Attribution Of Intentions Research Articles

Examining privilege, puzzlement and the problematic positioning of the ‘psychologist’ as internal consultant in psychologically-informed environments

Deliberate self-harm and the attribution of intentionality – that sufferers are choosing to harm themselves – have become dominant constructs within mainstream Western mental health care. The aim of this paper is to explore the author’s privileged positioning as internal consultant, whereby psychological knowledge was used to explain why a chronically excluded homeless adult refused an invitation to reside inside. The attribution of intention to an individual perceived as engaging in deliberate self-harm is explored over three psychological case discussions with staff. A critique is offered that psychologised attributions merely add to patients’ existing predicaments and psychosocial dismemberment. Scanlon and Adlam’s seminal work on reciprocal violence is referenced as a critique, that instead of choosing to harm oneself, subjects are communicating to carers their internalised experiences of interpersonal violation and neglect which have in turn given rise to violent states of mind. The paper could be used as a reflective aid to facilitate clinicians and scholars to consider how to digest violent and unthinkable material, and consider one’s own personal obstacles to thinking about unhoused minds and psychosocial dismemberment.

Beyond the simplicity of theory of mind deficit in multiple sclerosis: from kinetic perception to socio-emotional abstraction and mentalizing.

Theory of Mind (ToM) processing in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is still poorly understood due to the difficulty of most tasks in qualifying the mentalizing deficit net of cognitive load. In this study, we administered the New False Belief Animation Task (NFBAT) to 50 MS and 33 healthy controls (HC) to investigate spontaneous mentalizing in ToM and goal-directed interactions. The global cognitive level was assessed by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). NFBAT appropriateness and intentionality scores were computed to investigate the ToM accuracy and intentionality attribution difficulties. NFBAT answers were qualitatively analyzed and categorized into kinetically and socially coherent/not coherent responses to test a low-level perceptual deficit. The main result showed dysfunctional mentalizing reasoning in MS compared to HC in the NFBAT Intentionality score in ToM conditions (p=0.028, d=0.501), while the two groups were equally proficient in mentalization accuracy. The Intentionality underperformance in MS was related to social low-level perceptual processing (β =0.06, p<0.001) and visuospatial functions (β =0.05, p =0.002). A predictive role of memory and executive functions on NFBAT Intentionality scores was not observed. These results strengthen the hypothesis that ToM in MS is likely related to low-level social processing.

Autism and intention attribution test: a non-verbal evaluation with comic strips

BackgroundDespite autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and mentalization being two words often associated in the literature, the assessment of this ability in individuals with ASD in the clinical setting is still limited. Indeed, there are no standardized Theory of Mind (ToM) tests that are adaptable to different cognitive profiles, such as individuals with language poverty, and intellectual or memory impairments. This study proposes a non-verbal test (Intentions Attribution-Comic Strip Test; IA-CST) to evaluate the ability to infer the intentions of others, a basic component of ToM, in the clinical setting.MethodIn Study 1, the test was administered to 261 healthy individuals and we performed structural validation using Exploratory Graph Analysis. In Study 2, the final version of the test was administered to 32 individuals with ASD to assess the known group validity of the measure by comparing their scores with a sample of IQ-matched controls. Moreover, we performed logistic regression and ROC curve to preliminarily assess the diagnostic performance of the IA-CST.ResultsThe IA-CST resulted in a 3-dimension measure with good structural stability. Group comparison indicated that the ASD group shows significantly lower performance in intention attribution but not in inferring causal consequences. The test demonstrated known group validity and that, preliminarily, it is suitable for implementation within the clinical practice.ConclusionsThe results support the IA-CST as a valid non-verbal task for evaluating intentions attribution in the clinical setting. Difficulties in ToM are early and relevant in ASD, so assessing these aspects is valuable for structuring individualized and evidence-based interventions.

Spontaneous humanization of robots in passive observation of human-robot interaction: A path toward ethical consideration and human-robot cooperation

As humanoid robots become more prevalent, understanding how people form initial representations of and attitudes towards these agents is crucial. This study investigated whether observing a human's emotional reactions towards a robot in a passive human-robot interaction influences the spontaneous humanization and mental state attributions of the robot, and subsequent ethical considerations and cooperation. In Experiment 1, Japanese and British participants observed videos of a human interacting emotionally or neutrally with a Pepper robot and then assessed the robot. Results showed the emotional video elicited more humanization and intentionality attributions towards the robot, subsequently predicting greater ethical concern, especially among Japanese participants. In Experiment 2, observing human emotional engagement increased cooperation with the robot in a Prisoner's Dilemma game through enhanced humanization and intentionality attributions. The findings suggest that passive observation of human-robot interactions can shape the representation, attribution, and treatment of robots based on culture and situational cues. This highlights the need to consider social factors that may influence people's developing relationships with robots.

Intent Attributions for Work-Family Support Policies, Policy Use, and Employee Attitudes

Intent Attributions for Work-Family Support Policies, Policy Use, and Employee Attitudes

Malicious Motives or Innocent Intentions? How Moral Reactions to “Collateral Damage” Shape Perceptions of Intent in Wartime Conduct

Abstract The laws of war prohibit intentional attacks on civilians, a fact that reflects the widely held view that intentional killings are particularly egregious, far more so than incidental killings or pure accidents. Yet, recent scholarship in moral psychology shows that the relationship between intention-understanding and moral judgments can also go the other way, that is, that judgments about whether an action is right or wrong can influence the degree to which people regard the action as intentional or unintentional. Drawing on this line of research, in this article we examine how moral intuitions influence perceptions of the intent to harm civilians in war. Using vignette-based survey experiments, we look at whether complying with the international humanitarian law principles of proportionality and precaution in attacks affects intentionality attributions. Our results suggest that when soldiers are perceived as having broken these principles, people are more likely to conclude that they killed civilians intentionally.

Is the Knobe Effect due to Error Management? A Functional Approach to the Side-Effect Effect

The Knobe effect (side-effect effect) is a tendency to ascribe intentionality in cases of negative, but not positive, side effects. From an adaptive point of view, one possible function of attributing intentionality is to make it easier to predict the actor’s future actions. When the cost of false negatives (i.e., missing an existing intentionality) is high, the need to deal with future actions of the perpetrator increases, which would lead to an increase in the degree of intentionality attribution. This study uses the “lieutenant scenario” to examine whether increasing the severity of side-effect outcome, as the cost of false negatives, facilitates intentionality attribution. Although the side-effect effect was replicated, the results show that the severity of the consequences of the effect did not affect the magnitude of intentionality attribution. Only the positive or negative outcome known to the actor affected the magnitude of intentionality attribution, which might be consistent with the idea that the Knobe effect arises as a result of responding to different mental states of the actor.

Algorithms in personnel selection, applicants' attributions about organizations' intents and organizational attractiveness: An experimental study

AbstractMachine‐learning algorithms used in personnel selection are a promising avenue for several reasons. We shift the focus to applicants' attributions about the reasons why an organization uses algorithms. Combining the human resources attributions model, signaling theory, and existing literature on the perceptions of algorithmic decision‐makers, we theorize that using algorithms affects internal attributions of intent and, in turn, organizational attractiveness. In two experiments (N = 259 and N = 342), including a concurrent double randomization design for causal mediation inferences, we test our hypotheses in the applicant screening stage. The results of our studies indicate that control‐focused attributions about personnel selection (cost reduction and applicant exploitation) are much stronger when algorithms are used, whereas commitment‐focused attributions (quality enhancement and applicant well‐being) are much stronger when human experts make selection decisions. We further find that algorithms have a large negative effect on organizational attractiveness that can be partly explained by these attributions. Implications for practitioners and academics are discussed.

Gender biases in attributions of blame for workplace mistreatment: a video experiment on the effect of perpetrator and target gender.

Ambiguous psychological workplace mistreatment such as insulting or ignoring a co-worker might trigger gender bias. This study aims to examine whether female perpetrators receive more moral anger and blame from observers than men. A sample of Austrian workforce members (n = 880, 55.00% women, 44.89% men, 0.11% diverse) responded to standardized videos showing a perpetrator's angry insult and a perpetrator's exclusion of a co-worker from lunch. In total, we edited 32 video clips with four female and four male professional actors. We manipulated the following variables: 2 perpetrator gender (male/female) * 2 target gender (male/female) * 2 types of mistreatment (insult/exclusion). As hypothesized, linear mixed-effects modeling revealed more moral anger and attributions of intent against female perpetrators than against men. Significant three-way interactions showed that female perpetrators were judged more harshly than men when the target was female and the mistreatment was exclusion. Female targets were blamed less when the perpetrator was female rather than male. Male targets did not evoke attributional biases. Observer gender had no significant interaction with perpetrator or target gender. Our findings suggest that gender biases in perpetrator-blaming are dependent on target gender and type of mistreatment. The stereotype of women having it out for other women or being "too sensitive" when mistreated by men requires more attention in organizational anti-bias trainings.

Would you try it again? Dual effects of customer mindfulness on service recovery

Service failures have a negative impact on customer experience. Research in the field has looked for ways to reduce this negative impact, but little is known about the role of customer mindfulness in this context. Two quantitative scenario-based studies (ntotal=613) were conducted. Study 1 (experimental, between-subject design) showed that mindfulness moderates the relationship between attributions of benevolence and post-purchase intention (i.e., stronger effects for low mindful customers). Study 2 (follow-up, within-subject design) showed that the level of customer mindfulness is positively associated with a preference for explanation as a service recovery tactic. This research highlights the dual effects (positive vs. negative) of customer mindfulness in the context of service failure.

Why narcissists are more likely to be aggressive? The role of hostile attribution bias.

Narcissism is commonly associated with aggressiveness, but the underlying mechanisms of this relationship are still not yet fully understood. Based on previous research showing that narcissists are suspicious, the present research investigated whether hostile attribution of intent could explain the relationship between narcissism and aggression. In Study 1, participants (N = 347) completed a self-report measure of grandiose narcissism (Narcissistic Personality Inventory) and a measure of hostile attribution bias (Social Information Processing-Attribution Emotion Questionnaire). Analyses revealed that narcissism was a strong predictor of hostile attribution bias, angry feelings, and aggressive reactions. Moreover, hostile attribution bias appeared to mediate the relation between narcissism and aggressive reactions. Study 2 (N = 130) replicated the findings of Study 1 using a measure of vulnerable narcissism (Hypersensitive narcissism scale). In addition, perspective taking was manipulated in Study 2 and the results showed that participants in the high perspective-taking condition (vs. low perspective taking) were less likely to make hostile attributions. These findings suggest that hostile attribution of intent is particularly relevant to understand narcissistic aggression. (170 words).

When children acquire irony: The role of epistemic vigilance

AbstractIrony is a mechanism that, at the same time, says and does not say. It is a case in which the speaker literally expresses a sense that is not what the speaker wants to communicate. It is a case of implicit echoic mention that conveys an attitude toward what is mentioned. Therefore, an utterance that, to be understood, needs contextual elements, meta-communicative elements and a mutual attribution of knowledge, intentions and affective states between speaker and hearer; the elaboration of which requires specific capacities – linguistics as well as cognitive – that allow to recognize the unsaid intentions of the speaker. Even if the ironic speaker expresses an attitude and, in doing this, s/he is ‘honest’ (s/he wants the hearer to recognize the falsehood or the irrelevance of the expressed proposition and to grasp the attitude towards it), most of the time, ironic expressions are sentences that are apparently false. To be able to distinguish between irony and lying, the hearer must determine that the ironic speaker wants the listener to disbelieve the statement, whereas the liar wants the listener to believe just what is said. Distinguishing between a false observation said with a misleading intent and an untrue sentence proffered/uttered with an ironic intent, requires a right attribution of a second-order belief, but it also requires the capacity ofepistemic vigilance, an ability that allows us to evaluate the accuracy of the content of the information provided by others, and to discriminate the reliability of the source of information. The complex abilities, required by irony elaboration, make irony learning during childhood particularly difficult. Acquisition of irony comprehension is more complex than any other form of non-literal speech and, during growth, it reaches its complete development later than many other complex linguistic aspects, only about at the age of ten-twelve. The article wants to show how difficulties of irony elaboration in children are linked not only to the full development of meta-representational abilities, but in addition and especially to the development of epistemic vigilance.

Clinical usability of the Story-Based Empathy Task (SET) in non-demented ALS patients.

This study aimed at assessing the clinical usability of the Story-Based Empathy Task (SET) in non-demented amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. N = 106 non-demented ALS patients and N = 101 healthy controls (HCs) were administered the SET, which includes three subtests assessing Emotion Attribution (SET-EA), Intention Attribution (SET-IA) and causal inference (SET-CI) - the latter being a control task. Patients also underwent the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET), the Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS) and a thorough behavioural and motor-functional evaluation. The diagnostics of the SET-EA and -IA were tested against a defective performance on the RMET. The association between SET subtests and cognitive/behavioural outcomes was examined net of demographic and motor-functional confounders. Case-control discrimination was explored for each SET subtest. Demographically adjusted SET-EA and -IA scoresaccurately detected defective RMET performances at the optimal cutoffs of <3.04 (AUC = .84) and <3.61 (AUC = .88), respectively. By contrast, the SET-CI performed poorly in doing so (AUC = .58). The SET-EA converged with the RMET, as well as with ECAS-Executive and -Memory scores, whilst the SET-IA was unrelated to cognitive measures (including the RMET); the SET-CI was related to the ECAS-Language the ECAS-Executive. SET subscores were unrelated to behavioural outcomes. Only the SET-EA discriminated patients from HCs. The SET as a whole should not be addressed as a social-cognitive measure in this population. At variance, its subtest tapping on emotional processing - i.e., the SET-EA - is recommended for use as an estimate of social-cognitive abilities in non-demented ALS patients.

Emotional Expectancies and Hostile Attributions as Predictors of Adolescents’ Expressions of Emotion with Parents

The present study examined associations between adolescents’ Emotional Expectancies (EE), Hostile Attributions of Intent (HAI), and emotions expressed during interactions with their mother and father. Data were collected from 96 14- to 16-year-olds (27 African Americans, 38 European Americans, and 31 Latinos; a total of 51 girls and 45 boys) and their parents over a period of 2 years. Questionnaires completed by adolescents were used to assess emotional expectancies and hostile attributions of parents’ behavior. In both year one and year two, adolescent emotional expressiveness with parents was observed in a laboratory interaction session. Data revealed that both adolescents’ EE and HAI in reaction to ambiguous situations predicted their expression of positive emotion with their mother and father 1 year later. EE of happiness were positively related and EE of anger were negatively related to the expression of positive emotion with their mother and father. HAI were negatively related to the expression of positive emotion. Only HAI were related to a higher expression of anger with their mother and father. The findings indicate that HAI and EE represent distinct cognitive-emotional processes that contribute to individual differences in adolescents’ expressions of emotion with parents.

“I will always hate you”! An investigation of the impact of anthropomorphism in online anti-brand communities

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate whether brand anthropomorphism has a direct impact on brand hate and what are the prevailing factors that play a significant role in this relationship.Design/methodology/approachThis study provides insights on brand anthropomorphism phenomenon and negative consumer–brand relationships in the context of social media-based anti-brand communities. Using a quantitative analysis of the data gathered from an online survey, this study analyzes brand anthropomorphism in the three main online anti-brand communities toward Apple.FindingsFindings indicated that brand anthropomorphism in itself does not impact on brand hate directly. Nevertheless, when it is used by consumers to express their negative feelings toward the hatred brand, the consumers’ attribution of responsibility and intentionality to Apple brand’s behavior positively affects brand hate, and ideological incompatibility is a good moderator for brand hate.Research limitations/implicationsThe results of this study are based on a limited number of survey respondents because anti-brand community members are very difficult to access, and thus, it was not easy to have their collaboration for this research.Practical implicationsThis study highlights the power of social media as a tool for establishing negative consumer–brand relationships. Therefore, brand managers must recognize that consumer activists may be a serious threat to the company and deal with the consumers’ tendency to use anthropomorphism to express their hate.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the link between brand anthropomorphism and brand hate, analyzed through a quantitative analysis.

ВЕЖЛИВОСТЬ И АНТИВЕЖЛИВОСТЬ В КОММУНИКАТИВНОМ ПРОСТРАНСТВЕ ИНТЕРНЕТА (НА МАТЕРИАЛЕ ИНТЕРНЕТ-КОММЕНТАРИЕВ)

This article focuses on the concepts of politeness and antipoliteness and their manifestation in online comments. &#x0D; The aim of the article is to describe the concepts of "politeness" and "antipoliteness" as semantic phenomena consisting of a set of speech genres manifested in Internet communication.&#x0D; The semantic fields of politeness and antipoliteness are revealed, and a distinction is made between antipoliteness, rudeness and impoliteness.&#x0D; The paper analyses examples of politeness as ameliorative behaviour and impoliteness as pejorative behaviour. These behavioural manifestations are illustrated using examples of online comments (400 comments published on various Internet platforms served as the material for the study).&#x0D; A scheme illustrating the attribution of speech intentions defining a speech genre to polite or antipolite behaviour is proposed.

Structural Equation Modelling Analysis of Purchase Behavior of Halal Products

Indonesia is renowned for being home to the largest Islamic population globally, but the absence of a halal certification logo on products continues to be a cause for concern. For Muslim customers, their basic knowledge of halal ingredients written on the product is the only guide they can be relied on. Hence, it is crucial to understand the essential factors that influence their purchasing behavior regarding halal-certified products. This study uses the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to examine Muslim customers' behavior, as a case study, in Banda Aceh. The TPB questionnaire, including attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and purchase intention attributes, was distributed online to respondents in the Banda Aceh area using non-probability random sampling. Through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) methodology and AMOS software, this research reveals a strong correlation between attitude and subjective norm with Muslim customers' purchasing intention. Moreover, purchasing intention shows a strong relationship with purchasing behavior. Consequently, attitude, subjective norm, and customers' intention are the critical factors that influence Muslim customers' behavior when purchasing halal-certified products in Indonesia.

Neurobiological correlates and attenuated positive social intention attribution during laughter perception associated with degree of autistic traits

Laughter plays an important role in group formation, signaling social belongingness by indicating a positive or negative social intention towards the receiver. In adults without autism, the intention of laughter can be correctly differentiated without further contextual information. In autism spectrum disorder (ASD), however, differences in the perception and interpretation of social cues represent a key characteristic of the disorder. Studies suggest that these differences are associated with hypoactivation and altered connectivity among key nodes of the social perception network. How laughter, as a multimodal nonverbal social cue, is perceived and processed neurobiologically in association with autistic traits has not been assessed previously. We investigated differences in social intention attribution, neurobiological activation, and connectivity during audiovisual laughter perception in association with the degree of autistic traits in adults [N = 31, Mage (SD) = 30.7 (10.0) years, nfemale = 14]. An attenuated tendency to attribute positive social intention to laughter was found with increasing autistic traits. Neurobiologically, autistic trait scores were associated with decreased activation in the right inferior frontal cortex during laughter perception and with attenuated connectivity between the bilateral fusiform face area with bilateral inferior and lateral frontal, superior temporal, mid-cingulate and inferior parietal cortices. Results support hypoactivity and hypoconnectivity during social cue processing with increasing ASD symptoms between socioemotional face processing nodes and higher-order multimodal processing regions related to emotion identification and attribution of social intention. Furthermore, results reflect the importance of specifically including signals of positive social intention in future studies in ASD.

Probability and intentional action

How does probability affect attributions of intentionality? In five experiments (total N = 1410), we provide evidence for a probability raising account holding that people are more likely to see the outcome of an agent’s action as intentional if the agent does something to increase the odds of that outcome. Experiment 1 found that high probability without probability raising does not suffice for strong attributions of intentionality. Participants were more likely to conclude a girl intentionally obtained a desired gumball from a single gumball machine when it offered favorable odds for getting that kind of gumball compared with when it offered poor odds, but their attributions of intentionality were lukewarm. Experiments 2 and 3 then found stronger attributions of intentionality when the girl raised her probability of success by choosing to use machines offering favorable odds over machines offering poor odds. Finally, Experiments 4 and 5 examined whether these effects of probability raising might reduce to consideration of agents’ beliefs and expectations. We found that although these mental states do matter, probability raising matters too—people attribute intentional actions to agents who increase their odds of success, rather than to agents who merely become convinced that success is likely. We discuss the implications of these findings for claims that control and skill contribute to attributions of intentional action.

Investigating Stakeholders’ Reactions to Crises in the Nonprofit Sector Through the Lens of Social Identity Theory

ABSTRACT Social identity theory (SIT) suggests that organizations fulfill stakeholders’ psychological needs by meeting their self-definitional needs. Different crises may undermine such psychological fulfillment to varying degrees and lead stakeholders to react differently to the crises. This study examined the intersection of SIT and crisis communication in the context of social-cause-related nonprofit organizations (NPOs). It used the concept of identity threat to investigate whether a crisis is more detrimental when it directly compromises an NPO’s organizational identity and whether this effect varies depending on the stakeholders’ levels of social-cause involvement. Data were collected from 630 participants in an online between-subject experiment. As the study found, a crisis that directly compromises an NPO’s identity does more damage to stakeholders’ identification, attribution of responsibility, attitudes, and intentions of negative word-of-mouth than a crisis that does not. However, this effect of crisis types disappears among stakeholders with low social-cause involvement. Additionally, stakeholder-NPO identification mediates the interaction effects of crisis types and social-cause involvement on the attitudinal and intentional outcomes.