Individual Psychological Factors Research Articles

Cyberbullying: A Systematic Literature Review to Identify the Factors Impelling University Students Towards Cyberbullying

With the increased access to the internet, technology and social media, the problem of cyberbullying has been on the rise. Since the higher education necessitates access to information technology, university students are found comparatively more exposed and involved in the incidences of cyberbullying. Prior research has heavily focused on school students and has mostly ignored university students. Therefore, this study aims to conduct a systematic review of literature targeting university students specifically to understand the underlying causes that give rise to the problem of cyberbullying within the university environment so that the issue could be adequately addressed. In this attempt, this study observed 32 studies out of a total of 7,939 reviews searched for the purpose. This study reviews a multitude of factors such as the role of an individual's personal, socio-cognitive, psychological and environmental factors towards cyberbullying and provides a 360-degree view of the factors contributing to cyberbullying behaviour instead of the traditional approach of focusing on one or two factors. This study will not only enrich the understanding of potential cyberbullying factors that drive university students towards notorious cyberbullying behaviour but also provides valuable insights to researchers, policy-makers, educators, universities, governments and parents.

Why Employees Contribute to Pro-Environmental Behaviour: The Role of Pluralistic Ignorance in Chinese Society

In light of the importance of sustainable development, this study aims to deepen and extend our understanding of employees’ pro-environmental behaviour in the workplace in a Chinese context. Drawing on the complex phenomenon of social norms theory concerning misperceptions (i.e., pluralistic ignorance) and supervisor–subordinate guanxi (which is a Chinese term signifying human connection), we present a novel model in which employees’ pro-environmental behaviour is the result of multiple social and individual psychological factors. Through the integration of previous literature from the fields of the psychology of individuals, social psychology, and environmental psychology, the major assumption is that the pro-environmental behaviour of employees is affected by their level of pluralistic ignorance, environmental concern, and subjective norms; these, in turn, are influenced by supervisor–subordinate guanxi and social identity in the collective spirit of Chinese society. Data, which were analysed empirically, were gathered from 548 Chinese employees from the Jiangsu province of China. This study consequently reveals the subtle interplay among employees’ pluralistic ignorance, supervisor–subordinate guanxi, social identity, subjective norms, environmental concern, and their pro-environmental behaviour, while the deeper analysis offers considerable support for environmental management research and practice.

INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGICAL MARKERS OF TRANSIENT ISCHEMIC ATTACKS IN RESIDENTS OF THE REPUPLK OF KARELIA

The aim is to identify the role of systemic psychodiagnostics using a biopsychosocial approach for a multidimensional comprehensive study of the influence of individual psychological factors on the occurrence and course of transient ischemic attacks (TIA) among residents of the Republic of Karelia. Studied: personality premorbid and psychological symptomatic status in patients of stroke neurological unit of the Republican Hospital of Petrozavodsk suffering from TIA (n = 60; average age (56.9 ± 18.5) years; gender index 1: 1). The comparison group included individuals without TIA (n = 32; average age (52.4 ± 6.5) years; gender index 1:1; p = 0.06). Methods: the "Questionnaire for the intensity of psychopathological symptoms" (Symptom CHECKLIST-90-REVISED - SCL-90-R) and the Freiburg Multifactor Personality Questionnaire (Freiburg Personality Inventory - FPI) were used. Results. It was revealed that the personality premorbid of residents of the republic with TIA is characterized by neuroticism and shyness (high walls: (7.27 ± 2.60) and (7.10 ± 1.75) FPI points, respectively). The somatogenic effect of TIA on the psyche of patients consists of anxiety and depression in combination with somatization and phobias (average values for SCL-90-R: (0.56 ± 0.45); (0.65 ± 0.19); (0, 97 ± 0.27); (0.32 ± 0.19) points for the indicated psychopathological symptoms, respectively). Conclusions: patients with TIA in the Republic of Karelia are characterized by markers of psychological distress, which requires an individual psychological and psychotherapeutic correction.

영포자'의 학교문화기술지: 중학교 영어학습 부진아의 사례

This research reports an ethnography of English underachievers from a Korean middle school. Studies in education view academic achievement as an individual and private matter, attributing learning difficulties mainly to individual psychological factors, such as a lack of motivation and/or anxiety. This study takes an ethnographic approach to understand to what extent English classes in school support underachievers’ academic progress. The study findings are as follows: 1) academic streaming provided little support for underachievers to prepare for school exams by which their academic progress would be judged; 2) underachievers experience marginalization in after-school class because its test-oriented practice did not address their linguistic needs. Challenging the assumption that input-oriented English education policy should address student underachievement, this study calls for a new understanding of underachievement as part of working-class youth culture.

An Investigation into the Underpinning Factors of Plagiarism among Universities in Iran

AbstractWe are living in a time where plagiarism is a highly critical issue in the publish-or-perish stage of academic life. There have been many efforts to address this issue by holistic socio-cognitive variables but they do not seem explanatory enough in context-specific areas. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the root causes of plagiarism in a specific context, i. e. Iranian universities, by offering a structural model to reveal the building blocks of this phenomenon. Setting the goal, we chose Corbin and Strauss’s (2008) Grounded Theory (GT) approach, avoiding its paradigmatic cliché that a theoretical model emerges only from data without any pre-assumption. The research population included faculty members, PhD candidates and master’s students selected from universities in Tehran, Iran. Open theoretical sampling and, then, discriminative sampling were used. Fifty-one interviews, two newspaper interviews, and three focus groups were conducted. The interviewees were accessed through universities’ library and information centers. Taken together, 56 interviews were transcribed and codified. Lincoln and Guba’s (2008) criteria were used to control the quality of the research process. “Indifference” to plagiarism is the central phenomenon and “cultural depositories” plus “governmental capitalism” were found to be the root factors. These two factors may lead to “Bureaucratic university” (Moodie 2006) as a context for the emergence of “research formalism”, “uncritical education” and “scholastic habitus”. All these factors, together with direct reflexive elements including bad exemplars, the irresponsibility of professors, immoral trade-off, unscientific evaluation, insignificant differentiation, and vindications, lead to “indifference”. One of the research’s implications is that plagiarism in Iran seems not to result from individual-psychological factors but from cultural, economic, legal and organizational factors. Another implication is that in the investigation of social or organizational problems we should take a look at the concept of normality. We explored the factors tending to make a problem a normal phenomenon. We also pinpointed the things making people indifferent to a problem, factors pushing abnormal phenomenon to the realm of normality, and elements constituting the origins of the current order of things which are mysteriously silenced and practically behaved.

A Hybrid Model of Experiential Learning within the Social Virtual World of Second Life

This study examined how multi-user virtual worlds can enhance learning, by extending and refining a prior VR-based model to include two new constructs: virtual identity, and social constructivism. The fit of the model was analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM), and the results supported both the extension and the hypothesized refined model. Findings: VR features were found to indirectly impact on the learning outcomes, mediated by the perception of usability and the learning experience. The learning experience was measured by seven individual psychological factors: presence, virtual identity, motivation, cognitive benefits, agentic learning, social constructivism, and reflective thinking. These factors mediated the learning outcomes, measured by the perception of learning effectiveness and satisfaction, and may have a range of implications for the instructional design of learning activities using the virtual world. This research blends a technology acceptance model with the technology-mediated learning perspective to advance the development of a hybrid theoretical framework as a basis for future research into enhanced learning within a social virtual world.

Contribution of individual psychological and psychosocial factors to symptom severity and time-to-recovery after naturally-occurring acute infective illness: The Dubbo Infection Outcomes Study (DIOS)

BackgroundSubstantial heterogeneity exists in both the severity of symptoms experienced as part of the sickness response to naturally-occurring infections, and the time taken for individuals to recover from these symptoms. Although contributing immunological and genetic factors have been previously been explored, less is known about the role of individual psychological and psychosocial factors, which may modulate the host immune response, or contribute independently, to symptom severity and duration. MethodsLongitudinally-collected data from 484 Caucasian participants (mean age: 33.5 years; 51% women) experiencing a naturally-occurring acute infective illness enrolled in the prospective Dubbo Infection Outcome Study (DIOS) were analysed. At intake and subsequent follow-up assessments, self-report questionnaires were used to ascertain individual psychological and psychosocial characteristics and symptom information. Principal component analysis was applied to symptom data to derive endophenotype severity scores representing discrete symptom domains (fatigue, mood, pain, neurocognitive difficulties) and an overall index of severity. The contribution of individual psychological (trait neuroticism, locus of control, and illness behaviours) and psychosocial factors (relative socioeconomic advantage) to endophenotype severity at baseline were examined using multivariable linear regression models; interval-censored flexible parametric proportional hazards survival models were used to explore time to recovery (defined using within-sample negative threshold values). ResultsAfter controlling for time since symptom onset, greater levels of trait neuroticism consistently predicted greater symptom severity across all symptom domains (all p’s < 0.015). Similarly, greater relative socioeconomic disadvantage was significantly associated with greater severity across all endophenotypes (p’s < 0.025) except neurocognitive disturbance. Locus of control and illness behaviours contributed differentially across endophenotypes. Reduced likelihood of recovery was significantly predicted by greater initial symptom severity for all endophenotypes (all p’s < 0.001), as well as higher levels of trait neuroticism. ConclusionsIndividual psychological and psychosocial factors contribute to the initial severity and to the prolonged course of symptoms after naturally-occurring infective illnesses. These factors may play an independent role, represent a bias in symptom reporting, or reflect increased stress responsivity and a heightened inflammatory response. Objective metrics for severity and recovery are required to further elucidate their roles.

MIDWIVES’ COMPLIANCE TO THE STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE ON THE EARLY IDENTIFICATION OF PREECLAMPSIA

Background: The main cause of maternal mortality in East Java was pregnancy hypertension (Preeclampsia/eclampsia). The percentages of pregnant women treated with early identification of preeclampsia care according to Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in primary healthcare centers of Surabaya was still low (26%).Aim: This study aimed to analyze the factors that influence midwives’ compliance towards the SOP implementation of early identification of preeclampsia in primary healthcare centers of Surabaya.Methods: The study was an observational analytic research with cross sectional. The samples chose midwives at 20 primary healthcare centers as the informants. The independent variables are individual factors, organizational factors, and psychological factors of the midwives. The dependent variable was midwives’ compliance towards the implementation of SOP for early identification of preeclampsia.Results: The results of this study show 35% of primary healthcare centers have not implemented the SOP of early identification of Preeclampsia in pregnant women. The results also showed that the majority of primary healthcare centers in Surabaya had midwives aged 31 to 40 years (50%), graduated from a Diploma 3 education (95%), contracted status (85%) and still worked less than six years (60%).Conclusion: This research highlighted the midwives’ compliance which was determined not only by individual internal factors, but also organizational behavior. Preparing early identification of preeclampsia mechanisms, facility, and equipment proposal is important to do with the implementation of supportive system, quality control team, reward as well as punishment system. Keywords: Compliance, Early identification, Midwives, Preeclampsia, SOP.

Illness Perceptions and Depression Are Associated with Health-Related Quality of Life in Youth with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

BackgroundIn youth with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), health-related quality of life (HRQOL) has been shown to be affected by individual disease factors and specific psychological factors. The innovative aim of this study is to examine the combined impact of psychological factors (illness perceptions, cognitive coping, anxiety, and depression) on HRQOL, over and above the associations of demographic and disease factors with HRQOL in youth with IBD.MethodData on clinical disease activity, illness perceptions, cognitive coping, anxiety, depression, and HRQOL were prospectively collected in 262 consecutive youth (age 10–20, 46.6% male) with confirmed IBD. Multiple linear regression analyses tested the associations of demographic, disease, and psychological variables with HRQOL in separate groups for Crohn’s disease (CD; N = 147) and ulcerative colitis and IBD unclassified (UC/IBD-U; N = 115), using age-specific validated instruments.ResultsIn both disease groups, more negative illness perceptions (ß = − .412; ß = − .438, p < .001) and more depression (ß = − .454; ß = − .279, p < .001) were related to lower HRQOL. In the UC/IBD-U group, more anxiety was related to lower HRQOL (ß = − .201, p = .001). The model with the psychological variables explained a large and significant amount of variance in both groups: 74% and 83%, respectively (p < .001).ConclusionIn 10–20-year-old IBD patients, negative illness perceptions and depression were significantly and more strongly associated with lower HRQOL than demographic and disease factors. Thus, it is important to integrate psychological factors in the treatment for IBD patients. To improve HRQOL in young IBD patients, psychological interventions should be targeted at negative illness perceptions and depression.

Emigracja zarobkowa jako sytuacja trudna (w świetle aktualnych badań nad polskimi migrantami w Wielkiej Brytanii)

The authors of the article undertook the task of the analyzing the current research on economic migration of Poles to Great Britain. The analyzed phenomenon was considered in the perspective of a difficult situation according to Tadeusz Tomaszewski which allows us look at the economic migration dynamically considering environmental (socio-cultural) and individual (psychological) factors. The economic migration is presented as a difficult situation because it is new, complex and usually long-term and involves a lot of varying internal and external conditions. Many factors affect the course of migration stemming from the country of origin and host country. The most important ones have been characterized within the text. The final conclusions refer to normalizing conditions of emigration which depend on harmonization of the three elements: tasks resulting from migration, environmental conditions and migrant competences.

Motor fluctuations and psychological distress in Parkinson's disease.

Off periods in Parkinson's disease are associated with a worsening of nonmotor symptoms and acute psychological distress. The relationship between motor fluctuations and episodic distress in naturalistic settings remains unclear, particularly the role of individual psychological factors. This study aimed to identify those factors through real-life, real-time assessment using ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Twenty participants (seven female) completed multiple brief prompted surveys over a 7-day period assessing current motor and medication state, social situation, episodic distress, and cognitive processes (rumination, symptom focus, and worry). Baseline depression and anxiety were measured using validated questionnaires, as were positive and negative beliefs and attitudes (metacognitions) regarding cognitive processes. The feasibility of EMA via smartphones was assessed at the end of the study. Across participants, 496 complete data sets were collected. Generalized linear mixed-model regression analyses showed that episodic distress was predicted by a combination of cognitive processes, F(1, 483) = 41.14, p < .001, momentary motor state, F(3, 483) = 10.40, p < .001, time of day, F(1, 23) = 12.42, p = .002, and trait negative metacognitions, F(1, 6) = 7.21, p = .037). EMA was judged acceptable by the majority of participants. Time of day, cognitive processes, and negative metacognitions predict episodic distress independent of motor state. This indicates potential targets for nonpharmacological interventions aimed at alleviating episodic distress in patients with motor fluctuations. EMA is a feasible methodology for Parkinson's disease research and potential tool for delivering such interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Gap acceptance probability model for pedestrians at unsignalized mid-block crosswalks based on logistic regression

Gap acceptance represents a pedestrian’s assessment of how safe it may be to use an available gap in traffic flow at a particular point in time. Though walking is a major component of urban mobility, the high rate of fatal interaction with motor vehicle traffic raises safety issues around how pedestrians decide to accept the available gap. This paper explored these interactions by modeling gap acceptance behavior at the midblock crosswalks. Unlike other pedestrian gap acceptance studies that focus on individual psychological and sociological factors that are difficult to control or manage, this study focused on six environmental factors that we considered important and as having the potential to affect the pedestrians’ gap acceptance decision at the crosswalks, i.e. gap size, crossing distance, number of waiting pedestrians, waiting time, vehicle traffic volume and position of pedestrian (whether on street kerb or median). Video data was collected on pedestrian gap acceptance from 13 midblock crosswalk locations in Shanghai, China. A Logit model with 96% accuracy was developed to describe and predict the pedestrian gap acceptance behaviors. The results show that gap size and crossing distance have the highest effect on the pedestrian gap acceptance decision. Pedestrians waiting at the kerbside could confidently accept gaps (with a 95% probability) when the gap is longer than 2.2s, 5.9s, and 9.6s under the condition that the crossing distance is 4 m (one lane), 7.5 m (two lanes), and 11 m (three lanes), respectively while pedestrians waiting at the median could confidently accept gaps when the gap is longer than 1.6s, 5.3s, and 8.5s respectively under the same conditions. The recommendations on improving the crossing safety are proposed accordingly.

Exploratory, cross-sectional social network study to assess the influence of social networks on the care-seeking behaviour, treatment adherence and outcomes of patients with tuberculosis in Chennai, India: a study protocol

IntroductionPoor treatment adherence and outcomes among patients with tuberculosis (TB) lead to drug resistance, and increased risk of morbidity, mortality and transmission of the disease in the community. Individual patient-level...

Thermal perceptions of the elderly, use patterns and satisfaction with open space

The elderly is a main user group of open space. Well maintained open spaces can increase their physical health and well-being. It is recognized that thermal perception has an essential impact on people's outdoor activities and use of open space. However, the specific association between influencing factors and the elderly's thermal perception and use of open space has not yet been fully investigated. On-site measurements of thermal conditions were carried out and 485 questionnaire surveys were conducted in six parks in two districts in Hong Kong. The ordered probit model and the binary logistics regression model were employed to investigate the relationship between the factors and the elderly's thermal perceptions, using the measure of thermal comfort, thermal sensation and thermal acceptability and use patterns and satisfaction with using open space. The study adopted a comprehensive framework, which included individual, physical and social and psychological factors. The results show the factors which influence the elderly’s thermal perceptions vary in the winter and summer and there is a significant association between thermal acceptability and satisfaction with open space. Under the trend of global warming, more attention should be paid to mitigate summer heat stress in outdoor space. The empirical findings of the elderly’s thermal perceptions and use patterns of parks in the summer provide insight for urban planners when considering flexible and responsive designs that reflect the special needs of the elderly.

Abortion Trauma in the Context of Chinese Culture

Abortion in the family has a profound and traumatic impact on individual psychological state. In China, the number of abortion operations remains high, which has attracted the attention and research of many scholars. However, there is a lack of discussion on the trauma of abortion in these studies. Abortion trauma is not only affected by individual psychological factors, but also by social and cultural factors. In order to analyze the characteristics of abortion trauma under the background of Chinese culture, explore the correlation between abortion trauma and sacrifice prototype, and strengthen the clinical intervention research on abortion trauma, this paper analyzed the questionnaire survey (296 valid questionnaires) conducted by 306 subjects. The results showed that: (1) under the background of Chinese culture, abortion trauma can occur in both an abortionist and her partner (including spouse). In a family with an abortion, the offspring will have abortion trauma; (2) the concept of sacrifice appears in the cognition of the abortionists and of the offspring of the abortionists' families. In future researches, the relationship between abortion trauma and sacrificial archetype under the background of Chinese culture can be discussed in depth, so as to explore the narrative script of abortion trauma in the collective unconscious of contemporary Chinese people, so that psychologists can better create a set of psychological intervention methods to help people get rid of abortion trauma.

Термінологія рецептивної стилістики: адаптація іншодисциплінарних понять

Receptive stylistics is the latest trend in the stylistics of text. It studies the mechanisms of text perception, in view of the account time, socio-cultural and individual psychological factors of perception. This integrative model of textology combines the ideas of hermeneutics, phenomenology, receptive aesthetics and poetics, traditional poetics, linguоsynergetics etc. Maximum openness to the researching of the intellectual and communicative nature of the text is reflected in the terminology of receptive stylistics. One of the theoretical platforms of receptive stylistics is receptive aesthetics (aesthetics of the reception). Terminology of this scientific branch was actively accepted and integrated into the special language of the new stylistic direction. First of all, we are talking about key concepts such as aesthetic experience and horizon [expectations] of the author / reader, horizons of perception / understanding. empty spaces / semantic gaps in the structure of the text, identification of the reader with the text, specification of the text, actual dimension of the text, etc. Today, the Ukrainian receptive theory is structured by the concept of actualization of the text, the horizon of the text, the constitution of the text, the communicative certainty / uncertainty of the text. Emphasizing theoretical and methodological cores of contemporary Ukrainian receptive theory, it is necessary to focus on the national historical and cultural context of its constructing. Especially important from this point of view is the treatise by Ivan Franko From the Secrets of Poetic Art. Most of the theses of this work present a progressive vision of the deep psychological mechanisms of reading the artistic text in the measure of active perception, as lingual and aesthetic communication, dialogue between the author and the reader through the text. Also, the concurrence of Ivan Franko’s views with fundamental receptive principles of studying artistic text constitutes the scientific concepts of aesthetics, inductive aesthetics, perception, reception, suggestion, resonance, sensory vibration, etc. Consequently, the concept of reading and interpreting works of verbal art, formed in the treatise From the Secrets of Poetic Creativity, implicitly contains the basic principles of receptive aesthetics and poetics. Cardinally new philosophy of reconnaissance of the nature of artistic text, psycholinguistic mechanisms of influence on the reader, regularities of reception and interpretation at the end of the 20th century presented linguistic synergetic. Actual, and in some aspects methodological for receptive theory has become the following concepts of linguistic synergetic: nonlinearity of development, stability / instability of development, openness of the system, rhizomes, energy of the text, energy resonance, author’s energy, reader energy, etc. In contemporary receptive stylistic studies they do not stagnate, but are in a state of active deepening, refinement. For example, the concept energy of the text is coordinated with such established, well-known categories of stylistics as linguistic and literary tradition, lingual and cultural memory, reception and interpretation. Process of terminological borrowing and assimilation of units of other disciplines contributes to the development of an integrative terminological paradigm optimally adapted to the needs of the reciprocal description of the nature of artistic text.

Экспериментальная модель обучения иностранному языку с учетом индивидуальных особенностей сенсорной памяти

Nowadays, individual psychological factors have an impact on mastering a foreign language. When learning a foreign language, a group of individual psychological factors correlates with the concept of language or linguistic ability. The research discusses the results of a test model of foreign language learning considering individual characteristics of sensory memory. Such an analysis makes it possible to identify the strengths and weaknesses of students and increase their language skills based on their psychological status. A test model intended to activate genetically determined types of sensory memory helps students digest new information. A differentiated approach tailored to the individual characteristics of perception of information increases memory capacity among students involved in a pilot survey. Based on a differentiation according to the prevailing type of memory, the author identifies that predominantly visual learners demonstrate the highest scores during the stimulation of the visual perception system. Focusing on the individual psychological personality traits, the researcher reveals that pilot group students learn foreign languages best; their knowledge is stabilized. This fact is of high theoretical value and allows one to optimize foreign language learning.

Executive Equity Incentives, Overconfidence and Corporate Inefficient Investment

In the past research on equity incentives, the influence of incentive system on individual psychological factors was often neglected. From the perspective of behavioral company finance, this paper takes executives from 2010 to 2016 China A-share listed companies as research samples to research framework for overconfidence, executive equity incentives, and corporate inefficient in-vestment. The results of the study show that equity incentives can alleviate the underinvestment behavior of executives by influencing executives’ over-confidence, and executive overconfidence is partly a sub-mediating effect. However, for over-invested enterprises, the indirect effect of executive over-confidence generated by equity incentives on corporate over-investment is a deterioration, and the direct effect of equity incentives is opposite to the indirect effect. So executives’ overconfidence in equity incentives, in the ex-cessive investment of enterprises, plays a special mediating effect—the cover effect.

The relationship between social class and health: Their &amp;quot;social-psychological-physiological&amp;quot; mechanism

Health disparities between different classes are important social problems faced by all countries in the world. China is no exception. Since the reform and opening up of China, the health status of residents has improved rapidly with the development of society and the economy. However, the health gap between different social classes has grown at the same time. In order to achieve the goal of eliminating health disparities, we need to have a thorough understanding of the main factors that cause health disparities among different social classes. Therefore, this paper focuses on the mechanisms that may explain the relationship between social class and health. A comprehensive mechanistic analysis should include macro-social factors, such as community and family environment, as well as individual psychological and biological factors. That is, there are multi-level paths by which social class affects health. Firstly, the community provides a context in which various social risks are experienced by the residents. Community violence can significantly affect the health of members of the community, and a series of studies indicates that it is a social mechanism that leads to social class disparities in health. In addition to community violence, conflicts between family members are also an important cause of the health gap between different classes. Meanwhile, factors such as the social capital of the community and the parenting style of the family have also been proved to play a mediating role in the effects of social class on all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality. Secondly, the community and family environment eventually affect individuals psychological characteristics and behavior, which in turn affect health. Lots of studies indicate that individual psychological characteristics, such as anxiety, depression, pessimism, and hostility, play a mediating role between social class and health. Poor health behaviors have also been shown to be the mechanisms underlying the relationship between lower class and higher morbidity and mortality. Thirdly, the most direct factors affecting health are biological factors, or pathophysiological factors of disease. Asthma has been used as an example to demonstrate the influence of social class on number of immune cells and the level of activity of molecular signaling pathways that regulate cytokine production. Based on the toxic pressure model, another group of researchers have suggested that the HPA system is over-activated by toxic stress, which distorts the normal balance of steady-state components, resulting in too much or too little cortisol, adrenaline, cytokines, metabolic hormones or neurotransmitters, which in turn leads to disease. In sum, we reviewed the social-psychological- physiological mechanisms of health disparities among social classes. We focused on the multi-level paths to illustrate the relationship between social class and health, which include community and family environmental factors (community violence, social capital, family conflict, and parenting style) as well as individual psychological and behavioral factors (hostility and health behavior) and biological factors (cells, molecular, and HPA). Future studies should strengthen theory integration and construction concerning the relation between social class and health, carrying out multi-faceted and multi-disciplinary empirical research at the distal, middle and proximal levels within a social-psychological-physical framework so as to reveal more deeply the core mechanisms underlying the influence of social class on health and lay a solid foundation for proposing more effective intervention programs.

Two Sizes May Fit All: Promoting Healthier Choices Through Regulatory Fit in Risk Communications.

For consumers to make healthy informed decisions (e.g. choose a low nutritional risk food product), they need to receive and exchange information with experts, health authorities, health and risk communicators and other interest groups. However, communicators often face the challenge that consumers avoid such information and have a low engagement with health and risk communication activities. This often results from a lack of consideration of consumers' characteristics and communications customization to them. A potential approach to increase engagement with communications is providing information that fits consumers' need and goals, particularly their regulatory orientation. We propose that such customization can be applied within a Mental Models' Approach operationalized through a recently patented Mental Modeling Technology PlatformTM (US9262725B2). Drawing results from psychological science and particularly Regulatory Focus Theory, communications can be customized to two global individual's goal orientation: 1) Promotion focus; 2) Prevention Focus. Communications customized into a promotion orientation (vs. prevention orientation) should make salient gains/positive consequences (vs. losses/negative consequences). Regulatory orientation should be measured in Mental Models Approach step two and message customization in step three (communication design). The role of individual psychological factors which influence food perception and choice should be considered in future studies/interventions to promote healthier decisions. Those responsible for designing mass dissemination messages and/or public health interventions, may benefit from using regulatory fit to facilitate behavior change, particularly when cost-effective personalized bidirectional communications are not possible.