Risk as feelings

The Outrage Effect of Personal Stake, Effect on Children, Dread, and Controllability on COVID-19 Risk Perception Moderated by Media Use

Public response to the COVID-19 pandemic provides a unique opportunity to study how lay people's risk perception involves their emotive responses. We investigated how outrage factors as emotional responses to risk influence levels of risk perception in the context of the pandemic disease. Furthermore, how media use influences the perception of outrage factors is also examined. A nationwide online survey (n = 1,000) was conducted in South Korea. The survey results indicated that pandemic risk perception was connected to the generic intensity of perceived outrage factors as measured by averaging the perception of multiple outrage factors. Individual outrage factors such as personal stake, effect on children, dread, and controllability directly influenced risk perception regarding COVID-19. When the intensity of media use was considered, individuals with heavy media use perceived outrage factors more intensely than those who used media less frequently. Media use also moderated the outrage effect of catastrophic potential and moral nature on the perception of risk associated with the pandemic disease. For heavy media users, the outrage effect of moral nature was increased, while that of catastrophic potential decreased. The implications of the outrage effect on the pandemic disease risk perception are addressed. Finally, we discuss the meaning of heavy media users' varying levels of vulnerability to outrage effect by moral nature and catastrophic potential.

A pandemic-related affect gap in risky decisions for self and others

The early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic exposed large portions of the global populations to increased daily stressors. Research on risky choice in medical contexts suggests that affect-rich choice options promote less-advantageous decision strategies compared with affect-poor options, causing an "affect gap" in decision making. The current experiments (total N = 437, age range: 21-82) sought to test whether negative pandemic-related affect would lower expected-value (EV) maximisation within individuals. In Experiment 1, participants indicated how much they would be willing to pay to avoid specific pandemic experiences (e.g. "not being able to gather in groups"), and then chose among pairs of risky prospects that involved pandemic experiences or subjectively-equivalent monetary losses. EV maximising was lower for pandemic experiences than for equivalent monetary losses. Experiment 2 replicated this finding, and further demonstrated a moderating role of decision perspective. EV maximising was greater in decisions made for another person than in decisions made for oneself. These findings highlight potential strategies for boosting decision making under affect-rich real-world conditions.

Neural correlates of reward valuation in individuals with nonsuicidal self-injury under uncertainty

BACKGROUND

Attitudes toward risk and ambiguity significantly influence how individuals assess and value rewards. This fMRI study examines the reward valuation process under conditions of uncertainty and investigates the associated neural mechanisms in individuals who engage in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) as a coping mechanism for psychological pain.

METHODS

The study involved 44 unmedicated individuals who reported five or more NSSI episodes in the past year, along with 42 age-, sex-, handedness-, IQ-, and socioeconomic status-matched controls. During the fMRI scans, all participants were presented with decision-making scenarios involving uncertainty, both in terms of risk (known probabilities) and ambiguity (unknown probabilities).

RESULTS

In the NSSI group, aversive attitudes toward ambiguity were correlated with increased emotion reactivity and greater method versatility. Whole-brain analysis revealed notable group-by-condition interactions in the right middle cingulate cortex and left hippocampus. Specifically, the NSSI group showed decreased neural activation under ambiguity v. risk compared to the control group. Moreover, reduced hippocampal activation under ambiguity in the NSSI group was associated with increased emotion regulation problems.

CONCLUSIONS

This study presents the first evidence of reduced brain activity in specific regions during value-based decision-making under conditions of ambiguity in individuals with NSSI. These findings have important clinical implications, particularly concerning emotion dysregulation in this population. This study indicates the need for interventions that support and guide individuals with NSSI to promote adaptive decision-making in the face of ambiguous uncertainty.

The Inventory of Personality Organization-Reality Testing Subscale and Belief in Science Scale: Confirmatory factor and Rasch analysis of thinking style measures

The Inventory of Personality Organization-Reality Testing Subscale (IPO-RT) and Belief in Science Scale (BIS) represent indirect, proxy measures of intuitive-experiential and analytical-rational thinking. However, a limited appraisal of factorial structure exists, and assessment of person-item functioning has not occurred. This study assessed the IPO-RT and BIS using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Rasch analysis with a sample of 1030 participants (465 males, 565 females). Correlation analysis revealed a negative, moderate relationship between the measures. CFA supported a bifactorial model of the IPO-RT with four bifactors (Auditory and Visual Hallucinations, Delusional Thinking, Social Deficits, and Confusion). A one-factor model best fitted the BIS. Satisfactory item/person reliability and unidimensionality was observed for both measures using Rasch analysis, and items generally exhibited gender invariance. However, IPO-RT items were challenging, whereas BIS items were relatively easy to endorse. Overall, results indicated that the IPO-RT and BIS are conceptually sound, indirect indices of intuitive-experiential and analytical-rational thinking. Acknowledging the breadth of these thinking styles, a useful future research focus includes evaluating the performance of IPO-RT and BIS alongside objective tests.

Effects of health-related dispositions on citizens' appraisals toward the COVID-19 pandemic and protective behavior

In this study, health risk attitude and health locus of control were included as dispositional factors in the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) to explain people's protective behavior in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. Empirical data involved two waves of data with a sample of 526 adults with full-time jobs from Beijing, China, and structural equation model results confirmed a partial successful extension of the PMT. Specifically, health risk attitude had a direct effect on citizens' protective behavior, but without an indirect effect mediated by threat appraisal toward the COVID-19 pandemic; health locus of control did not directly associate with citizens' protective behavior, but had an indirect effect on it fully via coping appraisal toward the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, the PMT has been extended by adding a distal dispositional factor on the impact of coping appraisal on protective behavior. Implications for advancing the government's anti-epidemic strategy are discussed.

Fast & slow decisions under risk: Intuition rather than deliberation drives advantageous choices

Would you take a gamble with a 10% chance to gain $100 and a 90% chance to lose $10? Even though this gamble has a positive expected value, most people would avoid taking it given the high chance of losing money. Popular "fast-and-slow" dual process theories of risky decision making assume that to take expected value into account and avoid a loss aversion bias, people need to deliberate. In this paper we directly test whether reasoners can also consider expected value benefit intuitively, in the absence of deliberation. To do so, we presented participants with bets and lotteries in which they could choose between a risky expected-value-based choice and a safe loss averse option. We used a two-response paradigm where participants made two choices in every trial: an initial intuitive choice under time-pressure and cognitive load and a final choice without constraints where they could freely deliberate. Results showed that in most trials participants were loss averse, both in the intuitive and deliberate stages. However, when people opted for the expected-value-based choice after deliberating, they had predominantly already arrived at this choice intuitively. Additionally, loss averse participants often showed an intuitive sensitivity to expected value (as reflected in decreased confidence). Overall, these results suggest that deliberation is not the primary route for expected-value-based responding in risky decision making. Risky decisions may be better conceptualized as an interplay between different types of "fast" intuitions rather than between two different types of "fast" and "slow" thinking per se.

Dynamics of natural hazard risk awareness: Panel analysis insights from Switzerland

The analysis of risk awareness should be the initial stage in integrated natural hazard risk management to promote appropriate and effective measures for mitigating risks and strengthening social resilience inside the multi-risk framework. Nevertheless, earlier studies focused on cross-sectional data and overlooked the changes in risk awareness levels and associated independent variables with time. This study analyzes for the first time a balanced nationwide panel dataset of 1612 respondent-year observations from Switzerland (period 2015-2021, including the epidemic of COVID-19) to examine and compare the effects of potential independent variables on the four dimensions of natural hazard risk awareness (NHRA), ranging from the broadest dimension of Relevance to higher dimensions of Perceived Probability of an event, Perceived Threat to life and valuables, and Perceived Situational Threat. The analysis in this study incorporates multiple methods of Random-Effect Model (RE), Generalized Linear Model (GLM), and mediation analysis. Results show that NHRA increased in Switzerland to different extents (up to 23.24%) depending on the dimension. Event memory, perceived information impact and reported individual informed level appeared to be the most consistent independent variables positively influencing panel NHRA. Among these, perceived information impact as an important indicator of risk communication, was also found to serve as a mediator from risk preparedness to risk awareness. By encouraging residents to engage in "Begin Doing Before Thinking" (BDBT) programs to leverage subliminal effects and self-reflection, this study proposes that behavior-cognition feedback loops may facilitate a virtuous cycle. Our promising observations provide recommendations for an effective awareness-rising strategy design and suggest extensive insights from potential short-interval panel analysis in the future.

Examining public preferences for wood smoke mitigation policies in the sub-Arctic

Outdoor air pollution is a significant problem worldwide. Policies developed to mitigate air pollution require support from local residents to be successful. While some research has examined various social and psychological metrics associated with support for some types of pollution mitigation, less is known about what variables are critical in resident support for different types of policies that help mitigate air pollution associated with woodsmoke. This research examined the extent that perceived health and economic risks, perceived uncertainties in measuring air quality and estimating risks, trust in government, and affect relate to support for three different types of outdoor wood smoke mitigation policies in Alaska. Using a multiple regression analysis of data obtained from a mail-based survey (n = 442), we characterized local affective associations with wood burning, economic concerns and health risks around heat options, perceived uncertainties, and levels of trust in government. The research identified several social and psychological variables that were important in understanding support for air pollution policies associated with wood smoke. Significantly, we found that perceived economic risk of not taking actions to mitigate outdoor air pollution from wood smoke was related to support for all three policy options. Trust in local government was positively correlated to support for education and regulatory policies, and perceived uncertainty was inversely related to support for regulations. The research also confirmed other known findings with respect to variables associated with support for air pollution regulation policies including perceived health risks and affect.

Associations between perceived cancer impact and measures of health behavior in survivors of childhood cancer

PURPOSE

Perceived cancer impact (PCI) is the degree to which one feels cancer has impacted one's life. It is unknown if PCI is associated with health behaviors. The aim of this study is to determine associations between PCI and health behaviors in childhood cancer survivors.

METHODS

Participants were ≥ 5-year survivors enrolled in the St. Jude Lifetime (SJLIFE) cohort. The Brief Cancer Impact (BCIA) assessed PCI across four domains (caregiving/finances, diet/exercise, social/emotional functioning, religiosity). Responses were categorized as negative, neutral, or positive impact. Smoking, risky drinking, illicit drug use, and diet quality data were obtained via self-report. Physical activity (PA) was assessed via self-report and actigraphy. Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between PCI and health behaviors were evaluated via multivariable logistic regression.

RESULTS

A total of 3623 participants (mean age 30.4 ± 8.3 years, 49.6% female, 81.5% NH White) were included in baseline cross-sectional analysis; 1709 had a second visit 5.0 ± 1.4 years later and were included in longitudinal analysis. At baseline, the percentage of participants who endorsed cancer as having a negative impact on caregiving/finances was 37.5%, diet/exercise 30.5%, social/emotional functioning 40.6%, and religiosity 8.7%. Negative and neutral PCI across all four domains were cross-sectionally associated with all behaviors except illicit drug use. Negative and neutral PCI at the first time point across all four domains were associated with smoking, diet quality, and PA (ORs ranging from 1.35 to 2.41) in longitudinal analyses.

CONCLUSIONS

Endorsing negative or neutral PCI is associated with adverse health behaviors.

IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS

Promoting optimal health behavior should include addressing PCI.

Main factors influencing the perceived health risk of endocrine-disrupting chemicals: A systematic literature review

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are linked to rising health issues such as infertility, childhood obesity, and asthma. While some research exists on health risk perceptions of EDCs, a comprehensive understanding across different populations and contexts is needed. We performed a systematic literature review, examining 45 articles published between 1985 and 2023, focusing on both the risk perception of EDCs as a whole as well as individual EDCs found in the environment (e.g., pesticides, bisphenol A, and phthalates). We identified four major categories of factors influencing EDC risk perception: sociodemographic factors (with age, gender, race, and education as significant determinants), family-related factors (highlighting increased concerns in households with children), cognitive factors (indicating that increased EDC knowledge generally led to increased risk perception), and psychosocial factors (with trust in institutions, worldviews, and health-related concerns as primary determinants). This review highlights the complex nature of EDC risk perception, shaped by sociodemographic, family, cognitive, and psychosocial factors, essential for policymakers in crafting educational and communication strategies. Future research should expand to cover more EDCs, use representative samples, and explore the influence of psychosocial factors on risk perception more deeply.

Minds and markets as complex systems: an emerging approach to cognitive economics

Cognitive economics is an emerging interdisciplinary field that uses the tools of cognitive science to study economic and social decision-making. Although most strains of cognitive economics share commitments to bridging levels of analysis (cognitive, behavioral, and systems) and embracing interdisciplinary approaches, we review a newer strand of cognitive economic thinking with a further commitment: conceptualizing minds and markets each as complex adaptive systems. We describe three ongoing research programs that strive toward these goals: (i) studying narratives as a cognitive and social representation used to guide decision-making; (ii) building cognitively informed agent-based models; and (iii) understanding markets as an extended mind - the Market Mind Hypothesis - analyzed using the concepts, methods, and tools of Coordination Dynamics.

The role of economic news in predicting suicides

In this paper we explore the role of media and language used to comment on economic news in nowcasting and forecasting suicides in England and Wales. This is an interesting question, given the large delay in the release of official statistics on suicides. We use a large data set of over 200,000 news articles published in six major UK newspapers from 2001 to 2015 and carry sentiment analysis of the language used to comment on economic news. We extract daily indicators measuring a set of negative emotions that are often associated with poor mental health and use them to explain and forecast national daily suicide figures. We find that highly negative comments on the economic situation in newspaper articles are predictors of higher suicide numbers, especially when using words conveying stronger emotions of fear and despair. Our results suggest that media language carrying very strong, negative feelings is an early signal of a deterioration in a population's mental health.

Exploring the exponential sensitivity of risk perception in the COVID-19 pandemic

Individual's risk perception regarding specific hazards is a dynamic process that evolves over time. This study analyzed the relationship between the number of COVID-19 cases and the South Korean public's risk perceptions from the outset of the pandemic to the recent past. More than 70 repeated cross-sectional surveys were conducted biweekly to measure individuals' risk perception. An autoregressive integrated moving average with explanatory variable time series analysis was used to characterize the relationship between the number of COVID-19 cases and level of risk perceptions. It revealed that individuals' risk perception and the number of COVID-19 cases were not linearly related but were logarithmically correlated. This finding can be understood as a psychic numbing effect, suggesting that people's perception of risk is not linear but rather exponentially sensitive to changes. The findings also revealed a significant influence of individuals' trust in local governments on their risk perceptions, highlighting the substantial role played by local governments in direct risk management during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Normatively irrelevant disgust interferes with decision under uncertainty: Insights from the Iowa gambling task

This study investigates whether a not informative, irrelevant emotional reaction of disgust interferes with decision-making under uncertainty. We manipulate the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) by associating a disgust-eliciting image with selections from Disadvantageous/Bad decks (Congruent condition) or Advantageous/Good decks (Incongruent condition). A Control condition without manipulations is also included. Results indicate an increased probability of selecting from a Good deck as the task unfolds in all conditions. However, this effect is modulated by the experimental manipulation. Specifically, we detect a detrimental effect (i.e., a significant decrease in the intercept) of the disgust-eliciting image in Incongruent condition (vs. Control), but this effect is limited to the early stages of the task (i.e., first twenty trials). No differences in performance trends are detected between Congruent and Control conditions. Anticipatory Skin Conductance Response, heart rate, and pupil dilation are also assessed as indexes of anticipatory autonomic activation following the Somatic Marker Hypothesis, but no effects are shown for the first two indexes in any of the conditions. Only a decreasing trend is detected for pupil dilation as the task unfolds in Control and Incongruent conditions. Results are discussed in line with the "risk as feelings" framework, the Somatic Marker Hypothesis, and IGT literature.

Fostering active choice to empower behavioral change to reduce cardiovascular risk: A web-based randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the effect of an active choice (AC) intervention based on creating risk and choice awareness-versus a passive choice (PC) control group-on intentions and commitment to cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk-reducing behavior.

METHODS

Adults aged 50-70 (n = 743) without CVD history participated in this web-based randomized controlled trial. The AC intervention included presentation of a hypothetical CVD risk in a heart age format, information about CVD risk and choice options, and a values clarification exercise. The PC group received a hypothetical absolute numerical CVD risk and brief information and advice about lifestyle and medication. Key outcomes were reported degree of active choice, intention strength, and commitment to adopt risk-reducing behavior.

RESULTS

More AC compared to PC participants opted for lifestyle change (OR = 2.86, 95%CI:1.51;5.44), or lifestyle change and medication use (OR = 2.78, 95%CI:1.42;5.46), than 'no change'. No differences were found for intention strength. AC participants made a more active choice than PC participants (β = 0.09, 95%CI:0.01;0.16), which was sequentially mediated by cognitive risk perception and negative affect. AC participants also reported higher commitment to CVD risk-reducing behavior (β = 0.32, 95%CI:0.04;0.60), mediated by reported degree of active choice.

CONCLUSIONS

Fostering active choices increased intentions and commitment towards CVD risk-reducing behavior. Increased cognitive risk perception and negative affect were shown to mediate the effect of the intervention on degree of active choice, which in turn mediated the effect on commitment. Future research should determine whether fostering active choice also improves risk-reducing behaviors in individuals at increased CVD risk in real-life settings.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT05142280. Prospectively registered.

The Role of Optimistic Bias and Affect on Social Media Searches About COVID-19

The preventive health behavior people adopt is partly a result of the risk they perceive from the threat, and health behavior theory has shown that risk communication is a critical part of that outcome. But risk to self and risk to others are often judged differently. Optimistic bias, which describes an unrealistic level of optimism about a threat, is a well described and frequently observed phenomenon in the study of health behavior. Traditional measurements of this construct have typically used the difference in self and other risk levels, which may obscure the impact. This study used a moderated mediation path with other-risk as a moderator of self-risk to study how optimistic bias and emotion about a rapidly changing risk may impact information seeking about it through social medial channels, which represent a still nascent but evolving media for credible health information. Results showed that optimistic bias about developing symptoms of COVID was indeed present and that the effect of perceived self-risk was mediated by fear and anxiety to predict social media searches about the threat. Further, affect and social media search behavior decreased with increasing levels of perceived other risk, indicating optimistic bias served to dampen a person's motivation to seek information. The implications of the results on health behavior theory, risk communication, and public health practice are discussed.

Experimenting to increase the effectiveness of a national campaign on hygiene behavior in Tanzania

Through Tanzania's National Sanitation Campaign, we study the effectiveness of two common elements of behavior change campaigns: endorsements from celebrities and testimonials. Using four experiments in Tanzania in early 2021 as part of the national campaign, we find that including endorsements and testimonials in text messages sent to individuals significantly increases self-reported hygiene behavior. These results mask important heterogeneity based on the source of endorsement or framing of the testimonial and provide insights into cost-effective approaches for changing behavior at scale.

How do emotions respond to outcome values and influence choice?

Emotions powerfully, predictably, and pervasively influence decision making. The risk-as-feelings hypothesis states that two kinds of emotions are important in decision-making, anticipatory emotions and anticipated emotions. We empirically investigated whether and how anticipatory and anticipated emotions may change as a function of outcome values and whether anticipatory or anticipated emotions may explain the influence of outcome values on risky choice. To study the effects of value on emotions and choice, we offered people hypothetical large amounts ($100, $200, $300, $400) and incentivized moderate amounts ($10, $20, $30, $40) as prospects in gambles over two consecutive studies. Using a representative sample from the US to ensure the generalizability of the findings, each participant in our two studies made choices in gain and loss domains. Overall, anticipatory and anticipated emotions responded very similarly to changes in value for the sure gains in both studies. The findings also indicated that both anticipatory and anticipated emotions explained the effects of the value on choice for the sure gain and sure losses, while both mediated the effect of framing on choice towards the sure and the gamble option. Although anticipatory emotions mediated a larger portion of the effect, anticipated emotions also show some mediation.

The role of positive emotion in harmful health behavior: Implications for theory and public health campaigns

Meta-analyses have concluded that positive emotions do not reduce appetitive risk behaviors (risky behaviors that fulfill appetitive or craving states, such as smoking and excessive alcohol use). We propose that this conclusion is premature. Drawing on the Appraisal Tendency Framework and related theories of emotion and decision-making, we hypothesized that gratitude (a positive emotion) can decrease cigarette smoking, a leading cause of premature death globally. A series of multimethod studies provided evidence supporting our hypothesis (collective N = 34,222). Using nationally representative US samples and an international sample drawn from 87 countries, Studies 1 and 2 revealed that gratitude was inversely associated with likelihood of smoking, even after accounting for numerous covariates. Other positive emotions (e.g., compassion) lacked such consistent associations, as expected. Study 3, and its replication, provided further support for emotion specificity: Experimental induction of gratitude, unlike compassion or sadness, reduced cigarette craving compared to a neutral state. Study 4, and its replication, showed that inducing gratitude causally increased smoking cessation behavior, as evidenced by enrollment in a web-based cessation intervention. Self-reported gratitude mediated the effects in both experimental studies. Finally, Study 5 found that current antismoking messaging campaigns by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention primarily evoked sadness and compassion, but seldom gratitude. Together, our studies advance understanding of positive emotion effects on appetitive risk behaviors; they also offer practical implications for the design of public health campaigns.

Urgency Theory in the context of broader emotion theories: a conceptual review

Negative and positive urgency are two closely related personality traits that reflect the tendency for an individual to engage in maladaptive risk-taking in response to extreme negative and positive emotions, respectively. However, other prominent emotion theories describe how emotions contribute to adaptive, rather than maladaptive, decision-making. This conceptual review considers how Urgency Theory can be integrated with these broader existing emotion theories. We proceed as follows: a) briefly define what is meant by emotions in science and summarize basic human neuroscience underlying emotions; b) briefly describe select theories and research linking emotions to adaptive decision-making, including brain correlates of this effect; c) review Urgency Theory, including contrasting evidence that emotions lead to maladaptive outcomes and brain correlates of this effect; d) discuss how urgency can be integrated into theories that view emotions as both adaptive and maladaptive for decision-making; and e) propose future directions to advance research in this field. We identified four, not mutually exclusive, viable options to integrate Urgency Theory into existing theories: urgency as model-free emotion regulation, urgency as being driven by incidental emotions, urgency as a reflexive response to emotions, or urgency as an individual difference factor. We conclude that although all four options are viable, individual difference and model-free emotion regulation have the most empirical support to date. Importantly, the other two options are less well-researched. Direct tests comparing these integrations is necessary to determine the most accurate way to integrate urgency with existing emotion theories. We believe that this research can identify mechanisms underlying urgency and help inform future intervention and prevention development to reduce negative effects of urgency across numerous maladaptive behaviors and clinical disorders.

Health Promotion of Early and Sustained Allergenic Food Introduction for the Prevention of Food Allergy

Observational studies and landmark randomized control trials support early and sustained allergenic food introduction in infancy as an effective preventive strategy against food allergy development. Despite a consensus regarding the intended goals of early and sustained allergenic food introduction, there have been myriad policy recommendations among health authorities in how to achieve both individual and population-level health outcomes for food allergy prevention. This clinical management review provides an overview on the data that informs early and sustained allergenic food introduction strategies, suggestions on how to advise allergenic food introduction, principles of prevention programs as they relate to food allergy prevention, and health promotion and systems-level challenges that impede achievement of food allergy prevention goals.

Alcohol use disorder among Whites and Hispanics on and off the U.S./Mexico border in California

This paper examines whether U.S./Mexico border residence in California is related to the prevalence of DSM-5 alcohol use disorder (AUD) among Whites and Hispanics. Household survey data were obtained from 1,209 adults (59.7% female) 18 to 39 years of age resident in four counties in California: Imperial on the U.S./Mexico border; and Kern, Tulare, and Madera in California's Central Valley. Households were selected using a list assisted sample, with data collected on the phone or online. Results show that AUD rates were not different between border and non-border location and between Whites and Hispanics. AUD was negatively associated with higher income ($20,000 to $60,000: AOR=.38; 95%CI=.17-.86; p<.01-more than $60,000: AOR=.27; 95%CI: .09-.81; p<.01) and poor risk perception (AOR=.86; 95%CI=.78-.94; p<.01). AUD was positively associated with continued volume of drinking (AOR = 1.05; 95%CI = 1.01-1.09; p<.01), drinking in Mexico (AOR = 4.28; 95%CI = 1.61-11.36; p<.01), marijuana use (AOR = 4.11; 95%CI = 1.73-9.77; p<.01), and impulsivity (AOR = 1.55; 95%CI = 1.23-1.94). Efforts to prevent AUD in the population in California, and especially among those who live close to the border with Mexico, should take into consideration factors such as impulsivity, marijuana use, border crossing to drink in Mexico, all of which increased risk of AUD.

A behavioral economics approach to enhancing HIV preexposure and postexposure prophylaxis implementation

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

The 'PrEP cliff' phenomenon poses a critical challenge in global HIV PrEP implementation, marked by significant dropouts across the entire PrEP care continuum. This article reviews new strategies to address 'PrEP cliff'.

RECENT FINDINGS

Canadian clinicians have developed a service delivery model that offers presumptive PEP to patients in need and transits eligible PEP users to PrEP. Early findings are promising. This service model not only establishes a safety net for those who were not protected by PrEP, but it also leverages the immediate salience and perceived benefits of PEP as a natural nudge towards PrEP use. Aligning with Behavioral Economics, specifically the Salience Theory, this strategy holds potential in tackling PrEP implementation challenges.

SUMMARY

A natural pathway between PEP and PrEP has been widely observed. The Canadian service model exemplifies an innovative strategy that leverages this organic pathway and enhances the utility of both PEP and PrEP services. We offer theoretical insights into the reasons behind these PEP-PrEP transitions and evolve the Canadian model into a cohesive framework for implementation.

EEG Correlates of Moral Decision-Making: Effect of Choices and Offers Types

BACKGROUND

Moral decision-making consists of a complex process requiring individuals to evaluate potential consequences of personal and social decisions, including applied organizational contexts.

METHODS

This research aims to investigate the behavioral (offer responses and reaction times, RTs) and electrophysiological (EEG) correlates underlying moral decision-making during three different choice conditions (professional fit, company fit, and social fit) and offers (fair, unfair, and neutral).

RESULTS

An increase of delta and theta frontal activity (related to emotional behavior and processes) and beta frontal and central activity (linked to cognitive and attentional processes) was found. A left beta, delta, and theta frontal activity was observed for fair offers in professional fit conditions, while increased right frontal delta and theta activity was found in response to unfair offers in company fit conditions. Also, an increase of left delta and theta parietal activity for unfair offers in social fit condition was detected. Finally, higher accepted responses were found for fair and neutral offers in professional and social fit conditions, with increased RTs for unfair offers suggesting decisions' cognitive load and complexity.

CONCLUSIONS

By revealing a greater involvement of left and right frontal areas in decision-making processes based on choices and offers, personal interest evaluations and emotional values, and of parietal areas in more prosocial and altruistic moral behavior, current findings provide information about the neural and behavioral correlates underlying company moral behavior.

Conformity behavior in crises: evidence from the COVID-19 epidemic in China

Once a mass health crisis breaks out, it causes concern among whole societies. Thus, understanding the individual's behavior in response to such events is key in government crisis management. From the perspective of social influence theory, this study adopts the empirical research method to collect data information in February 2020 through online survey, with a view to comprehensively describe the individuals'conformity behavior during the COVID-19 outbreak in China. The individual's conformity behavior and new influencing factors were identified. The results revealed that affective risk perception, cognitive risk perception, and individual risk knowledge had a positive significant impact on normative influence. Affective risk perception and individual risk knowledge had a positive significant on informative influence. Cognitive risk perception did not significantly impact informative influence. Informative influence and normative influence had a positive effect on conformity behavior. These results have significant implications for the management behavior of the government.

Research on the action mechanism of certainty and uncertainty of experience in the consumption context

Research on the positive impacts of uncertainty has primarily focused on promotional activities, with little research in other situations. This study applied the concept of uncertainty to the context of experience consumption, Discovering there is certainty of experience and uncertainty of experience in the context of consumption, The purpose is to study the differences in the mechanism of action of different types of consumer experience. In studyⅠ, 239 valid questionnaires on the mobile app consumption experiences were collected and their data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). Study 2 collected 160 valid questionnaires on consumer experience in physical stores and analyzed the questionnaire data using partial least squares (PLS-SEM). study finding in the certainty of experience context, standardized interaction relies on product interaction and scene interaction to transmit experience material information, and reduce consumers' commodity service perception uncertainty, resulting in a satisfaction experience; in the uncertainty of experience context, personalized interaction relies on user-enterprise interaction and user-to-user interaction to unleash the subjectivity and creativity of experience participants, and increase consumers' experience process perception uncertainty, resulting in the realization a surprise experience. The research findings provide important practical guidance for enterprises to establish differentiated experience strategies and gain long-term competitive advantages.

The influence of COVID-19 on intertemporal choices in the health and economy domains

Background

With the spread of COVID-19, concerns regarding its adverse effects have arisen. Based on affect regulation theory and construal level theory, this study explored how COVID-19 affects intertemporal choice in the health and economy domains, self-other differences for intertemporal choice were also inspected. The study examined whether psychological safety can moderate the relationship between COVID-19 and intertemporal choice.

Methods

A 2 (COVID-19 status: pre-COVID-19, during-COVID-19) × 2 (decision maker role: decision for self, decision for others) × 2 (domain: health, economy) three-factor hybrid experiment was employed.

Results

(1) Individuals in during-COVID-19 condition preferred more immediate options. (2) Delayed options were preferred more in the health domain. Preference for immediate money options enhanced during than before COVID-19. However, COVID-19 status did not affect choices related to health. (3) Delayed options were preferred more when making intertemporal choices for others than for oneself under the pre-COVID-19 condition. Self-other differences for intertemporal choice disappeared during COVID-19. (4) Psychological safety moderated the effect of COVID-19 on intertemporal choice.

Conclusions

During COVID-19, individuals' impulsive preference of intertemporal choice increased. COVID-19 affected intertemporal choice regarding economy and the self-other differences for intertemporal choice. Psychological safety could buffer the effect of COVID-19 on intertemporal choice.

Value

This study can provide empirical evidence to affect regulation theory and level of explanation theory as well as guide individuals in making scientific decisions in health and economic domains under public health emergencies.

Physiology of Risk-Taking and Risk Management in Realistic Decision-Making Scenarios

Decisions under risk are a particular case of decisional skills taking place in complex and mostly unpredictable situations, where affective connotation of deciding is highly relevant. We aimed at investigating decisional processes under risk by outlining individual risk-taking (RT) and risk management (RM) attitudes via realistic decision-making and, in keeping with the risk-as-feeling hypothesis, at exploring implicit physiological correlates of such processes. 35 participants were presented with realistic situations where they had to make decisions by choosing between alternatives connoted by different levels of riskiness. Concurrently, autonomic physiological activation (cardiovascular and electrodermal activity) was recorded. Data analysis highlighted that: (i) participants showed higher propensity towards risk management than risk-taking; (ii) the propensity towards both risk taking and risk management was significantly determined by physiological markers of autonomic activity; and (iii) risk taking and risk management indices showed associations with different autonomic measures, respectively heart rate and skin conductance metrics.

Trust and trustworthy artificial intelligence: A research agenda for AI in the environmental sciences

Demands to manage the risks of artificial intelligence (AI) are growing. These demands and the government standards arising from them both call for trustworthy AI. In response, we adopt a convergent approach to review, evaluate, and synthesize research on the trust and trustworthiness of AI in the environmental sciences and propose a research agenda. Evidential and conceptual histories of research on trust and trustworthiness reveal persisting ambiguities and measurement shortcomings related to inconsistent attention to the contextual and social dependencies and dynamics of trust. Potentially underappreciated in the development of trustworthy AI for environmental sciences is the importance of engaging AI users and other stakeholders, which human-AI teaming perspectives on AI development similarly underscore. Co-development strategies may also help reconcile efforts to develop performance-based trustworthiness standards with dynamic and contextual notions of trust. We illustrate the importance of these themes with applied examples and show how insights from research on trust and the communication of risk and uncertainty can help advance the understanding of trust and trustworthiness of AI in the environmental sciences.

Heuristics in risky decision-making relate to preferential representation of information

When making choices, individuals differ from one another, as well as from normativity, in how they weigh different types of information. One explanation for this relates to idiosyncratic preferences in what information individuals represent when evaluating choice options. Here, we test this explanation with a simple risky-decision making task, combined with magnetoencephalography (MEG). We examine the relationship between individual differences in behavioral markers of information weighting and neural representation of stimuli pertinent to incorporating that information. We find that the extent to which individuals (N = 19) behaviorally weight probability versus reward information is related to how preferentially they neurally represent stimuli most informative for making probability and reward comparisons. These results are further validated in an additional behavioral experiment (N = 88) that measures stimulus representation as the latency of perceptual detection following priming. Overall, the results suggest that differences in the information individuals consider during choice relate to their risk-taking tendencies.

Voter emotional responses and voting behaviour in the 2020 US presidential election

Political polarisation in the United States offers opportunities to explore how beliefs about candidates - that they could save or destroy American society - impact people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviour. Participants forecast their future emotional responses to the contentious 2020 U.S. presidential election, and reported their actual responses after the election outcome. Stronger beliefs about candidates were associated with forecasts of greater emotion in response to the election, but the strength of this relationship differed based on candidate preference. Trump supporters' forecast happiness more strongly related to beliefs that their candidate would save society than for Biden supporters. Biden supporters' forecast anger and fear were more strongly related to beliefs that Trump would destroy society than vice versa. These forecasts mattered: predictions of lower happiness and greater anger if the non-preferred candidate won predicted voting, with Biden supporters voting more than Trump supporters. Generally, participants forecast more emotion than they experienced, but beliefs altered this tendency. Stronger beliefs predicted experiencing more happiness or more anger and fear about the election outcome than had been forecast. These findings have implications for understanding the mechanisms through which political polarisation and rhetoric can influence voting behaviour.

The impact of information presentation on self-other risk decision-making

To explore the impact of social distance and information presentation types on self-other risk preferences in monetary tasks. Risk preferences were examined in decision-making tasks and experiential information tasks within different frameworks when participants made decisions for themselves and others. Experiment 1 employed experiential decision tasks and revealed individual differences in decision-making for oneself and others. In gain situations, participants exhibited more risk aversion when deciding for others compared to themselves. Experiment 2 presented both types of information simultaneously to investigate whether risk decisions for oneself and others are influenced by information types. Results indicated that experiential information led participants to make more conservative choices for others, while descriptive information eliminated this effect. This study discovered the influence of social distance on self-other risk decisions and the role of information presentation types in self and other risk decision-making. Future research could further explore self-other decision-making from the perspectives of decision-makers' traits and culture.

Foraging in a non-foraging task: Fitness maximization explains human risk preference dynamics under changing environment

Changes in risk preference have been reported when making a series of independent risky choices or non-foraging economic decisions. Behavioral economics has put forward various explanations for specific changes in risk preference in non-foraging tasks, but a consensus regarding the general principle underlying these effects has not been reached. In contrast, recent studies have investigated human economic risky choices using tasks adapted from foraging theory, which require consideration of past choices and future opportunities to make optimal decisions. In these foraging tasks, human economic risky choices are explained by the ethological principle of fitness maximization, which naturally leads to dynamic risk preference. Here, we conducted two online experiments to investigate whether the principle of fitness maximization can explain risk preference dynamics in a non-foraging task. Participants were asked to make a series of independent risky economic decisions while the environmental richness changed. We found that participants' risk preferences were influenced by the current and past environments, making them more risk-averse during and after the rich environment compared to the poor environment. These changes in risk preference align with fitness maximization. Our findings suggest that the ethological principle of fitness maximization might serve as a generalizable principle for explaining dynamic preferences, including risk preference, in human economic decision-making.

Drivers of natural disaster risk-reduction actions and their temporal dynamics: Insights from surveys during an imminent hurricane threat and its aftermath

To improve preparedness for natural disasters, it is imperative to understand the factors that enable individual risk-reduction actions. This study offers such insights using innovative real-time (N = 871) and repeated (N = 255) surveys of a sample of coastal residents in Florida regarding flood preparations and their drivers during an imminent threat posed by Hurricane Dorian and its aftermath. Compared with commonly employed cross-sectional surveys, our methodology better represents relationships between preparedness actions undertaken during the disaster threat and their drivers derived from an extended version of Protection Motivation Theory (PMT). The repeated survey allows for examining temporal dynamics in these drivers. Our results confirm the importance of coping appraisals and show that risk perceptions relate more strongly to emergency protection decisions made during the period of the disaster threat than to decisions made well before. Moreover, we find that several personal characteristics that we add to the standard PMT framework significantly relate to undertaking preparedness actions, especially locus of control and social norms. Significant changes in key explanatory variables occur following the disaster threat, including a decline in risk perception, a potential learning effect in coping appraisals, and a decline in risk aversion. Our results confirm the advantage of the real-time and repeated survey approach in understanding both short- and long-term disaster preparedness actions.

How Cat-Behavior Advisors Can Improve Clients' Willingness to Adopt their Advice: An Investigation of Advice Severity, Advisor Credibility, and Clients' Self-Identity

Feline behavioral problems can be treated successfully by good advice from cat-behavior advisors, but guardians often do not comply with their advice. An experimental survey under 703 cat guardians was used to investigate what advisors can do to increase their clients' compliance with environmental enrichment advice. By systematically varying the credibility of the advisor and the severity of their advice, the hypothesis was confirmed that highly credible advisors elicit more positive attitudes and compliance intentions than less credible advisors. Also as expected, mild advice resulted in stronger compliance intentions than severe advice because guardians believed they were better able to incorporate the required actions. Finally, guardians who more strongly thought of themselves as cat guardians were more likely to adopt the advice because they believed that other cat guardians would do the same. The investigation of factors that can increase cat guardians' compliance with advisors' recommendations for the treatment of behavioral problems is crucial because the wellbeing of domestic cats lies in the hands of their guardians. Several practical recommendations for cat-behavior advisors are offered.

Understanding consumer attitude toward the name framings of cultured meat: Evidence from China

The naming and labeling of products can affect consumer attitudes and subsequent behavior, particularly in the case of new food products in the market. The present study explores the effects of name framing on consumer attitudes towards cultured meat (CM), which is currently in the early stages of development. With a sample of 1532 Chinese consumers, we integrated several pathways to explain the name-framing effect by examining three different terms ("cultured," "artificial," and "cell-based") for CM. Results indicate that "cultured meat" and "cell-based meat" are more appealing than "artificial meat." Name framings of CM affect consumers' perception of benefits more than that of risks. Our comprehensive model identified evoked affect (perceived disgust) and naturalness as two crucial predictors of attitudes. These two predictors also act as substantial mediators of perceived benefits, and they activate the mediation of perceived risks (an insignificant mediator in cognitive processing). In addition, perceived naturalness mediates the name-framing effect mainly through perceived disgust. Our findings have implications for future strategies for communicating about novel foods (like CM) to the public.

Polarization and the Psychology of Collectives

Achieving global sustainability in the face of climate change, pandemics, and other global systemic threats will require collective intelligence and collective action beyond what we are currently experiencing. Increasing polarization within nations and populist trends that undercut international cooperation make the problem even harder. Allegiance within groups is often strengthened because of conflict among groups, leading to a form of polarization termed "affective." Hope for addressing these global problems will require recognition of the commonality in threats facing all groups collective intelligence that integrates relevant inputs from all sources but fights misinformation and coordinated, cooperative collective action. Elinor Ostrom's notion of polycentric governance, involving centers of decision-making from the local to the global in a complex interacting framework, may provide a possible pathway to achieve these goals.

Uncertainty in a globalizing world. Livelihood and fertility variance increases in response to rapid change

OBJECTIVES

The extreme condition that we address in this special issue is how people adapt to rapid change, which in this case study is instigated by globalization and the process of market integration. Although market integration has been underway for centuries in some parts of the world, it often occurs precipitously in small-scale societies, initiating an abrupt break with traditional ways of life and fostering a keen sense of uncertainty.

METHODS

Using cross sections from 30-years of data collected in a Yucatec Maya subsistence farming community, we test the expectation that when payoffs to pursue new livelihood and reproductive options are uncertain, variance in social, economic, and reproductive traits will increase in the population. Our data span the transition from subsistence farming to a mixed economy, and bridge the transition from natural to contracepting fertility. Exposure to globalizing and market forces occurred when a paved road was built in the early 2000s.

RESULTS

We find that livelihood traits (a household's primary economic strategy, amount of land under cultivation, amount of maize and honey sold), become more variable as new, but uncertain options become available. Variance in levels of education and family size likewise immediately increase following the road, but show signs of settling back down a decade later. Rather than replacing one way of life with another, Maya farmers conservatively adopt some new elements (family planning, wage labor), until the tradeoffs to commit to smaller families and the labor market become clearer.

CONCLUSION

Our findings highlight that in rapidly changing environments when the payoffs to assimilate new options are uncertain, some households and individuals intensify what they know best, while others adopt new opportunities, driving variance up in the population.

Do comparative judgements affect the perceived relevance of mobile phone road safety campaigns?

OBJECTIVE

Given the prevalence of illegal mobile phone use while driving and reliance upon messaging campaigns in deterring the behavior, there is a need to explore to what extent comparative judgements may influence desired outcomes of such campaigns. This exploratory study investigated (a) the perceived relevance and influence of different mobile phone road safety campaigns within a sample of Queensland motorists who reported using their mobile phone while driving and (b) if these varied depending on whether participants believed that their crash risk whilst using a phone was higher (comparative pessimism), lower (comparative optimism) or similar to the same-age and sex driver.

METHODS

A total of 350 licensed drivers residing within Queensland (Australia) were included in this study, of which 200 reported using their hand-held phone on some occasion. Participation involved completing a 20-25 min online anonymous survey, which included viewing three mobile phone road safety campaigns (injury-based, sanction-based and humor) and responding to questions about the perceived relevance and impact of each campaign.

RESULTS

A total of 64 (32%) participants displayed comparative optimism, 50 displayed similar judgements (25%) and 86 (43%) exhibited comparative pessimism. First, it was found that the injury-based campaign was perceived to be significantly more relevant than the humor campaign. Second, whilst the relevance of each campaign did not vary as a function of group membership, the campaigns were significantly less relevant to those displaying comparative optimism relative to those with similar judgements and comparative pessimism. Finally, the injury-based campaign was perceived to be significantly more influential than the other campaigns. However, overall, participants displaying comparative optimism believed that they would be less influenced by the campaigns compared to those with comparative pessimism.

CONCLUSIONS

Although preliminary, these findings suggest that low perceptions of risk may dilute or extinguish the desired behavioral outcomes of mobile phone road safety campaigns. Nonetheless, experimental research is needed to examine these effects directly.

Perceived risk, illness perception and dispositional optimism related to COVID-19 among oncologic outpatients undergoing in-hospital treatments and healthy controls

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to explore risk estimations (perceived risk, dispositional optimism) related to COVID-19 perception and distress in oncologic outpatients undergoing active hospital treatments compared to the general population.

DESIGN AND MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Data were collected during the Italian lockdown on 150 oncologic outpatients and a sample of 150 healthy subjects. They completed a battery of questionnaires including the Perceived Risk scale, the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire, the Life Orientation Test- Revised and the Patient Health Questionnaire-4. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and a moderated mediation model were performed to test the study hypotheses.

RESULTS

The moderated mediation model attested significant conditional indirect associations of both clinical status and dispositional optimism with distress through the mediation of COVID-19 perceived risk. Healthy individuals and less optimistic people were more likely than others to report higher psychological distress only when they showed neutral or negative COVID-19-related illness perception.

CONCLUSIONS

Cancer patients manifest a lower risk perception and a more positive illness representation related to COVID-19 compared to control subjects; the distress level is not associated with the clinical status, but it is moderated by illness perception. Adequate protective behaviors in cancer patients may avoid a dangerous underestimation of objective risks.

Effects of a fearful emotional state on financial decisions in the presence of prior outcome information

Negative emotions have been shown to influence financial risk-taking. However, how receiving salient information about prior outcomes interacts with a decision-maker's emotional state is not well known. In a laboratory experiment, we induced a fearful emotional state to investigate its effects on financial investment when outcome probabilities are unknown but decision-makers observe prior outcomes. The effects of fear on investment depended on whether the sequence of previous outcomes was favorable or unfavorable and contained weak or strong information. Our findings suggest that fear affected investment, at least in part, through changes in expectations of success.

The mediating role of intention of learning behaviour in learning behaviour

Improving the quality of postgraduate study is one that must be addressed with the increase in the number of postgraduate students. This study aims to analyse the effects of learning attitude, learning motivation and self-efficacy on learning behaviour through the intention of learning behaviour, and the effect of learning behaviour on learning outcome. Measurements were made on 560 postgraduate students after the development of a scale. The scale was analysed for reliability and exploratory factor analysis using SPSS software. The date were then analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis techniques with path analysis and bootstrap methods. The results of the study showed that students' attitudes towards learning and self-efficacy had a significant indirect on learning behaviour through the mediating involvement of intention to learn behaviours, and learning behaviour had a significant effect on learning outcome. Therefore, there is a need to improve learning behaviour by improving students' intention to learn behaviour so that they can have good learning outcome.

Testing an extended theory of planned behaviour in predicting Covid-19 vaccination intention over the course of the pandemic: A three-wave repeated cross-sectional study

Background

Mass vaccination against Covid-19 has been recognised as the most effective strategy for overcoming the pandemic emergency and remains crucial in the ongoing efforts to mitigate the impact of the virus. The present study aimed to test the efficacy of an extended Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) model in predicting vaccination intention in three different phases of the pandemic. Understanding how psychological drivers of vaccine acceptance may have changed throughout the pandemic is essential for informing public health strategies and addressing vaccine hesitancy, even in the current post-pandemic context.

Methods

Using a repeated cross-sectional survey, we tested the hypothesised extended TPB model (intention, attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, anticipated affective reactions, risk perception, trust in science, trust in institutions and religiosity) across three independent samples: before (T1: November-December 2020; N = 657), during (T2: March-May 2021; N = 818), and after (T3: February-March 2022; N = 605) the start of the vaccination campaign in Italy.

Results

Results indicated significant differences between the time points in all investigated variables, pointing to a general trend of improvement in vaccine acceptability levels at T2 compared to T1, and a worsening at T3 compared to the other two time points. Interestingly, net of these differences, a multi-group Structural Equation Modeling analysis supported the invariance, across time, of the structural relationships examined within the extended TPB.

Conclusion

Findings demonstrated the efficacy of the TPB in predicting Covid-19 vaccination intention at different stages of the pandemic, suggesting that the model, in its extended version, represents a valuable framework for designing interventions aimed at promoting vaccine acceptance.

Neurophysiological correlates of interpersonal discrepancy and social adjustment in an interactive decision-making task in dyads

Introduction

The pursuit of convergence and the social behavioral adjustment of conformity are fundamental cooperative behaviors that help people adjust their mental frameworks to reach a common goal. However, while social psychology has extensively studied conformity by its influence context, there is still plenty to investigate about the neural cognitive mechanisms involved in this behavior.

Methods

We proposed a paradigm with two phases, a pre-activation phase to enhance cooperative tendencies and, later, a social decision-making phase in which dyads had to make a perceptual estimation in three consecutive trials and could converge in their decisions without an explicit request or reward to do so. In Study 1, 80 participants were divided in two conditions. In one condition participants did the pre-activation phase alone, while in the other condition the two participants did it with their partners and could interact freely. In Study 2, we registered the electroencephalographical (EEG) activity of 36 participants in the social decision-making phase.

Results

Study 1 showed behavioral evidence of higher spontaneous convergence in participants who interacted in the pre-activation phase. Event related Potentials (ERP) recorded in Study 2 revealed signal differences in response divergence in different time intervals. Time-frequency analysis showed theta, alpha, and beta evidence related to cognitive control, attention, and reward processing associated with social convergence.

Discussion

Current results support the spontaneous convergence of behavior in dyads, with increased behavioral adjustment in those participants who have previously cooperated. In addition, neurophysiological components were associated with discrepancy levels between participants, and supported the validity of the experimental paradigm to study spontaneous social behavioral adaptation in experimental settings.

Risk self-perception and occupational accidents

INTRODUCTION

This study analyzes the relationship between measures of occupational accidents and workers' perception of risk in the workplace using nationally representative data on workers' characteristics and a complete record of occupational accidents.

METHODS

Regression analyzes addressing both the ordinal nature of the dependent variable and causality were conducted to control for different sociodemographic factors influencing workers' perceptions of occupational risks. Special attention was paid to the risk level of the worker's workgroup, existence of family responsibilities, organizational safety culture, and measures of accident rates.

RESULTS

Individuals showed different perceptions of risk based on their personal and work characteristics. Significant associations were observed between each variable of interest and risk perception. Overall, the results remain robust across specifications addressing both simultaneity and ordinality.

CONCLUSIONS

Employees' "reading" of hazards was not fully aligned with objective information on occupational accidents but depended on individual characteristics. Having family responsibilities or being unionized increased workers' risk perception, whereas belonging to a workgroup with higher accident rates reduced it.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Knowing how workers perceive risk and how this perception deviates from statistical information on accidents are essential for management to accurately design safety measures. In this regard, specific characteristics such as age, having dependents in the family, or the typology of the workers' workgroup should be taken into account. Greater knowledge of preventive measures will improve the way workers perceive risk, and ultimately contribute to reducing the likelihood of occupational accidents.

Confirming Eight-Factor Structure of the Substance Use Motives Measure in a Sample of US College Students

The 2020 National Survey on Drug Use indicates nearly three quarters of individuals ages 18-25 have used substances in the past year. Research suggests individuals who use substances to cope with negative mood states are typically more substance-involved, report more psychological distress, and have a more extensive treatment history. Additionally, the high rate of polysubstance use among substance using adults in the U.S. highlights the need for broadband measures that can adequately capture use, consequences, and motivations for use of multiple substances. However, most measures assessing motives for use are typically substance specific. Recently, Biolcati and Passini (2019) developed a brief, but comprehensive model of broad substance use motives (i.e., Substance Use Motives Measure, SUMM) based on well-established motives questionnaires (e.g., DMQ-R, MMQ). They found support for their proposed eight-factor model in an online sample of Italian citizens (ages 18-60). No studies to date have examined the psychometric properties of the SUMM with an English-speaking or US college student sample. The current study evaluates the factor structure of the SUMM in a sample of 143 college students (74.8% female, 77.6% White, and 94.4% non-Hispanic/Latinx) at a large, southeastern university in the United States. Results of a confirmatory factor analysis showed support for the previously identified eight-factor structure for the SUMM, with acceptable model fit and internal consistency of each factor found. Findings support using the SUMM as a broad measure of substance use motives, but more research is needed to assess measurement invariance across different groups and to evaluate external, concurrent, and convergent validity using other well-established measures of substance use motives, severity, and psychiatric symptomatology.

How sudden- versus slow-onset environmental events affect self-identification as an environmental migrant: Evidence from Vietnamese and Kenyan survey data

In response to changing climatic conditions, people are increasingly likely to migrate. However, individual-level survey data reveal that people mainly state economic, social, or political reasons as the main drivers for their relocation decision-not environmental motives or climate change specifically. To shed light on this discrepancy, we distinguish between sudden-onset (e.g., floods and storms) and slow-onset (e.g., droughts and salinity) climatic changes and argue that the salience of environmental conditions in individuals' migration decisions is shaped by the type of climate event experienced. Empirically, we combine individual-level surveys with geographic information on objective climatic changes in Vietnam and Kenya. The empirical evidence suggests that sudden-onset climate events make individuals more likely to link environmental conditions to their migration decision and, hence, to identify themselves as "environmental migrants." Regression analyses support these results and are consistent with the view that slow-onset events tend to be linked with migration decisions that are more economically motivated.

The association of individual cognition and social environment of smoking with autonomy over tobacco: A survey from rural China

INTRODUCTION

This study explores the association of individual cognition and social environment of smoking with autonomy over tobacco, providing evidence and insights to help smokers effectively prevent and reduce tobacco dependence.

METHODS

Data were collected from 1389 participants, aged ≥15 years, by face-to-face interviews from June 2018 to November 2019 in central China. We assessed autonomy over tobacco using the Autonomy Over Smoking Scale (AUTOS), including Withdrawal Symptoms (WS), Psychological Dependence (PD) and Cue-induced Cravings (CC), and examined factors of individual cognition and social environment, as well as covariates, including demographic characteristics, health status, and smoking behavior.

RESULTS

AUTOS total score was 16.92 ± 9.05, WS score was the lowest (4.40 ± 3.36) in the three subscales, and CC score was the highest (6.88 ± 3.2). After adjustment, WS score of having a greater awareness of smoking hazards to one's own health was lower than those who had no awareness (β=0.14; 95% CI: -0.31-0.00), and the total score of AUTOS, the score of PD and CC for those who thought smoking was 'more helpful (high)' to interpersonal communication were higher than 'not helpful (not at all)' (β=0.14; 95% CI: 0.01-0.28 with β=0.16; 95% CI: 0.02-0.29; and β=0.14; 95% CI: 0.00-0.28; respectively). Having a greater difficulty in smoking cessation was associated with higher AUTOS total and subscale scores (p<0.001). Notably, none of the social-environmental factors included had a significant association with AUTOS scores.

CONCLUSIONS

Interventions targeting individual cognitive factors of tobacco dependence seem to be more effective in smoking cessation. Future research may explore the influence of family and workplace among social environmental factors, which may reveal the effect of a binding force.

Negative emotionality downregulation affects moral choice but not moral judgement of harm: a pharmacological study

Previous neuroscientific research has expounded on the fundamental role played by emotion during moral decision-making. Negative emotionality has been observed to exert a general inhibitory effect towards harmful behaviors against others. Nevertheless, the downregulation of negative affects at different levels of moral processing (e.g. impersonal versus personal moral dilemmas) alongside its possible interactions with other factors (e.g. perspective taking) hasn't been directly assessed; both of which can assist in predicting future moral decision-making. In the present research, we empirically test (Study 1, N = 41) whether downregulating negative emotionality through pharmacological interventions using lorazepam (a GABA receptor agonist), modulate the permissibility of harm to others -i.e. if participants find it more morally permissible to harm others when harm is unavoidable (inevitable harm moral dilemmas), than when it may be avoided (evitable harm moral dilemmas). Furthermore, using another sample (Study 2, N = 31), we assess whether lorazepam's effect is modulated by different perspective-taking conditions during a moral dilemma task -e.g. "is it morally permissible for you to […]?" (1st person perspective), relative to "is it morally permissible for [x individual] to […]?" (3rd person perspective)-, where the outcome of the different scenarios is controlled. The results of both studies converge, revealing an emotion-dependent, rather than an outcome-dependent, pharmacological modulation. Lorazepam only influenced interpersonal moral judgments when not modulated by the evitable/inevitable condition. Furthermore, there was a significant interaction between perspective-taking and drug administration, as lorazepam exerted a larger effect in modulating moral choices rather than moral judgements.