Role Of Fear Research Articles

Neuroimmune mechanisms in fear and panic pathophysiology.

Panic disorder (PD) is unique among anxiety disorders in that the emotional symptoms (e.g., fear and anxiety) associated with panic are strongly linked to body sensations indicative of threats to physiological homeostasis. For example, panic attacks often present with feelings of suffocation that evoke hyperventilation, breathlessness, or air hunger. Due to the somatic underpinnings of PD, a major focus has been placed on interoceptive signaling and it is recognized that dysfunctional body-to-brain communication pathways promote the initiation and maintenance of PD symptomatology. While body-to-brain signaling can occur via several pathways, immune and humoral pathways play an important role in communicating bodily physiological state to the brain. Accumulating evidence suggests that neuroimmune mediators play a role in fear and panic-associated disorders, although this has not been systematically investigated. Currently, our understanding of the role of immune mechanisms in the etiology and maintenance of PD remains limited. In the current review, we attempt to summarize findings that support a role of immune dysregulation in PD symptomology. We compile evidence from human studies and panic-relevant rodent paradigms that indicate a role of systemic and brain immune signaling in the regulation of fear and panic-relevant behavior and physiology. Specifically, we discuss how immune signaling can contribute to maladaptive body-to-brain communication and conditioned fear that are relevant to spontaneous and conditioned symptoms of PD and identify putative avenues warranting future investigation.

Recruiting volunteers: the roles of fear, hope and courage

PurposeNonprofit organizations face challenges recruiting volunteers for morally important activities that may generate fear, such as firefighting, aid work and delinquent counseling. The purpose of this study is to examine how voluntary organizations can instill the virtue of courage among potential volunteers and motivate them to participate in such activities.Design/methodology/approachThree experimental studies examined how fear, hope and courage relate to the likelihood of volunteering. Study 1 investigated how integral hope (hope related to the context, i.e. hope emanating from volunteering activities) and incidental hope (hope unrelated to the context, i.e. a general hopeful feeling) affect volunteering intentions when there is low vs high fear. Study 2 examined whether courage mediated the effects of hope on volunteering intentions when there is low vs high fear. Study 3 replicated the findings in a different volunteering context.FindingsIntegral hope (but not incidental hope) in the face of high fear generates courage leading to intentions to volunteer. Both integral hope and incidental hope motivate volunteering intentions through positive affect (but not through courage) in low fear contexts.Research limitations/implicationsThe hypothetical volunteering scenarios and the gender distribution in the samples restrict the external validity of the findings. Family background in volunteering was not controlled for. Moral courage, physical courage and psychological courage were not separately measured.Practical implicationsNonprofit organizations recruiting volunteers for risky voluntary activities that induce high fear should use integral hope in their marketing communications to instill courage among potential volunteers. For voluntary activities that are not very risky and generate low levels of fear among potential volunteers, nonprofit organizations can recruit volunteers through communications that use either integral hope or incidental hope.Originality/valueThis research shows that hope and fear are critical emotions in relation to courage – an essential virtue for volunteers. Courage is manifested when there is high fear and integral hope. Findings contribute to the research literatures on the marketing of volunteering and the moral psychology of courage.

Police officers' punitiveness in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of fear, attribution and self-legitimacy

PurposeThe focus of this study is to examine Indian police officers' punitiveness toward violators of criminal sanctions attached to COVID-19 mitigation laws enacted by the Indian Penal Code. The authors draw from the conceptual frameworks and correlates typically employed in traditional crime and justice research and adapt them to the context of the pandemic. Additionally, the authors examine whether officers' punitive attitudes are related to their belief in self-legitimacy and their job assignment (civilian vs. armed personnel) in a country with inherited colonial policing legacies.Design/methodology/approachData for the study came from 1,323 police officers in a northern state of India.FindingsFindings suggest that officers with vicarious fear of COVID-19 infections (e.g. infection of family members) find the sanctions associated with the new laws harsh. Additionally, officers who subscribe to the classical attributions of offenders feel that the laws are not punitive enough. In contrast, those with deterministic views perceive the sanctions as excessively harsh. Findings also suggest that officers' self-legitimacy, and belief in the authority and responsibility vested in them, is a key predictor of their punitive attitudes. Finally, officers assigned to police lines are more punitive than those designated to patrol/traffic work.Research limitations/implicationsData or prior research on officers' punitive attitudes toward other violations (non-COVID-19 violations) is unavailable for comparison with this study’s findings.Originality/valueNo prior research has examined the relationship between police officers' perceptions of self-legitimacy, their belief in the authority vested in them by the state, their belief in their role as police officers and their relationship to their punitive attitudes.

Intolerance of uncertainty predicts altered threat expectancy ratings during reinstatement

Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is a transdiagnostic risk factor for psychiatric disorders, and plays an important role in fear and threat learning under uncertainty. The ‘reinstatement of fear/threat’ is an understudied phenomenon thought to represent clinical symptom relapse. Reinstatement of conditioned responding can be captured in the laboratory by presenting unsignaled presentations of an aversive unconditional stimulus. The present study investigated IU as a predictor of reinstatement effects, such that individuals higher in IU, relative to lower IU, would show larger reinstatement. Sixty-two participants completed the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale and provided threat expectancy ratings (i.e. certainty of receiving a shock) during a differential threat conditioning and extinction paradigm with reinstatement. Findings suggested a differential increase in threat expectancy ratings to both the threat and safety cue following reinstatement, although this effect was small and did not survive follow-up tests. Nevertheless, IU was a significant predictor of reinstatement to the threat cue but not the safety cue, although this effect was not in the expected direction. Specifically, higher IU was associated with reduced threat expectancy ratings post-reinstatement. These findings provide support for the limited literature demonstrating an important role for IU in reinstatement effects and should be investigated further.

Danger control and fear control during public health emergencies: Considering the roles of fear and hope in the EPPM across different levels of trust.

Public health emergencies pose considerable threats to global health and safety. The control of these emergencies requires the efforts of healthcare professionals and calls for the public to take protective actions. The present study not only puts fear back in the extended parallel process model (EPPM) but also considers another similarly productive emotion: hope. We examined the mechanisms behind the effects of four cognitive perceptions on protective actions (i.e., danger control) and information avoidance (i.e., fear control). A national online survey was conducted with 1676 participants during the outbreak of COVID-19 in China from February 1 to 29, 2020. The results revealed that perceived severity and susceptibility could lead to fear, positively affecting protective actions. On the other hand, perceived response efficacy and self-efficacy induced hope, which was positively associated with protective actions but negatively associated with information avoidance. Furthermore, the mechanisms behind the relationships among cognitions, emotions, and behaviors varied across levels of trust in healthcare systems.

Protection Motivation and Travel Intention after the COVID-19 Vaccination: Fear and Risk Perception

ABSTRACT This study aimed to identify the factors influencing tourists’ travel intention following the COVID-19 vaccination program. It also examined the mediating role of fear in the context of the threat severity, vulnerability, and protection motivation pathways. Based on a quantitative method, a cross-sectional survey was employed and data were collected from 320 prospective domestic tourists through an online survey in Malaysia during the COVID-19 vaccination period. The researchers primarily adopted the protection motivation theory (PMT) model for developing a conceptual framework to empirically test the structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis technique using AMOS software. The study confirmed that protection motivation is positively related to tourists’ travel intention, trust is negatively related to this intention, and perceived risk is not related to this intention. The study concludes that threat severity, threat vulnerability, fear, response efficacy, response cost, and self-efficacy affect the protection motivation of tourists. The main contribution of this study is to develop a model and confirm it through an empirical study. The findings indicate that companies should consider some of the factors identified so they can influence protection motivation and travel intention. This study extended the PMT model by integrating cognitive constructs and newly developed measurement scales.

Determining the Antecedents Influences on Travel Intention and Willingness to Pay during the Pandemic

ABSTRACT The study addresses the modulating effects of the impact of boredom and travel motivation on travel intention; additionally, the resulting model includes the impact of this intention and the fear of COVID-19 on the willingness to pay (WTP) more to benefit from additional safety measures at the destination. Furthermore, the moderating role of fear of COVID-19 was also tested as well as the mediating role of travel motivation in the model. Overall, 549 valid data were collected from potential tourists who live in Turkey and Russia. In the light of the findings of the study, the boredom was found to have a positive and significant effect on the travel motivation and intention. On the other hand, WTP is positively affected by travel intention and fear of COVID-19. Moreover, it was revealed that while the fear of COVID-19 had a moderating role, the travel motivation had a mediating role. The empirical results provide theoretical and practical implications for tourism managers for the development of safety measures in tourism services and the design of effective actions to restore tourism.

Places of safety? Fear and violence in acute mental health facilities: A large qualitative study of staff and service user perspectives.

To understand violence on acute mental health units according to staff and service user perspectives and experiences. The collateral damage of violence in acute inpatient mental health settings is wide-ranging, impacting on the health and wellbeing of staff and service users, and detrimental to public perceptions of people who are mentally unwell. Despite international research on the topic, few studies have examined psychiatric unit violence from both staff and service user perspectives. We conducted in-depth interviews with 85 people (42 staff, 43 service users) in four adult acute mental health inpatient units in New Zealand. We undertook a thematic analysis of perspectives on the contributing factors and consequences of violence on the unit. Both staff and service users indicated violence was a frequent problem in acute inpatient units. Four themes regarding the causes of violence emerged: individual service user factors, the built environment, organisational factors, and the overall social milieu of the unit. Staff often highlighted complexities of the system as causal factors. These included the difficulties of managing diverse service user illnesses within an inadequate and unsafe built environment whilst having to contend with staffing issues and idiosyncrasies relating to rule enforcement. In contrast, service users talked of their needs for care and autonomy not being met in an atmosphere of paternalism, boredom due to restrictions and lack of meaningful activities, enforced medication, and physical confinement as precipitants to violence. Two broader themes also emerged, both relating to empathy. Both staff and service users exhibited 'othering' (characterised by a profound lack of empathy) in relation to acutely unwell individuals. Explanations for violent behaviour on the unit differed between groups, with service users being more likely to attribute unwanted behaviour to contextual factors and staff more likely to 'blame' mental illness. The consequences of violence included stress, physical injury, and a culture of fear and stigma. Violence in acute inpatient mental health units in New Zealand is a significant, complex, and unresolved problem negatively impacting the therapeutic mission of these settings. Further in-depth qualitative investigations are urgently required into what is experienced as violence by service users, their view of how violence occurs, the role of fear and power relations, and the contributions of the built and organisational environment to all forms of violence to all unit users. A core function of the acute mental health unit is to offer a therapeutic environment for individuals at their most vulnerable. For this to happen, the unit must be a rewarding place to work, and a safe place to be.

Fear of Covid - 19 on perturbation among medical doctors

The current study aimed to explore the role of fear of Covid-19 on perturbation among medical doctors. A quantitative research was designed by using online questionnaire based survey to obtain data through convenient sampling. The sample consisted of 201 doctors from different Public and Private Hospitals of South Punjab (Pakistan). A priori power analysis calculated by using G*power analysis 3.1.9 for correlation. The instruments used to collect the data were fear of COVID-19 Scale, emotion regulation questionnaire (ERQ) and mental health inventory. A significant positive correlation was found between fear of COVID-19, cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression and positive effect on mental health among doctors. On comparison fear of COVID-19, anxiety, depression, and behavioural control of mental health among doctors has shown no correlation while cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression also depicted insignificant relation with mental health. Dependent variable (expressive suppression) significantly explained by the independent variable fear of COVID-19. The result specified that dependent variable of depression is non-significantly explained by the independent variable i.e. fear of COVID-19. Our study has explained that fear of COVID-19 has shown a noteworthy impact on positive effect of mental health while COVID-19 has non-significantly effect on behavioural control.

Investigating Anxiety and Fear of COVID-19 as Predictors of Internet Addiction With the Mediating Role of Self-Compassion and Cognitive Emotion Regulation.

BackgroundIn addition to many deaths due to the Coronavirus pandemic, many psychological issues and problems are affecting people's health. Including the constant anxiety and fear of infecting themselves and their families, COVID-19 has led to excessive spending of time in cyberspace and the Internet.MethodsIn this study, the role of fear and anxiety of COVID-19 in predicting Internet addiction among 1,008 students was investigated. The mediating role of the two components of self-compassion and cognitive emotion regulation has also been measured. Data collection was done online due to the outbreak of the disease and a modeling method was used to analyze the data.ResultsThe results shows that anxiety and fear of COVID-19 has a positive and significant relationship with both Internet addiction (r = 0.32) and maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies (r = 0.17), and it has a negative relationship with self-compassion (r = −0.25).ConclusionsThe findings suggest that self-compassion can play a protective role against internet addiction at the time of COVID-19 pandemic while maladaptive strategies for emotion regulation can be risk factors for anxiety and fear of the virus.

Using protein semi-synthesis to identify proton-sensing residues in an acid-sensing ion channel

Acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) are widely expressed in central nervous system and their activation by protons contributes to synaptic plasticity. Recently, ASICs have gained interest as potential drug targets due to their role in fear and pain processing, ischemic strokes and cardiac pathologies. Detailed functional studies and cryo-EM structures have identified a cluster of protonatable residues in the extracellular domain of the channel, also known as the ‘acidic pocket’. However, due to the limited chemical space accessible by conventional mutagenesis, it remains unknown which amino acids within the acidic pocket contribute to proton-mediated activation.

Jiddu Krishnamurti and The Fear of Not Being a “Good” Teacher

Abstract: Fear is a ubiquitous but somewhat underexamined phenomenon in education. In this essay, the author draws on the holistic educational philosophy of Jiddu Krishnamurti in order to reflect on the role of fear in his experiences as a classroom teacher. The author recounts experiences of difficult classroom management in which his fear was piqued. The author then draws on Krishnamurti’s writing to suggest that there is a deep seeded fear of not being a good teacher at the root of the desire to control students’ behaviour. The author concludes the paper by pointing to the need for serious and ongoing self-inquiry within education and society more broadly—a central tenant of Krishnamurti’s educational thought.

The role of fear in the relationship between vicarious violence at work and work ability in nurses: A cross-sectional study.

Fear is a powerful emotion that can influence future behavior. This study investigated how fear influences the relationship between vicarious violence at work and employees' work ability. This is a quantitative cross-sectional study. Self-report data were collected from 154 Portuguese nurses who completed an online survey. Statistical significance of the indirect effect was based on bias-corrected bootstrap confidence intervals. The results support the mediation model. Those who observe/hear of others being beaten or threatened experience strong affective reactions, such as fear, which in turn has a negative impact on the assessment of their work ability. We suggest that occupational safety and health programs designed to prevent violence at work take into account those who experience violence at work vicariously and include strategies and interventions focused on affective reactions to minimize the negative effects of vicarious violence at work, with benefits in employees' improved ability to work.

The Role of Fear, Disgust, and Relevant Experience in the Assessment of Stimuli Associated with Blood-Injection-Injury Phobia

The Role of Fear, Disgust, and Relevant Experience in the Assessment of Stimuli Associated with Blood-Injection-Injury Phobia

The Role of Fear and Stigma in Perpetuating Racial Health Orientation Disparities in Emerging Adults

The Role of Fear and Stigma in Perpetuating Racial Health Orientation Disparities in Emerging Adults

I Am Afraid to Order Anymore: Role of Fear in Using OFD Services Post Covid-19

I Am Afraid to Order Anymore: Role of Fear in Using OFD Services Post Covid-19

The effect of fear on the dynamics of two competing prey-one predator system involving intra-specific competition

A three-species food web model consisting of two competing prey – one predator with fear is created mathematically in the current work. Intra-specific competition within the predator's population, as well as a modified Holling type II functional response, are used. The study's goal is to look at the role of fear and intra-specific competition. Following a discussion of the solution's existence and uniqueness, other dynamical features of the solution, such as stability, persistence, and local bifurcation, were studied. Ultimately, the system is studied numerically with Matlab to fully understand global dynamics and the impact of altering parameter values. Different dynamical behaviors are discovered, such as stable point, stable line, and bi-stability.

A fractional model in exploring the role of fear in mass mortality of pelicans in the Salton Sea

The fear response is an important anti-predator adaptation that can significantly reduce prey's reproduction by inducing many physiological and psychological changes in the prey. Recent studies in behavioral sciences reveal this fact. Other than terrestrial vertebrates, aquatic vertebrates also exhibit fear responses. Many mathematical studies have been done on the mass mortality of pelican birds in the Salton Sea in Southern California and New Mexico in recent years. Still, no one has investigated the scenario incorporating the fear effect. This work investigates how the mass mortality of pelican birds (predator) gets influenced by the fear response in tilapia fish (prey). For novelty, we investigate a modified fractional-order eco-epidemiological model by incorporating fear response in the prey population in the Caputo-fractional derivative sense. The fundamental mathematical requisites like existence, uniqueness, non-negativity and boundedness of the system's solutions are analyzed. Local and global asymptotic stability of the system at all the possible steady states are investigated. Routh-Hurwitz criterion is used to analyze the local stability of the endemic equilibrium. Fractional Lyapunov functions are constructed to determine the global asymptotic stability of the disease-free and endemic equilibrium. Finally, numerical simulations are conducted with the help of some biologically plausible parameter values to compare the theoretical findings. The order $\alpha$ of the fractional derivative is determined using Matignon's theorem, above which the system loses its stability via a Hopf bifurcation. It is observed that an increase in the fear coefficient above a threshold value destabilizes the system. The mortality rate of the infected prey population has a stabilization effect on the system dynamics that helps in the coexistence of all the populations. Moreover, it can be concluded that the fractional-order may help to control the coexistence of all the populations.

The status and stigma consequences of mental illness labels, deviant behavior, and fear

Despite the breadth of research on mental illness, there remains some ambivalence about the distinct and combined effects of mental illness labels and deviant behavior for stigma and status. To examine the effects of mental illness labels and deviant behavior on stigma and status, we use experimental methods. Because fear is tightly linked with understandings of mental illness, we also consider the role of fear in these processes. We find that absent behavioral descriptions, mental illness labels do not affect status; however, deviant behavior that is and is not labeled as a mental illness decreases status. Neither deviant behavior nor mental illness labels independently affect stigma; however, compared to unlabeled deviant behavior, deviant behavior that is labeled as a mental illness either increases or decreases stigma for fear-inducing and fear-neutral behavior, respectively. In summary, the effects of mental illness labels appear to depend on behavioral connotations, including fear.

Mental well-being during COVID-19 pandemic: the role of fear, social isolation and psychological resilience

Emergence of any pandemic raises serious concerns toward the psychological well-being of an individual and overall society. Although, the magnitude and intensity of the novelwellb coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic are not precisely known yet, however, this pandemic has predominantly reshaped the global scenario. Scholars have begun to unfold the reality of this traumatic situation, but empirical research that focuses on the identification of key factors that could have a notable impact on mental wellbeing of the general population is limited. To fill this gap, this research endeavors to analyze the impact of fear of getting infected and social isolation on mental well-being during the pandemic. In addition, psychological resilience is used as a moderator between social isolation and mental well-being. A total of 714 responses were received through an online survey from university students across all provinces of Pakistan. The findings demonstrate that people who fear of being infected tend to engage in social isolation, and social isolation brings negative repercussions toward mental well-being. Interestingly, the study findings reveal that psychological resilience could mitigate the negative impact of social isolation on mental well-being. This study calls for creating and promoting awareness concerning psychological resilience in order to cope with the psychological challenges during this COVID-19 pandemic.