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Previous studies in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic indicated that wearing a medical-style mask affects whether a stranger's face is judged as more trustworthy, socially desirable, or likely to be ill. However, given political controversies around mask use, these effects might vary by political orientation. In a pre-registered online experiment, we measured evaluations of trustworthiness, social desirability and perceived illness in masked and unmasked faces by 1241 British and US participants. We included questions on political orientation, along with the implicit online-VAAST approach/avoid task to test reaction times to masked/unmasked faces. There was a medium-sized effect of masks on trustworthiness and a significant interaction with political orientation, in that conservatives found masked faces less trustworthy than did liberals. Participants were quicker to approach masked than unmasked faces, but conservatives were relatively slower than liberals. The effects on trustworthiness suggest that differential moralization of novel social norms can affect how their adherents are evaluated in terms of their suitability for social interactions. Furthermore, the congruence between implicit and explicit methods implies that such differences can have deep-seated effects on reactions.

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Are we ever morally permitted to do what is morally wrong? It seems intuitive that we are, but evidence for dissociations among judgement of permissibility and wrongness is relatively scarce. Across four experiments (N = 1438), we show that people judge that some behaviours can be morally wrong and permissible. The dissociations arise because these judgements track different morally relevant aspects of everyday moral encounters. Judgements of individual rights predicted permissibility but not wrongness, while character assessment predicted wrongness but not permissibility. These findings suggest a picture in which moral evaluation is granular enough to express reasoning about different types of normative considerations, notably the possibility that people can exercise their rights in morally problematic ways.

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Studies on third-party punishment (TPP) have shown it promotes cooperation and prosocial behaviour, albeit at a cost to the punisher. Contrary to the view that such punishment is entirely altruistic, recent research suggests that punishers gain reputational benefits from third-party punishing in the form of increased trustworthiness. Nevertheless, both how the signal is determined and the honesty of the signalling function of TPP have not been fully examined. Here we present the results of four experiments (n = 1695, prolific.co) in which we examined how TPP signalling varies as a function of its deservedness and severity. Experiments 1A and 1B use incentivized economic game paradigms to show how deservedness, impacts the trustworthiness signalled by the punisher. Experiment 2A expands on traditional dichotomous punishment decisions to show how signalled trustworthiness depends on different levels of TPP severity. Experiment 2B isolates the signalling effectiveness of severity by decoupling it from the corresponding incurred cost to punish and examines its impact on signalled trustworthiness. Overall, we found that punishment signalling is sensitive to deservedness and severity but not independent of other factors such as the cost to punish.

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Objectives: In this preliminary and multidisciplinary exploratory study, we assessed whether a mindfulness practice could be enhanced through a multisensory experience design that mimics the "beginner's mind," relying on sensory awareness and biofeedback processes as participants interact with the experience. Methods: We piloted and designed two conditions, being (a) a guided mindfulness practice based on the senses as an anchor to the present moment, using audio instruction only; and (b) an experience of mindfulness practice with successive sensory stimulation (olfactory, audio, and visual stimulation) followed by an interactive experience with biofeedback that provides a visual representation of the person's heartbeat in real-time. For each of the conditions we assessed anxiety (state and trait), as well as other psychological variables pre- and post-experience. Additionally, we measured the heart rate variability (HRV) at baseline, during each stage of the experience as well as post intervention. Results: We collected valid data for a total of 68 individuals. Both groups were similar regarding mean age, sex, and occupation and had similar prior experience with mindfulness. There were no significant differences regarding prior state or trait anxiety between the groups. Analysis of the physiological variables showed that for both groups there was an increase in the parasympathetic activity after the multisensory experience, with small differences in the conditions of stimulation. We did not observe significant differences between the pre and post measures for state of test anxiety. The observed parasympathetic activity variations after both experiences compared with pre and post-surveys demonstrate the importance of physiological vs psychological inspection beyond the common human rational experience that is not always resonate with the body's response and impacts the needed literacy to self-awareness of emotional well-being. Conclusion: Participants in both conditions could effectively connect with the experience, while achieving a physiological response different from their baseline state. The acceptance of the designed stimuli was very high, although more research is still needed to uncover its full potential. In sum, the design of multisensory experiences using technology to create an interactive connection with the sensory stimulus, is a promising field in mindfulness and especially in practices involving sensory awareness through the monitoring of parasympathetic activity as an inference indicator of the present-moment connection.

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Fitouchi et al. claim that seemingly victimless pleasures and nonproductive activities are moralized because they alter self-control. Their account predicts that: (1) victimless excesses are negatively moralized because they diminish self-control, and (2) restrained behaviors are positively moralized because they enhance self-control. Several examples run contrary to these predictions and call into question the general relationship between self-control and cooperation.

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Being compassionate and empathic while making rational decisions is expected from healthcare workers across different contexts. But the daily challenges that these workers face, aggravated by the recent COVID-19 crisis, can give rise to compassion and decision fatigue, which affects not only their ability to meet these expectations but has a significant negative impact on their wellbeing. Hence, it is vital to identify factors associated to their exhaustion. Here, we sought to describe levels of compassion and decision fatigue during the pandemic, and to identify factors related to these forms of exhaustion. We collected data using self-reported questionnaires to measure compassion fatigue, decision fatigue, and grit in five intervals from April to November, 2020 (N = 856). Our results showed a negative correlation between grit and compassion and decision fatigue. We also found that under the circumstances studied grit tends to be higher in technicians, nurses, other professionals (psychologists, social workers), and workers at the Emergency Room (ER), and lower in general practitioners. Compassion fatigue tend to be higher for technicians, whereas decision fatigue was lower for specialists, general practitioners, and technicians, and higher for those working at private hospitals.

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The goal of this study was to test the role of message framing for effective communication of self-care behaviors in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, contrasting health and economic-focused messages. We presented 319 participants with an unforced choice task where they had to select the message that they believed was more effective to increase intentions toward self-care behaviors, motivate self-care behaviors in others, increase perceived risk and enhance perceived message strength. Results showed that gain-frame health messages increased intention to adopt self-care behaviors and were judged to be stronger. Loss-framed health messages increased risk perception. When judging effectiveness for others, participants believed other people would be more sensitive to messages with an economic focus. These results can be used by governments to guide communication for the prevention of COVID-19 contagion in the media and social networks, where time and space for communicating information are limited.

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In this paper, we investigated how justifications for price increases are associated with risky decision making and emotional responses. Across two studies with paired lottery choices and sequential decisions, we found that participants presented with a justification for price increases based on increasing demand decided to invest in a comparatively riskier asset more often than participants presented with a justification for price increases based on increasing tax or those presented with no justification at all. We also found that participants presented with justifications for price increases based on increasing demand also reported higher arousal and displayed higher galvanic skin response than people in the other two justification conditions. Together, these studies provide evidence that only the increasing demand condition underlying a price increase of a risky asset can influence the decision to buy and suggests that emotional activation has a crucial role in such a decision process.

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According to the social heuristics hypothesis, people intuitively cooperate or defect depending on which behavior is beneficial in their interactions. If cooperation is beneficial, people intuitively cooperate, but if defection is beneficial, they intuitively defect. However, deliberation promotes defection. Here, we tested two novel predictions regarding the role of trust in the social heuristics hypothesis. First, whether trust promotes intuitive cooperation. Second, whether preferring to think intuitively or deliberatively moderates the effect of trust on cooperation. In addition, we examined whether deciding intuitively promotes cooperation, compared to deciding deliberatively. To evaluate these predictions, we conducted a lab study in Colombia and an online study in the United Kingdom (N = 1,066; one study was pre-registered). Unexpectedly, higher trust failed to promote intuitive cooperation, though higher trust promoted cooperation. In addition, preferring to think intuitively or deliberatively failed to moderate the effect of trust on cooperation, although preferring to think intuitively increased cooperation. Moreover, deciding intuitively failed to promote cooperation, and equivalence testing confirmed that this null result was explained by the absence of an effect, rather than a lack of statistical power (equivalence bounds: d = -0.26 and 0.26). An intuitive cooperation effect emerged when non-compliant participants were excluded, but this effect could be due to selection biases. Taken together, most results failed to support the social heuristics hypothesis. We conclude by discussing implications, future directions, and limitations. The materials, data, and code are available on the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/939jv/).

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Increasingly diversity researchers call for further studies of group micro-processes and dynamics to understand the paradoxical effects of diversity on group performance. In this study, based on analyses of in-group, networked, homophilous interactions, we aim to explain further the effects of diversity on group performance in a parallel problem-solving task, both experimentally and computationally. We developed a 'whodunit' problem-solving experiment with 116 participants assigned to different-sized groups. Experimental results show that low diversity and high homophily levels are associated with lower performance while the effects of group size are not significant. To investigate this further, we developed an agent-based computational model (ABM), through which we inspected (a) the effect of different homophily and diversity strengths on performance, and (b) the robustness of such effects across group size variations. Overall, modeling results were consistent with our experimental findings, and revealed that the strength of homophily can drive diversity towards a positive or negative impact on performance. We also observed that increasing group size has a very marginal effect. Our work contributes to a better understanding of the implications of diversity in-group problem-solving by providing an integration of both experimental and computational perspectives in the analysis of group processes.

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This study examines the link between math anxietyand math performance in a group of Colombian students. A total of 296 students between 8 and 16 years of age took part in this study. Analyses by gender and grade were conducted, while controlling for other types of anxiety (i.e., general and test anxiety). In line with that reported in other countries, a negative correlation was found between performance in mathematics and math anxiety. Importantly, this trend was stronger in girls than in boys. Given the limited number of studies exploring the relationship between math anxiety and math performance in Latin America and, particularly, in Colombia, this study fills an important gap in the literature. The results are particularly relevant in view of the poor performance of Colombian students in mathematics, revealed by the most recent PISA reports.

El presente estudio examina la relación entre la ansiedad matemática y el desempeño matemático, en un grupo de estudiantes colombianos. Un total de 296 estudiantes entre 8 y 16 años de edad participaron en la investigación. Se realizaron análisis por género y grado escolar, controlando por otros tipos de ansiedad (i.e., general y relacionada con exámenes). En línea con lo reportado en otros países, se encontró una correlación negativa entre el desempeño en matemática y la ansiedad matemática. Aún más importante, esta tendencia fue mayor en las niñas que en los niños. Dados los pocos estudios que han explorado la relación entre ansiedad matemática y desempeño matemático en Latinoamérica y, particularmente, en Colombia, este estudio llena un vacío importante. Los resultados son particularmente relevantes a la luz del pobre desempeño de los estudiantes colombianos en matemáticas, revelado recientemente por las pruebas PISA.

O presente estudo examina a relação entre a ansiedade matemática e o desempenho matemático num grupo de estudantes colombianos. Um total de 296 estudantes entre 8 e 16 anos participaram da pesquisa. Realizaram-se análise por gênero e grau escolar, controlando por outros tipos de ansiedade (por exemplo, geral e relacionada com exames). Em consonância com o relatado por outros países, constatou-se uma correlação negativa entre o desempenho em matemática e a ansiedade matemática. Ainda mais importante, essa tendência foi maior nas meninas do que nos meninos. Tendo em vista os poucos estudos que exploram a relação entre ansiedade matemática e desempenho matemático na América Latina e, particularmente, na Colômbia, este estudo preenche um vazio importante. Os resultados são relevantes à luz do pobre desempenho dos estudantes colombianos em matemáticas, revelado recentemente pelas provas do Programa Internacional de Avaliação de Estudantes (Pisa, por sua sigla em inglês).

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Como otras habilidades cognitivas, la capacidad de razonar causalmente cambia a través del ciclo vital. Sin embargo, no existe un acuerdo acerca de cómo ocurre su desarrollo. En este texto, se propone un análisis teórico particular para entender este proceso, a saber, la idea de que el razonamiento causal es una habilidad de dominio general que se va enriqueciendo con el refinamiento de habilidades metacognitivas que permiten desligar el razonamiento del contexto inmediato. Esta propuesta se basa en el análisis de evidencia de razonamiento causal en niños pequeños, así como de la integración de estas habilidades durante la adolescencia temprana, con procesos de argumentación y explicación. Se señalan además algunas diferencias metodológicas en los estudios con niños y jóvenes.

Like other cognitive skills, the ability to reason causally changes during the course of development from early childhood to adulthood. There is, however, no agreement about how its development occurs. In this paper we propose a theoretical analysis to understand this process, namely, the idea that causal reasoning is a domain-general ability that is gradually enriched by the refinement of metacognitive skills, which allows reasoning independently from the immediate context. This proposal is based on the analysis of evidence of causal reasoning in young children, as well as evidence of integration of these skills during early adolescence with processes of argumentation and explanation. The paper also points out some methodological differences in studies with children and adolescents.

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BACKGROUND: The PHQ-4 is a widely used open access screening instrument for depression and anxiety in different health care and community settings; however, empirical evidence of its psychometric quality in Colombia is lacking. The objectives of the current study were to generate normative data and to further investigate the construct validity and factorial structure of the PHQ-4 in the general population. METHODS: A nationally representative face-to-face household survey was conducted in Colombia in 2012 (n = 1,500). The item characteristics of the PHQ-4 items, including the inter-item correlations and inter-subscale correlations, were investigated. To measure the scale's reliability, the internal consistency (Cronbach's α) was assessed. For factorial validity, the factor structure of the PHQ-4 was examined with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). RESULTS: The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the PHQ-4 was 0.84. The confirmatory factor analysis supported a two-factor model, which was structurally invariant between different age and gender groups. Normative data for the PHQ-4 were generated for both genders and different age levels. Women had significantly higher mean scores compared with men [1.4 (SD: 2.1) vs. 1.1 (SD: 1.9), respectively]. The results supported the discriminant validity of the PHQ-4. CONCLUSIONS: The normative data provide a framework for the interpretation and comparisons of the PHQ-4 with other populations in Colombia. The evidence supports the reliability and validity of the two-factor PHQ-4 as a measure of anxiety and depression in the general Colombian population.

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Teniendo en cuenta que el comportamiento del consumidor implica la toma de riesgo y que hay escasez de estudios específicos al contexto de compras por Internet que traten de incorporar los dos principales enfoques con los que se ha estudiado la toma de riesgo, el presente trabajo buscó determinar la relación existente entre los factores de personalidad, el tipo de producto (factor situacional), la percepción de riesgo y la intención y realización de compras por Internet. Para esto se diseñó una encuesta online que contenía situaciones hipotéticas a propósito del comercio electrónico y escalas de medición de factores de personalidad y de percepción de riesgo. Los participantes fueron personas de un rango de edad amplio, parte de una muestra por conveniencia. Se realizó un análisis correlacional de las variables de interés y se encontró que el género, la familiaridad, el factor de personalidad de escrupulosidad y los productos intangibles se relacionan significativamente con la percepción de riesgo general. Los factores de personalidad no parecen ser significativos a la hora de determinar la intención y realización de compras por Internet, brindando así apoyo al enfoque situacional.

Consumer behavior involves risk taking but there are few studies related to electronic commerce that integrate the two main approaches to study risk taking. The present study sought to determine the relationship between personality factors, product type (situational factor), risk perception and the intention and execution of internet shopping. An online survey containing hypothetical scenarios and scales measuring personality factors and risk perception was developed. Participants were individuals of a wide age range, from a convenience sample. A correlational analysis of the variables of interest was performed and it was found that gender, familiarity, conscientiousness personality factor and intangible products are significantly related to the perception of overall risk. Personality factors do not appear to be significant in determining the intention and execution of internet shopping, thus providing support for the situational approach.

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In this paper I defend the view that counterfactual thinking depends on our causal representation of the world, and in this sense, I argue that causal and counterfactual reasoning are tightly linked. I offer some criticisms and experimental evidence against Mandel's judgement dissociation theory (Mandel, 2003b), which claims functional independence between the process of causal selection and counterfactual reasoning in the context of causal selection. In the experiments described, I manipulated some elements of the semantics of the task to show the cases in which dissociation between causal and counterfactual reasoning does not occur. In Experiment 1, the level of description of the target event is manipulated in a list generation and rating task. Experiment 2 replicates Experiment 1 findings using an alternative coding system, whereas Experiment 3 does the same using an alternative answer format. The results of the experiments support the picture of causal understanding proposed by the causal mental models.

El trabajo defiende la posición según la cual el pensamiento contrafactual depende de nuestra representación causal del mundo y, en este sentido, argumenta que existe una estrecha relación entre el razonamiento causal y el contrafactual. Se lleva a cabo una crítica a la teoría de la disociación de juicios de Mandel (Mandel, 2003b), que defiende la independencia funcional entre el proceso de selección causal y el razonamiento contrafactual en el contexto de la selección causal. En los experimentos realizados se manipularon algunos elementos de la semántica de la tarea con el fin de ilustrar aquellos casos en los que no se da la disociación entre el razonamiento causal y el contrafactual. En el Experimento 1, el nivel de descripción del evento objetivo se manipuló en una tarea de generación de listas y evaluación. El Experimento 2 replicó los hallazgos del Experimento 1 utilizando un sistema de codificación alternativo, mientras que el Experimento 3 realizó lo mismo utilizando un formato de respuesta alternativo. Los resultados de los experimentos apoyan la concepción del entendimiento causal propuesta por los modelos mentales causales.

O trabalho defende a posição segundo a qual o pensamento contrafactual depende de nossa representação causal do mundo e, nesse sentido, argumenta que existe uma estreita relação entre o raciocínio causal e o contrafactual. Realiza-se uma crítica da teoria da dissociação de juízos de Mandel (Mandel, 2003b), que defende a independência funcional entre o processo de seleção causal e o raciocínio contrafactual no contexto da seleção causal. Nos experimentos realizados, manipularam-se alguns elementos da semântica da tarefa com o objetivo de ilustrar aqueles casos com os quais não se dá a dissociação entre o racionamento causal e o contrafactual. No Experimento 1, o nível de descrição do evento objetivo se manipulou em uma tarefa de geração de listas e avaliação. O Experimento 2 repetiu as descobertas do Experimento 1 ao utilizar um sistema de codificação alternativo, enquanto o Experimento 3 realizou o mesmo ao utilizar um formato de resposta alternativo. Os resultados dos experimentos apoiam a concepção do entendimento causal proposta pelos modelos mentais causais.

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Este texto ofrece un escenario para el debate sobre el estatus de la noción de proceso psicológico a partir del enfoque de modularidad, asumida en cierta medida en la psicología contemporánea, que pone de manifiesto un compromiso con alguna variedad de arquitectura cognitiva. La modularidad fuerte ha sido un enfoque moderadamente exitoso, pero también ha conducido a una comprensión fragmentada de la mente y el comportamiento, insuficiente para fundamentar la práctica profesional en diversas áreas de la psicología. La modularidad débil, como hipótesis de trabajo y alternativa, puede ser una estrategia de investigación útil, pero también requiere la integración de los hallazgos de la investigación en psicología en un marco coherente. Se discuten las implicaciones de este debate en la enseñanza de la psicología.

The objective of this paper is to set the stage for a discussion of the status of the idea of psychological process within psychological explanations and descriptions, indicating some of its consequences for the teaching of psychology. It is argued that contemporary psychology espouses some form of modularity, which, in turn, reveals commitments to a particular variety of cognitive architecture. The assumption of modularity has been a fruitful approach in some areas (e. g. the study of perception), but it has also led to a piecemeal understanding of mind and behavior that is simply insufficient to provide foundations for professional practice in several areas of psychology (e. g. education). Whereas assuming weak modularity as a working hypothesis might be a useful and necessary research strategy, integrating psychological research findings into a coherent framework is necessary. This idea has important consequences for the teaching of psychology.

Este texto oferece um cenário para o debate sobre o status da noção de processo psicológico a partir do enfoque da modularidade, assumida em certa medida na psicologia contemporânea, que manifestou um compromisso com alguma variedade da arquitetura cognitiva. A modularidade forte tem sido um enfoque moderadamente exitoso, mas também tem conduzido a uma compreensão fragmentada da mente e do comportamento, insuficiente para fundamentar a prática profissional em diversas áreas da psicologia. Amodularidade fraca, como hipótese de trabalho e alternativa, pode ser uma estratégia de investigação útil, mas também requer a integração das descobertas de investigação em psicologia num marco coerente. Discutem-se as implicações deste debate no ensino de psicologia.

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