Abstract
Daily, we face a plenty of negative information that can profoundly affect our perception and behavior. During devastating events such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, negative messages may hinder reasoning at individual level and social decisions in the society at large. These effects vary across genders in neurotypical populations (being more evident in women) and may be even more pronounced in individuals with neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression. Here, we examine how negative information impacts reasoning on a social perception task in females with breast cancer, a life-threatening disease. Two groups of patients and two groups of matched controls (NTOTAL = 80; median age, 50 years) accomplished a psychometrically standardized social cognition and reasoning task receiving either the standard instruction solely or additional negative information. Performance substantially dropped in patients and matched controls who received negative information compared to those who did not. Moreover, patients with negative information scored much lower not only compared with controls but also with patients without negative information. We suggest the effects of negative information are mediated by the distributed brain networks involved in affective processing and emotional memory. The findings offer novel insights on the impact of negative information on social perception and decision making during life-threatening events, fostering better understanding of its neurobiological underpinnings.
Highlights
Every day we face a plenty of information with emotional relevance that we perceive as positive or negative
The present study examines whether and, if so, to what extent negative information affects social cognition and reasoning in a sample of females with a life-threatening disease such as primary breast cancer
Comparable adverse effects are documented in older healthy women, suggesting largely age-independent influence of negative information on social cognition and reasoning in females
Summary
Every day we face a plenty of information with emotional relevance that we perceive as positive or negative. By contrast, providing peer encouragement as a positive feedback to children prior to a challenging physical task is associated with more positive reports of self-efficacy and improved performance (e.g., Innes et al, 2020). During devastating events such as the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, negative messages are often unavoidable and may hinder problem solving at individual level and social decisions in the society at large. Recent data on the mental health burden in the German population during the COVID-19 pandemic indicates significantly increased symptoms of generalized anxiety (44.9%), depression (14.3%), psychological distress (65.2%), and fear (59%), with females and younger people reporting higher mental burden (Bäuerle et al, 2020). In the Turkish population (apart from a history of mental illness), being female has become a risk factor for anxiety and depression (Özdin and Bayrak Özdin, 2020)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
