Minimal Social Interaction Research Articles

Walking in their shoes: an ecological momentary assessment of physical activity and sedentary behaviors among urban and rural older adults

This study examines patterns of physical activity and sedentary behavior in individuals aged 65 years and older in the Beira Baixa region of Portugal with the aim of identifying differences between rural and urban settings. We analyzed data from 40 participants, including 19 rural residents (mean age = 74.7 years, SD = 8.5 years) and 21 urban residents (mean age = 70.1 years, SD = 5.2 years), using a retrospective cross-sectional design complemented by an ecological momentary assessment to capture real-time behavior. The thematic analysis revealed that both cohorts were predominantly sedentary, especially in terms of television consumption. Physical activities were mainly limited to tasks such as housework, gardening and occasional walking, with minimal social interactions. Urban participants, in particular, reported meeting more frequently with family at home and in the neighborhood. Both groups primarily used indoor spaces and nearby streets for physical activity. Our findings highlight the urgent need for tailored weekend physical activity programs to improve sedentary lifestyles among older adults in both rural and urban areas. This study contributes to the literature by highlighting the specific leisure-time preferences and activity patterns of older Portuguese adults, providing a basis for the development of adaptive, age-appropriate interventions. Keywords: Movement behaviors, ageing, observational study, real-time data capture

Minimal Social Interactions and Life Satisfaction: The Role of Greeting, Thanking, and Conversing

Recent studies have highlighted the subjective well-being benefits of minimal social interactions (i.e., interactions with weak ties and strangers). However, the empirical work to date has primarily focused on minimal social interactions that involve conversations and relied on Western samples. In this research, we examined not only conversations but also momentary interactions (i.e., greeting and thanking) in a large, nationally representative, non-WEIRD sample from Turkey ( N = 3,266). We used an instrumental variable approach to provide evidence for the direction of the association between minimal social interactions and life satisfaction. We also investigated the robustness of this approach by replicating one of our key findings in a very large, English-speaking, convenience sample ( N = 60,141). Across the two samples, we found that having conversations with strangers and weak ties, as well as simply greeting and thanking weak ties, predicted greater life satisfaction.

Even minimal student-instructor interactions may increase enjoyment in the classroom: Preliminary evidence that greeting your students may have benefits even if you can't remember their names.

Students value rapport with their instructors, and benefit from interacting with them; student-instructor contact is related to persistence, satisfaction, grades, etc. Instructors who wish to build rapport with their students are often encouraged to address their students by name. However, learning names is difficult for many people, and when classes are large, or team-teaching restricts the time spent with a group of students, it is even more difficult. Outside the classroom, even minimal social interactions with strangers (e.g., making eye contact, having a brief chat) can increase feelings of connection. Could minimal social interactions between instructors and students also have benefits? A rapport-building intervention was tested on students in three classes taught by two instructors (N = 352). Compared to students in a control condition and students who were assigned to a greeting condition (a minimal interaction designed to enable instructors to recognize students' faces) reported a stronger relationship with the instructor, and greater relationship strength predicted greater interest/enjoyment, relatedness and belonging. This novel intervention produced similar results to a more traditional nameboard condition, designed to enable instructors to learn students' names. These findings raise the intriguing possibility that even when instructors struggle to learn students' names, they can still build rapport with their students by simply greeting them as they enter class.

Pengaturan Pendampingan Narapidana yang Menderita Gangguan Mental selama Menempuh Hukuman di Lapas

Psychiatric disorders can occur at will in correctional institutions because their freedom is limited and interaction with people outside the institution is not possible. Limited freedom and minimal social interaction in correctional institutions can interfere with the mental health conditions of those who are already vulnerable. This condition can cause stress which leads to depression and mental disorders, which in turn can cause a person to go crazy. Therefore, appropriate arrangements and coaching are needed to provide the necessary care and support for dealing with those with psychiatric disorders. In this study, researchers used a normative research approach by examining law no. 22 of 2022 concerning correctional and analyzed this article deductively by referring to the literature in literature review. The purpose of this study is to analyze efforts to arrange assistance for revocation for those who experience psychiatric disorders while serving time at the Class IA Penitentiary in Surabaya, how to recover from losing their minds (crazy) while in prison, what is the legal status of someone who has been an asylum but has been recovered from psychiatric disorders and obstacles or obstacles when carrying out coaching for sufferers who are insane (mental disorders).

Knowledge and Mental Health Needs of the Elderly during the Covid-19 Pandemic: Evidence from a South-Western Private University in Nigeria

Background: The COVID-19 outbreak, and related public health initiatives have disrupted the lives of many people worldwide. Evidently, the COVID-19 pandemic has produced detrimental social and psychological impact on the mental health of the vast populations especially the elderly. . This study sought to assess the knowledge resources and mental health needs of the elderly emerging from COVID-19 Pandemic of the elderly population at Babcock University in Southwest Nigeria.
 Methods: A total of 196 consenting elders resident at Babcock University were enrolled in an online survey at Babcock University to assess the mental health needs of the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hypotheses were tested using bivariate analysis at 0.05 level of significance.
 Results: Majority [104 (58.4%)] of the elderly respondents are between the age bracket 60-64 and [51 (28.7%)] for the age bracket 65-74 years old. The respondents' top four needs during the pandemic are financial aid [108 (60.7%)], social support [41 (23.0%)], the presence of a caregiver [24 (13.5%)], and housing [5 (2.8%)]. The respondents' social condition might be summarized as follows: minimal social interaction with others, leaving them socially isolated [61 (34.3%)] and insufficient social contact with others [53 (29.8%)]. There was a significant relationship between knowledge and emotional state during the pandemic (p <0.05).
 Conclusion/Recommendation: Given the respondents' emotional state and other mental health problems that come with age, this study has supplied information about potential services that the elderly may find valuable. Government organizations and other partners should design planned interventions for the elderly throughout this period of life.

Recent Advances in Psychopharmacology: From Bench to Bedside Novel Trends in Schizophrenia.

Research in the field of psychopharmacology is ongoing to develop novel compounds which can revolutionize the treatment of psychiatric disorders. The concept of bench-to-bedside is a tedious process, transforming the initial research performed in the laboratories into novel treatment options. Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a chronic psychiatric illness with significant morbidity and mortality. SCZ not only presents with psychotic symptoms including hallucinations and delusions but also with negative and cognitive symptoms. The negative symptoms include the diminished ability to express emotions, loss of pleasure, and motivation with minimal social interactions. Conventional antipsychotics primarily target positive symptoms with minimal therapeutic benefits for negative and cognitive symptoms along with metabolic side effects. Researchers have explored novel targets to develop new compounds to overcome the above limitations. The glutamatergic system has provided new hope in treating schizophrenia by targeting negative and cognitive symptoms. Other receptor modulators, including serotonergic, phosphodiesterase, trans-amine-associated receptors, etc., are novel targets for developing new compounds. Future research is required in this field to explore novel compounds and establish their efficacy and safety for the treatment of schizophrenia. Last but not least, pharmacogenomics has effectively utilized genetic information to develop novel compounds by minimizing the risk of failure of the clinical trials and enhancing efficacy and safety.

Social support from weak ties: Insight from the literature on minimal social interactions

AbstractWhen people face difficult life events, such as cancer or bereavement, they fare better when they receive support. These “experiencers” are likely to seek and receive support from a wide range of people, from close others to acquaintances. Indeed, the social support literature has long acknowledged the value of having a diverse support network. Research suggests that experiencers often perceive “weak ties” (i.e., acquaintances) as sources of support, and that experiencers sometimes prefer to get support from weak ties rather than strong ties. Providing support can be challenging for all kinds of supporters, however weak ties may be more likely than strong ties to allow worries about their inability to provide effective support to stop them from providing any support at all, thus depriving experiencers of opportunities for additional support. In this paper, we focus on the fact that often the provision of support occurs via a social interaction. We draw on the social psychology literature on minimal social interactions to suggest reasons why potential weak tie supporters might doubt their ability to provide effective support, and to generate advice to encourage potential supporters to reach out. Finally, we suggest future areas of research, with the ultimate goal of helping to expand the support that is available for people experiencing difficult life events.

Minimal social interactions and subjective well-being in the Japanese context: Examination of mediation processes using a national representative sample

Minimal social interactions are brief interactions with non-intimates or strangers. A previous study claimed that minimal social interactions improve subjective well-being and that this effect is mediated by an enhanced sense of belonging. However, the previous study is based on a small sample of participants, and no other studies have attempted to replicate the mediation process thus far. The present study examined the mediation process based on data from a social survey of a nationally representative sample of Japanese residents. The survey was conducted in early 2022. The survey targeted 2,100 Japanese residents, and 957 respondents were included in the analyses after excluding those with missing values on the key measures. Based on the data analysis, it was found that minimal social interaction was positively correlated with happiness and the effects of minimal social interaction were significantly mediated by loneliness, a measure of sense of belonging. The sizes of the mediation effects were not affected by whether covariates, such as demographic profiles, were included or excluded. Sense of community, another measure of sense of belonging, did not significantly mediate the effect of minimal social interaction on happiness because its path coefficient on happiness was not significant when controlling for loneliness. These results provide support for a mediation model proposed in the previous study. The implications and limitations of the present study are discussed.

"No One Really Likes Crying in School": The Influences of Classroom and Institutional Dynamics Upon Student Absenteeism During COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the already problematic issue of student absenteeism. This study uniquely employs an ecological agency approach to better understand student absenteeism during COVID-19. Using a case study methodology, the study captures the experiences of two absentee students within a United States suburban high school during the 2020-2021 school year to better understand the institutional structures motivating their daily decision to attend or miss school. In the remote learning environment, rigorous curricular expectations, minimal social interactions, teacher-led instruction as a response to student disengagement from student-led instruction, and lower teacher expectations contributed to the participants' daily decision to miss school. In the remote, hybrid, and full-time in-person learning spaces, staff apathy toward bullying, minimal space to escape feelings of anxiety, and fewer tutoring outlets motivated student absenteeism. Therefore, the school environment can better promote attendance during COVID-19 by establishing an in-school space to escape heightened anxiety, academic supports to reduce grade-induced anxiety, shifting from nonintervention to prosocial instructional interventions in all learning environments, teacher voices in policy design, reducing teacher-led instruction, and shifting teacher beliefs to an asset mindset. Recommendations for future research are included.

An Overlooked Crisis: The Impact of COVID-19 on UK Medical Students and Their Mental Health

AimsMedicine is an undoubtedly challenging degree but studying medicine during the COVID-19 pandemic has posed added challenges for medical students across the UK. With teaching being moved online, practical exams cancelled, and final year students being fast-tracked onto the NHS frontline, there has been a dramatic change in how traditional medicine is being taught- with a ‘hands-on’ approach being swapped for video calls and remote teaching. This study will highlight the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of medical students, how they have coped through what has been an unprecedented two years and what can be done to support them through their medical training.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was performed on medical students at University College London. This involved a combination of face-to-face interviews and an online survey. They were asked about the impact on their overall mental well-being, as well as what the most challenging aspect of studying medicine during the pandemic was. They were also asked how optimistic they feel about their future in the medical profession. The data gathered were then analysed.ResultsThere were 30 responses, which were a combination of face to face and an online survey. Students unanimously agreed that the most challenging aspects were loneliness, lack of face-to-face teaching and minimal social interaction. 60% stated that their mental health has suffered significantly, and everyone felt that they have missed out on certain aspects of teaching during the pandemic, namely cadaveric dissections, time on wards and gaining vital communication skills. However, the benefits of online teaching included learning at their own pace and being able to take breaks to avoid burnout.ConclusionThere are limited studies looking at the long-term effect of COVID-19 on medical students in the UK. This survey highlights the detrimental impact of the pandemic on medical training and the mental health of these students. To address the possibility of burnout before they start their medical career, more resources could be signposted by medical schools to students during this challenging time. As we are transitioning out of the pandemic, we should be mindful not to forget the cohort of students who studied medicine alone in their homes. Most importantly, we must ensure this generation of doctors is well supported as they begin to care for members of the public.

A Synchronous Hybrid Team-Based Learning Class: Why and How to Do It?

COVID-19 pandemic has transformed much of the medical curriculum delivery from in person to online. Given that interpersonal interaction facilitates team cohesion and professional identity formation, prolonged online learning with minimal social interaction might impact these competencies in medical education. To mitigate the impact of prolonged social isolation, we conducted synchronous team-based learning (TBL) classes, where half the class is physically present and the other is connected via an online platform, termed hybrid TBL. We present practical tips in implementing hybrid TBL for educators teaching in large-sized classes, should conditions exist where not all students can attend in person.

Youth engagement during making: using electrodermal activity data and first-person video to generate evidence-based conjectures

PurposeThis paper aims to introduce and explores the use of electrodermal activity (EDA) data as a tool for obtaining data about youth engagement during maker learning activities.Design/methodology/approachEDA and survey data were collected from a yearlong afterschool maker program for teens that met weekly and was hosted at a children’s museum. Data from four youth who were simultaneously present for eight weeks were examined to ascertain what experiences and activities were more or less engaging for them, based on psychophysiological measures.FindingsMost of the focal youth appeared to show higher levels of engagement by survey measures throughout the program. However, when examined by smaller time intervals, certain activities appeared to be more engaging. Planning of maker activities was one space where engagement was higher. Completing sewing projects with minimal social interaction appeared to be less engaging. Specific activities involving common maker technologies yielded mixed levels of engagement.Originality/valueSome research is emerging that uses EDA data as a basis for generating inferences about various states while participating in maker learning activities. This paper provides a novel analysis building on some techniques established in the still emergent body of prior research in this area.

Minimal Social Interactions with Strangers Predict Greater Subjective Well-Being

Past empirical work has repeatedly revealed that positive social interactions including expressing gratitude and socializing are associated with greater happiness. However, this work predominantly focused on prolonged interactions with close relationship partners. Only a few studies demonstrated hedonic benefits of forming social connections with strangers. The present research investigated whether minimal social interactions with strangers—just taking a moment to greet, thank, and express good wishes to strangers—contribute to happiness of individuals who initiate these interactions. Study 1 (N = 856) provided correlational evidence that commuters who reported engaging in minimal positive social interactions with shuttle drivers experienced greater subjective well-being (life satisfaction and positive affect). Moreover, hedonic benefits of positive social interactions went beyond relatively more neutral social interactions, Big-Five personality factors, and age, speaking to the robustness of the effect. Study 2 (N = 265) provided experimental evidence that commuters who greeted, thanked, or expressed good wishes to shuttle drivers experienced greater momentary positive affect than those who did not speak with drivers. These findings add to the burgeoning literature on hedonic benefits of interacting with strangers by showing that even very minimal social interactions with strangers contribute to subjective well-being in everyday life.

Transient brain networks underlying interpersonal strategies during synchronized action.

Interpersonal coordination is a core part of human interaction, and its underlying mechanisms have been extensively studied using social paradigms such as joint finger-tapping. Here, individual and dyadic differences have been found to yield a range of dyadic synchronization strategies, such as mutual adaptation, leading–leading, and leading–following behaviour, but the brain mechanisms that underlie these strategies remain poorly understood. To identify individual brain mechanisms underlying emergence of these minimal social interaction strategies, we contrasted EEG-recorded brain activity in two groups of musicians exhibiting the mutual adaptation and leading–leading strategies. We found that the individuals coordinating via mutual adaptation exhibited a more frequent occurrence of phase-locked activity within a transient action–perception-related brain network in the alpha range, as compared to the leading–leading group. Furthermore, we identified parietal and temporal brain regions that changed significantly in the directionality of their within-network information flow. Our results suggest that the stronger weight on extrinsic coupling observed in computational models of mutual adaptation as compared to leading–leading might be facilitated by a higher degree of action–perception network coupling in the brain.

Facilitating Social Interactions With Peers in Specialized Early Childhood Settings for Young Children With ASD

Young children on the autism spectrum have minimal social interaction with their peers in inclusive preschool settings, thus limiting opportunities to build social relationships. Research indicates that explicitly training peers how to interact with classmates with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can increase the likelihood of peer-directed behavior; however, less is known about other strategies that can be used to support the peer-related social interactions of children with ASD and how those strategies may be used in conjunction with trained peers. Video data were analyzed from 23 classrooms using the Learning Experiences and Alternative Program for Preschoolers and Their Parents model (an inclusive preschool program that emphasizes peer training and peer support) to provide a snapshot of environmental features and the role of implementation fidelity that may enhance or inhibit the social interaction of 52 children with ASD. Findings indicate that social interaction is most likely to occur when an adult is not present, during small group activities, pretend play, and large motor activities. Implications for practice are discussed.

Students’ perceived challenges in an online collaborative learning environment: A case of higher learning institutions in Nairobi, Kenya

<p>Earlier forms of distance education were characterized by minimal social interaction like correspondence, television, video and radio. However, the World Wide Web (WWW) and online learning introduced the opportunity for much more social interaction, particularly among learners, and this has been further made possible through social media in Web 2.0. The increased availability of collaborative tools in Web 2.0 has made it possible to have online collaborative learning realized in Higher Learning Institutions (HLIs). However, learners can perceive the online collaborative learning process as challenging and they fail to utilize these collaborative tools effectively. Although a number of challenges have been mentioned in the literature, considerable diversity exists among countries due to diversity in infrastructure support for e-learning and learners’ background. This motivated this study to investigate components of online collaborative learning perceived as challenging by learners in HLIs in Kenya. Using a questionnaire, a survey was conducted in two public universities and two private universities to identify students’ perceived challenges in an online collaborative learning environment. Through purposive sampling the questionnaire was distributed to 210 students using e-mail and 183 students responded. Based on descriptive analysis the following five major challenges were rated as high: lack of feedback from instructors, lack of feedback from peers, lack of time to participate, slow internet connectivity, and low or no participation of other group members. There was also a relationship between the university type (private or public) with the perceived challenges which included: lack of feedback from the instructor (p=0.046) and work load not shared equally among group members (p=0.000). Apart from slow internet connectivity the rest of the challenges were in line with the observed challenges in the literature.These key challenges identified in this study should provide insight to educators on the areas of collaborative learning that should be improved in order to provide access to quality education that supports effective online collaborative learning in HLIs in Kenya.</p>

Towards a computational model of learning and social interactions of mice in IntelliCage

In [1] we have studied cognitive deficits in transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's Disease. In particular, we used automated mice cages (IntelliCage) to investigate how healthy and transgenic mice learn the location of a reward (sweetened water provided in only one of the four corners of the cage) in different social situations. We showed that co-housing transgenic mice with healthy companions can alleviate learning deficits. We also showed that the ability to find the reward is modulated by the circadian rhythm. A natural continuation of that study is to find specific mechanisms of learning and social interactions responsible for the observed patterns of behavior. To that end we now employ a collection of computational models of learning and decision making [2]. In the models we use the Rescorla-Wagner rule for the learned values of the actions supplemented by a model-specific decision-making rule. In the simplest case we assume the decisions are based purely on the learned rewards, with the probabilities of actions given by the softmax distribution. Such a simple model, in which animals are ignorant of each other, fits the trend of the learning curve well both for healthy (Figure ​(Figure1A)1A) and transgenic (not shown) mice. However, it does not capture the circadian oscillations. Figure 1 Experimental and model learning curves of healthy mice. Left: model without interactions between animals. Right: model with minimal social interactions. Thin lines mark the standard deviation of model curves over 100 repetitions. Next we study a model in which the interactions between animals are included in a minimal form. Specifically, the probability of visiting given corner is reduced if the corner is already occupied by another mouse at the time the choice of the action takes place. In this case we observe that the model learning-curve starts to exhibit oscillations around the trend (Figure ​(Figure1B).1B). Still, the amplitude of these oscillations is significantly smaller than in experimental data, which suggests that other effects come also into play.

The Product-Price Nexus and Social Relations

Comparative ethnographic research between Frank's Bar, in Melbourne, Australia, and Freddy's Bar, in New York, reveals that the relationship between products and their prices is inversely correlated to the level of social interaction between patrons and bartenders. This is demonstrated by way of comparing the Product-Price Nexus (PPN), an analytical tool that outlines the relationship between prices and products, with the level of social engagement between those conducting transactions. Frank's strong PPN—due to standardized products, which are specifically, consistently, and comprehensively priced—is coupled with minimal social interaction between patrons and bartenders. In contrast, Freddy's weak PPN is intertwined with substantial and personalized interaction between participants. Using Hart's notion of informal economy and Zelizer's discussion of relational work, I argue that social interaction is linked to the mode of economic exchange. At Frank's, transactions are formalized and enforced with st...

The expression of affect in African elephant (Loxodonta africana) rumble vocalizations.

Affective states are thought to be expressed in the mammalian voice, but such investigations are most common in primates. Source and filter features of rumbles were analyzed from 6 adult female African elephants (Loxodonta africana) at Disney's Animal Kingdom. Rumbles produced during periods of minimal social interaction ("low affect") were compared to those produced during dominance interactions ("high affect"). Low-ranking females produced rumbles with increased and more variable fundamental frequencies, and increased durations and amplitudes during dominance interactions with superiors, compared to the low affect context. This acoustic response is consistent with the expression of affect in mammals and may signal submission to superiors. The 2 highest ranking females were codominant and competed for alpha status. They produced rumbles with decreased and less variable fundamental frequencies, increased durations and amplitudes, and a decrease in formant dispersion during dominance interactions with each other, compared to the low affect context. This response is not generally consistent with the expression of affect, but may signal large body size to competitors. These results suggest that affect can be expressed in the voiced sounds of elephants.

Carers living with stroke survivors who were incontinent had minimal social interaction and felt socially isolated

K R Brittain Dr K R Brittain, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK; katie.brittain@ncl.ac.uk What are the social consequences for informal carers who live with stroke survivors who have urinary...