Potential Behavioral Outcomes Research Articles

Anger, fear, and frozenness: Exploring the emotive aspect of anti-police sentiment

Anti-police sentiment has emerged as a growing phenomenon in recent years, characterised by intense negative attitudes towards police. Despite increasing scholarly interest, the lack of a clear definition of anti-police sentiment hinders conceptualisation, measurement, and comparison of findings across jurisdictions. This study aims to provide conceptual clarity by employing sentiment analysis to systematically and objectively explore the emotions underlying anti-police sentiment. Analysis of the negative discourse across 1140 comments on Reddit about police, found that anti-police sentiment is associated with the emotions anger, fear, and frozenness, and potentially may trigger fight, flight, freeze responses in citizens encountering the police. Further, analysis of frequent terms highlights key social issues driving anti-police sentiment, such as police responses to domestic violence and police misconduct. The study contributes to the understanding of anti-police sentiment by identifying the underlying emotions and their potential behavioural outcomes, providing a foundation for future research and policy interventions.

Neurotoxic effects of 2-ethylhexyl diphenyl phosphate exposure on zebrafish larvae: Insight into inflammation-driven changes in early motor behavior

The extensive utilization and potential adverse impacts of the replacement flame-retardant 2-Ethylhexyl Diphenyl Phosphate (EHDPP) have raised concerns. Currently, there is limited knowledge regarding the developmental, neurological, and immunotoxic consequences of EHDPP exposure, as well as its potential behavioral outcomes. In this study, we undertook a comprehensive examination and characterization of the toxic effects over the EHDPP concentration range of 14–1400 nM. Our findings unveiled that EHDPP, even at an environmentally relevant concentration of 14 nM, exhibited excitatory neurotoxicity, eliciting a 13.5 % increase in the swimming speed of zebrafish larvae. This effect might be attributed to the potential influence of EHDPP on the release of neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, which, in turn, mediated anxiety-like behavior in the zebrafish larvae. Conversely, sublethal dose EHDPP (1400 nM) exposure significantly suppressed the swimming vigor of zebrafish larvae, accompanied by morphological changes, abnormal behaviors, and alterations in intracerebral molecules. Transcriptomics revealed the underlying mechanism. The utilization of pathway inhibitors reshaped the inflammatory homeostasis and alleviated the toxicity induced by EHDPP exposure, anchoring the pivotal role played by the TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway in EHDPP-induced adverse changes in zebrafish behavior and neurophysiology. This study observed the detrimental effects of EHDPP on fish sustainability at environmentally relevant concentrations, highlighting the practical significance for EHDPP risk management. Elucidating the toxic mechanisms of EHDPP will contribute to a deeper comprehension of how environmental pollutants can intricately influence human health.

Commentary: Profiling Children With Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI) Using Multiple Methods of Assessment to Aid in Differential Diagnosis

PROFILING CHILDREN WITH CEREBRAL VISUAL IMPAIRMENT USING MULTIPLE METHODS OF ASSESSMENT TO AID IN DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS: Amanda H. Lueck , Gordon N. Dutton , Sylvie Chokron Seminars in Pediatric Neurology Volume 31, October 2019, Pages 5-14 Cerebral (cortical) visual impairment (CVI), the primary cause of visual impairment in chil dren in high-income countries, is increasing globally due to improved life-saving measures for premature and full-term infants. Yet the consequences of this condition are only begin ning to be understood and addressed. According to the topography, site, and the extent of the pathology, the deficit may variably concern central visual functions, visual field, percep tion of movement, visual analysis, visual exploration, attention, or visual memory, as well as visual guidance of movement. Each affected child has a unique clinical picture, which needs to be identified and individually profiled. This is probably the underlying reason that CVI is commonly underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed, especially in children, and, as a consequence, the full range of potential behavioral outcomes are not identified and adequately addressed. The present paper shows how the use of multiple methods of assessment can improve understanding of children with CVI.

Why we should rethink the third-person effect: disentangling bias and earned confidence using behavioral data

Abstract Although positioned as a cognitive bias, third-person effect research has relied on self-reported difference scores that fail to capture bias appropriately. I use pre-registered and exploratory analyses of three nationally representative surveys (N = 10,004) to examine perceptions of susceptibility to false news and behavioral measures of actual susceptibility. Americans consistently exhibit third-person perception. However, some of this perceptual gap may be “earned.” I show that 62–68% of those exhibiting TPP are in fact less susceptible than average. Accordingly, I construct a performance-derived measure of true overconfidence. I find domain-involvement correlates of TPP tend not to hold for actual overconfidence. I also find significant differences in potential behavioral outcomes suggesting the traditional measure may often reflect genuine differences in self and others’ susceptibility to media, rather than a self-serving bias of presumed invulnerability. These results have important implications for our understanding and measurement of perceptual biases in communication research.

Is love really blind? The effect of emotional brand attachment on the perceived risk of really new products

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of emotional brand attachment in consumers’ evaluation of new products that represent technological innovation.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative study was conducted using survey data from a nationally representative probability sample of US consumers (n= 624) to understand the role of emotional brand attachment in the context of consumers’ evaluation of really new products (RNPs). A framework was developed and tested using structural equation modeling that included emotional brand attachment, brand trust, product incongruity, product familiarity, perceived risk, willingness to try, product evaluation and word-of-mouth intentions.FindingsThe results support the role of emotional brand attachment in the diffusion of RNPs. Specifically, results indicated that increased brand attachment reduces consumers’ perceived risk associated with a RNP and increases brand trust. Both constructs played a key role in shaping willingness to try the innovation, word-of-mouth intentions and product evaluation. Findings of this paper add explanatory power to demand-prediction models that more accurately describe the mechanism of the innovation adoption process. For marketing managers, the results emphasize the importance of consumer–brand emotional connections.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper used a cross-sectional design; it would be interesting to use a longitudinal design to examine if the role of emotional brand attachment changes over time and how the changes might impact consumers’ perceptions and behaviors in the context of RNPs.Originality/valueThis is the first paper to explore the role of emotional brand attachment in the context of RNPs and consumers’ potential behavioral outcomes.

Profiling Children With Cerebral Visual Impairment Using Multiple Methods of Assessment to Aid in Differential Diagnosis

Cerebral (cortical) visual impairment (CVI), the primary cause of visual impairment in children in high-income countries, is increasing globally due to improved life-saving measures for premature and full-term infants. Yet the consequences of this condition are only beginning to be understood and addressed. According to the topography, site, and the extent of the pathology, the deficit may variably concern central visual functions, visual field, perception of movement, visual analysis, visual exploration, attention, or visual memory, as well as visual guidance of movement. Each affected child has a unique clinical picture, which needs to be identified and individually profiled. This is probably the underlying reason that CVI is commonly underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed, especially in children, and, as a consequence, the full range of potential behavioral outcomes are not identified and adequately addressed. The present paper shows how the use of multiple methods of assessment can improve understanding of children with CVI.

Sensory evolution in blind cavefish is driven by early embryonic events during gastrulation and neurulation.

Natural variations in sensory systems constitute adaptive responses to the environment. Here, we compared sensory placode development in the blind cave-adapted morph and the eyed river-dwelling morph of Astyanax mexicanus Focusing on the lens and olfactory placodes, we found a trade-off between these two sensory components in the two morphs: from neural plate stage onwards, cavefish have larger olfactory placodes and smaller lens placodes. In a search for developmental mechanisms underlying cavefish sensory evolution, we analyzed the roles of Shh, Fgf8 and Bmp4 signaling, which are known to be fundamental in patterning the vertebrate head and are subtly modulated in space and time during cavefish embryogenesis. Modulating these signaling systems at the end of gastrulation shifted the balance toward a larger olfactory derivative. Olfactory tests to assess potential behavioral outcomes of such developmental evolution revealed that Astyanax cavefish are able to respond to a 105-fold lower concentration of amino acids than their surface-dwelling counterparts. We suggest that similar evolutionary developmental mechanisms may be used throughout vertebrates to drive adaptive sensory specializations according to lifestyle and habitat.

Understanding the effects of a social media service failure apology: A comparative study of customers vs. potential customers

Service failure apologies on social media are a new crisis communication outlet trend used by companies to apologise to affected customers quickly and offer solutions, ultimately to restore customers' trust and brand loyalty. This paper contributes to the nascent literature on companies' social media service failure apologies and fills a gap in the social commerce literature by recognising that due to the open and public nature of social media, these apologies may reach not just affected customers, but also unintended audiences such as potential customers among the general public, which could potentially damage a company's reputation and market share. An online survey administered to 241 customers and 271 non-customers of a famous mobile phone brand, which used YouTube to apologise to its customers for a service failure incident, is used to explore potential behavioural outcomes, after exposure to the apology. Findings confirm that both customers and non-customers of the service provider may become exposed to a social media service failure apology. The hypothesised model predicts behavioural intentions to remain a customer after exposure to the social media service apology better than behavioural intentions to become a customer, even though relationships hold for both groups. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

How do young adult female smokers interpret dissuasive cigarette sticks?

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate how young adult women smokers, a group the tobacco industry has specifically targeted, interpreted dissuasive sticks. Australia’s decision to introduce plain packaging has aroused international attention and stimulated interest in complementary initiatives. To date, research attention has focused on external packaging and few studies have examined the physical objects of consumption – cigarette sticks. Design/methodology/approach – We conducted two focus groups and 13 in-depth interviews using purposive recruitment. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings – We identified three overarching themes: smoking as an act of overt and conspicuous consumption; cigarette sticks as accoutrements of social acceptability and dissuasive colours as deconstructors of the social façade smokers construct. Dissuasive sticks challenged connotations of cleanliness participants sought, exposed smoking as “dirty” and connoted stereotypes participants wanted to avoid. Research limitations/implications – Although small-scale qualitative studies provide rich insights into participant’s responses, experimental work is required to estimate how a wider population comprising more varied smoker sub-groups responds to dissuasive sticks. Practical implications – As policymakers internationally consider introducing plain packaging, they should examine whether dissuasive sticks could enhance measures regulating the external appearance of tobacco packages. Social implications – Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and disability. Plain packaging and dissuasive sticks show considerable potential to reduce smoking prevalence and the burden of ill-health that results. Originality/value – This is the first study to explore how dissuasive sticks would distance smoking from the social identity smokers seek. The findings provide a platform for experimental work that estimates the potential behavioural outcomes dissuasive sticks could stimulate.

Does personality matter in exercise participation?

ABSTRACTThis research extends previous work by demonstrating how the relationships between social cognition and exercise are influenced by different personality types. The theory of planned behaviour forms the basis of our theoretical model, and the Big Five personality framework was used to determine personality types. Data were collected from a quota sample of 512 Malaysian adults. The results suggest that an individual's personality can prevent him or her from exercising. For example, an extrovert is likely to be driven by affect and self‐confidence in their capability to exercise, and thus are more likely to participate in exercise. Those who are more conscientious (and less neurotic) feel more in control and thus possess a greater ability to exercise in comparison with their less conscientious and more neurotic counterparts. Our findings demonstrate the importance of considering personality factors in exercise research and caution us about underestimating the relationship between perceived control, attitude and its potential behavioural outcomes that could lead to a misinterpretation of its true impact. Our core contribution lies in identifying the underlying causes of social cognition differences in a moderating capacity, which has potential to yield important theoretical and practical implications. This study sets the ground for social marketers to improve their understanding of exercise behaviour and, in turn, consumer welfare. Ultimately, they could be in a better position to develop effective health intervention and educational programmes. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.