Subjective Appraisal Research Articles

Individual's Social Perception of Virtual Avatars Embodied with Their Habitual Facial Expressions and Facial Appearance.

With the prevalence of virtual avatars and the recent emergence of metaverse technology, there has been an increase in users who express their identity through an avatar. The research community focused on improving the realistic expressions and non-verbal communication channels of virtual characters to create a more customized experience. However, there is a lack in the understanding of how avatars can embody a user’s signature expressions (i.e., user’s habitual facial expressions and facial appearance) that would provide an individualized experience. Our study focused on identifying elements that may affect the user’s social perception (similarity, familiarity, attraction, liking, and involvement) of customized virtual avatars engineered considering the user’s facial characteristics. We evaluated the participant’s subjective appraisal of avatars that embodied the participant’s habitual facial expressions or facial appearance. Results indicated that participants felt that the avatar that embodied their habitual expressions was more similar to them than the avatar that did not. Furthermore, participants felt that the avatar that embodied their appearance was more familiar than the avatar that did not. Designers should be mindful about how people perceive individuated virtual avatars in order to accurately represent the user’s identity and help users relate to their avatar.

Periodontal Disease and Oral Health–Related Quality of Life in the Older Population in Indonesia

Introduction:Despite being acknowledged as the second global burden of oral disease, periodontal disease has few epidemiologic studies in the literature, particularly for developing countries. Many previous studies have assessed the relationship between periodontal disease and oral health–related quality of life (OHRQoL), with patients attending dental clinic or hospitals rather than a general population. This study attempted to fill the knowledge gap in limited information about periodontal disease and OHRQoL, with reference to a general population in a developing country.Objectives:To investigate the relationship between OHRQoL and periodontal diseases in an older population in Indonesia.Methods:We invited 582 older people from community health centers. The 369 (63.4%) older people who agreed to participate consented to an oral health examination and a questionnaire capturing demographic, socioeconomic, behavioral, and Oral Health Impact Profile–14 (OHIP-14) data.Results:Almost 75% of the older people had generalized periodontitis; 3% had healthy periodontal status; and around 22% had localized periodontitis. There was a lack of statistical evidence for an association between periodontal disease status and OHRQoL. This result was based on the appraisal of the prevalence of the impact (Odds ratio [OR], 0.95 [95% CI, 0.54 to 1.59]; P = 0.77), difference in mean severities (0.07 [95% CI, –1.66 to 1.80]; P = 0.94), and extent of the impact (P = 0.996). However, we found evidence for a relationship between tooth mobility and OHRQoL for all of the OHIP assessments, including prevalence of the impact (OR, 1.87 [95% CI, 1.16 to 3.01]; P = 0.009), difference in mean severities (–2.98 [95% CI, –4.50 to –1.45]; P < 0.001), and extent of the impact (P = 0.001).Conclusion:There was a lack of statistical evidence for a relationship between periodontal disease status and OHRQoL in this society. However, we found evidence that tooth mobility, as a sign of periodontal disease progression, is related to OHRQoL.Knowledge Transfer Statement:The present study can be used by dentists, community health workers, and policy makers in Indonesia to understand the prevalence, severity, and extent of the negative impacts of periodontal disease on older people’s quality of life. In addition, this study provides information about factors that might considerably affect the oral health–related quality of life in this society, such as brushing habits, dental visit, family income, DMF-T status, and subjective appraisal toward dental health.

The Internet as a Space for Anonymous Alcoholics during the SARS-COV-2 (Covid-19) Pandemic

INTRODUCTION: For over a year, Poland, alongside the entire world, has been facing the SARS-COV-2 (COVID-19 pandemic). This emergency has caused an immense social crisis, affecting especially the individual. The lack of social activity, including direct communication, along severe limitations on public and professional lives, have become a threat to mental health of people in almost all countries of the world. This state can be particularly difficult and dangerous to people with addiction. In the recovery process for alcoholics, a special role is often played by the Alcoholics Anonymous groups.&#x0D; &#x0D; OBJECTIVES: Due to the pandemic, meetings of AA groups (as well as other therapeutic groups) have been suspended until further notice. Due to this - due to necessity, not choice - such groups have moved to the online space. This raises a question if internet group meetings can make up for the lack of AA group meetings in physical space.&#x0D; &#x0D; METHODS: The research had an exploratory character. It was conducted between the start of June and the start of July 2020. 225 people participated. The research was conducted using quantitative methods, using a questionnaire designed specifically for this purpose.&#x0D; &#x0D; RESULTS: The research results indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic affected almost all of our respondents. The way the AA meetings work changed. Compared to live meetings, the frequency of meetings increased, the satisfaction from participation simultaneously decreased. Major flaws of online meetings are seen in the discomfort of respondents: some people stopped attending meetings after they moved to the internet. The positive sides of online meetings mainly had to do with the possibility of meeting and contacting new people living far and with organisational matters. The frequency of attending therapy with specialists/therapists decreased during the pandemic, while the frequency of contact with one&amp;rsquo;s sponsor increased. The overwhelming majority of respondents declared that they did not break abstinence during the pandemic. Those who did were usually people who had spent little time (usually a year, five years at most) in abstinence. The pandemic did not influence subjective appraisal of life quality. &#x0D; &#x0D; CONCLUSION: Our research showed that after the pandemic, our respondents would prefer to return to traditional, live AA meetings, organized as they used to be before COVID-19. Online meetings would only serve a useful, but ultimately complementary role.

Implications of Facebook Engagement Types and Feed’s Social Content for Self-Esteem via Social Comparison Processes

Self-esteem, generally understood as subjective appraisal of one’s social worth and qualities, is related to how people use social media and the gratifications derived from their use—processes driven in part by social comparison. Two major components of the social media experience drive social comparison processes: (1) what content people engage with (feeds content) and (2) how they engage with such content (engagement type). We conducted an eye-tracking study ( N = 38), to measure viewing time spent on individual Facebook posts and paired this measurement with clicking behaviors. We found that spending more time looking at posts and clicking on more of them was associated with lower self-esteem for people with more social content on their feeds. We discuss the importance of examining browsing behaviors as a combination of viewing time, clicking, and feed’s content—especially given its potential impact on well-being outcomes such as self-esteem via social comparison processes.

An alternative experimental methodology to determine the diagonal cracking resistance of steel-reinforced concrete beams

An alternative experimental method for predicting the diagonal shear cracking resistance of steel-reinforced concrete beams is developed in this paper. Conventional extensometric strain-gauge rosettes are placed on the lateral surfaces of a set of four beams. As diagonal cracking propagates through the beams, the load–strain curves flatten out at a plateau and the mechanical property under consideration may be determined. The method is applied to four beams cast from pumpable and self-compacting concrete mixes with cement types I and IV containing electric arc furnace slag aggregates. The feasibility of applying standard design code formulas to the concretes containing these aggregates may therefore be studied and compared with other recent research works. Accurate experimental results were obtained with this method without having to interrupt the test for subjective visual appraisals of the test specimen.

Personality Development in Emerging Adulthood-How the Perception of Life Events and Mindset Affect Personality Trait Change.

Personality changes throughout the life course and change is often caused by environmental influences, such as critical life events. In the present study, we investigate personality trait development in emerging adulthood as a result of experiencing two major life events: graduating from school and moving away from home. Thereby, we examined the occurrence of the two life events per se and the subjective perception of the critical life event in terms of valence. In addition, we postulate a moderation effect of the construct of mindset, which emphasizes that beliefs over the malleability of global attributes can be seen as predictors of resilience to challenges. This suggests that mindset acts as a buffer for these two distinct events. In a large longitudinal sample of 1,243 people entering adulthood, we applied latent structural equation modeling to assess mean-level changes in the Big Five, the influence of life events per se, the subjective perception of life events, and a moderating role of mindset. In line with maturity processes, results showed significant mean-level changes in all Big Five traits. While no changes in the Big Five dimensions were noted when the mere occurrence of an event is assessed, results indicated a greater increase in extraversion and diminished increase in emotional stability when we accounted for the individual's (positive/negative) perception of the critical life event. In case of extraversion, this also holds true for the moderator mindset. Our findings contribute valuable insights into the relevance of subjective appraisals to life events and the importance of underlying processes to these events.

Editor's Column

Editor's Column

“A Man in a Group Isn't Himself at All”

Abstract Steinbeck formulated his phalanx theory in 1933, in an atmosphere of social unease with the rise of fascism, communism, industrial unionism, and other mass movements. Though perhaps conceived originally as a scientific attempt to explain group behavior, Steinbeck's theory seems to stray (perhaps not intentionally) from scientific objectivity toward subjective sociological appraisal. As it is presented in his literature, I argue Steinbeck's phalanx theory must not be taken as science, but rather, as a model for understanding his exploration of collective behavior and human potential. This broadened concept of “phalanx potential,” as I call it, should be understood apart from mere extension of the original theory itself. I argue, in instances where Steinbeck's phalanx theory seems to fulfill its capacity as a creative force, the phalanx itself requires the efficacious leadership of a “collective individual.” That is, the success of Steinbeck's phalanx, paradoxically, relies on an individual, a remarkable “other,” simultaneously outside of, and within, the phalanx itself. While Steinbeck's earlier works, namely, “The Vigilante” and In Dubious Battle, present a critical view of the dangers and destructive possibilities unharnessed phalanxes present, his later works, namely, The Grapes of Wrath and Cannery Row, offer a more redemptive and productive view on the potential of these collectives. I contend that the reason for this progression lies in Steinbeck's treatment of these unique “collective individuals,” and their ability to foster democratic, participatory communities.

On the estimate of music appraisal from surface EEG: a dynamic-network approach based on cross-sensor PAC measurements

Objective. The aesthetic evaluation of music is strongly dependent on the listener and reflects manifold brain processes that go well beyond the perception of incident sound. Being a high-level cognitive reaction, it is difficult to predict merely from the acoustic features of the audio signal and this poses serious challenges to contemporary music recommendation systems. We attempted to decode music appraisal from brain activity, recorded via wearable EEG, during music listening. Approach. To comply with the dynamic nature of music stimuli, cross-frequency coupling measurements were employed in a time-evolving manner to capture the evolving interactions between distinct brain-rhythms during music listening. Brain response to music was first represented as a continuous flow of functional couplings referring to both regional and inter-regional brain dynamics and then modelled as an ensemble of time-varying (sub)networks. Dynamic graph centrality measures were derived, next, as the final feature-engineering step and, lastly, a support-vector machine was trained to decode the subjective music appraisal. A carefully designed experimental paradigm provided the labeled brain signals. Main results. Using data from 20 subjects, dynamic programming to tailor the decoder to each subject individually and cross-validation, we demonstrated highly satisfactory performance (MAE= 0.948, R 2= 0.63) that can be attributed, mostly, to interactions of left frontal gamma rhythm. In addition, our music-appraisal decoder was also employed in a part of the DEAP dataset with similar success. Finally, even a generic version of the decoder (common for all subjects) was found to perform sufficiently. Significance. A novel brain signal decoding scheme was introduced and validated empirically on suitable experimental data. It requires simple operations and leaves room for real-time implementation. Both the code and the experimental data are publicly available.

Neurocognitive functioning in hoarding disorder

Clients with hoarding disorder (HD) report problems suggesting neurocognitive underpinnings of some of their symptoms. However, previous investigations have failed to identify replicable patterns of neurocognitive deficits related to these symptoms. These inconsistent findings may be due to task impurity inherent in assessment of higher-order cognitive functions. To address this problem, this study examined multiple overlapping measures with both categorical and dimensional analytic methods to test whether key symptoms of HD are related to neurocognitive deficits. A total of 178 adults completed neuropsychological tests, a diagnostic interview, and questionnaires. Comparisons between participants meeting criteria for the HD (N = 61) and healthy control (N = 55) groups revealed few differences among 53 neurocognitive indicators across all domains of performance, and those few differences were not consistent with other findings from this or previous studies. Dimensional analyses using the full sample found no cognitive functioning factor that was a significant negative predictor of hoarding symptoms. We conclude that in standard clinical administration of tests of attention, memory, and executive function, individuals with HD do not show reliable deficits relative to controls. Given these findings, we suggest that future research should examine clients’ subjective appraisal of cognitive abilities and emotionally-laden cognition.

Beauty is in the eye of the machine.

Ansel Adams said, “There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.” Is it possible to predict our fickle and subjective appraisal of ‘aesthetically pleasing’ visual art? Iigaya et al. used an artificial intelligence approach to show how human aesthetic preference can be partially explained as an integration of hierarchical constituent image features.

Interacting brains coming in sync through their minds: an interbrain neurofeedback study.

Neurophysiological evidence shows that interpersonal action coordination is accompanied by interbrain synchronization (IBS). However, the functional significance of this association remains unclear. Using two experimental designs, we explored whether IBS is amenable to neurofeedback (NFB). Feedback was provided either as two balls approaching each other (so-called ball design), or as two pendula, each reflecting the oscillatory activity of one of the two participants (so-called pendulum design). The NFB was provided at delta (i.e., 2.5 Hz) and theta (i.e., 5Hz) electroencephalography frequencies, and manipulated by enhanced and inverse feedback. We showed that the participants were able to increase IBS by using NFB, especially when it was fed back at the theta frequency. Apart from intra- and interbrain coupling, other oscillatory activities (e.g., power spectral density, peak amplitude, and peak frequency) also changed during the task compared with the rest. Moreover, all the measures showed specific correlations with the subjective postsurvey item scores, reflecting subjective feeling and appraisal. We conclude that the use of IBS for NFB might help in specifying the contribution of IBS to interpersonal action coordination and in providing important information about the neural mechanisms of social interaction and the causal dimension of IBS.

Pre- and post-partum variation in wool cortisol and wool micron in Australian Merino ewe sheep (Ovis aries).

An individual merino sheep’s output of wool production is influenced by synergistic interactions of sheep genetics, climate, farm management, and nutrition available to the whole flock. The price paid to the producer for this wool commodity is determined via numerous tested parameters and /or subjective appraisal of the raw greasy wool. This research investigated the level of variation in wool cortisol (a physiological stress biomarker) and wool micron (MIC) in Merino ewes (Ovis aries), pre-partum and post-lambing (lactation/lambs at foot), using maiden ewe (n = 38) managed in an outdoor paddock in a commercial farm. The key findings of this study are; (1) wool quality indicators showed a significant variation between pre- and post- parturition including significant reduction in MIC and (2) there was a negative correlation between wool cortisol levels and wool micron pre-parturition (rs = − 0.179, p < 0.05). This relationship between wool cortisol and wool micron was positive (rs = + 0.29, p < 0.05) during post-parturition suggesting that ewes with lambs at foot ended up with finer wool (reduction in fibre diameter) but they also maintained high levels of wool cortisol. Furthermore, the comfort factor, curvature, standard deviation and spin fineness of the wool were also significantly reduced post-parturition. The results of this study show that metabolic resources partitioning in ewe associated with pregnancy and lambing can result in a reduction in wool quality indices. The activity of the HPA-axis is attenuated during late gestation and parturition as a maternal adaptation; however, the results of our study show that wool cortisol remained similar between pre- and post- lambing. This result indicates that environmental stressors that may have been operating on farm (e.g., cold winter period) could influence on maternal physiological stress response however the exact level of influence of environment conditions on ewe stress levels and productivity traits (e.g., lambing success and wool quality) warrants further investigation. In conclusion, the use of top-knot wool sampling in combination with wool cortisol analysis provides researchers with a convenient method to quantify wool quality and physiological stress simultaneously under commercial sheep production.

A Head-to-Head Comparison of Three Self-Help Techniques to Reduce Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors.

Body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) include skin picking, trichotillomania, nail biting and cavitadaxia/lip-cheek biting, among other behaviors. For the first time, we compared three different self-help techniques aimed at reducing BFRBs. We explored the acceptance and preliminary efficacy of the approaches and whether the techniques exerted differential effects depending on BFRB-type.A total of 113 participants with at least one BFRB were randomly allocated to either habit reversal training (HRT; active elements: awareness and competing response training), decoupling (DC) or decoupling in sensu (DC-is). Reassessment was conducted 4 weeks later. The Generic Body-Focused Repetitive Behavior Scale (GBS) served as the primary outcome. The completion rate was best for DC-is (68.6%) as compared to HRT (57.1%) and DC (53.5%). A total of 34.8% of completers in the DC group showed an improvement of at least 35% on the GBS compared to 10.0% in the HRT and 23.3% in the DC-is group. In accordance with previous work, moderator analyses showed that improvement under DC is best for non-skin-pickers. A dose-effect relationship emerged, particularly for HRT. Subjective appraisal ratings were more favorable for DC-is and HRT than for DC. With respect to completion rate, subjective appraisal and symptom improvement, DC-is yielded consistently satisfactory results, whereas HRT showed good subjective but rather poor objective improvement. Those who performed DC, especially non-skin-pickers, showed good improvement but overall completion and subjective efficacy were low. Future studies should investigate whether the three techniques exert add-on effects when combined and whether demonstration via new media (e.g., video) will augment comprehensibility and thus efficacy of the techniques.

Effects of Supportive Group Therapy on Levels of Hopelessness in Patients with Cervical Cancer at Cancer Diseases Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia

Background: Hopelessness is a subjective appraisal of negative expectations about the occurrence of a highly valued outcome coupled with the sense that one lacks control over desired events in the future. Hopelessness is an early symptom of depression and is comorbid with cervical cancer. Supportive Group therapy offers an economical and time efficient solution. In Zambia and particularly at Cancer Disease Hospital such structured supportive group therapy is not being offered. This study aims to ascertain whether supportive group therapy can reduce levels of hopelessness in cervical cancer patients at Cancer disease hospital in Lusaka Zambia.Methodology: This was a double blinded Randomized Controlled Trial conducted at Cancer Disease Hospital in Lusaka Zambia. It wasconducted between March 2019 and September 2020. Patients with histologically confirmed diagnosis of cervical cancer were recruited. Sociodemographic characteristics and clinical presentations were elicited by detailed history taking and file review. All the participants completed PreHAI Questionnaire and their results were noted. They were then divided into a control and intervention group using computer generated numbers. The intervention group then attended one hour Supportive group therapy sessions weekly for four weeks. The control group continued to receive the usual support of their family members and Cancer disease hospital staff. Both groups were then administered the Post- HAI Questionnaire and their results were noted.Results: 49 patients were recruited. Patient retention was 92% (n= 45). Majority of the participants were of the age group 41-50 years i.e. control group (n =12) intervention group (n= 7). Majority were; married control (n= 11) intervention (n= 12), unemployed control (n=14) intervention (n= 18), had social support control (n=14) intervention (n= 18). Only social support correlated with lower HAI scores (p= 0.047). There was no correlation between therapy and post HAI scores as both p- values i.e. control (p= 0.683) intervention (p= 0.368) were greater than confidence interval 0.05. The intervention group had a greater reduction in HAI scores from (p= 0.621 to p= 0.368) in comparison to the control group (p= 0.707 to p= 0.683).Conclusion: There was a difference (yet statistically insignificant) in treatment outcomes of cervical cancer patients receiving supportive group therapy to those not receiving supportive group therapy. That is to say that the intervention group showed a greater reduction in HAI scores in comparison to the control group. Social support is the only significant factor associated with lower levels of hopelessness.

Triangulating evidence on the role of perceived versus objective experiences of childhood adversity in psychopathology

Triangulating evidence on the role of perceived versus objective experiences of childhood adversity in psychopathology

Role of job and personal resources in the appraisal of job demands as challenges and hindrances.

Previous research has shown that challenge and hindrance job demands show different effects on employees’ wellbeing and performance. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that employees’ subjective appraisal of job demands as challenges and hindrances may vary: they can be appraised as challenges or hindrances or both. Subjective appraisal of job demands was found to be also related to employees’ wellbeing and productivity. However, little is known about predictors of the appraisals of job demands made by employees. The aim of the study was to identify predictors of such appraisals among job and individual resources. Cross-sectional research was carried out among 426 IT, healthcare and public transport employees. COPSOQ II scales were used to measure job demands (emotional, quantitative, cognitive demands, work pace and role conflicts) and job resources (influence at work, possibilities for development, vertical and horizontal trust), single questions were used to measure employees’ subjective appraisals of job demands as hindrances and challenges, and PCQ was used to measure psychological capital. Multiple hierarchical regression analyses showed that only horizontal trust predicted the appraisal of job demands as challenges, and vertical trust predicted the appraisal of job demands as hindrances among four analysed job resources. Individual resource–psychological capital–predicted only the appraisal of job demands as challenges. Control variables–occupation, age and job demands also played a significant role in predicting the appraisal of job demands. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Loneliness and not living alone is what impacted on the healthcare professional's mental health during the COVID-19 outbreak in Spain.

The present study is aimed at exploring the role of loneliness in the healthcare professionals’ mental health during the COVID‐19 outbreak in Spain. A total of 1,421 healthcare professionals who were in contact with at least one positive COVID‐19 patient participated in a cross‐sectional online survey from April to June 2020. Mental health was measured with the General Health Questionnaire‐12, and loneliness was assessed with the 3‐item UCLA Loneliness Scale. More than 80% of participants showed a certain prone to experience mental health problems, and 90% felt that they had not enough workplace protective measures to manage COVID‐19 patients. Presence of loneliness was positively related to higher mental health problems after controlling for other covariates. Other factors related to higher mental health problems were a higher COVID‐19 risk perception, being in quarantine, checking COVID‐19‐related news several times a day and having a lower training on managing infectious diseases. Neither living alone, nor supervisor social support, were related to healthcare professionals' mental health. Results suggest that the impact of COVID‐19 in terms of mental health in the healthcare professionals could be more related to subjective appraisals of social isolation rather than to be physically alone. There were also a variety of cognitive, behavioural and training‐related factors that were associated with the healthcare professionals’ mental health, and that should be potentially managed in the mental healthcare interventions.

Pythagorean fuzzy likelihood function based on beta distributions and its based dominance ordering model in an uncertain multiple criteria decision support framework

The concept of Pythagorean fuzzy (PF) sets represents a superior tool to model complex uncertainties in an ambiguous and equivocal decision-making framework. In consideration of the significant capacity for exhibiting the uncertainty of subjective appraisals and estimations under the aegis of the PF theory, this paper presents a simple-to-operate decision-making approach that is grounded in some beneficial concepts of original likelihood functions and measurements of dominating and dominated characters. On the strength of beta distributions, this paper seeks to propound new notions of PF likelihood functions and likelihood-oriented dominating/dominated characters and to launch an exploitable multiple criteria evaluation method by means of a dominance ordering model for treating decision analysis within PF environments. This paper initiates an efficient beta distribution-based approach to the construction of novel PF likelihood functions that can quantify the possibility degrees of outranking and outranked relationships between Pythagorean membership grades. The applicable satisfaction and dissatisfaction estimations are established on the likelihood-oriented dominating and dominated characters, respectively. Furthermore, this paper formulates a straightforward dominance ordering model to obtain the ultimate dominance ranking orders of candidate alternatives and accomplish multiple criteria decision-making issues involving complicated uncertainty. A financing decision-making problem concerning working capital requirements is investigated to validate the application results using the advanced methodology. The real-world application is implemented to examine the reasonableness and efficacy of the established techniques. Moreover, comparative studies through the utility of a sensitivity analysis are performed to demonstrate the efficacy and merits of the dominance ordering model. The comparison results manifest that the initiated methodology is an advantageous and reliable decision-making technique that can enhance the methodological development regarding the multiple criteria evaluation model under PF uncertainty. Finally, recommendations for future research directions are also presented in the conclusions.

Short telomeres drive pessimistic judgement bias in zebrafish.

The role of telomerase reverse transcriptase has been widely investigated in the contexts of ageing and age-related diseases. Interestingly, decreased telomerase activities (and accelerated telomere shortening) have also been reported in patients with emotion-related disorders, opening the possibility for subjective appraisal of stressful stimuli playing a key role in stress-driven telomere shortening. In fact, patients showing a pessimistic judgement bias have shorter telomeres. However, in humans the evidence for this is correlational and the causal directionality between pessimism and telomere shortening has not been established experimentally yet. We have developed and validated a judgement bias experimental paradigm to measure subjective evaluations of ambiguous stimuli in zebrafish. This behavioural assay allows classification of individuals in an optimistic-pessimistic dimension (i.e. from individuals that consistently evaluate ambiguous stimuli as negative to others that perceive them as positive). Using this behavioural paradigm we found that telomerase-deficient zebrafish (tert-/-) were more pessimistic in response to ambiguous stimuli than wild-type zebrafish. The fact that individuals with constitutive shorter telomeres have pessimistic behaviours demonstrates for the first time in a vertebrate model a genetic basis of judgement bias.