Psychological Origins Research Articles

Music Psychology and the Origins of Mood Tagging in Production Music Libraries

Production music libraries for advertising and media often include metadata related to a track’s emotional qualities. These tags reflect a widespread belief that music can stimulate an emotional response in the listener. To better understand where this belief came from, this paper looks back through the history and citational breadcrumbs of marketing psychology to its origins in early music psychology. Sparked by the repeatability of musical stimuli afforded by the gramophone, psychologists ran various experiences to prove that music had generalisable emotional qualities. With culturally narrow music selections and subject pools, these experiments, viewed in a modern context, raise questions about biases and blindspots that may persist in modern metadata. With the rise of generative AI and its voracious appetite for metadata-rich training sets, this historical perspective is part of the larger constellation of critical data studies.

Influence of personality disorders on sexual behaviours and response to treatment of psychogenic erectile dysfunction in phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitor non-responders.

Personality disorders may influence sexual behaviours and sexual dysfunction. Our main objective was to analyse the influence of personality disorders (PDs) in patients with erectile dysfunction (ED) of psychological origin that fail to respond to andrological treatment with Phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors (IPDE5), assessing whether there are differences in sexual behaviours and response to psychosexual treatment. The research is designed as an ex post facto retrospective study with two groups. A control group of 23 men with ED without personality disorders and a group of 51 men with both ED and PDs. In the case sample, 34.30% of the participants presented more than one personality disorder. No significant differences were found in sexual behaviours except for heteromasturbation (men without PDs masturbated their partners more to satisfy them than men with PDs), and men with PDs considered themselves less premature ejaculators than the control group. Finally, 82.14% of the control group did well with psychosexual therapy compared to 53.85% of the PDs group. Psychosexual treatment of ED has a worse outcome if the men also have PDs. Strengths and Limitations: from a clinical standpoint, it is important to assess the presence of personality disorders in men with ED and to implement psychosexual strategies to improve the response to treatment in these cases. Confirmation of the results with a much larger sample becomes necessary.

How can ethology inform the neuroscience of fear, aggression and dominance?

The study of behaviour is dominated by two approaches. On the one hand, ethologists aim to understand how behaviour promotes adaptation to natural contexts. On the other, neuroscientists aim to understand the molecular, cellular, circuit and psychological origins of behaviour. These two complementary approaches must be combined to arrive at a full understanding of behaviour in its natural setting. However, methodological limitations have restricted most neuroscientific research to the study of how discrete sensory stimuli elicit simple behavioural responses under controlled laboratory conditions that are only distantly related to those encountered in real life. Fortunately, the recent advent of neural monitoring and manipulation tools adapted for use in freely behaving animals has enabled neuroscientists to incorporate naturalistic behaviours into their studies and to begin to consider ethological questions. Here, we examine the promises and pitfalls of this trend by describing how investigations of rodent fear, aggression and dominance behaviours are changing to take advantage of an ethological appreciation of behaviour. We lay out current impediments to this approach and propose a framework for the evolution of the field that will allow us to take maximal advantage of an ethological approach to neuroscience and to increase its relevance for understanding human behaviour.

Student-to-student communication: examining and extending our conceptualization and measurement of instructional dissent

ABSTRACT Instructional dissent has been studied for over a decade. Expressive dissent, a subset of instructional dissent, focuses specifically on when students are complaining to one or more other students. This article lays out instructional dissent’s origins in organizational psychology and organizational communication. From there, the article homes in specifically on the predictors and correlates of expressive dissent, which focuses attention on student–student communication. Within this section, student, instructor, and class characteristics are addressed, concluding with a call for testing the full Instructional Beliefs Model to (1) assess the interconnections of these three components and (2) find a combination of factors that explains expressive dissent across a variety of learners and situations. Research implications call for methodological strategies, such as better reporting and validity testing, as well as theory building to achieve stronger results that can be turned into practical implications for both students and instructors.

Unveiling the Biography of Sigmund Freud With Pediatric Dentistry Insights.

Born in Freiberg, Moravia (now the Czech Republic), Austrian psychiatrist Sigmund Freud was the forerunner of psychoanalysis, a ground-breaking approach to understanding the human mind. Originally studying neurology at the University of Vienna, Freud soon became fascinated with the psychological origins of mental illness.He developed theories on repression, the unconscious mind, and the significance of dreams because he saw dreams as windows into hidden conflicts and impulses. Freud developed the theory and asserted that unconscious impulses, especially those related to sexuality, have a major impact on human conduct. Dream analysis and free association were among his innovative methods that helped modern psychotherapy come to pass. Though they were attacked and divisive, Freud's theories had a major impact on humanities, psychology, and psychiatry. His studies on the human mind challenged conventional wisdom and offered innovative insights into mental health. Freud's writings continue to inspire research and debate; his effect on popular and scholarly opinion attests to his ongoing legacy.

When Healthy Habits Turn Harmful: A Medical Perspective on Exercise Addiction

Behavioural addictions, also known as non-substance-related addictions, encompass a range of compulsive behaviours that closely mirror substance use disorders in their effects on the brain's reward system and the individual's daily life. These addictions include, but are not limited to, gambling disorder, internet gaming disorder, compulsive shopping, and the focus of this review - exercise addiction. Exercise addiction is characterized by an intense, uncontrollable urge to engage in physical activity, despite potential negative consequences. Unlike substance use disorders, exercise addiction often remains underrecognized, overshadowed by the widespread promotion of regular physical activity as a healthy lifestyle choice. This review aims to offer a comprehensive overview of exercise addiction, covering its psychological origin and characteristics, diagnostic criteria, co-occurrence with other psychiatric disorders, epidemiology among athletes and management strategies.

Infantile anorexia: how to avoid diagnostic errors?

Food whims, some food refusals, food selectivity are issues for which parents often seek advice from a paediatrician. It is difficult to identify the reasons of the issues for just a few minutes of a visit. But the greatest challenges in the diagnosis arise when parents complain that they fail to feed both breastfed and non-breastfed young infants. Anorexia in young infants may be of a psychological and/or organic origin. The most complex and early forms often have a mixed etiology. A detailed history taking reveals cases of forced feeding, frequent changes of formula, and mother’s emotional instability. The article presents several clinical cases with different reasons for food refusals in children for which parents sought advice from a doctor. The first clinical case: a 11-year-old boy with complaints about lack of weight gain, as his weight did not exceed 6.8 kg, extremely slow growth rates. The child was diagnosed with moderate eosinophilic infiltration of the esophagus with eosinophils up to 10–12 per high-power field (hpf). Second clinical case: a 7-month-old girl M. with complaints about decreased appetite, food refusal, lack of interest in food and thirst, regurgitation during feeding. The examination showed eosinophilic infiltration of the duodenum up to 50 eosinophils per hpf. In the stomach there were up to 5 eosinophils per hpf. Third case: a boy Ya. with complaints about restlessness, more in the evening and at night, waking up frequently at night, regurgitation, hiccups, and periods of bloating. The article presents modern options for using specialized food products for this category of children according to the cause of anorexia.

A Discussion on Chinese Family Education from the Perspective of Positive Psychology

In modern society, positive psychology has gained increasing attention as an important branch of psychology. This paper explores some issues and educational strategies in modern family education from the perspective of positive psychology. Firstly, the paper introduces the origin and basic concepts of positive psychology. Secondly, the current situation and problems of Chinese family education are analyzed. Lastly, a series of strategies applicable to family education based on the principles of positive psychology are proposed. These strategies include establishing a positive family education environment, cultivating children’s positive psychological qualities, adopting positive educational approaches and methods, paying attention to children’s individual differences and diverse development, fostering children’s positive emotional experiences and expression abilities, as well as enhancing children’s social adaptability. By implementing these strategies, family education can better promote children’s holistic development, improve their mental health and well-being, and lay a solid foundation for their future.

Are lateralized and bold fish optimistic or pessimistic?

Cognitive bias is defined as the influence of emotions on cognitive processes. The concept of the cognitive judgement bias has its origins in human psychology but has been applied to animals over the past 2 decades. In this study we were interested in determining if laterality and personality traits, which are known to influence learning style, might also be correlated with a cognitive bias in the three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus). We used the judgement bias test with the go/no-go procedure where fish were first trained to discriminate between a black and white card and, after reaching a minimum learning criterion, tested their response to an ambiguous card (grey). Optimistic subjects were expected to have a high expectation of reward associated with an ambiguous stimulus, whereas pessimistic subjects a high expectation of non-reward. We used an emergence and a mirror test to quantify boldness and laterality, respectively. We hypothesised that male, bolder and more strongly lateralized fish would be more optimistic than female, shy and less strongly lateralised fish. We found that males and more strongly lateralized fish were more optimistic than females and less strongly lateralized fish. In addition, bold males were more optimistic than shy males as we predicted, but females showed the opposite pattern. Finally, fish trained on the black colour card learned the training task faster than those trained on a white card. Our results indicate that both laterality and personality traits are linked to animals’ internal states (pessimistic or optimistic outlooks) which likely has broad implications for understanding animal behaviour particularly in a welfare context.

Competition in the ‘body without organs’: an assemblage perspective on the UK’s fast train (HS2) cancellation

ABSTRACT In this contribution, an investigation is made into the abandonment of a very large infrastructural investment by the UK government. It was the HS2 (High Speed 2) train ‘assemblage’ for the 345 miles from Leeds in the North to London. It occurred in the belief that such expenditure would ‘level-up’ the worsening regional economic disparities between the two regions and render the North (dubbed the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ by successive governments) ‘competitive’. In reality, there was no evidence in support of the idea that a faster rail service would have this effect. Critics realized London’s advantage could not be competed against. This was because its advantage as an unregulated ‘tax haven’ had been entrenched since even before William the Conqueror’s invasion in 1066. Our take on this débâcle is that it was caused by hubris on the part of successive governments, culminating in the growth of distrust between politicians and the people, including ‘experts’ who were singled out for special ministerial disdain. The analysis explores ‘assemblage’ theory and its psychological origins, in which desire has come to substitute for thought in the UK political arena. Accordingly, desire has been swallowed up by ‘competitiveness’, meaning mistakes were made due to hubris, narcissism and criminality because of the politics of ‘we know better’ on the part of the political élite. The cost of these mistakes was upwards of £36 billion for the biggest UK rail infrastructure project in a hundred years.

Recreational awareness prevents digital game addiction associated with social exclusion in adolescents

ABSTRACT Digital game addiction has become an important topic in recent years, and research into this area is constantly expanding because of the vast popularity of video games. These studies examine the physical, psychological, and social origins of digital game addiction to better understand the issues that might result from it. The current study seeks to shed light on the preventative impact of recreational awareness on digital game addiction linked to social exclusion within this context. Data were gathered through an online survey method, and a total of 346 Turkish adolescents (ages 15–18) were included in the sample. The findings revealed that recreational awareness had a negative moderating effect on the relationship between social exclusion and digital game addiction. Moreover, it was determined that men had higher levels of digital game addiction compared to women and women had higher levels of social exclusion compared to men. The results obtained from the research have been discussed in the relevant section, and recommendations have been formulated considering the outcomes.

Systemic and ocular pressure changes following sympathetic activation in yoga practitioners - A comparative study

Introduction and Aim: Blood Pressure (BP), Intraocular Pressure (IOP) and Ocular Perfusion Pressure (OPP) are precursor parameters that lead to development of glaucoma. Under conditions of stress, either physical or psychological origin, there is disturbance of autonomic regulation. This causes increased activation of the sympathetic nervous system which might influence BP and ocular pressures. An altered autonomic balance towards lower sympathetic drive is observed in subjects practicing yoga, but it is not clear whether this adaptation also influences ocular pressures. Our study attempted to analyze variations in BP, IOP and OPP following sympathetic activation in yogic practitioners and non-practitioners of yoga. Materials and Methods: One hundred and ten subjects aged 18 - 25 years were recruited and categorised into yoga and non-yoga group. Basal BP was recorded using a sphygmomanometer and IOP was recorded using a rebound tonometer. Isometric hand grip (IHG) and Cold pressor test (CPT) were administered one at a time. IOP and BP were recorded immediately following these sympathetic activation tests. Mean arterial pressure and OPP was calculated using standard formula. Results: Significant increase in the values of pulse, BP, IOP and OPP following sympathetic activation were observed in the non-yoga group which was not noted in the yoga group. Elevation in systemic and ocular pressures following sympathetic activation was less in yoga practitioners. This adrenergic response was greater in the non-yoga group. Conclusion: Regular yoga practice maintains adequate perfusion of ocular tissues by autoregulation. Hence yoga can be recommended as a complementary health approach for the autonomic nervous system imbalance.

Unveiling the Unspoken: Exploring Oral Manifestations of Psychological Disorders.

Psychological variables also interact closely with several tissues and systems leading to several diseases. The oral cavity is also linked to potential physical manifestations of psychological origin. Oral symptoms such as facial pain, oral dysaesthesia, extreme palatal erosion, or self-inflicted harm are perhaps the first or sole signs of mental health issues. It is crucial to remember that oral symptoms are frequently complex. Different people may respond differently to psychological variables and varied oral health. It is essential for dentists and medical professionals to recognize and resolve these vital problems. In this review, we have summarized the changes to oral mucosa and hard tissues and other pain disorders associated with psychological factors. Oral manifestations of a few known psychological disorders are also enumerated. This review emphasizes the role of the dentist in identifying the underlying psychological factors with oral changes. In conclusion, continuous dental care should be insisted on for patients with known mental illness to improve their quality of life. Oral health should be taken into account as part of the heightened emphasis on the overall physical well-being of those suffering from severe mental illnesses.

The psychological origins of science fiction

Science fiction has become very popular across all mediatic forms (e.g., in short stories, in novels, in movies, in TV series). The cultural success of this genre is both geographically widespread and rather recent in history. Although such observations seem consensual, many problems remain and are debated in science fiction study, notably (1) the defining characteristics of the genre, (2) the reasons for its late emergence, and (3) the interindividual variability of its appeal. Previous attempts to solve such puzzles focused on proximate How-questions (e.g., How did the genre emerge?). The article presents a contribution from cognitive and evolutionary sciences, which make it possible to ask Why-questions (e.g., Why did the genre emerge?). We hypothesize that science fiction, with its emphasis on new and innovative features (e.g., new civilizations, innovative technologies, futuristic worlds), appeals to the human desire for new abstract information. We review research in neuroscience, evolutionary psychology, and behavioral ecology, showing that some specialized biological mechanisms in human cognition prompt exploratory preferences for such information. We show that this hypothesis can explain (1) why science fiction works are perceived as homogenous and different from works of fiction of other genres, (2) why science fiction emerged and became culturally successful rather late in literary history, and (3) why the preference for science fiction varies across time, across space, and across individuals. We provide empirical testable predictions that should be tested in the future to confirm this hypothesis.

Il ruolo dell’abitudine nella costruzione dell’identità morale in The Mill on the Floss e Middlemarch di George Eliot


 
 
 What is the boundary between unconscious habits and conscious actions? This is the question that drives all of George Eliot’s poetics centered on the importance of habit in the construction of her characters’ moral identity. The aim of this article is to analyze the author’s answers in this regard through two of her formidable novels: The Mill on the Floss and Middlemarch. In the first work, recovering the image, of philosophical- psychological origin, of the mind as a channel and making use of the analogies between animal and human behavior, Eliot proposes imaginative experience as a means of developing new cognitive capacities. But it is in Middlemarch that Eliot adds a further piece: unhinging the misogynistic prejudices attached to the concept of habit typical of the strongly patriarchal culture of the Victorian age. Pointing her satirical pen at the habits of her characters, Eliot invites readers to a critical attitude toward their own habits. Reading thus becomes an opportunity to reflect on our pervasive habits and achieve that gradual change towards the construction of a more mature and conscious moral identity.
 
 

A new variation of modern prejudice: young Korean men's anti-feminism and male-victim ideology

In South Korea, anti-feminism is now rapidly spreading online among young men, who have started to identify themselves as a social minority or “victims” of female power. Despite its ramifications, theoretically, anti-feminism is indistinct from the racism and sexism of White men that emerged more than half a century ago. In view of this, it shares the same root as typical modern racism or sexism, although it appears to be a novel phenomenon. Such a hypothesis was buttressed by quantifying the attitudes of anti-feminists toward various outgroups based on the transference of prejudice theory. Moreover, the subtle sexist undertones hidden in their arguments have been discussed using various psychological theories and empirical data/statistics. Additionally, various potential factors that may shape or accelerate their attitudes or behaviors have been discussed on the basis of the threat-defense theory. Through comprehensive literature review based on this theory, this study proposes the features related to Korean anti-feminism, encompassing behavioral/situational (overindulging violent or degrading Internet contents, verbal aggression), relational/epistemic (ostracism, attachment insecurity, pseudo-rationalism), and group-level (provocative interactions, polarization) attributes, some of which may also influence groups other than young men and ingrain or exacerbate the extreme ideologies of other groups, including young women. Scrutinizing Korean online anti-feminism and male-victim ideology may improve our understanding of the psychological origins of various social extremities or radical ideologies beyond cultural barriers.

Стрес і гіпертензія за умов війни та COVID-19

Common mechanisms of the development of the body’s stress response under the conditions of war and the COVID-19 pandemic relate to its acute and chronic course, post-traumatic stress disorder, the role of the hypothalamus-pituitaryadrenal gland, the sympathetic nervous system, and the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, and deficiency of α-1- antitrypsin. The development of stress-induced hypertensive changes is characterized by the activity of enzymes independent of the angiotensin-converting enzyme pathway of the renin-angiotensin system, expression of miRNA, damage to the endothelial cells of blood vessels, changes in the content of neutrophils and lymphocytes, and the soluble receptor for glycosylation end products. The considered stress-induced hypertensive changes under the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic relate to chronic hyperinflammation, emotional response, effects of catecholamines, chymase activity, redox imbalance, DNA damage, endoplasmic reticulum stress. The interaction between ACE/ACE2 and miRNA may increase the probability of SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with hypertension. A factor in the severity of COVID-19 is considered to be clinical depression and low immunity, and the possibility of a negative effect of antidepressants is highlighted. A more aggressive course of COVID-19 in hypertensive patients is associated with low levels of nitric oxide (NO). Stress-induced hypertensive changes under the conditions of war are associated with adaptation disorders, increased randomness of heart rate changes, post-traumatic stress disorder, the development of hypertension partly of psychological origin against the background of changes in the central nervous system, immunity, and the polymorphism of the ACEI/D gene as an indicator of endurance.

The geopolitics of knowledge production, or how to inhabit a contradiction: introduction to the special issue on the narrative productions methodology

ABSTRACT The Narrative Productions Methodology (NPM) is a narrative methodology that draws inspiration from Donna Haraway’s notion of situated knowledges. This Special Issue (SI) marks the 20th anniversary since NPM was first explained in an article published in Spanish. This collection is the first dedicated publication in English, featuring a translation of this original article, together with eight other contributions that discuss different aspects of the methodology. This introduction is divided into two parts. The first section presents the necessary context for the articles in the collection. It provides a brief history of its origins in 1990s Critical Psychology. It reviews key theoretical notions that inspire it while showing how the contributions of the SI engage with them. The second section of the introduction adopts a more personal tone. Here, we reflect on the contradictions we felt during this project in the context of Anglo-American hegemony in academia. Although the process was complex/complicated on many levels, it was worth it. Our hope with this project is to create bridges between different language-based editorial communities to extend the ongoing conversations on research methods committed to emancipation and social justice.

Content or context? A study protocol for a three-arm parallel randomised controlled trial of Re-PROGRAM, a brief internet-based intervention for patients with functional seizures

IntroductionFunctional seizures (FS) mimic epilepsy but are not caused by epileptic electrical activity in the brain and are believed to have a psychological origin. There is a well-documented gap between...

Ideological Mate-guarding: Sexual Jealousy and Mating Strategy Predict Support for Female Honor.

Feminine honor dictates that women should cultivate a reputation for sexual purity via behaviors such as dressing modestly and maintaining virginity before marriage. The dominant explanation for people's support for feminine honor is that female infidelity threatens male partners' honor. Beyond this, the literature affords little understanding of the evolutionary and psychological origins of feminine honor. We propose that feminine honor functions as an ideological form of mate guarding that is shaped by sexual jealousy and mating strategy. Two correlational studies (N = 892) revealed support for predictions derived from this ideological mate-guarding account. In Study 1, dispositional jealousy and mating strategy (more monogamous orientation) predicted male participants' support for a mate's (especially a long-term mate's) feminine honor. Moving beyond mate preferences, in Study 2 male and female participants' dispositional jealousy and mating strategy predicted support for feminine honor of women in general. Results applied beyond masculine honor norms, religiosity, political conservativism, and age. These findings enhance the understanding of the origins and maintenance of feminine honor and related norms and ideologies that enable control over women's socio-sexual behavior.