Loading...
ISSN 0439-755X
CN 11-1911/B
主办:中国心理学会
   中国科学院心理研究所
出版:科学出版社

Archive

    25 July 2020, Volume 52 Issue 7 Previous Issue    Next Issue

    Reports of Empirical Studies
    For Selected: Toggle Thumbnails
    Reports of Empirical Studies
    The attention bias effect of infant face: The mechanism of cuteness and familiarity
    LEI Yi, XIA Qi, MO Zhifeng, LI Hong
    2020, 52 (7):  811-822.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2020.00811
    Abstract ( 9996 )   HTML ( 1003 )  
    PDF (1662KB) ( 14228 )   Peer Review Comments

    Previous studies found attention bias towards an infant’s face among parents and non-parents. Ethologist Konrad Lorenz proposed the concept of “baby schema,” indicating that the rapid reaction towards an infant’s information is an innate releasing mechanism. The follow-up research found that the attention bias effect was affected by individual differences, such as gender, characteristics, hormones, etc. However, little is known about an infant’s facial features and the impact of those features on the attention bias.
    This study investigates the influence of cuteness and familiarity on the attention bias effect towards an infant’s face. A 2 (cuteness:high cuteness, low cuteness) × 2 (familiarity: high familiarity, low familiarity) within subject design was used in this study. Before the formal experiment, according to 31 participants’ rating of cuteness after pictures of infants’ face with high and low cuteness were shown. The familiarity of faces was manipulated by infant face learning. There were 35 participants in our formal experiment and each participant completed 3 parts: infant facial images learning and recognition task, dot probe task, and rating task. This study used eye-movement tracking and subjective ratings to investigate the influence of cuteness and familiarity of infant’s faces on the preference/ attention bias effect towards an infant’s face by comparing the attention bias indexes under four conditions in the dot probe task.
    The dot-probe task indicated that compared to adult’s faces, participants reacted quicker when the target was presented at the same location with an infant’s face. The reaction time bias under the high-cuteness infant face condition was stronger than the low-cuteness infant face condition. The eye-movement tracking results showed that participants preferred looking at the high-cuteness infant faces, indicating first fixation duration bias and the total gaze duration bias. However, there was no significant difference in the direction of eye movement and first fixation latency bias. These results implied an attention maintenance pattern for high- cuteness infant faces. Furthermore, this pattern only existed under the low-familiarity condition. The attention bias effect between high and low-cuteness infant faces was not significantly different under the high-familiarity condition. For the rating of cuteness, infant faces with high-familiarity were rated as cuter than the low-familiarity infant faces, regardless of their cuteness.
    In conclusion, our experiment identified that the cuteness of infants’ face influences the effect of attention bias towards an infant’s face under the low-familiarity condition. Regarding the preferences, there may be a dissociative situation between subjective rating and gazing behavior.

    Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics
    Sound-induced flash illusion in elderly adults: Evidence from low-frequency fluctuation amplitudes in resting-state fMRI
    ZHOU Heng, HE Hua, YU Wei, WANG Aijun, ZHANG Ming
    2020, 52 (7):  823-834.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2020.00823
    Abstract ( 2055 )   HTML ( 129 )  
    PDF (4608KB) ( 2890 )   Peer Review Comments

    Auditory dominance refers to the auditory information in multisensory integration; more priority is given to auditory information, and it is processed in a dominant position. Sound-induced flash illusion (SiFI) is a typical auditory dominance phenomenon, namely, the visual perception of a stimulus for briefly heard voices, qualitatively changing at the same time, resulting in a fission illusion (F1B2) and a fusion illusion (F2B1). Previous studies have shown that elderly adults experience illusions more often than young adults. However, there is not yet a consensus regarding the mechanism when it is investigated using resting fMRI, though resting-state neural activity can reveal the intrinsic functional architecture of the brain (Fox & Raichle, 2007). Therefore, the present study aims to investigate how resting-state neural activity (ALFF) is related to SiFIs in elderly adults and will provide important novel insights into the differences in SiFIs between elderly and young adults.
    We selected 50 elderly adults (ages: 50~69 year old, M = 61.78, SD = 4.17) and 50 young adults (ages: 17~27 year old, M = 20.86, SD = 2.17). The present study was a 2 (participants: elderly vs. young adults) × 2 (flash number: 1 vs. 2) × 3 (sound number: 0 vs. 1 vs 2) mixed design. RS-fMRI data were collected by a magnetic resonance scanner in the participants’ natural state of wakefulness and relaxation. The RS-fMRI data were obtained by a Philips 3.0T magnetic resonance scanner, and the images of all participants' resting states were obtained by gradient echoplanar imaging (EPI) and scan parameters as follows: the TR = 2000 ms, TE = 30 ms, of view (FOV) = 220 mm × 220 mm, Turn corner = 90°, matrix = 64×64, Layer number = 36, layer thickness = 4 mm, with a thick layer of scanning time 400 s. We used the low-frequency amplitude of the resting state of the brain (ALFF) to investigate the correlation between SiFI and spontaneous brain region activity in elderly and young adults to reveal SiFI differences. ALFF results were calculated using DPABI, an RS-fMRI data processing software ( Yan et al., 2016).
    From the perspective of the accuracy results, elderly and young adults both experienced fission and fusion illusions. However, regardless of experiencing a fission illusion or a fusion illusion, the amount of illusion experienced by elderly adults was greater than that experienced by young adults. From the correlation analysis results of ALFF and illusions, there was a significant positive correlation between the F1B2 illusion and spontaneous medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) activity in elderly adults, and there was a significant negative correlation between the F1B2 illusion and spontaneous activity in the right superior occipital gyrus (SOG) and the left lingual gyrus in young adults. For the F2B1 illusion, there was a significant negative correlation between the F2B1 illusion and spontaneous activity in the right superior occipital gyrus (SOG), the left lingual gyrus (IFG) and the right cerebellum and a significant positive correlation between the F2B1 illusion and the spontaneous activity in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), the right middle frontal gyrus (MFG) and the left inferior temporal gyrus (ITG) in elderly adults. However, there was a significant positive correlation between the F2B1 illusion and spontaneous activity in the left superior frontal gyrus (SFG) in young adults.
    The present study showed that the increased illusions experienced by elderly adults were related to spontaneous activity during resting states in multiple brain regions.

    Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics
    The influence of endogenous spatial cue validity on audiovisual integration
    TANG Xiaoyu, WU Yingnan, PENG Xing, WANG Aijun, LI Qi
    2020, 52 (7):  835-846.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2020.00835
    Abstract ( 2438 )   HTML ( 177 )  
    PDF (576KB) ( 2925 )   Peer Review Comments

    Previous studies usually used the instruction to control the attention of the participants to different spatial locations to investigate the influence of endogenous spatial attention on the audiovisual integration, which found that endogenous spatial attention enhanced audiovisual integration. However, in reality, it is difficult to assign attention in an all-or-none manner. In present study, we used endogenous spatial cue-target paradigm to investigate the effect of endogenous spatial cue validity on audiovisual integration.
    The current study was a 2 (cue validities: valid, invalid) × 3 (target modalities: visual, auditory, audiovisual) factorial design. A total of 62 undergraduate students were recruited as paid volunteers. Experiment 1 recruited 35 participants (5 males; age range: 18~26 years; mean age: 21.26 ± 1.77 years). Experiment 2 recruited 27 participants (6 males; age range: 19~25 years; mean age: 22.19 ± 1.75 years). The visual (V) target was a white pentagonal asterisk block (2°×2°). The auditory (A) target was a 1600 Hz sinusoidal tone presented by speakers. The audiovisual (AV) target was composed by the simultaneous presentation of both the visual and the auditory stimuli. At the beginning of each trial, the fixation stimulus was presented for 600~800 ms in the center of the monitor. Following the fixation stimulus, the cue was presented for 200 ms, which could predict (50% or 80%) the location of the target. Before the target that appeared for 100 ms, the inter stimulus interval (ISI) lasted for 700 ms. The target (A, V, or AV) randomly appeared for 100 ms in the left or right locations. At last, the fixation stimuli appeared for 600 ms to wait for the correspondence responses to targets. During the experiment, the participants were asked to locate targets by pressing buttons (F/J) as quickly and accurately as possible.
    The results showed that the responses to AV targets were faster than V or A targets, indicating the appearance of the bimodal advancement effect in both experiments. Each target modality showed significant cueing effect. And the cueing effect in experiment 2 was significantly larger than the cueing effect in experiment 1. In addition, in experiment 1, relative multisensory response enhancement (rMRE), race model (probability difference) showed no significant difference at valid compared to invalid locations. However, in experiment 2, rMRE and race model (probability difference) increased at valid compared to invalid locations. The results suggested that endogenous spatial attention enhanced audiovisual integration in high spatial validity condition.
    In summary, Endogenous spatial attention had different effects on the audiovisual integration under different spatial cue validity. High spatial cue validity enhanced audiovisual integration. The current study provides direct behavioral evidence for endogenous spatial attention to enhance audiovisual integration.

    Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics
    Musical training improves rhythm integrative processing of classical Chinese poem
    ZHANG Zhenghua, HAN Mei, ZHANG Fang, LI Weijun
    2020, 52 (7):  847-860.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2020.00847
    Abstract ( 2274 )   HTML ( 144 )  
    PDF (2781KB) ( 3193 )   Peer Review Comments

    Long-term rigorous musical training changes the brain structure and function, which impacts speech processing. Many studies have demonstrated that subcortical and cortical neural plasticity interact to give musicians linguistic advantages, allowing them to construct more elaborate perceptions of speech signals than non-musicians. There is ample empirical support for integrative processing at the end of a sentence. Studies have found that participants completed integrative processing of syntactic or semantic information at the end of a sentence containing an earlier syntactic or semantic violation. As speech rhythms play an important role in establishing the lexical, syntactic, and semantic representation of sentences, is it necessary for listeners to integrate rhythm at the end of sentence containing an earlier rhythm violation? Further, it remains unknown whether and (if yes) how musical training contributes to this process. The present ERP study used the rhyming judgment task to explore these questions using Chinese poems.
    We used 160 unfamiliar, seven-character quatrains as experimental materials, with the last syllable (that is, targets) in the second line of the quatrain either appropriate or deviating from the appropriate syllable in tone, vowel, or both. Fifty undergraduates participated in this experiment. A total of 25 were musicians (9 males, mean age 20.56) with more than 10 years of formal music training who started at 7 years old or younger. The other 25 were non-musicians (9 males, mean age 20.84) who had never received any formal music training. Both were told to listen carefully and complete a ‘‘yes’’ or ‘‘no’’ judgment task on the appropriateness of the metrical feet. The EEG was recorded using 64 electrodes placed according to the international extended 10-20 system. The continuous EEG data were segmented into epochs of -200 to 1000 ms relative to the onset of the last syllable of each quatrain. The ERPs were analyzed and compared between conditions at time windows of 100~300 ms and 300~750 ms after the onset of the last syllable.
    The behavioral results indicated that average accuracy rate in rhyming judgment task for musicians (83.24%, SE = 6.64%) was not significantly different from nonmusicians (82.64%, SE = 9.15%), t(48) = 0.27, p = 0.791. However, musicians responded faster when the tone was inappropriate compared to the appropriate condition, F(1, 48) = 16.88, p < 0.001, ηp 2= 0.26. ERP results indicated that during 100-300 ms the interaction between Subject, Vowel and Tone was significant in the midline, F(1, 48) = 7.59, p = 0.008, ηp 2 = 0.14, and lateral areas, F(1, 48) = 7.54, p = 0.008, ηp 2 = 0.14. Simple effect analysis indicated that for musicians, the inappropriate vowel elicited larger positivities than the appropriate vowel when the tone was appropriate [midline: F(1, 48) = 9.84, p = 0.003, ηp 2= 0.17; lateral: F(1, 48) = 15.41, p < 0.001, ηp 2= 0.24]; the inappropriate tone elicited larger positivities than the appropriate tone when the vowel was appropriate[midline: F(1, 48) = 3.80, p = 0.057, ηp 2 = 0.07; lateral: F(1, 48) = 7.27, p = 0.010, ηp 2 = 0.13]. Besides, the inappropriate tone elicited smaller positivities than the appropriate tone when the vowel was inappropriate[midline: F(1, 48) = 10.68, p = 0.002, ηp 2 = 0.18; lateral: F(1, 48) = 7.37, p = 0.009, ηp 2 = 0.13]. However, for nonmusicians, no significant difference was found in this time window (ps > 0.1). During 300-750 ms, we found that the interaction between Subject, Vowel and Tone was significant in the midline, F(1, 48) = 6.66, p = 0.013, ηp 2 = 0.12, and lateral areas, F(1, 48) = 5.60, p = 0.022, ηp 2 = 0.10. Simple effect analysis indicated that for musicians, the inappropriate vowel elicited larger negativities than the appropriate vowel when the tone was inappropriate [midline: F(1, 48) = 5.14, p = 0.028, ηp 2 = 0.10; lateral: F(1, 48) = 2.92, p = 0.094, ηp 2 = 0.06], and the inappropriate tone elicited larger negativities than the appropriate tone when the vowel was inappropriate[midline: F(1, 48) = 12.94, p = 0.001, ηp 2 = 0.21; lateral: F(1, 48) = 9.65, p = 0.003, ηp 2 = 0.17]. However, for nonmusicians, the inappropriate vowel elicited larger negativities than the appropriate vowel when the tone was appropriate [midline: F(1, 48) = 15.07, p < 0.001, ηp 2 = 0.24; lateral: F(1, 48) = 12.04, p = 0.001, ηp 2 = 0.20], while the inappropriate tone elicited larger negativities than the appropriate tone when the vowel was appropriate[midline: F(1, 48) = 10.88, p = 0.002, ηp 2 = 0.19; lateral: F(1, 48) = 8.27, p = 0.006, ηp 2 = 0.15].
    In summary, the current study found that both musicians and non-musicians completed rhythm integrative processing at the end of sentence containing an earlier rhythm violation that was reflected by a late negative effect (during 300~750 ms). More importantly, through years of musical training, the musicians were more sensitive and faster at the integrative processing of rhythm information as reflected by an early positive component during 100~300 ms. In line with the behavioral data, the musicians developed increased sensitivity to tone variations during both early and late time windows. Taken together, both musicians and non-musicians completed the integrative processing of rhythm information at the end of quatrains, whereas the musicians were more sensitive and faster.

    Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics
    The effects of foreign language anxiety, nervousness and cognitive load on foreign language lying: Evidence from Chinese-English bilinguals
    ZHANG Jijia, LU Yutong, ZHANG Qirui, ZHANG Jinqiao
    2020, 52 (7):  861-873.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2020.00861
    Abstract ( 3599 )   HTML ( 303 )  
    PDF (4850KB) ( 5878 )   Peer Review Comments

    Lying is a common social behavior. When people lie, they are affected by many factors, such as cognitive load and nervousness. Therefore, people act differently when they are lying. Similar to lying, there are also differences in cognitive load and emotions when people speak their native language or a foreign language. When people are speaking a foreign language, the cognitive load and foreign language anxiety are greater than speaking their native language, especially for those with lower proficiency. Therefore, these factors might influence or interact with lying in speaking native or foreign languages. Former studies which observed skin conductance and pupil size have found that comparing to lying in their native language, there are more lying features when people lie in a foreign language. The current study aims to explore the differences in neural mechanism between Chinese-English bilinguals lying in Chinese and English, and focuses on the effects of two specific factors: cognitive load and emotion.
    The study of 34 Chinese-English bilinguals adopted the misstatement paradigm. During the experiment, participants were required to describe the pictures in Chinese and English on the screen according to the “truth” or “lie” instructions. The accuracy and EEG data were collected for analysis. Two ERP components were found in the study: P200 and CNV (Contingent Negative Variation). P200 is a positive potential that appears at around 200 ms after the stimulus is presented, and is often considered related with emotional arousal. In this study, P200 was used as an indicator for early anxiety. Larger P200 indicates greater anxiety. CNV occurs around 1000 ~ 1500 ms after the emergence stimulation. Larger CNV reflects heavier cognitive load and can be an indicator of lying.
    By observing P200 and CNV, the results are as follow: (1) Comparing with speaking Chinese, there was a lager P200 when Chinese-English bilinguals speak English, which indicated that speaking a foreign language aroused anxiety; (2) The P200s were not significantly different when lying and telling truth in English. However, the P200s were significantly different when lying and telling truth in Chinese, which indicated that comparing with speaking the native language, the tension induced by lying is not as great as speaking a foreign language; (3) Chinese-English bilinguals showed greater CNV when lying than telling truth, which suggested that lying contained heavier cognitive load than telling truth; (4) There was a larger CNV when Chinese-English bilinguals lied in English than in Chinese, which indicated that lying in a foreign language brought heavier cognitive load; (5) The results of correlation analysis showed that English proficiency was an important variable that affected those differences when lying in both native and foreign languages.
    The current study suggested that both cognitive load and emotion affected lying behavior in either the native or foreign language. Lying brings heavier cognitive load than telling truth, and lying in a foreign language brings heavier cognitive load than in the native language. Moreover, people are more anxious when speaking a foreign language than their native language, no matter when they are lying or telling truth. Foreign language anxiety takes so much cognitive load that the tension caused by lying is not significant when people lie in foreign language. Further research is suggested focusing more on the contribution and interactions of the factors which have effects on the process.

    Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics
    The influence of school assets on the development of well-being during early adolescence: Longitudinal mediating effect of intentional self-regulation
    CHANG Shumin, GUO Mingyu, WANG Jingmin, WANG Lingxiao, ZHANG Wenxin
    2020, 52 (7):  874-885.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2020.00874
    Abstract ( 6357 )   HTML ( 710 )  
    PDF (717KB) ( 9818 )   Peer Review Comments

    Well-being is an important aspect of an adolescent’s mental health, and it has been recognized as such by a majority of developmental psychologists. Relatively few studies, however, have examined the latent growth of well-being, particularly during early adolescence. School assets include the school environment, relationships with teachers, and the young person’s attitude toward school. Existing research has shown that school assets are closely related to the current and future levels of well-being of adolescents. However, little is known about the longitudinal mediating mechanism between two variables. The current study used latent growth curve modeling to examine developmental trends in school assets, intentional self-regulation and well-being, incorporating a three-wave longitudinal design. On this basis, a longitudinal mediation model was constructed to examine the effect and longitudinal mediation of the level and slope of intentional self-regulation between school assets and the development of well-being.
    A sample of 1214 school children (mean age = 12.89 years, SD = 0.51) was followed up for three years from the first year of junior high school to the third year of junior high school. In three waves, they anonymously filled out questionnaires regarding school assets, intentional self-regulation and well-being. All of the measures showed good reliability and validity. The adolescents’ socio-demographic information was collected at the first wave. We used SPSS 21.0 and Mplus 7.4 to analyze the data. A series of models were tested in the following sequence. First, we used the latent growth models to examine the development trend of each variable; second, we examined the effects of school assets on well-being by using the parallel process models; third, we used a longitudinal mediating model to examine the mediation hypothesis. In this model we first used a causal-step strategy to inspect the specific paths, and we used the bootstrap method to test the indirect effects.
    Results showed that, during early adolescence, school assets remained stable, self-regulation and well-being increased in a linear manner during the follow-up period, but, the higher the initial level, the slower the growth rate. After controlling for gender and district, the structural equation model showed that school assets had a positive effect on the level of well-being, but it could not directly predict the growth rate of well-being; School assets can indirectly affect the initial level of well-being through the initial level of intentional self-regulation.
    These findings suggest that early adolescence may be a critical period for the development of intentional self-regulation and well-being. They not only highlight the importance of school assets for the growth of intentional self-regulation and well-being during early adolescence, but also confirm the indirect role of the adolescent’s own developmental strength in the relationship between school assets and well-being.

    Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics
    Self-affirmation buffering by the general public reduces anxiety levels during the COVID-19 epidemic
    LI Shifeng, WU Yiling, ZHANG Fumin, XU Qiongying, ZHOU Aibao
    2020, 52 (7):  886-894.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2020.00886
    Abstract ( 7182 )   HTML ( 725 )  
    PDF (676KB) ( 10308 )   Peer Review Comments

    In December 2019, an outbreak of a novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) occurred in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. COVID-19 is characterised by fever and severe acute respiratory symptoms in early stages, which can rapidly progress to acute respiratory distress syndrome that is associated with high mortality. As of 9 February 2020, 40171 cases have been confirmed cumulatively and 23589 suspected cases were collected in China. The wide and rapid spread of COVID-19 has intensely captured public attention, leading to increased mental health stress. Timely mental health care and intervention during the outbreak of COVID-19 is urgently needed not only for confirmed or suspected patients and frontline medical workers, but also for the general public.
    Previous studies showed that af?rmation of personal values can buffer psychological stress responses in various threat situations. The goal of the present study was to investigate whether an intervention involving re?ection on personal values was capable of buffering psychological stress responses during the outbreak. We recruited 220 participants who completed a questionnaire on their personal values. Those in the self-affirmation group were asked to choose and write their thoughts and feelings of a personal value that made them feel important to themselves while those in the control condition were asked to do the same for a personal value that they thought was important to others. Both groups completed a Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) prior to and 7 days after intervention.
    We used two-way repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) to evaluate the buffer effect of value af?rmation on stress responses with time of assessment as a within-subjects factor and intervention group as a between-subjects factor for anxiety and depression. Our results revealed a significant relationship between time and intervention for the reduction of anxiety. Further simple effect analysis demonstrated that the control group showed heightened levels of anxiety 7 days after intervention compared with before, whereas participants who af?rmed their values did not show any increase. This effect remained significant after controlling for sex, age, educational level, and annual family income. However, no significant differences were found for depression.
    The present study demonstrates for the first time that an experimental intervention involving the af?rmation of personal values can buffer psychological stress response during the COVID-19 epidemic. Specifically, participants who affirmed their values did not show increased levels of anxiety compared with control participants. Self-affirmation is easy to accomplish since it does not require professional guidance or a distinct environment and occupies little time, it would be a convenient strategy for the public to cope with psychological stress during the outbreak.

    Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics
    The influence of social value orientation on self-other risk decision-making and its mechanisms
    ZHANG Yinling, YU Zhen, MAI Xiaoqin
    2020, 52 (7):  895-908.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2020.00895
    Abstract ( 6224 )   HTML ( 716 )  
    PDF (782KB) ( 8593 )   Peer Review Comments

    Previous studies on risk-taking behaviors in decision-making for oneself and others are inconsistent, possibly because previous studies have not considered the influence of decision-making situations and the interpersonal characteristics of decision-makers on their decision-making behaviors. Social value orientation (SVO) is a typical interpersonal trait. SVO refers to the social preferences of individuals when they allocate resources to themselves and others. Individuals can usually be divided into prosocials and proselfs according SVO. The purpose of the present study was to explore the impact of SVO on self-other risk decision-making and its mechanisms. The integrative model of SVO implies that prosocials care more about the effects of decision-making on others than proselfs. Therefore, we hypothesized that proselfs might be more comfortable with risk than prosocials in making decisions on behalf of others, and that the level of concern for the interests of others might mediate the SVO effects of decision-makers on self-other risk decisions.
    In the present study, the participants first filled out the SVO slider measure, then completed a mixed gambling game on the computer, and finally filled out the interpersonal reactivity index (IRI) that measures empathy. The mixed gambling game included 480 rounds of gambling, each with two options: the uncertainty option, and the certainty option with a result of 0. Choosing uncertainty meant gambling, while choosing certainty meant not gambling. Participants were asked to choose whether to gamble for themselves and strangers in different situations. Uncertainty options were 50% probability to win a certain value (potential gain value, G) and 50% probability of losing a certain value (potential loss value, L). The values of G {20, 22, ..., 50} and the values of L {20, 22, ..., 48} were paired to obtain 240 combinations, which were randomly divided into four groups. The independent variables were beneficiary (self/other) and SVO (proself/prosocial). There were three dependent variables: level of risk-taking, loss aversion, and the degree of concern for potential gains and losses.
    The results showed that prosocials exhibited similar risk-taking and sensitivity to potential gains and losses when making decisions for strangers, while proselfs showed more tolerance for risk-taking and less sensitivity to others’ gains and losses. Both prosocials and proselfs showed less loss aversion when making decisions for strangers than for themselves. The mediation-effect analysis indicated that the difference in self-other risk decision-making could be partially mediated by loss aversion and sensitivity to others’ potential losses, and the SVO effect on the differences in self-other risk decision-making could be partially mediated by the sensitivity to others’ potential losses.
    These findings suggest that SVO can affect self-other risk decision-making and that this effect may play a role through the degree of concern for the interests of others, which indicates that SVO in decision-makers affects behaviors in making decisions for strangers. Therefore, in future studies of self-other risk decisions, SVO should be taken into account in the interpersonal characteristics of decision makers.

    Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics
    The influence of weather and air pollution on honest behavior: A field experiment about lost wallets on campus
    ZHAO Yujie, GAO Yang, ZHOU Xinyue
    2020, 52 (7):  909-920.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2020.00909
    Abstract ( 8155 )   HTML ( 644 )  
    PDF (689KB) ( 10280 )   Peer Review Comments

    Honest behavior is a fundamental aspect of economic and social life. Although many countries have been committed to promoting civil honesty, there are still many dishonest behaviors that act as barriers to the development of society, such as broken promises, unenforced contracts and corrupt governments. In recent years, much research has been performed on the factors influencing people’s honest behaviors, such as social norms and emotions; however, these factors do not exist every time. The purpose of the current research was to explore how weather and air pollution influence honest behavior. We hypothesized that sunny weather would increase people’s honest behavior. In contrast, we hypothesized that air pollution would promote dishonest behavior.
    Two studies were conducted to test the hypotheses. In Study 1, we used second-hand experimental data published online. Cohn, Marécha, Tannenbaum and Zünd conducted field experiments to test the relationship between civil honesty and money worldwide, and the research was published in Science in 2019. They measured whether recipients contacted owners to return wallets. Weather and air pollution data, however, were not analyzed in their research. Considering the availability and different standards of many countries’ air pollution data, we used Chinese and American experimental data (N = 1400) and corresponding weather and air quality indexes to test the hypotheses. In Study 2, we used a quasi experiment to test the influence of weather and air pollution on honest behavior. We randomly left campus cards and money in classrooms before class and recorded the weather and air pollution conditions at three Chinese universities (N = 407). In addition, we used whether recipients took the campus card or money as an indicator of honest behavior. Moreover, different kinds of classes were included in this study since previous research indicated that different classes might affect students’ honest behavior.
    The results of Study 1 indicated that participants were more likely to contact the owner to return the wallet during sunny weather than during cloudy weather. In addition, air pollution also affected the participants’ honest behavior. The results indicated that the more serious the air pollution was, the less likely it was that people would voluntarily return the wallets. Study 2 further replicated this result and suggested that participants were more likely to take the campus card or money under cloudy weather and air pollution conditions. There was no significant difference among the classes in terms of honest behavior in this study. In conclusion, sunny weather promotes honest behavior, but air pollution reduces honest behavior.

    Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics