Positive Valence Research Articles

Embodiment of emotions in adolescents’ musical expression

Music has been actively studied from the perspectives of emotional expression and body movement, but not during adolescence. The current study addressed music as a forum for adolescent embodied emotion expression. Based on prior research, we hypothesised that adolescents would be able to differentiate between emotions in their music-related expressive body movements based on valence and arousal characteristics. Participants ( N = 60, 17 male, mean age 14.72 years) played djembe to express five basic emotions (happiness, tenderness, sadness, anger, fear) while body movements were motion captured. Correlations of movement features with emotion-regulation tendencies, as measured by the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), were additionally explored. Adolescents demonstrated great capacity to use all measured movement features to express emotions: movement speed, variance, area and length all differed significantly between emotions. In particular, the results confirm the hypothesised connection of high arousal to high speed and acceleration and further suggest that positive valence relates to wider area and longer performance. In addition, adolescents scoring high on cognitive reappraisal gave faster and more stable performances. We discuss creative body movement as part of youth emotional development.

Inclusion of Individuals With Lived Experiences in the Development of a Digital Intervention for Co-Occurring Depression and Cannabis Use: Mixed Methods Investigation.

Existing interventions for co-occurring depression and cannabis use often do not treat both disorders simultaneously and can result in higher rates of symptom relapse. Traditional in-person interventions are often difficult to obtain due to financial and time limitations, which may further prevent individuals with co-occurring depression and cannabis use from receiving adequate treatment. Digital interventions can increase the scalability and accessibility for these individuals, but few digital interventions exist to treat both disorders simultaneously. Targeting transdiagnostic processes of these disorders with a digital intervention-specifically positive valence system dysfunction-may yield improved access and outcomes. Recent research has highlighted a need for the inclusion of individuals with lived experiences to assist in the co-design of interventions to enhance scalability and relevance of an intervention. Thus, the purpose of this study is to describe the process of eliciting feedback from individuals with elevated depressed symptoms and cannabis use and co-designing a digital intervention, Amplification of Positivity-Cannabis Use Disorder (AMP-C), focused on improving positive valence system dysfunction in these disorders. Ten individuals who endorsed moderate to severe depressive symptoms and regular cannabis use (2-3×/week) were recruited online via Meta ads. Using a mixed methods approach, participants completed a 1-hour mixed methods interview over Zoom (Zoom Technologies Inc) where they gave their feedback and suggestions for the development of a mental health app, based on an existing treatment targeting positive valence system dysfunction, for depressive symptoms and cannabis use. The qualitative approach allowed for a broader investigation of participants' wants and needs regarding the engagement and scalability of AMP-C, and the quantitative approach allowed for specific ratings of intervention components to be potentially included. Participants perceived the 13 different components of AMP-C as overall helpful (mean 3.9-4.4, SD 0.5-1.1) and interesting (mean 4.0-4.9, SD 0.3-1.1) on a scale from 1 (not at all) to 5 (extremely). They gave qualitative feedback for increasing engagement in the app, including adding a social component, using notifications, and being able to track their symptoms and progress over time. This study highlights the importance of including individuals with lived experiences in the development of interventions, including digital interventions. This inclusion resulted in valuable feedback and suggestions for improving the proposed digital intervention targeting the positive valence system, AMP-C, to better match the wants and needs of individuals with depressive symptoms and cannabis use.

Psychometric Evaluation of Cognitive and Positive Valence Tasks Chosen for the NIMH Research Domain Criteria Project.

The NIMH Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative seeks to utilize multidimensional patterns of socio-cognitive behavior to improve understanding of mental illness. We aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of a subset of RDoC tasks. Specifically, we investigated two positive valence tasks and five cognitive tasks. Participants (N = 320) were recruited through an online research platform. We used generalizability theory to estimate reliability, and factor analysis to examine factor structure. Reliability was average to excellent with some notable exceptions. Factor analysis results raised concerns about whether the factor structure of task scores aligns with the proposed RDoC model. Effects of cognitive manipulations generally supported the construct representation of tasks. Results indicate that the majority of RDoC task scores examined have acceptable reliability or can be made reliable through modest increases in task length. Future research in diverse populations is needed to better understand the factor structure of RDoC cognitive and positive valence measures.

Differential effects of mindfulness treatment and mobile neurofeedback on event-related potentials in early posterior negativity in cancer patients: a clinical-experimental parallel group design.

Cancer frequently leads to psychological challenges, among them emotion regulation problems. These can be alleviated with the help of mindfulness therapies or neurofeedback (NF) interventions. Possible intervention effects on emotion procession can be detected in clinical EEG studies by exploring event-related potentials, e.g., early posterior negativity (EPN), which recently has been established to investigate emotional processing and represents very early attention to affective stimuli. Therefore, this clinical-experimental study investigated the efficacy of mindfulness and NF (10 sessions each) on the EPN in oncology patients. The study enrolled 42 cancer patients (age: 31-73 years; gender: 28 female, 14 male). The study design was an RCT with a parallel group [NF (n = 21) versus mindfulness (n = 21)] waitlist paradigm. EEG recordings in an oddball task with neutral, rare positive and negative valence and high and low arousal stimuli were performed at three measurement time points (T0 = before waitlist, T1 = before intervention, T2 = after intervention). Following preprocessing, data from electrodes O1, Oz and O2 were analyzed for EPN amplitudes. Response time did not differ across groups and conditions. Comparing EPN at T1 and T2, there was a significant interaction of time, valence, and intervention (p = 0.042). Descriptive statistics showed increased EPN for negative stimuli after the NF intervention (T1 to T2), while EPN for positive stimuli only slightly increased. For mindfulness, positive stimuli evoked stronger amplitudes after the intervention, while EPN for negative stimuli increased from T1 to T2. Distinct effects were observed for the EPN for pictures with negative valence. Here, it is presumed that mindfulness treatment led to a refocusing of attention with a focus on positive valence, whereas NF seems to entail a different processing of images with negative valence and is therefore to be seen more in the sense of a confrontational approach. Our results suggest that both interventions are suitable for modulating EPN. However, it is not clear to what extent the effects are due to the interventions alone and how other factors might have affected the amplitudes, which highlights the need for further research in this area.

Mnemonic adoption and rejection: How activists remember and forget previous mobilisations

Contributing to the growing literature on the memory-activism nexus, this article analyses how activists remember past activism. For social movements and activists, memories of past mobilisations represent both an asset and a burden. This article seeks to contribute to existing research on memory in activism by identifying recurrent patterns of how activists remember and forget previous mobilisations across different movements. Based on interviews with activists of the Global Justice Movement (1998–2007) and the Blockupy movement (2012–2015), four mnemonic modes are identified. These entail two types of mnemonic adoption, which highlight continuity with a positive or negative valence attached, and two types of mnemonic rejection, which highlight discontinuity with a positive or negative valence attached. I show how similar patterns of these mnemonic modes can be found across the two movements and their diverse subgroups. At the same time, however, these mnemonic patterns differ depending on the degree of activists’ identification with the overall movement; while activists who strongly identify with the movement in question remember failures of past mobilisations and their differences to current ones more clearly than similarities and successes, the opposite is the case for activists with low identification attachments.

The Role of Gender in Cognitive Processing of Affective Linguistic Stimuli in Bilinguals

This study aims to compare the emotional reactions of bilingual men and women to affective valence by manipulating positive and negative linguistic stimuli. To achieve this aim, the semantic decision task was used. 56 Persian-English bilinguals, who were divided into two equal groups considering their gender (28 female and 28 male), were asked to decide whether the adjectives loaded with positive or negative valence (i.e., target words) were related in meaning to the preceding nouns (i.e., prime words). In order to find out whether there is any potential interaction between the valence of primes and targets, mixed factorial repeated measure ANOVA was run on reaction time and error rate data. The results of the present study on cognitive gender differences show that males and females, despite some few differences, generally follow a similar pattern in processing affective meaning of words in their second language.

Sensitive infant care tunes a frontotemporal interbrain network in adolescence

Caregiving plays a critical role in children’s cognitive, emotional, and psychological well-being. In the current longitudinal study, we investigated the enduring effects of early maternal behavior on processes of interbrain synchrony in adolescence. Mother-infant naturalistic interactions were filmed when infants were 3–4 months old and interactions were coded for maternal sensitivity and intrusiveness with the Coding Interactive Behavior Manual. In early adolescence (Mean = 12.30, SD = 1.25), mother-adolescent interbrain synchrony was measured using hyperscanning EEG during a naturalistic interaction of positive valence. Guided by previous hyperscanning studies, we focused on interbrain connections within the right frontotemporal interbrain network. Results indicate that maternal sensitivity in early infancy was longitudinally associated with neural synchrony in the right interbrain frontotemporal network. Post-hoc comparisons highlighted enhancement of mother-adolescent frontal-frontal connectivity, a connection that has been implicated in parent-child social communication. In contrast, maternal intrusiveness in infancy was linked with attenuation of interbrain synchrony in the right interbrain frontotemporal network. Sensitivity and intrusiveness are key maternal social orientations that have shown to be individually stable in the mother-child relationship from infancy to adulthood and foreshadow children’s positive and negative social-emotional outcomes, respectively. Our findings are the first to demonstrate that these two maternal orientations play a role in enhancing or attenuating the child’s interbrain frontotemporal network, which sustains social communication and affiliation. Results suggest that the reported long-term impact of maternal sensitivity and intrusiveness may relate, in part, to its effects on tuning the child’s brain to sociality.

The active site of Mδ+ tailed by B (or N)-doped graphyne for nitrogen reduction reaction through DFT study

NN bond activation is one of the technical problems in the conversion of N2-to-NH3. In this work, we researched Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu and Pt metal single atoms anchored on B/N-doped graphyne (M/X-GY) catalysts systematically by means of DFT. The results of Bader charge and charge density verified the charge transfers between single metal and the doped graphyne in M/X-GY catalysts. Cr (+1.001 e) and Mn (+0.800 e) exhibit higher positive valence, which is favorable for N2 adsorption. Based on the "donation and back-donation" mechanism, the energies gaps of 5σ-N2 and d-M for M=Cr, Mn and Co have the lower values of 3.01, 3.18, 3.18 eV, respectively, and the N2 adsorption energies on Cr/GY (−2.046 eV) and Mn/GY (−1.622 eV) have the more negative values. As a result, the catalyst of Cr metal atom anchored on GY is promising candidate. The substitution of B can effectively promote the activation of N2 and suppress the hydrogen evolution, while the substitution of N has the minimum ΔG*N-NH of 0.26 eV and ΔGNH3 of 0.08 eV. Compared with two different NRR pathways, the distal mechanism process is more preferential than the alternating pathway. The catalyst of Cr/N-GY has higher stability and can effectively activate N2 to generate *N2H, which can serves as promising catalysts throughout the NRR process.

Capturing Staff Perspectives on Quality Interaction With Clients With Intellectual Disability: A Diary Study.

For people with severe or profound intellectual disability (ID), support staff are important interaction partners. The quality of their interactions, a multidimensional construct, is well documented, but the staff perspective remains underexposed. This study aims to capture the behaviors, thoughts, and emotions of staff when interacting with their clients, and their views on what constitutes quality. Thirty-four support staff completed a 5-day diary about a daily interaction with a specific client. A thematic analysis was carried out. The diary entries depicted behaviors and thoughts with different foci, and emotions with positive and negative valences. The pursuit of Harmonization and the experience of Return emerged as overarching dimensions central to staff's views on quality interaction. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

Where the 'bad' and the 'good' go: A multi-lab direct replication report of Casasanto (2009, Experiment 1).

Casasanto (Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 138, 351-367, 2009) conceptualised the body-specificity hypothesis by empirically finding that right-handed people tend to associate a positive valence with the right side and a negative valence with the left side, whilst left-handed people tend to associate a positive valence with the left side and negative valence with the right side. Thus, this was the first paper that showed a body-specific space-valence mapping. These highly influential findings led to a substantial body of research and follow-up studies, which could confirm the original findings on a conceptual level. However, direct replications of the original study are scarce. Against this backdrop and given the replication crisis in psychology, we conducted a direct replication of Casasanto's original study with 2,222 participants from 12 countries to examine the aforementioned effects in general and also in a cross-cultural comparison. Our results support Casasanto's findings that right-handed people associate the right side with positivity and the left side with negativity and vice versa for left-handers.

Autonomic nervous system activity correlates with peak experiences induced by DMT and predicts increases in well-being.

Non-ordinary states of consciousness induced by psychedelics can be accompanied by so-called "peak experiences," characterized at the emotional level by their intensity and positive valence. These experiences are strong predictors of positive outcomes following psychedelic-assisted therapy, and it is therefore important to better understand their biology. Despite growing evidence that the autonomic nervous system (ANS) plays an important role in mediating emotional experiences, its involvement in the psychedelic experience is poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate to what extent changes in the relative influence of the sympathetic (SNS) and parasympathetic nervous systems (PNS) over cardiac activity may reflect the subjective experience induced by the short-acting psychedelic N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT). We derived measures of SNS and PNS activity from the electrocardiograms of 17 participants (11 males, mean age = 33.8 years, SD = 8.3) while they received either DMT or placebo. Results show that the joint influence of SNS and PNS ("sympathovagal coactivation") over cardiac activity was positively related to participants' ratings of "Spiritual Experience" and "Insightfulness" during the DMT experience, while also being related to improved well-being scores 2 weeks after the session. In addition, we found that the state of balance between the two ANS branches ("sympathovagal balance") before DMT injection predicted scores of "Insightfulness" during the DMT experience, as well as subsequent sympathovagal coactivation. These findings demonstrate the involvement of the ANS in psychedelic-induced peak experiences and may pave the way to the development of biofeedback-based tools to enhance psychedelic therapy.

Disrupted basolateral amygdala circuits supports negative valence bias in depressive states

Negative bias is an essential characteristic of depressive episodes leading patients to attribute more negative valence to environmental cues. This negative bias affects all levels of information processing including emotional response, attention and memory, leading to the development and maintenance of depressive symptoms. In this context, pleasant stimuli become less attractive and unpleasant ones more aversive, yet the related neural circuits underlying this bias remain largely unknown. By studying a mice model for depression chronically receiving corticosterone (CORT), we showed a negative bias in valence attribution to olfactory stimuli that responds to antidepressant drug. This result paralleled the alterations in odor value assignment we observed in bipolar depressed patients. Given the crucial role of amygdala in valence coding and its strong link with depression, we hypothesized that basolateral amygdala (BLA) circuits alterations might support negative shift associated with depressive states. Contrary to humans, where limits in spatial resolution of imaging tools impair easy amygdala segmentation, recently unravelled specific BLA circuits implicated in negative and positive valence attribution could be studied in mice. Combining CTB and rabies-based tracing with ex vivo measurements of neuronal activity, we demonstrated that negative valence bias is supported by disrupted activity of specific BLA circuits during depressive states. Chronic CORT administration induced decreased recruitment of BLA-to-NAc neurons preferentially involved in positive valence encoding, while increasing recruitment of BLA-to-CeA neurons preferentially involved in negative valence encoding. Importantly, this dysfunction was dampened by chemogenetic hyperactivation of BLA-to-NAc neurons. Moreover, altered BLA activity correlated with durable presynaptic connectivity changes coming from the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus, recently demonstrated as orchestrating valence assignment in the amygdala. Together, our findings suggest that specific BLA circuits alterations might support negative bias in depressive states and provide new avenues for translational research to understand the mechanisms underlying depression and treatment efficacy.

How does emotional content influence visual word recognition? A meta-analysis of valence effects

AbstractResearch on the interplay between language and emotion has shown evidence that the affective content of words influences their recognition. However, the direction of the effects is not clear, as there are mixed findings regarding the role of positive and, especially, negative valence. We conducted a Bayesian multi-level meta-analysis to examine the role of valence in visual word recognition, focusing on the lexical decision task. The results revealed a facilitative effect of positive valence on lexical decision times. That is, positive words led to faster responses than both negative and neutral words. In contrast, negative valence did not have any effect, although the analysis of several moderator variables suggested that there might be a facilitative effect in some cases, specifically, when negative words elicit very strong and intense emotions. These results shed light on the complexities of emotional word processing. They also point to the need for psycholinguistic models to take affective information into account, and thus provide a complete view of visual word recognition.

A novel method for objectively classifying sequential emotion within dreams: a proof-of-concept pilot study.

Traditionally, emotions in dreams have been assessed using subjective ratings by human raters (e.g., external raters or dreamers themselves). These methods have extensive support and utility in dream science, yet they have certain innate limitations due to the subjective nature of the rating methodologies. Attempting to circumvent several of these limitations, we aimed to develop a novel method for objectively classifying and quantifying sequential (word-for-word) emotion within a dream report. We investigated whether sentiment analysis, a branch of natural language processing, could be used to generate continuous positive and negative valence ratings across a dream. In this pilot, proof-of-concept study, we used 14 dream reports collected upon awakening following overnight polysomnography. We also collected pre- and post-sleep affective data and personality metrics. Our objectives included demonstrating that (1) valence ratings derived from sentiment analysis (Valence Aware Dictionary for sEntiment Reasoning [VADER]) could be used to visualize (plot) positive and negative emotion fluctuations within a dream, (2) how the visual properties of emotion fluctuations within a dream (peaks and troughs, area under the curve) can be used to generate novel "emotion indicators" as proxies for emotion regulation throughout a dream, and (3) these emotion indicators correlate with sleep, affective, and personality variables known to be associated with dreaming and emotion regulation. We describe 6 novel, objective dream emotion indicators: Total number of Peaks, total number of Troughs, Positive, Negative, and Overall Emotion Intensity (composites from an "area under the curve" method using the trapezoid rule applied to the peaks and troughs), and the Emotion Gradient (a polynomial trendline fitted to the emotion fluctuations in the dream chart). The latter signifies the overall direction of sequential emotion changes within a dream. Results also showed that ⅚ emotion indicators correlated significantly with at least one existing sleep, affective, or personality variable known to be associated with dreaming and emotion regulation. We propose that the novel emotion indicators potentially serve as proxies for emotion regulation processes unfolding within a dream. These preliminary findings provide a methodological foundation for future studies to test and refine the method in larger and more diverse samples.

What do clients think about amplifying positivity? Client change perspectives following a cognitive and behavioural positive activity intervention for anxiety and depression

AbstractBackgroundThe positive valence system (PVS) is increasingly recognised as an important target in facilitating recovery from anxiety and depression. Amplification of positivity (AMP), a cognitive and behavioural intervention, targets the PVS through repeated and intentional activities (e.g. savouring positive experiences, gratitude and acts of kindness). Initial data demonstrate that AMP engages positive valence targets (e.g. positive affect) and outcomes (e.g. social connectedness) in people seeking treatment for anxiety or depression; however, client perspectives on AMP are not well understood. This study aimed to qualitatively explore clients' experiences to better understand post‐treatment client changes and advance the development and effectiveness of AMP and other emerging positive valence‐focussed interventions.MethodsTranscripts were analysed from 11 participants who completed an optional qualitative interview after completing AMP treatment in a randomised controlled trial (NCT04945239).ResultsTwo superordinate themes with several subthemes emerged. The first theme, Changes in Self, revealed common changes consistent with the core targets of AMP, as well as changes less explicitly targeted by AMP. The second theme, The Positivity Pivot, uncovered clients' perceptions on the emphasis of positive emotions in treatment. Overall, clients enjoyed and reaped benefits from amplifying positivity; some clients also reported wanting more time and space to discuss negative valence symptoms.ConclusionPeople seeking treatment for anxiety or depression are receptive to amplifying positivity and experience the mental and social benefits of doing so. Positive valence‐centred treatments may therefore be valuable for some clients. Treatment protocols that integrate positive valence‐ and negative valence‐targeted approaches may be preferred by some clients.

Construction of sulfur-chloride co-doped triazine/heptazine homojunction carbon nitride photocatalyst for simultaneous production of H2O2 and lignin C-C bond cleavage

Photocatalytic H2O2 production and cleavage of lignin C-C bonds is a typical strategy that follows sustainable development. Unfortunately, the photocatalytic efficiency of these two reactions still faces significant challenges. Herein, a carbon nitride photocatalyst (tri/hep-CN) with sulfur-chloride co-doped triazine and heptazine structures was synthesized. It was simultaneously used for photocatalytic H2O2 production and lignin C-C bond cleavage. In the air atmosphere, the yield of H2O2 reached 1171.9 μmol•g−1•h−1 after the addition of β-1 lignin model 1,2-diphenylethanol (Dpol) to the solvent. The yield of H2O2 increased by 20 times compared with no addition of Dpol. The lignin C-C bond in Dpol is also efficiently broken, producing benzaldehyde and benzyl alcohol. tri/hep-CN has excellent photogenerated carrier separation efficiency and positive valence potential, which improves the photocatalytic H2O2 production and lignin C-C bond cleavage performance. Notably, coupling photocatalytic H2O2 production with lignin C-C bond cleavage to fully use photogenerated electrons and holes is also very important to obtain outstanding photocatalytic performance. Mechanistic studies have shown that photocatalytic H2O2 production follows an indirect reaction mechanism. Meanwhile, the cleavage of lignin C-C bond follows the Cβ radical mechanism and the single electron transfer mechanism. This work is very instructive for simultaneous photocatalytic H2O2 production and lignin C-C bond cleavage studies.

Altered vocal communication in adult vasopressin-deficient Brattleboro rats

The neuropeptide, arginine vasopressin (AVP), has been implicated in social communication across a diverse array of species. Many rodents communicate basic behavioral states with negative versus positive valence through high-pitched vocalizations above the human hearing range (ultrasonic vocalizations; USVs). Previous studies have found that Brattleboro (Bratt) rats, which have a mutation in the Avp gene, exhibit deficits in their USVs from the early postnatal period through adolescence, but the magnitude of this effect appears to decrease from the juvenile to adolescent phase. The present study tested whether Bratt rats continue to exhibit USV deficits in adulthood. USVs of adult male and female Bratt and wild type (WT) rats were recorded in two contexts: a novel environment (empty arena) and a social context (arena filled with bedding soiled by same-sex conspecifics). The number, frequency, and duration of 50 kHz USVs were quantified by DeepSqueak after validation with manual scoring. Twenty-two kHz measures were quantified by manual scoring because DeepSqueak failed to accurately detect USVs in this frequency range. Adult Bratt rats did not exhibit deficits in the number of 50 kHz USVs: male Bratt rats emitted similar 50 kHz USVs as male WT rats, whereas female Bratt rats emitted more USVs than female WT rats. USV frequency and duration were altered in adult Bratt rats, but in a context-dependent manner. Twenty-two kHz USVs were less affected by the Bratt mutation. The present study demonstrates how chronic AVP deficiency impacts social communication across the lifespan. The present findings reveal a complex role for AVP in vocal communication, whereby disruption to the Avp gene leads to sex-, context-, and developmental phase-specific effects on the quantity and spectrotemporal characteristics of rat USVs.

Characterizing within-person variance in, and menstrual cycle associations with, event-related potentials associated with positive and negative valence systems: The reward positivity and the error-related negativity

Event-related potentials (ERPs) are widely employed as measures of transdiagnostic cognitive processes that are thought to underlie various clinical disorders (Hajcak et al., 2019). Despite their prevalent use as individual difference measures, the effects of within-person processes, such as the human menstrual cycle, on a broad range of ERPs are poorly understood. The present study leveraged a within-subject design to characterize between- and within-person variance in ERPs as well as effects of the menstrual cycle in two frequently studied ERPs associated with positive and negative valence systems underlying psychopathology—the Reward Positivity (RewP) and the Error- Related Negativity (ERN). Seventy-one naturally-cycling participants completed repeated EEG and ecological momentary assessments of positive and negative affect in the menstrual cycle's early follicular, periovulatory, and mid-luteal phases. We examined the mean degree of change between cycle phases in both ERPs, the between-person variability in the degree of change in both ERPs, and whether an individual’s degree of cyclical change in these ERPs show coherence with their degree of cyclical change in positive and negative affect recorded across the cycle. Results revealed no significant changes in positive and negative affect across the cycle and rather small changes in ERP amplitudes. Significant random slopes in our model revealed larger individual differences in trajectories of change in ERP amplitudes and affect, in agreement with prior evidence of heterogeneity in dimensional hormone sensitivity. Additionally, state-variance in these ERPs correlated with positive and negative affect changes across the cycle, suggesting that cycle-mediated ERP changes may have relevance for affect and behavior. Finally, exploratory latent class growth mixture modeling revealed subgroups of individuals that display disparate patterns of change in ERPs that should be further investigated.

Chicks produce consonant, sometimes jazzy, sounds.

Several animal species prefer consonant over dissonant sounds, a building block of musical scales and harmony. Could consonance and dissonance be linked, beyond music, to the emotional valence of vocalizations? We extracted the fundamental frequency from calls of young chickens with either positive or negative emotional valence, i.e. contact, brood and food calls. For each call, we calculated the frequency ratio between the maximum and the minimum values of the fundamental frequency, and we investigated which frequency ratios occurred with higher probability. We found that, for all call types, the most frequent ratios matched perfect consonance, like an arpeggio in pop music. These music-like intervals, based on the auditory frequency resolution of chicks, cannot be miscategorized into contiguous dissonant intervals. When we analysed frequency ratio distributions at a finer-grained level, we found some dissonant ratios in the contact calls produced during distress only, thus sounding a bit jazzy. Complementing the empirical data, our computational simulations suggest that physiological constraints can only partly explain both consonances and dissonances in chicks' phonation. Our data add to the mounting evidence that the building blocks of human musical traits can be found in several species, even phylogenetically distant from us.

Morality or hypocrisy: The effect of hotel sustainability labels varies across different online review valence

Amidst growing emphasis on sustainability in the hotel industry, hotels are increasingly adopting sustainable practices. This trend extends to online platforms, where hotels showcase their sustainability labels as a form of advanced Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Such CSR communication is crucially influenced by how customers perceive the consistency of a hotel’s CSR efforts. In the sphere of online hotel booking, customer reviews play a pivotal role as other external clues, illustrating how well hotels fulfill their fundamental economic responsibility. Our study aims to investigate the interactive effects between hotel sustainability labels and the valence of online reviews on customers’ booking intentions. Based on attribution theory and several experimental studies, this research reveals that in the context of negative hotel review valence, the presence (vs. absence) of sustainability labels decreases customers’ booking intention due to an increase in perceived hypocrisy towards the hotel; conversely, in the context of positive hotel review valence, the presence (vs. absence) of sustainability labels enhances customers’ booking intention due to an increase in perceived morality towards the hotel. These findings contribute to the literature exploring hotel sustainability labels, online hotel reviews, and perceptions of hotel hypocrisy.