Action Tendencies Research Articles

A Ubiquitous Model of Emotional Tracking in Virtual Classes: From Simple Emotions to Learning Action Tendency

A Ubiquitous Model of Emotional Tracking in Virtual Classes: From Simple Emotions to Learning Action Tendency

Factors Influencing the Likelihood of Alcohol and Tobacco Use in Adolescent Athletes: Type of Sport, Age, and Action Tendencies in Sport.

This article proposes a new approach to understand substance use among adolescent athletes. Thus, this article describes an investigation of the likelihood of alcohol and tobacco use in adolescent athletes considering the type of sport, age, gender, and their action tendencies. A total of 552 athletes with an age range of 12-16 years were engaged in medium-high-contact sports (n = 291) and non-contact sports (n = 261). They completed the Children's Action Tendency Scale, the Sport Children's Action Tendency Scale, and the Personal and Social Responsibility Questionnaire. The results showed that 16-year-old athletes were the most likely to drink alcohol and to smoke tobacco (p < 0.001). Likewise, it was found that practicing a medium-high-contact sport was a risk factor for alcohol and tobacco use (p < 0.01). The more aggressive athletes were more likely to have smoked tobacco during the last month (p = 0.019) and also to drink more alcohol that the less aggressive ones (p < 0.001). Finally, the athletes who showed more submissiveness were less likely to have drunk alcohol in the last year and the last month (p < 0.001). These findings show the predictive value of new factors associated with alcohol and tobacco use among adolescent athletes. Preventive measures should be targeted, since a new link between the action tendencies in sport and substance use has been found.

Emotional Dysregulation is the Core Problem in Psychopathological Manifestations.

The established opinion is that emotions are the gift given to us by nature in order to help us connect with other people. They are constantly generated, usually by stimuli in our intrapersonal as well as in external world. Problems raised in our relationships initiate emotions to help us to fix those problems. Almost all forms of human psychopathology are associated with dysregulated emotions. The failure to apply appropriate cognitive, attentive, and behavioural regulatory strategies is the core for emotion dysregulation. The brain regulates emotions through a biological mechanism. Emotions rise in intensity, peak, and then go flat once the emotion adaptive action tendency has been expressed. The aim of the therapist is to help clients express, face, and regulate their emotions, and to channel these emotions into healthy actions. The idea of this article is to present contributions from both affective neuroscience and psychotherapy in order to explain the ways how our emotions become dysregulated in life and how they can become regulated through psychotherapy.

Are Self-transcendent Emotions One Big Family? An Empirical Taxonomy of Positive Self-transcendent Emotion Labels

In the past decade, there has been a growing amount of research on so-called self-transcendent emotions, mainly in the domain of positive emotions. However, most candidate self-transcendent emotions (e.g., Awe, Gratitude, Being Moved, Wonder) have been studied in isolation, leaving the commonalities and the differences of their phenomenology unknown. In the present paper, we sought to identify the phenomenological nature of main families of self-transcendent emotions. We drew on two large datasets (N1 = 3,113; N2 = 1,443) in which participants had to recall an emotional episode or to watch emotional videos and had to report their emotions through a list of 40 emotion labels. Participants were also presented with a large list of items probing their cognitive appraisals, bodily feelings, and action tendencies. Using a principal component analysis, we identified three main dimensions of positive emotions: hedonic, social, and epistemic states. Candidate self-transcendent emotions were distributed across two dimensions, suggesting that at least two main different families of self-transcendent emotions should be distinguished. Our results also allowed us to identify self-reported cognitive appraisals, bodily feelings, and action tendencies characteristic of each family.

Feeling Revengeful

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Moral judgment under uncertainty: A CNI model analysis

AbstractPast research suggests that uncertainty reduces our preference for utilitarian over deontological responses in moral dilemmas. The objective of the current research was to disentangle the possible mechanisms through which uncertainty shapes moral‐dilemma responses. Using the CNI model of moral decision‐making, we examined if uncertainty influences moral‐dilemma responses via sensitivity to consequences, sensitivity to moral norms, or general action tendencies. Across four preregistered experiments (N = 1400), sensitivity to consequences was lower when the outcomes in moral dilemmas were uncertain than when they were certain. This effect emerged regardless of whether participants were asked to judge if they would perform the described actions or if they deem the described actions acceptable. The results are consistent with accounts suggesting that uncertain outcomes influence responses in moral dilemmas through discounting of cost‐benefit ratios. Implications for public policy and moral decisions in real‐world contexts are discussed.

Towards the self and away from the others: evidence for self-prioritization observed in an approach avoidance task.

Processing advantages arising from self-association have been documented across various stimuli and paradigms. However, the implications of "self-association" for affective and social behavior have been scarcely investigated. The approach-avoidance task (AAT) offers an opportunity to investigate whether the privileged status of the "self" may also translate into differential evaluative attitudes toward the "self" in comparison to "others". In the current work, we first established shape-label associations using the associative-learning paradigm, and then asked the participants to engage in an approach-avoidance task to test whether attitudinal differences induced on the account of self-association lead to participants having different approach-avoidance tendencies toward the "self-related" stimuli relative to the "other-related" stimuli. We found that our participants responded with faster approach and slower avoidance tendencies for shapes associated with the "self" and slower approach and faster avoidance tendencies for the shapes associated with the "stranger." These results imply that "self-association" may lead to positive action tendencies toward "self-associated" stimuli, and at the same time lead to neutral or negative attitudes toward stimuli not related to the "self". Further, as the participants responded to self-associated vs. other-associated stimuli cohorts, these results may also have implications for the modulation of social group-behaviors in favor of those like the self and against those in contrast to the self-group.

The Neural Signatures of Shame, Embarrassment, and Guilt: A Voxel-Based Meta-Analysis on Functional Neuroimaging Studies

Self-conscious emotions, such as shame and guilt, play a fundamental role in regulating moral behaviour and in promoting the welfare of society. Despite their relevance, the neural bases of these emotions are uncertain. In the present meta-analysis, we performed a systematic literature review in order to single out functional neuroimaging studies on healthy individuals specifically investigating the neural substrates of shame, embarrassment, and guilt. Seventeen studies investigating the neural correlates of shame/embarrassment and seventeen studies investigating guilt brain representation met our inclusion criteria. The analyses revealed that both guilt and shame/embarrassment were associated with the activation of the left anterior insula, involved in emotional awareness processing and arousal. Guilt-specific areas were located within the left temporo-parietal junction, which is thought to be involved in social cognitive processes. Moreover, specific activations for shame/embarrassment involved areas related to social pain (dorsal anterior cingulate and thalamus) and behavioural inhibition (premotor cortex) networks. This pattern of results might reflect the distinct action tendencies associated with the two emotions.

Together we will rise? Perceptions of instrumentality and normalization as motivations for joint collective action among the disadvantaged

The current research examines joint collective action between advantaged and disadvantaged groups, from the perspective of the latter. We hypothesize that joint action poses a dilemma which lies in the tension between perceived instrumentality of joint action (i.e., ability to promote the disadvantaged’s goals) and perceived normalization (i.e., its tendency to blur power relations). We test this idea across three studies in the United States and Israel/Palestine. In Study 1 ( n = 361) we manipulated perceptions of joint action from the perspective of a hypothetical character, and in Study 2 ( n = 378) we presented participants with an article highlighting the risk and benefit of joint activism. Results showed that perceived instrumentality increases, whereas perceived normalization decreases joint action tendencies. In Study 3 ( n = 240), we described a joint action event that taps into some of the themes that induce concerns about normalization. We found that normalization perceptions feed into perceptions of instrumentality, and this occurred mainly among high identifiers, for whom the dilemma is most salient. The implications of these findings for understanding the complexity of joint collective action from the perspective of the disadvantaged are discussed.

Assessment of the Pharmacokinetics, Disposition, and Duration of Action of the Tumour-Targeting Peptide CEND-1

CEND-1 (iRGD) is a bifunctional cyclic peptide that can modulate the solid tumour microenvironment, enhancing the delivery and therapeutic index of co-administered anti-cancer agents. This study explored CEND-1's pharmacokinetic (PK) properties pre-clinically and clinically, and assessed CEND-1 distribution, tumour selectivity and duration of action in pre-clinical tumour models. Its PK properties were assessed after intravenous infusion of CEND-1 at various doses in animals (mice, rats, dogs and monkeys) and patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer. To assess tissue disposition, [3H]-CEND-1 radioligand was administered intravenously to mice bearing orthotopic 4T1 mammary carcinoma, followed by tissue measurement using quantitative whole-body autoradiography or quantitative radioactivity analysis. The duration of the tumour-penetrating effect of CEND-1 was evaluated by assessing tumour accumulation of Evans blue and gadolinium-based contrast agents in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) mouse models. The plasma half-life was approximately 25 min in mice and 2 h in patients following intravenous administration of CEND-1. [3H]-CEND-1 localised to the tumour and several healthy tissues shortly after administration but was cleared from most healthy tissues by 3 h. Despite the rapid systemic clearance, tumours retained significant [3H]-CEND-1 several hours post-administration. In mice with HCC, the tumour penetration activity remained elevated for at least 24 h after the injection of a single dose of CEND-1. These results indicate a favourable in vivo PK profile of CEND-1 and a specific and sustained tumour homing and tumour penetrability. Taken together, these data suggest that even single injections of CEND-1 may elicit long-lasting tumour PK improvements for co-administered anti-cancer agents.

Study protocol for approach bias retraining for nicotine addiction among dual combustible and electronic cigarette users

BackgroundElectronic cigarette (ECIG) use has become a popular method for nicotine delivery. Combustible cigarette (CC) cessation or reduction are the primary reasons for ECIG uptake among adults. Yet, most CC smokers who initiate ECIG use do not fully transition from CC to ECIG, despite intending to quit CC completely. Retraining approach bias, or the approach action tendency toward stimuli related to the substance of interest, has been effective in alcohol and CC use treatments. However, approach bias retraining for both CC and (ECIG) users has not been explored. Therefore, the objective of the study is to evaluate the initial efficacy of approach bias retraining among dual CC and ECIG users. MethodsEligible dual CC/ECIG using adults (N = 90) will complete a phone-screener, baseline assessment, 4 treatment sessions over 2 weeks, ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) post-intervention, and follow-ups at 4- and 6-week post-intervention. Participants will be assigned to one of three conditions at baseline: (1) CC + ECIG retraining; (2) CC only retraining; and (3) sham retraining. Participants will engage in a self-guided quit attempt to abstain from all nicotine products starting at treatment session 4. ConclusionsThe study may lead to a more effective treatment for at-risk nicotine users while simultaneously isolating explanatory mechanisms. The findings should guide advances in the theoretical conceptualization of nicotine addiction for dual users and mechanisms involved in maintaining and abstaining from CC and ECIG, and provide initial effect size data for a brief intervention, thus providing necessary data for a large-scale follow-up trial.Clinical Trials ID: NCT05306158

Remote virtual reality assessment elucidates self-blame-related action tendencies in depression

BackgroundAction tendencies are implicit cognitive and motivational states before an action is taken, such as feeling like hiding when experiencing shame or guilt, independent of the actions people decide to take. Such “action tendencies” are key to understanding the maladaptive impact of self-blame in depression. For example, feeling like “hiding” in a text-based task was previously associated with recurrence risk in remitted depression. Despite their functional importance, action tendencies have not been systematically investigated in current depression, which was the aim of this pre-registered study. MethodsWe developed and validated the first virtual reality (VR) assessment of blame-related action tendencies and compared current depression (n = 98) with control participants (n = 40). The immersive VR-task, pre-programmed on devices sent to participants’ homes, used hypothetical social interactions, in which either participants (self-agency) or their friend (other-agency) were described to have acted inappropriately. ResultsCompared with controls, people with depression showed a maladaptive profile: particularly in the other-agency condition, rather than feeling like verbally attacking their friend, they were prone to feeling like hiding, and punishing themselves. Interestingly, feeling like punishing oneself was associated with a history of self-harm but not suicide attempts. ConclusionsCurrent depression and self-harm history were linked with distinctive motivational signatures, paving the way for remote VR-based stratification and treatment.

Temporin-GHb-Derived Peptides Exhibit Potent Antibacterial and Antibiofilm Activities against Staphylococcus aureus In Vitro and Protect Mice from Acute Infectious Pneumonia.

With the continuous development of drug resistance in bacteria to traditional antibiotics, the demand for novel antibacterial agents is urgent. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are promising candidates because of their unique mechanism of action and low tendency to induce drug resistance. Previously, we cloned temporin-GHb (hereafter referred to simply as "GHb") from Hylarana guentheri. In this study, a series of derived peptides were designed, namely, GHbR, GHbK, GHb3K, GHb11K, and GHbK4R. The five derived peptides had stronger antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus than the parent peptide GHb and could effectively inhibit the formation of biofilms and eradicate mature biofilms in vitro. GHbR, GHbK, GHb3K, and GHbK4R exerted bactericidal effects by disrupting membrane integrity. However, GHb11K exhibited bacteriostatic efficacy with toroidal pore formation on the cell membrane. In comparison to GHbK4R, GHb3K showed much lower cytotoxicity against A549 alveolar epithelial cells, with an IC50 > 200 μM, which was much higher than its minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC = 3.1 μM) against S. aureus. The anti-infection potential of GHbK4R and GHb3K was investigated in vivo. Compared with vancomycin, the two peptides displayed significant efficacy in a mouse model of acute pneumonia infected with S. aureus. Both GHbK4R and GHb3K also had no obvious toxicity to normal mice after intraperitoneal administration (15 mg/kg) for 8 days. Our results indicate that GHb3K and GHbK4R might be promising candidates for the treatment of bacterial pneumonia infected with S. aureus.

Combined effects of intrinsic and goal relevances on attention and action tendency during the emotional episode.

Recent work on emotional attention suggests that attention is prioritized toward stimuli that are intrinsically relevant and toward events that are conducive to momentaneous important goals. The appraisal of intrinsic relevance and goal relevance is aimed to alert individuals to the presence of events that may require action that could affect their well-being and is part of the process that leads to an emotional episode. However, to our knowledge, no empirical data has yet highlighted how precisely intrinsic and goal relevances combine with each other to trigger attentional biases. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that intrinsic and goal relevances have multiplicative effects on attention and trigger action tendency. To this end, participants appraised the level of intrinsic relevance, goal relevance and action tendency associated with 4 stimuli (2 related to hunger and 2 to thirst), before performing a dot-probe task in which these stimuli were in competition. We observed that intrinsic and goal relevances appraisals had indeed multiplicative effects on attention. In addition, the action tendency reported by participants was best predicted when intrinsic and goal relevances were considered together. These results show the importance of considering both intrinsic and goal relevances in research on emotion and attention. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Social-functional characteristics of Chinese terms translated as “shame” or “guilt”: a cross-referencing approach

ABSTRACT Previous research has found a rich lexicon of shame and guilt terms in Chinese, but how comparable these terms are to “shame” or “guilt” in English remains a question. We identified eight commonly used Chinese terms translated as “shame” and “guilt”. Study 1 assessed the Chinese terms’ intensities, social characteristics, and action tendencies among 40 Chinese speakers. Testing term production in the reverse direction, Study 2 asked another Chinese-speaking sample (N = 85) to endorse emotion terms in response to eight eliciting scenarios generated using each term’s social characteristics from Study 1. A native English-speaking sample (N = 83) was also included to examine the production of English emotion terms and compare motivational tendencies cross-culturally. Using this cross-referencing method, we found that some of the Chinese terms shared similar social-functional characteristics to their English translation, but some had distinct profiles. The two large shame-like and guilt-like term categories yielded in Study 1 were replicated in Study 2’s Chinese term-production task where larger-scale correspondences between categorised elicitors and term clusters were found. Meanwhile, English speakers’ term use provided further evidence for the equivalence between some Chinese terms and “shame” or “guilt” both in terms of their social and motivational characteristics.

Freely-chosen positive intergroup imagery causes improved outgroup emotions and encourages increased contact seeking immediately and at follow-up

In two ethnic contexts, we focus on volitional imagined contact as a potential method to increase individuals’ readiness to voluntarily initiate intergroup contact and engage in responses with implications for reconciliation. In Study 1, we used a quasi-experimental design to determine the causal role of volitional (vs. non-volitional) valenced imagined contact with a refugee on downstream processes. Irrespective of volition, positive visualizations led to more positive outgroup emotions, action tendencies, and contact seeking; however, manipulated volition amplified the differential impact of valenced contact on outgroup emotions: negative contact was more detrimental when freely chosen, than forced, whereas positive contact was equally beneficial irrespective of volition. Study 2 investigated factors driving individuals’ choices for positive (vs. negative) imagined contact in conflict-laden Cyprus and assessed immediate and longer-term consequences of such choices for interethnic contact seeking. In both studies, participants chose to engage in imagined contact of a valence that aligned with their prior contact histories consistent with an evaluative fit mechanism. Volitional valenced imagery predicted participants’ active and self-initiated contact seeking immediately and after a 2-week period. Hence, volitional intergroup imagery as a “mental contact script” prepares individuals for actual intergroup contact and behaviors with implications for intergroup reconciliation and cohesion.

Research on retail Buyers’ emotional quotient with focus on transactions on the National Stock Exchange

Investment decision is one of the most essential factors in today’s stock market. People make investment decisions based on different fundamental and technical tools. There are various factors which affect the investor towards investment, but one of the important factors which affect the investor is their emotional intelligence. So, the present study focuses on the how emotional intelligence influences the investment decision. This study is based on the emotional intelligence of investors so that the market can know the beat of the speculator and continue as required. The data was collected from 930 investors who make investment in NSE in Andhra Pradesh. The data was analyzed with the help of correlation analysis. The study reveals that there is a positive relation among the various dimensions of emotional intelligence and investment decisions. This study will help the investment advisors to advise the investors to invest according to their emotional intelligence capability. The usual actuality for stock market investments is subject to not only in making investment decisions in high volatile market circumstances and informational haziness but also by the need to be meticulous in earning something on a consistent basis. The substantial reason is the emotions are part of the evolved mental processes; human beings have for managing uncertainty and competition. Words expressing emotions and feelings such as Dissatisfied, Depressed, Sad, Happy, Cheerful, Satisfied, Fear, Worry, Disappointment, and Trust similarly succeed in the interview scheduling sessions with respondents. Different emotions can be sensed through their connected action tendencies. Fear is, for example, associated with the inclination for flight and love with the trend for an approach. The market moves against the investor. Having never stared at unrealized losses, tell themselves that all their ideas will eventually work. This research examined the relationship between risk-taking behaviour and high levels of extraversion

Linking perceived overqualification to work withdrawal, employee silence, and pro-job unethical behavior in a Chinese context: the mediating roles of shame and anger

Using appraisal theories of emotions as the theoretical basis, we delineate how perceived overqualification relates to work withdrawal, employee silence, and pro-job unethical behavior through the mediating effects of discrete emotions (i.e., shame and anger). We suggest that perceived overqualification is positively associated with shame and ultimately work withdrawal and employee silence, and it has a positive effect on pro-job unethical behavior through the mediating role of anger as well as the serial mediating effect of shame and anger. Data from a three-wave, time-lagged survey of 225 full-time employees in China, provides support for our theoretical model and hypotheses. Taken together, our results suggest that discrete emotional states can help to interpret how and why overqualified employees exhibit distinct action tendencies. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings.

The Philosophy of Envy

<i>The Philosophy of Envy</i>

Savremeni pristup menadžmentu kao faktor efikasnog funkcionisanja dječijih vrtića

The provision of open opportunities, the acquisition of experiences where it is possible to develop the capacities of the child's personality and their potential in the period of early age are elements on which his future activities, opportunities and functioning as an active member of society will depend. Through communication, children of pre-school age gain freedom of speech, are independent, learn to navigate different situations, are creative, inquisitive, curious, and this way contributes to the development of dispositions for active action and learning. Quality preschool upbringing and education should be based on this development of preschool children, on the competence of educators, active participation of parents of children in the organization of work and life of their children, and other systems with the aim of progressive changes. All these systems condition the presence of managers in all educational institutions, including kindergartens. We see the development plan and program as an opportunity to raise awareness of the value of the system of organizing educational work in kindergartens, as well as the joint activities of all factors that participate in the process of raising and educating preschool children, through the prism of management in kindergartens.