Facets Of Social Behavior Research Articles

Hydrocortisone reduces altruistic punishment in healthy men

Psychosocial stress modulates social cognition and behavior in humans. One potentially mediating factor is cortisol as part of the human endocrine stress response. With a double-blind, placebo-controlled between-subject study design, we tested possible dose-dependent effects of hydrocortisone (0 mg, 5 mg and 20 mg) in 85 healthy males. During a socio-economic decision-making task we measured trust, trustworthiness, sharing, punishment, and non-social risk behavior. Social value orientation (SVO) was also assessed. We observed significantly lower levels of punishment after hydrocortisone, especially in the 20 mg group. Drug-induced salivary cortisol correlated negatively with punishment behavior. None of the other facets of social behavior or the SVO were affected by hydrocortisone. Our results suggest that hydrocortisone reduces the propensity to punish unfair behavior. Future studies are needed to further disentangle the role played by various psychobiological mechanisms within the stress response as well as their complex interplay on social behavior and cognition.

Longitudinal associations between internalizing symptoms, social behavior, and social perceptions in the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic: Findings from a transdiagnostic community sample

Background. Burgeoning evidence suggests that loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic is tied to high levels of depression and anxiety. The current study is unique, though, in examining which facets of social behavior and perceived social quality are most tied to internalizing symptoms using longitudinal data, including a pre-pandemic baseline, collected from a community sample of adults with pre-existing mental health concerns (analyzed n = 144). Methods. Participants completed measures of depressive and anxious symptoms pre-pandemic, followed by three weekly surveys during the pandemic. We distinguished four social variables: in-person social engagement, remote social engagement, social disruption, and social distress. OLS and mixed-effects regression models examined 1) pre-pandemic baseline symptoms as predictors of social functioning during the pandemic and 2) time-lagged associations between symptoms and social functioning during the pandemic. Results. Social behavior and social perceptions were dissociable. Baseline depressive, but not anxious, symptoms predicted greater social distress during the pandemic. Both anxious and depressive symptoms were predicted by social variables, but the specific associations differed: depressive symptoms were related to perceived social quality, whereas anxious symptoms were more tied to reported social behavior. Limitations. We relied on self-report indices, and causality should not be inferred directly from these correlational data. Conclusions. Overall, our results indicate that it is possible to follow social guidelines and even to spend relatively few hours socializing with close others, while still feeling connected and rewarded; however, people who struggle with depression and anhedonia were particularly vulnerable to distressing feelings of social disconnection amid the pandemic.

Social decision making in narcissism: Reduced generosity and increased retaliation are driven by alterations in perspective-taking and anger

Narcissism can lead to various interpersonal problems. However, the characteristics of social decision making in trait narcissism and the cognitive and affective underpinnings are poorly understood. We employed established game theoretical paradigms to investigate different facets of social behavior in participants (N=122; 41 female, mean age=30years) with a wide range of scores on the Pathological Narcissistic Inventory. Interpersonal traits, attitudes, and emotions were assessed as potential mediators of behavioral differences. High narcissism scores were related to lower generosity, especially when this could result in being punished. This maladaptive behavior was fully mediated by reduced perspective-taking abilities in narcissism. Also, narcissism scores predicted higher levels of punishment behavior, driven by higher levels of experienced anger. Hence, the difficulties narcissists face in interactions may be due to their reduced perspective-taking skills and resulting reduced generosity as well as enhanced anger-based retaliation behavior.

Editorial: What Determines Social Behavior? Investigating the Role of Emotions, Self-Centered Motives, and Social Norms.

In the last decade, a growing research effort in behavioral sciences, especially psychology and neuroscience, has been invested in the study of the cognitive, biological, and evolutionary foundations of social behavior. Differently from the case of sociology, which studies social behavior also at the group level in terms of organizations and structures, psychology and neuroscience often define “social” as a feature of the individual brain that allows an efficient interaction with conspecifics, and thus constitutes a possible evolutionary advantage (Matusall). In this view, an extremely wide range of mental and neural processes can be classified as “social,” from the coding of relevant sensory stimuli about conspecifics (facial expressions, gestures, vocalizations, etc.), to the selection and planning of behavioral responses in complex interpersonal settings (economic transactions, negotiations, etc.). Despite such heterogeneity, there is a converging interest in the scientific community toward the identification of neural and psychological mechanisms that underlie all the many facets of social behavior, and their comparison across species and cultures. This Research Topic was initiated by researchers from the Swiss National Center of Competence in Research “Affective Sciences—Emotions in Individual Behaviour and Social Processes,” a multidisciplinary institution devoted to the study of affect-related processes across various disciplines (from psychology and neuroscience through to history, philosophy, art, and economy). In keeping with this spirit, this Research Topic comprehends 38 contributions from an interdisciplinary community each addressing specific psychological and neural phenomena that can be defined as “social.” In particular, we collected both theoretical and empirical contributions, concerning animals, human individuals (neurotypical adults and children, but also individuals with neurological, psychiatric and developmental disorders) as well as human groups, engaged in either laboratory-controlled settings or real-life situations. Although the theoretical models and the applied research techniques (psychophysical, physiological, neuroimaging, genetic) are very diverse, they converge with a global framework suggesting that the determinants of social behavior can be described across two independent dimensions: (1) a personal-to-environmental dimension, and (2) a transient-to-stable dimension. These contributions thus represent an important cornerstone for building an interdisciplinary and comprehensive model of how individuals deal with the complexity of their social environment.

Sociality, Pathogen Avoidance, and the Neuropeptides Oxytocin and Arginine Vasopressin

Both humans and nonhumans have evolved a variety of mechanisms to recognize pathogen threat and a variety of adaptive behavioral responses to minimize exposure to it. Because social interactions facilitate the spread of infection among individuals, the ability to recognize and avoid infected and potentially infected individuals is crucial. The neuropeptides oxytocin (OT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) are involved in mediating various facets of social behavior, including social recognition and responses to salient social threats. Results of studies with rodents have revealed that OT and AVP are also associated with the olfactory-mediated recognition and avoidance of actually or potentially infected individuals. The evidence reviewed here suggests that OT and AVP likely play parallel roles in modulating the recognition and avoidance of socially relevant pathogen threat in both humans and rodents.

Optimization of Laboratory Conditions for the Study of Social Behavior

Social behavior--an action directed toward, or in response to, a member of the same species--is tightly regulated but also highly plastic. It is influenced by many internal (e.g., age, hormonal state, and experience) and external (e.g., time of day, availability of food, encounters with conspecifics) factors. The study of social behavior in the laboratory can be challenging because many facets of social behavior are optimally expressed under specific circumstances. In addition, social behavior is particularly sensitive to environmental factors that are affected by routine animal husbandry. The goal of this article is to review for new investigators and for animal facility staff the major factors that can affect animals' social behavior in the laboratory in order to optimize conditions for the laboratory analysis of social behavior. The authors outline a basic theoretical foundation about the study of social behavior, including the concept of umwelt, an animal's subjective sensory world. They then briefly describe some of the most commonly studied social behaviors and a few examples of the basic methods to analyze these social behaviors. They discuss the potential effects of a facility's husbandry practices on social behavior and how to control these factors as well as possible, with suggestions of several new standard operating procedures toward this end. Although this paper focuses on rodents, the general principles apply to all species. The authors hope that the reader will consider all these factors when designing experiments or working in the animal facility.

Dependent and self-critical depressive experiences among inner-city adolescents.

The Adolescent Depressive Experiences Questionnaire was administered to 142 inner-city ninth graders. Based on theory, several potential correlates of dependency and self-criticism were selected for study, including depression, aspects of anxiety, locus of control, and facets of social behavior. Self-criticism showed stronger associations with depression and concerns about losing others' approval, while dependency showed stronger associations with diffuse tension and worry and sensitivity to others' behavior. The two depressive tendencies had comparable associations with physiological anxiety and external locus of control. These findings are discussed in terms of current perspectives on the symptomatic heterogeneity of depressive experiences.

Socialization, n Achievement, and Achievement Values

In this paper, data have been presented to illustrate the utility of looking at the relationship of fathers' career mobility and intergenerational mobility. Extending the usual consideration in intergenerational mobility studies of an origin class to include the father's career mobility may well refine the relationships observed between intergenerational mobility and such facets of social behavior as fertility, voting, and mental illness. It is my contention that consideration of the father's career at at least two points, can illuminate the role played by the family in the social stratification process. While the number of observation points along careers considered in studies of intergenerational mobility will not be directly related to the amount of insight gained into the social stratification process, the point of diminishing returns can be determined only by future research. The data and analysis presented in this paper raise more questions than they answer, but they lead to the suggestion that documentation of an origin class may be a research anachronism in a highly mobile society.