Individual-level Differences Research Articles

Microbial diversity and antimicrobial resistance in faecal samples from acute medical patients assessed through metagenomic sequencing.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a threat to global public health. However, unsatisfactory approaches to directly measuring the AMR burden carried by individuals has hampered efforts to assess interventions aimed at reducing selection for AMR. Metagenomics can provide accurate detection and quantification of AMR genes within an individual person's faecal flora (their gut "resistome"). Using this approach, we aimed to test the hypothesis that differences in antimicrobial use across different hospitals in the United Kingdom will result in observable differences in the resistome of individual patients. Three National Health Service acute Hospital Trusts with markedly different antibiotic use and Clostridioides difficile infection rates collected faecal samples from anonymous patients which were discarded after C. difficile testing over a period of 9 to 15 months. Metagenomic DNA was extracted from these samples and sequenced using an Illumina NovaSeq 6000 platform. The resulting sequencing reads were analysed for taxonomic composition and for the presence of AMR genes. Among 683 faecal metagenomes we found huge variation between individuals in terms of taxonomic diversity (Shannon Index range 0.10-3.99) and carriage of AMR genes (Median 1.50 genes/cell/sample overall). We found no statistically significant differences in diversity (median Shannon index 2.16 (IQR 1.71-2.56), 2.15 (IQR 1.62-2.50) and 2.26 (IQR 1.55-2.51)) or carriage of AMR genes (median 1.37 genes/cell/sample (IQR 0.70-3.24), 1.70 (IQR 0.70-4.52) and 1.43 (IQR 0.55-3.71)) at the three trusts respectively. This was also the case across the sample collection period within the trusts. While we have not demonstrated differences over place or time using metagenomic sequencing of faecal discards, other sampling frameworks may be more suitable to determine whether organisational level differences in antibiotic use are associated with individual-level differences in burden of AMR carriage.

Evaluation of disparities in impact of mental health intensive case management on 6-month symptoms, functioning, and quality of life between black and white veterans diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Substantial health disparities have been reported between Black and White Americans diagnosed with schizophrenia. The nature and extent of these disparities among individuals receiving services in an equal-access health care system remains understudied. The purpose of this study was to examine disparities in enrollment characteristics, service delivery and clinical outcomes between Black and White veterans diagnosed with schizophrenia who received care in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), an equal-access health care system. National program evaluation data from the VHA Intensive Community Mental Health Recovery (ICMHR) program were used to evaluate disparities between 2436 Black and 3565 White veterans who enrolled between 1999 and 2013. Veterans and case managers completed measures of sociodemographic factors, clinical history, clinical characteristics, and justice system involvement at enrollment and six months. Chi square and ANOVAs were used to evaluate enrollment and service delivery differences. Six-month changes were evaluated using multiple regression controlling for potentially confounding baseline characteristics. Effect sizes were evaluated with Cohen's d. Results indicated differences between Black and White veterans in clinical history, justice system involvement, and clinical characteristics at enrollment. Minimal differences in service delivery were noted and longitudinal analyses revealed no significant differences between Black and White veterans on the majority of outcomes. Fewer racial disparities in service use and outcomes were observed in ICMHR than in standard non-VA clinic settings. This study demonstrates that disparities may emerge more strongly from systemic rather than individual-level differences.

Conditional alternative movement tactics in male crocodiles

In species where conflict is costly, individuals adopt alternative movement tactics to minimise the risk of competitive interactions. Dominant males often maintain defined territories, while less competitive males may be forced to adopt alternative tactics to maximise fitness and reduce conflict. However, the extent to which males switch tactics according to current social or physiological status is poorly understood. Using implanted acoustic tags and a fixed array of tracking receivers, we investigated how the behaviour of 78 male estuarine crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) shifted over an 11-year period in relation to ontogeny, body condition, and the extent of physical injuries. We discovered that male crocodiles sorted into three common movement classes, with 51% of males maintaining the same movement class across consecutive years (max = 9 years). Males > 4 m in total length maintained confined territories both within and across years and had the greatest extent of injuries and the highest condition score, indicative of territory holders. In contrast, smaller males sorted into high movement roamer or low movement site-philopatric tactics, where the tactic an individual adopted was less stable between years and did not correlate with condition or external injuries. Our study reveals the socio-biological mechanisms by which estuarine crocodiles coexist within a restricted habitat.Significance statementIdentifying individual-level differences in movement helps us predict which individuals are more likely to be involved in human-wildlife interactions. However, studying long-term shifts in movement is challenging, as large datasets of co-occurring individuals tracked in their natural environment over multiple years are required. We tracked a population of 78 male estuarine crocodiles (1030–4687 mm total length) in a shared environment over 11 years and assessed how eight movement traits were linked to body size and physical condition. At the population level, males sorted into different movement tactics according to ontogeny, with large territorial males having better body condition yet a greater incidence of injury. However, 49% of males showed variability across years, suggesting that tactics were conditional relative to environmental variability and a male’s own status. Our study provides insights into the mechanisms and costs of movement tactics in wild crocodile populations.

Variable patterns of daily activity participation across settings in autistic youth: A latent profile transition analysis.

What people do or engage in in their daily lives, or daily life participation, is often linked to their state of being happy and healthy, as well as potential for living independently. To date, little research has been conducted on daily activity participation by autistic youth at home, at school or in the community. Learning more about individual differences in participation levels and what might influence them can help to create custom supports for autistic youth and their families. In this study, 158 caregivers of autistic youth were asked how often their children took part in 25 common activities at two assessments, about one year apart. The analysis showed three profiles for each of the home and school settings and two profiles for the community setting. These profiles reflected distinct patterns in how often autistic youth took part in various daily activities, particularly in doing homework, school club activities and community gatherings. Most autistic youth were in profiles marked by often taking part at home but less often at school and in the community, and about three-fourths of them tended to stay in the same profile over time. Autistic youth with limited participation profiles were more likely to have lower scores on measures of cognitive ability and daily life skills and more challenging behaviour, and faced more barriers in their environment. These findings show how important it is to think about each autistic person's strengths and weaknesses, and changing needs, to better support their daily life participation.

The Nexus between individual interest and school engagement in bolstering Physical Culture for a habitual healthy régime: a case of a state university

Background and Study Aim. A worldwide consensus exists that students' levels of interest strongly predict and trigger their engagement in various activities, particularly those that promote physical culture. Academic works in the field of Physical Education have demonstrated that students can be extremely engaged when they are exposed to situations that pique their interest. However, the relationship and influence of students’ individual interests on their engagement in school have not yet been documented further. Hence, conducting an investigation should be performed.
 Materials and Methods. The current research endeavors to identify any discernible gender differences in students' individual interests and school engagement levels. In addition, the initiative intends to use an analysis of the relationship between individual interest and school engagement as a foundation for promoting a healthy and active campus community. Undergraduate students in their 1st- and 2nd-year who are enrolled in Physical Education 1 and Physical Education 3 courses during the 1st Semester of the Academic year 2022-2023 are the participants in the study. Participants were selected via Purposive and Convenience Sampling Techniques. The data for this study was collected through a Google forms-based online survey. Additionally, the published English version of the Students’ Individual Interest in Physical Education questionnaire and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale for Students (UWES-9S) were adopted to gather data from the respondents. In order to examine the difference between individual interest and school engagement according to gender, Independent Samples T-Test was performed. Spearman Rho’s and Multiple Regression Analysis examined the relationship between the two variables.
 Results. After obtaining data from 1072 university students [(Nmale = 456(42.5%), Nfemale = 616(57.5%)], it was found that no significant variance was observed concerning individual interest and school engagement based on gender. Additionally, a positive and significant association was observed between individual interest and school engagement. Lastly, it was also found that individual interest, alongside its three factors, predicts school engagement.
 Conclusions. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that students’ individual interests have a direct and beneficial influence on their level of school engagement. This investigation was conducted to fully communicate physical culture to students in order to improve their overall well-being. Based on the findings, recommendations for the future research direction and physical education teachers have been produced as a result of this investigation.

Proportions vs. cardinalities: Comparative ambiguities and the COVID pandemic

This paper reports two psycholinguistic experiments on quantity comparatives and superlatives that are potentially ambiguous between cardinal and proportional readings. By using statements about COVID cases and vaccination numbers as a naturalistic context with real-world relevance, this work furthers our understanding of what happens in linguistic environments where multiple measure functions are available – what modulates the choice between them? The results provide new evidence that comparatives and superlatives can refer to scales ranging over degrees of proportion, in addition to degrees of cardinality. Furthermore, this experimental evidence points to a preference for cardinal interpretations, but also show that this is not rigid and can be weakened in favor of proportional readings by semantic factors – including considerations potentially related to stage- vs. individual-level differences – and by certain linguistic forms.

Индивидуальные траектории динамики психологического благополучия в зависимости от личностных черт и осознанной саморегуляции

Background. The relevance of study is determined by society’s demand for searching the resources for maintaining psychological well-being (PWB) and positive development of students in a changing educational environment. Objective. To study individual trajectories of the PWB dynamics depending on the level of conscious self-regulation development and personality features of younger adolescents educated in grades 4-6 of comprehensive school. Methods. Russian-language version of the questionnaire “Well-Being Manifestation Measure Scale” (Morosanova, Bondarenko, Fomina, 2018); “Big Five Questionnaire – Children version (BFQ-C)” (Russian adaptation by Malykh, Tikhomirova, Vasin, 2015); V.I. Morosanova‘s “Self-Regulation Profile of Learning Activity Questionnaire (SRPLAQ)” (Morosanova, Bondarenko, 2017). Statistical analysis was carried in JASP software, version 0.17.2.1 using the Latent Growth Curve Modeling (LGCM). Sample. 120 pupils (58 boys) educated in one school of Kaluga took part in the longitudinal study. Results. The study results demonstrate that individual differences in PWB level of younger adolescents in the 4th grade are determined by the general level of conscious self-regulation as well as the personality features of extraversion and agreeableness. The specifics of individual PWB trajectories in the period from 4th to 6th grade depend on the level of conscious self-regulation. In particular, the higher the level of self-regulation the less is the risk of decline in PWB during 4-6th grades. Gender contributes to psychological well-being only in the 4th grade: its level is higher in boys compared to girls. Conclusion. New data have been obtained allowing to expand theoretical knowledge about regulatory and personal predictors of psychological well-being in early adolescence.

Non-randomized controlled trial examining the effects of livestock on motivation and anxiety in patients with chronic psychiatric disorders.

Patients with chronic schizophrenia exhibit negative symptoms, including decreased work motivation. Animal-assisted therapy programs have been reported to benefit such patients; hence, there is a possibility that sheep-rearing, rather than conventional employment training, may motivate these patients. Therefore, we investigated the effects of a one-day experiential learning program of sheep-rearing on the work motivation and anxiety of patients with chronic schizophrenia. Fourteen patients were included in a non-randomized controlled trial conducted between August 2018 and October 2018. The patients' participation in the sheep-rearing experiential learning (one day; intervention day) and normal day care (one day; control day) programs were compared. The salivary cortisol and testosterone levels and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scores of the patients were analyzed. The patients' salivary testosterone was significantly higher on the intervention day (p = 0.04) than on the control day (p = 0.02). Their salivary cortisol was lower on the control day than on the intervention day, although the difference was not significant. Regression analysis was performed based on the change in salivary cortisol levels and STAI-Trait scores (p = 0.006), and a regression equation was established. The study revealed that participation in sheep-rearing may have promoted the testosterone production but did not increase anxiety in patients with schizophrenia. Additionally, regression equations for salivary cortisol levels in such patients may provide information on individual differences in anxiety levels.

A New Exploration of Stratified Teaching Strategies in Secondary Vocational Schools Assisted by Precise Stratification

With the deepening of educational reform, the curriculum standards of secondary vocational schools emphasize the importance of students' dominant position, the improvement of teachers' teaching methods, and the cultivation of core literacy as an important task. However, it is worth noting that in the stage of secondary vocational education, there are obvious individual differences in students'mathematical foundation, learning level and overall mastery of knowledge. If we do not pay attention to it and still adopt a unified way of teaching and review, it will inevitably lead to some students unable to keep up with the teaching progress and affect their learning. Therefore, teachers must actively adopt hierarchical teaching methods to implement classroom teaching to ensure that students at each level can make progress on the original basis.

Shelter fidelity and exploratory behaviours of juvenile Haliotis discus hannai in response to different stressors

Individual differences in behavioural responses to stressors are categorised as adaptive variation and serve as a foundation for devising improvements in animal health and welfare. However, the existence of different coping styles in response to stress has not been demonstrated in marine gastropods. To evaluate individual differences in shelter fidelity and exploratory levels of abalones in response to stress, the behaviours of juvenile Pacific abalones (Haliotis discus hannai) housed in tanks were observed; several behavioural parameters such as forage duration and un-sheltering behaviour were also measured and analysed. To test differences in survival rates between individuals that showed staying (returning to home shelters after foraging) and wandering (not returning to home shelters after foraging) behaviours in response to poor water quality, 90 1-year-old abalones were exposed to hypoxia stress caused by interrupted water flow. To assess the individuals’ exploratory behaviours, 150 1.5-year-old abalones were supplied with excess food inside their shelters, and their movement between the shelters was recorded. Differences in behavioural parameters between the exploratory and nonexploratory individuals in the presence of resident intruders were also tested. Our results showed that (1) staying abalones exhibited higher survival rates than their wandering counterparts under hypoxic stress; (2) the number of shelters visited in one night could be considered as an exploratory activity under conditions of sufficient food availability within the shelters; and (3) in the presence of intruders, both the exploratory and nonexploratory abalones displayed reduced shelter-seeking activity, although the reduction was more pronounced in the exploratory than the nonexploratory abalones.

The effects of socioeconomic status on personality development in adulthood and aging.

The current study examined the effects of adulthood socioeconomic status (SES) on levels of and changes in the Big Five personality traits domains and nuances in adulthood and during aging. We also tested whether the relations between adulthood SES and personality traits differed by childhood SES and age. Data were drawn from three longitudinal studies: the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging (SATSA, N=2000), the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS, N=6428), and the Health and Retirement Study (HRS, N=23,238). Using the latent growth models, across samples, we found associations between high SES and low levels of neuroticism and high levels of extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness. The effects of SES on changes in personality traits were mainly observed in the aging sample of HRS. In general, a similar pattern was observed at the nuance level. Analyses of the moderating effects of age suggested some evidence for the increasingly important role of SES in levels of and changes in personality traits in older ages. The findings support SES as a source that partially accounts for individual differences in personality traits level. Some evidence was found for the relations between SES and changes in personality traits in old age.

Parental Transmission and the Importance of the (Noncausal) Effects of Education on Political Engagement: Missing the Forest for the Trees

By most accounts, an important prerequisite for a well-functioning democracy is engaged citizens. A very prominent explanation of variation in political engagement suggests that parental transmission through socialization accounts for individual-level differences in political engagement. In this paper, we show, using a large Danish twin survey (N = 2,071), that classic formulations of parental transmission theory can be supplemented by findings from the biopolitics literature, allowing us to disentangle when heritable factors are important and when socialization factors are important predictors of political engagement. We show that as the level of family politicization and consistency increases, the influence of genes decreases. We take this to imply that family socialization can compensate for (genetic) individual differences and foster increased political engagement. By only focusing on the “causal” effect of education, we are missing the forest for the trees.

The effects of exploratory behavior on physical activity in a common animal model of human disease, zebrafish (Danio rerio).

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are widely accepted as a multidisciplinary vertebrate model for neurobehavioral and clinical studies, and more recently have become established as a model for exercise physiology and behavior. Individual differences in activity level (e.g., exploration) have been characterized in zebrafish, however, how different levels of exploration correspond to differences in motivation to engage in swimming behavior has not yet been explored. We screened individual zebrafish in two tests of exploration: the open field and novel tank diving tests. The fish were then exposed to a tank in which they could choose to enter a compartment with a flow of water (as a means of testing voluntary motivation to exercise). After a 2-day habituation period, behavioral observations were conducted. We used correlative analyses to investigate the robustness of the different exploration tests. Due to the complexity of dependent behavioral variables, we used machine learning to determine the personality variables that were best at predicting swimming behavior. Our results show that contrary to our predictions, the correlation between novel tank diving test variables and open field test variables was relatively weak. Novel tank diving variables were more correlated with themselves than open field variables were to each other. Males exhibited stronger relationships between behavioral variables than did females. In terms of swimming behavior, fish that spent more time in the swimming zone spent more time actively swimming, however, swimming behavior was inconsistent across the time of the study. All relationships between swimming variables and exploration tests were relatively weak, though novel tank diving test variables had stronger correlations. Machine learning showed that three novel tank diving variables (entries top/bottom, movement rate, average top entry duration) and one open field variable (proportion of time spent frozen) were the best predictors of swimming behavior, demonstrating that the novel tank diving test is a powerful tool to investigate exploration. Increased knowledge about how individual differences in exploration may play a role in swimming behavior in zebrafish is fundamental to their utility as a model of exercise physiology and behavior.

Poor body condition is associated with lower hippocampal plasticity and higher gut methanogen abundance in adult laying hens from two housing systems

It is still unclear which commercial housing system provides the best quality of life for laying hens. In addition, there are large individual differences in stress levels within a system. Hippocampal neurogenesis or plasticity may provide an integrated biomarker of the stressors experienced by an individual. We selected 12 adult hens each with good and poor body condition (based on body size, degree of feather cover and redness of the comb) from a multi-tier free range system containing H&N strain hens, and from an enriched cage system containing Hy-Line hens (n = 48 total). Immature neurons expressing doublecortin (DCX) were quantified in the hippocampus, contents of the caecal microbiome were sequenced, and expression of inflammatory cytokines was measured in the spleen. DCX+ cell densities did not differ between the housing systems. In both systems, poor condition hens had lower DCX+ cell densities, exhibited elevated splenic expression of interleukin-6 (IL6) mRNA, and had a higher relative caecal abundance of methanogenic archea Methanomethylophilaceae. The findings suggest poor body condition is an indicator that individual hens have experienced a comparatively greater degree of cumulative chronic stress, and that a survey of the proportion of hens with poor body conditions might be one way to evaluate the impact of housing systems on hen welfare.

1426P Depression and genetic variants related to cortisol levels may influence the vulnerability of head and neck cancer-related post-traumatic stress disorder

Head and neck cancer (HNC) diagnosis could trigger post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In addition, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), depression, and individual differences in cortisol levels could influence the vulnerability to PTSD in cancer patients. Single nucleotide variants (SNVs) on genes of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, involved in stress response, such as CRHR1 (rs110402, C/T), FKBP5 (rs3800373, G/T), and NR3C1 (rs41423247, C/G), may impact cortisol production. However, the influence of psychosocial and genetic factors on HNC-related PTSD is not fully known.

Individual Differences in Relative Telomere Length in Mentally Healthy Subjects: The Effect of TERT Gene Polymorphism and Urban Residency.

The changes in the telomere length caused by the terminal underreplication in the existing literature are related to depressive disorders. However, the use of the telomere length as a biomarker of depressive states is ambiguous, which is due to the effect of various environmental factors on both the psychoemotional state and cellular aging of an organism. In order to identify the possible use of the relative telomere length (RTL) measured in peripheral blood leukocytes as a biomarker of enhanced liability to depression prior to the clinical symptoms, as well as to determine the link between telomere length, sociodemographic factors, allelic variants of the genes involved in the regulation of telomere elongation, and depression level, the association analysis of reverse transcriptase (TERT rs7726159), telomerase RNA component (TERC rs1317082), and the CST complex encoding protein (OBFC1 rs2487999) gene polymorphisms was performed with RTL and depression level in mentally healthy individuals (N = 1065) aged 18–25 years. Together with genetic variants, the examined regression models included various sociodemographic parameters as predictors. As a result of statistical analysis, we failed to observe the association between RTL and individual differences in depression level in the studied sample. Nevertheless, multiple regression analysis allowed us to construct a statistically significant model of individual variance in RTL (P = 4.3е–4; r2 = 0.018), which included rs7726159 in the TERT gene (P = 0.020; β = 0.078) and such environmental predictors as age (P = 0.001; β = –0.027) and place of residence in childhood (urban/rural area) (P = 0.048; β = 0.063). The data obtained confirm the involvement of TERT gene variants and age in telomere length in mentally healthy individuals aged 18–25 years and indicate a negative effect of urban residency on telomere length shortening, which reflects the cellular aging of an organism.

From collective opinion dependence to personalization: The impacts of social trust relationship in consensus formation

Social network group decision-making (SNGDM) has become popular recently in the area of decision analysis as the social network can effectively model the relationship among decision makers. In the SNGDM, decision makers will present conflicting assessments due to individual differences in education backgrounds and cognitive levels. This study aims to develop a personalized consensus reaching framework considering the impact of social trust network on assessments-modifications willingness. A personalized feedback is designed for guiding assessments-modifications, which is based on the assumption that a decision maker will accept his\\her trusted decision makers’ assessments when modifying assessment in a social trust network. Then, a dual optimization-based personalized feedback is proposed for supporting consensus formation, where the first personalized feedback seeks to minimize the assessments-modifications and the second aims to minimize network-modifications. Particularly, two ways are used to measure network-modifications, referred to as trust values modifications with fixed network structure and network structure modifications, respectively. Further, an interactive dual optimization-based personalized consensus reaching process is constructed. With the aim of justifying the effectiveness of the proposed model, it is applied to solve the green supplier evaluation problem. Finally, it is illustrated that our proposal can improve consensus efficiency compared with collective opinion dependence feedback.

Before Virtuous Practice. Public and Private Sector-Specific Preferences for Intuition and Deliberation in Decision-Making

Fast and intuitive thinking, as well as emotions, play a large role in decision-making. The sociology of wise practice within public administration also suggests that thinking preferences like the use of intuition form a cornerstone of public administrators’ virtuous practice. This contribution uses conceptual and theoretical resources from behavioral sciences and public administration to find out whether individual-level differences between public and private sector employees exist with regard to thinking preferences. The article investigates variables that have been subject to extensive research and integrate their clout with the discourse in public administration. Institutional frameworks and social structures may enable or impede the habituation of virtue. The contribution empirically analyses this assumption with respondents from North America (n = 247) and the European Union (n = 1532) with regard to the thinking styles' preference for intuition and preference for deliberation. The public and private sectors differ significantly in terms of preference for deliberative as well as intuitive thinking. A surprising result is that private-sector employees rank higher than public sector employees on both scales. Differences in deliberation show a small effect whereas the effect size with regard to intuitive thinking is negligible. The discussion explores possible explanations for such differences and similarities.

Menstrual Cycle-Driven and Day-to-Day Changes in Sexual Desire

ABSTRACT Introduction Although research has attempted to quantify the effects of the menstrual cycle on sexual desire, we lack a clear understanding of how the menstrual cycle, and the many physical and psychological changes of the menstrual cycle, are related to changes in sexual desire. For example, whereas evolutionary theories predict that women should converge on increased sexual interest around ovulation, methodologically strong tests of this idea are lacking, and there is reason to hypothesize that there are significant individual differences in these associations. Objective This study has three main objectives. First, to quantify the contributions of (a) mean-level differences across individuals, (b) average effects of the menstrual cycle, and (c) individual differences in the effects of the menstrual cycle, to sexual desire. Second, to test for the influence of day-to-day changes in physical and psychological symptoms on day-to-day changes in sexual desire, independent of the menstrual cycle. Third, to test for associations between cyclical changes in physical and psychological symptoms attributable to the menstrual cycle and cyclical changes in sexual desire attributable to the menstrual cycle. Methods A sample of n = 213 university-aged women with regular menstrual cycles, who were not using hormonal birth control, completed daily questionnaires for two full menstrual cycles (M = 58 daily reports per participant). Measurement included changes in sexual desire (increase and decrease), as well as physical (headaches, back and joint pain, cramps, breast changes) and psychological changes (anxiety, depression, happiness, mood swings, low energy) that are commonly associated with the menstrual cycle. Multilevel modeling with random intercepts and slopes, as well as linear regression of cosine coefficients of all physical and psychological symptom scores, were used to test these hypotheses. Results Relative to the three objectives described above, results showed that: mean-level differences across participants accounted for 21.5% of the overall variance in changes in sexual desire; the average/fixed effects of the menstrual cycle accounted for 1.6% of the variance; and random effects of the menstrual cycle (e.g., individual differences in menstrual cycle effects) accounted for 7.8% of the variance. Only day-to-day changes in psychological symptoms, but not day-to-day changes in physical symptoms, were associated with day-to-day changes in sexual desire (independent of the menstrual cycle). Finally, only menstrual cycle-related cyclical changes in depression were associated with menstrual cycle-related changes in sexual desire. Conclusions Results from the present study demonstrate that average effects of the menstrual cycle play a very small role in influencing changes in sexual desire (see left panel of Figure 1). Most variance in changes in sexual desire, instead, is explained by individual differences in mean levels, and in individual differences in the effects of the menstrual cycle (see right panel in Figure 1). Thus, women differ significantly in their average levels of desire and how the menstrual cycle influences changes in their desire. Moreover, only psychological symptoms, and not physical symptoms, are associated with changes in sexual desire. Of the psychological symptoms, happiness is the most strongly associated with changes in sexual desire. Disclosure Any of the authors act as a consultant, employee or shareholder of an industry for: ApexNeuro

Protecting the Ingroup? Authoritarianism, Immigration Attitudes, and Affective Polarization

What makes people affectively polarized? Affective polarization is based on the idea that partisanship can be a social identity leading to polarization in the form of intergroup distancing between the own party and the other parties. In this study, we argue that perceived threats from an outgroup can spur affective polarization. To investigate this, we use the issue of immigration, often framed as a threat by right-wing groups, to examine whether individual-level differences influence how sensititivity to the perception of immigration as a threat. One such factor is the trait right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), which is characterized by emphasis on submission to authority and upholding norms of social order. The emphasis among individuals with this trait on protecting the ingroup from threats means that negativity toward immigration is likely to extend toward political opponents, resulting in an increase in affective polarization. Thus, we hypothesize that the affective polarization is likely to increase when individuals interpret immigration as threatening, particularly for the individuals who are high in RWA aggression. We evaluate and find support for this claim using a large-scale survey performed in Sweden (N = 898). The results, showing a conditional effect of immigration attitudes on affective polarization, are consistent across three commonly used measures of affective polarization as follows: trait ratings, a social distance measure, and feeling thermometers. Overall, our results show that it is important to consider intergroup threats and intergroup differences in the context of sensitivity to such threats when explaining affective polarization.