performance, with a particular focus on exploring the mediating effects of self-efficacy and student engagement as well as a range of moderating effects. A total of 67 empirical research and 206 effect sizes were included through literature retrieval. Results of our analysis were as follows: (1) Mastery-approach and performance-approach goals were significantly and positively correlated with academic achievement, while mastery-avoidance and performance-avoidance goals were significantly and negatively correlated with academic achievement; each indicator was robustly and weakly dependent on academic achievement. (2) The relationship between achievement goal orientation and academic achievement was influenced by age stage and measurement tools, but not by gender ratio or achievement type. (3) Self-efficacy and student engagement played significant mediating roles in the relationship between achievement goal orientation and academic performance; however, the mediating effect of student engagement was only significant for students in the middle school group and not the university school group. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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The dynamic features of emotion dysregulation in major depressive disorder: An emotion dynamics perspective WU Chaoyi, WANG Zhen Advances in Psychological Science    2024, 32 (2): 364-385.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2024.00364 Abstract （1627）   HTML （146）    PDF（pc） （783KB）（2256）       Knowledge map    Save The core feature of major depressive disorder, as defined in the DSM-5, is persistent mood disturbances characterized by excessive sadness and significantly reduced pleasant emotional experiences. Previous studies explored the emotion dysregulation of major depressive disorder by examining the static and trait-related aspects of overall emotional intensity, based on the trait model of personality. However, in real-life contexts, an individual's emotional experiences are not static but dynamically fluctuate in response to intricate social situations. Emotion is a dynamic process influenced by social interaction, individual evaluation processes and the external environment. Emotion dynamics consider the temporal dimension and volatility as the intrinsic features of emotions, to investigate how micro-level emotional fluctuation patterns impact psychological well-being at the macro-level. Researches on emotion dynamics have emphasized that the emotion dysregulation in major depressive disorder goes beyond increased negative emotional intensity and decreased positive emotional intensity. It also manifests as abnormal emotional dynamic patterns, specifically characterized by deviations in indicators of emotion dynamic such as emotion variability, instability, inertia, and others. Therefore, the objective of this systematic review is to summarize the dynamic features of emotion dysregulation in major depression from the perspective of emotion dynamics. This systematic review conducted a comprehensive search of the Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and PsycInfo databases from January 1, 2013 to January 1, 2023. A total of 18 studies were included in this review, which utilized ecological momentary assessment to explore the differences in indicators of emotion dynamics between clinical populations with depression and the control group. Consistent with findings from traditional cross-sectional retrospective studies and laboratory research, studies based on ecological momentary assessment indicated that patients with depression experience higher average intensity of negative emotions and lower average intensity of positive emotions in their daily lives. Significantly, this review offered a more nuanced understanding of emotion dysregulation in major depressive disorder beyond average emotional intensity. The key findings were as follows: (1) Patients with depression had greater negative emotion fluctuations compared with the healthy control group. These fluctuations manifested as greater negative emotion variability and instability. Compared to the healthy control group, individuals with depression exhibited a greater overall fluctuation in negative emotional experiences in their daily lives, with more pronounced fluctuations between two consecutive time points. (2) Depressed patients exhibited a rigid and inflexible emotional system, characterized by greater negative emotion inertia and denser emotion networks. Compared to the healthy control group, individuals with depression exhibited a greater tendency for negative emotions experienced in the past to persist into the next moment. Depressed patients had a greater number of connections and stronger linkages between nodes in their emotional networks. (3) Depressed patients exhibited abnormalities in emotional reactivity. This was reflected as the mood brightening effect after positive events and greater negative emotion reactivity after negative events. Compared to the healthy control group, individuals with depression exhibited greater emotional improvement following positive events and greater increase in negative emotions following negative events. (4) Patients with depression experienced decreased complexity in their emotional system. This manifested as a lower level of emotion differentiation. Compared to the control group, individuals with depression tended to perceive and report emotions in a relatively simplistic and generalized manner, lacking the ability to differentiate subtle distinctions between discrete emotions. Furthermore, patients with remitted depression also exhibited some degree of emotion dysregulation, providing empirical support for the complications or scar model and the set-point theory. This review was the first to comprehensively elucidate the primary features of emotion dysregulation in major depressive disorder viewed from emotion dynamics. The findings of this review provided further theoretical support for recent dynamic models of mental disorders, including complex dynamical system theory and network theory. Research in clinical psychology might benefit from accurately modeling the dynamic feature of psychopathology and approaching psychopathology as a system. As for clinical practice, the results contributed to the identification of potential intervention targets with high ecological validity for individualized treatment and relapse prevention of depression. In accordance with the principles of personalized medicine, psychiatrists could target specific features of a patient's emotion dysregulation as focal points for tailored and precise interventions, thereby enhancing the effective remission rates of depression. Furthermore, the insights from an emotion dynamics perspective inspired clinical practitioners to utilize more digitized and intelligent tools, such as smartphones and wearable devices, for advancing clinical assessments and treatments in the realm of mental disorders. This ongoing progress contributed to innovation and development in remote mental health services within the digital age. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics

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The impact of resource type on green consumption: Is time or money more important? SUN Jin, CHEN Chen Advances in Psychological Science    2024, 32 (1): 39-57.   DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2024.00039 Abstract （1593）   HTML （103）    PDF（pc） （650KB）（2213）       Knowledge map    Save Environmental issues are related to human growth in the long term, and people are becoming increasingly aware of the necessity of green consumption. Time and money are two important resource types. Individuals’ green consumption behavior is inevitably affected by these two resources in cognitive thinking and decision-making. However, the underlying mechanism of how resource type affects green consumption is still unclear. In order to further explore the impact of resource type on green consumption, the present study introduces time and money into the field of green consumption and builds a theoretical framework. First of all, Study 1 reveals that time resources promote green consumption and that money resources decrease green consumption (Experiment 1). Then, based on construal level theory and human value, Study 2 investigates the underlying mechanism of the impact of time and money resources on green consumption. Specifically, time resources activate high-level construal and self-transcendence, which can promote the intention of green consumption. On the contrary, money resources stimulate low-level construal and self-enhancement, which will reduce the intention of green consumption (Experiment 2). Study 3 examines the boundary condition through individual factors: when green consumption emphasizes the interests of the whole society or others, time resources are more likely to promote consumers’ willingness to purchase green products, however, when green consumption emphasizes the interests of themselves or families, money resources are more likely to promote consumers’ willingness to purchase green products, and the emotional response level plays a mediating role in this effect (Experiment 3). Study 4 aims to explore the impact of nudge, which often encourages consumers to engage in green consumption. Time resources are more likely to promote consumers’ willingness to explicitly ask for switching to a green mode, while money resources are more likely to promote consumers’ willingness to accept a green mode as the default, and environmental self-responsibility plays an intermediary role in this effect (Experiment 4). Study 5 and Study 6 explore the moderating effects of product innovation and typicality, respectively. Time resources will lead to a higher preference for central innovative green products or typically green products, while money resources will lead to a higher preference for peripheral innovative green products or atypically green products, and product effectiveness perception plays an intermediary role in these effects (Experiments 5 and 6). The above studies not only explore the positive role of time and money resources in promoting green consumption, but also provide new ideas for companies to use resource type to guide green consumption. Table and Figures | Reference | Related Articles | Metrics