Effects Of Social Interactions Research Articles

Oral health related quality of life in pregnant and post partum women in two social network domains; predominantly home-based and work-based networks

BackgroundIndividuals connected to supportive social networks have better general and oral health quality of life. The objective of this study was to assess whether there were differences in oral health related quality of life (OHRQoL) between women connected to either predominantly home-based and work-based social networks.MethodsA follow-up prevalence study was conducted on 1403 pregnant and post-partum women (mean age of 25.2 ± 6.3 years) living in two cities in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Women were participants in an established cohort followed from pregnancy (baseline) to post-partum period (follow-up). All participants were allocated to two groups; 1. work-based social network group - employed women with paid work, and, 2. home-based social network group - women with no paid work, housewives or unemployed women. Measures of social support and social network were used as well as questions on sociodemographic characteristics and OHRQoL and health related behaviors. Multinomial logistic regression was performed to obtain OR of relationships between occupational contexts, affectionate support and positive social interaction on the one hand, and oral health quality of life, using the Oral Health Impacts Profile (OHIP) measure, adjusted for age, ethnicity, family income, schooling, marital status and social class.ResultsThere was a modifying effect of positive social interaction on the odds of occupational context on OHRQoL. The odds of having a poorer OHIP score, ≥4, was significantly higher for women with home-based social networks and moderate levels of positive social interactions [OR 1.64 (95% CI: 1.08-2.48)], and for women with home-based social networks and low levels of positive social interactions [OR 2.15 (95% CI: 1.40-3.30)] compared with women with work-based social networks and high levels of positive social interactions. Black ethnicity was associated with OHIP scores ≥4 [OR 1.73 (95% CI: 1.23-2.42)].ConclusionsPregnant and post-partum Brazilian women in paid employment outside the home and having social supports had better OHRQoL than those with home-based social networks.

Differential physiological responses of the German cockroach to social interactions during the ovarian cycle

In many animal species, social interactions can influence the morphology, physiology and behavior of individuals, including their rate of development and reproduction. Reproduction in cockroaches is regulated by juvenile hormone III (JH), and social interactions have been shown to accelerate female reproduction in the German cockroach, Blattella germanica (L.), by stimulating JH production. However, it is not clear in this or any other insect species whether social facilitation of the reproductive rate occurs throughout the ovarian cycle or only at certain stages. We compared the effects of social interactions during the pre-oviposition period (when JH production is high) and during gestation (when little JH is produced), as well as during the first ovarian cycle (when females are virgin) and the second ovarian cycle (after females had mated). Social interaction with one conspecific female was sufficient to accelerate JH production and oocyte maturation, but this effect was reversed by crowding. Social interactions also accelerated the onset of sexual receptivity in virgin females. However, social interactions failed to shorten gestation, suggesting that social cues stimulate JH production only when the corpora allata (CA) are active and not when CA activity is suppressed by the central nervous system. Females were most responsive to transient social isolation and transient social interactions when 2-3 days old, suggesting that they are particularly sensitive to social interactions when their CA become active. Overall, these results show that all JH-dependent events in the reproductive cycle of B. germanica females are under the strong influence of social interactions.

Estimating the Causal Effects of Social Interaction with Endogenous Networks

Identifying causal effects attributable to network membership is a key challenge in empirical studies of social networks. In this article, we examine the consequences of endogeneity for inferences about the effects of networks on network members' behavior. Using the House office lottery (in which newly elected members select their office spaces in a randomly chosen order) as an instrumental variable to estimate the causal impact of legislative networks on roll call behavior and cosponsorship decisions in the 105th–112th Houses, we find no evidence that office proximity affects patterns of legislative behavior. These results contrast with decades of congressional scholarship and recent empirical studies. Our analysis demonstrates the importance of accounting for selection processes and omitted variables in estimating the causal impact of networks.

Motives for volunteering are associated with mortality risk in older adults.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of motives for volunteering on respondents' mortality risk 4 years later. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine whether motives for volunteering predicted later mortality risk, above and beyond volunteering itself, in older adults from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. Covariates included age, gender, socioeconomic variables, physical, mental, and cognitive health, health risk behaviors, personality traits, received social support, and actual volunteering behavior. Replicating prior work, respondents who volunteered were at lower risk for mortality 4 years later, especially those who volunteered more regularly and frequently. However, volunteering behavior was not always beneficially related to mortality risk: Those who volunteered for self-oriented reasons had a mortality risk similar to nonvolunteers. Those who volunteered for other-oriented reasons had a decreased mortality risk, even in adjusted models. This study adds to the existing literature on the powerful effects of social interactions on health and is the first study to our knowledge to examine the effect of motives on volunteers' subsequent mortality. Volunteers live longer than nonvolunteers, but this is only true if they volunteer for other-oriented reasons.

Social isolation regulates task dependent interspecific aggression in the ant, Formica japonica

Event Abstract Back to Event Social isolation regulates task dependent interspecific aggression in the ant, Formica japonica Hitoshi Aonuma1* 1 Hokkaido University, Research Institute for Electronic Science, Japan Aggressive behavior is elicited in most of all animals for conflict not only among intraspecific animals but also among interspecific animals. Insects provide us great model system for investigation of the neuronal mechanisms underlying initiation of aggressive behavior. Insects show offensive and defensive aggressive behaviors as well as in vertebrates. In ants, offensive and defensive aggressions towards hetero-colonial intraspecific animals have been well studied. However, the neuronal mechanisms underlying the initiation of aggressive behavior are still lacking. Here, we focus on interspecific aggressive behavior and examine the role in aggressive behavior of brain biogenic amines in the ants, Formica japonica. This ant is one of the most common species in Japan. The colonies of this species are largely polygynous and contain thousands of workers and brood. F. japonica is a polyphagous and the foragers sometime hunt other small insects and take them into the nest as foods. The worker ants in a colony have different tasks, for example, nursing, nest maintenance, guard and foraging. In this study, predatory aggression towards a cricket as a prey was examined in the nest-builder, forager and guard. Behavior experiments demonstrate that interspecific aggressiveness was significantly higher in foragers and guards than nest-builders. Foragers and guards show predatory aggressive behavior towards crickets. They threated and attacked crickets. Usually they bite and captured crickets. However, nest-builders showed escape behavior without threating crickets. Interestingly, the interspecific aggressiveness was maintained by intraspecific interactions. In order to investigate effects of social interaction on workers’ aggressiveness, each worker was kept isolated socially. Social isolation for 6 hr decreased aggressiveness in foragers and guard, but increased in nest-builders. Foragers and guards that were kept socially isolated for 6 hr showed threat behavior but did not attack crickets. On the other hand, nest builders that were kept isolated for 6 hr showed threat behavior. Then, in order to investigate neuronal mechanisms underlying initiation of predatory aggressive behavior, the contents of brain biogenic amines in workers was examined using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with electrochemical detection (ECD). Octopamine (OA) level in the brain was significantly higher in foragers and in guards than in nest builders. Social isolation decreased brain OA level of foragers and guards but increased in the brain of nest-builders. Pharmacological experiments were then performed to examine if OA increases aggressiveness of the workers. Oral application of OA antagonist epinastine decreases aggressiveness of foragers. In contrast, oral application of OA increased aggressiveness of socially isolated foragers. These experiments strongly suggested that OA in the brain regulates task-dependent aggressive motivation in the ants. Acknowledgements This research was partly supported by grants-in-aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI) from the MEXT, Scientific Research on Priority Areas (Area No. 454) to H. Aonuma (No. 17075001) and from the JSPS to H. Aonuma (No. 23300113). Keywords: aggressive behavior, biogenic amine, Brain, Octopamine, social insect, Social Isolation Conference: Tenth International Congress of Neuroethology, College Park. Maryland USA, United States, 5 Aug - 10 Aug, 2012. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation (see alternatives below as well) Topic: Social Behavior Citation: Aonuma H (2012). Social isolation regulates task dependent interspecific aggression in the ant, Formica japonica. Conference Abstract: Tenth International Congress of Neuroethology. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnbeh.2012.27.00180 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 28 Apr 2012; Published Online: 07 Jul 2012. * Correspondence: Dr. Hitoshi Aonuma, Hokkaido University, Research Institute for Electronic Science, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-0812, Japan, aon@es.hokudai.ac.jp Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Hitoshi Aonuma Google Hitoshi Aonuma Google Scholar Hitoshi Aonuma PubMed Hitoshi Aonuma Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Does Mere Connection Lead to Social Interaction in Online Social Networks? An Empirical Investigation on Flickr.Com

Online social networks such as Twitter and Facebook have become increasingly popular. An interesting question is whether, once people become friends in these online social networks, they really influence each other. Although a stream of research has studied the social interaction effect, many of these studies employ a between-subjects design which complicates the identification of the effect. We address the question using a within-subjects design and a unique data set from Flickr.com, thereby reducing the identification challenge. Specifically, we examine whether people’s photo-marking decisions are influenced by their friends. Our findings reveal that friends do influence one another, though the influence is asymmetric: while an individual is more likely to mark a photo if her friends do so, she is much less affected if her friends take no action. We rule out one alternative explanation that this effect is driven by the influence of common friends. We show that the social interaction is enhanced by users’ offline closeness (measured by whether they live in the same country), but not affected by their characteristics in the social network. We also demonstrate the robustness of our findings against several assumptions made in the paper.

Competitiveness, cooperation, and strategic interaction. A classroom experiment on oligopoly

We run a classroom experiment on oligopoly with students enrolled on basic and medium level microeconomics courses. Students compete in a symmetric quantity setting environment. The experiment runs over an entire academic semester and is divided into 20 one-week rounds. We want to explore whether the effect of knowledge and social interaction between players modifies the cooperative and competitive behavior observed in similar experiments run in a lab. Our hypothesis is that players are socially influenced. Hence, individuals adjust behavior in a dynamic way aimed at maximizing profits, but also according to social pressures. Overall, we obtain different learning processes across academic levels and also slightly different behavior from that predicted by economic theory. We argue that students’ utility function depends not only on profit levels but also on social relationships. Moreover, we believe that the effect of reputation plays an important role in our framework.

Children's Development of Self-Regulation in Speech Production

Species-specific vocalizations fall into two broad categories: those that emerge during maturation, independent of experience, and those that depend on early life interactions with conspecifics. Human language and the communication systems of a small number of other species, including songbirds, fall into this latter class of vocal learning. Self-monitoring has been assumed to play an important role in the vocal learning of speech and studies demonstrate that perception of your own voice is crucial for both the development and lifelong maintenance of vocalizations in humans and songbirds. Experimental modifications of auditory feedback can also change vocalizations in both humans and songbirds. However, with the exception of large manipulations of timing, no study to date has ever directly examined the use of auditory feedback in speech production under the age of 4. Here we use a real-time formant perturbation task to compare the response of toddlers, children, and adults to altered feedback. Children and adults reacted to this manipulation by changing their vowels in a direction opposite to the perturbation. Surprisingly, toddlers' speech didn't change in response to altered feedback, suggesting that long-held assumptions regarding the role of self-perception in articulatory development need to be reconsidered.

Common oxytocin receptor gene ( OXTR ) polymorphism and social support interact to reduce stress in humans

The neuropeptide oxytocin has played an essential role in the regulation of social behavior and attachment throughout mammalian evolution. Because recent studies in humans have shown that oxytocin administration reduces stress responses and increases prosocial behavior, we investigated whether a common single nucleotide polymorphism (rs53576) in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) might interact with stress-protective effects of social support. Salivary cortisol samples and subjective stress ratings were obtained from 194 healthy male participants before, during, and after a standardized psychosocial laboratory stress procedure. Participants were randomly assigned either to prepare alone or to receive social support from their female partner or close female friend while preparing for the stressful task. Differential stress responses between the genotype groups were observed depending on the presence or absence of social support. Only individuals with one or two copies of the G allele of rs53576 showed lower cortisol responses to stress after social support, compared with individuals with the same genotype receiving no social support. These results indicate that genetic variation of the oxytocin system modulates the effectiveness of positive social interaction as a protective buffer against a stressful experience.

Oxytocin Mediates Social Neuroprotection After Cerebral Ischemia

The reduced incidence, morbidity, and mortality of stroke among humans with strong social support have been well-documented; however, the mechanisms underlying these socially mediated phenomena remain unknown, but may involve oxytocin (OT), a hormone that modulates some aspects of social behavior in humans and other animals. In the present study, adult male mice were socially isolated (housed individually) or socially paired (housed with an ovariectomized female); social pairing increased hypothalamic OT gene expression. To determine whether a causal relationship exists between increased OT and improved stroke outcome, mice were treated with exogenous OT or OT receptor antagonist beginning 1 week before induction of experimental stroke via middle cerebral artery occlusion. Relative to social isolation, social housing attenuated infarct size, neuroinflammation, and oxidative stress following experimental stroke; the neuroprotective effect of social housing was eliminated by receptor antagonist treatment. In contrast, administration of OT to socially isolated mice reproduced the neuroprotection conferred by social housing. We further report evidence for a direct suppressive action of OT on cultured microglia, which is a key instigator in the development of neuroinflammation after cerebral ischemia. These findings support the hypothesis that OT mediates the neuroprotective effect of social interaction on stroke outcome.

Effects of positive and negative social interactions with a close friend related stressful experiences on psychological well-being

Effects of positive and negative social interactions with a close friend related stressful experiences on psychological well-being

The effects of employee motivation, social interaction, and knowledge management strategy on KM implementation level

This study examines the influence of employee motivation (intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation), social interaction (interpersonal trust, openness in communication, and social reciprocity), and knowledge management (KM) strategy (codification knowledge strategy and personalization knowledge strategy) on KM implementation level. Based on a survey of 243 senior executives from large organizations in Taiwan, this study uses a structural equation modeling approach to investigate the research model. The results showed that employee motivation, social interaction, and KM strategy are closely related to level of KM implementation. However, codification knowledge strategy did not significantly influence KM implementation level. Given the importance of KM implementation in contemporary organizations and also in the future, the findings of this study are designed to enable business managers or policy-makers in formulating policies and targeting appropriate organizational enablers to support effective KM implementation. Implications for KM research and practice are discussed.

Source-specific effects of negative social interactions on depressive symptoms among Japanese women with fertility problems

It has previously been demonstrated that infertile women's negative social interactions (NSI) with members of their social network affect their psychological health. However, few studies have assessed the effects of NSI from different sources on infertile women's mental health. Therefore, this study aimed to examine relations between infertile Japanese women's depressive symptoms and NSI from different relationship sources (husband, parents, husband's parents, and friends and others). A cross-sectional questionnaire survey. A survey was conducted on Japanese women undergoing medical treatment for fertility problems in a clinic in the Kanto area. The questionnaire included four NSI scales (husband-NSI, parents-NSI, husband's parents-NSI, friends and others-NSI) developed for this study, the CES-D scale and other control variables. Questionnaires were distributed to 300 patients and 206 responses were received (response rate: 68.7%). The mean ( ± SD) CES-D score was 13.19 ± 9.56 and 31.5% of patients exceeded the cut-off point for depression. Frequencies of experiences of NSIs were not high. Each NSI scale showed a significant positive correlation with the CES-D. Multiple regression analyses indicated that friends and others-NSI, husband-NSI and husband's parents-NSI had significant positive correlations with CES-D (β = 0.21, P=0.003; β = 0.16, P=0.018; β = 0.14, P=0.043, respectively). The correlation with parents-NSI was not significant (β = 0.12 P=0.085). These findings indicate that NSI from the husband, husband's parents, and friends and others could be stressors for infertile women. In order to form a supportive social environment for women with fertility problems, it is necessary to reduce NSI from members of their social networks. Therefore, future research should investigate the thoughts of family members and friends toward infertile women.

Reply to Farrell: Improved individual estimation success can imply collective tunnel vision

Analyzing the data of the wisdom of crowd experiment by Lorenz et al. (1), Farrell (2) points out that information exchange improves individual estimates of answers to factual questions. He furthermore suggests that information exchange increases individual rewards and that this comes with an increase in confidence in their estimates. However, it has to be noted that individual rewards were revealed only after subjects specified their confidence. [This also shows that the reference to Danchin et al. (3) is not fitting, because in the foraging example, subjects were constantly aware of the external metric, namely the success of the foraging activities of other individuals.] Moreover, although the original experiment was designed to study social interaction effects, Farrell applies a psychological perspective. In fact, Farrell's commentary (2) focuses on individual-level effects, whereas Lorenz et al. (1) concentrated on group-level effects and show how aggregating micro-outcomes can lead to unexpected macro-level effects.

The social interaction effect on circadian rhythm of body temperature and locomotion activity captured through longitudinal monitoring by thermo-imagery sensor

The social interaction effect on circadian rhythm of body temperature and locomotion activity captured through longitudinal monitoring by thermo-imagery sensor

Effects of season and social interaction on fecal testosterone metabolites in wild male giant pandas: implications for energetics and mating strategies

In the first-ever study of reproductive endocrinology in wild male giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), we provide new insights into the reproductive ecology of the species. We tracked and observed pandas in Foping Nature Reserve of the Qinling Mountains for 3 years, collecting fecal samples for testosterone metabolite analysis and data on reproductive activity. Males encountered multiple potential mates and competed for reproductive access to females. Male testosterone metabolites increased in February, peaked in March and April, and fell back to baseline after the mating season. However, males did not maintain a high testosterone level throughout the mating season. Male testosterone instead peaked during encounters with potential mates and declined between encounters. These results indicate that testicular activity is typically dormant until mobilized by interactions with females and potentially by interactions with male competitors. This suggests that male pandas may be energetically constrained, elevating testosterone levels only when necessary to meet the demands of intrasexual competition and courtship and fertilization of females. Maintaining a high testosterone level is metabolically expensive and male pandas enter the mating season during a period of low food availability. If this hypothesis is correct, male panda body condition may be an important determinant of reproductive outcome, and anthropogenic activities that diminish foraging resources may have significant impacts on the mating ecology of the species, affecting its conservation.

Avian cognition and social interaction

The study of animal behavior, and particularly avian behavior, has advanced significantly in the past 50 years. In the early 1960s, both ethologists and psychologists were likely to see birds as simple automatons, incapable of complex cognitive processing. Indeed, the term “avian cognition” was considered an oxymoron. Avian social interaction was also seen as based on rigid, if sometimes complicated, patterns. The possible effect of social interaction on cognition, or vice versa, was therefore something almost never discussed. Two paradigm shifts—one concerning animal cognition and one concerning social interaction—began to change perceptions in, respectively, the early 1970s and 1980s, but only more recently have researchers actively investigated how these two areas intersect in the study of avian behavior. The fruits of such intersection can be seen in the various papers for this special issue. I provide some brief background material before addressing the striking findings of current projects. In some cases, researchers have adapted early classic methods and in other cases have devised new paradigms, but in all instances have demonstrated avian capacities that were once thought to be the exclusive domain of humans or at least nonhuman primates. Keywords: avian cognition; avian social learning; avian observational learning; avian communication

Mother and infant coordinate heart rhythms through episodes of interaction synchrony

Animal studies demonstrated the powerful impact of maternal-infant social contact on the infant's physiological systems, yet the online effects of social interactions on the human infant's physiology remain poorly understood. Mothers and their 3-month old infants were observed during face-to-face interactions while cardiac output was collected from mother and child. Micro-analysis of the partners’ behavior marked episodes of gaze, affect, and vocal synchrony. Time-series analysis showed that mother and infant coordinate heart rhythms within lags of less than 1 s. Bootstrapping analysis indicated that the concordance between maternal and infant biological rhythms increased significantly during episodes of affect and vocal synchrony compared to non-synchronous moments. Humans, like other mammals, can impact the physiological processes of the attachment partner through the coordination of visuo-affective social signals.

The dynamics of inter-node coordination in social networks: A theoretical perspective and empirical evidence

Scholars have paid little attention to the potential of analyzing social networks to conceptualize coordination in project management. This study uses the cybernetics theory and its related concepts to formulate the social and technical components of projects as a network of task-related social interactions within an organizational context. Interaction was defined as the variety or possible states one node generates for another node, while degree of coordination was defined as the extent to which a recipient node can handle the variety that interrelated nodes generate. To ground this discussion, a case study from a multinational pharmaceutical company (hereafter referred to as MPC) in which the above theoretical framework was used is presented.After collecting and analyzing data, Interaction Effectiveness (IE) was calculated based on the ratio of “helpful” to “not so helpful” behaviors between interrelated nodes. MPC's average organizational IE ratio of 1.03 was used as a baseline to determine the relative effectiveness of other nodes' interactions. The IE ratio also revealed two structural network properties. First, a departmental-level analysis indicated that most network relationships were asymmetrical (76.5%), reflecting a significant discrepancy in the perceptions between interrelated nodes. Second, the variability of IE ratios (standard deviation) ranged from 0.10 to 1.28, reflecting the degree of consistency among the relationships of each single node and its interrelated nodes. This study concludes that the overall effectiveness of task-related social interactions is a function how well variety and variety handling are aligned between any two interdependent nodes throughout the network.

Age related change in social behavior in children with Angelman syndrome

We investigated the relationship between age and laughing and smiling in children with Angelman syndrome. Twenty-four children with Angelman syndrome were exposed to three experimentally manipulated conditions: proximity only, restricted social interaction, and social interaction. Children smiled the most in the social interaction condition and the least in the proximity only condition confirming the effect of social interaction on these behaviors. There was a decline in smiling and laughing in the oldest group (13.4-15.9 years) only in the social interaction condition. This trajectory of a decline in resource soliciting behaviors with age is consistent with predictions based on kinship theory.